The Bridge

Rakesh Juyal

5:00 PM

I don't die so fast :D

pixel

@RakeshJuyal CS > every game of its kind

Rakesh Juyal

Damn it! Why you have posted that scary pic? I am scared @Fluttershy

pixel

and, gameplay > graphics

Fluttershy

@pixel I was never a big fan of CS, but I give it credit for what it brought to the table. That said, when it comes to competitive shooters, I'm a Battlefield pony.

Rakesh Juyal

I am yet to buy battlefield @Fluttershy

pixel

5:02 PM

@Fluttershy well everypony to their own

Rakesh Juyal

I have heard nice things for BF3.

fredley

@Fluttershy It's alive!

pixel

I'm not a big fan of shooters based on real world wars/real war environments

Fluttershy

The Battlefield games are the only ones where I actually enjoy objective games. >_>

pixel

I prefer obviously out of this world environments for my first person shooters

It's why I was never a massive fan of Half Life

Rakesh Juyal

5:03 PM

@Fluttershy Even the owner of stackexchange.com says so.

pixel

until the second half of the game ofc

Fluttershy

Half Life was... not out of this world? O_o

pixel

not for the first half, it was based in an underground facility full of dull grey corridors

aliens don't make it out of this world

Lazers

2

Q: Are there any advantages to stunning an alien besides being able to interrogate it?

Aside from being able to interrogate an alien in the Alien Containment chamber, are there any particular advantages to risk trying to stun an alien instead of just killing it outright?

xcom-enemy-unknown

0

Q: What is a good stash?

I alwas tend to die before being to much encumbered or filling my BoH enough, but i wonder : what is the ultimate stash configuration ? I heard about boulder forts, but also blue jelly fort. I understand how to build a boulder fort (scroll of earth are good for that), but blue jelly fort... Do I ...

nethack

pixel

but then the opposite end of the scale, RAGE is nice and vibrant, the corridor/railing wasn't that obvious, but it had no story

call me impossible to please

Rakesh Juyal

5:06 PM

Thanks guys, bbye.

pixel

@RakeshJuyal o/

Ben Brocka

@pixel Black Mesa makes even the "grey corridors" pretty damn awesome

pixel

@BenBrocka sure, the only reason I got to the second half of the game was the story carrying the game, and I'm absolutely fine with that

I'd rather have a good story than amazing graphics

Ben Brocka

@RakeshJuyal It's pretty good, but I wouldn't have bought it myself (came with my graphics card). Single player campaign is well put together

pixel

otherwise I'd be going on about how RAGE and Crysis are the best thing ever

but I don't really like either of them

in fact I haven't liked an ID game since Quake 3

and I've never really liked any Crytek games

Ben Brocka

5:08 PM

@pixel Even if the enviornment was plain the world it created was pretty awesome even before Zen. Especially when you got to the Questionable Ethics chapter

pixel

@BenBrocka I get bored of staring at the same corridor all the time

Ben Brocka

@pixel Once in a let's play someone got stuck on a black screen and they said "Am I playing Doom 3? I Think I'm playing doom 3 here guys" and I lol'd so hard

pixel

I love WoW for that, the colour palette changes as you move through the world keep my attention

@BenBrocka Doom 3 came after Quake 3 :P

Ben Brocka

@pixel blueshift was far far worse for that

pixel

but if you compare Doom 3 to most modern shooters its pretty good

which says something about modern shooters, rather than praising Doom 3

user15026

5:10 PM

@Fluttershy You find the weirdest things on the internet.

Ben Brocka

Depends if you're just saying "modern shooters" to mean "call of duty". I agree those suck, but there's still plenty of good out there like Borderlands, resistance, BF3 is pretty good for one based in a real war

Fluttershy

@AshleyNunn I do what I can.

pixel

@AshleyNunn and that's just the stuff he shows us

user15026

@Fluttershy Yay?

pixel

@BenBrocka Borderlands is 'good' in a sea of 'terrible', but is an example of what I mean by 'out of this world' in terms of setting/crazy story/characters/etc

but doesn't really innovate anything

Ben Brocka

5:14 PM

...the FPS/RPG thing and massive amount of surprisingly deep skills (not just +1 to damage crap) isn't innovating?

