Maria Caliban

I suspect as much. I'm fine with this. I managed to enjoy the Witcher 2 despite its combat.

I wouldn't consider either of them good novelists, but the early R.A. Salvatore books I've read have a snappiness in the plot that I haven't seen in David's work.

Diablo 3 bored me. This is something you can only do once before I just ignore your game.

I found it overblown. People were creating accounts just to post images of them defecating on the game box. There were long threads about how the ending to ME 3 had taken away people's ability to enjoy any game or story. Some people talked about entering major depression and having trouble working or going to school. Some people railed on for months about how BioWare had betrayed them and ruined something they loved. I agree the ending could have been better, but I never realized the level of emotional involvement some people had in the series.

I didn't know that there was an X-Com expansion pack in the works. That's good to hear. I picked up X-Com: Declassified but haven't started playing. 1) I want to finish my current play through of Dishonored. 2) I want to finish an actual game of XCOM: Enemy Within, because I've never done so and that just feels silly. True fact. It's one of the few companies, small or large, that is right on the ball when it comes to shipping items.

@NKKKK You liked the ending of ME 2? I found the idea that the Reapers were liquifying people to make a giant Reaper baby both went against my basic understanding of genetics and didn't fit in with what we learned of Reapers in first game. And the final boss battle didn't do anything for me. If you mean ME 2 as a whole though, I found it very satisfying. The story structure, the building up of your forces to survive the suicide run, the companions themselves, the improvement in areas, the change to more FPS style combat, and it being the 'darker' second part of the trilogy all worked for me. As for Weekes being lead writer, I think he lacks seniority and I think being lead is as much a managerial position as a it is a creative one. I'd also suggest that a number of the problems with the ME 3 ending had to do with the series as a whole.

Today's video: Exploring the World of Dragon Age: Inquisition. As I speculated previously, it's not Skyrim or Kingdoms of Amalur level 'open world.' It's more like the original BG. I view this as a positive. Mass Effect 3 was good. A bad ending might keep something from being excellent, but it doesn't make the entire game bad. That said, between ME 2, DA 2, and ME 3, I've come to the conclusion that BioWare has forgotten how to do good endings. No. High rivalry is a *good thing.* I'd say for Isabela, Merrill, and Anders, the rivalry tracks are superior to the friendships ones. You lose companions when you fail to get high rivalry or high friendship.

Played Gone Home.

Future EA executive.

They said Kirkwall would change due to Hawke's actions. I remember how that turned out. I'm surprised anyone remembers the 'enslave nations through necromancy' line from the original FAQ.

If you mean the posing, it's because it's costume concept art. They're all in the same position so the clothing is the only difference between them. In the video, you see them zoom between one image to the next. The leg akimbo is probably because they wanted to show off the boots, but I'm not an artist. If you mean the outfit itself, I like it. It feels like a cross between a western and a DnD fantasy rogue. Though yes, I can see how it might look campish to you.

The image from Dragon Age - A World Unveiled. Get it? UnVEILed. Funnies. Anyways, blah blah blah, player choice, new generation of RPG, wide open world. But there's are two nice shots of environments and they already look better than Kirkwall. The part where the dragon lands and the gazelle (oxen?) scatter is also nice. At least we know there are ambient creatures. There's a shot of a black female Inquistor raising a flag while a crowd cheers.

Dragon Age: Origins had Alistar, Morrigan, Leliana, Zevran, Shale, Sten, Ohgren, Wynne, and Loghan (+dog). I expect DA:I will have a similar amount of depth for the companions.

If you had the Stone Prisioner, DA:O had nine companions (+ dog). I expect a similiar level of depth.

^ Rogues seem to be getting a lot of love this time around. The website was updated: "DEEP AND COMPLICATED CHARACTERS Lead a party chosen from nine unique, fully-realized characters – each of whom react to your actions and choices differently, forming complex relationships both with you and with each other." Nine companions. I'm going to guess there will be an extra DLC companion announced closer to launch date. Hoping they come free with pre-order or CE. Wasn't the video from some pre alpha far-from-finished test mode thingy? While I do love a good thrashing, maybe we still should wait for the real thing NEVER,

Dragon Age Rivalry: Mages versus Templars Nothing much new. Mostly background fluff. The word 'bastard' has nothing to do with being male. It means that your parents weren't married when you were born.

Right. My point was that when you use an obscenity or slur that has negative connotations toward a specific group, and you're talking about the death/torture/punishment of a member of that group, I'll tend to focus on that word. I might decide it reflects poorly on you. Does the average internet denizen think this way? I don't believe so. Really, on the average game message board, saying that the bitch deserved it, when talking about Philippa, will likely be seen as innocuous. At the same time, you might want to know how the words you're using may effect someone's reading of your posts.

Her blinding and future execution are as just as anything you'll find in that setting. Interesting. I had no idea sorceresses had regenerative abilities. I am glad I didn't know that at the time, it would have taken some of the power from that scene.

When someone suggests a woman being mutilated is okay because she's a bitch, c***, or whore, my initial reaction is that their opinion of the character is strongly influenced by their misogyny. Likewise, if you stated you Anders was a f** that got what was coming to him, I'd probably assume you were homophobic despite the fact that finally getting to kill Anders was a high point of DA 2 for me. This isn't to say Philippa's not a bitch. She'd likely agree with the assessment. Philippa was one of my favorite characters; I found her far more compelling than Triss or Saskia. Hanselt also appealed to me though I ended up letting Roche shiv him. The Witcher is the sort of setting where I'm apt to find ambitious amoral or villainous characters more compelling than many of the 'good guys.'

If we're talking about Ignus, I can't say I felt bad for him. I went through his backstory for the XP and spells, and found it interesting. I'd struggle to think of BioWare or Obsidian characters I 'felt bad' for though. Viconia and Leliana? I felt bad when that one sorceress from the Witcher 2 got her eyes gouged out. The PC in BioShock 2.

You can always google img search.

I was able to aim my AOE spellsa with my mouse.

Some of these comments are getting a touch personal. Feel free to criticize EA, BioWare, or Dragon Age. Feel free to criticize David's writing. I'd like to avoid discussions of how you dislike David though. Or how his sexual orientation means he's being 'dishonest' on some level.

Fair enough. There's still the lack of thread title or page numbers (as he appears to be replying to someone else) and the various other things I mentioned. It's been so long since I viewed it while logged off, I'd forgotten those elements weren't there by default. Thank you for the reminder.

Can you provide a link to where he made this post? Not to be rude, but it looks like a fake. Specifically: 1) It lacks the 'Report Post,' 'Quote,' 'Link' buttons in the upper right. Those appear even if a thread has been locked. There's no 'joined by' date under the avatar. 2) I've spent a large chunk of time on the BSN but have never heard that Anders, Merrill, and Isabela are returning, even though I know people from all three fandoms who would be all over this information. 3) This directly contradicts what David has said previously. 4) I can't find this post via google. The thread title doesn't appear in the image. 5) It doesn't actually sound like David.