Volourn

"Everything else I played by the mercy of my other good and wonderful friends, since I wouldn't spend a dime of my own on those games." Convienent excuse. Try again, but make it a better than the 'ol 'my friend bought it'. It's as poorly thought out as the 'ol 'the dog ate my homework' one that kiddies use.

"even if it's true, the only reason would be that Bio promised a lot and failed to deliver. or maybe they intended to do it this way all along. promise a spiritual successor to BG and make a completely different game to appeal to younger gamers." Spiritual successor doesn't mean exactly the same. And, DA was the spiritual successor to BG, NWN, KOTOR, JE, MDK2, SS, Medcial Software, and everything else BIO touched. L0L DA had LOTS in common with BG series. So, they kept their 'promise' even though their promise in that case was meaningless because 'spirtiual succesor' is an useless phrase since it can mean quite a bit depending on the person and their mood. As for DA2, BIO to my knowledge, has not promised it to be a 'spiritual successor' to Bg so 8shrug* As for Boo and others who continually buy and play BIo games while whining about BIO being 'sell outs'.. they should look in the mirror.

"for me Bioware ended with ToB." yet, you keep buying and playing their games letting them know where it counts that they amde the right choices.

"Sorry if I'm bold and ask, I'm not sure if you can even tell that, but is it internal data you've got at BioWare or the usual 'I've read that on a website'?" DA and ME2 are easily BIO's highest selling games ever. DA got a head start it was released first but both have sold 3mil+ despite being released a year or less ago. "it deosn't matter, it may be their best-selling game ever. in my eyes that only proves one point: people forgot how good video games can be. I'm tired of replaying old titles, which had it all. but there's no alternative. get through DA in 2 days then go back to my Valkyrie Profile for a month, rinse and repeat. but of course you're right, I'm probably blind or stupid, how can I not see, that DA is a masterpiece, outshining them all?! second only to NWN" Your agrument here is sad and silly. Youa re making the pathetic case that popular = bad. That's silly talk. NEWSFLASH: Your personal opinion (and mine) is (are) irrelevant in the big picture. I guarantee you a game specifically made for Volourn would NOT sell a lot and would not be consiered 'good' by more than a handful of people. Same with a game made specifically for Sorophx. True story.

Inability to choose race, no 'powering up time' for spells, the fact that warriors can't use two weapons at once (or is it missles), the inability of rogues to use shields, the fact that many mage powers are being cut so all classes can have equal amount of powers, and I'm sure there's a host more of things too. This doesn't mean I'll hate the game. I am quite capable of dislking certain aspects of a game and still enjoying it for what it is. Just read up my comments about ME2 where I got attacked HERE of all palces for calling it dumbed down. Even my 'beloved' NWN, i ciriticized a lot. i really wish i could find my original review of NWN. iF people didn't conviently forget or ignore that they wouldn't be such silly liars. L0LZ

"IMO DA, ME, NWN and KOTOR all played safe, thus to me they're all more or less cash cows. DA2 doubly so." Disagreed. if BIo wanted to play it save they would have stuck with SP D&D games instead NWN was heavily fooused on the toolset, DA and ME were there own creation, and well.. KOTOR is the only exception of a game that actually played it safe. Then again, even SW games aren't always successful. I don't know how people can claim the abiove four were 'safe' but BG wasn't. Come on, now. "Every experienced gamer can immidiately tell apart a game that was a labor of love, but thats the sort of thing I don't actively expect, just hope for." No more than the other games. Just a note, 'labour of love' does NOT equal 'games I personally love'. That's silly talk. It's also another meaningless phrase that doesn't mean anything. P.S. BG as it was wasn't even BIO's choice 100%. They didn't even plan on making a D&D game when they started working on it. LMAO

"you're right, DA sure wasn't big, at least in my book. hell, none of my friends played it, they couldn't even be bothered to try a cracked version, that's how bad DA is. they bought ME2 though, and enjoyed it, which is very strange..." Your friends (and mine) mean absolutely crap. DA sold absically as much as ME2. Perhaps your friends prefer action rpgs to rpgs? L0LZ DA sold more than that piece of crap BG and that piece of crap KOTOR to be sure. That's how bad those games are. Bottom line is 'next best thing' is an absolutely meaningless phrase. Period.

