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[Darren870]

It really depends on what's available to you. Check if you have NBN or cable at your address. NBN is best due to better upload speed.

http://www.nbnco.com.au/connect-home-or-business/check-your-address.html

If you have NBN, you can get it from a few different providers.

If not, check for cable through Telstra and Optus:

http://www.optus.com.au/shop/broadband/home-broadband

http://register.bigpond.com/check-availability.do


If you don't have either, ADSL2+ is the next option. You can get that from anywhere. I don't have an opinion on which ISP is best. Maybe someone else does. Reputation wise, it's TPG for cheap, Internode for good service.

Thanks.

As for NBN:
The NBN rollout has not started in your area.

Looks like Cable is the same, so its ADSL2+. Are we stuck in the early 2000s? I mean the last time I used ADSL was when I was going to my friends house at 16 and downloading songs off Napster as it was the fastest way to get music!

Would it make sense to go with optus or bigpond if Cable is going to be rolled out in the area? Looks like TPG is $60 for Unlimited while Optus is $100. So the $40 is a pretty big one. Would they offer similar speeds though? I am guessing so since it has to do with the distance to the telephone exchange etc

 

[reptilescorpio]

BTW Target also have a fantastic X1 deal, get the console with AC Black Flag, AC Unity and Halo MCC for $429. Insanely tempting. Sell the AC code for $30 and it's effectively $399 for an X1 and Halo!

Thanks!! Ooh, that Target deal is quite attractive - those are three games I'd actually want to have with the platform [since I've played TLoU and don't really need a HD version of it to re-play it some day]

Yup easily the best deal out there atm. Comes with the cool white console and 3 great games.

If you don't like LBP3 or Driveclub you can get $30 each on Gumtree easily, Infamous is older so you would only get $20 I expect.

Watching Quantum of Solace, I remember not liking it the first time.

This is not off to a good start with the opening song.

So did you like it?

 

[reptilescorpio]

As for NBN:
The NBN rollout has not started in your area.

Looks like Cable is the same, so its ADSL2+. Are we stuck in the early 2000s?

Blame the voters! At least you have a few years before you're to blame

 

[Fredescu]

Are we stuck in the early 2000s?

Yes, but don't worry, the free market will save us.

Would it make sense to go with optus or bigpond if Cable is going to be rolled out in the area? Looks like TPG is $60 for Unlimited while Optus is $100. So the $40 is a pretty big one. Would they offer similar speeds though? I am guessing so since it has to do with the distance to the telephone exchange etc

Yep, speeds will be based entirely off your distance to the exchange and nothing to do with the particular ISP you use. I doubt there will be any new cable rollouts. At least if you have no cable, you'll eventually get FTTN NBN which will probably end up being better than cable. It sounds like people that have cable are stuck with it for decades now.

 

[Darren870]

Yes, but don't worry, the free market will save us.



Yep, speeds will be based entirely off your distance to the exchange and nothing to do with the particular ISP you use. I doubt there will be any new cable rollouts. At least if you have no cable, you'll eventually get FTTN NBN which will probably end up being better than cable. It sounds like people that have cable are stuck with it for decades now.

Ahh okay. Once NBN rolls out does ISP matter? or is it likely the ISP I pick will offer it once its actually rolled out. Don't want to get stuck in a contract then to find out NBN comes 1/4th the way through it...

 

[Fredescu]

Once NBN rolls out does ISP matter?

It's the same as ADSL, in that each ISP will have different price and service using the same underlying infrastructure.

Don't want to get stuck in a contract then to find out NBN comes 1/4th the way through it...

I could be wrong, but if you're not even on the map I'd say you'd be fine with a two year plan.

 

[Card Boy]

The NBN rollout hasn't started in my area which tells me it could be a minimum of 3 years before I even get it. Longer cause of that dumbshit PM we have and his wireless technology.

What are your upload speeds like?

I will tell you in 10 buisness days! (haven't got it installed yet but signed up). It should be better than what i am getting with TPG (10.1 down and 0.75 up).

 

[Darren870]

It's the same as ADSL, in that each ISP will have different price and service using the same underlying infrastructure.

I could be wrong, but if you're not even on the map I'd say you'd be fine with a two year plan.

Ahh okay. The current roll out map shows that its being rolled out literally 4 houses down from mine. Then it stops. Says:

Build commenced
Fixed line
Work has started in this area.

However, it started being rolled out in Nov 2013... So you are probably right

 

[Omikron]

Our twins were born this afternoon.

 

[Fogz]

Our twins were born this afternoon.

Grats Mr and Mrs Omi

 

[reptilescorpio]

Our twins were born this afternoon.

Woo! Congrats dude! Hope everything is well!

 

[Fredescu]

Our twins were born this afternoon.

Congrats!

