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AusGAF 7 - We hang out IRL now and be social and shit. (Also, Adrian's Revenge)

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Clipper

Member
Anybody else interested in getting a 3DS XL imported from the US? As Amazon looks like it might not be going to sell them, I'm investigating alternative methods. I'm currently thinking of using HopShopGo to route a 3DS bought from Walmart, so if there's anybody else that wants one, we could ship two at the same time to save on total shipping.

Shipping within Australia would likely be less expensive than the savings from shipping multiple units from the US, especially for those of you in Sydney, where we could just meet up.

If anyone's interested in joining me, or has any other alternatives, please let me know.
 

Raxum

Member
I think it comes from being 'burned' in the past from listening to small vocal groups (such as GAF) where they end up losing a fuckload of money doing something they thought would catch fire and sell well. Rather than identify why it didn't work and re-iterate the process so it is more likely to succeed next time they just call it a failure and take a different tactic that they think is safer, like nickel-and-dime DLC.

Yeah that definitely seems to be the case, but I like to think that people who actually want to contribute to the community would try to help in a constructive way. Like I've been playing a fair few closed betas and try to participate in the forums of them where possible. Reporting bugs, putting in suggestions or opinions about things, and trying to gauge the community a little. It honestly makes me a little made to see vocal minorities win out about certain subjects, like making a game more difficult for the sake of it being difficult and then seeing the majority of the userbase suffer for it. Or the opposite, making it easier and the game losing aspects of the fun it had. Definitely hard to be a developer these days, you either listen to a userbase and try to gauge what they want or listen to a publisher and take the safe bets.
 
There's an AC/DC and a Transformers one at timezone. Maybe try the arcade at the myer centre at the movies.

Yeah, I hit them up pretty often. Transformers is really reasonable with getting replays as well, which is nice.

Helps create the illusion that I'm half decent at pinball.

Anyone who comes across this alleged Rolling Stones machine, please let me know!
 

Jintor

Member
I think it comes from being 'burned' in the past from listening to small vocal groups (such as GAF) where they end up losing a fuckload of money doing something they thought would catch fire and sell well. Rather than identify why it didn't work and re-iterate the process so it is more likely to succeed next time they just call it a failure and take a different tactic that they think is safer, like nickel-and-dime DLC.

It's a shareholder-minded instant-profits attitude.
 
Yeah that definitely seems to be the case, but I like to think that people who actually want to contribute to the community would try to help in a constructive way. Like I've been playing a fair few closed betas and try to participate in the forums of them where possible. Reporting bugs, putting in suggestions or opinions about things, and trying to gauge the community a little. It honestly makes me a little mad to see vocal minorities win out about certain subjects, like making a game more difficult for the sake of it being difficult and then seeing the majority of the userbase suffer for it. Or the opposite, making it easier and the game losing aspects of the fun it had. Definitely hard to be a developer these days, you either listen to a userbase and try to gauge what they want or listen to a publisher and take the safe bets.

In regards to beta testing you will also find a hell of a lot of internal or contracted testers will talk about how great the process of finding/reporting faults with some people are but then find the issues still there in the final product just due to the cost/benefit situation of a lot of them. If there isn't enough benefit to cover the cost they won't fix the bug. Even with the best wishes on the developer they can see things being ignored or passed up, smaller developers with more control over their alotted man hours can obviously turn more attention to that stuff though.
Very hard for both publishers and developers to work out the best course to navigate with all the streams of information coming in if they can't sit back and see it from an overall perspective and actually see the point of the product, if they can't see exactly why consumers want it to exist they end up saddling it with a lot of stuff that consumers don't want in the end. Which, like Jintor said, is part of being a company having to answer to many many different people with different requirements. That recent rant on how the CEO's daughter was telling the publisher to tell the developer to put a cat in a game because cats are hot right now is a good example (disclaimer: this example is not the same one :/)
 
Yeah, I hit them up pretty often. Transformers is really reasonable with getting replays as well, which is nice.

Helps create the illusion that I'm half decent at pinball.

Anyone who comes across this alleged Rolling Stones machine, please let me know!

