Wow you know what, I completely missed the fact you replied to my comment such fail. Hmm, listened to AKFG a while ago and wasn't really a big fan but I'll check out the rest. ... but, but artsy is good no but I agree, they need to bring some of the crazy riffage of old back, although I remember them saying in an interview somewhere around the time they released Vheissu that they felt they go too burnt on heavy music and were trying to stray away from that, or something along those lines.

Also, what's it like living in Japan?



In reply to this comment by JAPR:
the pillows, Asian Kung-fu Generation, Ellegarden, etc. I just saw Ellegarden at Kyouto Taisakusen, it was SO FUCKING GOOD. I'm not sure how to describe it other than I've never been to such an intense concert.

Yeah, I love the acoustic songs! Stare at the Sun acoustic is reallllly tight too. I wish they'd go back to their roots a bit though and stop trying to be artsy with the whole elements theme going on. Nothing good ever comes from being artsy. .____.

In reply to this comment by RedSky:
Which Japanese bands? I'm more or less slowly turning into a weaboo anyway

Yeah, I love Melting Point of Wax, So Strange I Remember You especially as well as virtually anything on Vheissu. I&II was fairly good, thought they captured water brilliantly, Night Diving especially with the way they conveyed dripping water, and the tranquility of deep sea diving. Fire, eh not so much. Could see they were going for a sense of chaos and distortion but just didn't feel like it came together melodically, Flame Deluge was excellent though. Agree Red Sky EP was excellent, especially their acoustic renditions, particularly Of Dust and Nations, really wish they'd do more of them.

In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Yeah, I've heard a few of the songs, but haven't really gotten around to checking it out fully, for some reason. Been too busy with new releases from my favorite Japanese bands, I guess. I thought Alchemy Index vols. I and II was pretty solid, with some tight songs, but definitely not quite up to par with the other stuff. Still, "not up to par with the other stuff" still translates to "pretty damn good," so I can't really complain too much in that department.

I wish they had a music video for T&C, A Torch to End All Torches, Melting Point of Wax, or So Strange I Remember you, because it's always hard to find truly good live videos of songs like that. I was very surprised to see them release Red Sky on that EP thing, but totally dug the coupling tracks.

In reply to this comment by RedSky:
Heh, yeah it was a bit of a giveaway before, now it's more subtle

Reminds me, I still gotta sift that song too Pity that they never released their better songs as singles though.

Sample the album on their myspace if you want, it's not anything groundbreaking by all means but still a solid album all around. Not nearly as good as Vheissu but still, have to give them props for branching out and experimenting with different styles.

the pillows, Asian Kung-fu Generation, Ellegarden, etc. I just saw Ellegarden at Kyouto Taisakusen, it was SO FUCKING GOOD. I'm not sure how to describe it other than I've never been to such an intense concert.

Yeah, I love the acoustic songs! Stare at the Sun acoustic is reallllly tight too. I wish they'd go back to their roots a bit though and stop trying to be artsy with the whole elements theme going on. Nothing good ever comes from being artsy. .____.

In reply to this comment by RedSky:
Which Japanese bands? I'm more or less slowly turning into a weaboo anyway

Yeah, I love Melting Point of Wax, So Strange I Remember You especially as well as virtually anything on Vheissu. I&II was fairly good, thought they captured water brilliantly, Night Diving especially with the way they conveyed dripping water, and the tranquility of deep sea diving. Fire, eh not so much. Could see they were going for a sense of chaos and distortion but just didn't feel like it came together melodically, Flame Deluge was excellent though. Agree Red Sky EP was excellent, especially their acoustic renditions, particularly Of Dust and Nations, really wish they'd do more of them.

In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Yeah, I've heard a few of the songs, but haven't really gotten around to checking it out fully, for some reason. Been too busy with new releases from my favorite Japanese bands, I guess. I thought Alchemy Index vols. I and II was pretty solid, with some tight songs, but definitely not quite up to par with the other stuff. Still, "not up to par with the other stuff" still translates to "pretty damn good," so I can't really complain too much in that department.

I wish they had a music video for T&C, A Torch to End All Torches, Melting Point of Wax, or So Strange I Remember you, because it's always hard to find truly good live videos of songs like that. I was very surprised to see them release Red Sky on that EP thing, but totally dug the coupling tracks.

In reply to this comment by RedSky:
Heh, yeah it was a bit of a giveaway before, now it's more subtle

Reminds me, I still gotta sift that song too Pity that they never released their better songs as singles though.

Sample the album on their myspace if you want, it's not anything groundbreaking by all means but still a solid album all around. Not nearly as good as Vheissu but still, have to give them props for branching out and experimenting with different styles.

Which Japanese bands? I'm more or less slowly turning into a weaboo anyway

Yeah, I love Melting Point of Wax, So Strange I Remember You especially as well as virtually anything on Vheissu. I&II was fairly good, thought they captured water brilliantly, Night Diving especially with the way they conveyed dripping water, and the tranquility of deep sea diving. Fire, eh not so much. Could see they were going for a sense of chaos and distortion but just didn't feel like it came together melodically, Flame Deluge was excellent though. Agree Red Sky EP was excellent, especially their acoustic renditions, particularly Of Dust and Nations, really wish they'd do more of them.

