Maria Caliban

I recall the OUTRAGE* on the BioWare boards when pirates were able to play ME 2 before the release date. *To be sure, people are outraged there constantly.

I think the fuss was 'sequel to Arkham Asylam.' I'm not surprising the story is lackluster. I like Paul Dini bu his best work has always been while he was paired with Timm. But I always thought that made Batman: AA fun was as much the gameplay. 'Stealth' + Close quarter combat + gadgets. Not a lot of Catwoman? That's disappointing.

All I know of Prosper is that he's the dude that started that one thread, which is about games.

It's not a crime because consumers and consumer advocacy groups lack the political pull of game, music, and movie publishers. If you're going down that road, there is no end of officially-illegal activity that you can justify as morally permissible. "Child molestation is only illegal because NAMBLA lacks the political pull of the local PTA!" Landmines, rape, and now child molestation? Wait, you were being ironic weren't you? Oh, you are a sly monkey.

Think of it more like those "always online" DRM systems. Loose your sonar/internet activity... you're screwed! Great analogy. I completely fail to see how that's related. Or is that your standard reply? "My X-box died"? Microsoft/Maria: Hey, shrug it off. It's not like YOU died. "I got ripped off today at the store. 2 euro too much on the bill!" Maria: Well. Forget about it. It's peanuts. You could have died. "I got raped!" Maria: Hey girl, get away with your minor issues. Someone could have died. See how there too it's completely non-consequential... or actually supremely hurtful? "Did you say my analogy is poorly thought out?! I'm going to imply that you don't care about rape victims!" Next up: How is DRM like lynching people and/or cannibalism. It's not a crime because consumers and consumer advocacy groups lack the political pull of game, music, and movie publishers. This is very clear when you look at the legal status of an e-product when a customer has a grievance vs when a company has a grievance. If I buy an ebook via Kindle and later Amazon decides to pull it or stops supporting the Kindle, I have no legal claim to the e-book and Amazon isn't obliged to give me the same in a, non-proprietary, HTML format. That e-book I bought is considered a service that Amazon can stop providing me in the future. If I pirate the e-book, it's no longer treated as a service but as a product I've stolen or an intellectual property I've violated. It's the same with reverse engineering. Copyright law shouldn't be overturned by contracts that must be signed to use a product.

What does the latest patch break?

Or androgynous, super-powered boys with spikey hair and swords as tall as I am?

My new video card came with a 'free' copy of Batman: Arkham City. I think the card even has Batman's lovely mug gracing it, so I can stare at his bleeding nose though the window in my computer case. I'd have played an extra $15 if they'd made it a picture of Catwoman. While I enjoyed the first Batman: AA game, I have a burning hatred of Batman carried from my comic loving adolescence. I wonder if slapping some paint on the card is doable.

This platonic ideal of RPGs seems to conflict with some of the biggest modern RPGs. I mean, Dues Ex is a linear story. You can skip a few side-quests and you can choose how to get from point A to point B, but you're still going to go from point A to point B and events will always unfold the same way. For example, if the story were that a group of aliens arrived in South Park and banned video games because they're too violent, and the boys had to fight off the evil aliens, there's plenty of room there for jokes about how banning stuff is stupid as you progress through the main story. You'll have well-known characters pop up to sprinkle in their signature jokes "Microwaving people with your evil alien rays is bad, mmmkay?" plus lots of ambient dialogue with jokes about erections/gay sex/poop/Mormons.

As much as I dislike Secure-Rom, I don't think it's as bad as a landmine. The majority people who play games don't experience problems with the DRM. Those who do are most likely to have issues with the function of the game. On rare occasions, DRM can lead to serious issues with your computer. None of those really compare to losing a limb or one's life.

Are you interested in a game but don't want to pay for it at full price? Solution: Wait for it to go on sale on Steam. I bought six copies of Fallout:NV for less than the price of one copy when it first came out, and that game is only a year old.

The combat stays the same, but you get use to it after awhile. I thought the dialogue was good for a video game. Geralt is the main character, so you're always going to be enjoying his delivery. I never finished the original game but played it for about 10 hours before I felt it wasn't worth it.

Volo, Volothamp Geddarm, is a character in the Forgotten Realms setting. He's a wandering bard who's written a number of 'guides' to famous locals.

Obsidian

That's rather childish.

I think this debate about second-hand sales isn't useful. If pirating is bad and second-hand sales are bad, that doesn't mean pirating is okay. It's more of a hobby.

Their national industry is killing third-world babies. It makes me feel good to be an American.

I liked Dragon Age 2.

What?

I greatly appreciate no-CD/DVD cracks, which puts me in the odd position of disagreeing with pirating software while using a service pirating groups provide.

Are they on PC?

Crysis: Warhead?

I don't think we ever have an RPG discussion where BioWare isn't mentioned.

What about the older Alice game is so odd, unique, or special that it couldn't be made again? It's an adventure game with puzzle elements based on a well-known but publicly available book series.

Catwoman is the new copy content. You know the industry trend to have content only available to new copy purchasers? That. If you buy used, then you have to pay more for it. Makes sense. Thank you. They need to make a game about just being catwoman because CATWOMAN OMG OMG OMG OMG CATWOOOMMAAANN!! Hopefully, Christopher Nolan won't mess her up. My problem with Gotham City Sirens is that they have to have Harley and Ivy suddenly act like somewhat moral types or Catwoman has to ignore the ladies she's with being mass murderers who don't value human life.