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Messages - Thexor

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631
Other Games / Re: Dota 2
« on: July 11, 2013, 07:29:21 pm »
The ultimate goal of matchmaking is to get everybody, except the absolute 'best of the best' and 'worst of the worst', to a 50% win rate. Reaching that win rate doesn't mean you've hit a 'skill cap', it means you've hit the correct matchmaking tier. (Some exceptions occur if you constantly play with organized teams.) There's always room for improvement!

632
Other Games / Re: Steam Sales
« on: July 11, 2013, 01:47:17 pm »
Quote from: Wiles on July 11, 2013, 01:41:10 pm
Quote from: Aklyon on July 11, 2013, 01:38:41 pm
Well yes, it is free monies, I have 5 cents. But it is steam wallet 5 cents, so its not exactly that great.

I've made about 20$ on steam cards. All you have to do is leave eligible games on and let the free monies roll in.

Yup. Cards are awarded based on time spent playing, because any other stat could be manipulated and might encourage awkward playstyles. The cards themselves sell pretty easily on the Steam marketplace - you can only earn half the cards needed for a single badge by playing the game, so if you want a complete collection (or want more than one level), you pretty much have to buy them.


Honestly, I'd prefer a different implementation. I think it'd be more interesting if people could earn an unlimited (or at least large) number of cards, but only specific types - instead of being limited to 4 TF2 cards, I could earn unlimited copies of 4 types of TF2 cards. So I might have lots of Heavy, Medic, Scout, and Pyro cards, but I'd have to find someone to trade those with for the rest of the set (and I'd have lots of duplicates available to trade). As it stands, the only way to get a complete collection is to buy cards, trade non-card items for cards (same as buying them, really), or pray for multiple booster packs (and I haven't seen one yet). But sadly, I don't work for Valve.  :(

633
Other Games / Re: Steam Sales
« on: July 11, 2013, 01:27:47 pm »
Quote from: greatorder on July 11, 2013, 01:14:19 pm
OK, gonna have to have someone explain this to me...
What is this 'bioshock infinite summer getaway' card?

It's explained on the main Steam page, but basically: there are 10 Steam Trading Cards for the Summer Sale. You unlock these cards by:

* Crafting badges for other games. (If you crafted a badge in the last week, you got a 'mystery card' that has now been revealed as a Summer Trading Card).

* Spending money. Every $10 spent earns one card.

* Voting for the Community Choice options. Every 3 votes gets you one card, if you have Steam level 5 or higher. This is to prevent people making new free Steam accounts and farming trading cards; if you achieve level 5 before the end of the sale, you get all the cards you should've earned over the sale.


If you collect one of each of the 10 cards in the set, you can craft a badge. This goes on your permanent Steam record for bragging rights, and additionally gets you Steam XP that levels up your account (meaning a bigger Friends list, more frequent card booster packs, etc).

634
Play With Your Buddies / Re: Blank Plays: X-COM Apocalypse
« on: July 11, 2013, 01:56:56 am »
Ooh... those poor rookies. So nice of them to gracefully bow out and let a real suicidal recruit join the team! ;D

635
Other Games / Re: Dota 2
« on: July 11, 2013, 01:10:28 am »
Long story short: there are jerks. It's an online game, and unlike many online games it's painfully obvious when someone on the team is having a bad game. In an online shooter, you tend to notice your teammates less, and there's no penalty to just leaving the server if you're doing poorly. In Dota 2, you'll be spending ~40 minutes or more with your team, and it becomes really obvious when someone isn't pulling their weight.

If you're feeling discouraged, try the following (in order):

* Finish the tutorial. You can always click the "Go on a training mission" to resume the tutorial. I strongly recommend playing every part of the tutorial at least once - it's a big help.

* Mute the offending players. Remember that guide I linked above? There's a reason the location and use of the Mute button is one of the first things it teaches you.  ;)
Players can still report you, but frankly, it's not a huge deal if you get reported. Admittedly this won't help you improve, but practice is the best way to get better, and it's hard to practice when people are bitching at you!

