Taunt me as I die my way through Dark Souls. Maybe.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

Videos

Youtube Playlist (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFD00520B0175E837)

01 Undead Asylum (Introductory Episode) (http://livestre.am/1OsAk)
Guest commentators: My cellphone.
Info: Just the intro, nothing unusual. All is well...

02-1 Undead Burg (http://youtu.be/GA0F8-Mo4pQ)
Co-commentators: None of you bitches!
Info: Geminex tells me I have a sweet accent and I slightly fuck up but don't die. (I'm not gonna actually watch this)

02-2 Undead Parish (http://livestre.am/1QCIk)
Co-commentators: NOBODY!
Info: Some guy who I assume to be Krylo bitches at me for sucking and I die a few times.

02-3 Lower Undead Burg (http://livestre.am/1QDhE)
Co-commentators: Solitude is my name!!!
Info: I die a few times more and then after not dying once I proclaim myself the best player. Then as I say goodbye to my loyal viewership Cabal shows up and calls me a butt pirate.

03-1 The Depths (http://livestre.am/1Sm1m)
I go back to the starting area and die a bunch, then I walk through some sewers for a while and die once, maybe, then I fight a giant dragon for about 20 minutes.

03-2 Darkroot Garden
(http://livestre.am/1Sm1l)After already exceeding my planned playing time by 30 minutes I decide I might as well make it two full hours. I don't embarrass myself much in this video! I totally show that forest who's boss.

04-1 Blighttown (http://youtu.be/AjtwezTH1Vk)
I go through most of Blightown then my internet crashes. Then I just run to the next Bonfire (which you should be able to see in this video because it's not the streamed video, but the recorded one). Good times. No boss fight in this video for that reason.

05-1 Quelaag (http://youtu.be/GBnuXcd03IE)
I go fight two naked chicks (one of them while being naked myself) and then feel bad about it.

05-2 Blighttown > Sen's Fortress (http://youtu.be/ARXWyczdCxQ)
I get burned pretty sick, take a shortcut back to Firelink Shrine where I shoot some arrows in some weird thing's face. Then walk to Sen's Fortress.

05-3 Sen's Fortress (http://livestre.am/1WfpQ)
I make my way through Sen's Fortress, encounter a treasure chest that makes me yell and watch my minion kill a boss and then finally arrive in Anor Londo.

06-0 Huh???? (http://youtu.be/GjaNVHgFTjE)
didn't get processed, best video yet. Well damn. Could upload it to the yootoobs, you'd miss so much if I didn't.

06-1 Anor Londo Pt. 1 (http://livestre.am/1XOKI)
I make my way inside the keep by killing some gargoyles, some demons and assist some poor souls with their suicide. Oh, I also say "explode their AIs" instead of "exploit their AIs"

06-2 Anor Londo Pt. 2 (http://livestre.am/1XPrV)
Now inside I make my way to the boss. I'm almost back to old form, I fuck up fighting relatively easy opponents. If you want to see me fail, watch this video.

06-3 Ornstein and Smough (http://livestre.am/1XPCp)
I fight two guys and then meet Tits.

07-1 Anor Londo to Darkroot Garden (http://livestre.am/28g5j)
I die an embarassing death to a rather easy boss and then go through Sen's Fortress backwards to collect some stuff I didn't get on my first visit. You can skip this if you don't wanna see me get the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring, the Black Sorcerer Set and rescue Master Logan.

07-2 Darkroot Woods (http://livestre.am/28g5i)
Exploring what's left of Darkroot Garden. At the end I fight a big bad wolf. Along the way I crack bad jokes about how I've become such a masterful Let's Player.

07-3 Undead Asylum Showdown (http://livestre.am/28g5h)
I go back to the Undead Asylum one last time and get what's left to get.

07-4 Painted World of Ariamis (http://livestre.am/28noZ)
I explore all of the Painted World and have some fun dying a few times in very stupid ways.

08-1 New Londo Ruins Pt. 1 (http://livestre.am/2a5cY)
I go to New Londo Ruins and halfway through decide to go to Darkroot Basin

08-2 Darkroot Basin (http://livestre.am/2a5Qk)
I don't even have to be here, but still... I am here... to get a nice dress.

08-3 Return to Blighttown (http://livestre.am/2a69V)
Just tyin' up some loose ends, is all. Oh wait... the ninja suit... damn.

08-4 The Great Hollow and Ash Lake (http://livestre.am/2ad0u)
Going down to do some stuff I don't even have to do at all. This is, like, one of the bonus levels.

08-5 New Londo Ruins Pt. 2 (http://livestre.am/2admg)
So, finally I get back here and battle the Four Kings.

09-1 Demon Ruins (http://livestre.am/2bXWX)
Three boss fights all in one video.

