text:
All News
Clandestine Gamescom Presentation
We met with Logic Artists at Gamescom and talked about Clandestine and Expeditions: Conquistador
» Continue reading the article...
MMORPG General News
In Defense of the Subscription-Based MMO
Aubrielle provides arguments why it is good to have subscription based MMOs amongst the multitude of F2P MMOs.
» Read the article
Recent articles
Poll WatchWhat Combat System Works Best in Isometric RPGs?
Real-Time with Pause
Turn Based
Other (Leave Comment)
Recently ReleasedSep: Wasteland 2
Sep: Elminage Gothic
Sep: Endless Legend
Aug: Lichdom: Battlemage
Expected ReleasesSep: Gauntlet
Sep: TinyKeep
Sep: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Oct: Dead State
News Watch
Wasteland 2 - One Million in Sales on First Week by Humanity has risen!
Worlds of Magic - New Patch & Preview by Capt. Huggy Face
Shroud of the Avatar - Update of the Avatar #91 by Capt. Huggy Face
Project Phoenix - Has it Been a Year Already? by Couchpotato
Dead State - Beta Patch #1 Released by tomasp3n
Forum WatchMy latest Steam In-Home Streaming woes. by fatknacker50
What Combat System Works Best in Isometric RPGs? by JDR13
My anti-virus is blocking rpgwatch, says it has a virus by Couchpotato
RPGWatch Updates, Bug reports and Feature requests by Myrthos
Scotland loses referendum on sovereignty by ManWhoJaped
Monday - September 15, 2014
Feargus Urquhart - Interview #4 @ Matt Chat
Matt Chat posted the fourth video interview with Feargus Urquhart the CEO of Obsidian Entertainment, and he talks about KOTOR II, NWN II, FO:NV.
Feargus is back one final time (for now!) to chat about Obsidian. We talk about the behind-the-scenes drama with these titles before getting into Dwarves, a game based on Snow White that was cancelled after a year of production. We wrap up with a discussion of being a boss, and how to reject somebody's ideas without making an enemy.
Information aboutObsidian Entertainment
Graywalkers - Kickstarter Update
Dreamlords Digital has posted news the kickstarter relaunch of Graywalkers: Purgatory will be on September 24. So fingers crossed it doesn't get delayed once again.
Hello everyone. We will be submitting our page to Kickstarter this weekend to get it approved. It normally takes 2-3 days for approval. Assuming there are no issues with the page and it gets approved, our target launch will be on September 24.
Information aboutGraywalkers
SP/MP: Single + MP
Setting: Post-apoc
Genre: Strategy-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Dragon - Early Access FAQ Posted
Red Level Games posted a FAQ on Steam about Early Access for Dragon.
Release Questions
1. Early Access Release Date: September 19, 2014.
2. Early Access Price: $17.99
3. Early Access Launch Week Price: $14.99
4. Estimated Retail Release: Summer or Fall 2015.
5. Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux. Mac and Linux versions may be released after PC.
6. Consoles: If we are successful we would love to release on consoles.
7. Distributors: Steam Storefront. We are also considering the Humble Store, Gamer's Gate, Good Ol' Game, Greenman Gaming, and IndieGameStand.
Game Questions
What is Dragon: The Game?
Dragon: The Game ("Dragon") is an open-world action RPG, where you will play as a living, fire-breathing dragon! A dragon will be able to:
- Explore and hunt over a vast fantasy world.
- Eat, grow, and gain power; customizing your dragon's traits and abilities along the way.
- Establish lairs, claim territory, and amass untold hordes.
- Battle other dragons and fantastic creatures.
- Topple buildings, raze villages, and torch forests on destructible worlds.
- Impact the world's economy and development through your actions.
- Interact with villagers, kingdoms, and other mighty creatures. Will you be a benevolent guardian or a ruthless tyrant?
- Create a legacy. Your dragon's descendants will inherit powers and traits from their parent.
Will the game support multi-player?
Dragon will support multi-player through Photon.
Will dragons be able to use magic?
Yes, though magic will not be included in the initial Early Access version of the game. We want to determine what magic system will best complement the other features of the game, so we feel it is best to implement in later stages of development.
What does treasure do for my dragon?
Gold and other wealth will increase your dragon's dominance and influence in the world and will be worked into several game mechanics. Collecting rare items, artwork, and other loot will be a significant part of the game and will reveal the lore of the world in addition to providing benefits to your dragon.
Will Dragon be crowd-funded?
We will pursue crowd funding for Dragon based on the community's response to the Early Access.
Information aboutDragon
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: Action-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Battle Brothers - Questions & Answers Update
Overhype Studios has a new update on Steam with more Questions & Answers.
Frequently Asked Questions - and Answers
As time flies by a lot of interesting and important questions regarding Battle Brothers pop up. We want to take the time to answer some important ones. If you have any more questions just ask in the comments or start a discussion!
Q: Is the game a sandbox or does it have a linear progression with a beginning and end?
A. Battle Brothers will have a completely open world which doesn't restrict the player to go anywhere based on story progress, but only on being able to survive. Concerning progression, the game will have a beginning and an end given by the general setting, loosely framed within a narrative related to one of several "greater evils". There'll also be several milestones along the way, though they don't necessarily have to be completed in linear sequence or at all. We won't have forced and repetitive story missions that conflict with our open world gameplay or get in the way of replayability. However, the ultimate goal of every campaign will be to destroy the source behind the "greater evil" and stop the invasion. At some point the player will have to face the enemy or see the land get swept away.
Information aboutBattle Brothers
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: Strategy-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Seven Dragon Saga - Interview @ Combo Breaker
Combo Breaker posted a new interview with Tactical Simulations Interactive president David Klein, and provided a translation for English readers.
So read the google document since I can't post a preview of it.
Source: RPG Codex
Information aboutSeven Dragon Saga
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Sienna Storm - Interview & Kickstarter Update
Digital Knights the Street espionage PC game failed to get to funded, and only managed to earn $17,049 of the asking $179,000 goal.
They have one last update to read.
To all units: retreat and regroup. We gonna win next time
To our dear Sienna Storm backers,
It is with saddened hearts that we officially announce the "dissolution" of our current Kickstarter project. We appreciate all the constructive feedback you have given us, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you have stuck with us to this very moment.
Your support and feedback is valuable to us and it will be the key to the complete development of Sienna Storm. We want to share this game with you all, so we will look into different reasonable opportunities and probably even relaunch on Kickstarter at a later time.
Please stay tuned, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter so that you will be the first to know all of the updates and news on Sienna Storm!
The developers also did a follow-up interview with Redbull.
It's been a learning lesson for the team, but they're not too disheartened, and will consider other options before turning to publishers, the old-fashioned way.
"We haven't approached any publishers yet, because our priority is to keep the rights within Digital Knights and build a strong Sienna Storm brand," Filipov tells Red Bull. "But we're open to any business discussions a publisher or a strategic partner would like to have, because there might be proposals that let us stay independent and grow."
"Trust us when we say that we will be back and Sienna Storm will be a success!" In other words, the developers at Digital Knights haven't played the last card in their hands just yet. Not by a long shot.
Information aboutSienna Storm
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Modern
Genre: Adventure-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Gamasutra - Branching Conversation Systems
Gamasutra has two interesting articles about Branching Conversation Systems from Alexander Freed. You can read the first article by clicking the following link.
Video games are bad at handling conversations. Video games are especially bad at handling interactive conversations. There's a reason most classic games are remembered for their gameplay or atmosphere rather than their dialogue: talking isn't a strength of the medium.
But dialogue is a powerful and versatile storytelling tool–it characterizes, it builds relationships, it turns subtext into text, it gives rhythm and pacing to scenes, it creates an "index" of key words and phrases to a narrative, it brings drama into quiet moments… and so on. Foregoing dialogue altogether enormously limits the kinds of stories a video game can tell. So we've been using it from almost the beginning, despite our better judgment.
Basic non-interactive dialogue is easy. Screens of text or lines of voiceover are simple to deliver. Yet this approach inevitably turns the Player (the person behind the screen, as opposed to the in-game Player character) into a passive consumer of content.
The second part of his post can be read here.
So you've decided that a branching conversation system is the best choice for your game. You've got the writing and programming expertise to make it work, and the budget to support implementation and testing. But how will your system really function? You know your high-level goals, but it's time to refine.
