Volourn

"They also handpicked Obsidian for the job, so of all the game companies in the world they choose Obsidian. But that was probably cause they were within driving distance." And, they were likely cheap and desperate for any gig. I do laugh at you think that you somehow got a 'dig' in at BIO here. L0L \I doubt BIO/EA were worried. BIO already did a side project with a weird RPG property with Sonic and they treated it like the trash it was. As a useless handheld wannabe. I doubt they would have cared about SP enough. And, I doubt EA would have wanted to share any profits with the SP guys as well. But, good on Obsidian. Looks like this was one of their successes. I just hope that the flip won't happen with PE because I actually put money on it being awesome.

"Yeah, besides from everything else they did well, I think Obsidian deserves major credit for nailing the "atmosphere" of South Park. It really feels like you're playing an interactive episode of the actual show." Considering the show creators were watching Obsidian like hawks this isn't surprising at all.

" nothing Bioware has released since the acquisition has been as dire as, say, NWN OC."\ KOTOR is worse. ME3 is worse. ME3 is BIO's first PC/comsole RPG that I haven't finished. And, it's not because of the over dramatic of the endings but I just found it a slog to play through. "The difference between Obsidian and BioWare games is that the latter lack the soul of the former" HAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA! HA! "The one thing that does bother me with "modern" BioWare is their PR, they like to spin things to their advantage the same way you'd expect from any generic soulless company (iow, sometimes it's borderline lying). For that, I resent them (as I got caught by it with DA2). Now I just ignore all their PR and get my information from secondary sources (iow, I now treat them the same as any generic game developer), so it's at least already gone through a bull**** filter (thanks for that btw guys and gals)" L0L everyone spins things,. Your post is one giant spin. Obsidian spins. Just ask them about DS3 or AP's failures and let's watch the spinning commence. Though, Obsidian's fanboys are much muchw orse at the spinning part. But, one more time for true emphasis as the one of the best jokes ever... "The difference between Obsidian and BioWare games is that the latter lack the soul of the former" HAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA! HA!

Nah. It has nothing to do with that. It's 'cool\' to hate BIO because they were so successful. Espicially on the Obsidian boards where it's an 'us vs them' mentality. I mean everything bad about Obsidian games is the publishers' fault, and everything good is all Obsidian. vice versa for BIO. It wasn't BIO who made BG series popular, afterall.. it was BIS/Interplay. LMAO

No.

. "That the game does not offer you non-heroic alternatives" Becoming an evil god is 'heroic'? L0L So.. Bhaal, Bane, and Myrkul *were* heroes. LMAO

Good. Now get the others to see the light of truthiness.

Sure, it is. You asked me what WRPG did better so I told you. But, I'll play your trolling game: A. PST has a better story, characetrs, and writing than vast majority of JRPG. The M&Ms have better exploration than any JRPG. The FOs have better role-playing than any JRPG. The NWNs have better character systems than any JRPG. D&D games by and large have better combat than any JRPG. BG2 has the better 'overall package' than any JRPG. And, I loved JRPGs and some are amongst my favorite games. Capiche? Happy now? Is that example enough?

" That is only true if the PC either 1)wants revenge, 2)wants to use the "Bhaal power", 3)wants to rescue Imoen. To bring this back somewhat on topic, BG2 assumes motivation that may not be true for some PCs, like DAO did. You can argue that one did so in a more palatable manner, but they both are guilty of doing assuming motivation." This is such a silly argument as it's true about every RPG ever created. In FO, the game ends if you don't bring the water chip to the vault. What happens if you don't care about the vault or that you may have moved on in the wasteland? In PST, what happens if you don't want to open the darks ecrets of your past and just live a normal life like many other versions of TNO apparently did? What happens if you don't want tos trive to be the ultimate good guy in the Ultimas? Or a treasure hunter in M&Ms? Why does 'motivation' only matter in BIO games but not other games? Those 3 reasons given to potentially go after Irenicus are rather good and reason depending on character. People say you can just ignore Irneicus but that is silly. The guy friggin' haunts your nightmares. He goes out of his way hunt you down at start of game specifically. It is obvious (or should be) that you will be confronting him again whether you like it or not. Some things simply can't be ignored. Also, people saying that irencius is 'more powerful' than Sarevok are missing the point as well. In BG1, or a low level scmuck yet you are told you are VIP (just ask both Gorion and Eliminster) and Gorion's two half elven buddies who he directs you to. You are on a collision course for your uber brother just like you are on a collision course with Irenicus in BG2 or the Archdemon in DA. Don't forget the psychological aspect of your nightmares/dreams in all 3 games. That also has to be noted when discussing potential motivations. Compared to the vast majority of games, there is more than enough suitable motivation for the respective main quests. "as others have said there are a dozen reasons why the characters in the origin stories woudln't want to join the Grey Wardens but you are forced into it anyhow." You are forced into it or you die. That's your choice. If you chose to die the game ends, move on, game over. Just like in BG2 if you don't want to learn about your past than don't. Uninstall. Seriously, this is such insanity.

