Do_The_Manta_Ray

You don't.

Make a post about it on the forums, hopefully it'll pick up steam by itself. But if you're counting on the participation of the crew, that's not going to happen. They don't listen to their userbase in that way. Or in any from what I can recall. I love this site, but the guys do their own thing, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you really want to get some feedback from one of 'em in particular, then send a message to said person, Drew or Rorie are most like to respond ( and know their PC modding), and then just maybe they'll opt to cover your thing if they feel like it, and lack other things to cover that week.

I hate to be so cynical about it, but it is what it is.

Receiving games early is a very singular pleasure. I had the luck of getting my copy of MKX almost a week early, and hounded these forums for some time indeed. In this particular instance, however, I really don't feel the slightly envious, despite this being my most anticipated game of the year. (Along with MGS V) And that's for the simply reason that I've got no interest in playing The Witcher 3 on a PS4.

My pre-load for the PC is already completed. Most recent DOTA patch and life will tide me over until then.

I've always been real curious about War of the Roses. At the time, I opted to get Chivalry instead as there was a button dedicated for "warcry". So, I'd love it if you were to throw that thing my way.

Either way, cool of you to do this, mate. Everyone benefits, I can't imagine anyone being unhappy about th.. Wait, what's that sound?

"Arryyyyyyyaaaaaaaaauuuuuuiuiiiiiiiigggghhhh!" - Mason Knight

I distinctly remember walking that beaten path towards Vivec in Morrowind, seeing those strange, rectangular, gargantuan stones jutting from the sea all gold and brown as the sun set. Kind of moment that stays with you.

And this was playing.

Morrowind was SO good, you guys. So fucking good. (Cue my bitching about where the series has gone since.)

Journey was nothing but those kind of moments. I still go back and replay that thing every couple of months. There's some other great examples already in this thread, making me realize just how much I value some games looking back. Max Payne's certainly up there, Crysis, God of War 1. Dead Space. And I feel obligated to mention Planescape: Torment.

@fredchuckdave: We're talking about different types of weaponry here in different circumstances. That's what combat is. Excuse me, "kombat". If I have an automatic rifle, and I'm up against 10 guys with knives at the other end of a field, I'm probably going to do alright. If I'm up against 10 guys with knives in a small room, that rifle might take a few of them with me, but that's it. Same mentality applies for swords, spears, cooking pots, you name it.

About your "historical" example, commanders taking to the field were flanked by some of the best warriors in the entire force. They formed a tight circle around their commander, and protected them from harm. They'd counter attacks, and drive heavily into their opponents to open them up, thus allowing their commander to strike the killing blow. This wasn't done merely to stoke the ego of said leader, but to boost morale for the troops in the army, making them believe that the one they were following was indeed blessed, and undefeatable. It is why those stories exist to this day. Not to say that said commanders weren't usually adept at fighting. They'd had the best tutors money could buy, but the way you're presenting is simply, and unfortunately, false. Those heroes never existed.

Now, the Bronn fight was actually pretty realistic. He defeated three people. The first, he caught with a throwing dagger after the man gave him an opportunity to use it. In the chaos of that, he immediately cut down a second's horse for Jaime to deal with, and then set out to defeating two opponents on his own. They were on horseman, which is a feat, alright. But that is something other knights, in the crusades for instance, have been reported to have done. So it's far from implausible.

@fredchuckdave: I very much agree with your first two points, but as for the Navy SEAL comparison.. With all due respect, 15 people? Not a chance in hell. 7 people? Not a chance in hell. The trick to fighting multiple opponents is simple, it's keeping one of them between you and the rest of the group at all times. This is often done by quickly eliminating someone and then grabbing them, using them as a human shield you can twirl around, threaten or shove into your oncoming attackers. Once you get into a situation where there are too many for you to effectively hold off simply by positioning yourself, you are fucked. This is about ten times as true if we're talking knife-fights, where-in you need to jump, or bodily shove someone attacking you away to effectively block an attack. Parrying, or deflecting fast knife attacks from numerous sources, is fiction. If you have multiple people charging you with knives, there is next to nothing you can do as all they need is some weight to drive the blade in. For the record, I do Krav Maga.

On topic, though, I believe they've already said that the majority of the harpies were people hired by the former masters, they're likely mercenaries or at least professional soldiers themselves. I don't think it's unrealistic for them to be able to swarm a smaller group of soldiers who specialize in spears and get the advantage with their knives in a tight alley, doubly so as it was an ambush. Honestly, there's way too many unrealistic expectations of fighters in this here thread. What Greyworm did in that scene was borderline impossible.