In this post, we'll discuss some of the largest design decisions you'll need to make before writing begins.
InSomnia - Forums Up in Test Mode
Studio MONO's latest update for InSomnia brings news the official forum are now up.
InSomnia Forum UP in Test ModeHello to all of our backers and followers!
We have some very news today: Our forum is finally up, in test mode but you can already use it! Registration is open for everybody; the forums themselves are set to read-only for unregistered guests, while posting is open for everybody with an account.
We also ask you to acquaintance yourself with the rules - they're short, seriously, give them a glance. Also, please keep in mind that the forums are basically in a beta. Pretty much everything can change, expand or, on the contrary, get deleted. If you have any ideas or thoughts about the structure of the the forum - give us a notice! There's a special topic ready for your suggestions.
The forum is available here: http://www.insomnia-project.com/forum-3/
In other news, we've began to actively collaborate with those fans who wanted to help InSomnia professionally - 3D modellers, artists, composers and others. We've collected quite an amount of interesting, quality content, which we'll start compiling and showing off for everyone who's interested - and all of this content will make it's way into the game! That's it for today! See you on the forums!
Information aboutInSomnia
SP/MP: Single + MP
Setting: Steampunk
Genre: RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Dungeons & Dragons - News Roundup
Retro Gaming Mag has a new retrospective article about the AD&D License for Heroes of the Lance. I know a few you still play the older games so it might interest a few of you.
Admit it, you knew this was coming. Maybe not today, maybe not next week, but you knew, at some point, I was going to dig into the hog waller. If that's what you've been waiting for, retro gaming fans, then today's your lucky day. Rejoice. Clap your hands. Give the ol' banjo a tune-up. Because today I dipped my hands into the muck, and I came up holding the royal, diamond-encrusted, jellyfish-immortal turd of all turds in the Nintendo Entertainment System's library: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance. Do you have any idea how much I hate myself just for writing that last sentence?
Also I found a new interview on RPGamer with Jeremy Crawford about his work on the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition and Blue Rose.
A legion of reporters, speaking in perfect unison: Two years ago, Mike Mearls stood up at the Gen-Con address and said, "We're going to give D&D back to the players." There was a huge playtest. Give us a sense of the scope of the playtest.
JC: The playtest, as far as we know, is the largest playtest any tabletop game has ever had—not just any roleplaying game, any tabletop game, period. We've had over 175,000 playtesters over the course of two years. As you can see, if you've looked at the playtest packets over the past two years, there has been a tremendous amount of evolution, even from the final packet to what you see in the starter set and the Player's Handbook.
In addition to that large body of playtesters in the public playtest, we had a group of playtesters that we called our alpha playtesters. They signed a non-disclosure agreement, and they were seeing information that the public was not. That was over 100 groups, each group of five to six people, so that was on top of the public playtest. They were often giving us very rapid feedback on material that we would revise, sometimes every other week. They were champs. We would sometimes revise a whole section of the game, send it out, and say, "We want feedback from you in two weeks," and they did it.
What this meant for us was creating processes that we never had before. We always incorporated playtesting into our work, but we had never incorporated it to this scale. The person who really took point on processing this insane amount of feedback was Peter Lee.
Peter Lee is one of the designers of the board game Lords of Waterdeep, and he was the guy who was taking line after line after line of feedback and sifting through every line of it. I like to bring that up because sometimes there's skepticism: "Did Wizards go through this?" Yes, actually, we did. It required a person working nearly fulltime for several months, just on this, but it was worth it. It bore all sort of fruit for the game because it helped ensure that we really were listening to the thousands of people who love D&D. It also highlighted for us at times things that we thought we were going to need to change, but it turned out we didn't. There were things we weren't sure were going to work, but everybody loved it. There were other times where we confident. "Oh, this is absolutely a thing that should be in the new game," but the playtesters showed us otherwise. It was a very fruitful and dynamic process over the two years.
Information aboutDungeons & Dragons
Kai Rosenkranz - Risen Rewards Update
Kai Rosenkran's is now offering a Risen fan Teir for anyone who wants want to help support his funded kickstarter album. So here are the details of the new baker teir.
RISEN FAN« Reward Tier now open!
This is just a quick update to inform you that the RISEN FAN reward tier is now available. As announced previously (watch video), it contains the following for $196:
- An exclusive RISEN t-shirt designed by myself
- A pamphlet with sheet music for RISEN 1
- A piece of RPG underwear
- A Journey Home picnic blanket
- A Journey Home special GIFT BOX with some surprises and an autograph card
- A Journey Home sheet music book
- A Journey Home t-shirt
- The Journey Home deluxe album on audio CD
- Your appearance (name & picture) in Hero Backers video
- A "Thank You" tweet / Facebook posting to your accounts
- All downloads (album, sheet music, medley, "thank you" card)
All physical rewards have been revealed and the vinyl edition is announced as a stretch goal, so here's the final overview.
Information aboutKickstarter
Rampant Games - Opinion On Voice Acting
The Rampant Coyote talks about his opinion on voice acting in games, and talks about why his Frayed Knight games don't have voiceovers.
Talking to someone at Comic Con last weekend, they recommended fully voiced dialog for my game because they hate to read when playing a game, but they will listen to somebody talk to them "all day." I mentioned that for me, I'm kind of the opposite. Maybe for the first couple of lines – especially if it's a major bit of character-revelation or a significant plot development – I'll listen all the way through. But most of the time, I'll read through the line of dialog, and then interrupt the voice-over in mid-sentence to jump to the next part. Voice is just too slow.
I love the idea of bringing the Baldur's Gate style back into vogue – where the first line or paragraph was voiced in any particular scene, so you get the flavor of the character. But in talking to some modern players, they aren't so keen on that. In short – players don't want to read when they are playing a game. (I suspect some of them don't like to read, period, but that's another story.) I do get that. I find myself in the same boat. When playing a game, certain parts of your brain are active, and get into a rhythm. Going into text-reading mode completely breaks that flow, and engages different parts of your brain. At least, that's how it feels. It breaks the flow of things. And while gaming is primarily visual, we can be interpret audio information and communication in a way that's less disruptive then stuff we have to process visually.
So I dunno. Maybe I'm out there on the fringe, wanting a return to the Baldur's Gate style "samples" in hopes of getting the best of both worlds. Maybe I'm really out to lunch on this. Maybe I'm too far from the "mainstream." I dunno.
Information aboutRampant Games
Liege - Post-Funding Update #29
John Rhee of Coda Games has released a new post-funding development update for his funded RPG Liege, and it includes a new video to watch also.
Apologies to those of you who were looking forward to the alpha release with this update- I decided it'd be better to take some more time to polish things up a bit rather than disappointing with a rushed build. Things are taking longer than planned, but we're getting a lot done and hopefully you like what you see so far!
Information aboutLiege
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Sunday - September 14, 2014
Dragon Age: Inquisition - Skyhold Interview
Bioware posted the first part of a new interview about the Skyhold in DA:I.
Last week, Dragon Age fans were introduced to Skyhold—the Inquisition's base of operations—through an article from our friends at Game Informer. Following the article, we caught up with Dragon Age: Inquisition producer Cameron Lee to ask a few follow-up questions.
In part 1 of this interview series, Cameron discusses what Skyhold is used for, what players can do to customize it, who you can interact with there, and more!
[DRAGON AGE]: Can you give us a quick recap on what exactly Skyhold is?
[CAMERON LEE]: Skyhold is a huge fortress and the seat of your power as the leader of the Inquisition. From there, you decide the fate of nations, direct your agents throughout Thedas, pass judgment on your enemies, and decide how you will personally take action against the Elder One.
[DA]: Does Skyhold's appearance change over the course of the game?
[CL]: As you progress, you'll notice some parts of Skyhold expanding and becoming more detailed. Murals may be painted, and trophies collected and mysterious artifacts researched by your Inquisition followers. All of this and more has a physical impact on Skyhold.
[DA]: What areas of Skyhold can players customize?
[CL]: Skyhold can be customized to reflect what sort of Inquisition you're leading. You choose what to do with major parts of the castle such as towers and the courtyard as well as decorations like statues, windows, drapes, furniture, and even the heraldry your Inquisition forces will take into the world.