Yeah I'm "decent" at transformers. With that said, generally only getting decent scores when I get multiballs.

Hey, I'm not saying the system isn't being abused. I'm just saying don't throw the baby out with the bathwater just because some people are pissing in there while they wash.

Educating the masses to bullshit abuse would help, although it is hard to get the message out with so much bombardment into peoples minds already.

Thank the lord for GMG and other solutions to bullshit pricing by certain publishers on Steam.

The system is getting abused in just about every industry, if I ran a company and could get away with it I would. I think my major problem is them trying to justify it, especially digital content.
 

midonnay

Member
http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2012/08/08/north-korea-dont-call-us-naughty/

North Korea takes issue with free Melbourne daily MX calling them Naughty Korea >_>

when the bombs are dropping...... QLDers know who to blame....

On top of the weirdness, KCNA itself misidentified the newspaper that published the table. Throughout its lecture, it called the paper “Brisbane Metro.” That name appears to have originated from a tweet about the news, suggesting KCNA’s editors are monitoring coverage on social media.
 

Raxum

Member
In regards to beta testing you will also find a hell of a lot of internal or contracted testers will talk about how great the process of finding/reporting faults with some people are but then find the issues still there in the final product just due to the cost/benefit situation of a lot of them. If there isn't enough benefit to cover the cost they won't fix the bug. Even with the best wishes on the developer they can see things being ignored or passed up, smaller developers with more control over their alotted man hours can obviously turn more attention to that stuff though.
Very hard for both publishers and developers to work out the best course to navigate with all the streams of information coming in if they can't sit back and see it from an overall perspective and actually see the point of the product, if they can't see exactly why consumers want it to exist they end up saddling it with a lot of stuff that consumers don't want in the end. Which, like Jintor said, is part of being a company having to answer to many many different people with different requirements. That recent rant on how the CEO's daughter was telling the publisher to tell the developer to put a cat in a game because cats are hot right now is a good example (disclaimer: this example is not the same one :/)

That's definitely true, it does all come down to the dollar value placed on something. Bigger dev houses have to worry about revenue and paying all their staff, so they have to make money on their decisions. I do still like seeing smaller games with smaller devs like Grinding Gear Games(Path of Exile) and Notch/Mojang who will look at community feedback and make certain changes based on the feedback. Not sure how good it's been with Minecraft lately, but I've definitely seen that with Path of Exile.

Not saying every company should take every piece of advice given to them, but sometimes it's nice when the community is heard and changes are made based upon a majority outcry or request.
 

Jintor

Member
I just had a weird idea about some kind of film or short video where a guy gets completely shitfaced drunk, blacks out, and wakes up on Mars.
 

Jintor

Member
Well, my 21st was probably only the second time in my life I've actually lost portions of time to alcohol. I woke up and apparently I had handed my pocket notebook to someone and told them to take down verbartim what I was saying, because I woke up and it was covered in drunken scrawling.
 

Yagharek

Member
I just had a weird idea about some kind of film or short video where a guy gets completely shitfaced drunk, blacks out, and wakes up on Mars.

2qlGM.gif
 
Well, my 21st was probably only the second time in my life I've actually lost portions of time to alcohol. I woke up and apparently I had handed my pocket notebook to someone and told them to take down verbartim what I was saying, because I woke up and it was covered in drunken scrawling.

lol, my friend did something similar, but instead he sent it in a text. It was amazing, but sadly its not on my phone anymore :( Never lost chucks of my memory from drinking too much. I can't afford that many drinks ;.;
 

Fusebox

Banned
So I really liked the short 'D&D in the 1970's' skit on Good Game this week, come at me.

I just had a weird idea about some kind of film or short video where a guy gets completely shitfaced drunk, blacks out, and wakes up on Mars.

John Carter, Bogan of Mars.
 
Oh God, that reminds me of the 'drunk diaries' my mates and I took for a few months. Have a notepad on you at all times through a night, sit down together and read through them later in the week.

Good for a laugh. My advice? Destroy them soon after.

