So I have to admit, I kind of got swept up on the Twilight thing but it's odd - I hate the characters, the plot, the story and the themes but I can't stop watching it! I think the production value of the movies is just too good - plus I keep seeing them with Mormon friends of mine (wait a sec!!)

Anyway, I was watching the second movie and there's a scene where Edward breaks up with Bella. They go out into the woods to do so, and then he leaves. We were basically MST3K-ing the movie so I said "I like how he just dumps here and then abandon's her in, in the woods. Alone. At night. It's obvious Stephanie Meyer's has some issues she's still working through." And just then one of the women (I was watching this with the significant others of men who were playing Warhammer in the next room - go ahead, ask me why I wasn't playing Warhammer with the guys! ;)) jumps up and says "Did you see the thing that proves Bella and Edward are in an abusive relationship!" and showed me this:
http://io9.com/5413428/officia...abusive-relationship

Thus the idea of a parody that points out relationship dysfunctions was born. In my first book however, there is no "abuse" but the story started out by introducing an average joe type who's obsessed with a vampire woman because she's beautiful. He knows nothing about her, has nothing in common with her and fails to see other women who are interested in him because he's focused on the physical beauty of a vapid, shallow and self-absorbed blonde. Fact: Every woman who's read chapter 1 has said "I hate [character]!" while guys find her annoying yet interesting and my response is always "Good! Then that scene works exactly as intended!"

Admitting that you have a problem is the first step  ;-)

I can't give you too much trouble. I know how much you disliked Vampire Diaries, and I have to admit I got sucked into that one (no vampire pun intended). I think you were right about the first season, and I almost quit watching. Somebody else talked me into giving it a little more time, and I think it has improved. It has become a guilty pleasure for me.

That article on the abusive relationship was interesting. I found myself pondering how many of those could also be applied to Buffy and Angel. Not all of them fit but, some do. Maybe it's hard to avoid some abuse if you choose to date the undead.

You guys have any tips on how to play a vampire?  I got a call this afternoon from a writer/producer.  He's shopping a script around and wants to cast me in the lead.  Obviously, it's a vamp film and he wants me as the Big Bad.  It's still a long way from production; it hasn't sold yet and he has two other productions to clear first.  So i'm not exactly giddy with excitement.  Besides, twice was i cast in a lead role -once for a film, and again for a television show at Paramount.  Neither project happened.  That's the way it goes sometimes.  So i'm not going to sharpen my incisors until first call.

I'm not counting on anything but had to share it with you.  You've got to admit, your day is weird when you get a phone call saying, "Hey Pieran, how'd you like to star in my next vampire movie?  You're perfect for the part!"

"Uhm, sure.  And you are who, again?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 05:41, Thu 15 Dec 2011.

Depends on what they are looking for, there are so many ways to go with that.

You could be the "I'm really a monster in the skin of a man trying to remain human" (Lost Boys) approach or the "I hunger for the one things/person who can make me feel alive" (Interview with a Vampire) approach or the "I've lived so long I've grown tired of my own existence" (To Sleep with a Vampire) approach. Then there is the "It's a metaphor" (Addiction) approach - so it really depends on what the script is trying to portray.

I can say in my books, vampires are just people too. there's nothing about them that's evolved or better just because they're vampires - in short, it's not that exciting, really.

Dren, i agree w/ you, the text will tell all  -presuming i ever see a text.  And of course, the director and the producers will have their say, as well.   My instincts tell me to play melodrama and romantic tragedy to an absolute minimum.  I also prefer your book ideas to the traditional, fantastical fare typically offered.

Like i say, i've not seen the script, so it's too soon to develop a role.  But i have to admit to a certain apathy toward the vampire mythology.  I favored the vampires depicted in Vampyre and Nosferatu.  Not even Dracula spoke much to me, although i liked the Renfield character best.  I lost interest in vampires as soon as they entered gothic language (though i've nothing against gothicism per se).  Personally, i think vamps are better played and presented with great subtlty, whereas the market trends toward centrism, i.e., the vamp is front and center; his struggle, his hunger, his needs, his loves, lusts, and challenges.  And of course, the awesome loneliness of it all.  O, the poor thing!