Information aboutDragon Age: Inquisition
SP/MP: Single + MP
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Dragon - Interview @ IndieGames
IndieGames interviewed Erik Johnson of Red Level Games a few questions about his Dragon focused ARPG I posted about yesterday in case you missed it.
Let us get one thing out of the way first... Will we really get to play as fully grown dragons in Dragon?
Yes -- no false advertising on that front. And not just any dragon, your dragon. We want the game to contain a really robust character creator, and for players to have a variety of branching options as their dragon gains experience and evolves (through various means such as completing quests, eating, sleeping, and so on). A fledgling version of the character creator will be in by Early Access next week, and it might still be possible for us to release it ahead of the 19th -- which would give those interested a chance to customize a bit ahead of jumping into the first public Alpha build.
And, in a nutshell, how will the game play?
Similar to an action RPG, but you're a dragon as opposed to a humanoid protagonist -- meaning you can fly. We haven't taken that portion of it lightly either. A few of us on the team spent a good amount of our time on the road this summer, attending conferences (including PAX Prime, Dragonflight and Denver Comic Con) to build awareness as well as get feedback from attendees on the game's concept and our flight and combat mechanics. I remember worrying that without the RPG layer in at the time, people would see it as a lackluster tech demo. Instead, we had trouble getting folks to give up their seats for the next in line. They wanted to explore all corners of the world by air, and it became clear that many of those who tried the game found flying around the small biome we created for the demo to be its own special experience. I'm not sure how to describe it, maybe relaxing? Cathartic? Regardless, it allowed them to cut loose as a dragon and we know that's the crux of it all.
Another one of our top priorities is to have the initial co-op/multiplayer layer in for our Early Access Launch next week, as we're aiming to develop content that will specifically cater to various PvE and PvP bits as we move toward official launch. We'll be relying on early adopting players to help us test out these new features as we introduce them, along with other aspects of the game like mod tools.
Information aboutDragon
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: Action-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Age of Wonders 3 - New Patch & Dev Journal
Triumph Studios announces patch 1.4 for Age Of Wonders III is now in Beta on Steam.
As we're ramping up for the Golden Realms Expansion set to be released September 18th, we're first going to talk about the accompanying v1.4 Patch. There's a huge list of changes below, but the stand out features of the patch are:
- A whole bunch of AI improvements and fixes, including: a more aggressive AI, trespassing updates, AI surrendering, etc.
- Updated disjunction mechanics. See Dev Journal: New Disjunct & Spell Mechanics for details. This also includes changes to abilities removing buffs and debuffs to make these consistent with the disjunct mechanics and more interesting overall.
- Non-Hero units can now continue levelling up beyond "Elite" and the level cap for Heroes has been razed.
- Added an option to disable observing other people's Manual Battles, such that the units and spells of other Players are no longer revealed.
- Tactical spells balance update, making them – and especially buff and debuff spells – more viable and fun.
- An update to all Elementals, adding more variety to their strengths and weaknesses.
- Multiple balance changes – specifically to Arch Druid and Rogue units which – adding racial diversity.
- Changes Happiness and Morale to make these systems more interesting. Includes changes to Skills, Abilities and Status Effects to add more active and direct ways of influencing Morale.
- Addition of the Package Manager to facilitate user made maps. This including Steam Workshop support. See here for a guide on how to use it!
They also released a new Development Journal about Wild Magic.
Hi there, here's a look at another new feature from the upcoming Golden Realms expansion. This time it's the new magical sphere of Wild Magic. Players who choose this specialization have the ability to direct the flow of raw magical energy for spectacular results.
Information aboutAge of Wonders 3
SP/MP: Single + MP
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: Strategy-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: Released
Sinister Design - Against the Cult of Simplicity
Craig Stern of Sinister Designs has a new post about the Cult of Simplicity.
While at Indiecade in 2013, I had the pleasure of listening to Brenda Romero give an inspirational talk (one which she has evidently delivered elsewhere since) themed after the movie Hiro Dreams of Sushi. It was a talk about seeking perfection in game design. She described a triangle with one corner labeled on time, another labeled on budget, and a third labeled great. She exhorted the audience to disregard the "on time" and "on budget" sides of the game development triangle, and instead aim for a game that is truly great at all costs.
Brenda is a funny and dynamic speaker, and it made for a very entertaining talk. I would have enjoyed it without reservation but for one moment where she exhorted the audience to design games centered around a single core mechanic. Romero indicated that that was the only way to design something truly perfect. I considered asking her to defend that position in the Q&A that followed, but I hesitated. "I already have a bit of a reputation as a gadfly in the indie community," I thought to myself. "And I like Brenda. Is this really a battle worth fighting?" I chose to let it go–but the memory of that moment continued to nag at me.
Later on in the weekend, I dropped by a tent where Jeremy Gibson was giving a talk on game design. I don't recall the name of the talk, but it struck me as an intro-level lecture for folks who had not been making games for very long. He, too, apparently felt obliged to spend some time telling the audience to make games with only a single core mechanic. He did not give a reason; he did not limit his statement to new designers who are just finding their feet. He simply said that game designers should do it. Full stop.
Now, here's the thing: I genuinely enjoy games that employ only a single core mechanic. But I also enjoy highly complex games that leverage many different systems, and I admit that I am deeply uncomfortable with the thought that leaders in the indie community are running around telling everybody that one of these is somehow better than the other.
Before we get into the repercussions of telling people that a game with a single core mechanic is preferable, I want to take a step back and examine the merits of the contention itself: is it, in fact, actually better to have a single core mechanic?
Information aboutSinister Design
Kingdom Come: Deliverance - Gameswelt Videos
Warhorse shared links for some new videos on a German site called Gameswelt. The good news is some parts are in English, and they show new gameplay.
Gameswelt from Germany presented their 1st of 4 videos of their visit at our Studio in Prague. Check Gameswelt.de for today's joy.
Gameswelt NEXT: Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Do you want to see our Alchemy system or are you rather into archery? Check video 2 from the visit of Gameswelt at Warhorse Studios
Gameswelt NEXT - Teil 2: Dungeons & No Dragons
And there goes the 3rd video of Gameswelt. Have you ever wondered how our Tech Alpha will look like? Or the Beta? Check it out!
Source: Warhorse Studios
Information aboutKingdom Come: Deliverance
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Historical
Genre: Action-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Worlds of Magic - New Patch Released
Wastelands Interactive uploaded a new patch on Steam for the early Access version of Worlds of Magic. So here are the details of the fixes, and changes from the patch.
New (1424M) build is up
A new patch has been uploaded. (Windows only, Linux and Mac to be uploaded on Monday) We tried to address as many issues as possible.
Below is the changelog.
We would really appreciate your feedback.
- [fixed] You can transmute 0 mana for 0 gold in alchemy-
- [fixed] Unit switcher above the minimap is not centered
- [fixed] Blue moon didn't apply it's bonus to research from Sage discipline
- [changed] Disabled forge
- [fixed] Not working next page button on spellbook
- [fixed] The game shouldn't crash from out of memory error while generating any more
- [fixed] Default race on surveyor was always DRACONIANS
- [fixed] Expanding "sort by lord" popup on enchantment list caused enexpected behaviour
- [added] Tooltips for mirror panel
- [fixed] Fixed many in-game texts
- [fixed] Win/lose conditions
- [fixed] Weird city-targeting spell issues
- [fixed] Enchantment panel
- [fixed] There was one additional militia unit during battle which wasn't shown on city screen
- [fixed] Amount of turns remaining to finish research wasn't updating (visual only bug)
- [fixed] Crash when opening abilities minipanel for some units
- [fixed] Army selection and destination flag animations are no longer fps-dependent
- [fixed] Number of opponents and world size drop down menus have wider colliders
- [tweak] Adjusted surveyor panel depth
- [tweak] Adjusted battle summary depth
- [tweak] Map, history and forge buttons are grayed out and unclickable
- [fixed] Owerwriting a file didn't update it's date
- [fixed] Units were losing exp after loading
- [fixed] Random obstacles will no longer generate during city siege
- [fixed] Bless duration (was 0)
- [fixed] AC modifying spells were not working
Information aboutWorlds of Magic
SP/MP: Single + MP
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: Strategy-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Unbended - Some Questions & Answers
The developers of the Sacred inspired ARPG game Unbended have updated their FAQ on the website to answer a few more questions from a few different supporters.
