aries101

You get a Holy Symbl for one of your ing slots when you reach Level 25 as a Cleric in BG2. At least that is what is says in my BG2 manual.

Maybe the reason why a game like Crysis sell 4-5 time more than Crysis for PC is the simple fact that most people actually can play the game on their PS3 or Xbox 360 console. As I understand the system requirements (recommended) they are very -ehm - steep. The point here of course being that many PC gamers might like to play Crysis, but haven't the PC machine that's capable of running the game. Also, please don't blame PC gaming as the main reason for why your game is not selling as much as expected. (I don't support or condone piracy in any way, shape or form). The thing is that people who pirate games probably won't buy your game anyway - sad but true. And again, this is an explanation why people pirate games, not a post defending the action of these people...

Jsut to mind you all that you can BUY gem bags, potion cases and get a nice thingie in which to keep your arrows. Also, just choose the fighters' places for arrows to store them. And yes, in the end, you sort of miss this: *you must gather your party before venturing forth* narrotor's voice...

Let me elaborate a bit on my comment about why I don't think Bioware will ever do a game like Bioshock or a game like STALKER. Bioshock is really not the controversial (political) game it could be, because the player's missions only seem to survive. However, to me, Bioshock is a real social critique, especially of any (political) idelogogy that says 'Is not a man entitled to the sweat of his brow? and the ideology of every man for himself. There's even a thread or two at the 2k forums, discussing this. Now, my take is that Bioware would never make a game which has this premise as an underlying score e.g. an ideal society turned bad, whatever idelogy lies behind that society. Bioware seems to be in the business of making sold B-games that sell a lot. That's why I don't think they would ever make a game like STALKER where the developers did something very creative: they took a tragedy, the Chernobyl Incident, and made a game that takes place in the no-go zone. I maintain that Bioware wouldn't make such a game, since someone (ray or greg?) might deem it highly conroversial since it could be seen as Bioware being against the peaceful use of nuclear power.

As for why PS: Torment didn't sell well, I think it relied on two things: That stupid box cover and that the game did not get much hype or PR upon release. I just liked in my box the other day (was doing abit of cleaning up) and what do I find? A very nice poster that has The Nameless One and all of his cronies/compadres standing around him. Why they don't went with that very nice poster as box art, eludes me - I really don't know. But isn't the PS:Torment IP so the speak still in the hands of Interplay?

Isn't the license or art? still at Interplay i.e. Harve Caen since it was Interplat that published the game, PS Torment ? Anyway, I do agree that it would be very hard to get WotC (or Hasbro) to make a game in 'the planes' are since WotC basically just has -ehm- pulled the plug on these settings. But a decent game set in the less known area of Forgotten Realm. As you know (or might not know), there's more to tje Forgotten Realms than just Faerun. There's also the place where the Red Wizards live, there's a desert someone and very very far east, there seems to be good tales for telling stories.

I think you really should re-consider about kicking Jaheira out of the game. I won't go into much detail here, but there's a very nice quest for you, if you decide to Also, later in the BG2 game, you will be glad to have picked at least three people that are capable of casting spells and such. My favorite party for BG1 was also: Imoen Jaheira Khalid Dynaheir Minsc Dynaheir Others played with Branwen or the other ranger (Corgan?). Currently I'm playing BG2 and having a lot of fun with Next time I play BG1+BG2 I think I might just play as a Bard...