 

[markot]

Owning a vita is kind of like being Amish. Not much entertainment, may as well have a baby.

 

[r1chard]

Our twins were born this afternoon.

Congratulations!!

 

[Dimefan3]

Thanks.

As for NBN:
The NBN rollout has not started in your area.

Looks like Cable is the same, so its ADSL2+. Are we stuck in the early 2000s?

Looks like I'm in the same boat - NBN rollout hasn't been done in Melbourne yet (or at least in the Kew area) and when I plugged in my new address to the Optus website Cable isn't available either.

I've been comparing plans though and Dodo looks the best price with 60 bucks for unlimited ADSL2 plus a Fetch TV package. No home phone deal included in that though...

Our twins were born this afternoon.

Congrats!

 

[Planet_JASE]

Our twins were born this afternoon.

Congrats to you both! Please send my commiserations to your social/gaming life.

 

[N0VAM0D]

Our twins were born this afternoon.

Congratulations Omi!

 

[HolyCheck]

Our twins were born this afternoon.

Awesome stuff!!!

Even more excuses to need another melbgaf boardgame day!

 

[Jintor]

Grants omi and Mrs!

 

[senahorse]

Grats Omi

 

[Dead Man]

So.... I've decided against MGS, but I still need a new series to try, thinking Mass Effect, the first two games are on sale on Steam, AusGAF thoughts on the series? I've never played any of them but they sound competently made until the ending of 3 for some reason.

Never used a sub account tbh, we just password protect the account/purchases.
Best to tweet Sony support.

Thanks. Going to wait until it's cleared up then probably just give him a new normal account. Not fun to wait for the kid though

Our twins were born this afternoon.

Congratulations!

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Aw yiss back in Hobart. 20 degrees and raining, this is more like it.

 

[dishwasherlove]

Wasn't the Mass Effect trilogy on sale on Origin recently.

 

[Marky Mark]

Would it make sense to go with optus or bigpond if Cable is going to be rolled out in the area? Looks like TPG is $60 for Unlimited while Optus is $100. So the $40 is a pretty big one. Would they offer similar speeds though? I am guessing so since it has to do with the distance to the telephone exchange etc

Theoretical and practical speeds should be the same based, like you say, on distance from the exchange and (most importantly with the copper network) quality of the line.

The difference between providers will come in when their equipment at the exchange is involved. Depending on the capacity of each provider's DSLAMs will dictate if you end up on a congested DSLAM and also what type of DSLAM they have employed. You won't know this until you're connected as they're obviously not going to advertise if their DSLAM is congested.

A congested DSLAM is not exactly the same as cable congestion but it is still going to affect your overall performance as ADSL is a contention-based network and there are really no guarantees for speed (even ADSL2+) over about 1.5M.

I would get on the Whirlpool forums and maybe see if there are any other people in your suburb with particular providers to get a feel for performance.

 

[Omikron]

Thanks all. Been a tough day

 

[ClivePwned]

Thanks all. Been a tough day

Gratz on the bratz!

Better stock up on Amiibos, Skylanders and Infinity figures.


In other news, The Interview was pretty good. Not terrible, not outstanding, but certainly decent. Mostly well-made and funny. It was at least worth the $6 rental.

And I've found Franco and Rogen films to be very hit or miss, but this one was good. Hopefully we'll see more Diana Bang and Randall Park.

 

[N0VAM0D]

So.... I've decided against MGS, but I still need a new series to try, thinking Mass Effect, the first two games are on sale on Steam, AusGAF thoughts on the series? I've never played any of them but they sound competently made until the ending of 3 for some reason.

Do it!

Mass Effect is probably my favourite video game series of all time, for many reasons. It does a fantastic job at immersing you into the world through it's environments, characters, dialogue, and extensive lore. Ending aside, the series is wonderful experience from start to finish. Some tips: play as femshep; play the Lair of the Shadow Broker and Project Overlord DLCs in Mass Effect 2 (just do it ok); before you play Mass Effect 3, download the extended cut (this is essential), and also get the Citadel DLC because it's great.

If you wanna know anything else, I can help!

 

[codswallop]

I'm just annoyed they immediately ditched the John Carpenter-esque late 70s/early 80s sci-fi after the first game, in favour of bombastic generic space opera. I still enjoyed the second and third, but preferred the style of the first the most.

 

[markot]

Mass effect is terrible.

Don't be a Goober.

 

[Fredescu]

play as femshep

Damn straight.

Mass Effect isn't perfect, but it's definitely worth a try if you like RPGs. My tip for Mass Effect 1 would be to avoid all minor side quests and exploration and just play through the main story. That was only way I could finish it. 2 is the opposite, the side quests are better than the main story.

 

[Jables Swan]

Our twins were born this afternoon.