It's simple, camapigns like this are started by those who think girls are fragile, weak, and need protection. It's an insult to women. It says a lot that those supporting it are successful women who claim they were 'bullied' when they were kids by being called 'bossy'. So, yeah, it really damaged their spyches. LMAO If being called 'bossy' weakens your resolve that you no longer want to be a 'leader' you weren't much of a 'leader' in the first place. I really wish people would stop trashing women by calling them weak and pathetic. It's disgusting.

Combat, writing, dialogue, characters, graphics, music, sound, character systems, freedom, etc., etc.

"JRPGs do mostly everything better than WRPGs." No.

"Eh, the guy that kidnapped you(Irenicus) took down several Cowled Wizards without any sign of effort. You would have to be plying a very stupid character to think that revenge was something you could realistically accomplish. The DAO stories while taking you away from vengeance in several of them, almost all of them gave the PC the motivation of staying alive, which IMO is much more universal motivation than "rescue annoying acquaintance" or "get revenge on incredibly powerful Mage". " "That scumbag is also an incredibly powerful mage who can easily destroy you with magic. The most sensible motivation for someone who isn't either an arrogant or stupid character(revenge in Irenicus) or a righteous crusader(save Imoen) is to get as far away as possible, and that was not an option in BG2." \So... you want to role-play a coward? Which wouldn't make sense in BG2 since your character survived BG1 where you fighting an incredibly powerfulfighter and his powerful henchmen and his powerful organization AND you won. Not to mention, you managed toe scape this 'powerful wizard's prison,withstood his torture, and end up battling dragons, golems, LICHES, and other powerful creatures before you face him again. It's not stupid to hunt him down. Dangerous, yes, stupid no. The logic or the lack of it in your assessment that you should be able to play a 'coward' is silly.

"It's a Bioware game, the focus is in the romances" No. How could that be the focus when it is completely optional and easily ignored.

ie. Putin is scared of him but isn't ready to charge him with bogus crimes or order an assassination... yet.

"BG2 at least gave you two paths to meet the same end - the Shadow Thieves or Bodhi. Are you really telling me that a game as ambitious as DA:O couldn't find a less jarring or obvious way to find you serving or working with / for / to an agenda for a character like Duncan?" You think that was handled better? HAHA! That's hilarious. , "then I'd have been much more motivated to follow through on his goals. " Forget about Duncan's goals. He's irrleveant. How about the goal to save yourself? How about he fact that the archdemon is going to kill everything including YOU. You are also a wanted fugitive. It's no different than BG being about forcing you to investigate the mine crisis which just happens to be connected to the attempted assassination or tracking down Irenicus for revenge. It's for slef preveration. Of course, ancient rpgs only player motivation was ph@t lewt and levelling. perhaps, we should go back to such basics. There'd be less whining and double standards. Afterall, what happens if I play TNO as someone who doesn't give a crap about his 'past' and wants to just live life? Can't do that! Talk about railroading! LMAO And, FO ends if you don't save the stupid vault. L0LLIGAGZ! "As to PC motivations, arguably BG2 did the same thing as DAO. The PC is forced to have the motivation of wanting to rescue Imoen which will likely not fit a number of PCs, particularly the evil ones." Great. Now I have to defend BG2. An evil PC's motivation is revenge on the scumbag who kidnapped, tortured, mindraped, and stiole all your stuff. And, he is obviously still a threat and he is even assaulting your very dreams. How much more motivation does one need? "I didn't like the origins' execution in DAO because it felt like there were two prologues, the origin and Ostagar. IMO, DAO would have been better with backgrounds like ME. You could have 2 exclusive for Human and Elf, 2 for Mages, and 3 for Dwarf. Instead of an hour-ish starting prologue, they would have the PC start right at Ostagar as either a newly initiated Grey Warden or Grey Warden recruit. Not only would that skip a prologue, that would allow a PC closer to a blank-slate and a more set motivation for the PC." That's weaksauce. The origins were awesome. It gives the PC a real background that is more than scribbled nonsense since you can interact with people, and gives you future motivations in how you complete later quests. See: both dwarf origins. Or heck, almost every single other one. Origins =TRUE RPGness AWESOMESAUCE.

"The Bling Ring sadly didn't but I still sort of enjoyed it." You are posting out both sides of your keyboard. It was either entertaining or it wasn't. Pick a side.