To be fair, NWN, the first one, was not really planned as a singleplayer game at all - before way into the development of the game. The game is not really a game. It is an editor with a game (said by a Bioware dev somewhere on the web). Bioware's goal with NWN1 and the DMclient? was to bring someone of that old school pnp rpg experience onto the computer. NWN1 was the first (rpg) that shipped with an editor (that I know of) that allowed people to make their own ehm- worlds, characters, buildings and stuff for the game to mod the game. And NWN1 has been modded a lot - even by the Premium modules whose prices have helped pay for the continuing support of the game. I rarely visit the ignvault for NWN but when I do, I do think it is amazing how much creativity there is out there and how creative and, yes, innovative, some of these people are that mod games like NWN1. I agree with Sand that Bioware games probably are B+ games (or 8/10 games in rating terms). There's just something there; you just know that if they had done this or that a bit differently, the game would definitely be as a good as say Planescape: Torment. However, B movies tend to sell more games than A movies do - even very good A movies. The B movies then bring in the cash to pay for the (smalller) A movies being made. Maybe that's about to happen in the game industry as well? At this point we can only hope, I think. I also agree to a point that dialogue in most of Bioware's games certainly could have been better. However, if you look at the dialogue found in the last part of Throne of Bhaal (Amkrethran and) where a certain David Gaider was the leadwriter? you will get treated to some very funny dialogue -and sometimes memorable conversations with your party members as well. As for combat options, I actually prefer Bioware's realtime with pause system that I think they sort of invented for the Infinity Engine used in both BG1+BG2+PS:Torment+IWD games. Also, Bioware's games have always been about the story, to deliver and make the best story they possibly can. And then sometimes the dialogue is a bit -ehm- lacking, although it certainly is higher than in some other games...I could mention... As said in my first post, I like Bioware's games. You know what you're gonna get if you play a Bioware game - just like you what you're gonna get when you watch a (good) B-movie like an old John Wayne Western or you go see a OK, but not great romantic comedy. I like both John Wayne movies and romantic comedies as well as very weird stuff in both games and movies. I like to play adventure games and some FPS games, too. In fact, the clerk at my local Gamestop/EB Games got so surprised that I bought the adventure game *Agon - the last sword of toledo* that he completely forgot to pull the price tag off the game. He must have thought it was a kid's game or something like that. I like unusual plots with a twist or two and then maybe again a twist or two near the end. I like STALKER for this; it is an unsual and brave idea, I find to make an FPS game in the Chernobyl Zone. The underwater city of Rapture in Bioshock also appeals to me, simply because this is so brilliant an idea - to have an idyllic society go under - and I do mean - litterally - go under. And the idea with the Big Daddies and the Little Sisters --- brilliant as well. I don't think Bioware will ever come close to anyhing like the story etc. in both Bioshock or STALKER. Maybe Obsidian still has a shot at it. The story in the Mask of the Betrayer Expansion for NWN2 should be very well written, I'm told.

I'm currently playing Baldur's Gate: Throne of Bhaal. I lost interest in the game some while ago, but after listening in on (written) conversation about the game at the rpgwatch, I started playing it again. I have to say that the game gets better once you get to Amkethran. I'm currently in Sendais Enclave, fighting Sendai. A very interesting and well planned battle, I might add. Next I think I will play either an adventure game like the just released 'Agon - the Lost sword of Toledo' or maybe the first NWN or KOTOR game.

The main problem I'm having with the author's comments is that he seems to say that Bioware are to be blamed for the very good press they get when their games are rated. To me, this is not Bioware's fault or wrong-doing. It is simply the way the press, the gaming media and the reviews for games work today. If you follow the Bioware forums closely (as I do), you will see that most devs, especially in the Dragon Age forums, but certainly in the forums, too, always have very candid, honest and up front answers. The same goes for Patrick Weekes who hangs out at the rpgwatch and David Gaider who hangs out at the ropgcodex from time to time. Especially David Gaider's comments on the rpgcodex are very candid as he does not pay lip service to the -ehm- codexians?- but simpy and plainly states the why, how of where Bioware is coming from in regards to the design of their games. Bioware's mission statement is 'to make the best storydriven games in the world.' Please note that it says 'games', not RPGs. That way, the main story in Mass Effect and Jade Empire still gets to be a good story about something (important), and the devs. then build the game mechanics etc. around this story. Other games or rpgs are more engines in search of a game - or games in search of a story. To me, it seems that he complains about Jade Empire or KOTOR or even Mass Effect being (good) stories with a game tacked onto them. This is exacly the reason I like Bioware's games. I know that I will be getting a decent main story, and some interesting sidemissions as well. Of course, not everything the devs. wanted to put into the game, is going to end up in the game. The game has to be released at one time. It is by no fault by Bioware that the gaming press is hyping say Mass Effect or Jade Empire which both got very hight ratings. I believe IGN gave Mass Effect a 9.9/10 or maybe even a 10/10; Jade Empire got a 9.9 rating from IGN when it was first released for the Xbox, then 2

