Thylacine

Should have waited 24 hours to post. From now until Halloween, logging in will net you a Pumpkin Bandolier. So, those of you who haven't earned an accessory can now have that opportunity.

The latest update was mostly graphical changes, but they made two changes to the Clockworks (and subtowns, but I didn't get to any of those tonight): 1. An "arsenal" chest is there. This is to remind people to change their loadouts and/or equipment. 2. Boost is there to provide you with energy and shadow keys. I think he's only selling shadow keys for a short time, but I'm not clear if it's in the clockworks or if it's Boost selling them period. I ended up forgetting to change my gun from Silversix to F. Pepperbox before I went down and saw the arsenal. Does anyone else forget to switch equipment?

Let's see.. Punkin King, Shadow Lairs... Anyone fight JK today? The notes seemed to hint that something has changed, which frightens me a bit. It usually means they did something like put spike floors into the room, and I think we've touched on how the battle is fluctuating enough in skill level as it is.

They have now added accessories, so you can jazz up your helmet/armor. With this update comes a prize wheel that appears at the conclusion of each level. Also, two new levels in lockdown. I haven't been able to test this out much, since my game froze after a couple of levels. I think the changes might have done something crazy with the system. The Roarmulus Twins are glitched, and they sent out a message saying not to take them on until things are fixed.

A friend of mine is planning on doing this. He plays games on the same side as humans, but it's always AI opponents. I thought he was crazy, but I had 6 games in a row where I had less than stellar players on my team and the idea sounded tempting."You're starting in the top lane [of Twisted Treeline]? You're an idiot." (No declaration to rush bottom, mind. I'm simply stupid for choosing heads instead of tails.) "Hey, you KSed that minion!" (He complained about KSing the whole game to both me and the other teammate on TT, but this was particularly petty. Granted, I did, but he probably could have killed a minion in the time it took to complain about it.) "Summoner has disconnected." (When the enemies have killed all the other champions and our only hope to stop them from making significant progress or winning is that one player. This has happened multiple times, one time when we had managed to do significant damage to the enemy base and it was quite possible for us to still win.) And the perplexing case of the enemy team losing 20 minutes into a Summoner's Rift game before we even made extreme headway into the game. Apparently, a hacker/griefer caused an auto-surrender. No clue how it happened. I would have preferred playing the game and losing to the free 150 IP. --- Point is: gamers kinda suck. I had a good game after a long time, and I generally don't have problems. But if that subset exists, I understand why. It might have less to do with leveling than you think. And I wanted to mention my summoner name: Reiloh. I've been doing nothing but Dominion lately because it's fast-paced and people don't have the luxury of time to complain.

Yeah, JK runs are ridiculous in how varied they are. Someone having a poisoning weapon makes a huge difference. I haven't done one since I got my antigua (now silversix), but they are some of the more enjoyable runs even if people aren't that experienced.

It's another Power Surge Weekend. So, if you haven't played in a while, it's a good weekend to do some heat gathering and money hunting. Also, if you intend to buy energy, do so before the inevitable price spike that comes with Power Surge Weekends.

Except they remove your costume hats instead of providing them. (Not that I'm complaining about the new game - it's quite awesome and they have a nice variety of courses.)Also worth noting in this update is the addition of loadouts. Now, instead of changing individual pieces of armor and weaponry for each challenge, you can just make loadouts for every situation. They can be used in both PvP and in your regular gameplay (where applicable, like Emberlight or Clockworks).

Factor in that you have to pay 50(?) crowns to send that money unless you arrange a face-to-face transfer. ...(It's not worth it, really, but I won't stop you from giving it to someone.)

If you have free time and weren't considering playing, there's a costume helmet giveaway. Just play Battle Network for 1 match this weekend and you'll get it. I ended up winning a free helmet on a bribe anyhow (and the one I was planning on getting anyway), which was an absurdly pleasant surprise. So, yeah, consider throwing some energy into the bribe meter when you play.

It's the 3 letters we've been waiting for! P.V.P. Right now, it's just a Bomberman knockoff, but it's fantastically fun to play. It also lets you use energy (if you choose) and the crown cost is pretty acceptable. People who are complaining about energy limiting gameplay can stop, because this almost makes that problem disappear. New items, too!