09-2 Catacombs (http://livestre.am/2c42b)
I'm the first player ever to die to Pinwheel.

10-1 Tomb of Giants (http://livestre.am/2etWn)
This went more smoothly than I expected.

10-2 Dark Sun Gwyndolyn (http://livestre.am/2eudn)
Yeah, that ass got me last time, not this time, though.

10-3 Lost Izalith (http://livestre.am/2eulN)
The floor is lava.

10-4 Bed of Chaos (http://livestre.am/2euuK)
FUCK YOU BED OF CHAOS!!!!1

11-1 Don't watch this, please. (http://youtu.be/jSZ9I0HufSc)
I get nothing accomplished here

11-2 The Duke's Archives (http://youtu.be/CBCQ8MYnn1g)
My favorite late game area, because it has no stupid gimmicks, like lava or darkness.

11-3 Crystal Cave (http://youtu.be/Y3riEO2R1-U)
Another area I like, even though it has a stupid gimmick, but it's not lava or darkness.

11-4 Logan and Siegmeyer (http://youtu.be/Dg-TupNRZRs)
Just showing the endings of Logan's and Siegmeyer's storylines. Skippable if you don't care.

12 - Gwyn, Lord of Cinder (http://youtu.be/hPBjH1hQCz)
I try to be badass, then decide the only way to win is to swallow false Pride and parry that shit. And that's about what happens in this exciting final installment of this stream LP.

Additionally, here's (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4825DBA198EBE9B9&feature=plcp) a video series on Dark Souls lore. I really recommend watching that if you're at all interested in the lore of this game. I sometimes give mention to lore aspects within my videos, and also speculate a bit myself, but I'm only scratching the surface.

Introduction:
I wanted to make a Dark Souls or Demon's Souls Let's Play for quite a while now but I always had technical issues. First there was no sound in the recording, then there was no recording, and now a few months later I actually kinda sorta made it work. The thing is, it only really works if I stream the game in low resolution to my PC and instead of recording it directly from there I have to stream it to the internet. That seriously is the method that causes the least problems. Just today I made a final test to see if the game is playable in not 1080p. It is, even though it's somewhat harder, but maybe that's just because I haven't played in at least a month.

Here is that initial test http://livestre.am/1OcND
Highlights include:
I throw fireballs and miss
I say I'm invincible under the boss then get hit.
I say I almost beat a boss that still has a good bit of health
I say that I think I'm ready to do this

In case you don't know what Dark Souls is. It's a game loved extensively by those who love it and hated with a passion by those who hate it. It's notorious for its difficulty, but I'm one of those people who don't really think it's that hard. All it takes is some getting used to. Then it's merely challenging. It's setting is a Dark Fantasy, which is to some extent inspired by Berserk but brings enough of it's own to still be unique. The story kind of takes a backseat, it's there, and I personally really like it because it leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

I'm going to play on a harder mode. Low res mode. Because I just love that extra challenge that comes with aged technologies. I'm used to playing it in 1080p, but I can't stream that HD shit to my PC so I'm gonna go with plain old 60hz PAL (Which is NTSC but very slightly higher resolution) It looks shit even on a TV, the game was definitely made for HD. Still, I consider it playable. The lower resolution should not cause many, if any problems, aside from the less impressive visuals, which you wouldn't see in the tiny stream window anyway.

So... you up for that? Wanna watch me die? Make fun of me in the stream's chat for sucking so hard? Yesterday I played Binding of Isaac on the stream and got the best moral support from Mumu.

There is a bunch of stuff you guys could decide too. Mostly the direction my character is going to take but also some other stuff. This kind of doubles as an interest thread because I wanna know how many people are willing to watch me play live.

This is the stream!!! (Which is not live right now)
http://www.livestream.com/unnamed4th

[phil_]

Ha ha! I just so happen to have spent the week after last spring's finals watching Demon's Souls LPs. If you can hold off until next week, I'm totally down to yell at you through Dark Souls.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

I don't know if I can hold off because I have to stream when I know that my connection is good. Which it is right now, but it might not be tomorrow. If my isp can fix that issue I absolutely don't care when I'll stream and I can hold off forever.

But the backlog will always be up and I'll also start a new recording/stream after every other milestone to break it up nicely, so one session may be multiple videos. What I did just now is a little introductory episode, I mostly did it because I wanted to train my madd commentary skillz. I already got better from the old Binding of Isaac videos I did months ago and my Terraria let's play, because there was no overly long silence that seemed like a lull. Hopefully, when I actually stream, I'll get some viewers that crowd up the chat and provide funnies or maybe ask questions I can answer.

