Maria Caliban

VATS is wonderful. I love VATS and VATS loves me.

Right, in previous Fallouts, a hostile NPC caused the game to go into *battle mode.* A very subtle clue that one was facing a hostile NPC. Yes, but how does the PC know this? Or do they walk up to non-hotile NPCs who suddenly turn hostile? Does the NPC talk to them? And if the NPC is talking to them, why won't they say "We're not slavers?" Now, if you want to edit and add to the original quest you suggested, then that's fine. But ultimately, if the NPC attacks the PC without provocation, then the PC is in the right to defend themselves. If the NPC does not attack the PC, then a PC here to save the innocent maiden from slavers is going to try to talk to the various NPCs -- if nothing else then to find the slavers. Now, you might not like it because it clashes with your unnecessarily elaborate set-up to teach players that saying 'yes' to a quest will funnel them into what you consider 'meaningful consequences' but *that's the way the game works.*

You're ignoring how the game works though. Hostile targets are flagged. The average player will walk around, see a bunch of non-hostile targets and go searching for the bad guys. *If* the villagers are immedately armed and hostile, they stop being innocent and defenseless. It's no longer 'PC runs in shooting' it's 'PC kills in self-defence.' The quest, as Gonzo originally wrote it, is a 'gotcha' - but it's one that doesn't work. Yeah, that would work great in a PnP RPG, but not in a cRPG where NPCs are color coded. NPC: My daughter is in Plymoth Grand being held by slavers! Won't you save her? PC: Sure. *travels to Plymoth Grand* Player: Okay, where are the slavers? Here are some NPCs I can talk to, maybe they know where the slavers are? *fifteen minutes later* Player: Gee, this village is full of people, but I can't find any slavers. I'll ask on the message board. FO:NV message board WHERE R TEH SLAVERS? Hai! This oen guy told me to go to plmoth grande and kill slavers, but there aren't any. where are they? *five minutes later* I STILL CAN'T FIND THE SLAVERS! I try to talk tot he townsppl byt there they don't know? *fifteenminute later* THIS QUEST IS BUGGED! I'm going to skip it. ty. **** Or.. NPC: My son is in Plymoth Grand being held by slavers! Won't you save him? PC: Sure. *travels to Plymoth Grand* *villagers all attack PC* *PC kills them* NPC: Why did you kill my wife and new family?! They love me!!oneoneone PC: Because they were shooting *rockets* at me. Crazy idiot.

I installed Dreamfall: The Longest Journey this evening. When I clicked on the shortcut and an error message popped up that told me to 'insert the original Dreamfall disk in the drive.' Strange, I thought it was already in the drive. After going through all 6 CDs, I realized there was an error here. I patched to the latest version of the game, and no dice. I go to the support website and under 'Does this game run in Vista?' I learn that it will, but I have to play with the StarForce protection first. I'd like to emphsize here that I didn't go in assuming this had anything to do with copy-protection. There are three 'solutions' for making this work with Vista and they are 1) update StarForce, 2) see if your disk player is StarForce compatable, and 3) send an e-mail asking for a 'StarForce Key Request.' I've done the first two, my starforce is updated and my CD drive is on the 'okay to use' list. I'm about to send off an e-mail with all my system information, not to Starforce, Aspyr (publisher), or Funcom (developer), but a game support company in the UK. Is this fair? The problem has nothing to do with my drivers, the system requirements, or the game itself. And I could be playing this game *right now* if I had started D/L a crack instead of writing this post. Instead, I have to wait for Benny Hill in Suffolks to roll in on Monday and maybe send me an activation key. ... yes, I'm frustrated.

How do you 'break into' a village? The village isn't private property. But okay, so you have a highly paranoid, paramilitary village that shoots anyone who sets foot inside of it. Yet somehow, the villagers are 'innocent and defenseless?' And after you've slaughtered everyone, out comes the person you were supposed to save, crying about how you've killed his new bride and her entire family -- but how did he meet them if they shoot everyone they don't know on sight? Just having someone give you a quest because of the dialogue option you'd picked is fine. But the 'trick' quest you describe can't be handled in any reasonable way.

The problem with this is that either someone attacks you first or they don't. If you wander into 'innocent and defenseless' village and no one attacks you, then the average 'white knight' PC will start talking to people - and soon they'll figure out that the convincing sob story was just that. On the other hand, if the villagers attack you as soon as they see you, then they stop being innocent and defenseless.

