Witcher 3

[Ashvis]

I keep talking about how amazing and brilliant Witcher 3 is on other threads. I thought it was probably about time we had a dedicated Witcher thread (though I do like getting derailed and talking about other games too). So, who else is playing/has played/wants to play? Anyone else obsessed with Gwent? Triss or Yen? What big decisions have you made? I'm on my second play through, on game plus mode. I've got the first dlc pack but need to be a couple levels higher before I can play the new missions. I know some of you out there love it too, right?

[Ashvis]

My ds can behave a bit like that too - he has very specific expectations and finds it really hard if there's a change to them. Sometimes he copes beautifully, but more often than not he struggles. The vast majority of kids behave better for people other than their parents! They are confident that their parents will love them no matter how they behave, so don't have to mask any traits or be on their best behaviour all the time. I taught before ds came along, if I'd a pound for every time a parent expressed surprise that their kid was well behaved since they were a terror at home I wouldn't need to work again! My ds is the same, he freaks out if the Numberjacks come on at home and loses the plot, yet he watched it a bit at nursery today - clearly not happy but he managed to hold it together. Go figure. Glad I'm not the only one who scored that highly on the AQ test, it's useful to be aware of traits! For a long time ds behaved in a similar manner in groups, he had very little confidence playing with other children. It took a lot of hard work supporting him at play dates and groups, but he's quite confident and happy around other kids. Especially girls - his nursery tells me he's quite the ladies man! He's going to be hellish when he hits puberty...

Well done you for killing that elemental, that was a tough one. It's very satisfying having master crafted armour! Haven't quite finished the main quest yet, been watching this season of Dr Who through before the finale tomorrow, but missing it and dh is gaming tonight as well so suspect I might go and face Eredin. Maybe with Who on in the background. Ciri being described as the Lady of Time And Space made me smile 😊

I'm pleased Lara Croft doesn't have ridiculous over sized comedy boobs, but thinking about it, I'd like to see a main character who is fat. Not obese necessarily, but in no way svelte or buff. Post baby body. They did have some saggy bodies in the sauna Ciri visits, but as far as I recall they were still slim. I have spent some time in Witcher running about looking for switches, but not nearly as much as in Tomb Raider. Thank goodness!

[CheradenineZakalwe]

Ha, at least we're not the only ones! We had a minor breakthrough yesterday when we took him to soft play and he didn't freak out, for the first time ever. The CM says he's been engaging a bit more in the last few weeks too; he still won't do shared activities but he at least sits with the other kids while they do them. He's usually off doing his own thing while everyone else sings etc. Oh man, puberty with ASD is going to be interesting! Your DS sounds amazing, bless him DS currently ignores other kids 90% of the time, I don't know whether life would be easier if he keeps doing that TBH, no need to worry about bad influences/broken hearts!

I love Doctor Who...have you seen last weeks yet? I thought it was brilliant but it seems to have polarized the rest of the internet! Hope you're enjoying your evening whatever you decide to do I'm in between 13 hour shifts, so basically vegetating before an early night. Did you see the Game of Thrones easter egg in Witcher? I was quite pleased with finding that!

Yeah, it's a bit crap that our hopes for a female protagonist are 'not comedy boobs and weather appropriate clothing'. I'd love to see a more realistic lead. Although I suppose the male characters are generally quite buff too, it's just they have less flesh on display. Get your niece on the case

[Ashvis]

They reclassified autism recently to a condition as opposed to disorder - asc rather than asd! We only found out when ds got his diagnosis a couple months ago, but are delighted - condition is a much friendlier term, and I do tend to think of ds as differently abled as opposed to disabled. I don't think a lot of people are too aware of the change, but the psychologist and his consultant were very determined we know that it's a condition, and it's all over his paperwork. They've stopped giving you any more a specific diagnosis than autism too - no more diagnosis of Asperger's or pdd-nos, didn't expect that either! Apparently some people with some higher functioning diagnoses found it harder to access support they needed, and it's such a vast spectrum, so it was decided to lump everyone in together.