You can watch the introductory episode where I play through the intro level here: http://livestre.am/1OsAk

This isn't necessarily going to be the character I'll use for the actual thing, but if none of you have a problem with that I'll continue that file, that's why I chose the class that is most of a blank slate. If anyone wants to do co-commentary with me I'd be up for that, we'll just have to figure out how to make that work.

[Seil]

We're gonna taunt each other regardless, what's this got to do with it?

[A Zarkin' Frood]

I'm giving you more of an incentive than usually to taunt me is what it has to do with it.

[phil_]

Well, if you're still doing this or something like this after finals, I'll try to attend.

[TDK]

I loved the shit out of Demon Souls but honestly Dark Souls was just unenjoyable. The difficulty was too belligerent. I'm not willing to Halo through a game, if I can't win through sheer skill, I see no point in playing. :S

[Krylo]

Dark Souls was way more fair than Demon Souls, what you smokin'?

[Kim]

I loved the shit out of Demon Souls but honestly Dark Souls was just unenjoyable. The difficulty was too belligerent. I'm not willing to Halo through a game, if I can't win through sheer skill, I see no point in playing. :S

What I get from this is that TDK is bad at video games.

[TDK]

The individual enemies are easier, yeah, and there's almost no instakills, but the overall experience is more annoyingly difficult, its relentless and progressive, rather than hub-based.

[Krylo]

Lacking the hub made it less of a pain in the ass, because you knew where to go next instead of like getting to 1-2 and being like oh fuck I'm dying like a bitch now guess I'm supposed to go to like 2-1? Okay no this is a cunt too, uh... 3-1 isn't bad for now, etc.

[Kim]

Like, literally the worst part of Dark Souls is Blighttown, which is less awful than World 5, plus you can shortcut through 90% of Blighttown, PLUS PLUS Blighttown at least doesn't have Demon's Souls shitty shitty shitty lighting.

[MSperoni]

I actually liked Blighttown (liked it in a horrible way. "loved to hate it" is a better way of putting it), it was less of a hassle than World 5 because you could get the Rusted Iron Ring and that made the swamp a lot easier. Also it branched off into some cool areas, like the tree, and the Naked Spider Lady's Lair.

EDIT: Too bad your internet connection is bad or we could maybe do a co-op LP :) (though it's hard to arrange that kinda thing in Dark Souls...)

EDIT2: Also, Dark Souls lacked a "visible hub" (unless you count Firelink Shrine as the hub, which I guess technically it was), but the bonfires were sort of the "hub" in a way. I mean, you could warp from most bonfire to bonfire once you advanced a bit.

[Krylo]

I actually liked Blighttown (liked it in a horrible way. "loved to hate it" is a better way of putting it), it was less of a hassle than World 5 because you could get the Rusted Iron Ring and that made the swamp a lot easier. Also it branched off into some cool areas, like the tree, and the Naked Spider Lady's Lair.


Ash Lake after the tree was like, the prettiest part of Dark Souls. Other than MAYBE the vista over the city of the gods place the name of which escapes me at the moment.

Like just breath taking the first time you look out into it.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

I liked Blighttown. I also liked the Valley of Defilement in Demon's Souls, in fact I liked that area even more. Blighttown is just Valley of Defilement light. But I still like it. The worst part of Dark Souls is clearly that one bit with the two dragonslayer bow knights. No contest. I also have to say, that my inspiration for starting this, at least to some minor degree was me watching an LP of Dark Souls and the LPer skipped Blighttown and The Depths. What the hell?

I DO understand why people dislike Blighttown, though.

On the matter of difficulty. My very first impression of Dark Souls was, that it was way easier. By now I have to say, I think Dark Souls is actually harder, but it starts easier, and the progression of difficulty is more gradual and less frustrating. Sure, the hub is gone, and while this takes away a little bit (really just a tiny little bit) of your freedom of where to go next it also tends to lead you mostly to areas you're supposed to go to. It also feels more like a whole world. All in all I think Dark Souls is the superior game. A bunch of changes were made from Demon's Souls that just made it more enjoyable and less generic than Demon's Souls. Not to say Demon's Souls was generic, but it abided more by some traditional RPG elements, like mana to cast spells and healing items (which made the game a joke ,really, because it was easy to amass quite a few without ever buying any)

Over the course of this playthrough I'll try to show off some stuff not everyone knows about, maybe I'll also learn something new. I'll also conduct an experiment on Seath.


EDIT: Too bad your internet connection is bad or we could maybe do a co-op LP :) (though it's hard to arrange that kinda thing in Dark Souls...)


It would be cool if that were actually possible. Even if my PS3 does connect though, this would be hard. I don't know what exactly determines whose summon signs appear in your world, but I think it might be latency related. This would probably make summon signs from players from different continents rare. I could swear I got invaded by a japanese dude once, though. Because those were some mad skills I fell victim to.

