Balanced Gamer

1. Gaming lightly. This means you will not spend tons of time on the game.
2. Limited number of games. You should stick to only a few games giving the limited time you have for games.
3. Gaming is not a prioritized activity. Being an entertainment activity, it should come after all other things in life.
4. Entertained but not addicted. Playing games should be treated equally like watching TV or a movie – you are entertained when you are doing it, however, once the thing is over, you should go to bed or switch to other things immediately.
5. Physically fitness. Gamers tend to spend most their spare time in front of TV or PC. There is no time for gym. Being a balanced gamer this shouldn’t be the case. As opposed to game’s lowest priority, going to gym should have a top priority.
6. Socially active. Balanced gamer is not an otaku. He is socially active and has some good friends to hang out often.
7. Game is one of many entertainments in your life. Game should not be the sole entertainment activity in your life. Life is colorful and there are lots of other entertainments in life apart from game.

After game thoughts on Dragon Age Origins

1. On my character: the guy looks ugly and weak. I should have spent more time creating him.

2. On mage skills: (in my first run as a mage), talents are not spent very wisely. Should have spent points on ice magic. Tele branch is a good one, as well (Force field and crush prison). Didn’t use poison magic a lot. Especially the walking dead is not useful at all. That’s the main reason I have to bring back Morrigan. I followed the DPS mage model on prima guide, however the model doesn’t work quite well for me.

3. On mage specialization: AW is not very useful, I guess it is because the character attribute is not spent very well. Spirit healer is always good. Zero knowledge about blood mage. Have not explored shapeshifter very much. Maybe on the second run I’ll try to fully develop Morrigan’s shapeshifter and see how it works.

4. On tank. Should have put more HP on Allistar. As a tank he has done quite well, especially after setting up the tactics (drink a potion when health is low). Being an important character, I might still keep Allistar in the party though in my second round of playing. However, I am thinking whether I should consider Sten or Shayle as my main tank.

5. On ending. It seems that things didn’t go well in Dwarf’s kingdom at the end. The king I have chosen is not strong enough to hold. Even the chanty I helped to established caused lots of trouble. I might choose the other path for them: the prince, and Branka. We’ll see.

6. Quite impressed with fade level design in the circle of magi main quest. The puzzle design is outstanding and playing through the fade maze is satisfying (extra attribute points gain).

7. On what I have missed: Ostagar. I should have got the dog as well as 2 backpacks. Missed some locked chest though because I opt Morrigan instead of Leliana – still OK though. Didn’t have enough money to get the best items though – not a big deal too (might consider to cheat a bit just to get the strongest equips in the game. Remember that phrase: cheating on money is not cheating.). Boss missed: High dragon and ganxx (don’t remember what’s the right name though). I’ll try to destroy them on the second run.

8. On next round play. The idea of playing it again is still attractive. Already started a female rouge aiming for DPS. This time I wanted to be a ‘bad’ person. Party member should contains Morrigan, Wynne, me and Allistar. Morrigan will be a DPS and CC mage; while Wynne still focus on healing magic, I might also develop her CC skills a bit. 2 fine tuned mages should be good enough.

9. On skills. Most skills are not useful. I’ll try poison making for my rogue character on second run. Trap making? Not sure where it will lead me to.

10. On romance. Leliana is an interesting character and has lesbian tendency. I’ll try to develop some romance with her first and then (ditch her and) checkout Allistar. I don’t like Zervan at all. Won’t touch him this time around (maybe just ‘kill’ him?).

11. On origin stories. I might consider create another 4 characters just to try out the origin stories (dwarf noble, dwarf common, city elf, Danish elf).

12. On perspective. Another interesting part of the game is the perspective. I’ll come across several major NPCs (not party member) in the game. Depending on your origin, you may be deeply involve with them or doesn’t know them at all. It’s interesting to see things from different perspectives. That’s another reason to try out all 6 origins, just to see how the character’s background will affect their story.

13. On party members (that I have rarely used): I didn’t bother to get warm with them at all. Probably it will remain the same on my second run through, too.

