5 comments about Neverwinter Nights(tm) 2 Official Strategy Guide (Forgotten Realms) (Forgotten Realms).

1. Do you remember when games were an actual an art-form and were sold with respect to the paying customers? Innovative games that came in beautiful detailed cardboard boxes. Included were a number of artwork items (paper or cloth maps, pewter figurines) and thick, detailed guide booklets. Nowadays, all we get is a cheap plastic case. Usually broken.
   
   Well, now the faceless accountants that run the gaming business decided to take the next shameless step: they are trying to sell the Game Guide as a Strategy Guide! Yes, this is the case here: a weak walkthrough (one can find much more detailed and helpful ones on the internet) and then whatever should have been included in a classic Game Guide: general maps, weapons list (without unique items), and incomplete lists of NPCs & enemies (bestiary).
   Check your good old BALDUR's GATE: the above were all included in the Game guide!
   
   My advice: Don't even think about it!



2. It was very informative on the new structure of NWN2 over what we are used to from the original NWN but as most guides go it could use more detail on actual gameplay (walk-through) and not spend so much of the book on character creation & game stats.



3. I have only just gotten to the city Neverwinter, but have already noticed a number of things that don't sync up in the game and the guide. The most likely reason is patches have changed certain things. All in all a good guide, but not the best I have ever had. The maps are just so so, often not containing all the information that you might need, as well as some maps not being included at all. Also the orientation of the maps is often much different than the starting point in game, which calls for alot of book turning. There also doesn't seem to be a list of crafting recipes in the book, only a list of items that you can make.
   
   You most likely will need another source of information (online guide, etc) if you are like me and want to find and locate all the items and quests located in this game.
   
   Good luck!!!



4. Invariably, when you play this game, you're not going to have a clue as to where to go or what to do next. To this extent, getting this guide is a major Godsend. This gives you maps for what to do, where to go and how to get your alignment to the one you're aiming for. So if you plan to spend several hours trying to figure out the next big move in Neverwinter Nights 2, this is the guide that puts it all together for you.



5. This is perhaps the worst strategy guide I have ever purchased. The only thing I can say that is even a little positive is that it has maps. Other than that this was a waste of money. There are at best a small blurb on a very select few side quests. No information on item creation and even the walkthrough portion is lacking critcal details. Go to GameFaqs and save your money.

No comments about The New York Times Large-Print Crosswords for Your Bedside: Light and Easy Puzzles.

2 comments about Colossal Playing Card Deck.

1. These supersized playing cards are so fun. It really makes the game more enjoyable. These cards are a full 12x8 inches and they are the life of any party.Go get some, baby!



2. i absolutely love these cards and i cant wait for my family to see them at our annual gathering- they are going to die laughing!!!!!!!!!!!! wonder how you shuffle these things..........

5 comments about In the Beginning (Beginner and Elementary Go Books).

1. After learning Go I could only really enjoy the tiny boards because I didn't grasp how to start a big game off right. This book cuts the opening down into little parts and shows you the ideas you need to begin to form a strong opening game.



2. Reading this book I had improved my go rank to about 3 stones in a week. You will learn basic concept that will impact on first moves choices and will change (in a better way) your positional presence on the board for the whole game.
   10 useful fullboard problems ask "where you should play?" and give a value (from 1 to 10) to various interesting points, so you can learn why one is better than others. You can return on same problems in future to verify your fuseki (opening) reading capability.



3. This book covers the basic of the game of go. It takes you from the very basics of the and builds you up to a beginning.



4. This book is great! The author explains every section of the opening. I was unsure of good vs. bad moves, and now I open stronger. You are presented with situations and several alternatives, along with the consequences. The book is small, but packed with useful information. It's well worth the price tag.



5. After deciding to learn to play Go, I read just the first few pages of this book (available via the "Click to look inside!" link on the product page; thanks Amazon!) on a recommendation from a much more experienced friend. Just those first few pages opened my eyes about how the game in general is played. It is an amazingly concise and deep exploration of not just the beginning of the game, but also the concepts that permeate the rest of the game.
   
   My one complaint is that it's fairly difficult to digest the first time I read it. Very often I found the author hiding very important sentences in the middle of a paragraph. It wasn't until I read the book two or three times that I started to realize that he was spelling out the important ideas like "Play away from strength" or "Don't touch what you're attacking", and I just had to find them. In fact, I started reading the book with a pencil at hand so I could underline and highlight particular sentences/sections. Another complaint is one I've had with most Go books, and that is the examples are sometimes very difficult to understand. An author will say "Black goes here, so of course White must respond here." The "of course" part is not at all obvious to a beginner, but one starts to understand things like this the more one goes over the examples. Learning by osmosis, I suppose.
   
