Kingdoms of Amalur

[Kane Knight]

just wanted to stop in and say I PLAYED FOR 7 HOURS YESTERDAY AND IT WAS HEAVEN.

anyhow: target lock that i control. the current system the target will change if you're a long rand and someone get into melee. pretty annoying if im trying to off the elite on the field and some grunt approaches me.

scaling: that how i thought it worked cept i didnt realize zones had caps. kinda lame. why not just set each zone to a certian level and if i enter the wrong zone let me get pwnd and one shot'd...why is this taboo?

Target lock: You can't.

Scaling: It's like they tried to split the difference between the two schools of thought and pleased nobody.

But you can enter a zone too early and get one shot'd. Or close to. There's even an achievement for beating a character at least four levels higher than you, and the loading screens sometimes mention that if you're in an area with red names over the enemies, you're underleveled.

[Kane Knight]

Decided to try out Chakrams yesterday. Wow. Super effective. I think I have a new secondary.

Except against Pikachu.

[Destor]

Decided to try out Chakrams yesterday. Wow. Super effective. I think I have a new secondary.gonna respec after i get the tier 7 destiny most likely just to play with other builds at max. cant wait to try those out.

[Destor]

and yeah, the targeting would be perfect with the switching targets with right stick and all if it would auto switch targets. dear game: dont tell me what to do.

[Blitz]

Has anyone done the Tomb of Fyargnos quest in the Red Marches? I've done the first two parts of it, but I can't find the NPC to trigger the third. Glitch or what?

[Kane Knight]

NPC?

[Kane Knight]

I know what an NPC is, before anyone gets cute. I just don't remember the NPC in question. Was he the one who accompanied you the whole way? Because I didn't need him to "show up."

[Blitz]

Her name is Eathe Dunbert or something like that. To trigger the quest "Her Righteous Fury".

[Kane Knight]

I'll check my quest log when I next run the game. I don't remember that. Odd, since I did it yesterday. We're not talking about ages past.

I'd be playing now, but the game froze on me, so I can't be arsed. I'm sure it was just a one-time thing, but meh.

[Kane Knight]

Her name is Eathe Dunbert or something like that. To trigger the quest "Her Righteous Fury".

I don't have "Her Righteous Fury" in my quest log.

[Blitz]

It's all good. She randomly appeared without one of the exclamation points on the map.

I am a killing machine now, btw.

[Kane Knight]

That's convenient, since I am a machine killer.

[Kane Knight]

Beat the main story last night and started the game on Hard.

The final boss pissed me off for several reasons.

[Destor]

was he cheap?

[Kane Knight]

was he cheap?

I'm gonna spoiler this whole thing, but the short answer is: I didn't think so.

Okay, here we go.

First red flag in my head was I remembered one of the dev team, possibly Schilling, saying there were dragons in the game. I was level 40, and almost at the end of the last story quest, and hadn't seen one.

So yeah, that confirms what the final boss is: a dragon. The only one I'm aware of in the game, despite the promise of dragons. Now, I don't need dragons in my game, but if you say there are dragons, put them in there. I'm sure, however, that now that Skyrim did it, every RPG is going to have to.

So yeah, you face a dragon. And it's similar to the Balor fight, in that it's more like a God of War fight than the other bosses. I suppose that's necessary. With KOALA's camera, looking up might be the hardest part of the challenge otherwise.

While I appeared to take a little health off him otherwise, there is only ONE way to really harm him (her, I think, but I can't remember) and I'm going to double spoiler that:you need to build up your fate bar, Reckoning, and whale on him It didn't take too long to figure this out, all things considered, and it's pretty easy to do. I tanked the boss as a mage with no potions. It's pretty damn easy to cheese him. Especially since that's pretty much what they require of you.

[Fryza]

Actually picked this up today. Gonna give it a full go once I get Mass Effect out of my system.

Gonna try the magery.

[Kane Knight]

Actually picked this up today. Gonna give it a full go once I get Mass Effect out of my system.

Gonna try the magery.

Love mage options. Playing a Rogue on my Hard playthrough.

Mostly, I was going to post this though:

I saw comments a couple times before the game was released where people were bitching that you could gain a group of blood enemies who will attack you on sight (That's as spoiler free as I can make it) and the complaint was that nobody would so much as bat an eye. It's like "lol nothing changes."

