And they did it all while presenting a set of challenges that exist outside the realm of combat or traversal. Uh...yes, the player has to fight and run their way through the town while on this quest, But the quest wasn't to kill X-numbers of enemies, or to get to Y-place https://specialolympics2017games.com/.
In fact, the mission can be completed entirely without fighting if the player's adept enough, and this sort of alternate challenges doesn't cost the developer any more to create, either. I mean, those sewer caps have got to be textured either way. Having their texture also be a surprising part of the design doesn't cost any more money. It just takes a little forethought. Missions can either be boring and routine, or a magic entry point for your world. Having them be the latter just involves a little bit of shift in how we think about design. And, in fact, The Secret World goes even farther than this. They really made sure to utilize all the elements of the game. There are times where you have to use emotes to pray or applaud in the right place at the right time in order to complete a quest. There are also a number of stealth missions which while clunky at times from a design perspective, simply involve placing incredibly hard enemies that will kill the player if they aggro them, and placing them in such a way that the player is able to move around them without pulling aggro if they think it through. It requires no new assets to develop it, nor does it require the implementation of new systems, and yet, it still delivers a new experience simply by moving the design mindeset away from seeing quest design simply as a method for guiding the player through the combat grind. And that brings us to a few other points: First, if you want quests to feel organic, they can't just be one of two dozen things that the player accrues every time they rush through town. By bombarding the player with the quest, you overwhelm them with text, and essentially create a scenario where the players incapable of really caring about the quest individually. The player's thoughts just boiled down to: "Alright, which one of these is closer on my mini-map?" The Secret World limit you to one main story-line quest, one big quest, and three minor quests, so you can only ever have five at a time. That's a manageable number, and it allows the player to think a little bit more about each quest, and invest a bit more in each one. This also lets you get rid of the ridiculous town hub that many MMO players know so well. That safe part of the zone that the player blazes through trying to find the 12 guys who have exclamation point over their heads. Instead, constraining the player to a small number of active quests, allows for environmental quests. You find an overturned car? That could be a quest giver. You find a note on the ground? That's a quest giver. Find a corpse in the woods? That's a quest giver. Environmental quests make the world feel much more holistic and alive. By having quest tied to small scenes or moments within the world. Environmental quests also create a much better flow to the game. Wherever you are when you finish a quest, there's something else interesting to do. And if you really run out of quests, just explore the world and you're sure to find a quest that pushes you to explore even more. That's way better than the flow-breaking return trip to town to drop off quests or get new ones. Lastly, most of what we call "quest" these days, I think should be reduced to what I call "tasks". The idea of tasks is a system used heavily in "The Lord of the Rings Online". In that game, basically everything has a task associated with it that functions sort of like an achievement. So, kill 20 rats? Task complete. You find all the major landmarks of this zone? Task complete. You kill 20 corrupted denizens of the lower abyss? Yep, task complete. But what made these tasks interesting, is that they all, in the loosest of senses, conferred a small permanent bonus to your character if you did them. Not enough to actually make you feel like you have to do all of them, but, enough for you to feel like it's really worth doing the ones you felt like doing. And this is the key: They created tasks for everything. I mean, seriously, there was a task associated with almost every monster in the game, and this is essential, because, what do these tasks do? They encourage the player to play how they want. Maybe today I want to grind neekerbreeker. Maybe tomorrow I want to explore all of Weathertop. Maybe the next day I want to see how many barrow wights I can take down, because those are super hard for me to fight at this level. Well, in "Lord of the Rings Online", you can do all of that, and the game encourages you to. It lets you track your progress, and reward you for playing however you want to play. This is a powerful thing. You can augment your quest system by putting in these types of tasks, and essentially letting the player choose when they want to create difference in kind for themselves. Oh, and in "Lord of the Rings Online", they did throw in one really manipulative task that I just loved. All it provided the player with was a title, but it changed the whole experience. Say, James gets to level 5 without dying once. That would earn him the title: "James The Wary" If he got to level 10 without dying, he'd be: "James The Undefeated" ...and so on. Now, I'm not saying that this is a good way to go, But it really makes you feel like your character's life has meaning, which helps you to really sink into the world of Middle-Earth. And there's plenty more on quest design that we could talk about, and maybe we will eventually. But one last thing before we go: "World of Warcraft" has evolved a lot over the years, and Blizzard is clearly tried to branch and build more than the treadmill/FedEX quest and kill quests that "WoW" launched with. But many of WoW's clones and the free-to-play games of today seem not to have learned this lesson, which is tragic, because especially in the free-to-play age, just because a game is a MMO, does not mean that it has to feel like a grind. See you next week!