There's also the other tack of playing incensate evil; remorseless, guiltless, shameless.  Nothing redeeming.  Alas, nothing too interesting, either.  Not unless the role provides for something.  Bergman understood that; in The Seventh Seal, implaccable Death is enticed into a chess game against the weary, disillusioned hero of the Crusades.  Death is both charming and sinister, his influence omnipresent, yet he remains elusive, appearing no more than a few minutes of onscreen time.  That film continues to inspire me.

I like vamps to create an environment of pervasive dread; i'm not sanguine about entering too deep into the world of the vampire, of what it's like to BE a vampire.  I don't really want  to get into their heads; it's none of my business!  Atmospheric menace occasionally puncuated by titanic charisma blazing forth from an obscuring dark  ...coming face to face with that, tasting the hot bubble of iron and salt rising in my throat, and the sure knowledge that this is death, makes (for me) a far more terrifying monster than the melancholic night stalker moony over Sting's, "Moon over Bourbon Street:"  'I must love what i destroy, and destroy the thing i love.'

I have grave doubts of ever playing the role being offered me and mostly for business reasons.  But if it comes off, i hope i get to bring something iconoclastic to the part, something less adolescent than Twilight.

Any thoughts?  Comments?
This message was last edited by the player at 01:52, Sat 17 Dec 2011.

Merry Xmas everyone!

Now, for some reason I did not see red numbers, and only noticed the new messages now that I entered for the season greetings. Anyway, I shall withhold the obligatory dancing rodents until Pieran tells us otherwise.

Assuming the script calls for a human-like vampire, a possible direction would be a Dexter kind of person: a perfectly pleasant guy who just happens to kill (and, in this case, eat) people.

This isn't insensate evil, per se, just pragmatism and, in the vampire's case, a strong survival instinct.

I don't think we've seen many of those? Although, obviously, the very same parallelism with Dexter could make it less interesting than it would otherwise have been.

Other than that, I think every aspect has been explored, even as recently as Twilight itself. Evil Monster? Check. Atoner? Check. "Vegetarian"? Check. Heck, even the Dexter options is probably not that fresh, though I am not familiar enough with recent vampire movies to say it for sure one way or the other...

Happy Hanukkah!

Season greetings!

Whatever else I am forgetting! :P
This message was last edited by the player at 18:35, Sun 25 Dec 2011.

Festivus, for the rest of us!

I've been meaning to post here for awhile now, and just have been busy with family and holidays (and cats! Had to rearrange the house 3 times trying to find away to keep the felines away from the tree. We have Ninja cats, and I think one of them is a reincarnated engineer - she likes dismantling things to see how they work.)

Vampires - I agree, hard to do something truly original. The same can be said for cops, lawyers, and doctors on TV - and people keep watching those. What the performer can do is bring their own style and personality to it, and that's what makes one cop or doctor show more interesting to watch then another. When you get the script, look for the moments where you have choices.

I watched a documentary on the first Halloween movie awhile back. Near the end of the movie, Michael Myers was shot and fell from a second story window. When Donald Pleasance looked out the window, Michael's body was nowhere to be seen. Pleasance asked the director, "Do you want me to look surprised, or should I play that as if I knew that was going to happen?" John Carpenter was a young director at the time and unsure what difference it would make, so he said, "Let's film both and see which we like better." Donald Pleasance doesn't have a line in that moment, but conveyed something very different between those two takes with just a look. The one they used in the film was, "I knew that would happen." Carpenter talked about how the actor made that brief scene become more than he had envisioned.



But it's still very cool to be asked, and congrats on that! I hope it works out.

I hope everyone had a good holiday, and I wish each of you the best for the coming new year.

Anyone here ever heard of Brandon Sanderson? He was hand picked by the wife of an author to finish this series called The Wheel of Time, if you've ever heard of that one.

Anyway, he's the Joss Whedon of novels as far as I'm considered. I literally believe if you cut that man he'd bleed story lines. So I was excited to find that he still plays D&D. The point? His most popular series "Mistborn" had been turned into a role-playing game. Before it was even out I was given the green light to demo the game at OwlCon in early Feb.

I'm loving the rules, and even Brandon (he write little blurbs in the rule book) said "I also wanted the rules to work well on internet forums". I'm looking to see if anyone would like to try the game so I can be more confident with the rules. PM if you'd like. This would be noting like the Buffy game... if you've never read Mistborn the game is kind of like Shadowrun meet Wold of Darkness in a Pathfinder Setting.

