turdferguson49 16 May : 12:13
Oh yeah, the inspection. I hope it fairs better then the last time!!!
Master Pre 16 May : 08:31
Yep, you give sound advice Turd. I think this next property is going to go much more smoothly. We'll just have to see how the inspection goes on the house and go from there.
turdferguson49 15 May : 21:59
I found out that threatening backing out of an offer works great. I have had to extend my offer on a house, but when I threaten backing out, they move. What also might help is a binder's fee.
GoW2 is on the way, what would YOU like to see in the next release of this awesome franchise?
My wish list for Gears of War 2 By Michael Grandpre Aka Master Pre
Everyone has seen the trailer for Gears of War 2 (GoW2) by now, and if you haven’t then you really need to check it out. The action looks intense, the lighting and colors seem to be a little less dull and dark and the fact that you can duel with lancers is AWESOME! With so much detail and thought being put into a trailer and lead designer Cliffy B sporting a much more classic look (RIP Frosted Hair) I find myself pleasantly optimistic regarding the next iteration to an already storied franchise.
With so much good I am instead going to focus on my concerns and wishes. I would really like to have my cake and eat it too, so perhaps I’ve saved up enough in my gaming karma bank account to be able and cash in a few favors for GoW2.
Melee: PLEASE CLIFFY B, DON’T GET RID OF MELEE!!! I know your brother Tyler B (Papi Blez) and his fellow Gearheads (www.gearheadsofwar.com) despise the mechanic but damn if I don’t love a little smacking when the time is right. I’ve been called every name in the book for using my favorite weapon, the pistol which I’ve affectionately named “Pedro” and yet I just don’t care. I have no qualms with getting “one shotted” with the shotgun or blown to bits by the boom shot so please leave a great mechanic just the way it is.
RIP Lag: Ok, so it’s not Epics fault that 90% of the GoW gamers have crappy connections or cheat, but it’d be really nice if they could somehow adapt the game to not be such a victim of poor hosting and lag. I play Halo 3 religiously and have a much easier time dealing with the lag when compared to GoW. Of course this is unfair as comparing those two games is truly apples and oranges, but I just can’t help myself.
Ranked Matches Suck: In GoW I found the ranked matches to be an absolute waste of my time. One out of every two rooms I entered was filled to the brim with boosters looking to get the notorious “Seriously…” achievement. By limiting almost all of the multiplayer achievements to ranked matches it sort of forced all the legit players to fend for themselves in unranked matches. And that simple fact makes me a sad panda.
Give me a reason to play ranked matches: Integrate a more intuitive stat’s tracking engine and eliminate glitches. Give the masses a reason to play ranked matches and for Gods sake please let a team enter ranked matches to take on other teams. It’s absurd that you have to be a lone wolf in a team based combat game.
Matchmaking Engine: This is one area where I feel completely justified to rip apart Epic. The matchmaking in GoW1 is an absolute tragedy. How you guys (Epic) sleep at night knowing that you completely dropped the ball on an incredibly important aspect of online gaming is beyond me. And you’re damn lucky that when you dropped GoW1 that there was absolutely no other games to play on Xbox Live, hell Halo 2 was still the most popular game and it had been out for a couple years. It’s not like you exactly had competition right?
Speaking of Halo, that franchise has really set the bar for an online matchmaking interface. Learn from your mistakes and hit a home run with GoW2. Please for the love of God improve the matchmaking system; else I will cry myself to sleep on release day.
16 Player Rooms: I haven’t given a whole lot of consideration to any potential balancing issues that may pop up if the party size for GoW was increased to 16 players. The mere thought of having that many people in match excites me in ways that no video game should be able too. Please find a way to include more players and multiple teams!
Say NO to Push-To-Talk (PTT): PLEASE DO NOT HAVE PTT IN GOW2!!!
A little color isn’t a bad thing: I like the dark and dreary feel to GoW1 but I wouldn’t mind seeing a little dynamics when it comes to color and lighting. Am I alone in thinking that this game could gain a lot just by adding a little bit of glitz and glam to an already solid looking game?