My point is this: I like open endings or endings that are not the very cliche endings. I like these endings both in movies, in films and in games as well. And the Stalker ending or the CoD4 thing happening seems just like a very good way to end things or even a good mid point in the game. I like things that aren't mainstream...

No, I don't approve of torture in any way, shape or form. Torture is torture. Period. It has also been proved several times that torture simply does not work. The best method to get someone to talk is actually to get them at ease so they trust the person who asks them questions of the delicate nature that needs to be asked.

I think you probably are mistaken 'simple plots' for 'easy to understand plots'. I mean, if you look at the plot for say PS: Torment, the plot reallys very simple. A guy wakes up in a mortuary on slap. He has no knowledge of how he came to be in this mortuary or who he is. His task is now to find out all of this. And in doing the plot unfold into something deeper and very complex. The same goes for Baldur's Gate 1. In this game, BG1, your task is to find out who you are, and in doing so, you just happen to, nearly by accident, stumble across some problems in Nashkell and the Forgotten Realms. As for the comments about STALKER's ending, I will just point to the ending in the first Fallout 1 and something in the latest COD-installment; CoD4. Huge spoiler ahead - read at your own risk: To me, having the player die in STALKER seems logically enough. Afterall, you've been walking through radioactive zones in the game most of the time. Realistically, this will kill you. But it does seem to kill any future adventures in Chernonyl land - with the same character. Ken Levine mentions, I think, that you have to keep things simple. I agree a lot with this statement, especially if it means that you, as the developer, makes sure that the player and his character have a reason why they're doing what they're doing. A bad example of how not to do this is actually Oblivion. I feel that I don't have a hook or feel the necessity to be doing the game's main quest. It just seems to be going through the motions of deliver thing, find this person etc. etc. I don't feel as emotionally involved as I did in BG1 or even Diablo 1+2 and certainly not as much as I did in PS: Torment. If you look at like Drew Karpyshyn does here: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=186193 you will see that Drew (from Bioware) thinks that Bioware and videogames are just finding their forms of telling interactive stories; their own way of narrating a game, both in form of the technology used as well as in the form of telling (great) stories. In this, Drew is also saying that he thinks that video games need to find their own voices, their own conventions on how to write a game as well as finding their conventions on how games ought to (or should) develop. I have to say that I actually agree with Drew on this. First, I think the game writers tried to as the books told stories, then how movies told stories. Given that games are sort of different from both books and movies in that the player actually interacts with the world and that his, or rather his character's decisions, is able to change the world, it makes sense to develop certain game conventions on how games ought to be made - both techwise as well as storywise.

Thanks, no upgrade for me until the performance on games is at par with XP. Maybe by late 2009/early 2010 perhaps. Yes, and then Microsoft actually plan to release their next OS called Vienna as a working title. I just hope my computer from August 2003 old computer will hold on till at least the middle of 2010 or so. As for Vista I have seen both that list in Swedish and some sort of test that Tom's hardware did. And Vista still lost many of the battles to XP. Then again, you really need to compare Vista SP1 to XPSP1. And then I think Vista is far more superior than Vista. It really is unfair to compare a 6-7 year old well supported and updated XP OS to a 1 year old Vista SP1 OS.