I don't know, but I keep noticing guards coming toward me any time I so much as smash a box. They won't attack or accost me until I do something the game considers WRONG, but they clearly pay attention to the world around them. Citizens will often get up and move away from you if you do this shit. Sometimes panicked, usually not. Okay, it'd be cooler if they fled in terror when you attacked boxes and pots, but come on, this is a far cry from "nobody cares."

[Kane Knight]

Another minor niggle is that they don't need to remind me about Reckoning 10 hours into my second playthrough.

This probably would have bugged me in my first playthrough, but Mages didn't really call for much in the way of precision on the same level that a rogue does. I'm spending more time with precision dodges and since arrows (My most invested ability) require not being blocked by landscape it'd be nice if I could see where they were going instead of having half my field of vision covered with a reminder to fateshit.

[Destor]

i cant wait to get back into this :'(

[Destor]

been two weeks for me sadly

[Kane Knight]

The thing about having incredibly flexible work hours (long as I meet my deadlines, nobody cares and the other stuff I can schedule on convenience) is I can be fairly free to game if I so choose.

Of course, I can't remember the last game that drew me in this much. MAYBE Saints Row 2.

[Destor]

im on the opposite end of the spectrum...my time is scheaduled 18 hours a day 6 weeks in advance...

[Kane Knight]

I really want the DLC, but I've read a ton of glitch reports. The most common is Achievement glitches, but there are others that impact the game world. And I really don't want that.

EA seems to do this with a lot of games, these days. I mean, they're only the publishers, but I'm noticing a pattern with it. It's mostly EA games, so I'm wondering if there's a rush order on content from them.

[Blitz]

Just finished up the main quest of Dead Kel. Good DLC. Story is interesting and I kind of love Captain Brattigan. Building up the keep is also awesome.

[Kane Knight]

Notice any glitches?

[Party Hardy]

I played this game

[Blitz]

Notice any glitches?
Not a one that I saw.

[Kane Knight]

Cool. I've wanted the DLC, but I fear game-breaking glitches.

[Destor]

gonna beat this soon... :'(

[Kane Knight]

gonna beat this soon... :'(

Just beat my secod playthrough.

[Blitz]

Now that I'm done school gonna plow through the rest.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Going to try this soon.

May get it in a Steam sale since I've waited this long.

[Destor]

Just beat my secod playthrough.
HATE YOU

[Kane Knight]

I really should get Dead Kel.

Heard Teeth of Nazgul is pretty weak.

[RoXer]

38 Studios struggles to remain solvent

By Matthew Handrahan (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/?author=757)


http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/4/8/2/9/4/0/450-4bvfpk.jpg/EG11/thumbnail/360x200/

Tue 15 May 2012 7:35am GMT / 3:35am EDT / 12:35am PDT

Local government intervenes to protect $75m loan, admits "tight time-frame" to achieve resolution

Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios is struggling to stay afloat, forcing local government in Rhode Island to intervene.
According to a report in the Providence Journal (http://blogs.wpri.com/2012/05/14/38-studios-finances-under-scrutiny-ri-taxpayers-75m-at-risk/), Lincoln Chaffee, Governor of Rhode Island, has been meeting with representatives from the 38 Studios over the last few days in an effort to "protect" the $75 million incentive (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/local-uproar-as-38-studios-leaves-boston) the state offered to lure the company away from its Massachusetts headquarters.

Precise details of the meetings are still secret, though Chaffee has admitted that he is working under a "tight time-frame" to "keep 38 Studios solvent."

"We're concerned and just doing everything possible to ensure that 38 Studios stays part of the Rhode Island community," Gov. Chafee told WPRI (http://news.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/2012/05/ri-gov-chafee-m-1.html). "We're working on different issues with them.

"It's always been a volatile industry to be in. That's just the risk you take when you get into the business."

The $75m loan was awarded by the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation before Gov. Chaffee took office, and he spoke out against it during his 2010 election campaign. 38 Studios moved to Providence, R.I., in April 2011, pledging to employ 450 people in the area.

According to a disclosure notice obtained by WPRI, 38 Studios had 379 full-time employees spread between its two offices - as well as 34 full-time contractors, 8 interns and 18 listed job openings - as of March 15 this year.
At that point it had received $49.8 million of the loan, all of which is being used to fund the development of its ambitious, and still announced, MMO 'Copernicus'.

