Today, I'll wrap production on the latest series of audio books I've been doing. It's been ten long days, and though I genuinely adore the people I'm working with, I'll be happy when I get to the last word on the last page, because…
I'm going to start work on a different and awesome project on Thursday, before I head to Phoenix for Comicon late Friday night, and I have a crapton of homework and research to do before that gets started.
Because I've been so busy with the audio books and a few secret things, I didn't have any real time to play Diablo 3 until this weekend. I put in 12 hours in three days (guess how I know I'm an adult? That felt a little excessive to me.) and though I'm only in the beginning of the second act, I really like it. The art direction is beautiful, the music and story are fantastic, and the gameplay is exactly what I want and expect. I think it also helps that I played cooperative with Ryan, who is on the other side of the country, and it felt like some good father/son bonding time, mostly because of the silly chat.
I'm playing a monk I named Alikka. She's so bad ass, when she punches people, they explode. Last night, Ryan and I took two monks on a couple quests, and we destroyed the bad guys.
"You know how I know these cultists are crazy?" I said in chat.
"How?" He said.
"Because they just saw us beat the shit out of this giant demon thing, and they still came running at us with their little knives."
"LOL. Stupid cultists," he said.
We were in some village, doing this quest where we had to free a bunch of prisoners from cells that were scattered all over the place. It wasn't a simple matter of walking up and unlocking the doors, though, on account of all the demons everywhere. So we're fighting the demons and the prisoners are all, "Save us! Save us!" so I typed, "Hey! We're a little busy right now FIGHTING THE FUCKING DEMONS."
I almost wiped, but the resulting laughs were worth it.
Then, later, he used this skill where the monk summons a giant bell, kicks it, and wastes whatever happens to be in the path of the resulting soundwave (it's a cool looking effect that I'm not doing justice in the description.) I said, "It looks like you just … [puts on sunglasses] … rang his bell. YYYEEEEEAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
It went on and on like that until it was time to go to bed. We got some nice gear, and it was really fun to play this character who feels like a super bad ass (I love this thing she does where she punches like seven enemies in a row and they're all "Hey what just happened? Oh we're dead.") even though she's only level 17.
It's not the deepest game in the world, and it isn't going to replace the experience I have when I play a tabletop RPG with my friends, but as a social experience with my son that was pretty easy to play for a little bit and then walk away from, it gives me exactly what I need.
I probably won't pick it up again for… gosh, probably not until I get back from Origins in two weeks, but I'm glad I spent some time playing it this weekend, even if I'm paying for it this morning because I stayed up too late playing it with my son, who I miss more than anything.
… god damn do I need another cup of coffee.
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I hear you about the adult thing. I play Skyrim on the weekends, and in the back of my head I keep thinking stuff like “Boy, I should probably mow the yard right now.”
I can’t wait until I am able to do this type of thing with my son! This is great. Thanks for the post.
Question- blog says you’ll be flying into Phoenix late Friday night… I bought photo op tickets for Friday afternoon. Are you going to be there for it? Phoenix Comicon website says 3:00, but the ticket says time TBA…
Sadly Q is just a little too young (9 years old) to play this game but we still have a ginormous Heroscape game, WoW and Star Wars too play with him.
When you come to Orgins and are able to get out on a Friday night- MAKE someone take you (I volunteer!) to BARLEY’s for FIRKIN Friday. Handpumped, handcrafted amazing beer.
And then go to JENI’s for desert. You’ll thank me later and make Anne jealous (unless she comes too)
Gaming is great for bringing people together like this. Not that you’d realise that from all the stuff you read about computer games being “anti-social”. Like so many things, it’s how you use it that counts.
Also, hurrah for new projects. I’ve just finished one, and I’m looking forward to starting my next big thing.
Enjoy Comicon!
My 3 year old son saw my PC screen where the character select was up on Everquest this weekend. He yelled, ‘Whoa…daddy’s game!’
It is just a matter of time now!
Love this. One of the best things about playing SWTOR is doing missions on Hoth with son who is stationed half-way around the world.
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Hi there.
For a man with a million things to do on any given day what’s one more…
I’ve got a podcast http://www.pennyredpodcast.com with an “inside the actors studio” sort of list of questions I do with guests in the roleplaying industry and regular folks too (episode 8 onwards is where the format is settled).
If you’d be prepared to be a guest let me know and I’ll forward the questions.
Thanks in advance.
Daniel.
