Tharkane

I decided to give the game another whirl. I blew the dust off the jewel case and fired it up. I'm an old school DE (Cobra was godly), a latter day Daemon (Flying Daemon for those precision nuclear battlefield strikes), and now a Shadow Warrior devotee. No doubt about it, the SW wears the mantle well. Melee is my preference, and I like Demonic Blow with the Area of Effect mod for massive carnage. I prefer all of my foes to scream in unison, and Demonic Blow doesn't disappoint. Sometimes I just use Scything Sweep to go bowling, which is just as fun. I see some excellent suggestions in this thread. I stick to Death Warrior and pump up Grim Resilience as far as I can, using the Fortify, Readiness, and Safeguard mods. I also use Reflective Emanation with the Backlash, Antimagic and Riposte mods, and find my work much easier because of it. Most non-elites are almost dead by the time I get to them if I have packs to work through. Demonic Blow is also great with the leeching mod + leech on gear (I think that one is pretty much a must-have). I have all of the CAs I use down to about 1.3 second regen time, which means I can just mash buttons while pressing alt to look at the loot as it drops. P.S. - Two-handed axes and hammers. You are the Prophet of Carnage, and a really big hammer or an axe is your bully pulpit...

*looks around* So, you gave the forum a facelift yet again, eh gogo? No Hello Kitty theme:)

Underworld delved into synergies more thoroughly than the previous incarnation of the game did. I explored one particular avenue with Daemon builds. I believe I covered that topic in some part of the Daemon guide that I wrote. The synergies were quite dramatic in regards to the Daemon build variants. That was the strength of the Daemon character.

I'm looking forward to GW2. I'll look y'all up when it's up and running. Hopefully they have Flower Elves...

Venison is lean...and gamy in flavor, if it wasn't processed properly. If it's been treated properly, then you have a healthy, lean meat to eat that requires some sprucing and spicing up in order to avoid tasting bland. This recipe for venison meatloaf is very close to what an old girlfriend of mine used to do with the venison she had stored in her freezer (yes, she hunted, processed, and butchered it herself): Venison Meatloaf You can also use the venison to make some tasty chili, if you so desire. Whatever you use it in, don't rely on the venison to carry the flavor, because it won't. On the other hand, considering how healthy it is for you compared to beef, it's worth the effort.

More than likely, I'll give it a shot...after all, I gave Sacred 2 a shot. I cannot help but remain skeptical of games these days, however...they all seem like shallow, glitzy, hyped fluffy croissant shells stuffed with a sugary filling that leaves you buzzed for a time before you crash down into the carbohydrate blues. Perhaps this speaks more about the demise of the small gaming studio than it does anything else. Their passion tends towards actually making games, as opposed to making gobs of money. I think of Black Isle Studios and the top-notch creative content they were cranking out...that is, until their untimely demise. If this game is being created by those with a passion for gaming, then I have no doubt that they will resurrect the Sacred franchise like a phoenix rising from the ashes. On the other hand, if what we are looking at here falls into the modus operandi typical of the gaming industry, then prepare yourselves for another colossal disappointment. I, for one, am not content with settling with less, regardless if it bears the Sacred name or not. This is why Sacred 2 was a failure in my estimation.

Ah, it's like old times. Hey Dave, long time no read. In the game's defense, I never got around to the patches nor the expansion. I set it aside before those arrived on the scene. Here's to hoping that Blizzard doesn't rob D3 of it's original dark heart as expressed in the earlier games, Knuckles. I quite enjoyed tinkering with D2 and the LoD expansion back in the day...my Bowazon was a carnage machine, a precursor of my gore-factory Daemon in Sacred. I'm a bit wary from what I have seen of D3 thus far. We shall see. I was disappointed in the lack of synergies, for one, gogo. That was something the Diablo games featured and something that Sacred offered as well, as a nod to the inspiration the developers derived from that franchise. It made for a more diverse and varied play experience, and helped to make character building more detailed for those who wished to plumb the depths, in a manner of speaking. I like doing that sort of thing. Secondly - and perhaps more important than what's above - is the general impression I had that the game was rushed into completion with gaping holes in the storyline, dialogue, and itemization. It made me miss the Annihilating Daggers of the Menial, to be honest. Remember those? I used to hate 'em. Now I miss 'em. The English translation was sloppy, to say the least. That bugged me considerably. The quests seemed to be a farce of a farce, of a farce. The original Sacred, by comparison, was like War and Peace compared to Sacred 2's Bazooka Joe gum wrapper comic strip about War and Peace. It seemed that way to me, anyway. In the end analysis, I'd say that Sacred 2 lacked a soul like its predecessor had. I couldn't connect with the game. After I put it down, I went out and picked up Titan Quest. I didn't like that one, either.