[Krylo]

I could swear I got invaded by a japanese dude once, though. Because those were some mad skills I fell victim to.

I know I've co-opped with Japanese people a lot 'cause you get Japanese thank you notes sometimes.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

Gonna start a stream in a few minutes/seconds
http://www.livestream.com/unnamed4th

[A Zarkin' Frood]

Finished streaming about an hour ago, had to upload one of the videos to youtube because livestream didn't process it. It was a long session. Longer than I originally planned. But what the hell, not like I actually had stuff to do.

02-1 Undead Burg (http://youtu.be/GA0F8-Mo4pQ)
Co-commentators: None of you bitches!
Info: Geminex tells me I have a sweet accent and I slightly fuck up but don't die. (I'm not gonna actually watch this)

02-2 Undead Parish (http://livestre.am/1QCIk)
Co-commentators: NOBODY!
Info: Some guy who I assume to be Krylo bitches at me for sucking and I die a few times.

02-3 Lower Undead Burg (http://livestre.am/1QDhE)
Co-commentators: Solitude is my name!!!
Info: I die a few times more and then after not dying once I proclaim myself the best player. Then as I say goodbye to my loyal viewership Cabal shows up and calls me a butt pirate.

If you want to make this watchable please volunteer for co-commentary!!! Or go to hell!!!!

[MSperoni]

It would be cool if that were actually possible. Even if my PS3 does connect though, this would be hard. I don't know what exactly determines whose summon signs appear in your world, but I think it might be latency related. This would probably make summon signs from players from different continents rare. I could swear I got invaded by a japanese dude once, though. Because those were some mad skills I fell victim to.

I've managed to set up a co-op with a friend before, but it can be a bit time consuming to pull off, and one time I got invaded while we were trying to do it. He also lives in the US, so that might have made things easier. (I think we just got lucky, actually).

I bump into a lot of Japanese people at certain times, usually over night, I can tell they're Japanese via their trophy lists. Not that it makes much difference. My online activity with Dark Souls has actually been pretty nice, and I've had a share of success with invasions and being invaded (I win more than I lose, which is rare for me in an online venue).

EDIT: One time me and another member of the Blade of the Darkmoon Covenant invaded someone, and that person had a partner who was trying to pull the ol' "Disguise as a Vase" trick on us, but I spotted it and smacked them. I think they were surprised that I wasn't surprised because their instinct was to just run rather than stand their ground and fight back, but my character, despite having heavy armor/weapons is very fast, and I managed to kill them before they could do much. The person who we invaded was dispatched soon after by the combined might of me and my partner. That was a pretty cool match.

I also had one where me and some people were all battling it out in that part in Anor Londo in the rafters. Like, someone had invaded someone else, and the invaded player summoned me and another player to their defense, and we all ended up in that rafter area. I chased the invader across the rafters while the other helper shot at them with arrows. The fight ended with the invader slipping off and falling to their death.

[Doc ock rokc]

Finished streaming about an hour ago, had to upload one of the videos to youtube because livestream didn't process it. It was a long session. Longer than I originally planned. But what the hell, not like I actually had stuff to do.

02-1 Undead Burg (http://youtu.be/GA0F8-Mo4pQ)
Co-commentators: None of you bitches!
Info: Geminex tells me I have a sweet accent and I slightly fuck up but don't die. (I'm not gonna actually watch this)

02-2 Undead Parish (http://livestre.am/1QCIk)
Co-commentators: NOBODY!
Info: Some guy who I assume to be Krylo bitches at me for sucking and I die a few times.

02-3 Lower Undead Burg (http://livestre.am/1QDhE)
Co-commentators: Solitude is my name!!!
Info: I die a few times more and then after not dying once I proclaim myself the best player. Then as I say goodbye to my loyal viewership Cabal shows up and calls me a butt pirate.

If you want to make this watchable please volunteer for co-commentary!!! Or go to hell!!!!
Heres a idea. WHY DON"T YOU GIVE US MORE THEN 5 MINUTES BEFORE YOU START SO WE CAN JOIN IN!

[A Zarkin' Frood]

Twitter and the chat got a ten minute warning!
E: Yeah, next time I'll let you know I'm streaming at least thirty minutes beforehand. I kinda have to do it short notice though, because I can't predict if my interwebs will be fine a few hours from now or tomorrow. It's been weird lately.

[Doc ock rokc]

Twitter and the chat got a ten minute warning!
E: Yeah, next time I'll let you know I'm streaming at least thirty minutes beforehand. I kinda have to do it short notice though, because I can't predict if my interwebs will be fine a few hours from now or tomorrow. It's been weird lately.