Playing video games with my husband is one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. Even when he’s playing single player Skyrim/Legend of Zelda/Assassins’ Creed, I’m there next to him on the couch, pointing out stuff he’s missed (ingredients, upcoming enemies, etc).
Since we recently moved and all of our electronics are packed away, we have no video games for the foreseeable future š Guess it’s time to move on to tabletop games!
Sounds like great fun. It was in Diablo 2 I had my greatest multiplayer memory. I was playing with three other friends and my Barbarian had just acquired the leap attack the night prior. So our group was in a skirmish and my friend Gil was getting pummeled by a group of baddies. I had just killed the last minion in my proximity and seeing that Gil was struggling on the opposite side of the screen I did the leap attack. In a single jump, my barbarian flew to the other side of the screen and POW killed Gil’s monster with a single stroke. “What the hell was that?!!!”, I heard in my headset, followed by lots of laughter. Great times.
I would buy (not kidding a bit) a transcript of a Diablo chat between you and Ryan.
That either makes you two awesome or me tragic. I’ll hedge my bets and say “both,” then apply my winnings toward the gold-bound, limited 1st edition of “Wil and Ryan Play Diablo: Chat Ensues.”
My husband loves the monk. I chose the Barbarian this time around, and let me tell you,omg! She can survive some insane amount of damage, and huge mobs.
The game is beautiful. Blizz did a great job.
My hubby and I are separated geographically due to military requirements, and games like this are what we do “together” each night when we can’t be together. It’s a digital “date” and “Mom and Dad time” all in one. š
I agree with ShawnaRM up there… it’s a toss-up for me between the Monk and the Barb, though my Demon Hunter is proving pretty fun as well. Witch Hunter is… eh, until about lvl 24-25, and I still haven’t played with the wizard yet, but some co-op friends of mine have, and it seems to be a slow starter as well.
My oldest (8) is already asking for her own laptop so she can play, and my youngest (3) has a tendency to control Daddy’s characters when he gets up from his seat for anything… lol
Loving D3, but it does seem like the Monk and Barbarian are OP, at least for single player. My wizard and witch doctor (almost typed warlock, silly WoW habit) definitely need the help of the Templar or another player. Did you guys see where Method already beat Inferno mode? Crazy raiders.
This is the biggest reason I love gaming. You can just spend an entire weekend as this character; going through adventures, besting adversaries; and just forget about the rest of the world. It’s like having a vacation with your friends and/or family in your house, leaving you feeling refreshed at the end of it and giving you a ton of new stories to talk about on Monday. Your son sounds awesome btw!
Chat? Wil, man you just lost some geek street cred. The real action is in Ventrillo, Teamspeak or Mumble. It’s so much more fun to be able to talk to each other while you are playing. Not to mention, it helps prevent getting wiped while typing. š
I’m not very happy with D3 right now. I was in the beta, also the D2 expansion beta, and they have a problem with Mac clients since Sunday and I can’t play more than 3-5 minutes without getting booted, so it’s pretty much impossible to complete anything with the level resetting every time I’m kicked off the system.
I’m sure they’ll get it straightened out soon. With the previous game we had what we called Diablo ][uesdays, lots of fun, and it looks like a lot of my friends are picking it up so we’ll be resurrecting it.
As someone who has only fleeting chunks of time to devote to gaming (a favorite and nostalgia-inducing pastime of mine) — and someone who has recently purchased and begun to play Diablo 3 — I feel you, sir. I’ve got a lv12 Witch Doctor named ShakaZulu who lobs leaping corpse spiders with the quickness.
Here’s hoping we both get some time in the near future to keep the dream world alive!
Way back in EverQuest days….my husband left his character logged in and my 3 yr old son (now 16!) got on the computer and commenced giving every piece of gear on the character to the bank guard in Halas.
Needless to say, that started a lifelong love of games for my entire family…. š
Like many others, I got with my old friends, we all got a copy and are playing it together. It is good to get back online with the old friends. But the best class is barbarian, run into a group, stun them, then turn into whirling blades like the bottom of a blender and get the same results as the blender.
The Ancients smile upon me.
Yeah, I got into Diablo 2 and am definitely playing Diablo 3 – teamspeak is pretty great – lets us all connect on one game easily.
My witch doctor just finished level one with my team the other night too. I like summoning things from the dead to do my dirty deeds! Go get em zombie dogs! Husband is playing the monk and keeps ringing that crazy bell. Good times.
On a tangential note, it would be great to see Ryan play tabletop with you the next time he’s back home.