Plus the whole visual style of it

pixel

@BenBrocka Deus Ex

the fact it's four player isn't original either... Left 4 Dead

and I did enjoy Left 4 Dead a lot

I like that some of the weapons in BL are just crazy

but... Diablo 2 did that

Ben Brocka

@pixel both of those are extremely different games from BL

pixel

@BenBrocka The concepts are all there are not original though

Fact is, Borderlands was supposed to be a randomly generated world in addition to the weapons

fbueckert

@pixel With that perspective, you'll never find anything new.

Ben Brocka

And deus ex is...well, a cult classic at best. And I don't really mean that as a compliment

It had lots of interesting ideas but didn't execute it well IMO

It's one of those games it's nicer to think about what you can do than to actually do it

pixel

5:17 PM

@BenBrocka I duno, I've played it through multiple times, all different ways

and not when it was current either, I was quite young when it first came out

meaning I chose to play that instead of something else

I really liked the first mass effect too, I didn't play that when it was current either

sure the combat was clunky, very... clunky

Ben Brocka

@pixel I don't think that would have worked nearly as well. Pandora has character. You couldn't randomly generate anything to do with the story or characters and have it come out nearly as good; especially not BL2

user15026

Yay, play written. That is one thing off of my list. :D

pixel

@BenBrocka sure, their plan was to randomly generate the paths between story points of interest

Ben Brocka

@pixel It's an FPS though. You need terrain that's navigable, monster placements that are sane. Randomly generating an FPS is pretty crazy. And not fun crazy like guns that shoot lightning

pixel

guns that shoot lightning... painkiller

not to mention quake's lightning gun

I loved that gun

Ben Brocka

5:21 PM

It's not the same

These were elemental guns

pixel

I know I know

I really want a space game that is fun to play

Fluttershy

Well, Bridge, it's time for me to disappear for a while. =P I'll pop in when I can, just don't expect to see me as often as you usually do! <_< @fbueckert try not to miss me too much.

pixel

@Fluttershy o/

James

whew, there the stars are.. How was I supposed to know what was going on if they didnt load!?

2

user15026

@James Yeah, you would be lost and that would be so very sad. You would miss me getting starred for saying Pantyhose!

James

5:30 PM

@AshleyNunn Ah yes, there it is.. Whatever would I have done!?

user15026

@James You would have never known of such greatness.

James

There

My second monitor is now on the left side of my screen as it should be

Lazers

0

Q: Teleport to spawn in Minecraft creative mode

When in Minecraft creative mode, there are times when I need to return to the spawn point. Are there any commands (in vanilla Minecraft) that you can use to quickly teleport back to spawn?

minecraft

0

Q: Does Monster Power Affect the Quality of Drops?

I understand that magic find increases the chance of an item being "upgraded" from a white to blue, blue to yellow, yellow to orange/green, but is there anything, like high monster power, that affects the "quality" of an item, like a weapon's damage?

diablo-3

0

Q: Keep items in inventory on death in Minecraft

I once played a vanilla Minecraft adventure map (called "Herobrine's Mansion") that prevented the player from losing their items on death. Which commands can be used to prevent the player from losing their items on death (in vanilla Minecraft)?

minecraft

OrigamiRobot

5:57 PM

@AshleyNunn I consider this my greatest star ever.

fbueckert

@Fluttershy Tempted to say something mean here and bandwagon with @Wipqozn and @OrigamiRobot, but I'm better than that.

OrigamiRobot

@fbueckert No you're not. Say it.

fbueckert

@OrigamiRobot With age comes wisdom.

OrigamiRobot

Robots do not age.

fbueckert

@OrigamiRobot And thus, they do not gain wisdom.

OrigamiRobot

5:59 PM

@fbueckert I can't gain something I already have.

fbueckert

@OrigamiRobot Nor can you determine whether it is true wisdom.

Which it isn't.

OrigamiRobot

Says you with your unwiseness.

fbueckert

@OrigamiRobot Your comebacks need work.

James

ಠ_ಠ

Ullallulloo

6:17 PM

@James chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/info/35/the-bridge/?tab=stars

badp

SALUTATIONINGS

James

@Ullallulloo Haha, why did you respond with a link to the message you responded to? :)

Ullallulloo

@James "How was I supposed to know what was going on if they didnt load!?"

