The beta is designed to be linear, easy, and fast. It's effectively a tutorial, and set at an easy difficulty. Hell, the randomization has only recently been worked in.

But the mechanics are solid, the gearing and crafting is fun. It's Diablo.

Oh, I think Trey has a pretty good handle on that kind of thing.

Gents,

We did an awesome workout today that I wanted to share, and Fitocracy can’t track it properly so I thought I’d put it up here. It’s very scalable but it’s probably better if you’ve had some exposure to Olympic lifts – they’re complex movements and back safety is important.

Start with a gentle 1km run to warm up, then work on hip and rack flexibility for about 10 minutes to ensure you’re warm. With an empty bar work on your transitions; practice hang power cleans, hang squat cleans, and split jerks. As with most things the power comes from your hips, so with your empty bar warm up try to focus on full hip extension and good back position.

Now the fun bit.

On the minute, every minute, for 20 minutes (use a clock) - Power clean, to hang squat clean, to push jerk.

Power clean from the ground, then drop the bar to the hang position (just above your knees).

Hang squat clean, at the top of the movement keep the bar racked on your shoulders.

Split jerk, then put the bar down.

Rest for the remainder of the minute.

Start with a weight you feel comfortable with and can maintain good form. You may find you want to increase the weight by small amounts (5 kg here, 5kg there) as you proceed through the work out, but weight is a secondary concern. Don’t increase the weight unless you’re smooth and have good form.

Scoring: The weight you use for each successful round is added up and is your score at the end. If you fail one of the movements in an interval, don’t count the score for that round. EG: 10 rounds at 50kg, 8 rounds at 55kg, 2 rounds at 60kg = 1060

Mike / Brian – because these lifts work pretty much every muscle; don’t go and do isolation work before or afterwards, you’ll only risk injury.

Have fun, let me know how you go

Taking this further are games like Psychonauts, which take a strong narrative and combine it with puzzle elements that tie into characters motivations. There are also plenty of older RPGs which basically replicate the p&p experience (such as Baldur's Gate).

Story and emotional investment in characters are at the heart of every game I love. Even titles which focus on strategy (such as civilization) allow the player to build their own narrative as the game develops.

This is key, games are not a passive form of art. They require a player shaping the experience to appreciate them.

As above. I think many of us mentally put you into the "Internet Friend" zone, and would feel pretty awful if DiF was becoming more of an obligation than a fun thing to do.

Protein - ideally food based, will help with muscle recovery. Fish oil, and as weight increases and you're working more - glucosamine. Just work through it, everything hurts like buggery when you start.

This is law assuming everyone is pregnant. Totally different beast to a consultation with a medical professional about a pregnancy. I fail to understand how this would pass outside the bible belt, considering its intent. 

Oh yeah? Well poutine is pretty fucking harsh if you're an aorta.