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- I know, I hear you, but he did win a Super Bowl, and I still think you can win with him. Teddy Bridgewater, OK. - People get very excited about Teddy Bridgewater. - They definitely do. Andy Dalton could be on the outs. - Not gonna sell him.
- You're not gonna sell him? OK. - No. Cowboys fans are gonna go, "I want Dak back." - OK, and then what about Jameis Winston? - They're gonna— - Mmm! That's a tough one. - No, it's more I— - His talent can excite you, though. His talent can excite you. - No, not— - But I hear you. OK. So that, that's fine. - I'm curious about Eli, though. - Yeah. - Because now we're in a situation where it seems like they wanna go into 2019— Is there another option there? I, as an Eagles fan, hope they go into 2019 with Eli https://casinoslots-sa.co.za/live-dealer-casinos. - Whether they bring him back or not they need to draft a quarterback whether that's to sit behind Eli for a year or to be the guy. We know rookie quarterbacks can go to the playoffs. We've seen it. Joe Flacco did it. - Ugh. - Russell Wilson did it. Oh, wait. Dak Prescott, the guy we were just talking about? His rookie year, they were the No. 1 seed in the NFC so it's not the old days anymore. - I want the Giants to start Eli forever. - Stop talking meanly about my Giants. - For Simms— - Peace out, homies. - I am the L-E-F-K-O-E. - Eagles fan. - That's for damn sure. We will holla, holla, holla atcha later. Enjoy the games. We have this young quarterback from California. - Right. - You might get some youth in that lineup. - You might get some youth in that lineup. - I don't know, that guy seems a little immature. He dressed up as Santa Claus on some stupid show last week. - Really? What show was that? - Yeah, Simms and Lefkoe. - Never heard of it. - Not a good show. - Anyway– Bill Parcells taught Bill Belichick. You're welcome! We built your franchise. - Well, I mean, Parcells didn't, uh— S--t. - Got him. Peace, bro. They're fighting for Shurmur's second year, I suppose. - Yeah. - What do you think?
- I hate to say it— - You're goin' Cowboys. - I hate to say it— - You're goin' Cowboys. - Got to. - You don't think Eli's gonna go out there - You don't think Eli's gonna go out there and make a few guys miss, maybe break a tackle? - I think Ezekiel will make a few guys miss before Eli. - Oh my God. All right, so Cowboys. - Yes, Cowboys. -Good regular season. - Yes, sir. Hopefully I'll see you next year. - Yeah. Or maybe— - In the playoffs. - The playoffs. Allie, let me produce the show. Allie, let me produce the show. - [Laughing] - OK? Allie went against his fandom. He's takin' the Cowboys. - Man, no loyalty in that guy. I'll tell you, I mean, just— - Man, no loyalty in that guy. I'll tell you, I mean, just— He'll just throw his team away in a heartbeat. - We agree, though. - We do agree, yeah. - We agree, though. - We do agree, yeah. I mean, Dallas is playin' for something. They wanna get into the playoffs on the right foot. - I'm more interested in the quarterback situations for next season. - Right. - I know the Cowboys still have some playoffs ahead of them. But the Cowboys' situation with Dak— - Yeah. - You have a number in your head because he's gonna be a free agent that you just can't pay him more if you want this team to continue to grow. - Right. Well, he's not gonna be a free agent but he's eligible to get the new contract, right? - Gotcha. - So that's the first thing. - And they—they're gonna give it to him. - I would imagine yes. - But yours is around, like, the 18, 20s. The Andy Daltons, the Matt— not the Matt Staffords anymore. - But somewhere in there. - Yeah. - I mean, yes, the— the high teens, low 20s. They, they should not let him hold them hostage for $28 million a year Matt Ryan-, Aaron Rodgers-type money. - No. - No way, negative, Ghost Rider. - Because if you give him that money, it takes away that nickel corner. - Right. - It takes away that backup tight end. - People on your roster, exactly right. - The problem, though, is if you look around the league— - Yeah. - What are the best options? - You've come up with the best options, and they're not bad. I just don't think Cowboys fans would be happy. - I would agree. They're not gonna excite people. And, hey, listen, some things could also happen that I don't foresee. I mean, will Ryan Tannehill definitely be in Miami? - Interesting. - I don't know. - But who are the names? - All right. Joe Flacco. Let's—for one we know he's gonna be on the outs in Baltimore. - Meh. - Yes, it's— All three are awesome. All three are gonna be in the Hall of Fame conversation. - I don't know what to say about Eli.