Overall, I liked this episode a lot, the exception being the sand snakes scene.. Boy.. It's been said, but damn, that was not good.

These threads continue to puzzle me some. Maybe I'm just on a very, very extended hot streak of luck, but I got some 200 games under my belt now, and I've not had any problems whatsoever with people spamming past the first 30 games or so. The thing about the special moves in this game, the majority of 'em leave you wiiiiide open if you miss. The only ones that are safe to use regularly are those that push the enemy back some, Liu Kang's flying kick for instance, thus making it impossible for them to immediately counter you with a combo or an uppercut. And even those are risky if your opponent can quickly close the distance, Erron Black's pistol-whipping combos serve as a good example.

Now, Scorpion's Hellfire is rough if you're turtling. It's supposed to be. So don't. Get right up there to him and smack the fucker. Learn a couple of more advanced combos that'll net you some damage proper, and just get close to him and unleash while he's busy with the long aftermath of the ability. The damage he's able to put out on you via long-distance hell-fire will seem comparatively meek, and then it's just a game of numbers.

As l1ghtn1n suggested here, use the training room, that's what it's there for. You'll be able to set up the same scenario you're struggling with, and be able to experiment and find a solution that works for you. For the record, in the higher tiers of players, you don't see a lot of scorpion because his moves are so damn risky. I struggled a bit with the Hellfire variation when I first encountered it, but since I figured out what methods to circumvent the bullshit, I've not lost a game against a scorpion.

Overall, I've yet to find a single bullshit strategy in this game that you can't adapt to and learn to counter in such a way that you, yourself, gain an advantage from it. Admittedly, I kill most people before they have a chance to do stuff, but still.

Also, Europe seems to have less Scorpion than the US. Now, I'm not saying this makes us better on a cultural level, but I think we all know that's the case.

Ah, @l1ghtn1n.. Look at you, growing up in front of my very eyes. Your own tournament, I'm so proud. This looks well put-together to boot, and it seems like you guys have considered the most pressing issues that might interfere. May I ask, though, what was it that made you decide to restrict the characters/variations?

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As for the rest of you looking in through the windows, sign on up. I'm not able to participate, what with living in Europe and all, so you guys actually have a shot at winning this now. It's a damn shame, given the level of a beat-down Erron Black and I had in store for you lot, but, but.. That's life.

As for you other Europeans bummed out about this NA-only restriction (due to the region-locks, no fault lies with the fine makers of this tournament), if there's enough interest, we'll be setting up a tournament for our own selves at some point in the close future.

My experience with Star Wars is strange in that I've got comparatively little respect for the core franchise, and far more so for the auxiliary stuff, particularly the earlier games. "Dark Forces 2", and "Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast" are some of my favourite games of all time. "Tie-Fighter" remains an incredible experience, and if you give me the opportunity, I will rant, at length, about KOTOR, and KOTOR 2 to a lesser extent. I also remember being unapologetically fond of the pod-racing game.

Far as the movies go, the only one I'm genuinely fond of is "The Empire Strikes Back". That is just hands-down a fantastic movie in every respect. The darker vibe compared to the first goes a long way to flesh out the universe and the threat of the Empire, which seemed tenuous at best in "A New Hope". Yoda is a great character and provides a much needed sense of mystery to a series that was all about god damn space-magic, and there is an abundance of Han Solo and Chewie. That's right, there's all the Han Solo and Chewie you could ask for.

The third film had real potential, but the segments on Endor drags it down in a way that's become so typical for Lucas in the years since. And let's just.. Pretend the prequels didn't happen. I really like the general idea those movies were going for, show-casing the glory days of the republic and it's fall, personalized through a parallel to Anakin himself, but there is nothing redeeming about the writing or any details of the plot. Though the clone army was a cool idea, and I really liked that fight between Jango Fett and Obi-Wan.

And yet, somehow I find myself weirdly excited about a new Star Wars movie. The reasons for which are pretty simple, they're using iconography from KOTOR first and foremost. That is THE source to draw inspiration from, period. Secondly, Han Solo and Chewbacca, Han Solo and Chewbacca. HAN SOLO and CHEWBACCA. And thirdly, a woman as the lead, with the second major lead being a black man. Apparently, the only place for equality in major blockbusters is a galaxy far, far away.