Maria Caliban

I like the Amazon, as ****y and untalkative as she is. Reminds me of myself when I haven't had my cup of coffee in the morning.

No, it doesn't. As a human being, you may desperately want an objective measure of things, and you may seek to find an objective measure of things, but the universe isn't obliged or even interested in helping you out. Good argument for a Planescape thread guys. Okay, but I still think it would be a very different game. That's the beauty of the fixed protagonist.

The box art is bad. I get that they're trying to do something different, but for people who've never heard of planescape, what does a blue zombie face tell them? It would be a very different game. I don't see April as having several different incarnations, or being interested in the philosophy of the world. For an artist, she had a very straightforward outlook on life. No casual gamer would pick up Freespace 2, Half-Life, or Everquest.

I think it was just a bad crack.

I blame that on developers. In most other media, we're constantly given information about the passage of time. I don't think KotOR ever indicated if I'd traveled for 18 hours or 18 days. Many games are happy to have a sense of literal timelessness, and it does nothing for the player

Who knows... maybe one of David Cage's future vehicles. Might be a bit highbrow for the average gamer though. Sex, Violence, and Monkeys: An eXtreme Adventure RPG

Tha happened on the ME forums with the galaxy map when the PC game hit. Sadly, the even *bigger* idiot moment came from rabid BioWare fans searching for pirate. Someone posted on the ME tech support forum that he couldn't access the galaxy map and about five people immedately called him a pirate. The thing is that in order to post on the ME PC tech forum, you have to register your CD key. There was even a little title right by his avatar to show he owned a copy. Turns out that his problem was that he hadn't noticed the little ramp leading up to the map.

'Should have been in the first game?' Because a custom AI for each teammate is now standard in Western RPGs? I don't think that expecting decent AI from an AAA game is too much to ask. No, it's not. But that's not what you said. You said that giving each companion a unique AI should have been in the first game. That implies you consider it a standard feature that was missing from ME, but I can't think of any RPG were that's the case. Usually the most diversity is 'aggressive/protective' and the player toggles that.

'Should have been in the first game?' Because a custom AI for each teammate is now standard in Western RPGs? Thought it would fit since that man is the legendary David Gaider. Have you guys not seen the interviews? David lost about 100 pounds and gained hair; I suspect he's been bathing in the blood of interns.

The artist is obviously a fan of Serpieri.

The robot's death basically ruined whatever emotion I was supposed to get because, if you think about it, the guy basically makes the robot sacrifice himself for selfish reasons, the robot's last words are "i'm not really important, I'm just a robot" which is a way of thinking forced on him by this tyrant that built him and is now forcing him to die so he can wear his dismembered corpse so he can live 5 more minutes and see some elephants. It made the guy completely ****ing evil. What the hell. I think the original Syberia was better than the second in a number of ways.

.. Jock dies?

The paragon option for the asari on Virmire made no sense. How is that woman supposed to outrun an explosion that's miles wide? And if she did survive the explosion, what is she going to do on an uninhabited world? She

I have no TV. We've never heard of Sister Theohild or Mother Perpetua before. I'm guessing they're just silly, bit NPCs. Sorry you didn't like it though.

Pedantic typically refers to more academic or esoteric topics. I

As you guys aren't talking about Dragon Age at all, I'm going to post something from The Other Forum that I found funny. She's doing a great job of it too. What with the killing people. The party gets into a random encounter. Bandit 1: Your GP or your HP! Alistair: "Your GP or your HP"? That is the worst line I've ever heard! Sten: Pathetic. He didn't even come up with that himself. He stole it from 8-bit Theater. Bandit 1: Shut up, you! It's a joke! Bandit 2: EVERYONE SHUT UP! Now you, heavily armed adventure-people, hand over your money and your women and nobody gets hurt. Bandit 3: Well, technically, I guess some people still get hurt. Bandit 1: You guys are messing up our intro dialogue! Let me handle this! Bandit 2: We are not messing it up! You already ruined it with your stupid webcomic reference! PC: This is getting ridiculous. Let's just fight already. Leliana: What? Fight? I can't do that! PC: Why not? Leliana: I'm good. Killing is evil. We have to be nice to these men. PC: They're going to kill us. Or rape you. They're bad guys. Leliana: Killing is wrong! I won't do it! PC: Fine. Sit this one out. Sten? Alistair? You guys coming? Alistair: You know, now that she's mentioned it, killing does strike me as not very pleasant. PC: Oh, for pity's sake! Sten? Sten: You aren't a family, are you? It's been explained to me ad nauseam that it's wrong to kill families. Bandit 1: Oh, we're family. Definitely. *points at Bandit 2* He's my brother, Larry. Bandit 2: *points at Bandit 3* And he's my other brother Larry. Bandit 3: Our parents watched too many sitcoms. Sten: Sorry, Warden. No family-killing. I'm trying to quit. PC: HOW DID I GET AN ENTIRE PARTY OF PACIFISTS? Leliana: Wait a minute... why are you so enthusiastic about killing innocent bandits? Are you evil? Alistair: Maker's breath! You are! You're evil! I should have guessed it when you were all, "Sure, witch of the wilds, I'll take your daughter on my adventure!" You're a villain! Sten: Well, who else would have let me out of that cage? PC: WE ARE NEVER GOING TO BEAT THE GAME IF YOU GUYS WON'T FIGHT! Leliana: Hmph! There's no need to speak in all-caps. Alistair: Really, what is the matter with you? PC: I should have played Mass Effect. *mutter*

Sure. I don't think of NPCs as walking XP or quest givers, so when I learn that the army is holding the corpse of a man's wife for study and all he wants is to give her a proper burial, I feel compassion. When I learn the life story of a woman who was taken by Batarian slavers at a young age, I also feel compassion. I have. All the time.

Mage: The Ascension had a great spell casting system, but it could never translate to a cRPG.

Are you a woman? The only Volo I know is the FR guidebook writer.

No one is crazy enough to create Volo. Leliana was written by Sheryl Chee. This is her first BioWare game, and she also wrote Wynne and Dog. I haven't had a TV for five years now (I have the box but no channels) so I don't know what you're talking about. Mages can use weapons. What mages don't have are weapon talents. The standard mage weapon is a magical staff that seems to fire a default, manaless flame/cold/acid attack. I think shapeshifting is a ‘buff’ so if you turn into a giant spider, you can use that form’s attack and abilities without having to rest. (I should check on that though, it might drain mana.)

She wasn't cute though. She was sexy in a gothy sort of way. No, it wouldn't.

For women? All the examples I can think of are manga/anime.

Anyone can carry a shield if they have high enough strength. We know that there are some items - the Templar armor - that are restricted, but for most of the equipment, all you have to do is meet the strength requirement. Warriors have access to all the weapon talents at level 1, rogues have to unlock the two-hander and sword and shield trees, and mages don

Yes, but swearing ought to be immature, laughable, and childish. If I swear when I'm angry or in pain, I'm not giving a well-mannered discourse on the subject. If I swear at another person, I'm engaging in the verbal equivalent of poo flinging.

Sex and violence: The adventure RPG.