"So far, nothing tells me that DA2 is gonna be the next big thing.. " That's what people around her claimed about the first DA. I rememebr the so called backlash of that marketing scheme , and allt he bashing including the talk about how the game would be mega fail. ERROR! By the way, what 'next big thing' even mean in context? It's such a meaningless phrase. Much like words like epic, C&C, and revolutionary. They mean nothing because nobody really knows what they mean.

Boo disagrees with them so they are dumb. Or they are cowards who are lying for the sake of it because hey have no morals. Because they disagree with Boo.

"Jade Empire already proved that BioWare cannot do action combat right." Wrong. It proved that BIo can do Action RPG combat right. i'd take JE combat over KOTOR combat any time anywhere. The reason why JE doesn't get a sequel is because it sold a measily 1.5mil copies instead of the usual 3mil copies BIO RPG games tend to sell - not because of lack quality. R00fles!

"That of course, doesn't make the game good." Our personal opinions are irrelevant here. BIo is gonna do what they feel will make them the most successful. As long as the majority of customors are happy with the product is all that matters and that's what makes it good. Also, btw, the fact something is popular doesn't make it bad which is a simply cocnept that many arrogant people seem to be unable to fathom.

"What is important: he's an experienced game designer, thus his opinion should carry some weight. I personally agree with him. If I was a boss in Bioware I'd value an experienced employees opinion. More importantly: all that crap about "streamlining gameplay", "innovation" and a thousand other excuses for Bioware's failure to truly innovate on their original formula gains weight when its subtly pointed out by the very people working on their project - or refusing to do so." Who says the BIO brass didn't listen to him? They have hundreds of employees including some long time senior employees. Just ebcause they didn't do what HE wanted them to do doesn't mean BIO was disrepescting or ignoring his opinions. They made a decision they felt was best for the company. They have hundreds of employees' jobs to worry about so theya re going to dow aht they feel best. Sometimes that means doing what Employee A wnats and sometimes telling Employee A they are going a different direction. Bottom line is he took his ball, and went home. Nothing wrong with that but dontry to make himto some heroic angel fighting the good fight and BIo into the Darkest Devil to ever commit evil because they didn't suck his know what. The anti big business contingent is hilarious. What's funny is DA2 is likely to be a success (depsite, again, me disagreeing personally with some of their changes) and then what? Nothing will change, anyways.

"Volo is quite outspoken that game developers are NOT indebted to the fans. It's a selfish decision because it is. It's not a derogatory statement, but rather that Ben did what was best for himself. Volourn thinks most fans are stupid for indicating that any dev "owes" the fans anything." You win. "If he can afford to be so selective then good on him. Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is." Him choosing to move on is no big deal. Good on him. he did nothing wrong. the big deal is trying to place him on some moreal pedestal simply because he quit his job at a company a poster hates. It's not heroic to quit. It's a selfish decision (and nothing wrong with him being selfish in this situation btw) that he made because he flet it as best FOR HIM. That's cool; but not heroic or moral (or immoral). I'm sure BIO will continue to truck along (I doubt he's the first or the last em,ployee they'll lose). And, I'm sure he'll be fine as qwell since he must have been doing something right if he worked at the same company for 10 years. "and staying with Bio with that kind of attitude towards DA2 and the company's policy would be best for Bio and it's fans? it's not selfish, it's the only decision that makes sense " Plenty of people stay at jobs they personally dislike and do a heck of job. And, I doubt working on a game that he may not completely approve is as torturous as those. He didn't seem to mind working at a company resposnible for non rpgs like SS and MDK2. L0LZ

"call it anyway you like, but it's certainly not silly. I call it 'character'" It's not character. Changing jobs has nothing to do with character. Nothing wrong with him moving on but it was nothing but a personal aka selfish decision. Nothing wrong with that as I've made the selfish decision to leave job before. 8shrug* But, don't try to hold up as some sort of moral saint because he quit a job. L0L "They are free to make whatever games they want but I was promised a sequel to BG on DA." Bull. DA was pushed as a 'spirirtual succesorr' (lol lame) of BG, NWN, KOTOR, and every other BIO game but the patheticly drunk BG fanboys (who make me hate that series more every day), and it was exactly that. DA has lots in common with the Bg series. You were definitely not promised an actual sequel so why. Also, DA2 was never promised to be a sequel to BG. LMAO