I suggest scheduling a TIME so that we have TIME to prepare.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

If I tell you that I will start streaming in thirty minutes this will be me scheduling time. Relative time using the timestamp on my post as a base and you will have thirty minutes to prepare if you wish to join. I don't want to schedule actual events for like... tomorrow 20:00 my timezone because I can't be sure my connection will work at that time that day (it's kind of weird, it sometimes just doesn't work very well anymore 19 o clock-ish) As soon as I hear back from my isp and they tell me it should probably not happen again this is something that can happen, though.

[Krylo]

I've managed to set up a co-op with a friend before, but it can be a bit time consuming to pull off, and one time I got invaded while we were trying to do it. He also lives in the US, so that might have made things easier. (I think we just got lucky, actually).

I bump into a lot of Japanese people at certain times, usually over night, I can tell they're Japanese via their trophy lists. Not that it makes much difference. My online activity with Dark Souls has actually been pretty nice, and I've had a share of success with invasions and being invaded (I win more than I lose, which is rare for me in an online venue).

EDIT: One time me and another member of the Blade of the Darkmoon Covenant invaded someone, and that person had a partner who was trying to pull the ol' "Disguise as a Vase" trick on us, but I spotted it and smacked them. I think they were surprised that I wasn't surprised because their instinct was to just run rather than stand their ground and fight back, but my character, despite having heavy armor/weapons is very fast, and I managed to kill them before they could do much. The person who we invaded was dispatched soon after by the combined might of me and my partner. That was a pretty cool match.

I also had one where me and some people were all battling it out in that part in Anor Londo in the rafters. Like, someone had invaded someone else, and the invaded player summoned me and another player to their defense, and we all ended up in that rafter area. I chased the invader across the rafters while the other helper shot at them with arrows. The fight ended with the invader slipping off and falling to their death.

I had a couple great ones too, my favorite was in Anor Lando I was trying to get the covenant stuff for darkmoon via invading. So I invade this guy, and right after I invade him, he uses iron flesh, I back stab him a few times, not doing much damage, but he can't do anything 'cause of the movement restriction, and then a black phantom invades. The other phantom attacks me first, for whatever reason, I manage to kill the other phantom, and then go back and kill the dude who was iron fleshing (now not doing that anymore having probably learned his lesson.

Then there was the time I was leaving a summon sign just inside of the forest so people could summon me to help fight off forest covenant invaders, and I killed like three or four for him while he was basically nothing but a distraction.

Good times.

[Krylo]

Haha, oh man, Iggy, I'm watching the backlog of your stream, and you keep dying to those dogs for the same reason: Completely ignoring that your sword is bouncing off the wall and you can't hit the dogs with it like that.

It's hilarious.

Edit: You still don't seem to have figured it out when you finally beat the dogs. You just got lucky as shit on them. Fantastic.

[Moogle0119]

Very nice, I just finished up going through Dark Souls about a month or two ago while getting all the achievements. One of the most rewarding games I've ever played. While Blighttown does indeed suck, I always hated Tomb of Giants even more until you got that helmet (sunlight maggot) that illuminated the area for you. Great game though either way, I'll definitely have to watch these.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

Haha, oh man, Iggy, I'm watching the backlog of your stream, and you keep dying to those dogs for the same reason: Completely ignoring that your sword is bouncing off the wall and you can't hit the dogs with it like that.

It's hilarious.

Edit: You still don't seem to have figured it out when you finally beat the dogs. You just got lucky as shit on them. Fantastic.

I actually know that and I tried stabbing them (I'm not sure I did it in my sloppy run today, though). The wind up of my stabbing attack is just too long for when the dogs get too close since it's a heavy attack. By hitting the wall with my light attack I at least hit them or uh... may hit them, I'm open to their attacks either way.

I actually just now watched parts of the second vid from today. And man, I really do some stupid shit. Really stuff suicidal enough I usually wouldn't even think of doing it. I actually consider myself a fairly good player, if my pvp successes and the fact that I barely died during my second full playthrough are any indication at least. Not gonna look for excuses, though. Just hope I get better again. But it IS kind of fun to not just plow through the game like it's nothing.

Anyway, I think I might go for a spear+shield combo, because that's easy to use. And safe. I could go for the Zweihänder as well but as funny as that sounds, the brute force of that weapon requires more precision than spears. It's all in the timing. If I time the heavy attack of the Zweihänder right I can one-shot a lot of enemies as they charge at me.

I'll probably just switch it up every now then anyway, I might even try out the butcher's knife finally, even though I heard it sucks in this game.

I'm not gonna try and learn something that takes time and skill to get used to in a run on-camera, though. That means no double cestus. Sorry to disappoint you, Krylo.