The puzzles in the Longest Journey are pretty damn easy. And yes, there are times in TLJ where the puzzle solution is 'Talk to X, talk to Y, and talk to X again.' Typically the only difficulty is noticing something small on the ground and I don't consider pixel hunting good gameplay. Sure it does. The problem is that adventure games have tiny budgets and 3D requires more money. Seriously, how long ago did you play The Longest Journey? The visual artistry of Dreamfall is so much stronger than The Longest Journey that I'm starting to think you're operating on pure nostalgia.

80% of the time Dreamfall is exactly the same as TLJ when it comes to gameplay and controls. It's a point and click adventure title. You click on stuff, combine stuff in your inventory, and use the stuff in your inventory on the environment. That's the gameplay. Dreamfall added in a few sections of 'fighting' where you hit the mouse button a few times and everyone around you dies. The puzzles are the same quality as TLJ, the graphics and voice acting are better, but the story isn't completed. It makes no sense to consider TLJ good and DF 'horrible.'

Gizmo, I am not a developer, but I don't believe 'present day' Fallout was retro-50s. Rather that the American society that built the Vaults and participated in the nuclear warfare was retro-50s. I've often wondered if parts of FO were based on Dr. Strangelove. Did other countries build Vaults as well? Is there a vault gap?

I want this. I've played both of the Divine/Beyond Divinity games and thought they were great fun.

I liked Fallout 3 and am not sure that Obsidian will make a better game. As for the turn around, it's what I expected. It's not enough that Bethesda provide a good game that many people here liked (though I've noticed that we've gone back to pretending that FO3 was enjoyed by 'the masses' and Obsidian posters are not 'the masses'). Bethesda only wins if they start making games in the model that some players prefer above all else and consider 'true rpgs.' I like the perception idea. I remember in Vampire: Bloodlines, if your awareness was high enough, certain objects of interest would glow. I don't think being stronger slows you down. This will be the only area. If a forum is created, it will be on the Bethesda site.

I didn

I want a Jim Beam option.

I hate to say it, but this game has only inspired a 'meh' from me. Right. It's like Fallout 1/2; another Fallout game sounds good, but outside of the established fanbase no one would buy it.

The Wolf Queen pwns your backwoods Septim Empire. Throw a fur blanket over your girlfrie-- uh, nevermind. Did you know a cat's **** has hooks on it? I found Morrowind to be the best for leveling for the three Bethesda games I've played so far. I think for a huge sandbox, level scaling is a good thing. It's just that Oblivion went too far. What? How can they *ban*

Can you refresh my memory? Gharbad the Weak. Okay, now a serious example of what I mentioned. To repeat: "When we meet Gramnob, Demon of Liberty, and he doesn't immedately try to eat our face, then I'll believe Hell != Evil." This is correct. But I can only go on what they give us, and so far they've only given us evil demons.

Can you refresh my memory? All of the character classes can be male or female. So far they have barbarian, the sorcerer, and the witch doctor. You can play your hot, female sorcerer.

Yeah, but the series is called Diablo. They will likely involve him in some way, and since he 'died,' it's likely he's there as a corrupting influence. That's kinda hard to buy when we've faced thousands of demons, every last one of which was bloodthirsty and evil. And the leaders of hell are called the Prime Evils, with the Lesser Evils and Great Evils under them. Babylon 5 had the same problem; while the Vorlons weren't as good as they seemed, the Shadows were every bit as bad as they seemed. When we meet Gramnob, Demon of Liberty, and he doesn't immedately try to eat our face, then I'll believe Hell != Evil.

um, because he signed a treaty that said he wouldn't have them after the first war. silly argument, killian. taks Yes, but we force him to sign that at gunpoint. Just because a country is invading another does not make it right to just up and declare war on them.

Who do you think we'll fight in Diablo III? I think it will be Tyrael. Didn't he have Baal's soulstone in him for awhile? And isn't he on the front and center of the box art? He's been corrupted and driven insane. Act I: The hero learns that a new danger threatens the land. Act II: The hero realizes that Tyrael is the one behind the evil and runs around killing his lieutenants. Act III: Hero confronts Tyrael/Baal who is trying to resurrect Diablo and destroys him. Eight months later, an expansion pack comes out. Diablo was brought back from the dead and you kill him once more.

You should have bought it months ago.

Given that the Samurai often rode on horseback while using a bow and arrow, should hope one would win against a single Viking. I won't even go into the silliness of ninja vs spartan. Ninjas weren't warriors; they were spies. Civilization IV says it's possible.

What with mutations and such running rampant, I thought the choice would be obvious. What with the nuclear fallout, how about ?