- Bimbette
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Member for 15 years, 9 months, and 27 days
Last active Tue, Mar, 24 2009 07:02:15
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Jul 16, 2008Bimbette posted a message on A Kingdom for a Sword by Robert B. MarksExcellent post, indeed! Thank you very much for sharing this with us. I always love the opportunity to add to both my physical and digital libraries, and am ever appreciative of being pointed to worthy additions.Posted in: News
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Jul 13, 2008Bimbette posted a message on Diablo III Thoughts From Ex-Blizzard EmployeePosted in: NewsQuote from "Medievaldragon" »I am not sure if Diablo 3 should keep the light radius in dungeons however. You saw that big bunch of mobs coming at the Barbarian. I would rather see this bunch running at me from afar, allowing me to prepare to decide what to cast beforehand, than getting the @#$ scared out of me seeing them get to me within the 10-yards light radius.
I played yesterday my Barbarian again and reached the Chaos Sanctuary, and killed Diablo. I noticed the trouble I would get into with this light radius at times. I would attempt to escape a bunch of mobs by moving away just to find another group of mobs. I got surrounded and killed many times. If I could see beyond that light radius, I could prevent aggroing more mobs than I can handle.
I have to agree with you on this point. Since the light radius not only allows you to see, but also to be seen, it can be as much of a detriment as it is a benefit. I've dealt with this problem many times myself. Early on, I found myself backing off the light radius because of its potential dangers.
IMHO - If they are going to illuminate the dungeons, I would prefer that they used the pale illumination described in the Kingdom of Shadow. To light the dungeons too brightly would remove too much of the demonic posture that I find so exhilarating in the Diablo series. I like the claustrophobic, tension-ridden suspense of the dungeons, and having the wits scared out of me once in a while adds much to the exhilaration of the game. But I also do not relish being overwhelmed by a horde of demonspawn in the dark, or backing up and alerting a different horde with an overextended light radius.
My original character in the Diablo game series was the Rogue. I often found myself taking two steps forward, watching and listening carefully, then taking another two steps - a slight measure of reality. The tension grew with every step forward - not knowing for certain what lay ahead in the dungeon. After a while, I found myself referring to her as Two-step Tyrae. It doesn't seem much fun to me to just walk in and walk all over everythig in your path. I enjoy the battle. -
Jul 13, 2008Bimbette posted a message on Diablo III Thoughts From Ex-Blizzard EmployeePersonally, I don't relish the idea of floating numbers desecrating the battle arena; but in all fairness to those who do, I think a toggle switch would be the fairest and most appropriate solution. I trust Blizzard to weigh that concern and do what is fair for all its loyal fans.Posted in: News
Character classes didn't sway me between Diablo I and Diablo II. I did miss the ability that the rogue in D1 had for magical skills that allowed her to cast healing spells on herself with potions as a backup. I did, however, find characters that I enjoyed immensely in the D2 character lineup even though none of the original three were there. I would have preferred that the Blizzard North team had finished D3. They managed to balance the similarities and differences between D1 and D2 quite well, and I'm certain they would have done the same with D3.
I do not, by any means, wish for another D2; but, IMHO, do not wish to see the differences heavily outweigh the similarities. By the Dragon, I do not wish to see the Balance tipped too far in either direction. -
Jul 5, 2008Bimbette posted a message on Diablo III PK and PvPI hated PK. I got screwed several times with my sorceress and amazon alike. Does anyone remember how hard it is to get Windforce to drop if you are playing the game without cheating? My friends and I quit playing in unsecured games because of PK nuts that would come in (with a hack), kill people and steal their items, or kill them and ruin their quests - just to feel like they were better than everyone else.Posted in: News
I finally quit bnet, though it was well after all my friends had left for other game servers. They got tired of the crap with PK, hacks, bots, and the overall rudeness of the general population. If they are going to allow pvp, they need to keep the PK people away from those who want nothing to do with it. It made battle.net a frustrating experience rather than a fun one. -
Jul 5, 2008Bimbette posted a message on Blizzard Comments On The Classes In Diablo 3I already know I'm going to raise a Barbarian. I don't care so much about the number of classes as I do about the quality of the classes. I would like it if there was a wielder of bow and arrows; but whether it is a rogue, an amazon, or one of those knee-high, jibberish-speaking hellspawn from the Flayer Jungle doesn't matter to me. Even if there is not an archer type character I doubt if I will be disappointed. Just give me good, strong, fun-to-play-with characters to raise in the game. Blizzard and Diablo have a good record for that.Posted in: News
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You really should be careful what you say online because this stuff can be traced. In case you don't remember, or in case you aren't old enough to remember, during the wake of 9/11 the Writ of Habeus Corpus was suspended with a promissory from our good congress that it would have no effect on US citizens. Don't count on that. Suspended is suspended and they can do what they please now - especially since it is still suspended after more than six years. The suspension of the Writ of Habeus Corpus places the US constitution in a very precarious position.