On the subject of multiplayer; the times I was actually able to connect to the internet with my PS3 I had some fun being invaded in Dark Anor Londo. The community seems to be nice too. At least the people I fought. We usually opened with a bow and then fought. Of course, in Dark Anor Londo a lot of darkmoon blades invade, so very often I'd get invaded by a second guy while I was fighting off the first one. They rarely ganged up on me though. They waited for the first fight to finish, let me heal up, do another bow and after that we'd fight. Of course red phantoms invade as well, but they're usually scared of people who wait for invasions in Dark Anor Londo. It's ridiculous how cautious they were, even after I bowed to them, waved to them, walking very slowly towards them with my shield down and... yeah. Another time a guy invaded while I wasn't in the great hall so he looked out the window upstairs to see if I was outside, the nice guy that I am I hit the wall to let him know I'm there instead of backstabbing him. It's kind of nice to make experiences like these with a multiplayer community for once.

Yet another time, though, I got invaded by a twink while going through the undead parish with a new character. It's a hot-spot for that kinda thing I hear.

Oh, and I actually successfully used the red sign soapstone a few times. Those fights were fun too.

Best experience I had was fighting back a 3v1 gangbang, though. I got indicted for it but who cares. I didn't deserve it for this but I may or may not have invaded some innocent players on their way to the Iron Golem before.

[Krylo]

You had a halberd. I saw you loot it!

Edit: And you can hit them with the lunge there. It's tricky but you basically just attack right after blocking them.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

Yeah you're right, I have a halberd, I also have the winged spear I didn't use. If I had thought of that the dogs would have been trivial at best.

[Aldurin]

Halberd is pretty boss especially if you sink upgrades into it early on. The range makes you harder to hit while you deal out very good damage.

[MSperoni]

The halberd in Dark Souls is a lot better than it was in Demons Souls if only for the attack animation (IIRC). Its attack animation in Demons Souls was really annoying because you did a kind of weird 'step' before swinging, and I dunno about y'all, but when I hit the attack button I want to ATTACK, not step and THEN attack (though I think this was just with one handed attacks, not two handed, but it's been awhile). I started off in Demons Souls as a Temple Knight with a halberd and then eventually got rid of it because of that wonky attack. I can't remember what weapon I eventually settled on with my initial character in Demons Souls...I know one was the Meat Cleaver, and the other might've been some kinda spear.

I like the battle axe in Dark Souls, and I also use the Gravelord Sword.

[Krylo]

My DS character's a sorcerer so I use the moonlight greatsword for the intelligence based damage, personally, but I find the longsword has the most, generally, useful move set. The halberd is pretty great, too, due to its reach and power, but gets a bit tricky to pull backstabs and what not off with.

Not impossible, mind, just tricky compared to other weapons.

I also like to keep a heavily upgraded dagger on me for the extra critical damage when I'm going up against high defense backstabbable opponents.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

Oh emm gee, quad double post.

03-1 The Depths (http://livestre.am/1Sm1m)
I go back to the starting area and die a bunch, then I walk through some sewers for a while and die once, maybe, then I fight a giant dragon for about 20 minutes.

03-2 Darkroot Garden
(http://livestre.am/1Sm1l)After already exceeding my planned playing time by 30 minutes I decide I might as well make it two full hours. I don't embarrass myself much in this video! I totally show that forest who's boss.

Next time I'm gonna do motherfucking Blighttown!!!!!
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If I'm streaming today I'll be doing it in two hours. I had plans but they got delayed so that might happen. I'll make another post about ten minutes before I start as usual.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

Standard ten minute warning, gonna start soon: http://www.livestream.com/unnamed4th

--- here be old post ---
Think I'm gonna start streaming in 45 minutes at, wanted to do it earlier at my regular time but my internets connection was kind of a dick. But it seems fine now and I feel like playing. Going to fight Quelaag at the very least, then maybe go for Ash Lake or Sen's Fortress.

=== This be old post ===

Uuuugh, my connection killed itself in the middle of streaming. This kind of sucks. For all those who watched (probably one guy): After the stream broke off I walked to the next bonfire and called it quits. I'll have to upload the video to Youtube. So if you want you can catch up on that you can do so as soon as that has happened. But It really was just a bit of walking and fire breathing insects.

It's still uploading right now but the video will be up here in about ten minutes:

04-1 Blighttown (http://youtu.be/AjtwezTH1Vk)
I go through most of Blightown then my internet crashes. Then I just run to the next Bonfire. Good times. No boss fight in this video for that reason.