Wait, does that only show the first?

fbueckert

Wee! Stupid Sharepoint and list approval permissions. Just show me the stupid events so I can approve them!

GnomeSlice

42 hours left to back Maia.

badp

6:30 PM

To be honest game DRM never got quite this ugly

James

@Ullallulloo I am very confused :D

fbueckert

@badp Only because publishers knew the massive PR backlash that would happen if they tried.

badp

@fbueckert Error: only because Windows doesn't offer an API to tweet on a user's behalf

That's pretty much the only novel bit here if you think about it

fbueckert

@badp As if that would stop them.

There would be all sorts of legal and privacy implications if a game insists on your twitter credentials before it will allow you to play.

badp

@fbueckert Well has a game yet opened and read the cookie file for Internet Explorer in order to login with Twitter?

Ullallulloo

6:35 PM

tugs

Quick question: A person just put an answer on one of my questions with an email and xbox gamer tag in it. Should I flag it or just let him change it when he realizes it's a bad idea?

fbueckert

@badp And therein lie the privacy implications.

badp

@tugs link

tugs

0

A: How am I supposed to kill the frost troll?

I'm a level 8 Nord Warrior with full steel armor and an Elven Sword (one-hand) that deals 16 damage. All I did to kill the first Frost Troll you encounter (the one on the steps leading to Higher Hrothgar, the monks) was have Flames in the left hand and my Elven Sword in the right. Now keep in min...

badp

@fbueckert well it's a problem in EU for sure, dunno about US

fbueckert

6:37 PM

@badp It would be an instant PR nightmare if any PC game tried to do that, either through asking for your credentials directly, or scraping them from somewhere else without asking.

@tugs We can edit the email address and whatnot out.

badp

@fbueckert Did that stop Enfour?

fbueckert

That answer needs a massive amount of reformmating anyways.

@badp They're a Japanese company.

badp

@fbueckert So?

@fbueckert Man, I sure can't think of Japanese companies making videogame software!

fbueckert

@badp And privacy concerns are different there, and in the small dev space.

badp

Hell, maybe the PS4 or the Wii-U do/will have Twitter APIs. Who knows! Not I.

For some reason in my eyes the fact they're Japanese only makes it worse.

fbueckert

6:40 PM

@badp The (big) difference is in the size of the developer office, and the price of the app; $25 in the iOS market is like $400+ for the PC/console market.

badp

The Japanese are reknown for their high standards in politeness.

@fbueckert Okay, fine, does Photoshop or Visual Studio steal your cookies?

What about Autocad?

fbueckert

@badp Nope, to all of those

badp

or the other very popular very expensive professional programs out there

Just because I can't name one made in Japan doesn't mean there isn't one :P

maybe I know of it and I didn't know it was made in Japan, most likely they just sell in Japan if a niche like @GraceNote's does exist.

fbueckert

@badp There may be one out there, but most PC developers rely on invasive DRM to cripple the software itself, not announce to the world that you're a pirate.

This seems to be trying to go a different route, by publicly outing and guilting those that do steal it, but this would be a non-issue if they didn't get so many false-positives.

badp

@fbueckert I suddenly can't remember what my point is anymore - oh right, it's unheard of because it would be technically hard to do, not on morality grounds or whatever.

fbueckert

6:44 PM

@badp Oh, it wouldn't be hard at all.

From a dev standpoint, just figure out where the browser cookies are stored, and scrape as needed.

badp

meh, if it was that easy at least one fucktard would've done it in the last few years, numbers are by my side :P

fbueckert

The privacy concerns are the same, regardless of where it was made; it's the false positives that makes it newsworthy.

@badp No, the PC publishers just crack down and cripple the software in more technically invasive methods.

Such as StarForce.

No need to guilt your customer when you can just fubar their computer.

badp

@fbueckert by the way the software here is also crippled, if you didn't let it tweet it wouldn't launch

fbueckert

@badp Yeah, I know that. That's the equivalent of a video game going, "Gimme your Facebook account so I can post all my annoying shit on it."

And then going, "No? Alright, you can't play me, then!"

badp

That sounds like shitty facebook games

fbueckert

6:47 PM

The PR backlash would be massive.

OrigamiRobot

The solution here is obviously to not use Twitter.

badp

@OrigamiRobot then you couldn't use the app at all.