"So basically BW sold their souls and he refused to." No, no they didn't. You seem to have this cocnept that BIO should only make games the way cetrain people want. On top of that BIO's first game wasn't even a RPG. So.. when they made BG, that's when they sold their souls. L0L Knowles can do what he wants but no one eprson who is not the boss should determine what a company does. I'd be surprised if he can find a job in the game industry as solid and stable as the one he had with BIO. Perhaps, he should go work for Troika. LMAO (not that I like everything I heard about DA2 but the arrogance and selfishness of some people is hilarious).

TV pilots... **** My Dad Says - I agree with the above poster. Shatner is fantastic, but the son is dreadful. the other two supportinjg characetrs are okay. Hawaii 5-O - It beats all those overrated Law &n order shows which i tend to avoid simply on principle. Other new shows: The Defenders - the first lawyer based show I've liked in years. Much more serious at times than I expected consideirng the early promos were heavily focused on the funny. Losing Hope - Reminds me of MNIE for good reason. Hilairous though the great grandmother is simply disgusting and not funny in any way. The other characters are fantastic though. I hope mommy is somehow alive. Running Wilde - Crap. Plain, and simple. Worst new show BY FAR. Mike & Molly - I really tried to like this one but ultimately fails. the elads are medicore to average and it really brings down an awesome Monday comedy night. Outsourced - It's been criticized for being 'racist' (much like M&M has been criticed for its fatism) but at least Outsourced is genuinely funny. No Ordinary Family - Watchable but way too much of a rip off to ever be awesome.They were so cowardly that they stuck with the most basic of super powers. *yawn8 Thankfully, the cast is pretty good. I've DVRed other new shows but haven't watched them yet...

Except I don't go around spamming about NWN over and over again in every thread unless someone brings it up unlike others dragging stupid KOTOR into a DA2 thread. LMAO Besdies, the people hating on NWN never liked the game to begin with so I doubt my opinion on the game changed theirs unlike my growing to dislike KOTOR more and more. R00fles!

" Except that in the movie industry there are higher standards than in game journalism, or at least more reputable critics. " No. "Actually NWN is far worse than KOTOR." No.

My sig says everything that needs to be said about NWN. The REAL NWN not the crappy OMG version.

KOTOR is such an overrated game that every time praises it I hate an otherwise okayish game just a little more.

"Oh, I made fun of DA:O before release ("Frostback Mountains?" Rofl), and I didn't shut up when the game was released, because it was a bland and uninspired game that I couldn't even bring myself to finish (got to the final battle at Denerim and quit out of boredom). I suppose the intro was decent.' So you bashed it pre release it, but bought it anyways, played it to enar the end, then bashed it some more? LMAO Money well spent it. "I think the first KotOR is probably their best release to this date." No. Outside of probably Sonic, KOTOR was likely their worst game. "Hawke’s pre-established character brings other limitations to Dragon Age 2 as well, such as a simplified character creation system. Hawke can be a man or a woman, but his classes are limited to only the generic ‘Warrior’, ‘Wizard’ or ‘Rogue’ and there’s no option to change his race; he has to be human." I was reading the preview and shrugging my shoulders until this retarted gem. He says other limitationS but the only limitation mentioned is the fact Hawke has to be human. The fact he only has 3 classes is NOT new since that was true in DA1. L A M E

Not weird. Typical game. Some find ti really ahrd, others find it really easy.

"I really do hate it when people are so adverse to change, especially when they appear to be reasonable people. " You do realize that change isn't always good right? Only unreasoanble think that all chanbge is inherently great. Just ask Detroiters if the changes they've witnessed in their once great city is awesome.

I mod my own forums, and the posters manage to survive.

Kotick is a tool who is in the process of being sued preciselely because he treated employees horribly up to and including holding them prisoner. His opinion on this issue is meaningless.