Tick

Mass Effect: Nova

xD
Holy shit, that Nova theater was fantastic. The nicknames were a nice touch.

Voltin said
But do we really need it tho?

It doesn't have to be major. I'd actively avoid getting too detailed or focused on one thing. Hell, we could just do a bit that's detailed like it should be (some fight out/trying to get things handled before shit hits the fan), then summarize the rest. The experience will be a blur of memory that fades in and out. Like that of a blackout-drunk. Or being Kosso.

Edit: Or could do a summary-ish thing for a short post before doing the Mark-meets-the-family bit.

Mass Effect: Nova

I'm not sure where this'll put people on things, but we've got at least one major collab post just about wrapped up. The major lag I caused got fixed by me not lagging it. Like a car deciding to move on a busy one-lane street after twenty-four hours. The part we're gonna get out soon is the stealth team finishing up and starting toward the Bridge. So if we had to cut off, admittedly this would be the time. Otherwise the group would have another collab to crank out (albeit, the plan was to keep it shorter), and I'm not sure how up to it people are.

I don't have a problem with this mission, and I think the people that did just didn't have plans on something to do (after the mission's intro: everyone that didn't involve the stealth team's side or the safecrackers) or got sick of the lack of activity. The mission itself was fantastic, since it had an interesting way of getting to the goal and a distinct setting.
That said, we still would have to get people involved, and that would easily just drag things out without momentum.

The biggest thing I'd say is in favor of the timeskip is that the newbies have been waiting a long-ass time to get in the team. The amount of time they're supposed to wait in the lobby for team-dom expired a while ago.
If you could do a big event that automatically engenders reactions/engagement from everyone, that might work, though. E.g. The premature ending to the Shadow Broker storyline, where everyone got jumped and murdered/seriously injured and lost everything.

At this point, I'm just gonna let others decide. And if no one responds, I think that's a pretty good sign of which way to go. :P I enjoy this mission, but I'm not going to fight against cutting it short.

EDIT: Yeah, the Mark thing's a little tricky. We could do a short retro collab if Volt/Grif are cool with it to get him some early establishment and participation points.

Mass Effect: Nova

Dervish said
Tick, I missed you like a fat kid misses a reason to get Diabeetus.

I am the fried-butter-on-a-stick that has arrived to save the day. :D

Voltaire said
Liar. You're clearly a zombie.

Status quo.

Mass Effect: Nova

Sorry, peeps. I'm still in this game, but yeah, there wasn't much chance to get on. I can't apologize enough for how much I've added to the lag, but that's not going to undo the damage.
On the timeskip thing; if you think it'll help, I'm fine with it. I think the mission and setting we're on's really awesome and interesting; it wasn't killing muse. When I've tried to sit down and write something, I get stuck on the next step that keeps the momentum going (ironic..) or on characterization, but that's largely centered around the character and direct interaction.

I think the timeskip won't save us on its own. The main problem is the majority of us have been nonentities for the large part of the mission or gone inactive since. We need to contact and gather people up and get them to do stuff. Entire teams haven't been in the mission since we got NewGuild, excepting Roland from the equation.

Voltin said
And didn't Roland somehow become a, if not the, prize for that?

He was going to be the bed-maid, nurse, whipping boy, something of that sort.

Or maybe it was that they were going to be an assistant to him if they lost. That sounds more right.
I unfortunately lost the posts I had saved on my doc's from the SB thread, and I didn't realize Google Cache doesn't stay, so I'm not sure if that's something you can check...

Dark Souls 2 is shipping

Darog the Badger God said
I'll give you mine for 4.675 British dollars 8D

How many real dollars is that?

To those of you who play Dark Souls.

Jorick said
I just started playing last week, no online stuff, and I've been able to handle everything just fine. There are NPC guys you can summon for help on a lot of bosses, and they've been plenty of help for the... actually, just one boss that I couldn't tackle solo (area boss for Anor Londo, and I almost got it on my one solo attempt after a couple assisted ones, then summoned the guy and wrecked it hard that time), the other ones that I summoned NPCs for I ended up dying on those attempts and ended up beating them by myself.It's really just a matter of learning attack patterns, playing cautiously, and picking your gear for the encounter rather than just sticking to one set for everything.

The one case I always think of when talking about the use of co-op is Ornstein and Smough. Probably the most infamous boss battle I'm aware of, to the net, and it's the most common boss fight I see get people to ask for fellow players to get on and help with in a forum.

Going solo's not impossible, by any means, it can just be a giant pain the ass.

To those of you who play Dark Souls.

Turtlicious said
That's going to be hell, you're not going to get Soapstone help which you really need, and you won't be able to summon people who will just wreck fights for you.

Agreed.

Invasions are not that common in the game. Though I will say I experienced most of it in the first few levels.
Messages on the ground, when they're not trolling, are extremely useful and build up the collective knowledge you need to know to get through an area or get a good item, shortcut, etc.

Furthermore, there's a couple bosses that almost everyone will go through the pain of finding an online partner to fight, because they're that difficult to beat.

Can you play offline? On my PC, the game refuses to save unless I'm online/have a GFWL account.

To those of you who play Dark Souls.

Turt's showing everyone up on helpfulness.
Awesome list of info.

Overwatch said
I understand. And I can accept that. What's so bad about dying though, if you come back?

I haven't read through everything Turt put up, but Dark Souls punishes the player way more for dying than the average game.

Going off memory:
You're set all the way back to wherever the last bonfire you sat at was. Any souls you earned (the currency and experience points of this game), that weren't used are lost when you die. Doesn't matter how much you had, it's all gone. You have a second chance to get what you lost, but it requires you not dying again before you pick 'em up.

If you're human when you die (and this requires using humanity (or beating a boss?)), you go hollow. Most prefer it this way, since it loses the risk of invasion from enemy players and such, but that cuts down on your health bar's maximum amount of HP.

I can't remember if you lose any humanity on you when you die or not. Been too long since I've played.

To those of you who play Dark Souls.

The multiplayer is generally shit, because (unlike Demon Souls) Dark Souls didn't get a dedicated server, so don't expect a lot from it. Often, when you -do- finally see a summon sign, the summoning will fail.
If you want to do multiplayer co-op, the best bet is to go to the Steam forums. Get a mod for Dark Souls that allows you to connect to friends more easily (also, get some friends for the game) and read a couple threads that give you tips about the online stuff (e.g. you -don't- want to restart the game in hopes it helps your connection, that actually hurts the chance you'll find someone do to the way the IP pool works).

If you see a player enemy, there's a large number of them (on the PC) that are hacked to be overpowered and still able to invade you. Those players will be literally impossible to beat. In the case you want to be certain you don't lose anything, it's best to close(/exit?) the game really fast, or turn off whatever you're using to play it.

Read the stuff you see, don't skip it, and try to pay attention to detail. It usually matters. You'll get rewarded more and punished less that way.
Leveling up is not the only way to beat the game. A lot of the game is 1) Equipment, and 2) Knowing what you're doing. There are people who can play through the whole thing, all on Level 1.
If you're stuck, ask the Internet, or look up the wiki. That'll help a lot for number 2.

There's a lot more. I guess I'll just add:
Equipment weight matters for dodging, speed, and (as I recall) stamina.
Don't piss off useful NPC's, or they're useless for good.

Anyone have a Good Game we can all play together on the web?

Supremacy 1914 is the only browser game I've played consistently that updates itself regularly, but it's a good game. Especially if you want a game you only have to play (usually) a few minutes once to a few times every day. Real-time war strategy, lots of different maps, all multiplayer.