   Despite those complaints, this book has been invaluable in my development as a Go player. Should be read _multiple_ times by every beginner. Don't worry that it's a little obtuse at first, if you look for the important sentences, your game will improve dramatically.

5 comments about Random House Webster's Large Print Crossword Puzzle Dictionary.

1. I received this crossword dictionary last week & I am very disappointed in this book. It doesn't have all the words and it did not help my crossword puzzles at all. The letter are very large which helps my eyes.



2. This was for a gift for my mother. She is reaching 90 and her sight is failing but she loves to do crossword puzzles. The last dictionary she had was too small and falling apart. The new one is bigger, easier to handle and better print. She loves it. We also use it alot when playing scrabble, another of her favorite activities. When I ordered it, it came quicker than expected and in perfect shape. I have ordered from Amazon befor and will again. Thank you.



3. This large print crossword dictionary is wonderful for my 85 year old mother. I had not been able to find a satisfactory one at Borders and was grateful to be able to send her this one from Amazon.



4. Bought this for my wife, but she didn't like it at all! An older dictionary had was more usable, so ordered an updated version of the older crossword dictionary. I was able return it for a full refund-no problem-thanks.



5. I appreciate the large print, the clarity and the geographical information. However, I must admit I was disappointed as the information is insufficient. I have to use other crossword dictionaries for not so common expressions. It would be good for a beginner or a very senior person.

5 comments about The Counting Game: An Accountant Reveals How to Win at Blackjack.

1. Alan Berg has given us a thrill ride through the world's casinos from the view of a high-roller. Even for a confirmed non-gambler like me, his well-crafted book provides hundreds of insights into winning at blackjack - and winning all the side battles as well. Most impressively, he often succeeded at keeping himself in the building and in the game through guile, brains and style - when most card-counters would long have been banished from casinos everywhere. Read - and enjoy - "The Counting Game."



2. The thing I liked about this book is that it was like having a one on one lesson with the author. He gives you the important factual skills you need to win the game. But also throws in personal experience and stories that make it very entertaining. You will like what he has to teach but at the end of the book feel like you could hang out and have a drink with him.



3. I've never played blackjack and probably never will, but I was absolutely fascinated by Alan Berg's book. Serious players must be blown away. I was amazed to learn so much about the game when I had always thought it was just a question of luck. NO WAY. It almost makes me want to take up black jack so I can reach the zenith of being barred from a casino. That isn't apt to happen since I got a bit bogged down in the intricacies of the numbers systems, but I LOVED the book. I especially enjoyed learning about Alan's gambling experiences and now have enormous admiration for his honesty in telling about himself in a thoroughly enjoyable and often amusing fashion. WONDERFUL book- I recommend it to players and non-players alike.



4. The Counting Game: An Accountant Reveals How to Win at Blackjack is different from an ordinary "how-to" gambling guide in that author Alan Berg is not only a skilled professional gambler (so good at winning money through card counting he's been banned in casinos across America), but also a certified public accountant. The Counting Game teaches the reader about the mechanics of card counting, the savvy acting skills needed not to get caught doing it, and especially about tax law, including how to take the government's due into account when calculating one's gambling profits. In particular, Berg notes that tax law is brutally regressive to recreational gamblers, effectively amounting to double taxation (and it's not much nicer to professional gamblers, who must adhere to stringent criteria to be considered such by the IRS). Taking the hypothetical example of a female recreational gambler who wins a $7000 casino jackpot and then amasses $7000 of losses in subsequent plays: "Her preparer explains that the $7000 win, even though wiped out by aggregate losses of roughly an equal amount, reduce her refund to the tune of $1475!" Although The Counting Game is the "must-have" blackjack counting book for anyone seeking to make money at casino tables, it effectively (and unintentionally?) is also one of the strongest exhortations not to gamble at all, simply because it spells out the unvarnished truth about what gambling for a living is really like, the severity of its risks, and the demands it makes upon a player. Highly recommended.



5. This is the second blackjack book I've read. It's very good and has a lot of interesting and useful information. It also only costs about 10 bucks, but there are two important points here: In Berg's view, one would need to start with about $150,000 to make serious money in blackjack. Second, he uses one of the most complex card-counting methods out there.

5 comments about Snowflakes for all Seasons.

1. I have truly enjoyed sharing this book with my adult kids and my grandkids. Everybody gets into the action



2. "You can use the same patterns many times. Photocopy or trace the patterns rather than cutting them out so you can use them many times. You can also photocopy your patterns smaller or larger so you have a variety of snowflake sizes for decorating."
   