So there you have it, my preliminary wish list. I would like to think that Epic will have me on the phone with Cliffy B to interview me regarding the improvements I’d like to see but we all know that isn’t going to happen (or is it?). I can only hope for GoW2 to be a nice balance between what I’d like and what I’ll get. I’m sure we all have our own improvements we’d like to see but I suppose that only time will tell what we actually will get. Until then we have GoW1, Halo 3, COD4 an GTAIV to keep us busy.
Posted by Master PreSunday 11 May 2008 - 22:11:04 | |
The Grand Theft Auto Conspiracy
Find out why Insidiae is a "Sad Panda".
By Insidiae
I am sure by now that all of the Masters have seen the scores for GTA IV. 100%. 10 out of 10. A must own. Most of the reviews stop just shy of saying that Jesus has risen for Easter and he shat this game out as an early present to the world. To be fair the praise is largely justified, though I have yet to really read a review that has levelled any real criticism at it. Those of you who give two shits already know all of GTA IV's numerous admirable qualities, so let's just skip those, shall we? While I bought and enjoy this game, I fully intend to tell it like it is.
The List of Violations
1) The driving controls. I am tired of hearing the excuses. The handling of the vehicles in the GTA series has sucked since it jumped into the 3D realm. They're twitchy, over-sensitive, and completely ridiculous. Yes their sheer uselessness can be adjusted for given enough play time by most gamers, but why is that even necessary? Despite it's name, the Grand Theft Auto series has NEVER BEEN A DRIVING GAME. This is not Forza, Gran Turismo, or even PGR. There is absolutely no reason the vehicle handling needs to be this stupid. They should be simple and intuitive. Not even REAL vehicles are this sensitive.
2) Thou shalt be saved. The save features in this game blow. Either go to your safehouse and take a nap or, if you have the autosave feature active, complete a mission. That's it, and that's not acceptable. The reason for this design clusterf*&k is seemingly to disallow players from saving mid-mission and making the game too easy. Which segways nicely into the most frustrating feature in the entire game: A COMPLETE AND UTTER LACK OF CHECKPOINTS. Did you just happen to die or get busted by the cops? Well guess what? You get to drive all the f*$% back across town and try it all over again. Oh boy, can I!? Blow me. Even the knock-off Saints Row 2 is going to have mid-mission checkpoints. This isn't the 80's anymore. This is an archaic gaming staple that has no business in the industry anymore. My tolerance for frustration only goes so far before I simply don't want to play anymore. Games should be about having fun, not making you so pissed off that you have to stop playing for awhile.
3) Relationships. What. The. F*%&. Whoever implemented this feature needs to be drop-kicked in the balls with soccor cleats. This one might win for most annoying of all. Your "friends" call you up and invite you to an activity. Complete that activity? Great, they like you a little more. Turn them down? Arrive a little too late? Sorry, you just pissed them off and they don't like you as much. Unless you grovel and placate their every whim they will like you less, every time. If real relationships were this sensitive, I wouldn't have any friends and I'd never get laid. Now, I am willing to give credit where credit is due. Rockstar is always trying to innoate and further immerse the player, but such micromanagement is preposterous. We are playing a crime action-drama, not the next iteration of The Sims. This just feels half-assed. If Rockstar was going for realism, they missed the mark horribly.
4) Driving and Shooting. A wise original xbox game named "True Crime: Streets of L.A." once said, "Whatever GTA can do, I can do half as well." The game started off harmlessly enough, but soon devolved into fighting mystical dragons and hunting for golden bones to unlock a playable Snoop Dogg. Not to mention you are never allowed anywhere near the hot latina detective. So what you got from the title was a horrible plot, a graveyard of stolen game elements and blue balls. Thanks Activision- you can eat my ass. But the title did have its redeeming qualities, one of which was its shot targeting system which- and here we finally reach our point- ACTUALLY ALLOWED YOU TO HIT THINGS FROM A VEHICLE. Bizarre, I know, almost incomprehensible. But if I am given a mission in which the goal is to stop someone escaping in a car, and repeatedly ramming them and running them off of the road does not work, I would very much like to be able to actually hit and do damage to their vehicle without crashing every fifteen seconds or going through hundreds of rounds. Call me crazy.