I was recommended Wheel of Time and i know Shadowrun, but that's the best i can do.  Anyway, my only internet connection is via cellphone.  It stinks for games.

Best success at Owl.  May your dice always roll crits!

That's great if he's a player but if he's the GM, his players may not appreciate that :)

I had a life, and then I was given the Sims 3 for Christmas.

My laptop broke down 2 days after Xmas. It was bad timing for it to be in the shop since an old knee injury flared up at about the same time. I was confined to the first floor and the laptop was the only computer I had access to. This thing is less than 2 years old and they have had to wipe it and reset it to factory settings 3 times. I've never had a virus. Haven't even installed that much software on it. I never played games on it. It's been annoying, to say the least. When the FedEx guy brought it back this time, he said he hopes they've finally fixed it because he knows he's transported this thing back and forth a few times.

Anyway, laptop is back and thankfully they didn't reset it this time. I was afraid I was going to have to ask everyone to send me their email addresses again. (Yes, I'm old school. I don't do web email). So I was finally able to load the Sims 3 (it won't run on my dinosaur of a desktop upstairs). If any of you are Sims players, then you know what a time-sucking addiction they can be. If you don't hear from me for awhile - blame the Sims. I told my son, who gave me the game, I didn't know if I should thank him or think he's evil.

I have a question for fellow Xbox gamers. I was thinking of changing my gamertag (never really liked the current one, just ran out of ideas at the time). I have some downloads and bonus content for pre-orders linked to this gamertag. Would changing the tag screw that up, specifically for the Bioware games of Mass Effect and Dragon Age? Maybe I should just leave it alone and live with the current tag.

Hope everyone had a fun Friday the 13th and that the New Year is treating you well.

With the new update, you can change you gamer tag for 800 points (or $10). I just checked, and that's right.
http://support.xbox.com/en-US/...e-xbox-live-gamertag

I think if you basically use a whole new email/game tag you WILL loose the association to your current DLC as you'll be treated like a brand new player. Much like how two people on the same XBox have to both buy Live accounts if you want the different profiles to be online. At least, that's my theory.

Not sure it would screw up the BioWare and Mass Effect stuff as that's through an EA Games Registration that you signed into AFTER signing into Xbox Live. In fact my EA stuff is even different from the XBox emails which is, ironically, different from the email I use.

Speaking of Dragon Age, any reviews on Dragon Age II?

The email associated with the account would stay the same. Just looking to change the gamertag, but it's probably more trouble than it's worth.

Dragon Age II isn't as good as the first one, but I still liked it. Right now I think it's selling for under $20, and it's worth that.

The biggest criticism I've heard of the game is that they excessively re-use maps for quests. That criticism is deserved, but I think Mass Effect 1 did some of that, too, and it wasn't judged as harshly as DAII has been. Maybe players were more ok with the inside of every spaceship you boarded or almost every planet structure you entered being the same in ME1, but not every cave and house in DAII? Or perhaps player's expectations have risen since ME1 was released. Don't get me wrong - the re-used maps were disappointing in DAII and I think they should've done better - I just wasn't as angry and ready to boycott BioWare over it the way some fans were.

They made some changes in gameplay and interface. There were a couple of changes they made that I didn't like, but I would say overall that most of these changes were improvements. Combat is faster, and the animations more varied and interesting. However, sometimes it's too fast with how quickly characters will jump across the screen and some of the animations create too much visual noise.

I liked the changes to the skill tree but, you cannot turn any mage into a healer or any warrior into a sword & shield tank. You should be prepared that you might not have those companions by your side at critical moments. In DA: Origins, if you lost the Healer, Wynne, you could turn Morrigan into a Healer. You can't do that in DAII. Some mages will never have access to healing spells.

In Dragon Age II, the character you play is voiced. This is another change from the first game, where all of your character's lines were text while the NPCs were voiced. Let me explain that I played Dragon Age first, and then played the first Mass Effect game. I didn't mind that my warden wasn't voiced. I could hear the lines in my head said with the voice I gave the character. I actually found some of the voice acting in Mass Effect disappointing when compared to Dragon Age, especially for the Shepard character that I was playing. I don't blame the actors. I don't think they were always given the right context for some of the lines they were saying. I think this was a weakness in directing. At any rate, I wasn't exactly looking forward to having my DAII character voiced but, the voice acting of the character I played was very good! I was impressed and I think it added to the game. I would say this was another improvement.

