BardicKnowledge

In fairness, there are some very lengthy (not quite ToD from 0%) combos in the main game also -- get practicing!

Congratulations to both of you! I hope that you enjoy parenthood as much as we have!

I'm going to wait to post what I received until I get everything, but I am absolutely loving the format of my gift's delivery, and am probably going to rip it off for next year because it's an awesome way to prolong looking forward to getting stuff.

Do you think he needs an ally with a knockup? Not that the list is really limiting... Most fun and most successful/reliable are rarely the same thing in competitive games.

A few more champs for you to consider adding into the tier list of "worth playing" characters, though they are all difficult to play: The new champion, Yasuo, is a situational pick top. Which opponent he faces isn't nearly as important as who his allies are. If Yasuo is paired with two other champions who facilitate his ult (e.g. have any sort of knockup/knockback), he shoots right up to S-tier. With only one such ally, he drops to A-tier, and without any assistance from friends, he doesn't qualify for Zircon's list imo (though I'll be running him anyway for a while, as he is boatloads of fun). Fizz is amazing mid, and is at least A-tier if not competing for an S slot. One of the game's biggest carries if it goes late, more burst damage than just about any other AP character, and the ability to become invulnerable on command while juking two directions make him complex but very competent. Similarly, I want to argue for Lissandra's inclusion on the list for A-tier mid, though I understand she's much, MUCH better in 3v3 than in 5v5 (she will always compete for best AP character on the smaller map due to her ability to jump directly into and out of the center of each base). The game's longest teleport (tied with Zac), a root that doesn't require her to stop running to cast, and an ult that can both lockdown a target and provide a free Zhonya's Hourglass effect on command make her a CC queen, fitting for her ice motif. One argument against an AP champ popular in Season 3: Karma imo is now relegated to a situational toplane pick, designed to counter S-tier melee AD champions for whom no other suitable counter exists (especially notable: she dominates Riven outright). As the game shifts emphasis onto burst mages and away from sustained damage over extended fights, Karma will see less and less play. One guide spoke about her as Lissandra's defensive sister, and I buy that 100%...it's just that defense isn't prized in season 4 the way it was in season 3. She makes an okay support, but Lux outclasses here there in nearly every way, unless your team desperately needs the AOE speed boost off of E2.

I'm hoping that my Secret Santa got his (spoilers?) presents. I admit that I have been too busy writing a 20-page term paper on Mendelssohn's Elijah to enjoy any of my own presents just yet, but plan on diving into them tomorrow after I submit the essay.

The game feels fantastic thus far -- hopefully someone steps up and provides some amazing tracks for the game.

Adding to Zircon's tier list, I'd throw Khazix in both Top and Jungle as an A-tier character worth playing -- Teleport is especially strong on him due to how his E resets, allowing for easy cleanup of fights. As for Yasuo, I'd say the jury is still out, but he is quite good. Assuming that you have at least one other champion with a knockup move (Jarvan IV and Nami are both S-tier on Zircon's list, so this isn't unrealistic), he's at least A-tier for top laner.

All of them have been, as you can configure the second stick to serve a variety of purposes in PSP games, including however the PSP game had you moving the camera around.

Actually I am PUMPED for this... ...but the P:M website is down so there's no hype from me until I get it.

Happy birthday! I hope your day is much better than mine, beginning at 1:00 AM with screaming infant.

After my quadra kill: "Oh fuck, I guess I need to build tanky. That didn't go well at all."

Gift has been sent! I hope my person enjoys their presents.

After Years is fantastic. Assuming you've beaten FFIV, it is _well_ worth your time. The "Interlude" is the weak link on the PSP package; go in to it with the understanding that it was meant as a two-hour jRPG originally released for cell phones. It does tie FFIV to After Years fairly well though, so it's worth the two hour jaunt through the game. Seriously though, if you have _any_ amount of nostalgia for FFIV, you'll love After Years. The only issue at all is that the final dungeon is a little long...but there are convenient teleporters to warp back to savepoints and item shops every few floors, so even that is well mitigated.

Some big highlights: Nintendo 2DS is $99 at Walmart. Nintendo 3DS with Luigi's Mansion is $150 at Best Buy. Microsoft Surface RT (original model) is $200 at Best Buy.