However, concerns over the stability of the company are longstanding. Last June, PricewaterhouseCoopers admitted "substantial doubt" over whether 38 Studios would remain solvent. More recently, the company backed out of the E3 Expo.

38 Studios was founded in 2006 by the former baseball player Curt Schilling. It attracted attention with the scale of its ambitions, assembling a crack team - including former Elder Scrolls designer Ken Rolston, comic artist Todd McFarlane and author R. A. Salvatore - to develop a AAA fantasy MMO at a time when the genre appeared to be in decline.

The universe for the MMO was established in 38 Studios first release, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which was warmly received by critics and performed respectably at market.

[LoDownM]

Can see EA swooping in to play "hero" and buying 38 Studios. Then they will make one more good game and the rest will be terrible.

[Emperor Smeat]

Suppossedly 38 Studios hasn't really hired anyone or come close to the 450 hired mark in RI with the majority of its employees either from the Mass branch or were there before the deal was made with the state.

Even if EA bought the studio, they'd still need to hire 450 people in RI or pay back the loan with penalty fees.

[Kane Knight]

Suppossedly 38 Studios hasn't really hired anyone or come close to the 450 hired mark in RI with the majority of its employees either from the Mass branch or were there before the deal was made with the state.

Even if EA bought the studio, they'd still need to hire 450 people in RI or pay back the loan with penalty fees.

Do you really doubt EA would do that?

[MVP]

Just picked up this game over the weekend, so I'm doing my part to keep 38 Studios afloat.

Currently going for a Might/Sorcery build with my PC. Just hit level 6 doing the Warsworn quests.

[RoXer]

38 Studios Skips Payroll in Favor of Paying Back State [UPDATED]

Workers go unpaid as the studio works to make its owed $1.125 million payment to the state of Rhode Island.

By Alex Navarro (http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/alex/) | May 17, 2012

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/39/2208506-schillings_gaming_company.jpeg_09498_1540_middle.jpg (http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/39/2208506-schillings_gaming_company.jpeg_09498_1540.jpg)

38 Studios head Curt Schilling being accosted by reporters following yesterday's meeting with the Rhode Island EDC.



Coming on the heels of yesterday's circus-like meeting and press conference (http://www.giantbomb.com/news/38-studios-meets-with-rhode-island-governor-asks-for-more-money-updated/4153/) regarding the developing situation at 38 Studios, WPRI (http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/politics/local_politics/38-studios-pays-edc-not-employees) is reporting that the company is in the process of paying its overdue $1.125 million payment to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, but is doing so at the expense of its own employees.

Current reports state that 38 skipped payroll this week, leaving the more than 300 full-time employees at the company without a paycheck. In addition, a source has told Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/17/38-studios-doesnt-make-payroll/) that all temp and contract employees had been let go as of this week.

In the wake of the situation at 38, Keith Stokes, the executive director of the RIEDC since 2010 and architect behind the $75 million loan that brought the studio to the state from Massachusetts, has resigned.
38 Studios still has yet to comment publicly on the situation.

UPDATE: Just when you thought this whole thing couldn't get any worse, WPRI now reports that the check 38 Studios reps hand-delivered to the RIEDC has been returned due to insufficient funds.

[RoXer]

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Curt on a perp-walk

[Emperor Smeat]

Rumor is a few people in upper management might have been embezzling some of the funds due to nobody knowing where some of the spent money went to and their next project appears to have been abruptly cancelled but nobody in the studio knows why except its not due to the recent mess.

Edit: Apparently their next project wasn't cancelled after all and was unveiled today
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/38-studios-unveils-its-first-look-at-project-copernicus/4162/

[Kris P Lettus]

Finally got this and it is pretty f'n sweet..

Kinda a mix between Fable and Dragon Age..

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

The Hit detection was probably the best I've seen in a game before. I hate getting hit by shit that I clearly dodged. Really tragic what happened to the company and the people who made this great game.

[Kane Knight]

I'm still hoping (against all probability, granted) that there will be a resolution to the situation where we see a new Amalur.

Or an Amalur-like game from the folks behind the first.

[Kris P Lettus]

Dunno anything abut it but this game is sweet.. The graphics has grown on me and I absolutely love the Brownies.. Love the factional stuff too..

Gonna go back and read this whole thread now..

[Kane Knight]

Starting Skyrim made me lament the lack of fluidity compared to Fiefdom of Arabia.