podgie_bear

This looks like a really nice game, and I particularly enjoy playing a Shadow. However it seems to have its fair share of problems still. Not only the lockout isue because it thinks I am moving location every time I login, but I am getting a high frequency of random disconnects. I think the longest I have been able to play without being dumped back to the login screen is about 15-20 minutes. I realise the game is still being worked on and I hope they get things sorted out as I would realy like to play this game.

I put the problem on the forums and got a ice reply (and an idiot fanboi one as well). I only just started actually playing last night and so far have 2 characters up to level 3. Hardly great I know, but I am still testing how things work and more importantly trying each class to see which I fancy playing most.

Got to admit the game is being a bit of a PITA at the moment, it keeps locking me out because it thinks I am signing in from different locations. Despite the fact I am playing on a desktop computer that never moves!

Well you certainly make this game look interesting. I am currently downloading the game as I am typing this. Maybe I will see you ingame later if it is as good as it looks. And yes, after playing HC Sacred (original) nothing has ever seemed as good in SC, so I play all my games permadeath, which gets me called insane by virtually every other player, lol, but then after a character has been killed if I continue playing it, I never get that same thrill of still having something to lose!

Afaik the "us" is very limited right now. Some press at gc and some visitors of PAX east last year. That's it. And there were not few sites / magezines providing false information. So, DS has shown "us" next to nothing. Screenshots and some second hand info via press. Plus some interviews with producers. What I'm saying: I've seen the presentation at gc12 and even I don't think that is enough to judge the game just yet. Yes, I've wrote in my preview that it doesn't "look" like much of a Sacred game. But I wouldn't go so far to just say it's something like Street Fighter. We know so little about so many aspects of the game that judging it right now isn't worth the bytes. Being sceptical about it, yes, criticising DS for not communicating, yes, saying what we don't like of what little we know, yes. But dumping it before further information? Hey, if DS wants to sell the game to me, they prove to me I want to buy it. The benefit of the doubt and the urge to buy it have been eroded by poor communication, a dismal load of third hand kitty-litter named Sacred Citadel, and what information they have allowed to be released about the game puts me off rather than attracts me. Sacred addicts are not brainless juveniles who will buy any crap DS puts out because of a title, flashy advertising and because it is fashionable. They are discriminating gamers who expect intelligent, well written games that can't just be wandered through by following a predetermined path and button mashing arcade style action. Bear in mind that there are plenty of F2P MMOs out there that are offering a hundred times more than what we have seen and heard so far, let alone games we can buy to replace Sacred if it turns out to be an inadequate crock of......! If they want our money they had better be prepared to offer us something worth buying! They may not have a baying mob waving torches and pitchforks outside their door, but with the internet, we don't have to physically congregate there to lynch them. Our words can do a lot of harm, more than a few paid reviewers can do good. That is not a threat, that is the reality of communication and word of mouth because of the modern miracle that is the internet. We don't just talk to a few mates at the local coffee house the way gamers used to, we talk to thousands of fellow gamers worldwide, every hour of the day and night.

Well so far the biggest problem with Sacred3 that makes me definitely not interested in buying it is linear gameplay and lack of open world. THAT is the defining aspect of Sacred to me, the ability to wander off and find my way through the world. Not being forced to walk someone else's path with no option but do as I am told. Even Titan Quest/Immortal Throne, which was a close relative of Sacred was so limited by the linear path we HAD to follow that it could not compete. Sacred franchise is ARPG, what DS has shown us is consol arcade, as in amusement arcade and ranks along side the usual amusement arcade machine games. Two dimensional. linear, lacking in choice and totally not any form of RPG. Basically just a bog-standard arcade beat'em-up that would sit happily beside Streetfighter or House of the Dead in any amusement arcade.

Let's be honest here, DS has already shot themselves in the foot over Sacred3. The game was at the top of my buy list sight unseen until DS did such a rubbish job of keeping the waiting fanbase in the dark, then releasing information that showed the upcoming game to be a total load of crap that bears no relation to either Sacred game in any aspect. Then as soon as they see the negative response to what they want to publish, they go hide in the dark again and tell us nothing. Sacred3 is now no longer on my buy list at all and I have no intention of waiting, money in hand, for what I am afraid they will end up releasing. If they want my money now, they will have to wait until I have seen the game in action, via Youtube gameplay reviews at the very least. So instead of still having a guaranteed sale, they now have to convince me to buy it! I rather doubt that I am the only one either, think of how many dedicated fans are now going to wait and see before buying and how that will affect sales. For example, a friend has already asked me if I am eagerly awaiting the next Sacred since I am so addicted to the franchise. I told him what I just told you and he decided that if I feel that way he will wait until I tell him if it is worth buying and so will his friend. OK, that is only a couple of prospective customers, but multiply that by all the fanbase they are alienating. Word of mouth goes a long way.

