kalimeeri

Taking a straight Druid (diplomacy, for a change) through the NWN2 OC. Interesting, but sailing through confrontations almost seems anticlimactic after my Ranger/Wiz/EK fought his way through every one of them. The Druid's more than okay, though--at Level 15, he's quite a powerhouse in his own right. Once I'm finished, I'll take a break and run through Oblivion's Knights of the Nine, until another patch/expansion comes out (or until the K2 Restoration project gets done!). Might even take a look at JE when it's released for PC; but Crossroad Keep owns a piece of my heart, and I will go back. Also spectating while my youngest plays FF12. Hmmm. The graphics are well done, cities have a distinct Star-Wars feel to them. Battle system is okay, but the map/character interfaces either went for 'cute', or were dumbed down, can't decide which. A few of the party characters are well done, with voice-acting to match, while others (including the main PC) might just as well not be there. Skimpy motivation, no personality or real contribution, at least so far. Biggest disappointment is the story, though. It isn't horrid; just predictable, passe, even contrived, in places. (Enough with the family trees already, I get it.) Not a bad game, just not up to Final Fantasy standards. But that's no big surprise, after Square's signature writers walked out the door.

Ah, that would explain it, then. My first PC had 0 Diplomacy; succeeding ones are a little better, but not that much. Maybe the rogue... but he's still cowering in Ft Locke without two coins to rub together, whimpering about being afraid of the graveyard.

They won't join, but they will let you free the hostages and walk away. It's tough to impossible getting the villagers out alive if you have to fight your way out (assuming you want the XP for that quest). But you're right--you have to go through the graveyard first, or the conversation option never comes up--the bandit leader is a hostile the minute you see him. It's not obvious why at first. But I think Commander Tann being back has something to do with it--at least he wasn't hunting them down for the sake of killing them.

The way I see it: Revan was dynamic, always learning, always testing limits; and he was a very powerful force user with a talent for strategy. It was charm and charisma that drew people to him, and a sense of destiny that kept them. But as far as 'converting' people, that was a learned ability, and Malachor was his field test. He was determined to unite the force-sensitive under one leadership through 'bonding', because he knew the galaxy's survival was at stake; while that philosophy seemed to align him with the Sith, he was neither that nor 'Jedi', really. Whether 'gray Jedi' was Kreia's influence, or his own conclusion, it's hard to tell; I think it was a little of both. But she took credit for it. Exile was only a mediocre force-user. The bonding ability was natural, but he/she didn't consciously use it. It was the loyalty he inspired that distinguished him on the battlefield; it kept the troops fighting long after they should've given up. In this way he was working against Revan, at Malachor. But as Revan predicted, the strength of Exile's bonding ability was a flaw; the battle's death and suffering caused him to involuntarily turn 'off' any connection to the force, just to survive. The bonding ability remained. Through it, he was able to regain some connection to the force, by channeling to and from others. But in essence he was hollow. What Kreia did was teach him to use that, and try to put 'purpose' back into his life; and she didn't miss the fact that it could be useful to further Revan's (and her own) cause.

I don't know much about LCD's, but if it's a CRT, I've seen a number of them develop one tint or another when one part of the R-G-B electronics starts failing. It'll flicker back and forth for a time before staying blue (or pink). But it's generally not worth the cost of fixing.

Okay, now I'm excited. One of my favorite games of all time is about to get a whole lot better!

I'm right there with ya. Well, not the upgrade part, but this is the weekend to reformat and reinstall XP. This installation was a testament to XP's resiliency if I ever saw one--it's been through and coped with two motherboards, several video cards, two sound cards, and many many driver updates. It took somebody's stupid demo to bring it down, of all things; and I can't seem to undo whatever it did. Dontcha love how nobody seems to get what 'uninstall' means? It means 'I want ALL that crap off my system'! At any rate, I suppose it was time. But the new OS is going on an empty partition first, and after Windows is finished updating and all my base proggies are installed, it's Acronis time. And then if I get stupid or my hard drive crashes, at least I don't have to start from square one ever again.

Interesting note, I found that after updating to 1.03, some of the fixes weren't working and some might've broke other stuff. I.e., people were talking about Neeshka having a tail, and I didn't see no tail. Even if I started a new game. Not only that, but updating in the middle of the campaign hosed up my PC's leveling big-time--he got hit by a massive XP penalty all at once. I finally blew away the installation, reinstalled, and let it update directly to 1.03 ... and found out there's a LOT of stuff I wasn't seeing. It wasn't just my machine or my installation, either--my daughter thought I was having her on about the tail until I showed her a screenshot. She's terminally stubborn; but I'd recommend the same for anybody who followed the update path like I did. (You can keep your save games. But it goes without saying that you might have to start fresh, if your PC got wonked like mine did--the fixes aren't retroactive.)