Ouch - that was close. I'm glad that this worked out so well for you. Lucky, the tree was there -ehm- I mean you for you and your associates in the building behind the tree. Not so lucky for the cardriver, though. Hope he (or she) is alright and OK? The name of the CHIP's officer also made me remember how much the US is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society

No, the story does not end - here - necessarily - Yo

If anyone of you can remember the now vey old King's Quest games, I simply hated the slly ways you could die in these games. As Ken?, the head guy for the now closed Sierra Studios, used to be a music teacher, there had to be two-three music puzzles in each King's Qust game. It was really annoying - especially since I'm sort of tonedeaf and I'm also a bit colorblind which meant I really sighed when I saw yet again one toneslider puzzle with colors in another King's Quest game. Then there's the safe puzzle in Shivers 2 - very annoying - and partly responsible for me never finishing that game...

but not, apparently, a spellchecker. it's = contraction of 'it is' its = possessive form of 'it' This is an internet forum, not an English term paper. Yes, I understand this. And if it were a member of an internet forum that made this, it would forgiveable. However, it is an official press release from a studio. And my take is that official press releases at least should be checked and checked and proof-read again just to avoid things like this. To just chime in with the choir here: I actually think that it is sad to see Iron Lore go away, as I haven't yet played neither Titan Quest nor its expansion Immortal Throne. I

I haven't read the article in the Escapist yet, but I think that Jack this time around has better cause - also seen from (some) gamers viewpoint. If Jack's against the violence in America's Army that's one thing, but if he (like me) is against US Department of Defense being involved in game making at all, then I think more gamers need to back him up on this point. I dont see why the DoD needs to be involved in game making at all....

I don't think Jack Thompson suddenly did fall into an alternative universe. Jack usually complains about the content that it is inthe games, not content that's not in the games. I think that Jack Thompson is fine with Mass Effect since it is being market to M(ature) gamers and that you have to be 17+ in most stores to buy it. I also think that even Jack Thompson can see that Fox News did tell 'lies' or at least weren't that truthfull about the content in Mass Effect.

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/50713 http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=c...16&Itemid=2 According to the above short articles Kane&Lynch has sold about 1 million units or games. However, sometimes publishers seem to confuse shipped units with sold units. Just because a game unit has been shipped does not necessarily mean that it also has been sold. As A Dane, however, I'm happu with this, since it means that the Danish developer, IO Interactive, can get their expenses (& then some some ) re-imbursed. The best thing that could happen, imo, was in fact the controversy about this game, since it means that many people just are buying the game to check out for themselves if the game really is as awafull as Gamespot's Jeff Gerstmann claimed. As for for Yahtzee's reviews, I have had a hard time taking them too seriously lately. I mean, the first one was still fun and all, but there seemed to be certain seriousness about the games he reviewed. Now it seems that he just most of all goes for the 'awe & shock' effect. This also can be seen in his most recent reviews of *the witcher* It is fine that he doesn't like the story etc. etc. and that he doesn't like the dialogue(s) in *the witcher*. But I have just one thing to say. It is an rpg - not an FPS game. Or in other words: It isn't Halo 3 or Half-Life 2. Complaining about dialogues in an rpg as well as choice & consequences etc. in an rpg seems just a bit silly. As for Bioware getting highly acclaimed reviews, maybe their games just deserve this. I agree, however, that ratings in the 9.5-9.99 point range seems just a little bit (ok, a lot) silly, but it must be the journalists that have to look inward if this should change, imo. They need to be fair as well as balanced and apply their critical sense as well when they review a game. Then maybe we won't see ratings in the 9.70 to 9.98 range for games that don't deserve it, at least not when you read the text to the reviews.

