The Bridge

StrixVaria

4:00 PM

@OrigamiRobot I'll agree to that.

James

@Toast Did you do more than just set the option of 'I want to partake in betas' ?? :)

FAE

@StrixVaria You did opt-in, right?

StrixVaria

@FAE Yes of course.

Tristan

@StrixVaria I seem to recall a meta discussion about it... Wasn't the decision to not allow beta questions?

OrigamiRobot

@Tristan I wish.

agent86

4:00 PM

@Tristan no

StrixVaria

@Tristan There was a chat discussion. I don't remember a meta.

There was no consensus.

Tristan

@StrixVaria Oh.

Toast

@James, I was in the SC2 beta as well. I signed up for a trial WoW account last year, which was something they mentioned would help. Most important thing is making sure your email in your battle.net account is up to date.

OrigamiRobot

@Tristan Everyone was hung up on the difference between a dynamically changing game and a beta.

Ben Brocka

Lack of Consensus? On Gaming.SE? Never.

Tristan

4:03 PM

@OrigamiRobot I just think a beta as restrictive as Diablo 3 shouldn't be allowed. An open beta that anyone can play? Sure. But not one as limited as D3.

Sterno

I think they should just start giving Raven a prize at the start of every contest. :)

OrigamiRobot

@Tristan Accessibility is my #1 reason it shouldn't be allowed. Finality is my #2 reason.

Tristan

@Sterno Also true.

Ben Brocka

@Tristan Ehh, it gives us a great opportunity to gather important questions before the release of the game

OrigamiRobot

@Sterno @spugsley almost beat him.

@BenBrocka I think that is bad. By bad I mean unfair.

Ben Brocka

4:05 PM

"Accessibility" is a weak argument here. We're not here so you get to have fun on your own schedule, we're here to provide useful information to people.

James

Accessibility is a very very poor argument

Thats like saying no one should post Mass Effect 3 questions because I dont have that game

Blem

@Toast I haven't gotten in to any of the Blizzard betas through opt-in, and i have all wow ce, sc2 ce, sc1+bw, D2+lod and wc3+tft registered to my account :/

Tristan

@BenBrocka But doesn't the FAQ prohibit speculation about upcoming releases? Anything someone's talking about in D3 right now could be irrelevant when the game releases.

Which just goes full circle to dynamically changing games. >.> Screw this topic.

James

@Tristan I have seen D3 beta questions along those lines closed down already

StrixVaria

And this is why there was no consensus.

There is no black/white rule.

It has to be done on a case by case basis.

Ben Brocka

4:07 PM

@Tristan it's not speculation if it's about actual game mechanics

StrixVaria

@BenBrocka It's about D3-beta game mechanics, and not necessarily also true for full release.

But should we make a d3-beta tag?

Meh.

Ben Brocka

Beta mechanics rarely change significantly, and when they do it's usually something that's just patch-worthy

And we have to deal with patches regardless

Lazers

0

Q: How do you get 3 stars on board (level) 13 in Angry Birds Space?

I've succeeded in taking out all three pigs with my first (of three) birds. That earns me a paltry one star. What's the trick?

angry-birds-space

Sterno

I could swear we had a meta discussion about this, but I can't find it.

StrixVaria

@BenBrocka D3's mechanics changed considerably, and betas are particularly more prone to large-scale changes than full releases.

Enough so that treating them separately isn't out of the question.

I can see both sides of the argument.

It should be handled case-by-case.

Minecraft clearly had a ton of good content during alpha and beta.

Ben Brocka

4:09 PM

@StrixVaria this beta is riiight up against the release though

agent86

@Sterno the meta discussion was about questions prior to the release of a game

StrixVaria

@BenBrocka 4546236 seconds away, to be exact.

Ben Brocka

It's likely there will be balance fixes but nothing particularly major

agent86

and the decision was more that you can't "squat" a question before release

Sterno

@agent86 Yeah, I found that one. I still want @GraceNote to answer my comment about it! Maybe I'm just thinking of chat discussion we had about D3 that was triggered by it

StrixVaria

4:10 PM

My official stance is going to be: Handle beta games case-by-case.