In its defense, the voice acting was the _first_ in the series -- one journalist at the time remarked that with some notable exceptions (laugh scene, etc) it was "better than a first effort had any right to be." Can't wait for this!

I think that FFIV is the best entry point for the series -- it's linear, provides easy points of access for the series' main tropes (summoned monsters, job classes, etc). The PSP edition (available on Vita also) is my favorite edition, though I would recommend avoiding FFIV: The After Years (the sequel) until you have played at least one of the other first six games. Avoid FF1, FF2, and FF3 until you've played one of the others unless you are old enough to have played either Wizardry or tabletop Dungeons and Dragons, in which case you can think of both FF1 and FF3 as emerging out of those systems instead. FF2 uses an Elder Scrolls-style levelling system unlike anything else in the series, so don't play it for an impression of what the franchise is like overall.

Wow, that is an amazing trailer. Can't wait for this early Christmas present! Also, we absolutely need to throw down over MAGFest, for those of you going.

It will be interesting to see how many core gamers view the Wii outside of competition with the Xbone / PS4, but buy a Wii U anyway for the killer franchises. Surely I am not the only person here who owned one of 360/PS3 and also owned a Wii! Nintendo really needs to release the games that everyone wants for Wii U, incidentally. Until Super Smash Bros. 4 and a new Zelda title are released, imo the system isn't worth counting out, as many people are waiting for them to appear before considering picking one up. Back on topic: I can't wait for remote play -- I've heard good things. Hoping to see some more Vita / PS4 cross play also. I'm thinking of my PS4 as Netflix box + Vita companion right now more than the other way around. This admittedly is likely because the Vita is playable with kids in the house -- not always true of a console.

Derrit, I'm RTBardic, feel free to add me if you haven't! What's your name there?

I'm in again this year -- messaging Bahamut now! Edit: Things I want: Random Steam games! My Steam wishlist is here for inspiration, but don't constrain yourself if you are passionate about a game: http://steamcommunity.com/id/BardicKnowledge/wishlist/ Music, nearly any kind Surprises! I'm fairly congenial, so I'm down for most anything. League of Legends or PS Store points cards, if nothing else comes to mind If a fellow parent draws me, stuff for Owen, my 1-year old son is welcome -- he currently wears 2T and will move along to 3T sometime in the next six months (yep, he's big).

I just reviewed it on Amazon! It's hard to appropriately describe my opinion as unbiased given my friendship with much of the site staff, but something is hopefully better than nothing. I'll try to get anyone that buys it as a result of my Twitter-pimping write a review from a perspective farther removed from the artists.

One of my high school classmates is the older brother of DarkCecil13, who introduced me to the site back in 2002 as he was pounding on his drumset between games of Super Smash TV and Kirby Superstar. I joined myself to post and lurk in early 2004, when my second semester of college began.

Yep, our 3v3 team (Tom, Brad, and myself) run into this often, where both Brad and I like to call the shots -- the games we win are those in which we settle on one or the other (doesn't matter who, as long as we are all agreed and in sync). Luckily we have been working pretty well together as of late, next season 3v3 we'll likely do well.

I'd really like to do ranked 5's at some point, eliminating the ELO Hell element of solo queue. Playing enough games to climb to Gold would assist me greatly in that I suppose...I was demoted down to Bronze V two months ago for taking care of Owen instead of playing League, haha. Should hit Silver IV before Friday, hoping to get gold for Elise at season close. Edit: Zero, how did you come back from 3 inhib down? It's been my belief that it takes an error on the opposing team at that point, as their map control should dwarf anything you can do. Should be a free baron (can't leave your base or creeps push in and take nexus) for the other team into a win at that point almost every time, shouldn't it? Edit 2: Thus far, I am yet to lose a lane as AP Karma top -- it seems that very few champs can do anything about it. Running her forces jungle to camp top, allowing other lanes to win...and I have no trouble farming 1v2 with the massive waveclear that Karma gets. The secret? Prioritize W2 instead of poking harder with Q2 -- that 40% healing makes you very, very deceptively tanky.