Thankyou kindly :)

I'm a big fan of TSW, although I have not played it as much as I would have liked due to lack of time / other games. I have the lifetime sub and do not regret it for a second. I'm not a fanboy. I know the game isn't perfect, but for me it's one of the best MMOs out there - and I've played most of them.

I'm going to post some comments about your observations - please don't take any of this as a rebid defence of the game or any form of attack on you. I would just like to clarify a few things for you and anyone who might be on the fence. :)

I'm not sure how the formatting is going to work, so this might take a few attempts...

The allocation of your points (AP and SP) is not undoable. However, this is not an issue because you can take every skill in the game if you want - just do some more missions to get the points. There's no need to remove the points you have already spent to do this. Most missions are repeatable so you can easily get the points to try everything before specialising.

Also, there are no classes, as such. The skills are categorised into different areas, such as blades, blood magic, shotguns, etc., but you can pick any of them.

Can't really argue with that one. :)
The one thing I will add, is that you missed what most people see as one of the highlights of the game - investigation missions. In these, you have to solve some interesting puzzles. Sometimes this involves actually googling real world info. There's even a web browser built into the game to help with this.

I can totally understand why this is confusing at first - visually, it's not initially that clear.
For those who haven't played it, a quick explanation:
As you earn experience, you are given SP and AP.
There is a screen for spending each.

The SP screen allows you to allocate your SP to areas allowing you to equip different gear, and also giving you a bonus to when using that gear (e.g. shotguns, head talismans). For higher level gear, you need to allocate enough SP in that area to allow you to equip it.

AP are for skills. Each time you spend AP, you are buying either a passive or active skill. Active means you press a button to perform that skill, passive means it is always active (if equipped). Just like most other RPGs. The screen for spending AP is confusing. It's a big ring that zooms when you select an area on it. You get used to it, but it could be better.

You have fourteen slots for equipping your skills - seven active and seven passive. The idea is that you chose a different set of skills depending on the role you want to perform. So, unlike other MMOs, you don't need a healing character, a tank character and a DPS character - you can just change your loadout at any time to suit the job at hand.


Now I'm confused - you know that in the character creation screen, you can choose your clothing, right? Also, my char is female and is not wearing a bikini top, so 'without fail' is an exaggeration. :)

Again, I'm not posting this as a rebuttal to you - I just want to help with any misconceptions you or others may have. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions.

Sorry if this has been shown before, but Rollercoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack is only $2.49 on Amazon:

http://goo.gl/UKbW6

Also Need for Speed Ultimate Digital Collection $7.49:

http://goo.gl/2bfQL

The Sims Medieval $6.79:

http://goo.gl/sU7M6

Question for anyone who's played Endless Space - I'm digging the art style, but I checked out a few short youtube videos and it doesn't look like there's a whole lot to it. Am I right in thinking that it's basically "click a rock-paper-scissors button, watch a cartoon of some spaceships shooting each other, quickly grow tired of this and start using auto-battle"? Or is there enough actual game in there to be worth it?

If you are up to it, check out this Lets Play video series by GetDaved. I like his style and you can get an idea of how the game plays. I like the game a lot and recommend it to civ and 4x players but the combat may be too shallow for some.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sRNFQ-cfOM&list=PL18B14DF3F56AD122

Thanks. Normally I do my own research (lets plays, etc), but the internet connection in my current location is about as stable as a coked-up squirrel in a tumble dryer. Still, I'll see if I can get this video to work.

In my (limited) experience, that's about it for the combat part of the game, but that is a tiny part of the whole. I really enjoyed playing it during the free weekend, but generally just auto-resolved the combat.

Better price, but just for the Civ bundle: http://www.getgamesgo.com/product/civ-v-goty-civ-v-gk-bundle

$15.49

What DLCs are missing from the GOTY version?

nm, found my answer....amazing what a good nights sleep will do for you to clear your head. :P

Wonders of the Ancient World Scenario Pack and Korea Civilization and Scenario Pack. But not on sale (yet), they were each $1.24 during BF sale.

Also I just bought Might & Magic Clash Of Heroes at Amazon for $2.54 (83% off, Steamworks) - think that's about the cheapest it has been, only matched by Nuuvem's recent sale.

Thanks uqblf - good info concerning the missing Civ V dlc. Hope they go on sale again.

Sorry, forgot there is also the Civilization V: Korea and Ancient World Combo Pack that includes both missing DLC. Think I bought them seperately to get two of the $5 coupons for the January sale or the combo pack might not have been on sale.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.

I refuse to pay $10 for the original Alice though. Fucking EA!

Defender's Quest is the daily on Steam -66% (£4.07 here)

You're probably not going to find it cheaper anywhere else. Every time I check ebay it's listed at 20-25 for a cd copy.