OrigamiRobot

@badp Are you sure?

badp

@OrigamiRobot If you didn't grant permission you couldn't use the app.

@OrigamiRobot I imagine a requirement for granting permission to use Twitter is setting up a Twitter account in the first place, given that it's system-level APIs we're talking about here

OrigamiRobot

@badp I would grant it permission.

badp

6:51 PM

@tugs try now

OrigamiRobot

@badp Still, setting up a Twitter account != using Twitter

badp

@OrigamiRobot meh, why blame the medium? It could've posted on Facebook, or sent an email to all contacts, or something.

OrigamiRobot

@badp so replace Twitter with those mediums.

badp

@OrigamiRobot Why are you here then?

I mean, on the internet.

OrigamiRobot

To complain about things. Isn't that why we're all here?

2

tugs

6:56 PM

@badp Thanks. Looks much better.

pixel

7:07 PM

@OrigamiRobot all the things

Lazers

0

Q: How much of a disadvantage is the restriction on purple items in F2P?

I'm playing SWTOR mainly for the story and singleplayer content, I'm not really interested in most of the MMO aspects. As an F2P player there are several restrictions, one of them is that I can't equip purple items. My impression from reading about this restriction before playing the game was tha...

swtor

agent86

My Eldest: I invented something. It's a good day for the childs of Texas.
His Mom: Great. What did you invent?
My Eldest: I don't know, can you think of something? I got nothing.

OrigamiRobot

...

Ben Brocka

I invented something. Today was a good day

OrigamiRobot

@BenBrocka Are you @agent86's kid?

Ben Brocka

7:18 PM

I hope not, who wants a snowman for a father

fbueckert

...Stupid Sharepoint. Stop breaking and work!

OrigamiRobot

@BenBrocka Wasn't that a Tim Allen movie?

Ben Brocka

Honey I froze the family

badp

Hm, The Witcher 1 for €2

I mean, that's pretty much an instant buy if the start of Mass Effect wasn't so weak

Ben Brocka

@Ullallulloo I am covered with grated cheese, pantyhose and hate @wipqozn

pixel

7:24 PM

@badp slow, surely?

OrigamiRobot

Jack Frost (1998 film)

:For the 1996 horror/comedy film, see Jack Frost (1996 film) Jack Frost is a 1998 Christmas comedy drama film, starring Michael Keaton and Kelly Preston. Keaton stars as the title character, a man who dies in a car accident and comes back to life as a snowman. Three of Frank Zappa's four children: Dweezil Zappa, Ahmet Zappa, and Moon Unit Zappa, appear in the film. In the United States the film is rated PG by the MPAA. Plot Jack Frost (Michael Keaton) is the lead singer in a band simply titled "The Jack Frost Band", based in the fictional town of Medford, Colorado, who make their living...

badp

@pixel both, probably. At some point the game told me to use Throw on an enemy. Nothing happened and then one of my units died.

Also I wasted a lot of medigel when fumbling around with the controls.

pixel

@badp Ah, I know exactly the part you mean

Ben Brocka

@OrigamiRobot Is that the one with the snowman sexual assault?

pixel

and the controls were a bit clunky in the first one

it didn't deserve the unification it got in the later games though

badp

7:25 PM

unification?

pixel

by ME3 I'm surprised "move forward" and "fire" weren't also bound to the space bar

Invader Skoodge

@OrigamiRobot >9/22/2011: In order to regenerate Werewolves involved in combat, you must sacrifice Full Moon's Rise before combat damage is assigned. This means they will lose the +1/+0 and trample bonuses before combat damage assignment.

This is why the new combat rules are dumb.

OrigamiRobot

@BenBrocka I wouldn't know. Never seen it.

Mad Scientist

@badp Am I missing something, or what is the connection of The Witcher and ME?

badp

@MadScientist "action rpg"

<_<

Ben Brocka

7:26 PM

I think I read an iMockery review of that movie

pixel

@badp yeah by ME3, everything was bound to space

OrigamiRobot

@InvaderSkoodge Why?