I think D3 questions should be off topic until full release.

Ben Brocka

@agent86 Yeah, if your Q can't be answered yet it shouldn't be around yet

StrixVaria

Because of the closed nature of the beta and Blizzard's high-risk mindset when it comes to huge changes.

Other games will have different circumstances.

agent86

@StrixVaria then go post something on meta and see if people agree with you :)

Ben Brocka

But I still think we build up useful information as quickly as possible when we're open to mostly final and widely distrubuted Beta versions

StrixVaria

@agent86 I don't think it strongly enough to start an argument over it.

D3 beta questions are no ITG.

agent86

4:11 PM

:)

Sterno

@agent86 Oh, yup, that's the one. I was thinking specifically of this exchange

-1

A: How should we handle non-beta pre-release questions?

My stance: Do not ask questions about a game until that game is officially released. Betas, demos, etc., should not have questions asked about them. The very nature of these means that they are especially subject to rapid change, and the "Too Localized" close reason is for exactly those kinds of...

agent86

there's a number of things I'd campaign for if I had the energy for it

StrixVaria

@Sterno My stance has changed since then.

Tristan

Rec question?

7

The character Kennen really agreed with me in League of Legends. Now that I'm starting to play DOTA2, are there any equivalents? Edit I play him usually as AP but very aggressively (harassing)...

league-of-legends dota-2

StrixVaria

@Tristan No.

4

Q: Questions about characters across similar games

I can't seem to find anything in the FAQ that prohibits this style of question and it can have a definitive answer and isn't lengthy...but I'm seeing close votes on a question I asked (even though no feedback has been left as to why it might be/will be closed)... Is it too close to "Identify thi...

discussion off-topic-content

James

4:13 PM

@Tristan I agree with the no, he is looking for cross-over of similiar play types

Tristan

This is why I asked. It already had 3 VTCs. o.O

StrixVaria

@Tristan One was me.

Then @LessPopMoreFizz knocked some sense into me.

I'm still reconciling what he said with my views in general.

I'm going to come out a new StrixVaria!

Who is very slightly less likely to instantly close questions.

Tristan

@StrixVaria Understandable. I thought you had linked me to an old meta question. Then I saw the screenshot from todays transcript. <.< I lol'd.

FAE

@BenBrocka And there was just a major overhaul to the skill system.

StrixVaria

@FAE Major is an enormous deceiving understatement.

It went from "the fun of farming is to find runes" to "runes are built-in and don't worry about it".

It changed the whole focus of the late-game.

(Theoretically...)

FAE

4:17 PM

@StrixVaria Well not only that, but skills have completely different categories than they did 2 months ago with the reclassification of broad skill "categories" assigned to certain keys (if you don't turn on Elective mode).\

StrixVaria

@FAE That's mostly a cosmetic change, though.

Right?

Also, check out my crit wizard build!

I don't like standard "kite and cast spells" mages.

Boring.

If I'm going to play a Wizard I'm going to do something different.

FAE

@StrixVaria Sort of

Wrong reply.

@StrixVaria On my Wizard playthrough I did a melee-centric one, which was pretty fun.

StrixVaria

@FAE The runes make it into a build focused around scoring crits.

Which can be really fun.

Stupid Tryndamere grumbles

Brian Colvin

turn tryn into a squirrel!

StrixVaria

@BrianColvin Lulu is my next purchase, whenever I save up that giant pile of IP.

FAE

4:21 PM

@StrixVaria Hm, I think they removed the KB/Snare skill I was using

Brian Colvin

@StrixVaria shes really fun to play

StrixVaria

I have at least 10 builds saved on that calculator site.

And it's only so few because the saving wasn't introduced until recently.

And there's a cap of 15 :(

Brian Colvin

not as solid a heal support as janna/soraka/sona but she has alot more utility

StrixVaria

@BrianColvin Janna is not good at healing either.

Brian Colvin

true but she does at least have monsoon

StrixVaria

4:22 PM

Monsoon is so good.

FAE

@StrixVaria Per character or total?

StrixVaria

Janna is my main.

