So, I killed Diablo this morning.

Initial (non-spoilery) thoughts on the game, after one run-through on Normal (with a female Demon Hunter), and at least the start of a run with each character:

1. Love the voice acting. Cree Summer? James Hong? Robin Atkin Downes? Jennifer Hale? Grey DeLisle? All awesome.

2. Alas, the writing isn't as good as the acting. I do like the flavor text of the followers, but the "twist" at the end of the second act is literally the most obvious one I've ever encountered. And the entire third act is predicated on a "military genius" who tells you his every move (and the twist at the end of that act is hardly any less predictable, although at least I got the impression it was supposed to be obvious). Yes, I know that video game writing isn't the same as screenwriting, but there were so many better ways to do either the second or third acts (without changing the quest structure at all).

3. I love reading the forums and getting told how the normal mode is so easy, and anyone who dies even once is a pathetic noob. I'm not a 24-year-old who spends eight hours gaming a day (which explains why it took me two weeks to beat the game). And yeah, I died a good dozen times, although six of them were against Belial. Actually, Diablo was the only stage boss who didn't kill me. Fortunately, dying is much less of a problem here than in the last game.

4. I love most of the changes. Being able to not worry about committing to a skill or a stat path is awesome. Likewise, the town portal, identify, and inventory management are much cleaner. I do wish we could use health potions more (nice as health globes are in general, they're not always helpful against bosses), but in general, the gameplay is great.

5. From a gameplay standpoint, Act 1 is still what I think of as "classic" Diablo, and very similar to the first game and the first act of the second, with battles in the fields and some good dungeons.

6. Act 2 is just as annoying as Act 2 was in the first game. I hate those damned firebombing cat people just like I did then. And the snake people who can't be hit until they're next to you (thus taking away the advantage of my ranged attacks) also annoy me.

7. Act 3 was interesting from a design standpoint, as it seemed to combine Acts 4 and 5 from the previous game in terms of style. I enjoyed the monsters here a lot, and the fact that the managed to make the Fallen actually threatening is pretty nifty.

8. Act 4 is way too short. Mind you, Act 4 in Diablo 2 was too short, but this is about half its length, and there are barely any side dungeons (although I did love the two I found).

9. I love the Demon Hunter's ranged attacks. This is my current build, for anyone who cares. Hungering Arrow has allowed me to kill dozens of enemies before ever encountering them (I pretty much just soften up every room before heading in), and it just all kinds of nifty. Rapid Fire is awesome for crowd control, and vault is invaluable fighting against big bosses or when I'm cornered.

10. And yeah, the auction house is horribly implemented. I have no sense of what my items are worth, or whether the autosell prices on other items are good or bad. Still, there's usually good stuff to be found for under $10K.

11. Oh, and yeah, the always-online thing sucks. I understand it, but it's a pain.

Next time I have energy, I'll play a little bit more with Nightmare mode.

The GOP and the Tea Party continue to establish that they're only about economic issues, not racism.

Oh, wait.

Johan Santana threw a no-hitter! <333

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

I have moved mostly over to Dreamwidth. Please comment there if you can.

I miss writing.

::kicks brain::

Crossposted from DW, where there are comments; comment here or there.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=14143

• U B U W E B – Film & Video: Guy Debord – The Society of the Spectacle
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http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=14147

So tomorrow I begin the long trek to Hay-On-Wye, for two appearances (Sunday and Monday) at the literary/philosophy festival How The Light Gets In.  All details at link.  I imagine most data traffic from me will be on Instagram and Twitter.  Expect this place to be dark until probably Tuesday night, because I want to escape as much of the Jubilee crap as possible.

The first sgareversebang stories and art are set to go up today! Looking at the schedule, there will be lots and lots of fanworks posted over the course of the month. Yay!

And mcshep_match is gearing up for another round. This match it's Team Time vs. Team Space. The drabble tree's already started and sign ups for the match open June 8th. I won't be participating because I can't write to a deadline, but I'll be there to cheer both teams on.

Fandom. <3

Also posted at Dreamwidth where there are comments.

Ugh, LiveJournal revamped their Scrapbook feature, which it needed, though the new version still has some serious flaws, but in the switchover, they messed up a bunch of my galleries and lost a photo due to "data corruption." Like that was totally out of their hands or something. Like they are not, in part, a data storage service. Like I guess they never backed that stuff up anywhere? Or cared enough to go digging through the backups to restore my photo? Eff you, LJ.

My paid time expires on the 9th. I've had a paid LiveJournal account since 2003, but after the shitty service of the past year, I don't want to give them any more money. The problem is, I still need access to my Scrapbook, which you don't get with a basic account. A Plus account gives you 1 GB of space, but it also comes with ads and, if you're really lucky, security holes. I don't know. Maybe I'll just pay and pretend it's for data storage. Ugh.

Also posted at Dreamwidth where there are comments.

http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=14145

The title still sounds liked ORGANICALLY REARED BEEF or FREE RANGE EGGS to me, and I swear there should be a hyphen in there, but you have to smile at the team putting their statement of intent right up front.  No fucking around.  These stories are owned by the people who originated them.  I can’t help but support any team that bullish about putting that message out.

CREATOR OWNED HEROES features two comics serials – AMERICAN MUSCLE by Steve Niles and artist Kevin Mellon, and TRIGGERGIRL 6 by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray with artist Phil Noto.  It also includes eighteen pages of magazine content, featuring an interview with Neil Gaiman.  It’s out in comics stores on June 6 or thereabouts.  The team have been kind enough to send me the first issue, and, after the jump, I’d like to show you a few pages from it.

CREATOR OWNED HEROES will retail at USD $3.99, and is published by Image Comics.  Best of luck, guys.