That's what people said about Battier last year too. Anyways, here we ago again, Miami goes in a slump loses some games and people write them off as also rans. Until they go another streak. Just make Lebron mad his opponents will be the ones who suffer come playoff time. Plus, let's not forget, Lebron's 'slump' is still numbers mere mortal players would love to have,

" fail to see how Elminster and others watching your ascent is a cop out, they could end Sarevok with a single spell so he is no threat to them, but they seem interested in Gorion's experiment with you. In effect they are trying to ally with a potential good deity, hardly a cop out as a logical reason for their inaction Mr Volourn. As I explain above to me the two situations seem radically different, one has Sarevok aiming to start a small local conflcit in the hopes of seizing some of his fathers powers, something that the Harpers can step in and curtail at any time they see fit if the protagonist fails. The Lizard people are a threat to the whole world however and warrant the attention of important indiividuals rather than an unproven adventurer, Khelbun who shares Elminster powers is on hand so why does he not act? All this seems perfectly logical to me, and hardly a cop out." No, they aren't. They are the same thing. Sarevok's goal isn't simply one of starting a small war but take over his father's mantle and cause as much destruction on Toril - something Elminster opposes in principle. The only reason he doesn't intervere because it is the PC's story. The lizard people are only threatening NWC and surrounding areas. Keep trying to make excuses for BG. It is stretching credibility. \It doesn't make sense to attack one and defend the other. It comes down to the fact you like BG and dislike NWN. JUst be honest though, and don't make mombo jumbo up.

"In BG it is strongly implied that Elminster and whatever other omnipotent authority figures are testing you, and this is confirmed in the conversations he has with you." Eh. What a cop out. "I repeat myself, but DA:O would have been better as plain old Dragon Age, and the sole content change would be to delete all the origin stories and have you start as someone who's already a Grey Warden." No. \People who bash being forced to be a Great Warden (which makes sense b/c without it your character would die as evidenced later in the game when npcs talk about the origin characters you don't play - they all end up dead) while defending forced things by being a Bhallspawn, being a Twitcher, etc., etc. are obviously being two faced and blinded by their own foolishness. Also, you aren't forced to be the one to kill the Archdemon and/or sacrifice yourself. "Bioware dumped all the effort into the crapulous romances instead." You jokin' right? Romances are a miniscule part of DA and their other games. "i'm not attacking Bioware" \ Doesn't bother me if you do. I attack BIO myself. I've done it in these posts even. Just if you are to criticize them, it needs to make sense. Bashing NWN OC because Elminster didn't come swooping in to play hero and claiming it's okay he didn't do the same in BG is a double standard. As I said, there is only oen reason why he doesn't in either game - it is the PC's story. Plain and simple. He doesn't even show up in NWN. He does in BG but doesn't do a darn thing except taunt the PC. LMAO

Look at that. Sarex is defending Putin by saying someone else does the same thing. I'll defend OJ Simpson the same way. Who cares if he murdered his ex wife and her friend. Someone else killed their ex wife and their friend as well. *shrug* AS for Putin. Not surprising. It's a fact that he doesn't care about Russians at all. He cares about power and control.

"Sadly this is the necessary state we find ourselves in, many governments are forced to do this as some people need to dragged to the table where we discuss how gender equality is here to stay and be implemented by legislation if necessary. I fail to see how addressing an obvious failure of equality is fascist ?" Scary.

"As you say, what constitutes Romance in games is now fixed" Nothing is 'fixed'. Afterall, at one point turn based combat was 'fixed' and pretty much rpg had it. That obviously didn't remain 'fixed'. Things change. That's what the real world is about. Change whether you like it or not. "However from Origin's onward i've felt very much that I wouldn't choose any of the options presented to me," O RLY? Your choice would be to let the archdemon destroy the world? How is that any different than letting Sarevok getting his way? Same with NWN. To let the tiem traveling lizard freaks get their way they'd enslave every race because that's what they do. And, bring up Elimister is weak sauce because why couldn't he just go up to Sarevok and kill him? I tell you why. The same reason he doesn't in pnp - it's the PC's story. Elminster doesn't even show up in NWN (nor does he make his home even near there) yet you conviently forget he is featured in BG *and* he knows what is up (bein friends with Gorion) and outside of mumbo jumbo wink wink platitudes he doesn't left a finger to solve a crisis he himself claims imust be stopped (despite being far from his home) yet you think BG is more 'logical' than NWN? Come on. I like BG, btw, but role-playing wise, it is BIO's weakest rpg BY FAR even weaker than overrated KOTOR.

"Bioware has been stripping away logical choice from their games for awhile now" Eh.. they have more 'choice' logical or otherwise than the vast majority of RPGs. Amd. what do you mean 'for awhile'? Their newer games tend to have more choices than their earlier ones. LMAO BG1111111111111111111 You get to choose which map you go to and which direction. DEEP.

At least he won... others are not so lucky.