   Snowflakes for all seasons is a pattern book to delight the imagination and give children a fun project for the holiday season or any holiday during the year. The snowflakes are not only for Christmas, but also include:
   
   New Year's
   Valentine's Day
   President's Day
   St. Patrick's Day
   Spring
   Easter
   Summer
   Fourth of July
   Autumn
   Halloween
   Thanksgiving
   Christmas
   Winter
   Fun Favorites - Teddy Bears, Football, Ferris Wheel, Pinwheel and many more...
   
   To create each snowflake you follow the folding instructions and then use the pattern at the base of any page where you find a snowflake you love.
   
   Snowflakes can be used to decorate presents, packages, scrapbooks, invitations, Christmas trees or even the holiday table any time of the year. Buy a few glue glitter pens to decorate the snowflakes or glue and glitter to match any seasonal theme.
   
   ~The Rebecca Review



3. The snowflakes are quite interesting and very different from other snowflake books that I've come across. I did find it difficult however, to copy the snowflakes onto paper where students were able to cut them into the respective snowflakes. Also it made it difficult to utilize the book, because the snowflake shapes designed to be the pattern were on every consecutive page, making it difficult to copy them. I thought the book was going to be somewhat easier to utilize than it is; one should be able to easily transfer the snowflake pattern onto a paper and go from there.



4. No the bang for the buck, should be no more than $5.
   Small book but ok directions.
   I would probably not recomend this book.



5. I have a previous version of this book which seems to be the same except for the cover. I love it and use it year round. I've been cutting snowflakes this way freehand for about 30 years but it's so nice to have patterns. You really need manicure scissors for some of the patterns but not all.
   
   The best way to use this book is to copy the pages you need, cut out the triangular pattern from the copy, fold up your paper and then tape the pattern to the top using a very small piece of tape. Then cut around the white parts and you are set.

5 comments about The Dungeon Master's Guide (Advanced Dungeon and Dragons 2nd Edition Hardcover Rulebook).

1. an easy to use referance of everyhting you need to run a gam



2. This stunning edition was the best of TSR's work unsurpassed by the latter revision and though I have not had the chance to actually have the third I'm sure it is unequal to the 2nd edition. If wizards of coast now owners of TSR were intelligent they would bring the 2nd edition back to printwith the original artwork but stronger more durable covers. Overall besides the shoddy bindings and how easily the books wear out I found the 2nd edition to be supreme in it's easy to generate characters and easy explanitions. The history the book also imparts was most intresting as well.



3. The updated and enhanced version of the first edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. They also sanitise it a little to keep those whacky religious nuts in the USA happy from memory, as well, as they do in other books.
   
   A little bit of the charm of the original is missing, but they do try and make things more consistent.



4. This AD&D 2nd edition has artifacts, but again they put a cap on it. Encumbrance rules.



5. This edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game should be considered definitive.
   
   Buy as many as you can. Horde them like a dragon hordes gold. Don't play a session without it.

5 comments about Soothing Soaps: For Healthy Skin.

1. This is the 2nd book I have purchased by Sandy Maine. The pictures are wonderful as usual and the variations versatile and easy to follow. The resource guide is very helpful. She offers helpful information on the herbs used and explains how each used can benefit the user. It does not however, give a basic recipe for making the transparent soap as she did in an earlier book. I think at least one should have been included. This book is basically for melt-and-pourers.



2. I own another soap making book from Sandy Maine and enjoy it very much, so decided to try another one. After purchasing it from Amazon, I quickly realized that this book is strictly glycerine soaps. There was no indication of this from what I could tell. I wanted a book on actual soap making, not pre-made soap enhanced by botanicals. In summary, the title or book summary should mention that this book is about melt and pour soap only. Consequently, I returned the book.



3. I noticed that this book is lacking of showing how to work with the glycerine in order to make this soaps. I don't believe this book is for beginers in soapmaking. Other than that, it has nice photos!



4. I wanted some insight into how to incorporate herbs into my melt and pour soap, and I found this book very helpful. Contrary to what another reviewer said, not all melt and pour soap bases contain alcohol and fillers - it is possible to get m&p soap base that is composed of natural ingredients.

   I was pleased to find information on different methods of preparing your own decoctions, tinctures and infusions from herbs, and also some basic information on gathering herbs.

   I found this book to be very helpful to someone like me who didn't know anything about herbal soaps and didn't know where to start. I have already made several of the soaps and have been very pleased with them.




5. This is a nice lil book for ideas for healing soaps I use it more for the combinations of essential oils than the actual soap recipes. If you are new to soapmaking I would pair this with the book by Anne Watson called "Smart Soapmaking" and its always a good idea to get at least a couple good aromatherapy books to help figure out scenting and what goes well and what each oils properties are some oils although they smell good are not meant for every type of person to use its important to know what effects they can have on you, your families and or customers.

No comments about Clancy's End War: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).