Never fear. We have neither fallen asleep nor have we lost interest in our baby. During the last two weeks there was a lot of organizational matters and technicalities on our schedules. In the current phase of the project, that's unfortunately not avoidable. But we promise to improve and we'll try to give you something more tangible in the coming week. Stay with us and have a nice week. For now, there's the next round in our very popular category "Questions and Answers on UNBENDED".
Information aboutUnbended
SP/MP: Single + MP
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: Action-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Shroud of the Avatar - Update of the Avatar #90
The 90th Update of the Avatar from Portalarium has been posted this week, and as usual it contains news, items, and a few more videos. Here are the details.
Here's what we have for you in this week's edition of Update of the Avatar:
- Darkstarr Training Montage
- New Designers Join SotA Dev Team
- Founder's Developer Blog: Daily Standup Notes and Developer Q&A
- Baron's Cloak
- Knight's Cloak
- Creature Spotlight: Elves
- Alienware Sponsors $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupon
- Upcoming Events
Information aboutShroud of the Avatar
SP/MP: Single + MP
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Skywind - Bitter Coast Preview Trailer
The developers of the new Skywind mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimhave released a new trailer that shows the modders progress on the Bitter Coast.
An exclusive look at the latest work on the Bitter Coast. As always, many models are placeholders and everything is subject to change. Please enjoy!
Information aboutSkyrim
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: RPG
Platform: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Release: Released
Gamasutra - MP Alternatives in RPGs
Gamasutra is hosting a new article from Zack Wood who writes about MP alternatives in RPGs, and no it doesn't stand for multiplayer. He means Magic Points.
We've all played a game or two (or twenty) with this system: each character has a finite amount of MP used for spells, more powerful ones cost more MP, and if your MP runs out you need items (or "rest") to replenish it.
I find many implementations pretty tedious (buying/using MP restorative items constantly, or saving all magic for the boss), but preferences aside, its just plain boring when so many games do the same thing.
Now I happen to think there's still a lot to learn from older games, so let's look back at some alternatives to the typical MP system and imagine exciting future possibilities. (Let's just define "magic" and "MP" broadly as "special moves" and the "special points required to use them.")
Pantheon - New Screenshots Released
Visionary Realms Brad McQuaid posted a new update for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen this week that shares a few more screenshots on the game.
Bah, why wait a couple of days? I looked through the various zones being worked on and grabbed some graphical goodness. As always, please remember this is work-in-progress, and that the different areas shown are at different points in terms of being finished. So, for example, lighting and sky will look better in some shots vs. others. That said, I think it shows our world building team is NOT fooling around and we are building the world of Terminus!!
Information aboutPantheon
SP/MP: Massive
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: MMORPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Shadow of Mordor - Gameplay Video Preview
GamesHQMedia has a new video eight minute video preview of Middle-Earth Shadow of Mordor with some commentary from the games developers.
Information aboutMiddle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
SP/MP: Single + MP
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: Adventure-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Dead Island 2 - Why isn't Techland Making it?
Robert Purchese of Eurogamer took the time to interview Techland Game Designer Maciej Binkowski about why Yager is developing the game instead of Techland.
Why isn't Polish developer Techland making Dead Island 2?
Dead Island wasn't fantastic but it was successful - very successful. In February 2013 the game passed the five million sales mark. Five million sales! And for a new IP! Techland clearly did something right.
But what it didn't do was retain ownership of the IP.
"Right from the start, the IP was theirs," Techland game designer Maciej Binkowski told me, referencing publisher Deep Silver (Saints Row, Homefront). It was Techland's game, Techland's idea, but it wasn't a strong enough entity as a developer to argue.
"At that point we weren't really in a position to negotiate," he said, "so that was the best deal we could get. It's like playing poker: you have to make a decision with the information you have now. If you play the game thinking that something might happen, you're going to lose the game. At that point, that was the best decision we could do."
Techland made two Dead Island games for Deep Silver: Dead Island, and standalone expansion Dead Island: Riptide. Riptide wasn't brilliant but again it wasn't awful.
But a month after Riptide's April 2013 release, Techland announced a new zombie-killing game called Dying Light. A year later, at E3 2014, Dead Island 2 was announced - a game made by Spec Ops: The Line developer Yager.
What happened - did Techland and Deep Silver fall out?
"Well, you know, we had our ups and downs," Binkowski said. "There's always tension between the publisher and developer.
"For us it turned out well, because being forced to come up with a new IP... We can't just make a Dead Island 2 and change the name; it's got to be something fresh, it's got to be something unique.
"It was a bit tough," he added. "I would love to make a direct sequel, but at some point a decision was made."
Information aboutDead Island 2
SP/MP: Single + MP
Setting: Modern
Genre: Hack & Slash
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Saturday - September 13, 2014
GOG - Indietastic Game Sale
GOG has a new sale for the weekend called the Indietastic sale. The sale contains quite a few games, and one RPG game called Inquisitor. Here are the full details.
Battle Worlds: Kronos, Ether One, Blazblue Calamity Trigger, and more Indietastic titles up to 80% off!
You know GOG.com has a lot of affection for the indie scene and for plenty of reasons. Some devs take on risks that none of the big AAA powerhouses would dare to consider, introducing original, untried concepts into their games. Others look to the past to re-create the feel and mood of the finest titles in the history of gaming, the ones that still give gamers a warm and fuzzy feeling, while adding their personal touch to create something fresh. To give you a sample of what we consider Indietastic this weekend we have a selection of 31 games on sale. Let's take a look at some of those titles:Dyad, a one-of-a-kind shooter, is a psychadelic trip at warp speed and straight into the audio-visual nirvana.
Information aboutGOG
Kingdom Come - Interview @ TechRaptor
Daniel Vavra is interviewed on TechRaptor to talk about GamersGate, and the gaming industry. I will remind everyone to keep it civil this time, or I will lock the thread.
What is the biggest difference in the gaming industry when comparing now to when you worked on Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven (2002)? Better or worse?
The industry is much better now. We can be independent. We can self-publish our games, even on consoles. We can speak directly to our fans through social networks. There are new ways to fund development. All that is awesome and ideal for growth of the scene and more original games. There are also many more communication channels – social media, Youtubers, bloggers. Back in the day, the Internet was very small, paper mags held all the power, and the journalists asked boring questions like "how many weapons/cars/levels are you going to have?" I was trying to write a sophisticated mature story, and most of them wanted to know if it's going to be possible to drive over people. Now, when I am trying to make mature realistic historic game, some people ask why we don't have female knights.
Will the GamerGate issue have any real effect on your approach to your upcoming game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance? That could be changing a character, a story, or part of the world.
No. We had a strong playable female character before all this started. We have gay characters in the game, and we have different minorities in the game, because all I want is to have a mature, strong story. A story that I wanted to tell for years, and I am not going to change it because of outside pressure.
Information aboutKingdom Come: Deliverance
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Historical
Genre: Action-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Legends of Eisenwald - Indie or Not Indie?
Aterdux Entertainment next Developer Diary update for Legends of Eisenwald about the recent previews of the game, and they even metion the preview from Aubrielle.
Developers Diaries #17 – indie or not indie?
Hello everyone,
Lattely we have been talking to a few journalists, from IGN Russia and rpgwatch.com in particular. IGN Russia had a discussion what is an indie game which was presented in several developers answers to four questions: what is an indie game; do you think Journey for PS3 or Valiant Hearts are indie games; if Banner Saga went to a publisher, they would have gotten more money and have done a better game – what do you think of this statement; are you an indie developer yourself. Many answered that it's a game where a process of its creation is not controlled by a publisher or an investor, we added that it's a game that is doing something new and it's also creative splash of the people making this game. Even some games of big studios could be considered indie, in our opinion. The whole article is here (in Russian).
rpgwatch.com wrote a preview. Alexander met with an editor from this site in Cologne during GamesCom and this preview is a result of this even though a preview is written by someone else.
In the beginning of the summer we applied with our game to IndieCade. We didn't have many hopes to start with. Looking at the screenshots that are published on Facebook page of this festival one could think that indie games for them are almost exclusively pixel art, simple mechanics and other attributes of modern pop-culture. So, the response we were not selected for the final part did not surprise us. To the standard response there were attached a few sentences of a juror or a few of them:
"I kind of don't get it… When the game is defined as a "classic old school RPG with tactical turn-based battles, simple economic model" why would you enter it in indiecade?"