Our honored forefathers placed an article in the constitution that allowed for its suspension in the event of an invasion, rebellion, or if in the interest of public safety. I can see 9/11 as an attack, but not as either of the aforementioned. They suspended it in order to free their hands so they could do whatever they wanted, however they wanted to do it. If it were truly suspended in the interest of public safety, internal security would have gone through a much more strenuous overhaul - this is where the National Guard is supposed to come in handy. The regular army would have a much larger presence in the middle east instead of relying on National Guard and Reserve recruits. I'm a veteran. I spent my time in the army in the European theater during the last years of the Cold Wars between the US and Russia, and during the terrorist antics of the Bader-Meinhof gang (you might know them as the Red Army Faction). Our government does what it wants regardless of consequence. A case in point is that torturing POWs is a direct violation of the treaties our nation is bound to through its membership in the United Nations. They don't give a shit.
If you ever stopped for half a second to think about it, part of the reason for the lack of media coverage on the war in the middle east may also have to do with corporate ties such as between media companies and major energy corporations. You can get media coverage on the war in Iraq, in English, by watching the news coming from countries like England and Australia if you wanted to see it so desperately.
The main point is that FBI software constantly searches the internet for keywords and flags them for further investigation. That is also not supposed to have an effect on US citizens, but I wouldn't count on that one either.
It's positively amazing what the computer you can put on your desk at home can do. I worked for the government most of my working life and I can tell you that the computers they use can make a state-of-the-art home computer look like a TRS-80. The FBI has more than 50 field offices and several hundred smaller offices scattered across the US. One supercomputer running in each field office (this is not a fact - just an example), and one minicomputer running at each of the several hundred smaller locations (you probably own a microcomputer), and they've got a search engine like nothing you could ever imagine.
You should really use your brain instead of your emotions...
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The ESRB issues not just ratings, but content advisory, which was basically what was sought in the first place. Note that I used the word "advisory". I think it is ridiculous that anyone old enough (basically 14-16 years and older) to be influenced sexually by Mother Nature (who seems to defy all laws of the land regarding teenagers and sex) to have to have their parents permission to purchase a game. I can understand real pornography, but give it a rest on the games.
The ESRB was established in the mid nineties. It really wasn't sexual content that caused the parental obsessive-compulsion for ratings. It was extreme violence and really cool graphics that depicted things like a PC jerking the head off its adversary and having part of the spinal cord hanging from the neck while blood dripped to the floor. It was a game called Mortal Kombat. It was in the arcades for a period of time before it made it to the home console. At that point, parents were fainting all over the place. I remember that one well. It might still be the most controversial game ever released.
Before paying the insane amount of money to purchase a game, I always had the boys rent a copy to make sure it was what they really wanted. After watching the boys play for a while, I just could not understand why everyone was so up in arms. I'll bet more than half those kids watched the movie The Thing with Kurt Russell, and with their parents' blessings to boot.
By the way... if you guys get naked female demons, does that mean us girls can have male demons with a stallion's phallus and testes the size of coconuts - naked and detailed to the very last vein? Or do you think your numbers alone should keep the homophobics placated?
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Though some of what I saw in the gameplay video just might undo all that loner learning. I hope that by the time D3 comes out I will have made a few friends to go demon hunting with. It really is more fun when you are with others.
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DIABLO: The Black Road, Book #2, Mel Odom
I was reading through some posts the other day when I came across one that mentioned The Black Road. The poster, whose name I cannot remember, referred to this particular addition to the Diablo series as sick. The following is simply my opinion of The Black Road...
I guess that in many ways, many people would consider the contents of this book in this manner. I, however, found that The Black Road, more than any of the other Diablo books, was profoundly, emotionally riveting. So much so that I read this book three times and still found it just as absorbing as the prior read.
When Odom got into Darrick Lang's head after Mat was killed by the skeleton, it was as if he spoke from the depths of his own emotions and memory. The darkness that pervaded Lang's soul was etched out in such brilliant detail that I could feel his despair - the feelings of worthlessness and guilt that had been instilled in him from both his birth and the death of his closest and only true friend. The latter for which he felt solely responsible. As Darrick Lang drifted away into the dark abyss of his very own soul, I found myself blotting the pages of the book to keep the tears from ruining the ink. I'm not talking about the handful of tears that accompanied Harry Potter's emotions at Albus Dumbledore's funeral: I'm talking about the upswelling of emotion from being drawn so intensely into the heart and mind of total despair.
The subtlety with which Kabraxis wields his evil is the most frightening of all forms of disguise - evil disguised as good. It is the most difficult to unveil - as Odom reaches out to his audience and shows how this is accomplished. The overall atmosphere of the story carried a darkness unmatched in any of the other books - even the outcome of the story was dark.
I tend to revel in the darkness. The darker the atmosphere, the darker and more piteous the content, the better I like it. It would be an absolute thrill to see another tale from the realm of Diablo secrete its way from the mind of this particular author. This man wields darkness so awesomely well that I would love to see him delve into the darkness of Diablo style necromancy - though I would never discount Zayl.
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My generation already had a tale of this sort - except that you could substitute Satan for the fallen ones, Hell for the Labyrinth, and demons for the Butcher. It sure wrought havoc on going to the bathroom in the middle of the night when there was no nightlight to frighten the monsters back into the shadows. We also had sleepovers where the most gruesome story won a prize. There would be an extra prize if someone in the group actually threw up. My, how we focused on that extra prize!
