ktchong

I have never played an Assassin's Creed or Call of Duty game. I remember the first Assassin's Creed game. It received a lot of attention because it had a hot female producer/director (who spoke French.) The game received a lot of good press. I was not interested in that particular type of game, (I am still not,) but I was mildly interested in that game because of its interesting historical premise. (The sci-fi twist had not been revealed at the time.) Then, Assassin's Creed came out. Its Metacritics and Gamerankings scores were... underwhelming. Its Metascore was 81, (71 for the PC version.) Back then, it was easy for a high-profile "AAA" game to received high-80 to 90+ mo Metacritics. A lot of AAA titles at the time were getting 88, 89, 90+ at Metacritics, (i.e., BioShock, Mass Effect, Halo 3, etc.) Which means Assassin's Creed must have sucked to have gotten such a "low" score. So it was a pass for me. (Over the years, Metacritics gradually re-adjusted and improved its formulas. Now it is harder a game to get 90+.) I do not play FPS that glorifies US interventionist imperialism.

For the very first time in history, a team of international human right observers are on US soils to monitor human right abuses and unlawful arrests/obstructions of journalists by the police. (The polices are still arresting journalists.)

According to the established lore, there are no female witcher; and the game is called "the Witcher". The mutation potions and toxins that created witchers would not work on females. I believe the mutagens also would not work on elves, dwarves and other species. The mutagens work on and transforms, only, human males. The toxins would kill everyone else. Women can still receive witcher training, (like Ciri has,) but women could never become a true witcher without the mutagens to enhance their endurance, speed, senses, regenerations and immunities, (and make men sterile.) But Ciri, being a descendent of the Elder Blood, has other powers of her own; and she is being speculated to be the main character of the Witcher 4.

In terms of technology and gameplay, the Witcher 2 was a huge leap and improvement over The Witcher 1. Here is a big difference between CD Projekt RED and BioWare: BioWare reused the same game engine for Mass Effect 1, 2 and 3, and the same engine for Dragon Age 1 and 2. BioWare inherited the recycling habit from Interplay/Black Isle, who reused the same engine for Fallout 1 and 2, and then recycle the same engine (the famous Infinity) for Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, Icewind Dale 1 and 2, and Planescape: Torment. On the other hand, CD Projekt RED (CDPR) has a different philosophy: CDPR uses a completely different, rewritten, hugely improved engine for each game. CDPR uses BioWare's Aurora engine for its very first game, the Witcher, back when CDPR was still an underfunded new-kid-on-the-block. So the first Witcher game was actually underwhelming and rough around the edges, due to CDPR's inexperience and the limitation of the Aurora engine (which was already outdated at the time.) But it was a good first effort by a new company. Then, for the Witcher 2, CDPR built its own game engine from the ground-up. IMO, the REDengine was more visually and cinematically impressive than its contemporary Dragon Age engine, (i.e., Eclipse, which was built in-house by BioWare.) IMO, at that point, CDPR had already surpassed BioWare, at least in terms of technical expertise and engineering game engines. However, REDengine was not quite as impressive as the engine used by Mass Effect trilogy, but that was Unreal Engine 3 and was not built in-house by BioWare. So, the Mass Effect customizations of Unreal Engine 3 > REDengine of The Witcher 2 > Eclipse of Dragon Age, based on what I saw on YouTube. Of course, CDPR has built a new engine for the Witcher 3, (REDengine 3). CDPR is more like Bethesda in that respect, and reminds me of the old Origin System (who created a new engine for every Ultima game.) They are more innovative and progressive in terms of technology. BioWare is actually a very conservative company - just look at how BioWare has recycled the same narrative structure and formula over and over again in their games. Anyway. My point being: the Witcher 2 is a very different gaming experience from the Witcher 1. CDPR made a huge leap in technology and gameplay between those two games. Even the narrative structures in the Witcher 1 and 2 are drastically different.

Not "everyone else" does what BioWare is doing right now with DLCs, Origin, and BioWare Points. Anyway, I think you are too in love in with BioWare to see the differences, so I will not waste any more of my time.