@FAE Total D:

Brian Colvin

ah cool i switch between janna/sona/lulu now

FAE

@StrixVaria ...ouch

James

Lulu FTW and high levels of amusement :D

StrixVaria

4:23 PM

I really need to play with WD before I can pick which WD spells I like.

The descriptions aren't enough.

I don't like how many of them seem like straightforward nukes, though.

I can't imagine a reason to use more than 1 simple nuke skill in a build at once.

FAE

I haven't replayed WD since the first time I played

StrixVaria

Unless damage types and resistances are that important.

OrigamiRobot

@Tristan I regret VTCing that now, but I still think it's a poorly written question.

FAE

@StrixVaria You can see some of how the WD plays in the D3 vids I did, but I don't know if I was using any skills relevant to you.

StrixVaria

@FAE I've watched some skill videos on the official WD page of the D3 site.

Stephen

4:24 PM

Howdy howdy

James

@OrigamiRobot I do agree its fairly poor, but the answerer did seem to pick up on what it was about the character that the asker liked... and then explained how thats mostly a LoL mechanic, not a Dota/Dota2 one :)

StrixVaria

I'm just disappointed in how straightforward the nukes for the WD seem.

I was hoping for more side effects on the spells.

FAE

@StrixVaria Even with runes?

OrigamiRobot

@James That's fine. I only downvoted the question. I don't think it shouldn't be allowed.

StrixVaria

The 2 WD builds I'm looking forward to are Zombie Dogs + Sacrifice and area denial.

WD is going to be amazing at area denial.

With Wall of Zombies, Grasp of the Dead, Acid Cloud, etc.

Brian Colvin

4:25 PM

So I like angry birds as much as the next guy, but do we really want "how do i beat lvl 1-1" "how do i beat lvl 1-2" etc is there anyway we can combine these to a "how do i beat 1-*"?

StrixVaria

@FAE I'm not impressed by WD runes yet.

I'm still planning on doing WD second, but I think it's more of a "See it to understand it" kind of class.

OrigamiRobot

@StrixVaria "runes" :/

FAE

@BrianColvin Some levels are more straightforward than others. See this answer as to why we feel it's appropriate for single questions.

StrixVaria

@BrianColvin A 1-* question would be closed as NARQ for being too broad.

NARQ = Not A Real Question

Ullallulloo

nevermind, misread.

Ben Brocka

4:30 PM

@BrianColvin With 20 levels in a world it's too much for one question

StrixVaria

We like to limit to 1 question per question.

Brian Colvin

@FAE thanks for the link, after reading the answer I suppose its no big deal

StrixVaria

Makes things clean.

fredley

@BrianColvin Where is a good place to find Angry Birds solutions?

StrixVaria

@fredley Terrible question.

Just ask about the level you want on our site.

Brian Colvin

4:31 PM

@fredley The depths of your mind

FAE

@BrianColvin No problem!

fredley

@BrianColvin Bathroom cubicle

Sterno

I just spent $27 on Disgaea for the DS. I hope you're all happy, now.

You're still not allowed to call it D1 though.

Ben Brocka

Honestly if we (slowly) have "how can I beat -" for every angry birds level I'm not sure if that's a bad thing either, people still search for that stuff

@Sterno pft

I don't take guff from Blizzard fans

Sterno

0

Q: What's a good soldier set-up?

What should I be going for as a soldier?

mass-effect-3

So I just noticed Snowflake has TWO answers to that

OrigamiRobot

4:35 PM

@BenBrocka We will kill you and use what you drop to kill stronger versions of you.

Sterno

except one used to be under a different username

so that means the dude had what...like 4 sockpuppets? At least 3 of which were involved in that question?

Ben Brocka

@OrigamiRobot My level cap's higher than blizzard fans could possibly imagine

Sterno

I'm starting to wonder if I'm a sockpuppet. We have to go deeper

Ben Brocka

At least not without a few decades of pay-only patches :)

OrigamiRobot

James

4:37 PM

@Sterno You got your gravatar by committee.. I am pretty sure you are just the committee's sock puppet :)

Lazers

0

Q: Is there any story to the bird?

