October Hauls

[Onslaught Six]

So awhile back I sold off my Classics Prime because I needed some cash money. But since I'm doing better these days, I was able to find another one for the same price I sold the last one. Damn, this mold is so nice.

In five years, I haven't found a better Default G1 Prime toy. Hybrid Convoy is too tiny, which is a shame because if he was a little bigger I'd be all up in that.

[138 Scourge]

So awhile back I sold off my Classics Prime because I needed some cash money. But since I'm doing better these days, I was able to find another one for the same price I sold the last one. Damn, this mold is so nice.

In five years, I haven't found a better Default G1 Prime toy. Hybrid Convoy is too tiny, which is a shame because if he was a little bigger I'd be all up in that.

There really isn't one, is there? There's something to be said for some of the movie or Animated Primes, but they don't work as a G1 Prime. I was hoping that the RTS G2 Prime would be a good substitute for a Classics Prime, but it turned out to just be halfass entertaining.

[annhell]

Been busy and neglecting this place.
Not sure how many hauls I've already missed reporting, but here's what I can recall off the top of my head:

Some DotM deluxes on clearance:
Thundercracker
Topspin
Roadbuster
Laserbeak
Sideswipe
Crankcase
Darksteel (yes, he's in the clearance list too)

TFC's ExGraver and HeavyLabor

Soem comics:
Negima vol 35
And, I finally got the entire collection of 100 Bullets

Oh, and Mass Effect 2 for PS3, which I cleared.

[BWprowl]

Soem comics:
Negima vol 35

We just barely got vol. 31 over here, annhole!

That psuedo-cliffhanger from the latest-latest chapter promising a plot twist for Asuna on the level of Negi's recent reveal has me highly anticipating the next one, to say the least.

[Onslaught Six]

Oh, and Mass Effect 2 for PS3, which I cleared.

Mass Effect is my favourite video game series of this generation. Everything about it is awesome, to me. (Well, alright, the inventory and Mako from ME1 were kind of shitty, but they were good *ideas!* They should have improved them rather than just gank them out for ME2.)

[annhell]

That psuedo-cliffhanger from the latest-latest chapter promising a plot twist for Asuna on the level of Negi's recent reveal has me highly anticipating the next one, to say the least.

Which chapter was this exactly?
I had to fish out vol. 31 again to check what was in it, and my book ends with the gang reuniting with Ayase Yue (who still had no memory). Maybe the US translations reorganised the number of chapters per book or something, but I barely remember what plot twist for Asuna there was, what what reveal of Negi you're referring to.
(vol. 31 was released here over 2 years ago)

Mass Effect is my favourite video game series of this generation. Everything about it is awesome, to me. (Well, alright, the inventory and Mako from ME1 were kind of shitty, but they were good *ideas!* They should have improved them rather than just gank them out for ME2.)

Though I'm a fan of Bioware's material, I'm not that big on sci-fi and haven't played ME1 yet. I picked up ME2 on a lark just because I was in the mood for a new game and it was going for fairly cheap. Now I'm likely to get all 3 games on the PC when ME3 is out, and play through the entire epic.

I've only read about how different ME1 was from the sequel, but I'm kinda seeing how ME2 killed a huge chunk of the RPG elements. Admittedly, I got hit by the Laidlaw-killed-DA2 hype (and learnt that the dude was lead designer on ME2) before this playthrough, so I entered it with a fair bit of bias. Also doesn't help that I played the DA2 demo and hated it, and now that I played ME2, I realised that DA2 was a blatant re-skin being passed off as a new game, and the hate pretty much spilled over to kill a bit of the joy of playing the game. It's still good though, and the cover-based shooter works well in a futuristic setting where guns are the standard weapon type. And it's still full of Bioware's signature abundance of supplementary literature.

But me's feeling lotsa Laidlaw-hate over DA2 all over again.

[Onslaught Six]

See, I never played the first Dragon Age and have no affection for the series. It's like how Striderneko keeps whining about how, apparently, D&D 4th Ed RUINS D&D FOREVER and I just can't get behind that because I never played the earlier version so I therefore don't care if DA2 suddenly sucked. From what I've heard, though, ME and DA are mostly developed by entirely different teams...

I just like ME for the simple fact that there's a lot of stuff to 'do.' Even the piddly conversations feel important. I mean, I used to be *huge* on RPGs. I was the guy who talked to every townsperson, and looked in every single barrel for hidden items, and had to get all the special items and shit. But I'm old now and I don't have time to do all that shit. I got Nier at the beginning of the year and I've barely touched it because it just has so much 'shit' I have to go through, and it's really unengaging for some of it. Why do I give a fuck about getting the crazy lighthouse lady's mail? Especially when only half her dialogue is voice acted! But with ME, I feel like I *have* to do all the stuff. It's engrossingly awesome.

ME1 has a lot less characters so you kind of get the feel for them better. Of course I decided on who my team was early on (Garrus and Wrex) and almost never deviated. Killed Ashley because she was a xenophobic bible thumper and also I was a soldier so she was like a shitty version of me, while Kaiden could throw people in the air with his mind (and then I would shotgun them down to the ground). Who'd you get with in ME2? I picked Tali.

[annhell]

Dude, I'm 33. You're not old. I am.

But I get what you're saying about doing too much shit. Incidentally, my copy of Nier's collecting fungus too. But what you liked in ME, DA:Origins had in loads. That's what got killed in DA2, unfortunately. It's not just that it adopted ME2's formula, but it killed a lot of the engaging elements in the course of making what ended up as a watered-down hack-and-slash.

I didn't stick to any fixed team in ME2 though, especially in the final mission since I was going for the "None left behind" achievement. Generally, if I could guess what I'm going to be facing, I picked a team that could handle it best. For instance, Incendiary Ammo/Incinerate and Warp were must-haves on the Krogan planet. Tali was always with me when fighting Geth.

I pretty much avoided putting Mordin in the field though. I just talk to him on the Normandy.

[Onslaught Six]

Dude, I'm 33. You're not old. I am.

Old people always tell me this, but damn it, I'm old too. I have the day job and the lifelessness and the lack of energy and everything!

I didn't stick to any fixed team in ME2 though, especially in the final mission since I was going for the "None left behind" achievement. Generally, if I could guess what I'm going to be facing, I picked a team that could handle it best. For instance, Incendiary Ammo/Incinerate and Warp were must-haves on the Krogan planet. Tali was always with me when fighting Geth.

I suck at actually picking decent team members for things, I mostly go along the lines of, "Oh, I haven't used Grunt in a while. I'll use him."

I pretty much avoided putting Mordin in the field though. I just talk to him on the Normandy.

If he isn't playable in ME3 I would very much hope that he sticks around on the Normandy as a support role, especially now that Navigator Pressly is dead.

[BWprowl]

Which chapter was this exactly?
I had to fish out vol. 31 again to check what was in it, and my book ends with the gang reuniting with Ayase Yue (who still had no memory). Maybe the US translations reorganised the number of chapters per book or something, but I barely remember what plot twist for Asuna there was, what what reveal of Negi you're referring to.
(vol. 31 was released here over 2 years ago)

Nono, I meant the laaaaaaaatest chapter. 342, I think. I won't spoil exactly what it is, in case you haven't read it, but it's the one which begins with Setsuna and Asuna watching Negi train with Evangeline for the first time after he's gotten back from the Magic World with all his newly crazy-buffed powers.