Elvis. For real, every time I hear him talk, I can't think of anything else. 'Elvis isn't dead, he just went home.'--MIB.

Look on the positive side. There was never any doubt who would win a 'best story' award; and I think it's safe to say that NWN2 exceeded already high expectations in that area. I can't point to any game from any time period that has done suspense so well. It's impossible not to get caught up in it, and the battle for Crossroad keep rocks. But what Oblivion did, it did well also: graphics, physics and AI. Story- and character-wise, it may have been light years behind NWN2, but it was a vast improvement on its predecessor (almost gave me the impression they'd hired themselves a new writer). Giving them a nod in a 'best story' category can only be seen as encouraging them in the right direction--even if it is a long, long road. I for one would be interested in seeing what would happen if Bethesda took the Oblivion engine and focused on storytelling. And there's no doubt that it's well past time that the industry recognized that just killing monsters is a cheap, empty thrill, and easily forgotten. It's the stories and the characters that stick with you.

I'm on a 2nd run through the game, and I'm kinda surprised at how different some scenes have turned out so far. That aside, my PC build is pretty much the same--ranger/wizard/EK instead of ranger/sorc/EK--but this one is much harder to hit. (As Lorne kept screaming, 'stay still so I can hit you'--LOL). The manual messed me up the first time, because I believed it when it said the ranger/spellcaster levels had to be equal before taking that prestige class--the game itself begs to differ.

Yup. I found it most convenient for my PC to carry all crafting items, separated into appropriate bags ... because more often than not I'd get in the basement, only to find that the stuff I needed was on an NPC who was sitting on the bench. Got tired running back and forth to switch folks in and out, and the game didn't care much for it, either.

Can also get three +1 increases in whatever stats you choose. But bear in mind that the tokens he gives you must be kept in your inventory to have that effect--IOW, don't put them in a bag of holding, or they won't work. If you're looking to adjust your alignment, he does a great job of that, too. Bargaining x6 = no stat gain, just a big shift down the alignment ladder.

In the endgame, there was no mention of the fortress, but iirc it did say that the Knight-Captain's cloak was found. If that's the case, the searchers were looking in the right place, there was just nothing else (bones, bodies) to find. But Dhaegun still seems to be searching, or waiting. There are many explanations for the missing party besides Sand--he's a bit too conventional. On the 'good' side, Aldenon of the flaky memory implies that it might be possible to portal back, he just hadn't really thought about it; Grobnar's repair ability falls into the same mixed-results category. Maybe good, maybe bad. The Githerazai exist on a whole other plane, and they were watching; same for the Githyanki, who still have an interest in the sword. And the Wendersnaven could exist. But right now I'm leaning toward Ammon Jerro's underworld ties, who were powerful enough to snatch him right out of the world in a flash of white light and imprison him after his battle at West Haven. Even with the low to middling influence I had with him, he stayed with the party (maybe a plot device--did anyone have him turn?)--and I doubt his captor would just give up after he escaped.

I've played through and lurked around a bit, and here's my take, ready or not.. Oblivion has charm and polish, and has earned its accolades. It's flatly beautiful, and the AI/physics are amazing; the quests, while short, are still extremely well-done and compelling in comparison with Morrowind (like that takes much). I'm still having fun with it, and hoping for a full expansion. But it isn't really fair to compare it to NWN2, as they're different breeds of games. The reviewers who are doing that are dealing NWN2 a terrible injustice. Few games/movies/books have the ability reach out and touch you, actually make you feel something: be it compassion, sorrow, fear, anger, or heat of battle. NWN2 is one of them. NPC-wise, Oblivion's Martin was actually more of a surprise (I really really liked him)--after Kreia, I looked forward to CA's characters, and expected to like or hate them. Apathy is death, LOL. The NWN2 story itself has an epic feel, and becomes intense enough to have me checking my supply of blood pressure pills. For those two reasons alone, NWN2 should be applauded. :joy: A third reason isn't immediately obvious, and that's what a lot of detractors are missing--NWN2 was built from the ground up for modders. I'd be very surprised to see an expansion that allows importing characters; there are way too many assumptions that would have to be made, which would discount the variables in the OC. But it left off at such a point that modders can take it in many, many directions ... and that is a very interesting idea indeed, even for someone who doesn't know squat about the art. I want more, which was the intention all along, I believe. The storyline could very easily have been wrapped up. That understanding helps bring a measure of peace, kinda. There was a ton of stuff to love about the game. I will replay it, but I'm not ready yet (Knights of the Nine is coming out very soon--and well, I always mourn when a good game ends). But I recognize that I missed a lot of stuff, particularly because I didn't get the whole 'crafting' thing until late in the campaign. My ranger/sorc/EK also had zip for diplomacy, which would've helped, but he still did pretty well for himself in the influence department. (While he took a huge jump from Chaotic Good to Lawful, I could see that happening--people change, depending on what happens to them). I could've reverted back, but I didn't. All in all, with a little polish, a solid effort for Obsidian; I think it will be recognized in time, but it doesn't have the mass appeal for GOTY. Surface-skimmers outnumber the players who kick the tires and look under the hood.

