Blogs - Ambient_Malice

After playing Skyrim all of yesterday and half of today, I've come to some conclusions.

Vampirism, vampires, and all associated tropes are a major disappointment. I wasn't wanting glamourized vampires. I just wanted workable gameplay and meaningful characters. I got all the fun of slamming my foot in a door, and sword-fodder.

The quests are well written, but a tad one-way. Let me explain: at certain points you make decisions, such as agreeing to betray that noblewoman whose name I can't recall. This decision, once made, actually changes the entire quest. I had no intention of handing her over, so I reloaded. There needs to always be an option C. Skyrim has a tendency to not only funnel you into A or B, but actually take the things you say as reality-shaping truth.

Marriage is tacked on and useless. This opinion has nothing to do with the fact I can't marry my horse.

The dragon shout unlock menu is badly designed. I can see how people would fail to press R and think Dragon Souls weren't registering.

By trimming the more banal dialogue, Bethesda has squeezed a LOT out of the sixty-odd thousand lines. I only wish--and no, I'm not gonna shut up about this--they had given the vampire characters more dialogue.

I need to get back to it. That third dragon just swooped over the watchtower. It was facing the right way, fortunately.

My copy of Skyrim arrived in the post this morning. It's installing right now. I grabbed a copy of the acceleration layer for extra silky smoothness, and I'll be tasting the awesome before long.

I'm already feeling more productive. Even though Skyrim is about to consume my life. That's called a paradox, kiddies.

I had a dream last night that Anonymous hacked my account and replaced every instance of 'Santorum' with 'Odin', the Norse god. It was WEIRD.

I like Richard Santorum. A lot. Sure he's got his faults... being a Roman Catholic means he probably isn't truly born again, and there are some question marks over his private economics. But other than that, what a charming candidate for American President! (Bearing in mind that I dislike democracy and favor autocratic monarchies.)

There is a hope of a prayer of a dream of a chance that Rick Santorum becomes US President. But if he doesn't, I'll make the pain bearable by adding a character named 'Santorum' to Chocolate Sunday: which is idling at the moment. The anxiety of waiting for my copy of Skyrim is ripping me apart. My health is unstable, my productivity is slipping. I missed the ETA for the Massive Attack Subtitles patch. I can't bring myself to test Clan Quest mod 3.0 for Burgermeister.

I just need to find a quiet place to write Chocolate Sunday's second script draft, and then finish the mod before mid-year.

Incidentally, hackers are pissed that the PSP Vita has mandatory internet-based firmware checks when connecting to PC for file transfer. If you haven't got the latest firmware, the device doesn't connect. Short of address-spoofing workarounds, this is gonna be a massive pain in the arse.

Just got another upgrade. This time, I upgraded my E2180 Dual Core to a Core Duo 6600. I only just clicked that the Dual Core model isn't the same as a Core Duo. 4 MB L2 cache to the former's 1 MB, for a start.

I'm very happy. Especially because this upgrade was free. It came from a dumped PC, just like the GT220.

The CPU is running at 3 Ghz, and is stable.

In other news, Chocolate Sunday is still ticking along. I toyed with the idea of putting Prinnies into CS, but technical realities won out. Plus my pixel drawing skills are rudimentary. That hasn't stopped me revamping the faces panel, though. It's ridiculous that Misery has green hair in her portrait. I changed it to dark grey - black, essentially. Plus I've redone mimigas and human Sue.

Skyrim being 23 odd days late, I've asked for a refund. I hold no hard feelings - the seller is excellent, but the postal service is a joke. All these random holidays at the end of December!? I'm gonna buy it at EB as soon as my money comes back. If the package does come in the mail, I'll just return it unopened.

edit:

After discussions with the seller, I've decided to allow more time.

Today is Christmas. Got some presents. Skyrim is still late. Watched Tim Allen in The Santa Clause.

I'm gonna drag the mood down a bit now.... I'm a little bit over Google's blatant disregard for Christian holidays. HOLY DAYS, for the linguistically savvy.

How hard is it, Google? You really think people don't notice? Tim Allen got in trouble for skipping Christmas in Christmas with the Kranks. Yet you do it year after year, without having the balls to come clean and admit you've got a problem.

Ah, but that's life. I should just focus on work.

Chocolate Sunday is coming along nicely. Very nicely indeed.

Plus, I've been lurking on 4chan. My brain hurts.