" It seems weird to me, with no hook, no novelty and no tutorial, the game feels… Well, like a 90s game. It's a "classic, yes, but "old school" doesn't have to mean "old"."
"This game is an impressive technical achievement! Indiecade however looks for games that innovate in design or other categories, and Legends of Eisenwald is largely a worthy but loyal recreation of a well-trodden category.
We are grateful for a personal response and understand that everyone has different opinions. The only details that is not quite clear is a "no tutorial" part. Tutorial (while not the greatest) have been on Early Access since the very beginning and it seems that jurors simply didn't have enough time to check for a tutorial option in the settings. We started playing games in 90s and even the end of 80s, so in most cases when some people say our game looks like from the 90s, it sounds rather surprising to us and brings us to the conclusion that most likely they didn't play anything back then.
What do you think? Do we describe our game well? Maybe some moments are really unclear for the people who look at our game for the first time and has only 10 minutes to look at the game? We would really love to hear your opinions!
Information aboutLegends of Eisenwald
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: Strategy-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
The Mandate - Operation Reclamation
Perihelion Interactive has finally posted a new update for The Mandate about your crew in the game, and mentions the topics of future updates.
Operation Reclamation
Time for another update! Today we start by outlining a schedule for the next few updates:
- Update #42 boarding combat (this update)
- Update #43 space combat
- Update #44 (tentatively) status of development
When discussing the boarding combat it makes sense to first talk about some of our goals for the boarding operations.
The Mandate focuses on the crew inside your space ships and the marines are an important part of your crew. We want boarding combat to come alive with drama and action. These interactions will be more high-paced than space combat, with ample explosions, memorable characters and the occasional acts of heroism or stupidity. After a firefight, the corridors should look banged up with bullet marks and bodies.
Information aboutThe Mandate
SP/MP: Single + MP
Setting: Sci-fi
Genre: Strategy-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Lords of Xulima - Preview @ Cliqist
Lords of Xulima.
Lords of Xulima should really appeal to players who love a good, difficult RPG. There are definitely some aspects that could see furthered tweaking, such as adding more to the day/night cycle, but as is there's already a fully featured game waiting for players. The development team is also constantly turning to players for feedback, which is just what you'd hope to find from an Early Access title. If you jump into Lords of Xulima now you can expect a massive game, regular updates, and a developer who is more than happy to read feedback. If you're a big Early Access gamer then you know these traits are rarer than they should be!
Information aboutLords of Xulima
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Age of Grit - A Big Push for 100%
The next update for Age of Grit has news on funding, and a new Art contest. The game made $10,347 of the $12,000 goal with thirteen days left in the campaign.
We're making a big push to reach 100% funded by the end of the week!!! We are doing great--just a little further and then its on to stretch goals! Please do what you can to help push us past the 100% mark.
A really BIG thank you goes out to each one of you for your pledge, your support, and for spreading the word.
Sadly, we've seen very little response to our art contest! The entries we've received have been really great, but there's only been a small handful of submissions thus far. Sad face. Consequently we are pushing the contest deadline back until the end of Friday, September 19th in the hopes that we'll see a few more entries over the course of another week.
Please submit any fan art you can scrounge up! Don't be shy--we are desperate here! Your entry doesn't have to be the Mona Lisa--just have fun! Remember, the grand prize is a gift card for $100! You can get a lot with $100! We will be judging the entries using creativity as the primary criteria.
The following would all be acceptable entries:
-simple doodles of airship designs on the back of a napkin
-real life landscape photographs (a cool desert or cowboy-looking shot)
-a clever wanted poster with some creative text
-a crayon drawing of a steampunk cowboy town
-a Lego steampunk creation
-ANYTHING clever, creative, or just pertty relating to steampunk, cowboys, or the general setting of Age of Grit. The only rule is you just have to be the actual creator of your piece.
Information aboutAge of Grit
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Steampunk
Genre: RPG
Platform: Unknown
Release: In development
Dragon - A Dragon ARPG on Steam
Dragon is an ARPG game I found on Steam Greenlight that may interest a few of you, and is being developed by a studio called .
As usual here is a video, and a short description of the game.
Dragons are the greatest fantasy creature of all time.
It is time for a video game that gives dragons their proper role as the monstrous, complex, and epic protagonists that they are.
In an open world, action RPG you will bring your dragon's story to life. Choose who to help and who to eat. Choose which cities will benefit and thrive under your protection, and which will burn...
You will customize your dragon, choosing its color, designing its face, look, and abilities.
As you eat and grow your dragon will develop; allowing you to improve and customize its wings, tail, claws, and breath weapon to your preferred playing style.
Growing more powerful through the years you will horde gold, claim a lair and expand your territory. Inevitably challenging other dragons, giants, liches, and other beasts for dominance over the world and claim over the lesser kingdoms of mortals.
In Dragon the world is yours...
Information aboutDragon
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: Action-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Pathologic - Scriptwriting: Gap #1
Ice-Pick Lodge has another update for Pathologic this time from writer Nikolay Dybowski who writes the games plot, and he talks about the games story.
My name is Nikolay Dybowski. I'm the person behind the plot, the setting, and the script of Pathologic.
The story of Pathologic is not fictional. Or rather not entirely fictional: it's based upon artistically adapted facts and phenomenons that come from the real life.
I often compare my job to something a cryptographer or an archaeologist does. It's about reconstructing things, not making them up. My task is understanding, deciphering, and recreating a story that originates from beyond my imagination.
Some of its pieces are usually obvious from the get go—they don't require much work. A good example of that would be the character set in Pathologic and the general outlook of The Town. They weren't hard to discover.
But some troublesome pieces just aren't there. They make me feel like an astronomer. He knows there must be a star of a certain brightness and weight in a particular section of a galaxy even if he doesn't see it through a telescope; his maps tell him so. Just like an astronomer, I'm goofing off and lying when I'm trying to lay my calculations aside and start ad-libbing. The red giant may look fantastic in my mind's eye, but it's just not there.
And finally, there are some pieces that need to be cleared up slowly and methodically first. Here are the dusty ruins of an old dwelling. It's obvious where exactly the hearth used to be: we can see the pipe section area, we can see pieces of ash. But what was the hearth like? How did it look? What was being cooked in it?
Information aboutPathologic
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Modern
Genre: Adventure-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Mass Effect - Retrospective @ CGM
CGM's Reid McCarter posted a new retrospective for Mass Effect. So if feel like reading another one then give a look, and share your opinion in the comment section.
Discovering that we have a greater appreciation for a work upon revisiting it is probably a pretty common experience. How we judge any kind of media is inherently personal and so dependent on the nearly infinite minor joys and irritations that colour daily life, it's a wonder people's opinions ever line up. It's worth keeping this in mind when encountering a game that disappoints despite months of pre-release hype.
It's also a good thing to remember after dismissing a work of art or entertainment because of a poor first impression. Barring the kind of deep, fundamental issues that can make a game completely irredeemable—offensive or problematic content, say, or outright bad design—there's often something positive to discover in a title that was previously dismissed. This obviously can't be the case in every instance, but taking the time to see if there's more to apparently disappointing games than first appeared can definitely be worthwhile.
Information aboutMass Effect
SP/MP: Single + MP
Setting: Sci-fi
Genre: Shooter-RPG
Platform: PC, Xbox 360
Release: Released
Star Traders 2 - Ship Design & Competition
The Trese Brothers Games latest update for Star Traders 2 goes into detail about how you can design your spaceship, and mentions a new faction competition.
Ship Design
In the years following the end of the great Exodus, the new colonies of the isolated quadrants lacked large shipyards. Most Star Trader Captains made do with heavily modified and upgraded vessels that were a hundred years old or older. Over the years, some of the quadrants found their footing and grew in power and wealth and they began to construct great shipyards to build the ships of the new era.
