LadyCrimson

Where do snakes fall on the list of biggest phobias around the world? My mother was horribly afraid of those, to the point of not even wanting to generally see them on TV (she'd look away). I think there is a point where trying to cater to every fear or other possible condition can start to detract from an entertainment's initial concept, if that makes sense. But I don't really see not having spiders, specifically, as one of them. Unless there's going to be a plotline about a spider worshipping cult or something, maybe. I think things like spiders get used precisely because a lot of people, even if they don't have any serious phobia, find spiders "icky or creepy" so it's easy to use them as enemy fodder or to denote bad/evil. Same thing with snake-like creatures. How far does one take it, tho? No realistic looking spiders, but what about fantasy creatures with spiderish features such as multiple, spindly legs and fangs for teeth? Does stuff like that trigger phobias too? Just curious.

Not everything has some hidden agenda...in this case, I don't think there's anything there, outside of a bunch of pro game nerds wanting to create something they might enjoy themselves and hoped/thought there might still be a market for, even if the big publishers don't see it as profitable enough to go with it. I'm reminded of stuff like writers who had ideas for TV shows, who were frustrated by their inability to pitch them successfully to networks. Happens a lot. Gene Roddenberry, IIRC the lore correctly, finally ended up pitching Star Trek as "wagon train to the stars" before anyone got it and gave him a chance. Then he spent a long time struggling with the network for his show being too cerebral. I wonder what Gene might have done with Kickstarter.

+1

I sort of saw it as being a cross between Diablo and BG1, gameplay wise. Only, there's more Diablo than BG. By quite a lot. So yeah, if you really hate Diablo type games, the "more" might not be more enough. ...still trying to get Borderlands 2 to spit out something than rocket launchers. And I swear, I haven't had/seen ANY Siren +team health regen mod (with even a single skill bonus) in ages. Lots of clvl's worth ages. It's all been increased specific type damage or resistance mods. Driving me bonkers...

Occasionally I feel like I'm the only person in the world** left who hasn't played the DA or ME series. They just never appealed to me enough to buy them. Wait, no, I did buy ME1 at some point, but it's still on my shelf. **hyperbole, of course....

I was going to ask "define gameplay" and then I hit the "spoiler" button part of your post. In terms of RPG's, I'm almost exactly the same way as you, so ... I guess my vote is for gameplay. I don't have much, reason-wise, that wouldn't largely mirror what you've already said. Except maybe....that I love it when a game has a story that I can really get into, but it doesn't actually happen to me a lot. So gameplay/mechanics are what I tend to notice most, and what will dictate whether I finish/replay a game more than once or twice. When a game has both, that's my pinnacle...but as I said, it doesn't happen for me much. Could count on less than one hand how often it's occurred. More typically, I may latch onto specific character stories/subplots but not really care about/pay much attention to the overall main narrative, if that makes sense. Perhaps because I'm playing the game, making the decisions (vs. being an observer ala movies or books) and don't typically "roleplay" a character in any deep fashion, so I just don't attach to them as well.

I definitely like if our (the player character) actions end up affecting others, or a specific area/community from tyranny (or from goodness, if that's one's angle) etc, but yeah...I'd rather not see a "save the entire world from imminent destruction" type scenario. I'm used to such plots from other games of course, and for me it's not a deal breaker or anything close to it, but it's always great when a game doesn't go that route with the story, for sure.

My impression has been that's how a lot of game handle the race bonuses. Humans aren't generally given anything "special" because they're the baseline, so to speak, then other races have bonuses but also weaknesses to counter it. At any rate, that's the method I'm used to and I kinda like it. If Obsidian comes up with something new and interesting to try I'll be willing to check it out, however.

This. I think FNV did it right, with hunger (and some other things) as an optional mode.

Yea, I really liked that one. It had that ARPG feel I like but combined with something a little ... more.