Next update I'll be fighting Quelaag at least. And maybe go through Sen's Fortress. Unless I decide to go to the Great Hollow and Ash Lake instead.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

First vid is jumpy in the first few minutes and second one got split due to connection loss. Because I don't know if there's been hiccups later on in the videos I'll just upload all of them to youtube, but I'll do that tomorrow. Also, another thing forgot about till now, but since I'm european and most of you are American, when would be the best time to actually stream? By my estimation I usually stream at around noon for you, which is the late evening for me, which probably means a lot of you have work to do when I play and that isn't really great. Since I'm unemployed right now I might be able to start playing at a time that's better for you guys, just lemme know when would be best in your timezone of choice and I'll see if I can do that without staying up too long. I'm also open for any other kind of criticism. Aaaand, lastly, If anyone wants do do some co-commentary with me I'm also still up for that, just tell me if you're interested and we'll coordinate something.

So, I think I get better at talking while playing, I still occasionally make stupid mistakes I probably wouldn't make otherwise, but there aren't many big fuck-ups anymore.

05-1 Quelaag (http://livestre.am/1WfpT)
I go fight two naked chicks (one of them while being naked myself) and then feel bad about it.

05-2 Blighttown > Sen's Fortress (http://www.livestream.com/unnamed4th/video?clipId=pla_b0ce46cb-98de-4953-9aeb-f338532d671b&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb)
Part 2 (http://livestre.am/1WfpR) (vid got split due to brief loss of internet connection, this second part is also the best part, probably, unless you want to actually see me playing through the game)
I get burned pretty sick, take a shortcut back to Firelink Shrine where I shoot some arrows in some weird thing's face. Then walk to Sen's Fortress.

05-03 Sen's Fortress (http://livestre.am/1WfpQ)
I make my way through Sen's Fortress, encounter a treasure chest that makes me yell and watch my minion kill a boss and then finally arrive in Anor Londo.

Next time I'll take on the first part of Anor Londo, and given my history so far probably the second part too. I might also go back to the Undead Asylum first and get that one thing I didn't get last time.

[phil_]

By my estimation I usually stream at around noon for you, which is the late evening for me, which probably means a lot of you have work to do when I play and that isn't really great.Yesterday's festivities where I yelled at you about ninjas took place at 2PM Eastern Daylight Savings time. Today's, assuming you starting ten minutes after the time-stamp on this post (http://www.nuklearforums.com/showpost.php?p=1196536&postcount=34) like it says you did, started at almost 6PM.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

No one watched me today, I'm going to cry a lot now.

07-1 Anor Londo to Darkroot Garden (http://livestre.am/28g5j)
I die an embarassing death to a rather easy boss and then go through Sen's Fortress backwards to collect some stuff I didn't get on my first visit. You can skip this if you don't wanna see me get the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring, the Black Sorcerer Set and rescue Master Logan.

07-2 Darkroot Woods (http://livestre.am/28g5i)
Exploring what's left of Darkroot Garden. At the end I fight a big bad wolf. Along the way I crack bad jokes about how I've become such a masterful Let's Player.

07-3 Undead Asylum Showdown (http://livestre.am/28g5h)
I go back to the Undead Asylum one last time and get what's left to get.

07-4 Painted World of Ariamis (http://livestre.am/28noZ)
I explore all of the Painted World and have some fun dying a few times in very stupid ways.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

Gonna stream again in an hour.

[Arcanum]

Just finished watching your Ariamis video. That death against the undead dragon was pretty hilarious :P. Also, to get the dragon legs to stand up you need to use a jumping attack. And you also missed the chest with the painting guardian armor in the room with the white rats :).

[A Zarkin' Frood]

08-1 New Londo Ruins Pt. 1 (http://livestre.am/2a5cY)
I go to New Londo Ruins and halfway through decide to go to Darkroot Basin

08-2 Darkroot Basin (http://livestre.am/2a5Qk)
I don't even have to be here, but still... I am here... to get a nice dress.

08-3 Return to Blighttown (http://livestre.am/2a69V)
Just tyin' up some loose ends, is all. Oh wait... the ninja suit... damn.

08-4 The Great Hollow and Ash Lake (http://livestre.am/2ad0u)
Going down to do some stuff I don't even have to do at all. This is, like, one of the bonus levels.

08-5 New Londo Ruins Pt. 2 (http://livestre.am/2admg)
So, finally I get back here and battle the Four Kings.

Some time tomorrow I might have to grind for humanity a little. I'll still stream it and archive it for completions sake. If I'm gonna do an unabridged run it's gonna be unabridged. Not gonna make any of you watch that, so I'll do it some time before my regular streaming thingy. If I do that tomorrow at all, that is.

E: Almost forgot to post this. If you're interested in Dark Souls Lore check out this here youtube playlist (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4825DBA198EBE9B9&feature=plcp), it covers most of it and does a good job of highlighting some things.


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Whoops, I really did. I knew I forgot something important. Well okay, not really important, but it's pretty cool looking.

Anyway, in ten minutes I'm gonna stream again http://www.livestream.com/unnamed4th

[A Zarkin' Frood]

09-1 Demon Ruins (http://livestre.am/2bXWX)
Three boss fights all in one video.