Ben Brocka

I assume it was anyway, how many snowman horror movies are there?

pixel

rather than the random keys they were bound to by default in ME1

OrigamiRobot

@BenBrocka That is not the horror movie of the same name.

badp

7:26 PM

@pixel I think that by default E is both Interact and Use medigel

Mad Scientist

The Witcher 1 is flawed, and also has a weak beginning. Though I enjoyed the game a lot.

badp

When you have an interaction prompt but the verb isn't white, you'll use a medigel

because you were too far.

pixel

@badp yeah but in ME3 space is roll, cover, climb, jump, use, etc

amount of random rolls I performed into atlas fire while running for cover

oh, space was sprint as well

Ben Brocka

@OrigamiRobot oh, it probably does not have snowman sexual assults then

@pixel I understand some of the mixing, but roll and cover should never be the same button

pixel

tbh all three mass effect games were better than pretty much anything else I've played in the last <many> years

Ben Brocka

7:28 PM

Use, sure, since it doesn't work 99% of the time

pixel

except the last 15 minutes of ME3

@BenBrocka sprint and any defensive action shouldn't be consolidated onto the same bind

suicidal to bind sprint and cover/roll onto the same button

Ben Brocka

Was it sprint too?

pixel

but yeah

cover and roll together was bad too

@BenBrocka yeah

badp

Sounds like a one-button-mashing quick time event sequencer

SPACE! SPACE! waaait for iiiitt... SPACE! SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE! SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!

OrigamiRobot

@pixel Oh are we talking about Gears of War?

pixel

7:30 PM

@badp pretty much, it felt pretty natural to play, but when it backfired it was frustrating enough to break stuff

@OrigamiRobot I have never played Gears of War

OrigamiRobot

@pixel They do that. I hated it.

pixel

@OrigamiRobot all console ports do it

Ben Brocka

@OrigamiRobot no we're talking about pretty much every third person shooter with a "cover system" unfortunately

pixel

My heart sinks whenever I fire up a game and it says one of the following:

agent86

@BenBrocka aaaaa-gent the snowman, was a jolly, happy soul.... not really, though

pixel

7:31 PM

"Do not turn off the game while this symbol is showing"

Ben Brocka

Though I think Uncharted had a better way of dealing with it

OrigamiRobot

NO I WANT TO DIVE IN BETWEEN THOSE CARS NOT TAKE COVER BEHIND ONE I AM BEING CHASED OH GREAT NOW I AM DEAD.

pixel

"Press start"

or you open the graphics options and you see "LOL NOTHING HERE" (cough RAGE)

Ben Brocka

At least I recall a lot less jumping into open fire in Uncharted relative to ME3

pixel

or you open the controls and notice that everything is bound to the same button

@BenBrocka it was worse in ME2 for sure

but ME3 had a lot of enemies that would just beat you to a pulp (banshees, atlas, etc)

badp

7:32 PM

I feel like a foolish by only keeping a Tediore RL

pixel

the amount of times I've tried to backwards roll from a banshee, and ended up rolling into melee range, followed by being snapped like a twig

badp

Sure, I want to OCD-reload and waste rockets in the process.

OrigamiRobot

@pixel It's not a matter of ports. GoW was designed for consoles. It's just their cover system.

badp

or a fool. I probably feel like a fool, rather than a foolish.

pixel

@OrigamiRobot sure, but generally console ports have simplified control systems

Mass Effect, like many other games, did that thing that cover shooters do

where you run into a room, and it just happens to be full of chest high walls

you know something bad is about to happen

At least Deus Ex Human Revolution gave you audio cues before the chest high walls were apparent

Ben Brocka

7:35 PM

@badp Tediore RLs are hilarious

I laughed out loud the first time I reloaded one

badp

I still haven't done it

Ben Brocka

@pixel really? I found myself fiddling with cover, hitting the wrong side of cover or rolling away for a seconds then going "F%^ this I'm a vanguard CHAAARRRRGE"

pixel

@BenBrocka lol

@BenBrocka I love my geth weapons

badp

does the grenade damage level up? I stopped using Tediore's at level 4 given what they did to my ammo count

pixel

on ME2 on insane difficulty you get a geth plasma rifle quite early on, no other weapon quite compared since

Ben Brocka

7:38 PM

@badp what do you mean? The damage reloads do? Tediore reloads will often be insanely high damage if you reload with some left in the mag

You eventually get used to not reloading though. I'm super twitchy with SMGs but I can control myself with tediore or as Gaige when necessary

badp

oh it actually works like that?