I am sure the GTA purists will be none too happy to see me leveling such criticisms at what they gollum-ishly idolize as "the precious", but I am tired of the game media lauding titles they raise as the Second Coming without even leveling a critical eye at its flaws. I myself am far from immune from GTA IV's charms; I would give the game an 8.5 or even potentially a 9.0 if it came down to it. But for all of Rockstar's talent and the industry-changing concept that is the GTA franchise, these game issues are all the more glaring. It is a great title, sure, but far from perfect. And the first step in getting help is admitting that there's a problem.
Posted by Master PreWednesday 07 May 2008 - 18:05:29 | |
Gears Reloaded
Gears Reloaded By Hydro Hypnos
For the last year and a half I have enjoyed the competitive battles of Gears of war. After so many hours of game play I still find myself engulfed in the Gears Multiplayer game play. No game has come along yet that can pull me away from the dog eat dog shoot outs that Gears can produce. This game really gets your blood pumping, From all the amazing shots to those spectacular clutch wins, Gears is still my game of choice.
With Gears of War 2 on the horizon we will see an influx of gamers slowly moving back to Gears to get a little practice and I suggest that you do the same. I can’t say that 2 will be the same beast but I am sure the game play will hold true to the original for the most part.
So shake of that dust and get in some Gears.
For me I can’t say that I have ever left the game for long enough to become seriously rusty, but we all have our ups and downs. I would just like to keep my downs to a minimum that’s all.
Well along the way I have learned a thing or two and some things still have me perplexed. I have heard talk time and time again about how things happen in this game and on many subjects proof still alludes us. So I would like to share some topics of interest and help with any insight that I can.
Dealing with Lag/Bandwidth
Lag can be a serious problem or a true blessing depending on circumstance. A host with a laggy connection can be your worst nightmare. It can be impossible to score a kill or even feel if your bullets are making any kind of impact. If you hop into a random room and lag is unbearable then the best thing to do is leave. But if you choose to stay and fight than the best thing to do is to first locate your shot box and than find your opponents. I will talk a little about shot box location later. You with a laggy connection can be a serious problem for your opponents. In a room with a good host connection you can almost change the timing of your shots and again the location of your shot box making you in some ways almost impossible to kill.
We have all witnessed this time and time again and a good example of this is RyDawgy and his wonderful air jump connection.
Bandwidth draw is a sneaky way for those online jerks to get a one up on you. If you have ever been in a room hosted by me then you may have noticed I boot split screeners. If you are a friend I let it go but it is still a cheap way to get kills on an unknowing host. Basically what you are doing is drawing twice the response from the host connection.
And remember if you are experiencing problems in a room that you would like to stay in than by all means leave and than jump back in. You may have to reconnect to the host to get the spike you need.
You and your opponents Shot box
Your shot box is the dimension your in game model uses to detect hits on you. In a single player campaign the shot boxes of your enemies are in perfect position, but when you start playing multiplayer the shot box of your in game model and the shot box of your opponent will vary depending on your connection and everyone else’s connection to the hosts room. The actual location of the shot box can be hard to determine, but there are still ways to check. The easiest that I know of is the extended slide, when you can slide into cover from a greater than normal distance, than this is a good indication that your shot box is in front of your character model. It makes it hard for an opponent to score a kill on you from behind. In many rooms you and your opponents shot box could be to the left or the right. Again depending on the connection to the host.
Good connections will keep the shot box closer to your model, but your own connection must also be factored in. So the next time you see a torque arrow hanging a foot off the side of your head than that is where your shot box is located in that match. In a shotty battle I would advise you to shoot off center and you will have to determine the location yourself per match.