09-2 Catacombs (http://livestre.am/2c42b)
I'm the first player ever to die to Pinwheel.

[Revising Ocelot]

09-2 Catacombs (http://livestre.am/2c42b)
I'm the first player ever to die to Pinwheel.

If I ever get the game I'm sure I'll die to him too. Probably more than once, even. Don't feel too bad.

[Arcanum]

Man, the Firesage fight is a whole lot easier if you don't lock on. That way you can easily sprint behind him and out of range when he uses his AoE. And his ass is so fat that it's not like you can miss if you aren't locked on.

Like, if everyone I've heard complain about Firesage being hard was locked onto him the entire fight, that would make a lot of sense. Otherwise I still don't get what people find so hard about him because I've never had a problem against him.

[CABAL49]

I made him fight without pants.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

Locking on has nothing to do with it. I really only had a problem first time I fought him. This time I found the fight pretty easy, I expected it to go worse, though. With an int build using magic (my second character) he's even easier. I have this feeling that the 1.5 patch may have fixed his AI a bit, to prevent him from spamming his AOE attack, because that's what got me on my first playthrough several times, back then I felt the fight hinged more on luck than skill. Either that, or I've just become significantly better since then.

If I ever get the game I'm sure I'll die to him too. Probably more than once, even. Don't feel too bad.

Not even getting rid of all my armor justifies dying to Pinwheel. Especially not after killing three bosses without dying once. I'm sure you won't die to him, he's practically a normal enemy, but with a boss' life bar.

[MSperoni]

Pinwheel gave me more trouble than he probably should have. I think what screwed me up was I went into the fight already knowing he was easy, so I was like "whatevs!" and then was caught off guard a lot. I didn't die against him though.

This is a nice stream! The audio is very good. Looks like I have a new batch of LPs to watch while working, yaay :D

[A Zarkin' Frood]

Glad you like the audio even though I use the mic of the cheapest webcam I could find on amazon for my voice, and an old capture device I didn't know still worked that I had lying around somewhere for the game audio (and video).

I'm gonna start streaming again in 1 hour and 45 minutes. 21:00 my time (GMT+1)

[A Zarkin' Frood]

10-1 Tomb of Giants (http://livestre.am/2etWn)
This went more smoothly than I expected.

10-2 Dark Sun Gwyndolyn (http://livestre.am/2eudn)
Yeah, that ass got me last time, not this time, though.

10-3 Lost Izalith (http://livestre.am/2eulN)
The floor is lava.

10-4 Bed of Chaos (http://livestre.am/2euuK)
FUCK YOU BED OF CHAOS!!!!1

Next time: One of my favorite areas in Dark Souls. The Duke's Archives. And possibly: Gwyn.

[MSperoni]

Been watching your streams most of the day today while working. I started with the first one and got all the way to the tenth video. They make me want to play Dark Souls again :D

EDIT: Actually now that I think about it I think I started with the second one for some reason...I should probably go watch the first one.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

I'm glad someone enjoys it enough to listen to it all day, and it makes them want to play the game. That's what an LP is supposed to do, after all.

I've been uploading the videos to my secondary youtube account because I don't know if livestream has a limit on the backlog I can keep. I do not want to erase shame from the internet. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFD00520B0175E837&feature=view_all

[A Zarkin' Frood]

11-1 Don't watch this, please. (http://youtu.be/jSZ9I0HufSc)
I get nothing accomplished here

11-2 The Duke's Archives (http://youtu.be/CBCQ8MYnn1g)
My favorite late game area, because it has no stupid gimmicks, like lava or darkness.

11-3 Crystal Cave (http://youtu.be/Y3riEO2R1-U)
Another Area I like, even though it has a stupid gimmick, but it's not lava or darkness.

11-4 Logan and Siegmeyer (http://youtu.be/Dg-TupNRZRs)
Just showing the endings of Logan's and Siegmeyer's storylines. Skippable if you don't care.

Next time I'll take on Gwyn, former Lord of Sunlight. I won't use parrys, Iron Flesh or Solaire. Instead I'm just gonna fight him like that and see how long it takes. Might as well make it a drinking game. Every time I die I have to take a shot, or something. If anyone wants to co-commentate on this final installment you'd be welcome. Because I fear that I will run out of informative stuff after the first time I fight him, and inane ramblings after the third time, and english profanity after the tenth one and German profanity after the twenty-seventh one, so having someone who can stall would be nice.

Also, if there's something important you think I may have missed, let me know.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

12 - Gwyn, Lord of Cinder (http://youtu.be/hPBjH1hQCz)
I try to be badass, then decide the only way to win is to swallow false Pride and parry that shit.

I BEAT THE GAME NOW!!!!! (for, like, the fourth time)