Well done to your ds for doing so well as soft play, that's awesome! Brilliant to get a breakthrough like that! My ds is usually very gentle so I think that's why he enjoys spending time around girls - a lot of boys his age are quite rough and tumble, and don't always have as much patience with him, although some do, but girls see him as someone they can mother really. I've gone in to nursery to collect him and found him lying back with a wee girl stroking his hair! He was loving it! Plus, girls have princess dresses and they are awesome. He makes a cute princess. I went in to speak to the kids at his nursery and read a story about what autism is once we got the diagnosis, and they seem to have decided now that my ds is one of them, and they want to look after him - most of them seem quite accepting of who he is and his many quirks. He will play alongside other kids, and can manage a little bit of cooperative play when he has tonnes of support, but it's not something that comes easily at all, when we are on a play date or at the park, soft play, he wants me right at his side the whole time so I can help him. Bloody exhausting but it means we see small progress, so it is worth it. Amazon has books for asc boys going through puberty, got one wish listed already! Thank god we've a few years before that hits...

Doctor Who this season has been amazing, I can't wait for the finale tonight! I loved last week's episode, but yeah, it's been polarising! A few people I know think Me (Arya Stark Me) is the hybrid, another has a theory the doctor knew he was the prophecy and that's why he ran - I just want to watch it all unfold. Call me heartless, but I was not sad when Clara died. At all. I'm looking forward to the doctor getting a new companion. I miss Rory and Amy. 13 hour shifts, no wonder you're looking for a new career, that sounds killer! I love a good GoT Easter egg, think I spotted a couple - did you find the sky cells? And an interestingly named sword? I love that Charles Dance aka Tywin Lannister does the voice of the Emperor. His voice is so commanding, find myself wanting to follow his orders just because of his tone of voice!

[CheradenineZakalwe]

Oh, that's interesting about the classification, thanks I'm waiting for the SALT report to come through, should be interesting reading. DS is quite rough with us, but keeps a wary distance from any other children at the minute, so don't know how that will pan out. He just genuinely doesn't have a clue what to do with them, bless him. I think he's going to need a lot of support, our CM is talking about starting some nursery prep with him after xmas ready for when he starts next september Right now I just want him to stop flinging himself around his cot and have his nap, he's been awake since 5.30 and I need a break!

I love Capaldi, but admit I'm glad to see the backs of both Clara and those sonic sunglasses! Give me a screwdriver any day. Although I fear Clara may be brought back in future given the ending last night... I liked the finale, felt that last weeks was better though. This series seems to have felt really short, think it was because of the number of two-parters! Which I'm not sure entirely worked for me, whilst I think they're really good when they're done well, if you don't enjoy the story then it's two episodes ruined rather than one. Quite looking forward to seeing River in the xmas special even though I go through phases of loving/hating her frequently! I did like Amy and Rory, Rory especially

Yes, Longclaw and the sky cells! I genuinely didn't click that it was Charles Dance though until DH asked if it was him Apparently there's weeping angels kicking about too, I've been to the churchyard they're in but don't remember seeing them, might nip back for a look.

[Ashvis]

I so sympathise with the 5:30 starts! MiniAsh can be a bloody pest for those, and since he doesn't nap often he's a grumpy sod some afternoons. At least you've time to prepare him for nursery, and the nursery can be given a heads up about additional support. Ds can be rough with us too, and with others when they invade his personal space, but plays with complicated Lego sets like a pro - go figure. This morning he tried tasting my hair, that was new! Best warn nursery about that tomorrow...

Capaldi is amazing, I love him! We loved The Thick Of It, and he was amazing in The Musketeers. I think he's my favourite doctor. I agree, I preferred last week's episode, but the finale was pretty good. I spent the entire time shouting "Fuck off Clara" to the screen. I guess it does make sense about the dead girl and the immortal girl heading off together, and Clara was fairly convinced she was a doctor herself, wasn't she? I want to know if the people the Doctor banished will go back to Gallifrey. Dh has suggested there's a good chance Clara will appear next Christmas if her Queen Victoria show doesn't take off. I loved Rory too - he was so very devoted to Amy. And he was a Roman, that's just cool. Did you see Maester Luwin last night? I was very excited I spotted him, usually dh sees those sort of things before I do 😊 Super excited that I've Dr Who Lego arriving this week, ds will have to be EXTRA gentle with that one!