The great escape
Gears is about team work and with in all team work for a win you must have your own escape plan. Count on back tracking at a moments notice because its better to live and fight than to run to your death and not help the team at all. My main advice to all is to keep moving unless your tactic at that moment is to hide in cover. A moving target is a lot harder to take out and sometimes an escape will put your opponent in a position that you can take advantage of. Keep tapping the A button and moving around. This can cause your opponent to waste ammo and when they go to reload you have the upper hand for a brief moment.
Good luck out there its brutal…
A few words
I know I will never see many of you in Gears of War again and I hope you will all be picking up Gears of War 2. To some of us Gears is the game that brought us together. And no matter what game comes along Gears always pulls us back.
To me Gears is the cake and I enjoy it the more I play. Its like that old habit that’s so hard to break. So if you ever want in let me know, you are all welcome.
But if you did cause Hanzo to have a deathwish on you than that’s your problem. No one here can help you with that one.
Hypnos
Posted by Master PreTuesday 06 May 2008 - 23:25:25 | |
GTAIV - 1 Week Later
By xk3zofrenik
It's been a week now and this has been rocking every day since.
In fact it provided one of those weird sensations of delivering a complete gaming experience.
Great narrative... check Shooting stuff and big explosions... check Laugh out loud Multiplayer... check
it was just weird. Usually games that are good in multiplayer they suck in single player, and vice versa. On this you can seamlessly jump from one to the other, and sort of blend them in the co-op and Free mode.
the physics are great. I loved all the new additions. My favorite one is waiting for a cop to try to arrest me on the car, and waiting for him to grab the handle and take off. He stays holding on until he dies.
Another one is that some of the pedestrians have objects. You can ran over someone with an umbrella, and see umbrella flying. Ditto with rocket launchers and cops, you can see cops bodies flying.
Another thing is i like how the story gives you the option to choose wether you kill someone or not. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does is fun to go back and replay the other option.
the story has been pretty fun. I can't believe how fresh it is even thought i played almost all the other GTAs.
Now the weird thing about the multiplayer is that it feels like the true sandbox with all the weapons around and more options to turn on/off vehicles or pedestrians. It's perfect place to relax and kick it with friends. No other game beats the 16 player in free mode just running aorund and doing whatever. Is just plain fun. I am still questioning the longevity in this, but battling the law in a group still is very fun a week later.
Posted by Master PreTuesday 06 May 2008 - 21:48:48 | |
Ironman Review
By Insidiae
Iron Man was an excellent movie. I can see why it has received so many positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes has it listed at 94% with 161 reviews:
Initially, I thought that the flick looked promising and seemed as though it would be at least entertaining. I also thought that the choice of Robert Downey Jr. for Tony Stark was an excellent one. All of this and more proved invariably true. The film was well-paced, well-scripted, and true to the feel of the comic series, not to mention that it was pleasantly interlaced with well-placed and clever humor that had the crowd guffawing and clapping in appreciation.
I would have to say that the best aspect of the movie, however, was it's restraint. The flick deftly avoided many of the pratfalls of the comic-to-film genre that have sullied it's peers, namely the campy humor, absurd, over-the-top action sequences, and poor scripting. Iron Man also reminded me a bit of Batman Begins, in that they both begin by introducing you to the main character before they become the hero they are destined to be, and that the action is used more as the result of the storyline, not as the fuel for it.
That is not to say that there wasn't anything that couldn't be improved on, however. My biggest irritant in the film was the revealed main villain, who is suddenly and almost absurdly diabolical at the drop of a dime. The motivation for the character was there, sure, but the extremes of the character seemed out of place. A few other nagging events strained credibility but could just as easily be set aside since it is, after all, a super hero flick, so the suspension of disbelief is a foregone conclusion. Anyone that will point at a super hero movie and call it unrealistic is just plain retarded; that's foregone conclusion number 2, just in case you were keeping track. In short, it was well-acted and won't fail to entertain. Give it a try and you won't regret it.
Posted by Master PreMonday 05 May 2008 - 20:19:42 | |
here comes my PS3 
