SteveThaiBinh

I've just finished the main quest in Oblivion as a melee fighter - he did the Fighter's Guild as well, so I'm going to test the replayability of this game by starting again as a magic user character. Shame the main story isn't a little more compelling. Don't get me wrong, it's an improvement on Morrowind, but still... I've tried to replay Bloodlines a few times, but can't really get back into it. I played through three or four times when I first got it, so maybe I need to wait another year or two until it feels fresh. I'd really love to be able to take a character through who was skilled in guns and never needed to use melee.

I'm pleased, by the way, that Jade Empire is coming to PC, even though as I said I'll probably wait before getting it. When this was announced as a console-only game by Bioware, it first occured to me that I might one day need to get a console. After all, there are not that many decent RPGs out there, or companies producing them, and so far they've mostly been available on the PC. If half of them were to switch to a console format, then I'd be forced to follow them. Happily, with both Fable and Jade Empire on the PC, I shall remain a next-gen free zone for the forseeable future.

The Israelis were being nice? When? I think I must have missed that part. Last time I looked, they were doing everything they could to promote chaos and destabilise and undermine any form of government in the Palestinian territories, and that was before Hamas got elected even.

That's certainly true, and with the US' support, even if all Arab and Muslim countries sided together against Israel, they would still have little chance of 'winning', if winning means conquering the territory of Israel. That said, they could end up making large parts of the region virtually uninhabitable. In war, everyone loses. There's no appetite from governments in the region for a general gang-up on Israel, by the way. The Saudi Government, for example, is trying (somewhat successfully) to reduce the influence of al-Qaeda and the extremists on public opinion by focusing people's attention onto domestic issues of public services and governance. They are sympathetic towards the Palestinians and Hamas, but won't inconvenience themselves over it.

Are we discussing the article here? We could move it to another thread, I suppose. Anyway, these statements that Bush is signing - I'm not sure I understand the concept. Does it mean that the President reserves the right to disobey laws and authorise others to do the same? Wouldn't that put him above the law?

Grateful, definitely. It's like TOMBS. How deep do I really want to get sucked in? Wandering aimless through a labyrinth of obsidian, dodging the trolls, and no ball of string to guide me home...

There are two movies in which I thought Bruce Willis acted well, and both are science fiction. Twelve Monkeys was pretty good, and he managed to portray the character with sufficient ambiguity that you couldn't be sure he wasn't just crazy, exactly as the role demanded. The other was Fifth Element, which called for an element of comedy. Although he was more of the straight man to Chris Tucker, that's not easy to do either.

At this rate, I give it a week. I sincerely hope this is a happier experience for you than last time, and that the whole forum does its best to make it so.

I just finished the game, or the main quest at least. I had lags quite a lot, and that was with a FX6600GT card. It wasn't bad for the most part, although living within a 10m-diameter pool of grass that moved with me was rather distracting for a while. This card isn't really up to running the game well, though, and I'm thinking of getting something better next month.

Who gets the last post in before the thread is locked?

Hey, thanks! (w00t) I didn't realise they'd finished. The QfG2 remake is taking a while, but AGD does have a record of releasing its remakes, so I doubt it will be vapourware. I'm also looking forward to The Silver Lining, Coming Soon Quite Soon Eventually?

Well, for one more game at least. I haven't seen Brazil play as well in this tournament as France did tonight, but then they haven't need to. We'll see soon enough whether they can raise their game and beat the French, but I'm afraid (apologies to Lucius), Brazil is still the more likely victor.

You mean you already own BG1 and would be buying just for the expansion pack? I wouldn't say it was worth it. The new dungeon (Durlag's Tower, is it?) is good but doesn't add much to a game that is already excellent and doesn't need much added to it.

You know, we have all these 'Welcome Mod' threads, but rarely a 'Goodbye (or Good Riddance?) Mod' thread. They enter with a fanfare and sneak out the back door. We should have evaluations, post-mortems, and discussions of modding goals achieved or not achieved. Oh, and Happy Modhood to Lady Crimson.

For the danger? The thrill of the hunt? Since they have the technology to get here, they're unlikely actually to need anything we have and certainly wouldn't need to set foot on the planet. No-one said aliens have to be logical.

Oh no, France has scored! I guess Spain is probably on the way out. It's a shame because they've been more entertaining to watch over the tournament and I'd say they've shown the potential to be the better team. But then, that's always the way with Spain - all potential and little follow-through. Still, seven minutes to go...

It was at that. I didn't think so until I had Torque inflicted upon me on an aeroplane. Now that's a bad movie. They copied that from the Day of the Triffids movie (the book was better - much). I liked Signs - the music was good and films that endeavour not to show the source of the menace are sometimes more interesting than those with fancy special-effects monsters. Good acting, too. I feel sometimes that most science fiction is rather silly if you actually think about it - or if you know something about the area of science that's being fiddled with - but maybe it's best just to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Oblivion. Plod, plod, thwack, plod, plod, thwack. It's good, though, apart from the Oblivion Gates. Whoever at Bethesda thought those would be fun?

I knew, but will probably wait until it's reduced - heavily reduced - before spending any money on a game that, while I've heard it has some good characters and story elements, is a standard-bearer for the growing trend toward shorter games. Let it be written that 30-40 hours on the first playthrough is a reasonable length for a game, though longer is often better.

They never really had a serious chance, I suppose. Still, it's got to be one of the moments of your life, playing against Brazil in the World Cup, and I don't think they're playing at all badly. Go Ghana!

The Mystery of Silver Mountain. I had to type in page after page of BASIC from the book. It was my first adventure game, and the first game I really really loved. Hero's Quest I was the first game I loved on the PC, and I still play from time to time in Dosbox - nothing beats the epic quality of taking the same character from QfG1 to QfG5. The King's Quest games were good, too.

Simulation Simulation Simulation Simulation Simu - oh well, you get the idea.

I just had a stale croissant for breakfast. I really need to go shopping this weekend.

That game was very uncomfortable viewing. I think there could have been another red card or two if the ref had seen everything that went on. I hope the papers and pundits don't start moaning about how the ref lost control of the game - every single one of those red and yellow cards was richly deserved.

Silly whiteboard stick figures (I think it's Chris Avellone who draws them?), of the main characters in the story, as used in story discussion meetings or whatever they have.