Dh told me who the emperor was before I got to that part, but we looked up the cast and saw that the girl who plays Tweak in the Octonauts also plays Ciri (we are all pretty obsessed with the Octonauts). I love the weeping angels - we have one for the top of our Christmas tree! Think I've given dh lots of hints about a Witcher book for Christmas now

[CheradenineZakalwe]

Mmm, tasty hair DS is going through a biting phase, mostly when he's excited. At this rate his first proper word will be 'no'...

Yeah he was great in Thick of It, a fairly drastic change of direction there! Ha, I think I told her to fuck off several times too, DH was giving me strange looks. I did think he managed to take over Gallifrey a but too easily, but I'm quite glad because it wasn't my favourite bit really. Can't get over the ridiculousness of the outfits! I do suspect Maester Luwin & co will make a reappearance at some point though. Good point about when Clara may return! Yes, she definitely got a bit 'doctory', it was a bit annoying. I just want a normal companion for a while now, I think, who is just along for the ride and isn't some amazingly important part of the Doctors life who ends up saving him yadda yadda yadda. What did you think of Missy this season? I really liked her, but I loved Michelle Gomez in Green Wing so was thrilled to see her in Who.

Aw, Rory the Roman. I might have a rewatch at some point if I get time. 11 was 'my' doctor, I only started watching when Matt took over, but then got the DVD's of 9 and 10. Weeping Angels are ace. Wonder if I could persuade DH on a tree-topper...

Never seen Octonauts, DS is a Peppa/Ben and Holly/Thomas kid. And for some reason he also likes Pointless (the quiz show); he sits and claps along with the audience. Might try and get him to branch out a bit Hopefully your DH has taken the hint!

[Ashvis]

When he was only about 16 months old, ds wasn't happy I was taking him home from the park. He moved my head so I looked him dead in the eyes, wagged his finger while saying "no" in a very authoritative voice. I didn't know whether to be impressed with his behaviour management techniques or worried he'd heard me say no like that so often 😨

I have a bit of a girl crush on Michelle Gomez. I'm half in love with her. She is the best. If we are doing a Hallowe'en party next year I'm going to be Missy, she is marvellous (and not half as revealing as, for example, a Ciri outfit!). Where the hell was she last night, eh? I was convinced we'd see her when there were the four knocks at the door. Big yes to a regular companion - it's about bloody time. Haven't had one since Martha? I think. Good god, the outfits, who designed those? I know Gallifreyans have a weird dress sense but even still! I watched the two parter with Amy, River, the crashed spaceship and the weeping angels. And Jorah Mormont, come to think of it. Just brilliant! I've a friend who lives overseas and every Sunday morning we've a Skype chat about the latest episode. Now the series is over, rather than missing our regular chat, we are planning on starting with Ecclestone and watching an episode a week!

The Octonauts is awesome, I've learned a lot about marine life! And Captain Barnacles is a total hero. The Octonauts book "the Frown Fish" has a character dressed as Dr Who 😄 Peter Rabbit on CBeebies is quite good too. Pointless is a cool thing for him to enjoy - for a long time MiniAsh was quite partial to documentaries about penguins, especially one narrated by David Tennant. 🐧 Whatever makes them happy, right?

[CatMilkMan]

It's my all time favourite game, on my third playthrough and first save+.
Desperately depressed they haven't added some way of tracking Gwent cards you haven't collected.

[CatMilkMan]

That's one hell of an angel.

[Ashvis]

Love that angel 😄

Big yes to tracking the cards, CatMilkMan! I'm going to have to go bloody everywhere on a huge list to track down the one or two cards I'm missing! But I really want them so I will do it. What's your favourite deck? I still use the Northern Realms mostly, keep planning to use the others but always end up playing that one. Third play through, eh? I'm so pleased, I'm nearly done my second and I'm already planning on starting again! Was really chuffed Witcher 3 won game of the year at the game awards a few days ago, very well deserved!