Truthfully, I haven't had that many crashes. Mostly of the issues I've noticed are in the mildly annoying category, right now artificial unintelligence being most prominent. (But in my mind, Rosalind in Summoner still holds the crown on that one.) I chose to become an Eldritch Knight, and for some reason that class doesn't seem to level right (?), there's a glitch in there somewhere I suspect. But I'm loving the characters and the PST references too much to worry about it. The corrupted savegame, yeah, that would've sent me back to Oblivion, if it was my only.

Whoa. Had a bit of a thrill last night after a CTD during a quicksave. I couldn't go into Blacklake district at all, from anywhere anymore, without repeating the CTD. I panicked about being doomed to Luskan justice just before I finally got my prestige class, reinstalled and repatched... and that wasn't it--it was the savegame and every save after it. Maybe just a burp, but wise man say don't get cheap and lazy with saves (I was lucky I only had to go back to Port Llast).

Sad to hear that. I was at University of Michigan during the Schembechler/Hayes rivalry, and nobody could help being caught up in it. Woody Hayes eventually got fired from Ohio because of his temper, I think.

I did, and liked them very much, particularly Winning the War. I don't generally mod my games (MOD to me will always be an Amiga music format :'( ), but I think adding good quality original music is a very nice touch. Thanks for letting us have a listen.

I register games that I really like. The ones I'd rather not admit to spending money on, not so much. As far as surveys go, I think that some companies are smart enough to realize the value of feedback, but surveys are usually too general to address specifics. If anything, the yes/no answers are fed into a database, and the freetext comments are pretty much discarded. Anyway, by the time I get to those, I just want to play the game already. If a company really wants to know what people think or want, they're better off sifting through their forums for the constructive bits, even though it takes a thick hide and lots of time. Much depends on how the forum is run, though. If it's overrun by trolls, it's not worth it except for a good laugh.

Meh, you're already ahead of me. These days I only have about 2 hrs free a day to play, and my game kept bugging out in the crypt, a scene wouldn't trigger. Big immersion killer. Had to use the Force (aka console) to shake it loose, so the quest would progress and finally finish. It was only after that, that I found and installed the newest patch (which probably fixed the rotten thing? dunno). Anyway, once I clear the bandit campe I'll be right there with ya. I think.

Ooh, I'll bet you're right--thanks! :cool:

I've had the same thing happen with a flaky memory chip on one of the memory sticks (and brand new 'branded' and 'paired' ones at that). Had to test them separately to find it--I swear the bastages were covering for each other. After they tried to put the blame on everything else in the system, that is.

She said not. I'll see what happens when I get there, maybe I can re-create it. But in any case, it would be nice to have a message pop up, in case you're a forgetful packrat (like me ). And I don't always stop to make sure all of the items I picked up are actually there, which could turn out to be a bad thing with a save-over. Just sayin'. Minor issues aside, any game that can pull the kid off the Warcraft-go-round has my thanks and my $. Story and character FTW. HA! :ph34r:

Has anybody had a problem with losing inventory items, if the char picking them up has a full pack? My oldest (D&D fangirl) said she had to reload/redo when a quest item disappeared off the face of the earth. I haven't got that far in my game (yah, I was a dollar short, LOL) so I can't try to recreate to test it; and if somebody mentioned this, I missed it. It might've been an actual fluke, or maybe her char just put it where the sun doesn't shine. But here's what she said: BTW, from what I've seen so far, the Obs guys have a solid hit on their hands. *claps*