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raddevon

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raddevon

515

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5663

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#1  Edited By raddevon
@Teirdome: I haven't played the DA:O expansion, but I bought the first DLC. It was cheap, but I was done with it in less than an hour. This is the same reason I don't really purchase comic books. It's not really even worth the trouble to buy the thing for that little content. 
 
@Claude: I can certainly understand. I have usually had enough by the time I go through once, but there is that rare game I just can't get enough of.
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raddevon

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#2  Edited By raddevon
Not every DLC pack for Fallout 3 and Borderlands was stellar. Fallout 3's packs were all solid with some being better than others. Borderlands mis-stepped with Mad Moxie, but the others were good. (Note: I have not played the last pack because it corrupted my character. However, it was critically well-received.) Anyway, those packs were each content rich and added to the existing story. BioWare is taking a different approach with DLC for their most recent releases. This DLC is typically very small and fits into the story already in place rather than adding content to the end. It may seem to you these are two equally valid approaches. I am here to tell you that you are wrong.

The amount of content in these packs is not entirely unreasonable... in a vacuum. Unfortunately, the DLC space, while young, is not brand new. This puts Mass Effect's paltry DLC efforts into the same marketplace as those of Fallout 3 and Borderlands. I'm sure Mass Effect 2's DLC is fantastic just as was the rest of that game, but, for most of us gamers, it is difficult to ignore the value we are getting for our dollar. Fallout 3's shortest DLC addons were about five hours long at $10. Mass Effect 2's hour-long Kasumi loyalty mission costs gamers $7. The math is easy; you'll pay $2/hour for Fallout 3 DLC versus $7/hour for Mass Effect 2 DLC.

That fact is I really loved Mass Effect 2--perhaps even more than Fallout 3. I would have paid $7 for more of that even though it was criminally short if not for one fact. I, like many of my fellow Mass Effect 2 fanatics, had already completed the campaign by the time of the addon's release. The addon, unlike Fallout 3 addons, inserted content into the middle of the game. For the completionists in the audience, this is not a problem. They will gladly fire up a new campaign and play it just to get to the DLC. I'm more of a tourist; I typically go through the game, experience what it has to offer, and reflect on the experience never to go back. I certainly don't want to replay a bunch of content just to get to the new stuff I have paid for. I relished the Fallout 3 content because it was all free-standing. It didn't depend on the player's position in the campaign. This makes it appeal to many more types of players, myself included.

Will BioWare learn and correct the errors of their ways? Most likely not. If this DLC sells reasonably well, they will have succeeded in selling a smaller chunk of content to players than what Bethesda and Gearbox have provided for their players at a nearly comparable price. This will provide them positive reinforcement and all the incentive they need to keep cranking out tiny packs and overcharging us for them. My only solace is in knowing they won't fool me into buying them.
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raddevon

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#3  Edited By raddevon
@Sin4profit: I have to admit that I love me some overkill. I would love to have a four-player cabinet with a spinner and trackball, but I digress. 
 
You have some great advice here. I will point my friend toward Sketchup. I'm sure he will enjoy it. 
 
PM me with your blog when you get that setup. I would love to follow your progress.
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raddevon

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#4  Edited By raddevon

Thanks for the kind comments. I have to give all the credit to a friend of mine. His name is Brandon Haynes. I would point you to his Giant Bomb profile or his Twitter account or something, but he doesn't exist outside of meatspace. 

@Teirdome: The local mall had an arcade when I was a kid. I would go there occasionally on the weekend and spend $5 which went pretty far at 25 and 50 cents per play. I can understand the whole thing might lack appeal without the nostalgia factor although my daughter seems to love it in spite of the fact that she has no context for it whatsoever.

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raddevon

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#5  Edited By raddevon
Some of you may know that my friend has been building an arcade cabinet for me for some time now. He recently finished it, and it now has a happy home in my basement with the rest of my toys. It turned out really well. Here's a quick video tour of the cabinet. Feel free to post questions or comments. I will respond to everyone I can. 
 
The video is in HD, but you may have to click through to see it that way.
  
  
If you're curious and want to know more, check out this video I did for my blog while the cabinet was still in progress. 
  
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raddevon

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#6  Edited By raddevon

I've built two of my own, and, yes, I am totally bored with it. For my last system, I ordered and let them assemble it for me. It worked right out of the box without any tinkering!

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raddevon

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#7  Edited By raddevon

Hey, everyone. Share your hints for playing controller in the game. I may make a guide later on for playing controller. The controller interface is pretty good, but there is certainly lots to learn before you're really able to craft a great scene in 30 seconds. 
 
In particular, what sort of strategies do you use in preparing a story? 
 
I'll share the one thing I've learned to get things going. 

  • Select the player character before starting your speech bubble. The will insure you are able to type.
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raddevon

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#8  Edited By raddevon

Mobile Safari seems to break the bar at the bottom. The bar starts out at the bottom of the viewport when you load the site, but it stays in that exact position on the page rather than staying attached to the bottom of the viewport all the time. I hope I explained that well enough. 
 
Great job on the quest system! I'm loving it.

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raddevon

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#9  Edited By raddevon

I wouldn't say that I find it offensive, but you would never catch me with a Confederate flag. The justifications people give for waving that flag are the same people give for pride in the South in the context of the Civil War; they say it is a symbol of "states' rights" or their "heritage." Nevermind that their "heritage" is having fought a war for "states' rights" to subjugate an entire race of people to protect their economic interests. Saying it's a symbol of "states' rights" or that they are celebrating their "heritage" is really just a self-righteous smokescreen to cover up their longing for the "good ole days" when the woman was pregnant and in the kitchen, the black man was in the fields, and the white man was on top.
 
But, of course, that's just my opinion. ;-) Also, that's not to say someone couldn't have a legitimate reason for pride in the South or even for pride in the Confederate flag. For instance, I'm proud of my home state of Tennessee for banning smoking in restaurants. It was a move that totally shocked me. Now I can go into a restaurant without worrying how close my table in non-smoking will be to the smoking section and how this might affect my young daughter's developing lungs. It's a huge step for a state so dependent on tobacco as a cash crop, and I'm sure the measure was met with ample opposition.

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raddevon

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#10  Edited By raddevon

There are lots of good mentions so far. I would like to add 'Splosion Man. That is a great recent side-scrolling platformer.