Huge congrats to you guys.

So.... I've decided against MGS, but I still need a new series to try, thinking Mass Effect, the first two games are on sale on Steam, AusGAF thoughts on the series? I've never played any of them but they sound competently made until the ending of 3 for some reason.

I love Mass Effect. The first is probably still my favourite, but I can't recommend that series enough. You have to play FemShep though. Jennifer Hale kills it in these games.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Femshep is bleh. A lot of the renegade options fell totally flat for me. Mark nails the smug asshole.

 

[jambo]

Femshep is bleh. A lot of the renegade options fell totally flat for me. Mark nails the smug asshole.

I went Paragon through 1 and 2 and vastly prefer FemShep. Hoping to get back in to 3 soon and finish the last 3 quarters.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

I do a 60/40 par/ren split in my "official" playthrough, although I've done full playthroughs of the first two games with purely paragon and renegade. Paragon is just too naive sometimes and makes decisions that are just bad given the information at hand. Renegade is often being an asshole for no good reason. So a mix is preferable. What a shame ME2 punishes you for mixing and matching them thanks to its persuade system.

I wish the pragmatic angle to renegade actually payed off at some point. It's really just flavor most of the time. The endgame ME1 decisions for instance seems like it favours renegade, but then with meta-knowledge about the game you know that you can have your cake and eat it consequence free.

 

[Dead Man]

Hah! Thanks all, purchased them and installing 1 as we speak. Cheers

 

[Jintor]

Video game pragmatism almost never pays off

 

[jambo]

I do a 60/40 par/ren split in my "official" playthrough, although I've done full playthroughs of the first two games with purely paragon and renegade. Paragon is just too naive sometimes and makes decisions that are just bad given the information at hand. Renegade is often being an asshole for no good reason. So a mix is preferable. What a shame ME2 punishes you for mixing and matching them thanks to its persuade system.

I wish the pragmatic angle to renegade actually payed off at some point. It's really just flavor most of the time. The endgame ME1 decisions for instance seems like it favours renegade, but then with meta-knowledge about the game you know that you can have your cake and eat it consequence free.

I definitely did a share, it wasn't all blue.

It was pretty annoying in ME2 when it kinda cancelled out if you took a little from both columns.

I'm looking forward to playing ME3, although I'm worried as all of the crazy talk about the games ending has me worried. Feels weird playing it after so many years of reading reactions on forums and from friends.

 

[Deeku]

Congrats omi

I really liked mining crap in mass effect 2 lol

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Well you could accumulate both para and rene in ME2, but the way persuasions were calculated was something to the effect of:

Persuade Score = tP * (tP / pP)

where
tP = total points you currently have
pP = total points you could have had, based on which missions you have completed, not counting points you got from save imports

You have one score for Paragon, and one for Renegade, since those bars were independent. Then each persuasion had a minimum Persuade Score you had to meet. The really hard ones (e.g. Samara loyalty quest) would require you to have fairly taken close to 100% of paragon, or renegade decisions, but an even mix would have left high and dry. It rewards polarizing your moral decisions, since any point of renegade you failed to gain meant a lower tP/pP. And vice versa for paragon. Some persuades have a lower requirement for paragon or renegade, but over the whole game it roughly evens out.

Since it doesn't include points you got from save imports in the calculations, early on persuades are easy if you had a maxed save import. But the advantage dilutes by end-game.

 

[Fredescu]

It probably goes without saying that you should probably avoid trying to min/max the conversation/morality system on your first playthrough, at the very least so you don't sound like TDM

 

[Quasar]

Thanks.

As for NBN:
The NBN rollout has not started in your area.

Looks like Cable is the same, so its ADSL2+. Are we stuck in the early 2000s?

That's what happens when you have a vast country with relatively few people. Even a limited fibre rollout is taking/going to take a long time. And the fighting between the LNP/Labour has exacerbated that a bit.

 

[Fredescu]

Which reminds me, I should take issue with this:

Blame the voters! At least you have a few years before you're to blame

The voters were tired of Labor infighting and voted them out. The libs could have kept FTTP with no political backlash at all. It's cronyism and ideology that made them kill it. The voters didn't force them on it.

 

[Dead Man]

It probably goes without saying that you should probably avoid trying to min/max the conversation/morality system on your first playthrough, at the very least so you don't sound like TDM

Indeed

 

[reptilescorpio]

The Interview as great. Really good sequel to Pineapple Express that shows how everyone involved has improved their craft basically. Loved loved loved the direction, some really great shots throughout. Some of the CGI really stood out though, the muzzle flashes were quite bad at times. Acting was great throughout, some of the writing was a bit aimless during the middle of the movie and could have done with some editing/retooling but they set up clear motivations for all the characters and had a ton of satire. Best movie Rogan has done since PE/Knocked Up.