A bird shows up a couple times in Portal 2. First, it turns out that Wheatley escaped using a bird's egg (not sure how...). Then, a bird (presumably the mother of the eggs) comes and attacks Wheatley, causing him to cry out "AHH! Bird! Bird!" A while later, a bird starts eating potato-GLaDOS. Yo...

portal-2

0

Q: What affects credits recieved at the end of a me3 match?

I can't find any info on the algorithm for calculating credits earned in a ME3 multiplayer match; namely, whether or not awards or individual score affect it. I noticed that you gain credits for completing the "special" waves, but it seems like there's more to it than that.

mass-effect-3 multiplayer

Stephen

@sterno Two low quality answers are clearly better than what you came up with there :>

James

@Stephen Agreed. I mean who wants to scroll through all that information???

Took me -forever- to get to snowflake's second answer so I could chuckle!

Stephen

@james :>

James

Hey all, I got the color green!!!! Yay!!! :D

Stephen

4:40 PM

hmm. I think the me3missions display is still a little glitchy. I was at 31/35 and with no downvotes or removals I'm at 30/35 ... oh well ... I'm sure it'll bounce back heh... now time to see if I can find something to type up about the credits question there.

Ben Brocka

@James now play the last mission for another two hours so you can pick another color

James

@BenBrocka Um, I am talking about Draw-Something ... what are you talking about? :)

Ben Brocka

Oh, I thought you were talking about a different game based on colors

James

Hahah :)

Ben Brocka

Speaking of, was I the only one confused by the "choices" at the end of ME3? I seriously did not realize you could take the left or right paths to choose things

Tristan

4:43 PM

@BenBrocka So you got the green ending?

Ben Brocka

I don't know if I just missed something in the dialog or what though, I just didn't think "I'll walk over HERE to destroy the reapers..."

Yeah

Forward was the only apparent option

Tristan

@BenBrocka I've been lead to believe the green ending is the best ending... >.> But I'm not 100% on that.

Ben Brocka

and the only one mentioned in the dialog

It's the special/best/whatever one I guess...

badp

so I have a jolly new external hard drive from Western Digital

Obviously this means download ALL the things.

murgatroid99

@BenBrocka The dialog mentioned the control and destroy options (left and right respectively)

Ben Brocka

4:46 PM

@murgatroid99 even if you had access to Green? I don't remember being told anything about how to choose

James

@badp /whisper Ya know when everyone was saying WD earlier that was all I could think of.. Western Digital :D

Ben Brocka

@badp how big?

murgatroid99

@BenBrocka I took green and in the dialog before that the kid told me that I could destroy all synthetic life, die and control the reapers, or die and cause synthesis

badp

@James I wasn't here before so the joke's on me :(

Ben Brocka

@murgatroid99 yeah, he told me that, but how?

badp

4:47 PM

@BenBrocka Going through my GoG games and the Humble Bundle Frozen Synapse.

James

@badp I shall just sit happily in my confusion :)

Ben Brocka

I didn't even notice those...things that you walk to

badp

20 GB so far

murgatroid99

@BenBrocka During the destroy option dialog the camera pointed at the red thing and during the control option dialog the camera pointed at the blue thing

Ben Brocka

@badp 95% of my steam games live only on my external drive

James

4:48 PM

@badp God Bless GoG. I will be in their debt forever for Dungeon Keeper 2 :)

Ben Brocka

@murgatroid99 oh, I didn't realize it was something you walked to, just thought it was dramatic camera panning

badp

I was considering getting Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 from GoG, at $5 instead of $10, but...

it was I game I loved the demo of, back when game demos were all I played.

Typically this doesn't bode well about the whole game. Also, my backlog is huge.

murgatroid99

@BenBrocka I had seen some spoilers, so I'm not sure if I would have known if I hadn't

badp

was it $2.49 I'd impulse buy it, but that's what the v1 of the game is sold at.

so meh.

Also, there's an Indie Royale going on

but I don't recognize any of the game names

Ben Brocka

@murgatroid99 I'm just wondering how many (that had the Green ending) picked Green only because they didn't realize they could pick others or how to pick them

Sterno

4:50 PM