[CheradenineZakalwe]

Third playthrough is impressive CatMilkMan! Are you making wildly different choices each time? I don't know whether to have another playthrough when I'm finished or try and work my way through the stack of books I have piling up

That is a beautiful angel I am always disappointed in the absence of Missy, I'd have been quite happy if she'd been in every episode also massive girlcrush That weeping angels episode was very creepy, I loved it. Although they did seem to start making up random rules about them in that and subsequent WA episodes And yes, Jorah! I wonder what a Who/GoT crossover would be like...suspect the Doctor would be appalled by the lot of them and just decide to bugger off and leave them to it. I like your rewatch plan. DH and I bingewatched all of 9's, 10's and the first season of 11's when I first got into it, he was very sporting, but he's not really as obsessed as I am so doubt I'd get him to rewatch them!

What are your thoughts on the possibility of a female doctor..?

Oh, that is very cute! I would be impressed! And definitely, if David Tennant penguins make him happy, life could be much much worse. DS has discovered some youtube videos where people play with peppa pig figurines and narrate a story over it; they're unspeakably dire but he just plays them on repeat if we let him. Also videos of people opening easter eggs, bizarrely, the narration of which has DH feeling murderous. I'll keep an eye out for Octonauts, sounds like it would be an improvement!

[Ashvis]

God, yeah, if the doctor went to Westeros he'd be appalled! But he'd probably sort out the white walkers pretty quickly! He'd love the dragons. And he could take Tyrion as his companion - he may object to the bantering, but who wouldn't want to travel with Tyrion for a while? Even if he he frequents brothels more than bil's Geralt. I've never given a female doctor much thought, but not sure there's anything inherently male about him, but if he can take the face of someone he met in Pompeii, I just wouldn't want him choosing Clara's! I imagine that with the right woman, a female doctor could be ace - as long as Capaldi has a nice, long run before then! Osgood style doctor could be fun maybe. What do you think?

Looking forward to starting Dr Who over again, seeing all the changes and differences. Dh told me today he's a bit sad he's not a fan of Who since I love it so much - what a honey! It's not as if we are short common interests, but think he might pay a bit more attention this time around just in case he can be converted 😄

The YouTube videos you described are ones I'm forced to endure as well!!! Ds will listen to a 10 second clip and replay again and again and again and again...Dh can't stand it, I can more or less tune it out most of the time but it is crazy. Have you seen the Engineering Family? We watch them a lot...

A second play through would be lots of fun, and you can romance someone other than Triss, and you know you want that! Although books are great too. Perhaps you can game while your dh reads to you 😝

[CheradenineZakalwe]

Oh! Tamsin Greig as the doctor! Or possibly Sue Perkins. I do think it could work if it was handled right, though I'm not convinced Moffat would handle it right But yes, want lots more Capaldi first. Aw, bless your DH! Yes, Tyrion and the Doctor would be a sight to behold, although I suspect the Doctor would end up chucking him out fairly shortly...

Yes, I have a higher ability to tune out the videos it seems. Not seen the Engineering Family, I'll look forward to him discovering that If I was more tech savvy I'd figure out how to block the Little Baby Bum channel and Wheels on the Fucking Bus though...

Yeah, I like the idea of a playthrough, though not sure I could be bothered doing all the side quests again, and it would annoy me to leave them unfinished! I'm trying to find all the '?'s in Skellige at the minute, but mountains keep getting in the way and it's irritating me. Ha, DH would never be able to read anything of mine without passing commentary on it, we have rather different tastes in literature!

[Ashvis]

Big fat yes to Tasmin Greig, she's wonderful too! Definitely would be a short lived travel with Tyrion, but an episode or two would be fun! Yup, Moffat would need replacing if they wanted a good female doctor.

Aaaarrrggghhh, Little Baby Bum! Their 5/10 little monkeys/teddy bears/animals jumping on the bed! I end up bloody dreaming about that. How many versions of that are there? Where do they make those videos? Those accents, unfathomable. The engineering family do lots of toy reviews - it's relatively watchable compared with some of the other junk I get subjected to.

I managed to find all the ? everywhere except Skellige - going around in the boats, and damn mountains - it seemed such a overwhelmingly big job, so I'm well impressed. By the time you get to Skellige the main quest gets so exciting, I just always want to concentrate on that, but I could be missing out on awesome loot and fun side quests! Oh, man. I do like the Skellige people - remind me of Nords in Skyrim 😊

[CatMilkMan]

Northern realms all the way.
I feel like I have just joined a catmilk club and the only 2 members are deep in conversation. Right now I'm too drunk to join in but I will try sometime.