Oh, I go to other areas. I just decided I'd give FSC a whirl since Vanaduke is the only boss/artifact I need. I'm a bit hesitant to sell some mats because I don't want to sell something I'll need for an item (and even as much of a master as I am with the auction house, I've never been that good with selling mats).With my daring rigadoon's piercing damage and fire-inducing pepperbox, oilers are officially the enemy whom I can't beat on my own. I'm building up a calibur as an alternate weapon, so this should hopefully be a problem of the past.

Man, those guys are expensive! I have something to shoot for when I get my Aegis, at least. I was going to upgrade the 1-star equipment for fun, but that might be an expensive proposition. On a more personal note, I made it to Tier 3 recently. I... need to upgrade to 5-star. Also, as much as I love my fiery pepperbox, it's not very useful in Firestorm Citadel against enemies who are themselves on fire.

Anyone who has an opportunity to play this weekend: energy costs for elevators have been slashed in half. That means 5 units of energy to go down instead of ten. This weekend only. Won't make Ironclaw Munitions less explodey but might make it less of a pain to revive in.

I'm not a huge country fan, either, but if you need a li'l something from this decade, Lady Antebellum is probably the best modern country group you'll find. They're hardly punk rock and likely not what you're looking for, but country has been heading in a pop direction for a while now. This might be the best in the contemporary department you'll find. Otherwise, I defer to Meteo or someone else who knows what they're talking about.

Alice: Madness Returns This one feels like a return to form for Yahtzee. Honest, clear-cut, simple metaphors throughout, and just enjoyable to watch. (Dead thread is dead - not hunting the other reviews down at this moment).

Ironclaw Munitions Factory is now open, and with it comes the Roarmulus Twins. My group, despite some stragglers (*ahem*) was able to defeat the boss(es). I even remembered to grab the artifact for once, so I don't need to go back through that boss unless I want the items. Which, unfortunately, I kinda do. This is a really annoying area to have lag in. But the new items look kinda nifty.

Yeah. I'm about to get to Tier 3 (the final area) and I haven't spent a cent on energy. (This is one of those games that deserve money, though, so I may cave and get that starter kit.) --- The Steam tie-in was almost a deal-killer for me, I admit, but I use Steam for most of my PC games anyway. It seemed like the natural thing to do.

Southwest of the front desk in Moorcraft, you'll find Brinks. He's over in an ignored section of the hotel, but he's there.I forgot he was there, until someone got something after fighting Snarbolax.

It's now possible to transfer accounts to Steam. I did so, and learned four important things. 1. There's voice chat in the Steam version. 2. This feature is turned on when you start out. 3. I apparently have a microphone on my computer I'm unaware of. 4. I'm a loud typer.

Dude, that computer must have a huge display! But yeah, it's like that. Shock attack isn't as dazzling, but it's still quite painful. So much twitching...

If you can't find anything... Admins warned us that the shock/fire powers were to Tier-3 levels, even on Tiers 1 and 2. They said to "plan accordingly" and that they'd fix it in the next bug update. Something is horribly, horribly wrong if I'm losing my entire health bar right before Snarbolax (with my 4* shield, no less).

Good Lord, don't go to any shock levels until they fix the bug. The attack levels are through the roof (and that's not even counting the shock damage that you can't prevent - a single attack shatters a shield). The message said it was fire status that was harder, but I respectfully disagree.

Well, if you go to another gate, there shouldn't be a boss in those. It's only when the second symbol above the gate is beast (three yellow claw marks) that it's a Snarbolax gate. Compared to the future bosses (like the royal jelly) it's a pretty basic boss. Getting to the next tier is supposed to be a big deal, so noobs technically aren't supposed to be defeating Snarbolax that easily. I think they underestimate how brief (and avoidable, really) the shield section is in the tutorial. Truth is, it's one of the major skills you use in the later levels. I think there's an area that trains you to use your shield in the advanced training hall (in the main plaza of Haven near the entrance to the bazaar - worth your while if you're playing for the first time).

Huh. I admit he was a bit more annoying the last time I played him (took him forever to get to the bell) but he was defeatable. He can only hear the bell when he's above ground, when he's doing the bite attack. His time "stunned" is variable, too - sometimes it's just a couple of seconds, but sometimes he goes for like 5-6 seconds. I don't know if he has damage tiers like other VG bosses. One thing is that those of us who have played since March/April all have higher-level shields, too, so we can guard his attacks better (x key if you're unaware) and that keeps us in the game for a while longer. Our swords with high attack power (piercing especially) also make good use of what little time he is stunned.