On beta feedback and publisher input, the TV show Louie is the product of a singular man and vision, and though it's not perfect it's a breathtaking show and amazing example of what can happen if someone sticks to their guns and doesn't compromise their original vision.

If anyone takes away one thing from the incredible deal Louis CK did with FX, it's that you should do everything in your power to keep creative control if you feel passionate about the end product.
 

Kritz

Banned
You don't need to afford lots of drinks when russian standard is like $40 when on sale!

... I miss my 21st birthday.
 

Yagharek

Member
2012 seems to be the year of the under-the-radar gems in terms of gaming.

Anyone seen the investigation video for Sleeping Dogs?

Yeah, that pretty much just sold me on the game entirely. A great variety to the single mission there, but I do wonder how much freedom exists within a single mission. Either way, looks promising and about 100 times more fun than Heavy Rain.

The other game this year that I've only just discovered needs more attention (seemingly getting it on GAF at least) is Darksiders 2. Why?

The soundtrack.

Especially this one, right here.

Incredible tune.
 
Unless you have friends who insist on going to fancy bars and never drink at home -_- maybe I should get me a flask.
Predrinks and then ordering Cokes all night and topping them up with the contents of the flask was how younger Codswallop wasted many a weekend. I think... scene missing.
 
John Carter, Bogan of Mars.
Day 1. Not kidding. I would watch the shit out of that.

Just went to the gym for the first time in forever. I was so tired I didn't even want to stand in the shower. Fucking rooted.

That investigation scene in Sleeping Dogs looks good. I was thinking it was just a GTA clone, but that looks interesting. I don't understand why some characters have American accents and others have Chinese accents. Aren't they all from the same country?

Also, has anyone read the Name of the Wind books? I just read the first one and loved it.
 
Black outs fucking suck Shan. Many regrets from stuff that happened that my mind felt so painful to contain that they needed to erase from my access. Thankfully I got my drinking problem under control! (I say as I have my 3rd glass tonight)

You don't need to afford lots of drinks when russian standard is like $40 when on sale!
You can get bottles of Vodka/Scotch/Whiskey for $35 from Aldi every day of the week! Shreds your insides even better than regular alcohol!

Oh God, that reminds me of the 'drunk diaries' my mates and I took for a few months. Have a notepad on you at all times through a night, sit down together and read through them later in the week.

Good for a laugh. My advice? Destroy them soon after.

On beta feedback and publisher input, the TV show Louie is the product of a singular man and vision, and though it's not perfect it's a breathtaking show and amazing example of what can happen if someone sticks to their guns and doesn't compromise their original vision.

If anyone takes away one thing from the incredible deal Louis CK did with FX, it's that you should do everything in your power to keep creative control if you feel passionate about the end product.
First: I did the same. Until my diary quick denigrated into sobbing and crying. Got pretty sad so I decided to stop writing it down and instead turn my lack of understanding what the fuck was going on into a serious gaming habit. Thanks NeoGAF!

Secondly: Hell yes, we live in a post-Louie world now. I think every medium and industry will find the smaller teams to be more and more valuable. Also another reason I can see the job title of 'Consultant' coming back hard with a vengeance. Got my business cards already made up! Thanks VistaPrint!

2012 seems to be the year of the under-the-radar gems in terms of gaming.

Sleeping Dogs
Darksiders 2
THQ and Square. 2 awesome mid-tier games coming out that will offer me a hell of a lot of fun. Love everything about Sleeping Dogs and Darksiders 2 looks like a wider scoped version of the first game, which was a hell of a lot of fun. Both are day one for me and I will probably double dip on the 360 version once they get under $30 and I can tell the cheevos for both will be a lot of fun to run for.

Helps that you can pick them up for $35 on PC each!

Predrinks and then ordering Cokes all night and topping them up with the contents of the flask was how younger Codswallop wasted many a weekend. I think... scene missing.
Goonbags during the afternoon, roll onto the bus into town, bum rush the bar so some people make off with a bottle of vodka, to the toilets to skull, [insert missing scene here], wake up and roll down the hill to uni cafe for greasy chicken wings and powerade, rinse with shower/toothpaste and repeat for 24 months.