Maybe they just forgotten to hit a button? It's kind of a shame to give up so early, even if it didn't seem likely to reach its goal. Could have waited another week. But I can understand...sometimes it is better to regroup and start over.

I think this particular incarnation of the topic has derailed a bit too far and reached the end of it's usefulness. It's also reached the post count limit. If people want to continue discussion on the theme, feel free to start a new thread.

Dear Borderlands 2 - please stop giving us nothing but rocket launchers! Thank you.

"Girl" sung by Davy Jones. Sometimes those simple, repeated melodic style songs still hit the spot. I'm still sad he's gone. Next up: "I Think We're Alone Now" via Tommy James & The Shondells

point out the genuine unique discussion on this board regarding a crpg feature or issue. duh. HA! Good Fun! I was going to say something similar. At any rate, any time you have huge influx of new users to a single place, it's likely there will be a period of a lot of duplication of topic themes/posts for a fair bit of time. Most people like to put their own two cents in, in their own words.

I like characters with unique (or oddball, or weird etc) personalities/quirks. I don't necessarily care about them being non-humanoid in appearance one way or another, especially for an isometric game.

That would be more often than I was originally expecting/thinking, so nice to hear. Nice interview, thanks for linking.

I'm not a big fan of fantasy dwarves/gnomes myself, but more for personalized reasons, so I just ignore it.

Hm. I think one can be "fanboy" "fangirl" without also being a blind puppet, or whatever. I'm definitely an Obsidian fangirl, who'll support them through almost anything where I can, but that doesn't mean I support them blindly or think they are/have been perfect. It's more that I staunchly support their potential. Sometimes that potential doesn't turn out to be in the direction I personally prefer, but that's life. But I do know what most people seem to mean by the term. I just see it as...the internet has a way of bringing out and magnifying any .... stubborn nature ... that every person can have to some degree or another. It's not like a real-life conversation where people get tired of yapping and stop, to likely not be continued when they wake up the next morning, or even next week. Unlike on the internet, when people wake up, log on to social sites, and can keep right on going. eg, the internet makes it all seem worse than it really is, if that makes sense. ...I think I'm rambling.

It's from one of the doodles MCA made during the KS countdown stream. Heh. I'm with Hurlshot on this one ... I've never had this problem. I'm terrible at cleaning out the fridge so I've had jars of jam that are a year old...which I wouldn't eat, but there's no visible mold in them when I finally get around to tossing them out. Perhaps you don't keep the fridge setting cold enough?

Forum software these days can give me such cut and paste headaches (espec. w/links). Think everything's right now.

Proud Members of the OBSIDIAN ORDER OF ETERNITY:

A long time ago, in an Order far away ... a post limit was reached and surpassed. Part6.

at that Avengers pic. Something I noticed a long long time ago, is the difference in films re: how they will film women vs. men in motion. Even when fully clothed in 'boring' pants and t-shirts. Camera angles, distance range, what the camera's center of focus may be. Ladders are an obvious example, but there's other such situations. While this doesn't bother me at all personally, it is rather amusing, because once you notice it, you can't help but notice it all the time forever more. And no, I don't mean all films/shows/directors are like that. But it's common enough to observe pretty frequently. There is plenty of over-idealized male stereotypes in entertainment, some of which is just as silly as the female stuff, but the ... cultural? ... association focus often does tend to be different, like that Avengers pic is trying to point out I think. For which I'm grateful. I may be female, but I have no desire to see a bunch of guys gratuitously running around in nothing but jockstraps anymore than I want to see women running around in thong underwear for a costume. Except, sometimes, for comedy.

Artist portraits with ability to import my own custom ones, like in BG1. I'd prefer they weren't completely (constantly) animated. I always find it a little weird/distracting to see npc avatar icons moving around out of the corner of my eye. But if they were, something akin to what Might and Magic 7 did would be tolerable. Slight eye shifting and reaction expressions to being hit in combat or diseased and such. Altho, in M&M, those open-mouthed expressions were pretty silly, heh.