From the writings of Abd al-Hazir
Journal Entry 420:
Finally, my journey carried me to the fog enshrouded jungles of Kehjistan in search of the storied amphibian, Binkles the Frog. The subject of many a bard's hushed tale, scholars have tried and failed to confirm his existence through the ages. I started my my search among the ancient vine bound walls of Kurast... with more skepticism than hope, I confess. For weeks I confered with the most affluent, the most traveled, and the most learned of the jungle city's inhabitants, learning nothing. Most scoffed at my inquiry, fervently denying that the myths held any truth. Others were more civil, but had little knowledge to offer.
Then upon the night I planned to depart the city, my fortunate took a sudden turn. At the time, I thought, for the better. As I sat in the common room of the Inn, contemplating my notes, a bard began to play softly. And then in a soft voice he sang "Ballad of Binkles." Quite an old song, and practically nothing within it substantial enough to help me, even if it contained a grain of truth. Still for a moment I thought to ask the bard of my quarry. After all, when in pursuit of a myth, is a bard not more likely aid than a sage?
At the very moment I rose to approach, there was a piteous cry from one of the patrons. "Please,no! Don't sing of it! No!" I was startled, and yet hopeful. This was not the cries of some child frightened of fairy tales, but of a rugged and fierce man, who had the look of a traveler. I was imediately certain his fear was based not on stories, but on some dark and terrible memory. The other patrons laughed at his outburst and began to harass the man. He rose hurriedly and pressed through the jeering crowd, still weeping as he went. I followed him outside, where I found him curled up and cowering on the street, wracked with tremors. His eyes held a lost and vacant look. I introduced myself as a scholar and asked him what he knew of Binkles. "I came upon his lair accidentally. Those eyes... I'll never forget. The stories are all true. All of them. You do not want to find Binkles..."
A week later, I reached the object of my search. The foul creature's very den. The point marked on my map by the traveler was precisely correct. I had no doubt even as I stood outside. The entrance gaped dark in the rock, like the mouth of some ancient tomb, and sense of forboding permeated my very soul. Tendrils of fog reached out as if to beckon me onward, but reason and fear compelled me to turn away. Still after such a harrowing journey through Kehjistan's wretched swamps, how could one turn, just steps from a such a discovery. I gathered my wits and courage and stepped forward into that bleak crack. Long contemplation was out of the question. It does not pay to tarry in such macabre surroundings.
WIth each step into the nightmare, my terror grew, and yet my resolve held. Further and further I went, until I was in tunnels untouched by the light of the sun in eons. Yet I could see. The walls were covered with a grotesque algae that glowed a hideous shade of green. The air felt hot and strangely moist. I felt almost as though I were drowning in this oppressive atmosphere. Yet i psersisted, slipping and scurrying along the rock.
Then I reached the final chamber. A subtaranean lake, covered with thick, roiling algae, and strange black lilly pads. I know not how to write of the dread this place held for me. My resolve finally crumbled and I turned to run, unwilling to face he who dwelt there. But it was too late. I felt the algae entangling my legs and I fell forward. The plants moved as though alive, pulling down my arms and legs, holding me fast. Then, the diminutive monster approached, hopping from pad to pad. I expect most of my readers will laugh at this point, for he looked like a most ordinary frog. Yet for reasons completely intangible, you would never mistake him for such. Never before have I sinced such dark malice, such hatred in a being. Power radiated from it perceptibly. A bleak and cursed intellect stared unblinking from behind those black and glossy eyes.
"Binkles... of the Horodram..." I greeted him.
The frog coughed a strange laugh. "..of the Horodram... I have not heard that in a long time. So, my story is still told then?"
"With occasioanl embilishments and inconsistincies, yes." I replied, trying to keep my voice from trembling.
"I was once the greatest of the sages. And if they had listened to me, the world would not be on the brink. Power such as that held by the primeevils can not be hideen away in soulstones!" The frog croaked. "Such power is imortal, and it can not be contained. It can only be harnassed!"
With this the frog's eyes began to glow red, and I knew the legend was true in its entirity. Binkles, of the Horadram had warned against hiding the soulstones away, and advocated trying to use the power instead. Some stories say his ideas were concocted by the stone's dark influence, twisting his mind in such close proximity. Others, that his thoughts were prophetic. He devised a ritual to attempt to harness the power of the stone, and stole it away from the other mages. During the end of the ritual he was interrupted by his Horadoric brethren, who had found him just in time. The ritual was intricate, and the interruption came as the spell began to coalesce, altering the energies subtly. Instead of draining Diablo's power into himself, he was turned to a frog. Yet the evil power of the stone did strengthen him and twist his powers to evil. The dread frog had then carved a swath of destruction with his wrathful magic until he reached Kehjistan and settled into his lair never again to venture into daylight.