Assuming the console and media storage (cartridges/diskettes/discs) still work. I doubt any hardware built by Microsoft will still work twenty-five years from now. I prefer gaming on PC, especially for Western RPG. I do not have a feud with BioWare. I am actually on BioWare forums. I do not buy their games anymore because I refuse to be exploited by their current business model. It is not like I got into a big fight with someone at BioWare and then decided I would never buy their games ever again. If BioWare abandons their current business model, then I will maybe start buying from BioWare again. (If BioWare changes to an even worse business model, then obviously I won't.) Obviously we had very different customer service experience with Microsoft. My experience was extremely negative, so I would never buy another Xbox again. There is no reason for me to bypass the Xbox Live ban if I intend to never be a Xbox customer again. "Screw me once, shame on Xbox. Screw me twice, shame on me."

Not all game developers use DLCs to exploit customers. Let take Bethesda as an example. Bethesda does not require me to install any particular client to play their games. Bethesda does not require me to buy some overbundled "Bethesda Points" to buy their DLCs. Bethesda does not fix their DLCs at full prices, even many years after release. Oh, here is another thing: Bethesda releases complete "Game of the Year" packages for completionists. BioWare does not even release "Game of the Year" or "Complete" pack anymore - because BioWare's business model is to make people pay for each and every DLC, individually, and always at the full price. Anyhow, if you are okay with BioWare's business model, then go ahead and buy Dragon Age: Inquisition. Please stop pester me over my decision to not buy Dragon Age: Inquisition or any more BioWare game. You are not going to change my mind, and I am not going to change yours; and I know I am not alone in my decision to not support BioWare due to its exploitative business model. I am not going to dissuade you from buying from BioWare. It is your money. I was just replying to Leferd who asked me which RPG I would chose and why.

The best thing about PC is that when I buy a game on PC, I know I should be able to play the game twenty or thirty years from now. Recently, I have just started replaying Quest for Glory (1989) with a different class, and I plan to bring that character through the entire series. That is a twenty-five year-old games. Can you say the same for a console game? Do you think twenty-five years from today you will be able to play an Xbox game that you buy now? Anyway. Xbox is not an option for me. Microsoft has permanently banned me from Xbox Live over a dispute that arose over the Red Ring of Death on Xbox 360. After a very unpleasant customer experience with Microsoft, I returned my Xbox 360 to Costco and then reversed all Xbox Live charges with American Express. Microsoft was not happy with the reversed charges. I was very happy because I won. It actually cost me more money to stay on phone with American Express than the actual costs of the Xbox Live transactions, but the satisfaction was so worth it. I am not interested in ever getting another Xbox console or Xbox Live account.

For PC, you do.

It does not matter. For me, DLCs - especially "plug-in" DLCs - have always been an all-or-nothing proposition. The "nothing" means I would not even bother with the main game. If I play a game, I want the "full" experience. In the past, I have always been able to enjoy the full experience with all the DLCs, with minimal hassle and reasonable expenses. Then BioWare came up with its current business model to use DLCs to squeeze and exploit customers. BioWare and their fans tell me, "well, you do not have to get all the DLCs." Well, I am not going to change my gaming preference just for BioWare. If BioWare does not provide that experience without exploitation, I as a customer can take my money elsewhere, and I do. There are plenty of other great RPG developers out there who can give me the full experience without enforcing an exploitative business model on me or or forcing me to compromise my gaming preference.