Your craft's hull will determine its basic design and allow you to slot components of your choice into its modular structure. Your ship's blueprint sets the layout of the decks, cargo bays, bulkheads, compartments, and primary engines. Each deck of a ship will have empty compartments that can be filled with upgrades of all kinds -- crew cabins, weapon magazines, gunnery pods, medical bays or hundreds of other options. With enough Credits, you can upgrade or replace every compartment to build your ship to your exact specifications. At capable shipyards, you'll also be able to pay for major upgrades such as improving the engines, outer armored hull and solar sails.
Faction Competition Update
The Faction competition is still roaring along with votes coming in every hour. I've totaled up the votes again before the last 24 hour push to Saturday at midnight (US, EST). Every Faction is still within striking distance of the 30 vote threshold to get the minor bonus in ST RPG and 4X Empires. Thulun has pulled farther into the lead with 20 votes! Get out and support your Faction!
If you're interested in learning more about the 6 Factions of Star Traders RPG, read about them here in the original Star Traders RPG manual. The manual is 4 years old, but it has a great description of each Faction. Even if you're a newcomer to Star Traders, check them out and then vote for the one you think you'd enjoy the most!
Information aboutStar Traders 2
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Sci-fi
Genre: RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development
Might & Magic Heroes VII - Sylvan Faction Won
Thanks to the vote for what faction gamers wanted in Might & Magic Heroes VII it seems the Sylvan Faction will now be added to final game. Here are the details.
So, the time allotted to the vote is now coming to an end. The response was overwhelming, and it quickly became pretty clear that within our Shadow Council a majority believes the Elves of Irollan would make adequate allies for Ivan.
You can now vote on what units get added to the faction now.
Our game designers have offered us a choice regarding the composition of the Sylvan Army. Three different line-ups have been suggested and it's your voice that will make the difference. Don't hesitate to share the news with your friends to put your favorite alternative in the lead!
Even if they have some similarities, those three line-ups are different, more oriented on defense or offence, or in-between. These three line-ups are meant to be of equal strength, and be balanced with the power of the other Factions present in the game.
This vote will define the soul and heart of the Sylvan armies and what play style will suit them, so choose wisely!
Remember that you can change your vote at any time, so listen to the other members of this council, hear their arguments and offer your own. The Sylvan Armies will be a great help in the battles to come, but you still have to decide how.
Information aboutMight & Magic Heroes VII
SP/MP: Single + MP
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: Strategy-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development


text:
Tag Results
13 posts tagged festival
13 posts tagged festival
I had a wonderful time photographing at Wanderlust Music Festival last weekend in Squaw Valley. The whole set can be viewed here.
Cognitive Awakening in Paradise, California
see the whole set here
"We invite you to join us for a new flavor of conscious community gathering. In the embrace of a majestic redwood forest we celebrate our tribal culture through dance, art, nature and the unyielding gift of the human spirit. Together we set the container to nurture the seed of our infinite potential as individuals & as community. Come and feel inspired, encouraged, supported, & loved…"
Photographs from Enchanted Forest, whole set here.
Enchanted Forest last weekend
for the whole set, Facebook
Sasha and I.
Photograph by Subconscious Collective
Ahh, Colorado- I am so glad to have finally met you. I embarked on the long journey from Maui to attend The Spin Summit, a rocky mountain spin conference. Labs included hoop technique, contact juggling, poi, puppy hammer, doubles & minis, flow wand, flags, hoop burlesque, break dancing, and so much more.
A lot of personal transformation took place for me in the mountains, especially with the Venus Transit and full moon. After dinner, we took turns looking through solar glasses, and saw the small but gorgeous Venus crossing the entire Sun.
Thank you to my new HUGE family for being so welcoming… So many authentic souls, love to you all!
Learn more about The Spin Summit here, and visit their Facebook to see the full album of my photographs!
I have just returned to Maui from my mainland road trip… San Francisco, Humboldt County redwoods, the Trinity River, Reno, and ending at the sacred Paiute land of Pyramid Lake, Nevada.
Symbiosis Pyramid Eclipse took place at this vortex, and 8,000 of us watched and absorbed from the 2-hour alignment of the eclipse.
There is creativity and beauty all around, and its what makes photographing conscious gatherings one of my favorite things in the world. Genuine smiles, tears of emotion, and people expressing themselves in their unique, cosmic way. This tribal lifestyle and community is what many on Earth right now crave!
A full album with 111 photographs can be found here.
My taxi driver swerved in and out of the Seminyak traffic, and down a narrow side alleyway. We pulled into a cluster of cottages surrounded by gardens, and arrived at Kelsey's Creation Station. I found an explosion of color, fabric and tutus, sewing machines, and faery's drinking matcha green tea.
Kelsey's Creations = Ruffles and Lacey things, Yummy orgainza wingz.
This sweet oasias of creativity is where the photo shoot took place. Here is a sneak preview… I am so inspired by the designs, beings, and images that came out of this collaboration. As I sit in the Korean airport reminiscing, I feel so blessed…
Children are my Teachers

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > I'll Be There
"Never ever. Ever"5 Reviews
Frankie's home!
4 months Gerard thought happily 4 months and 5 days ago, we didn't even know if you, Frankie, would even live to see the next day. Now look at you..
Frankie turned his head up towards Gerard, his smile beaming up at Gerard, the same smile that got Gerard through all those days when he thought he couldn't take anymore of life, when to him, life was just a dead end.
"So, Gee, where… n-next?"
Gerard Smiled at the name …Gee.. He and Frank had established that nickname as a compromise for Frank, who still to that moment found it hard to say a lot of words, but he had improved alarmingly, now he could say most simple sentences, he could also write a few sentences, and recently he had attempted to walk, heavily aided by Gerard, so far that had been unsuccessful.
It was surprising to Gerard actually, that Frank had coped better about his illness than Gerard had! Frank had always stayed positive, tried so hard. Honestly, at one point Gerard had even doubted his recovery, thinking it would be a happy ending that never was…
'To my house, we'll get some of your stuff from your house later, 'kay?" Gerard replied, Frank nodded in agreement and relaxed into his wheelchair. Gerard pushed the wheelchair out of the hospital and towards his small, black car. As he pulled his keys from deep within his pocket a young girl approached Gerard and Frank timidly, she was about 14, with dark brown – almost black hair and eyes of a misty blue.
"Uhhm…. Excuse me, Mr Way – and Mr Iero," She stuttered, her eyes locked on a patch of trees slightly to the left of the two men in the distance, "I was Wondering, Maybe, if… maybe I could have an autograph, please." Her voice slowly increasing in confidence. "Oh – and also, Get Well soon, Mr Iero, I sent you a card in the mail a few months back, I hope you got it." She said, addressing Frank, he looked up and gave her a wide grin.
"Thanks so much!" Frank said happily, still displaying his dazzling whites.
"Yea, of Course you can have an autograph." Gerard interrupted, pulling out a black pen from his pocket, the young girl handed him a blank sheet of paper.
"What's your name??" he asked, he planned to write a message for her, seeing as she ahd been so supportive.
"Lucy." She replied.
Gerard quickly wrote a message, his pen darting back and forth the paper, passing the pen to Frank who signed his well-rehearsed name, tongue poking out in concentration.
As the Girl walked away happily, clutching the signed piece of paper to her chest, as though the word written upon it were more important than anything she had every clasped in her two hands before.
After that encouraging encounter, Gerard unlocked the door of his car, opened the passenger door and scooped Frank up, holding him tightly, but softly and lowered him onto the seat. His hand instinctively reached up towards the seatbelt.
"I…can…manage." Frank insisted, firmly, and carefully reached up and pulled the belt around himself, he fumbled with the clip a bit, but eventually inserted the belt into the clip. Gerard rounded the car and hopped into the Drivers seat. Grasping the steering wheel, he glanced over to Frank, who wore an expression of longing as he gazed at the steering wheel.
"Don't worry, buddy," Gerard assured "You'll be driving again before ya know it!"
Frank flashed Gerard one of his famous smiles, but Gerard could see behind his mask of happiness. Gerard sighed under his breath and turned on the ignition. The way home was awkward to say the least, the two men remained silent for a long 15 minutes, when Frank turned to Gerard and admitted something he had on his mind for a long time.
"I-I…. feel," He began, "I feel… worthless…. and ….. hopeless." His voice cracking with emotion as he bowed his head, almost as if in disgrace.