I've read about this on the Bioware forums and on other places on the net, too. I also read his apology. I still don't think he gets it, though. As others have pointed out, both here and on his blog, there are several factual flaws in his blog about Mass Effect. The first thing, of course, being that you can customize the size of female Shepard's breasts. You can't. In his apology http://kevinmccullough.townhall.com/blog/g...e#commentAnchor he mentions that he has seen lots of different breast sizes for women in the game in some videos on youtube. Apparently, he doesn't know that you can only customize your own character e.g. the main character and not any other character in the game. If he hung out (like I do ) over athe Bioware forums, he will learn that a lot of people would like to have a romance with Tali as they her as the epitome of mystery. I don't know where he get that Mass Effect primarily are targeted towards the 15-18 year olds. Bioware has clearly stated from the start that they wanted to a Mature game for Mature players. And so they did. As far as I can tell from hearing about the game, the game's main story is one of the best ever written for a videogame so far - on par with the best writing for any movie. He also seems to have failed to understand that there's isn't any state or federal laws (in the US) that prohibits the sale of M-rated games to people under tage age of 17. The ESRB ratings are voluntary, and any restriction about to whom stores sell M-rated games are made by the stores themselves and the parents of a 15year old say young adult. I agree with http://www.gamerdad.com that parents need to become involved in their kids lives when it comes to gaming. They also need to monitor and decide on what games they let their 15 year old kids play. It is the parents that know their kids to best. Hence, we can have one family that allows a 15 year old to play Mass Effect, and another that won't allow their 15 year old kid to play it. This is how the modern world functions. Deal with it. The point is that 15 year olds still can get hold of M-rated games, if and when their parents decide it's OK for them to play it. And that's how it ought to be (and should be, imo). He still doesn't seem to get that the romances and the following (mild) sexscene are entirely optional. In fact, I have seen more skin & nudity in some sex scenes in a romantic Danielle Steel movie. I don't object to sex scenes etc. in games, if they are done in manner so they fit well into the story and are not used for gratuitous sex - just to sell the game. Unfortunately, I'm no fan of how the Bioware marketing team decided to sell Mass Effect as it seems as if they, too, thought that most gamers today are still 18-22 year old college boys, when evidence clearly points out that the average gamer today is about 35 years or even older while women now are about 50% of the gamer population. I agree with him (and others, too) that young children from about 10-14 should not play Mass Effect, but again, the decions must be left up tp the parents, not the state. On the whole sexual act thing, it seems (again) to me that he's been misinformed or just misunderstood something. The Asari (the blue chicks) are not lesbians. They are asexual, or at least they reproduce asexually, but I think the developers (bioware) has classified them as female. (in our sense of the word, at least). Mr. McCollough's point is that Bioware should not even have put the sex scenes in the game at all which, of course, is a valid point, but then he needs to argue why he think it should be so, not just say 'god did not intend it that way'. And no, Mass Effect is contrary to what someone thinks not about sex in space, it's about the human race fighting for its survival with your character doing the best they can to save the human race from -ehm- oblivion. /aries101

Yes, there is. All the infamous content will be cut. That means no green nipples for you, no sex-minigame, no sexcards and probably some other stuff, too. At the rpgwatch.com we've had some very nice discussions about this subject: Here's two of the relecant threads: http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread....50753#post50753 http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3014 If you can live with the nipples covered, and no sex mini-game as well as without stylized pictures of naked ladies (think as revealing as the 1940's-1950's pinup girls) you should be OK with the Atari download. Actually, the covered nipples could be alot more sexy than the swhon ones

Just to re-iterate the review from the Codex : http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=159 (a good thing can't be said too many times...) I wanted to get this game, after reading about it. Now I feel like I need to have this game Praise from the Codex isn't something you see everyday. Sadly, I can't afford to get games right now. But the the day I can, MotB will be the first game, I buying

I don't why it isn't released in Sweden, but I do know that it apparently has been released in Russia for some odd reason. I do know that in Europe new games are released at the end of the week e.g. on Fridays so that's why The Witcher will be released on Friday the 26th of October 2007. In the US new games are released on Tuesday, so that's why The Witcher will be released on the 30th of October 2007. The codex reviews, so far, seems harsh, but I've seen some of the videos as well as followed the game's development somewhat closely. Initially I wasn't going to buy this game, but eventually I will one day. The game's story seem amazing as well as the settings in the games. They are very unique and innovative, in the truest senses of these words The Codex has a habit of taking everything to pieces with their sharp teeth. If it still stands, then they like & cherish is forever - just like they've done with Planescape: Torment. And just like they're doing today, with Mask of the Betrayer. I wouldn't worry too much about the Codex's reviews, though....