- Eli had two great playoff runs and two great Super Bowl performances. I would say his regular-season career has been below average. - In your heart of heart— I'm gonna put you on the spot like Booger. - Right. Whoa. - Is Eli— - Am I Jason Witten? - Is— I don't know. Is Eli a Hall of Famer in your heart? - In my heart, no, Eli is not a Hall of Famer. - But he's gonna get in. - And I know that's gonna make waves. Listen, I'm not tryin' to hate on Eli Manning. I know him. - I agree. - My dad's Phil Simms— - Don't make this a Phil thing. - And Eli Manning's the greatest quarterback in Giants history. I got that. I don't care. I do not think Eli Manning is a Hall of Famer. I think he's an all-time great, but not a Hall of Famer. - You know, he does pass my one Hall of Fame rule, though. - What? - Can you tell the story of the NFL without him? And I don't think you can, though. - Yeah, well, OK. - That's the problem because of those two runs. - Cuz of the two Super Bowls. - Yeah. - Yeah, I hear you. There's other— - Yeah. - Jim Plunkett won two Super Bowls. He's not in the Hall of Fame. He's not in the Hall of Fame. - All I ask is the Manning family - All I ask is the Manning family please don't have us hurt. Like, please. - Oh, they're gonna send a hitman out to us? - Yeah. Please. Like, you guys are great. You guys are great. Please, I was only kidding. You guys are great. Please, I was only kidding. Ple—no, but seriously. - What's up? This is Denzel Ward, and you're watching "Simms & Lefkoe" on Bleacher Report. - All right, baby, let's finish this season strong. You know which newsstand we're goin' to. Final pick of the regular season. Allie, be that oracle. It is not about the destination. It is about the journey. But our current destination: the final regular-season game "Somebody & Lefkoe." The Cowboys head to New York to take on the Giants The Cowboys head to New York to take on the Giants and I wore this nice shirt for you. - What is this, velvet? - Yeah. - Oh, man. - No, it might actually be. Very expensive! I feel like you're not a big Cowboys fan. - Not at all. - No. - Not at all. - Hate? - Not at all. - Hate? - That's what I'm feelin'. - Wow. - I don't like the word, but when it comes to the Cowboys— and the Eagles—same thing. - Just unnecessary digs from this guy. - Just unnecessary digs from this guy. Giants, they're fighting for pride. - OK. Giants, they're fighting for pride. - OK. Hi, are you getting ready to buy some poker chips? My name is Dean Hale, poker expert, and let me give you a little tips on buying your first set of poker chips. First thing you need to know is there are three types of poker chips. There are poker chips that are called clay poker chips, there are metal poker chips and there are plastic poker chips. The clay poker chips are made out of clay and some other materials but they are made of just that material and they are 39 millimeters in diameter and they weight anywhere between 8 to 11 and a half grams.
Now the clay chips are typically your best chips and they're going to be your most expensive chips. Those are the chips that are usually used at the big tournaments like the World Series of Poker or at the World Poker Tour. The next set of chips which are also good chips, are called metal chips. Now they're not actually metal chips which would be banging on a table, they are chips that have a metal insert that is then covered in a type of a hard plastic. They can have a very high resolution in color, they can be very graphically dynamic. And they're a good set of starter chips for a lot of people and most people may not even know the difference. The third set of chips that you have are your basic chips that you can buy at your super center type store that are plastic chips. Those chips are very lightweight and is something you may want to play with just if you're playing some home games with say your kids and you're goofing around, you just want to have some chips. If you're going to play any serious poker, I would definitely suggest buying some clay or some metal chips. Both of them will hold you well and they're very durable. Now you can go, there are some places that actually have poker supply stores where you can buy poker chips. You can also go online and check out the various stores that would sell poker chips and what denominations. The next thing you want to do after you decide what type of poker chip you're going to buy is how any chips are you going to buy and that basically depends on your purpose. If you're going to have a small game between three to six people, you might get away with 2 to 300 chips Casinoslots New Zealand. If you're going to have larger games where you're going to have anywhere from 8, 10 plus people, you actually may want to think about getting chips anywhere between 800 to 1,000 chips to suit your game. My name is Dean Hale and hopefully I've helped you out a little bit in learning how to buy some poker chips. Good luck. 1. Soup or Salad Before Meals