Gerard did the first thing that sprang to mind, he swerved the car onto the side of the road, and slowed to a halt, he put out his right hand and squeezed Franks hand lightly, his hazel eyes brimming with tears, and turned to his friend, cupping his cheek with his spare arm, he raised Frank's face up to face his own.
"Frank.. Please, just remember this," He said, every ounce of emotion in his body was being portrayed in his words, "You are not and never will be worthless, never ever. Ever. Never let yourself think that."
In that instant, it took all of Gerard common sense to refrain from kissing the beautiful being in front of him.
Those soft lips… He though, his emotions flowing through his veins like electricity.
He pulled his hand away from Frank's chin smoothly, and rested it on the steering wheel, the other hand following its partner. They continued driving, for another 10 minutes, which seemed like hours, finally stopping outside Gerard's house. Gerard Clambered out, repeating the reverse routine to what he had done earlier. Wheeling Frankie down the path, he noted the grass needed cutting, unless he wanted the whole house to be engulfed by it within the next month. Gerard pulled the handle of the wooden floor down and pushed open the door, carefully titling Frank's chairs upwards, he maneuvered the heavy chair into the hall.
From the room nearest the two men, whispers could be heard emitting from the other side of the door.
"He's Fucking here!" Came the first voice.
"He can't be here, Bob, It's too early!" Came the Second.
"Shut up Mikey! And you, Bob!" Said the last fiercely.
Way to be discreet Gerard laughed to himself as he pushed open the door.
"SURPRISE!" All Four of Frank's closest friend, including Gerard shouted, as Frank caught sight of the front room, it was decorated with balloons, banners and an array of delicious food was set out on the table. A Red, Sparkly party hat was forced upon his head, to match his friends, Ray's of which, comically, was perched about half a meter from his actual head, nestled onto his afro.
Frank knew, at that moment, that he was home.
So... He's home! Wooo!
Also, i'd like to tell everyone that i'm dedicating this story to my Grampa, who is very ill rite now, actually suffering something simular to Frank. He was in a coma, he's awake now, and he's learning to do things for himself slowly. Get well soon Grampa, love you!! xxx


text:
"The paper was a heavy, good quality paper. The print was great too. It was easy to write your message with a pen. It did not smudge. It only required one stamp when mailing. The company delivered when promised, and kept me up to date with the status of my order as far as, receiving, printing, and delivering."
"This card is so perfect and dainty. I bought it as a baby gift for a friend. It is great for a baby girl or a big girl! I used an all lowercase font to make it more juvenile and informal. The quality of the paper is better than I expected."
"I used this little card as an insert with the invitation. I needed to add directions (quite extensive) on one side & the other side was used for where to mail "parent tips" & "baby wishes". Customer service was outstanding on helping me do this! I highly recommend tiny prints!"
"thank you, they are perfect, sweet and to the point, they will be just the right size for thank you notes. We love them."
"We did not include any photos, just the general design, but the quality was superb. The design is very cute and the colors on the site are true to the final product."


text:
Dine for Two at Belgo Brasserie, Calgary, AB
Item #314220
Belgo Brasserie – 501 – 8th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta T2P 1G1 – www.belgo.ca
The restaurant e-voucher will be emailed to you by müvWeekend within 48 hours after completing your purchase. Please ensure to provide the correct email address when placing your order.
Belgo offers the best quality and variety of French and International dishes, served all day long in an incomparable atmosphere. What sets Belgo apart is the friendly and professional service, the uniqueness of the room and its incredible food value. They feature daily dishes that appeal to the business and casual patrons for lunch and dinner. The venue will facilitate anything from a small gathering to a vast function. The team is committed to meeting your needs and exceeding your expectations.
- Approximate value of $123
- 3 course menu with a glass of red or white wine for two people
- Belgo French onion soup or
- Belgo spinach salad
- New York striploin, mushroom duxelle, blue cheese or
- Seared queen charlotte halibut or
- Duck confit linguini
- Molten chocolate lava cake or
- Belgo crème brulée
Recipient's e-mail address must be supplied in e-mail field on Shipping Address page.
For this item, the shipping address at checkout must be located in the same province as the restaurant. If you and the recipient are located in another province, please use the restaurant's address located at the top of the page as the shipping address. This will not impact the fulfillment of the order as the e-voucher will be sent to the e-mail provided with the shipping address.
There is no expiration date to this e-voucher. Due to the seasonality of menus, it is possible that some items in the offer may be different. In such an event, the restaurant can substitute the items for other dishes of the equal quality and value. Due to the continuously changing cost and availability of food, in case the e-voucher is used after an extended period of time (1 year or more), the restaurant will guarantee a menu for two worth of a minimum value of $100.
Emailable/Print at home: Yes
Gift Messaging is available. You will have an opportunity to enter a gift message during the checkout process.
The estimated delivery time is within 48 hours from the time of order. You will receive the eCertificates via e-mail to the e-mail address you have entered in e-mail field on Destination Address page. If you have a filter on your e-mail, please add to your white list: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Valid: For 1 year from the date of purchase (verify date on www.sambadays.com/expiry).
Costco.ca products can be returned to any of our more than 600 Costco warehouses worldwide.
Membership: We will refund your membership fee in full at any time if you are dissatisfied.
Merchandise: We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell and will refund your purchase price, with the following exceptions:
1. Electronics: Costco will accept returns within 90 days from the date of purchase for televisions, projectors, computers, cameras, camcorders, touch-screen tablets, MP3 players and cellular phones and other products identified by Costco from time to time.
2. Diamonds: When returning items containing a 1.00 ct diamond or larger, Costco will require additional time to verify the diamond, in which case a refund will be approved upon positive verification. This process may require two to five business days.
If you request an item be picked up for return, the item must be packaged and available for pick up in the same manner as it was delivered.
If your order was delivered "curb side", it will need to be available for curb side pick up.
If the item arrived to you in a box, it will need to be in a box at the time of pick up.
Costco may in the future restrict its return policy regarding other products. Restriction will be shown at the point of purchase.


text:
PDF Digital Download
Have you made this pattern?
Share with the Craftsy community.
Amethyst is a cable and lace triangular shawl knitted from the top down. The sample was knitted in worsted weight yarn and the pattern is written for 3 other yarn weights also. Moreover, as the Lacy Gems pattern on the body of the shawl can be worked with any number of repeats, you can knit your Amethyst in a different size than the ones given.
The pattern includes both written and charted directions.
Instructions include both US and metric measurements.
You can download a sample page from here: http://agnes.kutas.ch/freepdf/Amethyst_sample.pdf
see chart among pictures
I'm a knitwear designer living in a small village in Switzerland. You can find my patterns here on Craftsy, on ravelry (www.ravelry.com/designers/agnes-kutas-keresztes) and on my website (www.agnes.kutas.ch). I have published designs in Interweave Knits, Knitscene, Twist Collective, Knit Now and Knitty.


text:
North East Border Collie Association - NEBCA
The North East Border Collie Association is a non profit club supporting the breeding, training, farm use and trialing of working border collies. The NEBCA region consists of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime Provinces of Canada. NEBCA sanctions trials in these areas and promotes training opportunities.
Our Mission
The mission of the North East Border Collie Association is to promote and protect the Border Collie as a working stock dog through the sanctioning and regulation of competitive herding trials and by providing information on training, health and breeding.
The History of NEBCA
In the sixties and early seventies, there were at most a dozen sheep dog trials in the northeast. The best attended ones depended on the presence of handlers outside New England, men like the Pulfer brothers, George Conboy, Lewis Pence, Thurman Platfoot, Paul Coy, Carroll Schaffner, and, later on, Bob Childress, Ivan Weir, and Jim Bob McEwen. During those years a regional Border Collie club was formed, but it didn't last. Read more History »
NEBCA Fall Foliage Championship Trial, Oct 2-5, 2014
The Fall Foliage Championship will be held in Harford, PA this year. This is a great opportunity to see top dog/handler teams from the northeast US and Canada competing on a challenging course. Read more about the Fall Foliage »
The Border Collie
No one is really sure when the working sheepdog became a fundamental part of keeping sheep on the huge open hills of the border country between Scotland and England. The dogs were certainly basic to the economy of this area by the 18th century and by the end of the 19th century the sport of dog trialing had become widespread in not only this area but across the British Isles. Read more about the working Border Collie »


text:
September 2013 to June 2014
- homestay only – £135 per week (half-board)
July 2014 to September 2014
- campus accommodation (all self-catering)
- Brighthelm (shared bathroom) – £145 per week
- Stanmer Court (en-suite bathroom) – £155 per week
From September 2014
- campus accommodation only. See our housing guide for details of residences and prices.