In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Yeah, I've heard a few of the songs, but haven't really gotten around to checking it out fully, for some reason. Been too busy with new releases from my favorite Japanese bands, I guess. I thought Alchemy Index vols. I and II was pretty solid, with some tight songs, but definitely not quite up to par with the other stuff. Still, "not up to par with the other stuff" still translates to "pretty damn good," so I can't really complain too much in that department.

I wish they had a music video for T&C, A Torch to End All Torches, Melting Point of Wax, or So Strange I Remember you, because it's always hard to find truly good live videos of songs like that. I was very surprised to see them release Red Sky on that EP thing, but totally dug the coupling tracks.

In reply to this comment by RedSky:
Heh, yeah it was a bit of a giveaway before, now it's more subtle

Reminds me, I still gotta sift that song too Pity that they never released their better songs as singles though.

Sample the album on their myspace if you want, it's not anything groundbreaking by all means but still a solid album all around. Not nearly as good as Vheissu but still, have to give them props for branching out and experimenting with different styles.

Yeah, I've heard a few of the songs, but haven't really gotten around to checking it out fully, for some reason. Been too busy with new releases from my favorite Japanese bands, I guess. I thought Alchemy Index vols. I and II was pretty solid, with some tight songs, but definitely not quite up to par with the other stuff. Still, "not up to par with the other stuff" still translates to "pretty damn good," so I can't really complain too much in that department.

I wish they had a music video for T&C, A Torch to End All Torches, Melting Point of Wax, or So Strange I Remember you, because it's always hard to find truly good live videos of songs like that. I was very surprised to see them release Red Sky on that EP thing, but totally dug the coupling tracks.

In reply to this comment by RedSky:
Heh, yeah it was a bit of a giveaway before, now it's more subtle

Reminds me, I still gotta sift that song too Pity that they never released their better songs as singles though.

Sample the album on their myspace if you want, it's not anything groundbreaking by all means but still a solid album all around. Not nearly as good as Vheissu but still, have to give them props for branching out and experimenting with different styles.

"When we tried to add Theological Material to The Scientific Theory Of Evolution Is was Removed"

Noo!!! The Bias!

Oh and Isaac Newton, Christian indeed, and in fear of his life becasue of his love of alchemy (which was taken in a dim view by the Church)

So so many things wrong here...
can someone remove their blinkers

They claim Wikipedia is biased so they create "Converapedia"
That doesn't sound biased...

Whereas, breakbeats have been the missing link connecting the diasporic
community to its drum woven past
Whereas the quantised drum has allowed the whirling mathematicians to
calculate the ever changing distance between rock and stardom.
Whereas the velocity of the spinning vinyl, cross-faded, spun backwards, and
re-released at the same given moment of recorded history , yet at a
different moment in time's continuum has allowed history to catch up with
the present.

We do hereby declare reality unkempt by the changing standards of dialogue.
Statements, such as, "keep it real", especially when punctuating or
anticipating modes of ultra-violence inflicted psychologically or physically
or depicting an unchanging rule of events will hence forth be seen as
retro-active and not representative of the individually determined is.

Furthermore, as determined by the collective consciousness of this state of
being and the lessened distance between thought patterns and their secular
manifestations, the role of men as listening receptacles is to be increased
by a number no less than 70 percent of the current enlisted as vocal
aggressors.

Motherfuckers better realize, now is the time to self-actualize
We have found evidence that hip hops standard 85 rpm when increased by a
number as least half the rate of it's standard or decreased at ¾ of it's
speed may be a determining factor in heightening consciousness.

Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the
unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

Equate rhyme with reason, Sun with season

Our cyclical relationship to phenomenon has encouraged scholars to erase the
centers of periods, thus symbolizing the non-linear character of cause and
effect
Reject mediocrity!

Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which as been given
for you to understand.
The current standard is the equivalent of an adolescent restricted to the
diet of an infant.
The rapidly changing body would acquire dysfunctional and deformative
symptoms and could not properly mature on a diet of apple sauce and crushed
pears
Light years are interchangeable with years of living in darkness.
The role of darkness is not to be seen as, or equated with, Ignorance, but
with the unknown, and the mysteries of the unseen.

Thus, in the name of:
ROBESON, GOD'S SON, HURSTON, AHKENATON, HATHSHEPUT, BLACKFOOT, HELEN,
LENNON, KHALO, KALI, THE THREE MARIAS, TARA, LILITHE, LOURDE, WHITMAN,
BALDWIN, GINSBERG, KAUFMAN, LUMUMBA, GHANDI, GIBRAN, SHABAZZ,
SIDDHARTHA,
MEDUSA, GUEVARA, GUARDSIEFF, RAND, WRIGHT, BANNEKER, TUBMAN, HAMER,
HOLIDAY,
DAVIS, COLTRANE, MORRISON, JOPLIN, DUBOIS, CLARKE, SHAKESPEARE,
RACHMNINOV,
ELLINGTON, CARTER, GAYE, HATHOWAY, HENDRIX, KUTL, DICKERSON, RIPPERTON,
MARY, ISIS, THERESA, PLATH, RUMI, FELLINI, MICHAUX, NOSTRADAMUS, NEFERTITI,
LA ROCK, SHIVA, GANESHA, YEMAJA, OSHUN, OBATALA, OGUN, KENNEDY, KING,
FOUR
LITTLE GIRLS, HIROSHIMA, NAGASAKI, KELLER, BIKO, PERONE, MARLEY, COSBY,
SHAKUR, THOSE STILL AFLAMED, AND THE COUNTLESS UNNAMED

