Quote fromhey no fair i was gonna post this link lol.
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/diablo-fan-05.jpg
The darker version looks shit loads better, but i still cant help but be annoyed at the pastel like background and the cartoony look of the enemies.:mad:
Generally I don't really care for the photoshop versions since they would probably get boring after awhile and at times make it difficult to see enemies and other players. I'm plenty happy with the direction blizzard has gone.
That being said, I do actually like how this photoshopped screenshot turned out:
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/diablo-fan-06.jpg
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First off, it is a Single Player only game. If you are only interested in online play for games like this, skip it.
I don't really mind the more light hearted graphics. The only presentation issue I have with it is just how many over the top explosions,magical glows, etc. there are in battle. At times the light show makes it hard to see what's going on. That actually has me a little concerned for D3 as well, though I don't think it'll be as bad in that.
The gameplay in torchlight is good although it has a few minor flaws(constantly having to refresh buffs, can't change the controls aside from your 1-0 hot keys. Don't want 'A' to be the autotab button? Too bad. One strong point is that gold is actually valuable unlike D2. The merchants sell great equipment and you can always pay to improve your current stuff(with an increasing risk of losing all properties). Being able to send your pet back to town to sell items is handy too so you don't have to travel back all the time.
Torchlight's story is junk unfortunately. It definitely feels like it was just slapped together as an afterthought, unlike the Diablo games.
As for replay, Torchlight does use almost all randomized dungeons which is a plus, but you wont need to restart with different builds over and over like in D2. With Torchlight, any skill is functional at level 1(out of 10) and you get a lot of skill points to distribute. As a result, you basically only need to play through with each class once to see all the skills and wont feel the need to replay with different builds. This is good in the sense that you can switch it up regularly while playing and don't get stuck spamming one skill for the whole game like in D2 but again, it isn't as great for replay value. Still, I expect to get more replay out of Torchlight than I did from Titan Quest, which lacked randomized environments, causing it to lose my interest after one play-through on one difficulty.
I would consider Torchlight to be a lot better than Titan Quest, but still a big step away from D2. You probably wont get the kind of replay from Torchlight that D2 offered.
Worth $5, oh yeah. Worth $20? I guess that depends how much you expect to be bothered by less realistic, more light hearted graphics and a lack of interesting plot. If you like Diablo-esque ARPGs then I think it's worth the $20.
And as others mentioned, it is kinda neat to hear some of the sounds that seem to be taken right out of D2:P
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The only time under is appropriate is in public and office restrooms using the metal cabinets that are set up for under, otherwise I just find it annoying.
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Of course there is no shortage of games, both good and bad, that have all those same things.
The great sales were a combination of good marketing, good reputation built by predecessors in the series and good reviews/word of mouth. I've only played the game briefly, but I think the latter of those is certainly some evidence of quality.
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People were incredibly excited about it before it came out and seemed to have mixed opinions of it once they played it. It seems that the common complaints are that it is single player only and doesn't offer the replay value people hoped for.
For anyone that for some reason hasn't heard of it, Torchlight is an ARPG similar to the Diablo games with a more light hearted art direction. The company that made it composed partially by people that brought us the current Diablo games but are not working on D3. Also, there is a free level editor from what I understand along with a variety of mods.
I'm gonna get it. For $5, it looks pretty awesome. The normal $20 would be a bit of a stretch though.
edit- Hey I posted 24 hours and 1 minute apart
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Similarly, it always bugs me when PC games are set up to use 360 controllers but no longer let you map buttons on a generic controller. I got GTA IV for the PC partially because I assumed I could use my ps2-like logitech controller, but no. Stupid companies wanting money and stuff.
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Anyway, congrats on you're billiards championship thing.
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I might not be remembering correctly, but I think they said something at the last Blizzcon about us having to wait for this one to hear about the final class. Even then, it wasn't a promise or anything, just a possibility. I don't think it's unlikely though.
I'm sure the other news people want from them is a release date, but I highly doubt any specific date would be given. Maybe they'll narrow it down to next year(or I suppose a later year is possible, but I doubt it). I'd be rather happy to hear what quarter they expect it to be released, but I don't think we'll get that specific.
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BlizzCon 2010 Announced!
If you've been holding your breath waiting to find out when and where the next BlizzCon would be held, then... you've probably passed out by now. But if you've just been patiently watching for an announcement, then we've got good news for you: BlizzCon will be returning to the Anaheim Convention Center on Friday, October 22 through Saturday, October 23! Just as in years past, BlizzCon 2010 will feature an exciting mix of discussion panels, tournaments, hands-on gameplay, contests, and much more. Check out the announcement press release, and keep an eye on www.blizzcon.com in the months ahead for further details, including ticketing information.