I had considered it up until recently (or at least a dwarfed pear tree), but have had to start looking for a new place to rent, so don't feel able to make any form of commitment to something I might not be able to take with me. I could grow a dwarf variety here in a container on my patio (just, maybe) but don't know where I will be in the future.

Thanks for the advice, but although I have managed to find what apples I think were commonly kown as 'Spring Larks' http://www.orangepippin.com/apples/cornish-aromatic I have not found anyone that grows them, just a single nursery that sells the trees. I don't know if anyone actually grows them commercially at all in this country anymore. And much as I would love to grow some myself, there is no way I could even gorw asingle tree where I live.

My greatest wish would be some pickled apples like Granny made for Christmas every year. They were a certain variety of apple called Spring Larks, hand picked from a local orchard and then had cloves pressed into them and were pickled along with certain spices (can't remember exactly what as I was too young to take notice). They will never be made again as Spring Lark apples seem to be extiinct now and the only orchard that anyone knows of that used to grow them was leveled and paved over to make a carpark!

Unfortunately I am rapidly coming to the opinion that this is another case of a game developer SAYING that they are continuing a named franchise, BUT REALLY just using the name for something completely different. Just like Volkswagon did recently when they tried to hype their latest 'bog-standard' personnel carrier to the highly successful and much loved campervan. They had nothing in common whatever but the company tried to link them to attract naive people because of the name. It seems to me that DS only want to use the Sacred name, but don't want to make a Sacred game! I think maybe they should change their name from DS to BS in all honesty! Also something they should keep in mind is that by alienating the Sacred fanbase (and there are a lot of us, most of which rarely comment on forums) they are asking for a hell of a lot of negative publicity if they abuse the franchise. Word of mouth goes a long, long way with the internet and forums carry a lot more weight than some flashy advertising. But hey, it's their money. If they want to pour it down the drain by producing just another boring linear hack'n'slash, that's up to them. But consumers are getting bored with flashy graphics hiding poor quality games that can be completed in a few hours with no replayability. There are hundreds of games out there like that already, why would people want to pay for another one?

Well then DS had better be prepared to lose their shirt on Sacred 3 then, because what we have seen on offer so far seems designed to drive us away, not make us want to buy it. Still I suppose it is better for the Sacred franchise to just die and leave us with good memories rather than descend into the pitifully inadequate wreck they are showing us which looks like something that belongs on a Nintendo DS! (Yes kiddies, let DS lead you by the hand through the game. We'll tell you where you can go, who you can fight and when to press the button. You won't have to strain your intelligence by having to make any decisions at all. Won't that be nice for you?)

I wish it was still like that here. It used to be, but no longer despite the fact we are a small rural town and not a big crowded city. Local surgeries around here are now queue in a communal waiting area for hours, get rushed in to the doctor, get 3 minutes if you are lucky and get rushed out again. Usually after being 'fobbed off' with take painkillers and come back if it gets worse. Our health service is going downhill faster than a snowball in an avalanche zone!

I did keep going back until I lost patience with the Doctor's obsession with what could be causing it not being related to the new diet. When I pointed out that it all started there and I never had problems before he denied this was the cause. In the end I changed back, did things my way, went back showed him the results, called him an ignorant braindead idiot that I didn't trust anymore. It didn't do much for our relationship, he doesn't want to see me anymore and I can live with that.

When I moved house I had to change to a new local doctor who decided that I should not be eating what I have eaten all my life and move to a low fat, high carb diet. I had irritable bowel syndrome for months, gained 45 pounds in weight and my cholesterol doubled! After some research, I told the doctor to get lost, went back to a low carb diet, cured my irritable bowel syndrome, lowered my cholestrerol and have lost 30 pounds so far. But it its hard loosing that last 15 pounds or so, since its difficult to exercise when you need 2 sticks to even walk. The modern 'fad' for low fat and high carbs doesn't take account of the fact that not all people respond the same way to different foods. Dieticians have gotten lazy, refer to a standard chart and expect it to fit everyone, rather than take each person on an individual basis and tailor diets to the patient's needs and circumstances. I have a friend who had to be admitted to hospital because her dietician took no account of the fact that she needed a glutten free diet and just gave her a standard low fat diet sheet to follow.