Another change they made was you actually create a personality for your character. There are only three personality types to choose from, but that's more than we've had in the other games. Basically the game starts building your personality with the first response you make in game - are you friendly & helpful, or sarcastic & humorous, or aggressive? Your responses throughout the game will continue to build your personality. The more responses you have in a particular direction - that's the personality that your character will have. So you can be friendly & helpful, but crack the occasional joke or make an aggressive response, without changing your personality. This will affect what your character says and does during cinematic cut-scenes and some dialogue options will only be available to certain personality types. It is possible to change your personality, but it will take a lot of responses in the new direction for that to happen. I really enjoyed this system.

They added tiny icons to your choices on the dialogue wheel. I think there are about 10 or 12 different ones. These help to indicate the tone of that choice. This can help you if you're trying to stick to a particular personality type. This was also helpful to my husband who has always struggled with the conversation choices in these games. If there is a way to misinterpret the short line of text that gives you a clue as to what your character will say when you click on that choice, then my husband will do it. What I didn't like about this system is the romantic/flirtatious responses are clearly marked. That takes some of the fun out of it. In the first DA, I didn't know a companion was interested in me until I overheard him talking to some of my other companions. This seemed more natural to me. You didn't always know what you did that sparked somebody's interest.

The relationships, both friendship and romances, felt like they developed more naturally in the first game then they did in the second. But I feel that DA: Origins did that better than both of the Mass Effect games, too.

Your companions' armor never changes, you just get the occasional upgrade for them. This simplifies things - you don't have to sort through armor for them. However, that also means you'll find really cool armor in the game that you can't use because of your class, and you can't pass it on to anyone else. You can sell it, but you don't get a lot of money for it.

Players also complained that they felt like their choices didn't make as much of a difference in DAII as they did in Origins, and I can see what they meant by that. Origins was this epic story about world events. DAII quests are a bit more personal. Origins has a bit more of how your character affects the world, while DAII is about how events affect your character.

The voice acting is great. The graphics are improved. Most of the gameplay and interface have been improved. If EA had given them more time, it probably could have been as good, if not better than DA: Origins. EA forced BioWare to rush it and that had a negative effect on the writing and story (some stuff had be be cut) and caused the too frequent re-use of maps. To sum up - it could've been better, but I don't think it is as bad as some fans would lead you to believe.

I should mention that I just finished the first Uncharted game on the PS3. Cool game and I enjoyed it, but it took me less than 20 hours to beat the game. I didn't get all the rewards (their version of achievements) and I don't feel too inclined to do another playthrough to get them. I'm kind of glad I waited to buy Uncharted and got it at the discount price. I spent 70 hours playing DAII - it has a lot of content. I look forward to playing it again. (I'm doing another playthrough of Mass Effect right now.) I feel like I got my money's worth with DAII.

I also recommend the DLC for DAII - The Exiled Prince, Legacy, and Mark of the Assassin are all worth purchasing and add to the game. They are much better than most of the DLC that was created for Origins. If you buy a new version of the game (instead of a used one), it will include The Black Emporium DLC. The Black Emporium includes a magic item store which will be restocked as the story progresses, a mabari hound, a "Mirror of Transformation" which allows you to change Hawke's appearance, and a crafting store which sells unique recipes. Since a new copy is under $20, it's worth it to buy it new.

Well, that's a much better review than "Don't do it! You'll stab yourself in the eye to feel a lesser pain." Then again that came from the guy who hated Mass Effect 2. I liked ME2 better than ME1, but that's probably just me as I know someone who just finished it and thought the original was better. Still don't see how. I played the DAII Demo, but died, and didn't play the DA:O Expansion. I just ran through Origins and left it at that. If I do buy, it will be new. $19.99 vs $17.99 - Uhm... no brainer.

For now I'm just trying to find a way to keep myself busy until March 6th. It sounds like DAII might fit the bill so I'll probably get it, next pay day. Besides, who can say "no." to DLC that Felicia Day not only modeled and voiced but also motion captured for... Okay! Fine! I'm sure a lot of people but I'm not one of them.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:20, Thu 26 Jan 2012.

I thought ME2 was better than the first one too so, it's not just you.

Another change in DAII, the mabari hound is summoned, similar to how the ranger in Origins would summon a wolf or bear. That way the mabari doesn't count as one of your team so, you don't have to choose between taking a companion or taking your dog. You can always have your dog with you, if you want.