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It would be a bit of a shame if the CoD games turned to junk under a new group. MW2 is the first one that's gotten my attention. I intend to get MW2 at some point when it's on sale or something although the lack of dedicated servers is kind of lame.
As for the release being too soon, I suspect most MW2 players will go out and buy the next CoD as soon as it's released anyway so it probably is best in terms of profits to make a new game quick. On the other hand, if the new company drops the ball then you'll have people lose interest in the series. I suppose the best thing for the company to do would be to make expansions and DLC for MW2 as long as the following stays strong.
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It's a good point, and I'll consider it further when I get to the step of writing to agents and/or publishers. I think I'll keep the younger age group in mind while writing however, otherwise I'm likely to go a more mature route(late teens and up), which I don't want for this particular story. The other two ideas will probably be more mature fantasy stories though(similar audience as the Sin War books in terms of maturity).
I only have short snippets done at the moment and am still fleshing out the plot. I have most of it planned but still need to do most of the writing and a heck of a lot of refining. Once it starts getting polished, I may send around some samples.
I think you'll find teaching can be a lot of fun, though like any job, you do have to put up with plenty of bs administrative stuff. It's a pretty good profession to go into if you still want spare time for other hobbies/interests(generally work under 200 days a year).
Yeah, I always came up with ideas and started writing when I was a little kid but for whatever reason stopped trying eventually. Recently I just decided to do it and with enough planning, mapping out stories before jumping in headfirst, etc. I think I can do it. I think having multiple projects to switch between helps me too.
The mother of a couple kids I tutor has something like 4 books published and from what I've read, her stuff isn't at all original or well written(not terrible, just not great). Granted, she is doing non-fiction touchy-feely advice stuff, but it still gives me hope that it can't be that hard to get something written and published.
Also, the books I've seen kids be required to read in middle school(some books meant to be as low as 3rd grade level) really aren't very good most of the time. Normally when the kids have to pick a book, the boys seem to dismiss most of them as either too girly or just boring.
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Of course, I only asked for more information about your stance out of respect for your opinion, not with the intention to argue(just a disclaimer before anyone else jumps in as though it were an argument, as people tend to do in forums too often). My professional experience teaching and tutoring has been limited to 6th-12th grade, so it's always nice to hear what a teacher(or aspiring teacher as the case may be) with a different background has to add.
Agreed. And that is certainly the type of character(one that does the right thing and such) that will be the lead in this one. I have two other projects I'm working on that are aimed at a more mature audience and will deal with internal conflicts along those lines, but the children's book doesn't go into that so much.
Responsibility, proper use of power, discouraging violence are all central themes I'm working with. I wouldn't consider it a problem for weapons to be involved if there is adequate emphasis on not misusing them.
Violence as a theme certainly would be a bad choice for a kids book, though some violence isn't all that uncommon. I think you may be underestimating the level of violence that's tolerated for that age group by publishers and schools.
The early middle school kids I tutor recently read a book that involved a boy witnessing his dad strangle his mother to death and years later strangle another woman nearly to death(she lived but could no longer talk and required a neck brace) as well as rope up his kid and try to kill another if I remember correctly. All in all, the book had a good message but it also had some potentially scary moments as well as some fairly mature topics. That was a book assigned by a Lutheran private elementary and middle school of all things.
Some of the books I remember from 5th and 6th grade were considerably worse as well, though those were probably marketed towards older kids by the publishers even if the schools didn't mind them being read by younger children.
Supposedly Rowling didn't have any age range in mind while writing but the first Harry Potter was initially marketed towards children ages 9 to 11 as a choice by the publisher. The books did get progressively more mature though and the target audience grew much wider.
If it makes any difference, in the story I'm writing(really need to think up a title already:P) magic is also consistent throughout and the use of swords is exclusively used in combination with magic. I do see the concern however that waving around swords is more easily imitated by kids, but then again how many younger kids don't already wave around any pole shaped object and pretend it's a sword?
The age may change as I get more written and I would like it to be something still enjoyable for that 13-15 age range. Of course, the publishers will have final say on who they want to market towards. As for length, my current plans do seem to lean towards a few hundred pages, but the story can easily be broken into either 2, 3 or 7 sections. I will likely divide it into 3 parts since shorter books are more appealing to kids and easier to publish(more likely to sell, cost less to print, take up less shelf space from the book store's perspective).
Of course the only downside with breaking up the story is that if it doesn't sell, I would never get the remaining parts published. Although I guess I could fall back on an e-book publication if I just really wanted to make the remaining bit public.
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Hmm, character ideas...