I used to enjoy turning off all the electrical illumination, filling the house with the illuminations and shadows of candlepower, and entertaining my young sons with the short stories and poetics of Poe and Lovecraft.
What a good theme for a book - Prime Evil Bedtime Stories for Children... It would make the Brothers Grim look like Mother Teresa...
Wouldn't it be interesting to see what kind of collection this community could come up with - short fiction only?
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Hmmm... Perhaps you can try to visciously invade the Amazons' homeland and see how far you get. Don't forget that the females are the superior gender in their class, not the only gender in their class. Don't think that their males would not take up arms against you if you assault their territory.
I'm not certain what you mean by this, but hand-to-hand combat does pose an immense emotional and physical thrill for both sides. Wouldn't you say?
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Geez! All this because Tyrael used the word godspeed?
I agree with Elfen here. Sanctuary is a blue state. God has no place here. I hope they don't bring god into Diablo either; but I can't even begin to see them doing that. Even though I am considered to be a Secular Humanist, but follow Scientific Pantheism, I have nothing against anyone's God. I do, however, prefer the Angiris Council to stand in contrast with The Three.
The word god is a noun (not a proper noun) that denotes a supreme being or deity of the masculine gender whether the religion is pagan, pantheist, deist, monotheistic, or polytheistic. Jehovah is a proper noun that denotes a specific god and religion - and the same holds true for Apollo, Zeus, Baal (the principal god of the Canaanites), and Ra (the Egyptian sun god).
Godspeed, from the middle english, is a departing well-wishing for a successful or prosperous journey. The archaic definitions of the word speed are prosperity and luck. Though, based on its origin, the god in godspeed probably does refer to the Biblical god. The semantics, however, give it the relief of generalization so that the word godspeed doesn't necessarily speak in terms of Christianity. Though I would think that the use of Inquisitors in the Diablo lore would utterly reek of it.
It's all in the semantics. It's just a friggin' word.
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What a waste of undead flesh - Necromancer completing Radament's Lair
What a pity. I was beginning to enjoy the darkness - Necromancer completing the Tainted Sun
Great. More junk. Just what I'd expect to find in a sewer - Necromancer completing sewers beneath Kurast
Ku'e'lei's(? can't find spelling) immortal ashes. I wonder if they'd miss any? - Necromancer completing Golden Bird
Ah! The slow torture of caged starvation - Necromancer entry into the jail
It's been years since I waded through sewers for fun - Necromancer entry into sewers
What the hell is that? - Necromancer
Isn't he just to die for?
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You could safely assume that my (albeit female) personality has a necromantic shade to it. There's a tiny urn that hangs on a chain around my neck that totes real human ashes. Before they cremated his body I had them remove his necktie (which was tied around his dead neck for seven days) and give it to me. It is a beautiful necktie with a bald eagle on it and I couldn't see turning it to ash along with him. Now it is a treasured keepsake with the unmistakable smell of death imbued into it. I have two friends that won't come in my house because he's in here too.
May the Dragon protect you...
Well, It's rather hard to scare me off. I stand my ground and defend my territory no matter how viciously it is invaded. No, this is not an invitation to try.
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Okay, thanks for answering. I appreciate that. I read after I posted this that this lore is in the game manuals. I am one of those people who throw game manuals in the "read me if need be" pile and use them for reference only. I see that by doing this I missed some interesting aspects of the game. I can't find the D1 or D2 manuals now and I believe they may have been left at my last house. I guess I'll just order the battle chest in order to reclaim them. All the manuals are in there, aren't they?
I have all the Diablo books and I've read them all. I thought they were great. I've been thinking of reading the Sin War books again.
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Spoken like a true necromancer. It is just his ashes. They are entombed in a cast bronze eagle urn, though I dare say that not all of the ashes made it into that urn. There is a tiny urn filled with a tiny portion of his ashes that I like to wear around my neck. It makes me feel as though I'm not so alone, and I have him around to swear at when things get out of kilter. Some people think it's wierd and sacrilegious... "Is that an urn?" "Are there really human ashes in it?" "No! Please don't open it and show me!"
He was also a true Diablo fan. Part of my crying when D3 was announced was because he's not here to play it with me. We had so much fun playing together on our own network and Bnet too.
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I'll remember that once I get moved and get everything set back up again. So I'll make you my buddy and keep photos in mind. Believe me, the gothic lighting is coming down when I move and cheap wal-mart fixtures will take their place. Collecting is an expensive and financially draining habit.
So long as my late husband's remains are not a problem with you, you can sleep in the spare bedroom...
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I got mine at Lowe's home improvement center. I lucked out and got them cheap because they were being discontinued. You might do an internet search for something similar, look especially at stores geared toward household lighting.
I've been tempted to pull the wiring, seal the cracks, and put actual candles in them. You can find candles, daggers, swords, dragons, wizards, eagles, and fairies everywhere you turn in my house.
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So, yes, I cried...