She's got a Dragon Age web series to go along with her story that you should check out. It was fun questing with her character in the game.

The game is divided into 3 chapters. I recommend waiting until chapter 3 to do Legacy and Mark of the Assassin. The Exiled Prince you should do at least by chapter 2, if not chapter 1.



Me too :)



Did you play any of the DLC for Origins? We got the Ultimate Edition that included all the DLC. I enjoyed Warden's Keep, The Stone Prisoner (I really liked Shale), and Return to Ostagar. I didn't care for the expansion, Awakening, as much. However some characters from Awakening will show up in DAII and there will be references to events in Awakening. I did a second playthrough of Awakening so I could have DAII reflect the choices I made in Awakening, instead of their default choices. You can play DAII without having played Awakening. You won't know some of the backstory, but neither does your DAII character. If you want to give Awakening a try, it's only about $10 used right now.

There's a demo on Xbox of a new game called Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. If you play the demo, you will earn some stuff for Mass Effect 3. I enjoyed the demo.

I'm sorry I all I read was blah-blah-blah "earn some stuff for Mass Effect 3." :D
One more reason I'm glad I got Xbox Live... well that and I wanted to do ME3 multiplayer. But sending the Demo to my Xbox as we speak. LOVE technology.

Okay, got side tracked for a sec...

You seem to gravitate towards the same elements I enjoy in a game (or the other way around) so I trust your judgement. Glad for that DAII change with the hound, mostly because I didn't think he added enough to the game to warrant giving up one of my two favorite companions.

And I started watching the web series after seeing what I thought was the best clip EVER: http://youtu.be/3DxsVzYUle0
(someone needs to get that girl a chat pad by the way)


Good notes. Thanks. And I didn't do any DLC for DA:O. I wasn't too thrilled with the game. Keep in mind that I played it AFTER playing ME2 so I didn't like the idea of 1 super long quest line that required a lot of walking and killing and then when it was done, nothing but walking. I was so used to ME2 saying "Press A to go back to the Normandy."
Yes, please! *Presses A*
That and missions in ME2 could be done in what felt like 10 minutes. Story Line. Mission. Kill. Story Line... More story line.... Yes.
DA:O was more like Story Line. Quest. Walk. Kill. Sub-Quest. Fine. Kill. Sub-Sub-Quest option. Oh, why not. More Walking. Kill. Finish Sub-sub-Quest. Walk. Sub-Quest part 2! What?! Fine! Walk. Kill. More Walking. Side Quest. Wait, what was I doing originally?
I think the only reason I got as much play time in DA:O as I had originally was all walking back out of empty dungeons or purged-of-enemy forests.

I agree. I thought the Mabari was cool, but once I had recruited enough companions to make a full team, I never really took the dog out anymore.



I've seen that before. Love that clip!



For me it was just the opposite. I played DA:O first and then ME1 & 2. I thought DA was better. Mass Effect was a bit of a let down after DA and took awhile to grow on me.

They also changed the approval system in DA2. Now your companions can become friends or rivals. You probably shouldn't try to make them all friends. Depending on your in-game choices, some of them will be better as rivals.

And 2012 is almost over... Did anyone see where it went? Cause I didn't see it pass. Merry Christmas, everyone.

In reply to Iain R. Short (msg # 270):

Hi Toothsome.

I know where 2012 went.  It went straight to hell and dragged me along with it.

Thanx for the Xmas greeting.  I missed it this year.  Only a card from some old friends and your greeting is any notice to me that Christmas came at all!

So let me extend to you and the other Cornerstoners a Happy New Year.  May it be a damned sight better than the last one.

Ciao!

So three months into this 2013, I hope it's shaping up nicely for everybody.

I certainly hope it's being good to those of us, not naming any names, who would like to forget 2012 altogether.

Dare I wish everybody a happy new year? Does anybody know what happened to Dren?

In reply to Iain R. Short (msg # 273):

Thanx Iain.  Same to you.  Can't say about Dren.  Maybe in a Guiness coma?

All the best.

-Pswift

Happy New Year to all of you! May you find joy and be in good health. I look forward to this year with renewed excitement.

Be well, my friends.

Compton

Huh? Someone say my name? If I'm waking up now that means Saint Patty's Day should be next month. *check's calendar* Yep!