Demon's Souls - Hardcore ARPG

Many hardcore gamers think this game as one of the greatest RPG of all time.

The game is really hard. You have to know the level, enemies in the game by heart in order to survive. However, it is its unforgiven difficulty that makes the game really shines. It helps you remember the game better.

Another great thing of the game is, its online play feature. It is an RPG, however, you are not alone in your journey. Once you are online, you know there are lots of people playing the same game. They have their own trouble, how they died, what's the recommendation from them etc. The online play experience is simply a 'stranger' system. Stranger helps stranger, stranger vs stranger.

I just played 10 hours, and I am already addicted.

重玩Dragon Age: Origins的13个理由

1. 创建一个更帅（更美），更性感的主角。第一次做了个精灵族的男法师，外形不是很满意。这次要做个漂亮女人玩玩看。不过就是不想做矮人——骨子里我还是个美形派。
2. 选不同的职业。第一次选的是男法师，这一次我要做个女盗贼。很喜欢看背刺的粗体伤害数值蹦个不停的感觉。
3. 探索不同的人物技能。单独法师一个职业就有很多不同的风格。第一次玩的时候法师选了几个废技能，很不爽。这次要好好发展Morrigan。可能把她的变形术升满？
4. 选一个更好的专精（Specialization）职业。
5. 选一个不同的Party。一战一盗两法师？还是一战三法师？还是一战两盗一法师？或者干脆来个4战士？
6. 跟不同的人睡觉。上次睡了女巫Morrigan，这次轮到小王子Allistar了。还想看看拉拉Leliana在床上的表现（希望到时候已经有无上装的补丁……很不喜欢现在那老土的黑色胸罩）……
7. 做不同的选择，看看结局有什么不一样。尽管结尾只有文字性描述，还是对几个地方不太满意——法师塔和红崖堡还算不错，矮人王国的命运似乎就不怎么样。很想看看如果选了狼人，杀了精灵族会怎么样。
8. 把错过的地方补上。第一次没有收到狗狗，也没买到Ostagar的背包；High Dragon也没杀死，号称最强Boss的Ganxxx（忘记怎么拼了）也没打到。
9. 改满金钱，买最强的装备。虽然装备在这个游戏里面不是很重要，还是很想当个暴发户，给每个人身上都穿上几百金币的装备。
10. 体验高难度？第一次玩的是Normal，这次或许尝试一下Difficult?
    
11. 体会一下不同的Origin故事。有时间每个Origin都建个人物，体会一下不同的故事。
12. 做个坏人。听厌了老太太的唠叨，这次想做个坏孩子。
13. 跟更多的人聊天。第一次为了通关，Party里面只跟几个人比较熟。这次慢慢玩，好好跟大家聊聊。
    

Dragon Age: Origins

Just finished playing Dragon Age: Origins.

I bought this game in November, 2 weeks after its release, from Direct2Drive.com.

The game is fantastic. I am not a fan of Baldur's Gate games, however, I enjoyed a lot playing through this 'spiritual successor' of Baldur's Gate II game.

There are lots of good things to say about this game:

1. NPC. You could dig deeper for the story behind every party member you have (except for the dog). You'll realize after some time that you are emotionally attached to some of them - you'll think twice before making a decision in the game - what he/she will comment on this? Do I want to piss him/her off by doing this?

2. Story. The game's story really shines. You simply want to learn more and more.

3. Battle system. The real time pause system is still intact. You could define tactics for each member and if you do it right, you'll find most of your battles very easy.

4. Authentic background. BioWare spends lots of efforts to build the epic background for the story. The codex system is build for players to know more about the continent, the history. You are playing the game in a well 'educated' context.

5. Perspectives. Depend on your origin (there are 6 origins to choose from), you will get to know things from different perspective. You'll learn more stories about dwarf society if you are from dwarf origin; and you will know more about the mage tower if you are one of the mages.

6. Tons of conversations. A game like this needs tons of conversations. I could not even imagine how BioWare did the quality work for the game.

After playing the first round, I still want to do more. The game receives overwhelming great critics reviews and user reviews. It is a must have if you are a RPG gamer.