* Play co-op matches. Co-op bot matches pit 5 human players versus 5 bots. If you pick Medium difficulty or lower, you'll probably be able to steamroll the bots. It's a great way to learn how to play if you really want human teammates.

* Play a few solo matches versus bots. There are a bunch of advantages here (you can customize your opponent's skill level, you can leave at any time without penalty). Of course, you should have gone through 5 bot matches as part of the tutorial, but this is a nice resource if you've finished the tutorial and want a slightly higher challenge.

636
Other Games / Re: Dota 2
« on: July 11, 2013, 12:42:41 am »
Quote from: crazysheep on July 11, 2013, 12:33:37 am
Quote from: Andrew425 on July 11, 2013, 12:19:19 am
So I just started playing today. So far the game is fun except I keep dying at the end. Should I spend my upgrades on attributes or on the power up things?
Have you tried playing through the tutorial yet? It's rather informative for players new to Dota.

I second this - it's an awesome resource for new players. Plus, you get free items from the tutorial! Who doesn't like free stuff?

To answer your question: most heroes should be spending their points on skills, not attributes. There are exceptions (Skeleton King often gets one level of attributes, since early on his Vampiric Aura is actually detrimental, Mortal Strike isn't worth leveling past 1, and his nuke is very expensive for someone with his... questionable intelligence), but 99% of heroes benefit from their abilities far more than a couple of stat points.

If you've finished with the tutorial, I'd suggest reading Purge's guide for new players. There are literally dozens of guides for new players, but Purge's is the one most people link to.  :)

637
Other Games / Re: How did you last *own*?
« on: July 11, 2013, 12:37:21 am »
Lord Dredmor, terror of the 15th floor of his own dungeon, has been slain. Turns out he's not that much of a threat when you pin him in a Damping Field of Angst, summon a Friendly Wyrmling next to him so he's got someone to attack (and doesn't leave the damping field), and then stack Tactical Pyres and Recursive Curses on his head. Though it still took forever - I'd love to find an element he doesn't heavily resist. Apparently ancient liches have a surprisingly high resistance to Existential damage, and are happy to 2/3-hit kill my pets.  ::)

EDIT: Also, got a Lord Dredmor Steam trading card immediately after my victory. I'm sure it's a coincidence, but still...  :D
 
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

638
Other Games / Re: How did you last die?
« on: July 08, 2013, 05:22:28 pm »
I was having an amazing run - my Promethean/Emomancy/Mathemagic caster had made it to the tenth level of the dungeon, and on the hardest difficulty no less. I opened a monster zoo, and immediately began setting up flame walls all over, burning dozens of monsters to death as they wasted their time attacking my wyrmling pet.

Then an Archdiggle crept into range, the flames obscuring his purple body, and one-shotted me.

Farewell Deadmeat III. Your descendant will be entering the dungeon shortly (minus your useless Egyptian Magic). At least I got an achievement for dying to an Archdiggle.  :'(

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

639
Other Games / Re: Steam Sales
« on: July 08, 2013, 01:50:16 am »
I really kinda like the Sentry change, mostly because they were 100% useless before. At the very least, it's now possible to research Disguised Sentries (which are somewhat useful) without needing a whole bunch of carefully-arranged Topside Shacks and 24/7 supervision. Even indoors, they're basically a trap that doesn't hurt minions but requires carefully-timed tagging instead.

The minion cap upgrade is debatable. On the one hand, it makes the game considerably easier. On the other hand, it means you don't have to dedicate half your base to lockers (get more minions earlier in the game), and can have enough minions to complete every AoI without killing off and retraining half your forces.

That said, ultimately it's your choice to install the Unofficial Patch. It's not a 100% requirement (unlike some games, *cough* V:TM:B *cough* Saints Row 2 *cough*), since I don't think there are any crash bugs or major issues that get fixed by it. I still prefer playing with the patch, though.