We claim the present as the pre-sent, as the hereafter.
We are unraveling our navels so that we may ingest the sun.
We are not afraid of the darkness, we trust that the moon shall guide us.
We are determining the future at this very moment.
We now know that the heart is the philosophers' stone
Our music is our alchemy
We stand as the manifested equivalent of 3 buckets of water and a hand full
of minerals, thus realizing that those very buckets turned upside down
supply the percussion factor of forever.
If you must count to keep the beat then count.
Find you mantra and awaken your subconscious.
Curve you circles counterclockwise
Use your cipher to decipher, Coded Language, man made laws.
Climb waterfalls and trees, commune with nature, snakes and bees.
Let your children name themselves and claim themselves as the new day for
today we are determined to be the channelers of these changing frequencies
into songs, paintings, writings, dance, drama, photography, carpentry,
crafts, love, and love.
We enlist every instrument: Acoustic, electronic.
Every so-called race, gender, and sexual preference.
Every per-son as beings of sound to acknowledge their responsibility to
uplift the consciousness of the entire fucking World.
Any utterance will be un-aimed, will be disclaimed - two rappers slain
Any utterance will be un-aimed, will be disclaimed - two rappers slain

^ there was another one at DailyMotion, as well, that didn't have any cuts at all.

it featured an Argonian, and ran about 15 minutes. mostly the same, with the minor addition of exploiting the alchemy / BoostIntelligence potions loop.

Wow, first time I seriously disagree with Yahtzee on most of his criticisms.

The depth of the storyline only truly becomes apparent as the interdeveloped plot lines and sub themes serve as a harbringer and weave together quite eloquently later in the game based upon choices made earlier. This is where the decision making, role playing aspects of the game really do shine. Yahtzee seems to be obsessed with indepth storylines so I guess he missed out by not persevering.

Also the combat system. Would he prefer the mind numbing spam-click equivalent of most action RPGs? A combo click system based on timing, where the tighter you are the less likely your opponent is likely to score a counter-hit is far superior to spam-clicking. Similarly having to juggle different fighting stances and different sword types, while maneuvering to avoid being surrounded actually means you receive a sense of self-gratification from combat.

The two problems with the alchemy system are that it's not sufficiently elaborated upon first introduction and that it's a tad aggravating to find the right ingredients. Beyond that though, it means once you learn enough recipes you have a smorgasbord of potions you can concoct and a diverse number of ways you can approach any dilemma. Which is a nice change from most RPGs which are so obsessed with defining a character through skill/stat selection that you end up firing the same fireball for the whole 50 odd hours of gameplay. Yes Oblivion, I'm looking at you.

Oblivion was a nice looking game with absolute crap everything else. Witcher is descent looking game with better story lines, but an un-intuitive talent system, and an alchemy system that is abit to complex and restrictive for something that is required in the game unless you set the difficulty setting to pussy. And yes the attacking system is that bad. You do more damage by chaining attacks, each set of attacks can be 3-5 hits depending on how upgraded your talents are, and when one flurry of attacks is up, you have a limited amount of time to click the screen and start a second more powerful attack of flurrys. And yes, for some brain dead reason, in "hot zones" your character will sheeth his sword and you WILL get hit while his lanky ass takes his time to draw it back out.

I find it funny and insulting that he labels this as a single play MMORPG, because MMORPGs usually drop you lots of weapons and armor, generally giving you upgrades as you go in the low levels. In witcher you wont see any upgrades for several hours into the game.

the currency is worth what people believe it's worth. gold is valuable because everyone agrees it's valuable. paper money is valuable because the government (and army) say it is, and everyone might as well just agree it's valuable.

so the difference is, if you have the someone printing money you are giving them power. but if you agree on gold, then there's a finite amount and that's that. i know it's not that simple but anyway.

until alchemy is invented, gold makes more sense to me, and paper tied to gold (for practical reasons) is fine as long as you can trust the banks (which you currently can't, because the money isn't tied to gold so it is fundamentally corrupt or "counterfeit" as RP says).

However, don't listen to me, i have taken zero courses in economics... i just know that the dollar isn't worth shit any more because the military power and political stability that guaranteed its value is fubar.

I tried adding "&autoplay=0&ap=0" then "&autoplay=false&ap=false" and finally discovered "autoplay=false" does the trick. Fixed.

In reply to this comment by winkler1:
Hi- any idea how to disable autoplay?

http://www.videosift.com/video/Alchemy-vodka-Innovations