Thanks. Going to wait until it's cleared up then probably just give him a new normal account. Not fun to wait for the kid though

Yeah NFI why it was down last night, was running fine on Sunday night.

I'm just annoyed they immediately ditched the John Carpenter-esque late 70s/early 80s sci-fi after the first game, in favour of bombastic generic space opera. I still enjoyed the second and third, but preferred the style of the first the most.

The atmosphere was great in the first game, certainly lost some of that charm in the second and even more in the third.
Wasn't huge on ME3, very up and down experience, even if the ending didn't make me vomit in rage. It wasn't a good way to wrap up the series but by that point after the last 3hours of mediocrity (when I was meant to be epically blown away I expect) I was pretty blase about it.

Damn straight.

Mass Effect isn't perfect, but it's definitely worth a try if you like RPGs. My tip for Mass Effect 1 would be to avoid all minor side quests and exploration and just play through the main story. That was only way I could finish it. 2 is the opposite, the side quests are better than the main story.

ME2 is all side quests, the main plot is terrible and barely holds together. The reason ME2 was such a great game was the renewed focus on tight and compelling gameplay coupled with great insight into your companions. Delving into your team mates pasts and current issues drew you closer to them and let you give a shit about them.

ME1 had a baller epic sci fi story. Still my favourite in the series even if the gameplay is much messier than ME2.

Which reminds me, I should take issue with this:



The voters were tired of Labor infighting and voted them out. The libs could have kept FTTP with no political backlash at all. It's cronyism and ideology that made them kill it. The voters didn't force them on it.

The voters should have expect the Liberals would stuff it up!

 

[Fredescu]

ME2 is all side quests, the main plot is terrible and barely holds together. The reason ME2 was such a great game was the renewed focus on tight and compelling gameplay coupled with great insight into your companions. Delving into your team mates pasts and current issues drew you closer to them and let you give a shit about them.

ME1 had a baller epic sci fi story. Still my favourite in the series even if the gameplay is much messier than ME2.

I agree with your comments. The mess meant I didn't love ME1 as much as others. I have a stupid ingrained habit where I must explore every corner of space available to me. That 90% of explorable space in ME1 was either empty or just cut and paste made me lose interest the first couple of times I tried to play it. The third time I forced myself to ignore the additional shit and just follow the main quests. That was harder than it sounds, so that kinda coloured my enjoyment of it, but it was still good. That's basically why I prefer ME2.

 

[codswallop]

The voters were tired of Labor infighting and voted them out. The libs could have kept FTTP with no political backlash at all. It's cronyism and ideology that made them kill it. The voters didn't force them on it.

I thought it was also partly due to the Liberal party working everyone into a frenzy over trying to get the budget into surplus. "We'll save a ton of money! You don't need good Internet!"

That 90% of explorable space in ME1 was either empty or just cut and paste made me lose interest the first couple of times I tried to play it.

Yeah, there's a ton of pointless stuff in the first. There's a galaxy you can explore, but much like the real galaxy... it's empty.

 

[Fredescu]

I thought it was also partly due to the Liberal party working everyone into a frenzy over trying to get the budget into surplus. "We'll save a ton of money! You don't need good Internet!"

Swann bought into the surplus rubbish too, it wasn't all the Libs.

Yeah, there's a ton of pointless stuff in the first. There's a galaxy you can explore, but much like the real galaxy... it's empty.

Yeah, turns out reality isn't much fun

 

[senahorse]

The voters should have expect the Liberals would stuff it up!

It wasn't just a vote for the nbn, people bought into the budget disaster bullshit that the liberals carried on with, made immigration a huge issue, and they made labor look like a bunch of amateurs embroiled in a school yard fight(edit: labor played the main role in this). If in fact we went to the election with a referendum on the nbn staying the same, it would have, it just wasn't a major issue compared to the other reasons people voted labor out.

 

[r1chard]

Target now out of stock of PS4 bundles in my area, and the website says it's currently unavailable. Serves me right for being distracted by work yesterday.

 

[reptilescorpio]

I agree with your comments. The mess meant I didn't love ME1 as much as others. I have a stupid ingrained habit where I must explore every corner of space available to me. That 90% of explorable space in ME1 was either empty or just cut and paste made me lose interest the first couple of times I tried to play it. The third time I forced myself to ignore the additional shit and just follow the main quests. That was harder than it sounds, so that kinda coloured my enjoyment of it, but it was still good. That's basically why I prefer ME2.

Yup ME2 cut down on a lot of the lazy extra stuff, made it real streamlined. Got rid of the Mako (which I actually enjoyed mucking around with) and most of the grindy planets in favour of a quick minigame which worked okay. All part of making a quick turnaround franchise rather than actually fleshing out all those outlying planets