Ben Brocka

But I tend to just not use tediore that often though. Maliwan FTW

badp

I dunno, Tediore's and Jenkin's have been instant sells for me

Ben Brocka

Yeah, more left in the mag, the more damage they deal. Try shooting one bullet from an SMG and throw the rest. It hurts. A lot.

badp

or whoever the hell are the guys who thought "shoots as fast as you can pull the trigger" was a good idea

Lazers

7:40 PM

0

Q: How to get better at FPS multiplayer games

I got COD BO2 past weekend and started playing multiplayer over my Xbox. I am new to this kind of intense multiplayer action. Although I have played a few FPS games in past but the multiplayer version is just brutal. I just getting steamrolled. I have tried different tactics ... Camping at few...

multiplayer first-person-shooter call-of-duty-black-ops-2

badp

certainly doesn't work with gunzerking anyway

Ben Brocka

It'll easily do way more DPS than actually shooting normally. It'll also run you out of bullets in a minute or less

badp

@BenBrocka I'll keep it in mind for Playthrough 2 Sheldon (-typo)

Ben Brocka

@badp Jakobs. No element is a dealbreaker for me. Good snipers and shotguns though

badp

I mean, Playthrough 2 Flynt gave me TONS of trouble. Like, $60k lost in respawns

It is kind of a one-off battle though

Ben Brocka

7:42 PM

Now I'm wondering how awesome a gunzerker reloading two tediore SMGs would be

pixel

you know what gave me trouble? Third boss in the Dark World.

badp

@BenBrocka Out of ammo in twenty seconds?

Ben Brocka

@badp Almost certainly

But since you could also kill one of the superbosses with tediore reloads in about that long...

badp

@BenBrocka it's that ridicolous?

Ben Brocka

@badp Well it is with the Baby Maker and a boss who stands still for a few seconds. You need a couple people to do it right but...yeah it's pretty damn ridiculous

should insta-kill any normal enemy. And remember elemental tediores explode as an elemental attack

reload a caustic tediore SMG into a loader and it's going to have a bad day

agent86

7:48 PM

booyah

american express error in my favor, collect $50 in steam money and $50 in MS points.

aaaand maybe a trip to E3...

pixel

decides to play swtor f2p

downloads it at 5.9MB/s

Ben Brocka

I honestly didn't know steam had play money like XBLA/PSN

pixel

which gives me just enough time to get coffee!

agent86

@BenBrocka I only get it when I need to cash out a gift card to certain retailers

in this case, I had to spend $100 at best buy to get a $50 credit on my card

so, I bought $50 of steam and $50 of ms points, and gave best buy the finger.

Ben Brocka

62

Q: Is coffee a good excuse for a slow application start-up time?

I was dragged into a meeting with a client to consult on any usability issues as we watched a user performing day-to-day operations with a software application. The first thing that happened was that after the client double-clicked the app's icon we waited around 8 minutes for the app to load. N...

response-time

turns out it's intentional

(I hate that obvious questions get so much attention)

@agent86 lol. Good plan

agent86

7:52 PM

occasionally I end up with $25 gift cards to gamestop, and I typically do something similar there.

pixel

@BenBrocka rofl, I know people like that

LessPop_MoreFizz

Stupid not being able to delete accepted answers.

agent86

but the cool part is that amex screwed up and the system glitched and they ended up double-crediting me, and then they sort of shrugged and said "today's your lucky day"

A WINNER IS ME

Ben Brocka

@LessPop_MoreFizz you can't?

LessPop_MoreFizz

@BenBrocka Can't self delete my answer that's accepted, no.

I have an out of date accepted answer that is accumulating downvotes. I'd rather let the person who has written an excellent correct and up-to-date answer get/keep the credit than edit mine to be correct, but I can't delete my answer because the asker hasn't shown his face in ages. :(

Ben Brocka

7:57 PM

mods can, flag it

LessPop_MoreFizz

Or rather, he was last seen yesterday, but does not respond to comment pings asking him to come and uncheck my answer. :(

pixel

OH

cheeky

give me a progress bar saying 2.5gb, NP

giving me a second progress bar immediately after saying 14gb... I have an issue

Ben Brocka

Better than ∞ gb, P = NP

Transcript for