*Uni degree certainly not included :/
 

Salazar

Member
Oh. Well, I guess I won't read it then.

I read worse books. Hell, I'm teaching worse books.

But still.

Largely, I just took exception to some of the writing. It takes a skill he doesn't possess whatsoever to write convincingly about what it is like to listen to music, for example.
 

Jintor

Member
I didn't even like In The Name Of The Wind very much and that seemed to be getting some amount of acclaim. I think ultimately though I just really like non-fiction works.
 

Salazar

Member

The Giant

Banned
I found about this yesterday about this cheap homemade drug in Russia called Krokodil, that will rot your skin off.

This drug is fucked up. Heroin addicts make this when they can't afford to buy heroin.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/krokodil-the-drug-that-eats-junkies-2300787.html

The home-made drug that Oleg and Sasha inject is known as krokodil, or "crocodile". It is desomorphine, a synthetic opiate many times more powerful than heroin that is created from a complex chain of mixing and chemical reactions, which the addicts perform from memory several times a day. While heroin costs from £20 to £60 per dose, desomorphine can be "cooked" from codeine-based headache pills that cost £2 per pack, and other household ingredients available cheaply from the markets.

It is a drug for the poor, and its effects are horrific. It was given its reptilian name because its poisonous ingredients quickly turn the skin scaly. Worse follows. Oleg and Sasha have not been using for long, but Oleg has rotting sores on the back of his neck.

"If you miss the vein, that's an abscess straight away," says Sasha. Essentially, they are injecting poison directly into their flesh. One of their friends, in a neighbouring apartment block, is further down the line.

"She won't go to hospital, she just keeps injecting. Her flesh is falling off and she can hardly move anymore," says Sasha. Photographs of late-stage krokodil addicts are disturbing in the extreme. Flesh goes grey and peels away to leave bones exposed. People literally rot to death.

More at the link.

Pics
(EXTREMELY GRAPHIC AND NSFW. NOT FOR ANYONE WITH WEAK STOMACHS)
http://www.buzzfeed.com/gavon/seriously-dont-use-krokodil
 

hamchan

Member
Also, has anyone read the Name of the Wind books? I just read the first one and loved it.

Yes, they are great. Craps on most other fantasy novels. 2nd one got a bit weird in the middle (those of you who read it know which bit I'm talking about) but I stil loved it.
 
Should read: Seriously, DONT USE DRUGS (aside from weed of course, since it is barely a drug)

Also I remember the image that churned me was one of an arm down to the bone. THAT was messed up.

Also yes, Jordan was Wheel of Time. Until his wheel ran out of time. So his series ends up finished by someone else like many others :(

Also I didn't get into it much.

Also Deathclaws are still scary as fuck even in endgame.
 

hamchan

Member
Brandon Sanderson is a good choice to finish the WoT series. I couldn't get through the third book of the WoT but Sanderson novels I can just speed through. He's always a bit slow at the start of the story but his worldbuilding is top notch.
 

Lafiel

と呼ぶがよい
Man had such a long day today, took the bus at 8 am, then the train to melbourne at 9 am, arrived at federation square around 10:10 am, buggered around at the acmi gallery 1 for a bit, which as a film fan it was like heaven for me, esp seeing dat christopher dolye photography on display omggg. Then started watching A Letter to Momo at 11 am at the cinema there from the MIFF (Melbourne International Film Festival) re-visited the gallery at 1 pm after the film was over till I ran out of time, then took the train back home at 2 am, got back home at around 4 pm, then went to my karate class at 5:30 pm and finally got back home here at around 8:00ish to write this post!

Looking forward to doing it all again next month when I see Wolf Children in melbourne :D
 

Raxum

Member
Sword of truth is a good series if you are looking for something with more depth then the game of thrones series.

Sword of truth is Terry Goodkind right? There was a TV series made around it called Legend of the Seeker wasn't there?... I swear I've got the series on DVD around here somewhere. Might finish watching the series after I've read the latest book in Feist's series that has gone for way too long. Then maybe read the books. If I get time around gaming.
 
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