Alright we are not talking about a complete soup or salad diet. I don't think I could ever do it, but a simple tip like eating a light soup or small salad before meals can lead to 10%-15% less calories being consumed in the meal. Why? Because a soup or salad can be very filling 2. Buy Pre-Cut Fruits and Vegetables I have good intentions when I buy fruits and vegetables at the grocery store. I THINK I'll eat them. But often times they end up going rotten from sitting in my fridge for so long. BUT when I buy pre-cut fruits & veggies I tend to snack on them more. Laziness? Not sure. But buying precut fruits & veggies will help you eat more. 3. Limit your Alcohol Consumption Alcohol is not only extremely fattening (7 calories per gram) but it also destroys your will power and damages your body's primary fat burning organ (your liver). Try to call it quits, and if you cannot do that try to limit the number of drinks you do have when you do drink. 4. Cut Out All Junk Foods Junk food can equal junk in the trunk. A study performed by the Wake Forest University School of Medicine studied the eating habits of 2,757 subjects with type 2 diabetes that were sampled and surveyed for their eating habits. Results showed that 93% over consumed calories, 85% had more saturated fat intake than the recommended amounts, and 92% had too much sodium intake. Such correlations show the dangerous health effects of junk foods. Researchers conducting a clinical trial on rats showed that high fatty food intake can even lead to a decrease in cognitive functions. Junk foods can contain as much as 610 calories (MacDonald's SuperSized Fries). With the average American teenager drinking an average 760 cans of soda, junk food consumption often leads to a diet heavily laden in extra sugar, fats, and calories. These calories can add up during the days, weeks, and months to a very unhealthy diet. Although it may require some self-control and discipline, just saying NO to junk food can and will lead to weight loss. It is very difficult in the beginning but you'll get used to it after a few weeks. 5. Never Eat Till Full Okinawans (Japanese Islanders), whose average BMI is 21.5, are known for their supreme health, fitness, and longevity. One of their secrets is the "hara hachi bu" or eating until you're 80% full. This doesn't mean you have to starve yourself. You can definitely eat. In fact, you should eat until you're satisfied. Just don’t eat until you're full or stuffed. This causes your stomach to expand and your body to become lethargic. The stomach is a versatile organ. It expands when we eat and shrinks when we're hungry. As a result, if you are always eating until you feel like throwing up, your stomach will expand beyond its normal capacity. This causes you to eat more to fill this expanded void of your stomach. By eating less, you're shrinking the total capacity of your stomach. This leads to a smaller appetite and weight loss. Well, it had to happen.
After adding each of Pixar’s last four films to my personal Hall of Fame, they finally put out a movie that will not be added to my collection. Now, before I go any further, let me assure you that this is NOT a negative review. It may only seem like that, given that once one encounters near-perfection, not once, not twice, but FOUR times straight, anything less will seem like a letdown. And Up is not a bad story, it’s actually quite good. Very good, even. It’s just not fantastic. Perhaps it’s the fact that the main characters just didn’t measure up. It’s tough for an elderly man and his rather rotund child sidekick to be as cool as a family of superheroes or a talking racecar, or as cute as a rat who wants to be a chef or a robot who falls in love. For that’s what Up is basically about. In the opening minutes, we meet the character of Carl Fredricksen, a bespectacled youth who wants to be an adventurer like his hero from the newsreels, Charles Muntz (even after said hero is discredited for producing the “fake” skeleton of a 12-foot-tall South American bird, and who vows to return one day with actual proof). He meets a girl named Ellie, who has a similar thirst for adventure. They marry, and though they are happy together, they never QUITE manage to have the explorer’s life they once craved. In the present, Ellie has just passed away and Carl (now in his 70’s and voiced by Edward Asner) is being forced to vacate his house and sent to a retirement home. Unwilling, he affixes thousands of balloons to his house, and floats it away to find adventure. Along for the ride is a precocious but unwelcome Wilderness Boy named Russell, who was on his porch during takeoff, seeking the last merit badge he needs (helping the elderly) to become a Senior Wilderness Adventurer… despite the fact that he’s never ACTUALLY been camping. A freak storm blows them to Carl’s desired destination in South America, where he meets his childhood hero (Christopher Plummer) - who is STILL tracking the enormous bird in order to save his reputation – and who has been living only with a brood of tracking dogs, who are able to talk thanks to devices on their collars. One of these dogs, a friendly (and simply adorable) outcast named Dug, is only too happy to help Carl and Russell. I won’t spoil any more of the film, because you should see it for yourselves. There are plenty of “awww” moments, and the story is uplifting enough (no pun intended). My main gripe is that there are simply one too many coincidences and/or plot contrivances present to keep the story from bogging down. (And I’m not talking about the notion that any number of balloons can lift a house… I can suspend disbelief for that. There are plenty of others, however, which I won’t go into.) All in all, it was enjoyable experience. It just wasn’t, for me, at the same level of exhilaration that I have experienced with nearly all of Pixar’s most recent offerings. 4 / 5 stars |
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