The Elder Scrolls is a good series. It certainly sucks you in. I had some issues with munchkinism, though. Take Morrowind, for example. By the time I stopped playing, my Redguard could whip Vivec bare handed...I could run around killing Ordinators on a whim...I could fly, breathe underwater, and my armor would perpetually heal me...ach. My gear looked cool, no doubt...but I could run around naked owning everything. I didn't use any cheats, either. Cheats make games boring beyond the pale. I played Oblivion for a while, and found the same issues. Like a seven speed manual transmission can't help but climb in power, you cannot help but end up ultra-uber and godlike in power. That might be cool for some, but for me it ended up being rather boring.

I'm still around. Those who frequented the SIF might recognize me...and if you don't, well, you aren't missing much. Sacred 2 just didn't do it for yours truly. After tinkering around with the characters for a while, I grew despondent and started pulling my hair out. Well, okay...the pulling my hair out bit is an exaggeration. I'm doing other things these days...and waiting for a decent game to come along that I can sink my teeth into. Other than that, nothing much to say. Glad to see that Dark Matters is till kickin'...and I notice the facelift. You go, gogo.

And here at 40 I thought I was old. Thanks for making me feel better.

That's primarily because the term mob as it is used in gaming originated in online applications. Occasionally people with MMO experience (like myself) will refer to non-player creatures in a single-player game as a mob. It's widely used in MMOs.

The term mob as it applies to gaming is thought to originate in 1980 from a creator of a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon). It is derived from mobile object. I have seen it used countless times in gaming over the years...including being used by a number of game designers when referring to NPCs in games. It is widely used to describe a non-player creature in gaming. A bit of gaming history: a MUD is the grand-daddy of MMOs, and to a lesser extent most modern computer games.

Giles? Nah, he's a b00b. A perv. Totally.

Nicely done, solid build. I've been playing Sacred 2 for a few days now and I really like this seraphim. She packs a punch. Kudos.

My definition of underrated does not correlate with underpowered. I would say that the most underrated character is the Dwarf. He isn't played very often. The most underpowered character (at the start, I would say) has to be a Seraphim. She takes some finesse to play. So to all my fellow players who have taken their Seraphimas into Niobium, hats off to you. The most overpowered from the start? That's easy...the Daemon. She's obscenely OP. @Knuckles: Hmmm, my favorite DE has always been a melee DE. His Multi-hit is godly. Cobra is nicely overpowered. Pumped up with Testosterone, boss mobs die swiftly.

I think the Seraphim is an anime-inspired, thigh-high boot wearing, breast-enhanced clone with no pupils and who digs a Pippy Longstockings-esque hairdo (that is, the pigtails).

It seems to me that the Shadow Warrior is the most forgiving of the characters to start off with. I rolled a few and comparing play between them, I'd say the SW is the best one to cut your teeth on. That's what I've been doing for hours now after installing the game the moment I came home from work. He reminds me of the S1 Glad with a little of the DE tossed in. I made sure I expanded the beginning CA with Area of Effect damage, then a poison DOT. Seems to work nicely on crowds.

UPS is supposed to be dropping it off today. Add this to having tomorrow and the next day off of work, and that means my fiance isn't going to be seeing much of me unless she shoots me with a tranquilizer dart and drags me away from the computer. Fortunately she is a gamer as well (not as hardcore as I am, but a gamer nonetheless) so she understands how I am when I stare at something new on the monitor. I like to take it apart and put it back together again to see if I can improve how it works. From what I see on both these forums and the SIF, Sacred 2 character development is similar to the original. Maybe I'll get her to play. Probably not. She likes running around in WoW on her druid wearing those damn bunny ears from the Easter quests. Now if Sacred 2 had some bunny ears...

@gogo: The seraphim's eyeballs aren't glowy? Nooooooooooooo. @Schot: Hiya! I've been to and fro the past few years. Good to hear about the complexity. I have been rather disappointed with the lack of it in games as of late. @Knuckles: Hehe, my very own grave? This I gotta see... @FrostElfGuard: Hmm, sounds like I need to investigate all of this. I have a more recent computer that hopefully can handle Sacred 2 decently enough (my old PC is pushing daisies now in some landfill in Texas). We shall see. Alright, you all have convinced me. I'll drop by Amazon later and git mah copy.

I gotta ask. Should I get this game? How does it compare to, say, Hello Kitty Island Adventure? Does it require me to think? Is the Seraphim hot? And what the hell happened to the Dark Elf anyway? He should be there.