Terms and conditions
Homestay prices include bed, breakfast and evening meal as well as reasonable use of the facilities (shower, clothes washing etc). Internet connection is not guaranteed in all homestay homes. Campus accommodation prices include bedroom only – no meals are included. A deposit of £250 (which forms part of the payment of the rent for the accommodation) is required to reserve a place in any accommodation. Refunds of deposits will only be made if cancellations are recieved at least four weeks (28 days) before the agreed moving in date. A £50 administration charge will be made in these cases. No deposits will be refunded for cancellations which are received within 28 days of the agreed moving in date. One week's notice is required to cancel an accommodation placement once a student has occupied a room.


text:
Also, one the devices are paired, you then need to read the data from the headset. Do you know what format that data is in? What do you intend to have the Arduino do with the data, if you are able to get it?
The data is supplied in asynchronous serial stream packets, according to chipset documentation. There is already an Arduino sketch available online for acquiring and parsing packets.
Once acquired, the Arduino will move a team of servos in response to the values output by the headset. I've created a full post over on the collaboration board detailing the entire plan (I never fully expected to complete it on my own, as I'm no programmer; I just wanted advice as to which would be easiest to get running here).


text:
Good Samaritan Society offers CNA classes in Pine River
Good Samaritan Society-Pine River is offering a class for people interested in earning their Certified Nursing Assistant designation.
Anyone interested is invited to attend an informational meeting from 3-4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, at the Good Samaritan Society–Pine River Care Center.
Classes will be held at the Pine River Care Center from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 26–April 22. Participants must be able to attend all classes.
Are you a newspaper subscriber but you don't have a Digital Access account yet? https://secure.forumcomm.com/?publisher_ID=40&event=subscriber/lookup.
You will need your subscription account number and phone number. Not sure if you have an account? Email us at email@example.com and we can help you.


text:
- Musician's Friend Best Selection, Price & Service. Guaranteed.
Need Help? Call our Gear Heads at 800-449-9128Private Reserve Guitars 866-926-1923
Need Help? Call our Gear Heads at 800-449-9128
The piccolo sings above a string quartet accompaniment in the liquid, melodic, sometimes challenging writing that signifies a Schocker work. For advanced performers.
Our product catalog varies by country due to manufacturer restrictions. If you change the Ship-To country, some or all of the items in your cart may not ship to the new destination.


text:
Woman jumps barrier to feed cookies to zoo lions — again
(Photo: WMC-TV)
A woman alarmed other visitors Monday when she jumped a barrier into the lion exhibit at a Tennessee zoo and started singing to the lions while trying to feed them cookies, zoo officials and witnesses said.
And it might not have been the first time.
Continue reading
(Source: NBCNews.com)
A final goodbye: Dying zoo worker gets a kiss from giraffe
(Photo via Stichting Ambulance Wens Nederland)
The moment of a giraffe saying a special goodbye to a dying zoo worker is touching the hearts of viewers worldwide.
More from TODAY
(Source: TODAY.com)
Another Danish giraffe named Marius could be killed by zoo
(Photo: EPA file)
A zoo in Denmark might euthanize one its giraffes, media reported Thursday, days after another Danish zoo slaughtered an 'unwanted' giraffe and fed its carcass to the lions.
Zoo staff gets death threats after giraffe killing
(Photo: Kasper Palsnov / AFP - Getty Images)
Officials at a zoo in Denmark say they received death threats after the zoo killed a young giraffe and fed its carcass to lions because the animal was "unwanted."
Zoo Kills 'Unwanted' Giraffe Marius, Feeds Carcass To Lions
(Photo: Keld Navntoft / EPA, file)
A zoo in Denmark killed a young giraffe with a bolt gun and fed its meat to the lions Sunday, saying the animal was "unwanted."
Government shutdown's 'saddest photo' goes viral
(Photo courtesy of SuperBonnie via Reddit)
A picture of a small child in a monkey costume is quickly becoming the unofficial symbol of the government shutdown.
Mane event: China zoo's 'lion' was living a lie as dog in disguise
(Photo: TODAY)
A Chinese zoo has been accused of lying about a lion and trying to pass off a dog as the king of beasts, state media reported Friday.
Double delight! Giant panda gives birth to twins at Atlanta zoo
(Photo: John Dickerson / UPI via Newscom)
After weeks of anticipation, an experienced giant panda mom gave birth to twins for the first time in her life at Zoo Atlanta on Monday.
(Source: nbcnews.com)
Endangered tiger born at San Francisco zoo
(Photo: SF Zoo / NBC Bay Area)
It's anyone's guess what the sex of the 10-day old Sumatran tiger at the San Francisco zoo is.
That's because no human has been inside the Lion House to see the cub, born Feb. 10 to parents Leanne and Larry. Still photographs taken from the video camera inside the grotto show the striped cub nuzzled against its resting mother.
Read the complete story.
(Photo: Australian Reptile Park via EPA)
Zookeepers at the Australian Reptile Park stand on scales as they weigh a 21-foot-long python named Atomic Betty, on Jan 9. Reports state that the 14-year-old python weighed in at over 304 pounds.
(Photo: Luke Macgregor / Reuters)
More than 17,500 animals, including birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and amphibians are counted in the annual census at the London Zoo. The count is a compulsory part of the zoo's license and the information is used for managing international breeding programs of endangered animals.
(Photo: Michael Durham / Oregon Zoo)
(Source: instagram.com)
(Photo: Jessie Cohen/AFP - Getty Images file)
The giant panda cub born a week ago at the National Zoo in Washington has died, and it was not immediately known why the animal died, zoo officials said Sunday.
Zoo officials said in a press release that the cub was found dead Sunday morning after panda keepers heard sounds of distress from its mother, Mei Xiang.
(Photo: Jessie Cohen / AFP - Getty Images file)
WASHINGTON — Mei Xiang, the National Zoo's giant panda, gave birth to a panda cub Sunday night — her second — after five false alarms in a row.
The new cub was born at 10:46 p.m. Sunday. The zoo announced the news about four hours later.
(Photo: Andrew Cowie / AFP - Getty Images)
ZSL's Zoological Director, David Field says: "We need to know the vital statistics of every animal at the Zoo – however big or small."
Zookeepers at the London Zoo are responsible for more than 16,000 animals, spending countless hours recording the weight and measurements of each and every animal, including penguins, meerkats, lions and owls. The measurements are collated in the Zoological Information Management System, from which zoologists can use the data to compare information on thousands of endangered species.
Read the complete story and see more photos in the Photoblog.


text:
Elegant Dancing's DWTS All-Stars Finale Party
VIENNA, Va., Nov. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On November 27th at 8:00 pm, ballroom dance students from around the region will gather at Elegant Dancing in Vienna, Virginia, for their second annual "Dancing With The Stars Finale Party." It promises to be a high-energy evening as local dancers cheer for their favorite contestants, and occasionally "boo" the judges' decisions. It's a dancer's Super Bowl with lots of dancing and refreshments, and the party is free and open to all dancers.
"I came to this party last year and it was fantastic," says Trang Ouk of Fairfax. "I was interviewed by the local ABC TV station and people still recognize me from it." "Being able to share the experience with other ballroom dancers makes the finale so much more exciting," according to Joe Li of Sterling. "When we see a dance step we like, we get to learn it during the commercials!"
As owners of the Best Dance Studio in Vienna, Virginia for 2012 as voted by Vienna Patch readers, Chris Thompson and Una Lee welcome students of all levels. "Sharing the many positive benefits of dancing is a wonderful way to spend my life," says Chris. "And a bad day of dancing is often better than a good day of anything else."
SOURCE Elegant Dancing, Inc.
Custom Packages
Browse our custom packages or build your own to meet your unique communications needs.
PR Newswire Membership
Fill out a PR Newswire membership form or contact us at (888) 776-0942.
Learn about PR Newswire services
Request more information about PR Newswire products and services or call us at (888) 776-0942.