Now all that storied magical energy was twisting around me. To what ends I did not know. I feared death would be merciful compared to what the dread frog held in store for me. Then with a heart rending ribbit, his spell was complete and I was portaled away. I awoke weeks later, deathly sick, upon a bed in Kurast. I had found the subject of my search, yet I took no pleasure in it, nor anything since. Even in his mercy, Binkles effected me terribly. A weakness harries me, and my health is fading. His croaks and red gaze haunt my every dream. The sight of water, or a swamp, or anything remotely associated with frogs feels me with fear.
Binkles the frog is a horrible frog indeed...
- Deathkiss
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Member for 12 years, 6 months, and 21 days
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Oct 18, 2011Deathkiss posted a message on Cinematic PreviewPosted in: NewsBlizzards cinematics ever since the first expansion of Diablo II have been amazing. .. though I always loved them and watched each repeatedly in every game I've played from WarCraft II onward. Most of them from the last decade give Goosey bumpies still when I watch.
Me too! The first play through on Blizzard games always feels like an interactive novel. The story and lore is so rich, and the cinema scenes always pull it together. Diablo II was a major standout though, and I hope III will keep up. So far the detail and art style seem nice, and compliment the in-game graphics style well. -
Oct 18, 2011Deathkiss posted a message on Cinematic PreviewLeah is brave for standing face to face with whatever that is. You can tell by her lack of 3 foot tall Blizzard style shoulder armor that she's not ready to deal with this.Posted in: News
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Oct 16, 2011Deathkiss posted a message on Beta Key Contest #3Posted in: NewsP.S. Beta, I'm SICK of waiting for it... ROFL. It's funny cause, like, he's "sick" of waiting, and she's throwing up! lmfao. You know? Like cause she's so sick of waiting for beta, she's actually barfing!!!! LOL. It's so creative! I know, it takes a second to understand, but don't worry, you'll get there It's like, that generic demotivation idea that takes zero thought, then you write some white letters and it turns into something completely unoriginal!
Not everyone's sense of humor is the same, and lots of people are putting effort into this contest. I think we all tend to hold high opinions of our own work, because it's tailored specifically to our own sense of humor. I thougth the first winner was great. I looked at most of the entries and the Lucy thing just popped. It was one of the few things in either contest I literally laughed out loud for and I was pleased that it won, because its the one I would have picked. The second one was nice to and the winner has my congrats. -
Oct 12, 2011Deathkiss posted a message on Wear It Proud, Son!I think a web based banner maker would be a fun project for someone. Would give us all something else to play with while we wait. LOL!Posted in: News
The port key waypoint placement feature sounds cool too. - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
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I would rate "childish" as a light insult compared to "delusional regarding the value of an item." People generally learn as they grow up, not to do useless things like venting your anger through destroying inanimate objects. Especially over something as inconsequential as a video game. In my opinion, that is very imamture. Immaturity equates to childishness. You are entitled to your own opinion, but don't waste time trying to devalue mine.
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That would be true, if there was no basis for calling this childish. This definitely meets the definition though. There's not anything else to honestly call this.
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You are one of those losers who punches walls when life isn't perfect, aren't you?
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Missed this story when I checked the thread earlier. Too funny! As for work environment preference, I'm lucky enough to be working for a pretty small employer, and I get to be casual. I actually wore flip flops, and distressed jeans to work today. Also have a giant mirroball hanging over my desk, and it's recieved nothing but compliments.
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That's a bit like what I was doigng a little earlier today. I'll give it one try, and if I lose, and its a very uneven fight, I walk away now. If I almost win, or I down a few of them, I'll consider a second try. Never a third. It's hard to let go though. I always wonder what they would have dropped.
I'll admit that high repair costs combined with randoml near impossible elites might not be completely contradictory to the playstyle they are trying to establish after all. It's just that experiencing the game mostly in solo play, and coming from a background of other RPGs, its not imediately clear what you are supposed to be trying to do. In most games this linear, if you are needing to run from fights regulary, you are doing something wrong. Guess I just have to get out of that mind set.
Edit: Also in most games, the boss of an act/stage/area/dungeon is ussualy the toughest enemy. That's another reason it feels strange I guess. There's nothing wrong with it being that way. It's just different.
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@Rethical I think you are right about Kid A. It's definitely very unique, and I definitely think it was pioneering work. Was actually listening to the first few tracks on the drive to work this morning. Looking back, I can't believe that originally I only liked one song on the entire album. LOL!
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@Deleo You are right about hardcore. I can't even imagine. Safest strategy for hadcore play is jsut to outgear the content apparently. But when the bosses and most elite backs are well within your reach, and then one pack spawns that's 5 times harder. In good RPG design, enemy difficuly scales evenly, then the tough encounters are consistently more difficult and take more focus, but require the same level of gear as the other things around them.