640
Other Games / Re: Dota 2
« on: July 08, 2013, 01:42:45 am »
Two interesting games tonight.

First game, I randomed Puck. I do alright mid versus Pudge (should've done better), our other two lanes start dominating. We're ahead ~20 kills by this point, take their mid rax, everything's looking good. Suddenly, and seemingly with no transition period, their Alchemist goes from "Shadowblade + stun then die" into "HOLY %&*$ I'VE GOT BKB + AC + BASHER" and proceeded to murder our entire team. Our Lion getting caught out of position 3 times in a row didn't help, to be fair. We lost a game that, honestly, we should've won.  :'(

Second game, I randomed VS and swapped with a randomed Warlock. Again mid, again do alright (versus a pretty decent Invoker). Their team has a Huskar, though, and after a few mediocre fights we're in danger of losing. Then Jugg starts getting solo picks, our Slark starts murdering, and I manage to farm an Aghs. The rest of the game consisted of me dropping the rock somewhere near the fight, right-clicking our fountain, and microing the golems while Slark + Jugg ran around killing stuff and my hero prayed that he'd run back to base. We won a game that, honestly, we should've lost.  :o


This may provide some justification to Valve's stance of "no, we aren't adding a concede button", because I'm pretty sure both of those games would've ended much earlier, and with a win for the opposite team, if surrender was an option.

641
Other Games / Re: Steam Sales
« on: July 07, 2013, 11:21:48 pm »
If you're playing Evil Genius, I'd recommend the Unofficial Patch. Fixes a whole bunch of minor issues. (Also, get the official patch if Gamersgate doesn't include it - fixes a number of major issues, including an auto-save related crash bug!)

642
Other Games / Re: Steam Sales
« on: July 06, 2013, 02:06:37 pm »
I guess I'll follow this thread's advice, and check the wiki!

Quote from: Scrake Charge Behaviour
The main difference [to the Gorefast] is its conditions for charging players, which is based primarily on its health, the difficulty of the game and a random variable; the harder the difficulty, the more likely they are to charge the players.

For reference...

Quote from: Gorefast Charge Behaviour
A Gorefast picks a target based on proximity and steadily walks toward them until it's within a certain distance of them, at which point it will charge towards them, brandishing its blade ready for attack.

Quote from: Fleshpound Charge Behaviour
There are two triggers for this rage, the first and foremost of which is based on damage over time; if a Fleshpound receives more than approximately 320 damage within a 3 to 5 second period it will rage. The second trigger is based on time; if a Fleshpound hasn't made it into attacking range for a variable length of time it will become frustrated and rage anyway.

643
Other Games / Re: Steam Sales
« on: July 06, 2013, 02:53:14 am »
Yeah, the berserk mechanics are completely non-intuitive. My other complaint is that the leveling system is brutal - high-level classes get frankly enormous benefits over low-level characters (massive boosts to damage, hugely reduced weapon costs, at high levels even free weapons!), but leveling those classes takes an eternity and a day.

Still, it's a fun survival game, and I'd recommend it to anyone that's interested (ignore the DLC for now). Stick to Beginner and Normal until you gain some experience (in both the theoretical and mechanical senses!), and be prepared to lose a few times while you get used to some of the intricacies of the game.  :D

644
Play With Your Buddies / Re: Blank Plays: X-COM Apocalypse
« on: July 05, 2013, 02:33:00 pm »
Quote from: CognitiveDissonance on July 05, 2013, 10:13:13 am
I AM ALIVE!! And those brainsuckers? Never had a chance. I -EARNED- my damn promotion! :P

That you did! However, you can't return to the battlefield until the medics reattach your limbs the award ceremony is finished. Sorry for any inconvenience.  :-X

645
Play With Your Buddies / Re: Blank Plays: X-COM Apocalypse
« on: July 05, 2013, 01:17:44 am »
May I suggest deploying more troops at a time? If you deploy 12, then:

a) There's less risk of a mission going horribly because most of your forces were injured/killed. Backups FTW! You can leave half of them by the entrances... 'cover your flanks' and all, then use them as reinforcements once people start dying.

b) There's more chances for people to die horribly, meaning I get into the battle sooner.  ;)


Also, the standard-issue AP grenades are kinda useless - nice big explosion, not a lot of damage. (Especially against shielded targets!)

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