Best way to get rid of ants: use bait stations. You know, "final meal" for the colony and all. That's the problem. Ants act as an organized whole. The whole stinking colony of thousands. Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about here. *gets comfy in rocking chair* Okay, back in my younger days I worked in pest control. Yup, I was the Orkin Man. One day the manager of an office building called me all frantic on the phone. "There's ants all over the place!! Every time someone from pest control comes out, it only gets worse! Can your company pleeeeeease send someone out here who can fix this problem? Make sure it's not the last guy; all he did was spray some stuff and leave." So, off I went to this office building, armed with nothing but my pocket-protector and a mushy peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. I was usually the guy they sent out on jobs like this one. Why me, you ask? Was it because I was so awesome and incredibly talented? Nope. I was the last one in the pecking order at the office, so I got stuck with all of the "hard" jobs. /wink Having been around the block a few times, I'm here to tell you that the worst insect problem you can ever have are ants. Forget roaches and fleas. Lightweights in comparison. Ants are the Einsteins of the insect world. To get back to my story. This was a 9-story office building. I did my best to look all professional and serious as I did my rounds in the building, inspecting the damage and noticing what a mess the place was. Ants were literally everywhere. They ruled. The ants in this particular office building had adapted to the presence of pesticides, completely avoiding the floor and the baseboards....they were running around on the friggin' ceiling! /shok They were in the elevator shafts...break rooms...all over desks and tables...geeze, it was bad. The building manager asked me my opinion. Is there any way to stop them? Of course, I said. A thermonuclear warhead dropped directly on the building should do the trick. /thumbsup However...since that isn't likely to happen, I asked her to give me one hour to come up with a solution. I had an idea, you see. Ant colonies are amazing. They act as one organism, adapting and changing in response to their environment. The ants in this building were 100% untouchable by pesticides because they changed the way they moved around in the building. I had a gut feeling these ants were getting into the building from some point outside, high up against the building: from a tree, more than likely. Kind of hard to imagine that problem having such a simple answer, but as it turns out, my hunch was correct. I found where these suckers were getting into the building. It wasn't from the ground floor...no, too much pesticide down there. They would die trying to get in from the ground. On the fifth floor, the branches from a very big oak tree rested against the window of one of the offices. Sure enough, a huge stream of ants were coming off of the tree and onto the building. Their trail went up. So, up I went to the sixth floor, where I found these ants inside of the elevator shaft. Aha! Sneaky little buggers. /ninja I called building maintenance, and asked them to trim back the oak branch. As I left I told the building manager to call me the next day with a status report. With that, I ate my soggy PBJ and drove back to the office. Sure enough, no more ants. They disappeared completely less than three days later. ^_^ Ants are the worst, let me tell you.

I didn't even need to check out that picture to know how pretty that Boa is. Boas are very beautiful, and they have great dispositions. My biggest problem with keeping a carnivorous reptile: wheeeeeeeeeew, their doo-doo is wretched! /sick I kept a Savannah monitor for a while. Nicest reptile you would ever want to meet. Easy-going, calm, and not prone to copping attitudes with anyone warm-blooded. I named him Jake. Jake was cool. Pick him up, and he'd just sit there all calm and relaxed. Never had to worry about those powerful talons. Put him in the casa with a rat, however, and he turned into the terminator. /guns Eventually, Jake's waste became too much for me to handle. Urgh. Ugh. Made me toss the cookies once or twice. Fortunately for me, a good friend kept a pair of pythons, and had room for Jake. I tried my hand with an iguana. Ah, now there's something different. They leave little cow-patties. /thumbsup Easy to feed, especially since mine refused to eat meat - wouldn't touch it, not an insect, nor a hamburger. All she ate was yellow squash, spinach, carrots, romaine, etc. She wasn't as calm as Jake, though. She would easily frighten when people she didn't know came around. Let me tell you, I had no idea that lizard could move faster than light when it wanted to! She ended up bolting out the door one afternoon. I never could find her. /sad

*crawls back up from the floor and begins Jimmy Stewart impersonation* :Mafia2: Well hello there...yeah yeah, I'm still here. I was just admiring the trimwork beneath the counter top....great work, fine work, yes indeedy it is. Great vantage point from down there, you know. You ought to take a look for yourself some time. Say, how about a drink for a guy that needs one? You know, hate my boss, my job...hated 'em both so much I decided to tell the boss he could stuff the job where the sun doesn't shine. And while you're at it, how about a double for my friend Harvey here? Make it Scotch on the rocks, the best you have. Oh don't bother asking, I'm good for it. Between me and Harvey here, we could buy the Brooklyn Bridge... /wacko (extra drink for anyone who actually knows what old movie I'm basing that off of...)

@gogo: I think you guys have done a great job engendering the kind of relaxed, friendly atmosphere found at the Sacred official forums. It probably wasn't too hard, since the SOFs are that way chiefly because of the Sacred community itself. As far as gaming communities go, Sacred has a high-quality following comprised of people who don't cotton to gaming at the expense of others. Having fun is the big golden rule, and it's good to see it's the rule here too. /thumbsup Why do I post? I must. I'm a compulsive writer; writing is like breathing or eating to me. I do it without much thought or effort behind it: I just do it. Kinda like Nike. Just do it! The internet is a great place to me primarily for the reason ericalc mentioned: the connectedness. That's what appeals to me the most. Putting stuff out there, taking stuff in, and connecting with people in different parts of the world is great fun. You could say I'm addicted to it. I have made quite a few friends via the internet, thanks to discussion forums like this one. I've lived in various places around the world during my life, so hooking up with the international community online is a piece o' cake and very natural for me. Or, it's sushi. Maybe brotchen. Croissant? /unsure Soooooo, the connection is what it's all about for me.

I clicked on your siggy on the official Sacred forum, gogo. All of a sudden, I was here! /oooo Nice place ya gots here. I need those milks so I can whip up a Colorado Bulldog. /thumbsup