In this game, instead, there are just things that illogically and randomly have exponentially higher difficulty. It feels like a poor design decision to me. I'm ranting though, so I'll end with that. Except, yeh, hardcore. I want to try it sometime, but I thik it would be frustrating with elite packs in their current state.
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Thanks for the advice! I think I will start picking a late quest and just using waypoints to get around. Then if I die on something more than twice, or it just clearly isn't going to be possible, I can skip to another waypoint. I guess that should have been obvious.
Edit: For the record, I still think it would be a lot more enjoyable game if they would balance the elite packs a little better.
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Some of the design decisions we are getting blue posts on as of 1.0.3 seem contradictory to me. Blizzard seems interested in makign sure the optimal way to play, is stacking NV and running acts or extended sections of acts. They also seem interested in making sure you do this by taking on content you can fight consistently, instead of death flopping your way through. That is one of the stated purposes of the new repair costs. It all makes sense, and sounds fun, on the surface. Then today we get this:
So, the idea is to stack NV and run through the acts, dying as little as possible. But, if cheap, unfair combos come up and you have to die several times, soaking up ridiculuos repair costs, and then have to give up and start another game, losing NV, that is "fine."Being able to easily handle regular enemies, bosses, and most combos of enemies, and then having random content in the same area that is able to.... cover the floor with green plague, teleport you into it, jail you and then have its near invulnerable minions beat you to death in 2 seconds, seems a bit unbalanced, ilogical, and runs counter to the direction your other decisions are going.
I understand that it is so players feel they are making progress, as they gear up enough to overcome these obstacles. Unfortunately though, you have to wade through these things to gear up, and some of them spawn in locations that make them unavoidable. If you are playing "right" at farming content that is 80% easy for you, building NV and then taking on bosses, then a near unavoidable pack spawns in your way, what are you going to do? Before you give up 5 stacks of NV, you are going to make 100% sure you can't beat it probably. And for that, you get punished with crazy repair costs.
I'm disapointed to hear that the devs are satisfied with the randomizationn of affixes. I hope that will be reconsidered, because some of these combinations are interfering with the playstyle you are trying to encourage. I think gearing and perfecting your build as you progress from section to section and act to act gives a sense of progression. Or being able to handle difficult elites more easily, as oposed to dying 3 times. I don't think having some content in an act that is randomly gnerated and exponentially harder to fight leads to a sense of progression. It leads to a sense of frustration.
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Everything In It's Right Place was one of my favorite tracks for ages. At the time, I really didn't care for the rest of Kid A. That one song just really got my attention. At this point, I've learned to appreciate a lot of their stuff, but at that time, I was going through a Sarah McLachlan phase, and had a very narrow range of stuff I was listening too. Not sure why Everything In It's Right place made such an impression on me. Really didn't expect to hear it at the show, because it's going pretty far back. They played stuff from their entire career though, and finally pulled it out during the second encore. I was over the moon happy. LOL!
Chymera just seems to be amazing all around. I've been listening to them on Spotify a bit as well. The track I sent is still my fave so far though.
Edit: @SV Yeh, the "Find Content" is somethign I miss a lot too. Seems to work for any thread you posted on before April or so. LOL!
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Sharing this too, because this was one of the most amazing shows I've ever seen. The stage collapse that killed the drum tech in Canada happened just a week or so after I watched them. Such an amazing show. I think was video was shot jsuta few days after I saw them. Can't remember. Anyway!
Edit, jsut realized this is actually almost teh same angle and distance from the stage that I was. Wild!
Edit2 : I didn't watch this far enough to see if they reposition during tracks in this recording, but during the concert those LCD panels get repositioned into different shapes and do some amazign stuff. And that one section behidn them is a giant curtain type thing laced with LEDs. They run gorgeous color coordinated patterns on that and the LCDs thtough the whole show. It's absolutely stunning.
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And now for something amazing. Was jsut introduced to this track today and thought I would share. Some of the instrumentation is just subtle and perfect. I'd reccomend headphones isntead of laptop speakers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uhuvhySYqs
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Finally did some grouping in Diablo last night! Ran into Slayerviper and we went after the butcher. Turns out, I still pretty much suck, but not so bad that its embarassing, if I'm playing with someone patient. LOL!
Looks like after 1.0.3, and the hotfixes that came before it, grouping is definitely more enjoyable than it used to be, and can make the game feel a lot less repetitive.
Also the repair costs have forced me to think about tactics a lot more, and I'm moving away from my death-flop-to-victory strategy that I have accidentally fallen into since entering inferno.
This game is definitely getting better. =)
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