[CatMilkMan]

Also just checked and I'm 692 hours in to witcher wild hunt.

[Ashvis]

Aw, CatMilkMan, all fans of Witcher welcome here! Clearly we like a tangent too, and not just about autistic traits, Dr Who, GoT, women in gaming or YouTube kids videos, but it's all good 😄 And dh agrees with you about the card tracking too - we should suggest it to the makers.

692 hours! I'd say what a hero, but we all know the world needs a professional, not a hero. Admirable devotion!

[CatMilkMan]

Awwww I feel well and truly at home.

[Ashvis]

Disaster, Cheradinine! My treetop Weeping Angel is in the attic with a wasp nest! Dh met with a couple angry queens trying to retrieve it. Apparently we might be able to get it in a few days (after talking to an exterminator, apparently they will be hibernating by then - they can't remove the nest till summer) but might have to put up with a sodding star instead! On the plus side, the Dr Who Lego has arrived so I shall have a Whotastic night putting it together 😄 Might pop on something with Tasmin Greig while I'm at it too, just in case someone at the BBC reads this thread and gets some ideas! And play Witcher tomorrow...

[CheradenineZakalwe]

CatMilk jump right in! I am in awe of your hours played, how do you check that? Tangents welcome Unfortunately I don't follow Gwent, but I sympathise with the lack of a tracking system, sounds annoying. Personally I wish they'd trim down the number of alchemy/crafting materials, or at least streamline the menus a bit, it's very clunky to navigate on the Xbox.

Oh no, not the Angel! Bloody possessive wasps Hope you get rid eventually. We had a rat on our birdfeeder the other day, I am highly unimpressed

I feel we should start a petition for a TamsinDoctor.

I also feel like the people who make those videos should be humanely euthanised, for their sake and ours. Or maybe I've just been working too much..!

There may have been some wine had here too

[Ashvis]

MiniAsh started watching a video today that was dreadful animation and a computer generated voice pretending to be Dora The Explorer - but basically acting like a spoiled brat. She ran off to toys r us despite being grounded for life. Her mum is a bit shit as well. He's only interested in it because it mentions toys r us. It's the worst thing I have ever seen. My eyes and ears felt violated. Damn YouTube.

A rat, bloody hell, that's awful! How scary is that?! And my neighbour was complaining about squirrels eating out her bird feeder. Building the Lego helped get over the disappointment of the angel in the wasp infested loft. And I built a little mini angel so if all else fails, that's going on the tree. I may try padding myself up before going in though, just in case one isn't hibernating. Apparently they can lay eggs for 100 queens. I may not sleep in my house till next summer.

You know what else I want Witcher to have improved? The maps in caves - there are underground landmarks to find and its bloody hard to get your bearings. It's good you can see where you are, but I'd like to see a map of the whole cave, not just the section I'm in. Could learn a lot from Elder Scrolls games!

In awesome news though, they've released some info about the next lot of dlc, Blood and Wine (it's on IGN just now). It's going to be set in a whole new area and it looks all shiny and considerably less depressing than Velen. I may not quite have finished the first dlc but I'm very excited about the next one already!

I'm envious, there's been no wine here tonight. Have an extra glass for me please 🍷

[CheradenineZakalwe]

If it's any consolation I am quite regretting the wine after having DS climbing over me all morning

The rat was kind of cute actually, but does not belong in my bloody garden Although I think I'd prefer a rat in the garden to wasps in my house. I think you may need to consider burning it down. I'm glad the lego soothed you though, it's quite good for mindfulness apparently!

I feel happy just looking at the pictures of the new DLC! Velen did creep me the hell out, hated the whole feel of the place. The Ladies were traumatic! So am glad they've gone a bit cheerier, very excited now. I wonder if it's too late to get them to sort out the maps for the next update? I was so frustrated when they released that massive patch, went on cause I had half an hour spare, to be met with a 10gb download that took literally all night. And then when I did get to play it the first thing I hit was a bug!

DS got a sticker at the CM's yesterday for dancing with the other kids, was so proud! Another mini-breakthrough. We haven't encountered that Dora video yet, but I'm sure it'll turn up eventually...Youtube would make a mint if it could invent some Brain Bleach.