Also things depend on the individual. My body processes fat very well, but cannot handle carbohydrates at all well. My wife is completely opposite, so between us we do ok, I eat her fat stuff and she eats my carbs, lol.

I have definitely gone off the idea of Sacred 3!!! Looks like it is going to be another modern arcade action game clone, labelled as an RPG!

Hi Gogo, it was cross-stitch and embroidery not weaving and I still do some, but not so much as my hands are not what they used to be. But I do remember what to do with a Skellie Fortress and not to let my self get caught in Area of Effect radius when Veiled, lol. And I still haven't forgiven them for not including a Dwarf in Fallen Angel! (Mutter, moan, grumble, didn't get my goblin for breakfast, sulk)

Still in the land of the living thank you. Been expanding my horizons with some MMORPGs. Have been playing LotRO consistantly for the last 3 years or more. Keep getting fed up when they upgrade it by dumbing it down, but keep going back to it. Was playing Vanguard for a while which is a very good old school RPG, but when they closed down the european server I started getting massive lag issues from the US server and had to quit. Lately I have been trying out Rift since it went F2P, which is quite a good game. Very much a WoW clone, but with far better classes, skills and skill trees. It lets you combine skill trees in any combination you choose to really customise how your class plays. But it lives up to its name of Rift, rifts keep opening all the time and you are supposed to rally round and fight the demonic forces issuing from those rifts. After a while though I start to long for some peace and so just go fishing and let the demons have some play time, lol. I have some fun, but I still haven't found an online game that grips me the way the original Sacred did back on the old HC server.

I have not played Fallen Angel in a long time and had thought that I would probably never play this game again. However last night I was browsing some videos on YouTube, including an "All time top 10 RPGs" video and there was Fallen Angel, with the Blind Guardian music track playing. My eyes teared up, I got all nostalgic and decided to dig out my game discs and reinstall it. I found my game discs easly enough, but was unable to find any of my savegames or character builds and I so wanted to play my old Shadow Warrior build. Then the thought occured to me that I had uploaded my build to Darkmatters. I looked, it is still here, I downloaded and once more Podgie the Bearbarian, The Invisible Mass Killer stalks the world! Thank you Darkmatters for preserving my handiwork better than I did myself and allowing me to download and play Podgie again!

I started to play Sacred 2 again today after playing Underworld got me warmed up for it. The very first thing I did after finally getting Securom (Arghhhh!) sorted, was download Schott's build as a base for my first character. I never even needed to think about it, I just automatically searched for this build. It shows just how good it is and the lasting impression it left on me.

I think for me the reason is that although Sacred 2 was a 'prettier' game, the original Sacred was a 'better' game. Not technically perhaps, but more attention was paid to immersive gameplay, characterisation and the skill trees allowed for a wider range of different ways to play your characters. It also was constructed ina less polished way than Sacred 2, but which appealed to the heroes in us at a more visceral level. Sort of engaging our emotions more than our intellects and therefore having that addictiveness that Sacred 2 didn't have, at least for me.

hmmm, podgie, are you claiming that incandescent add to "efficient" heating? Cool that you sew! hobby? gogo I know that when we were using the old style bulbs to keep the temperature we liked we actually set out heating 2 degrees lower, but since we had to change to to the new ones we had to turn the heating up those 2 degrees to get the same temperature. Checked against it against a thermometer to be sure and it's fact. So much for 'unwanted waste heat' huh? And yes I sew, though not as much as I used to since my hands are more arthritic now. But I have always sewn since I was 5 years old, my grandmother taught me. I still do sewing repairs, button, rips etc, some alterations such as hems etc. I would like to keep doing crossstitch pictures , but it is harder for me now.

Moaning whimp. Play a Daemon and use Tentacles. Problem solved! LOL

I know that the new bulbs are really bad from my point of view, they don't seem to last as long as the old ones did, they don't give as good light (speaking as someone who sews) and they put out less heat, which means we had to turn out heating up to compensate. I notice that since we were forced to switch over, out electricity consumption has gone up!