JCDenton

Been playing more Eastern Sun than has been healthy the last couple of days. On the surface, it plays a bit more like classic LoD, but has some nice changes to the skill trees, as well as a lot of cool gear options. A few map changes round out a well-done mod. Currently running a Lightning Hydra-Fissure melee Sorc who is just silly fun to play. Drop a few few Hydras to troll in some monsters, drop a Fissure, and whack away. (Sorcs have access to a Zeal-like attack in the mod, which is just the icing on the cake for her.) You can get some good mods (and some less-than-stellar ones) here.(Scroll down to third reply or so) Median XL: two thumbs up Eastern Sun (community mod): two thumbs up Snej mod: I'd like to give it two thumbs up, but can't at this point as it is slower than cLoD and not newbie-friendly. One and a half??? YGBKM (you gotta be kidding me): Good for the occasional lulz, but kind of empty. Still has its moments. One thumb up. Netherworld Rises: Two thumbs DOWN!!!!!!!!!

Maybe an open thread for everyonr to hash out survival philosophes, strategies, and tactics. Should be fun and might just learn a thing or two.

Classic. Even better if you were able to carry it to the next game...

I'll go with jaromir Jagr. I always thought he was a hell of a hockey player, but the last few years have raised my opinion of him. Being the est players on the Devils at age 42 is no small feat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVXwKGMN6Cc <---make sure to either turn on subtitles or speak Czesky. Note: I used to play roller hockey in local leagues, and I feel that watching him play inspired me to be a better player.

Skellymancers are more about slugging it out long-term. I used to run a Bonemancer who used the cheesy Bone Wall/Prison + Iron maiden combo to the point I became ashamed of myself for doing so. So many good options with that class. On the whole, though, I was a dedicated Amazon enthusiast. I even played a group game where I ran an Impaler- arguably one of the worst Zon skills due to speed and durability issues... and in the context of that group, it WORKED like a BOSS!!! Speaking of bosses, they didn't like her very much. (Long story short, Alexander's Amazons. One Barb - Alexander- buffing us with warcries, 7 zons with spears, vals, and decoys, and everyone had a town guard merc... that's a LOT of spears in one screenshot!) Also, a bowazon with an Ice bow and Dragon armor is just broken!

It's been 20+ years since I last read Dune, and I've been meaning to re-read it after catching the movie on TV a few weeks ago. Simply epic.

Too many to list, but some memorable shows include: Megadeth 2001: Saw them in DC about a month after 9/11 attacks. Wierd vibe for the show, they came out and crushed for 90 minutes. Greatful Dead 1995: Went to this show about a month or so before Jerry Garcia passed away. Another weird vibe, but for totally different reasons... Clash of the Titans 1990: Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer. What the hell more do you want, sparky? Children of Bodom 2008: Whatever issues they've allegedly had playing live, they left them at the door for this show. Really looking forward to catching Arch Enemy's new lineup on this tour. A lot of people hating on Alissa, but I think she brings a new element to the vocal department.

It's been a month or so for me myself. Actually, I've been enjoying the Les Royaume des Ombres (Realm of Shadows) mod by Xaphan (the official name is French, the modmaker's nationality.) It's a cool take on Diablo lore, and does some cool stuff with the game. When I last played, I did a Mystic Guardian (Paladin) who did a lot of passive damage as well as buffed-up melee attacks. http://www.medianxl.com/t3228-le-royaume-des-ombres-the-realm-of-shadows <-Link to mod here, as well as 100 pages of discussion... and some spinoff threads. Inspired by other ARPG games, it adds Fame, path trees, specialties, reworks all skill trees for characters, adds some new skill families for some characters, adds whole new crafting options for items, and gets nasty difficult at inappropriate times. In other words, it's awesome. I've played so many mods over the last few years that vanilla LoD doesn't do it for me anymore.

Generally speaking, if you can avoid the mullet look (think Eugene in the Walking Dead), you should do alright. My rule of thumb is that the top and front are within 3" of the length of the back. For everyday use, I just pull it all back in a ponytail. When I "let my freak flag fly", I get all sorts of looks, good and bad. It does work better if you can rock some serious facial hair, which I don't. My facial hair takes an hour or so a day- every day- to keep looking good, and I don't have that kind of time. Mix and match with some serious metal blaring from your car as you drive down the road... or actually playing metal. For me, it's guitar all the way again.

Anyone remember the "Bo Knows..." campaign Nike did with Bo Jackson in the late 8os? I had the "Bo, You Don't Know Diddly" shirt, as an homage to my guitar playing- odd, since I was (and am) and everything-but-blues guitarist. And skintight biker shorts.

Time Requiem's cover of "Voulez-Vous"... ...originally done by ABBA.

I tried it at the behest of my roommate. The video lessons are decent-to-good from a mechanical standpoint, but at the same time, you can probably find most of this on youtube or other video sites, for the cost of your monthly internet access. The play-along parts are frustrating to me, but then I learned from more traditional approaches many years ago. I guess it would be less of a problem for someone starting out, but I don't like that part of it. My favorite part is the tone designer. Much as I express the importance of learning solid technique, finding the right tones for your style is also important, and this is a useful, if incomplete, tool. The tuner function is pretty awesome, and there's even a metronome function, which i can't say enough its importance. I rate it 9/10 for beginners and 7/10 for experienced players. One point is just for the value. Compare $80 to the combined cost of an amp, a tuner, and a metronome, never mind effects, which can easily jump to the $500+ range. This is a very good thing for those who like the idea of being a guitar player, but may not like the amount of time involved in getting better at it; cutting $80 worth of losses is a lot easier, and the game might be easier to sell than all that gear. Six points are for the "game" itself. Not great, but not bad at all. Two bonus points for beginners, as the format is structured for the beginner. Beginner: Must-buy. Experienced: Good bargain if you already have a system.

Winner winner chicken dinner. I do like Rick's line at the end. Remember: In the zombie apocalypse, if it sounds too good to be true, RUN in the opposite direction, especially if the living are involved. The living are your worst enemy. Better to hole up in a prison somewhere, surrounded by hordes of the walking dead who can't get to you, than to deal with the living. Unless the living have a tank... [/facepalm]

I've been enjoying a bit of red wine now and then. Mostly for the health benefits, wink wink nudge nudge. Half a bottle (750mL) is enough to get a good buzz, but not so drunk that i can't go for a walk at night.

More Torchlight II. My roommate is getting it set up so we can do a Let's Play together. Should be fun. Another game which I've enjoyed a bit is Plague, Inc: Evolved. Eradicating humanity never gets old, although i don;t succeed as much as I'd like.