[Ashvis]

An ex used to have pet rats a long time ago - and they can be cute. They also killed my hamster and urinated on everything. They lost their cuteness pretty quickly after that...We often get deer and squirrels in the back garden, but not sure that makes up for resident wasps.

Well done to your ds, having a dance with the other kids is huge and amazing! What a superstar! My ds is currently feeling very pleased with himself - he was good at the dentist (and by good I mean didn't have an enormous meltdown and briefly opened his mouth to say cheese for the dentist) so got to go to toys r us. The new dentist was amazing - he spent 40 minutes playing with him. If there's a dentist of the year award I want to nominate him.

So yesterday I found out one of my friends is also friends with one of the producers on Doctor Who! I've been invited to join them for a drink next time they're in town. I've asked her to pass on the Tasmin Greig suggestion. If she gets the part you're totally getting credit!

The Ladies are traumatic! I can't wait to investigate the new area, how awesome is that. It looks so pretty. I'm just grumpy Witcher 2 isn't available for PlayStation. I'm getting tempted towards XBox so I could play it (have investigated, it's not nearly as smutty as the first Witcher game apparently). I want to hear all about it if you ever play it. I just don't know if I could justify buying another console when I know I'll be buying the new Nintendo one next year.

[CheradenineZakalwe]

Oh no, your poor hamster! My sister had pet rats for a while, they mostly seemed to get tumours and die frequently. Deer and squirrels sound infinitely more appealing!

I may need to get your dentists number, we've had no joy here at all so far with any kind of mouth opening So well done MiniAsh! My friend was round today with her 1 year old, DS tried to play with him for a while, but as his attempts to 'play' mostly involved trying to use his friend as a chair, it didn't go particularly well...he went back to ignoring him soon after being told 'no' for the hundredth time!

I am awestruck by your media connections! That's brilliant. The more I think about it the more convinced I am that she'd be perfect for it! Her and Missy would be fab together.

I might investigate Witcher 2, although I found with the Elder Scrolls I couldn't really get into Oblivion after playing Skyrim, it was too different, and I was making unfair comparisons! I'm sure I'd have loved it if I'd played it first, which is disappointing. I didn't realise Nintendo were bringing out another console? I kind of miss the Gamecube, it had some innovative games on it! I won't be getting any other consoles for a long time, I was given a surprise cash gift after someone came into some money, and I literally bought the Xbox for Witcher 3 cause I'd heard so much about it.

[Ashvis]

My dentist is taking on new patients, if you're willing to travel to the north east of Scotland he's the guy for you! He emailed a bunch of pictures he took to remind ds of his visit, and prepare him for the next, including one of him cuddling the dentist! It was the first time he's opened his mouth (albeit for 2 seconds) but we are a long way off a proper examination yet! I'm now hopeful that in a couple years we might get him in the chair 😄

That's cute your ds tried to use his friend as a chair! MiniAsh has done that too, it's possible in a few months time the baby will fall about giggling and try sitting on him too. Bet he's got a lovely sense of humour! Ds has started declaring "MiniAsh is funny!" every once in a while. Just in case we didn't know.

How awesome are my media connections?! I'm really chuffed. I'm trying to work out how cheeky it'd be to ask my mate for a signed photo of Capaldi. Too much, right? Maybe if I babysat for a month...still can't get into the den of wasps, but I put my Lego Weeping Angel on the Christmas tree to make up for it. Ds loves playing with it - since it has wings he flies it around the room shouting "wheeeeee!" Adorable.

The GameCube was great, I spent half my time playing Windwaker when it came out. Awesome game! First one I ever preordered. Oh, and Super Monkey Ball. And Mario Kart Double Dash. So many great games. Yeah, it's the NX that's coming out, but they have been known to change names! They've managed to keep it very much under wraps so far. What a fantastic reason to get an Xbox, I'm dead impressed. We did get our second PS4 cause of Witcher 3, but had been toying with the idea since we heard about Elder Scrolls Online - the thought of running about questing together in that world was just amazing, but we've barely played it. Think we'd be better off starting from scratch with new characters cause I've forgotten everything.