When I said BioWare products are integrated/tied into their business models, I meant that if a customer wanted to fully utilize a recent BioWare product, he would have to download and install EA Origin to activate the product, buy more BioWare Points than he would need, and then use those Points to buy DLCs at full prices. BioWare products are tied to EA Origin, BioWare Points, and DLCs, which are very specific to EA-BioWare. The Witcher 3 will not be tied to any specific business model that exploits and inconveniences customers. You can buy the game in a box, or from Steam, or from GOG, or from Amazon, or wherever. CD Projekt Red does not force customers to adopt a specific business model to use their products. CD Projekt Red does not enforce a company-specific business model and distribution method on their customers.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Definitely not Dragon Age: Inquisition, for several reasons: I have never played a Dragon Age game. I bought Dragon Age: Origins on Steam, but I have never played it. I have not even downloaded it. Dragon Age: Origins was the last BioWare game I bought, and it is unlikely that I will buy another BioWare game. I dislike BioWare's current business model, which is driven by overpriced and excessive DLCs and, IMO, exploitative. I do not want to support BioWare's business model. BioWare DLCs are NEVER on sale. BioWare DLCs sell for the same full prices, always, even years after they were released. The Mass Effect 1 DLC still carries the same price tag as the day it did on the release day six or seven years ago. Another business model I refuse to support: BioWare Points. BioWare Points are the only way to buy the DLCs. The Points are structured, packaged and priced in exploitative increments so that customers would always have to pay more than we need to acquire the DLCs. BioWare always makes you buy more Points than you need to grab the DLCs you want. EA Origin is also another problem. I really do not want to install another client and keep track of my inventory at another online store. Origin also has a bad reputation. Those are the ones I can think of at the moment. I have a few more reasons, but none of them is related to the game itself. Maybe Dragon Age: Inquisition will be better than The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. However, that will not matter to me because my decision is based on BioWare's business model, not the game itself. Unfortunately, BioWare's business models are integrated and tied into their products. Their business model and their products are inseparable.

Dragon Age: Inquisition will be released on November 18, 2014, in North America, and November 21, 2014 in EU. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be released on March 24, 2015, four months after Dragon Age: Inquisition. We will see a lot of denials, but the two games are direct competitions. Both are the third installments in the series. Both belong to the same genre, i.e., medieval fantasy open-world sword-and-sorcery RPG with a strong focus on storytelling and characters. Both have very similar gameplay and execution, (i.e., third-person camera view, real-time tactical action combat with pause, dialogue choices that impact stories and characters, cinematic dialogues and dynamic cuts, etc.) Both will be released in the same time frame within a few months. Both are in the same generation so they are comparable in terms of technology and graphics. Most importantly, both games will require intensive time investment. Supposedly either one will consume over a hundred hours to complete. Most adults will have the time to dedicate to only one of the two - unless someone has no job, no school, no family, and no life; then he can certainly sit in his parents' basement and play video games all days. Otherwise, adults will have to prioritize and choose, and one has to come before the other That is why the two games are competitions. Let say you can choose one and only one. Which would you choose? Explain your choice. Even if you say you will buy both, you must prefer one over the other. So choose.

Overall, yes. However, the two absolute best episodes of the entire franchise are from the second season of The Legend of Korra: Beginning Part 1 and 2, which tells the origin of the first Avatar. (However, the second season of Korra is generally regarded as being the weakest season of the whole franchise, but with two exceptional episodes.) Also, people are saying this season (Season 3 of Korra) is the best season of the entire Avatar franchise - that's including Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I discovered her and Lorde (both songwriter-singer outside the US) at about the same time. Like Lorde, she was also 16 when she recorded this song. (I love them both.) Lorde has become an international sensation, but Chloe Howel still remains largely unknown. Pity.

Continued from the last post.

An Estonian girl who hosts a "Learn Estonian" channel on YouTube. She also speaks Korean and writes songs: Continue into the next post - each post is limited to two videos:

Well, it's feminists who keep saying being a mother/wife is the toughest job in the world. So don't blame him.

Paternity Fraud - how the US legal system enables feminism to defraud men:

The best animated series on television. The Legend of Korra is the sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender. I've always thought the mythology of the series would make an excellent setting for fantasy RPG. The Legend of Korra is currently in its Season 3, or "Book 3". All episodes of the current season are available online at the official Nickelodeon website. Links are below: Episode 1: A Breath of Fresh Air Episode 2: Rebirth Episode 3: The Earth Queen Episode 4: In Harm’s Way Episode 5: The Metal Clan Episode 6: Old Wounds Episode 7: Original Airbenders Episode 8: The Terror Within Episode 9: The Stakeout Episode 10: Long Live the Queen Episode 11: The Ultimatum