Iolo

Spam ( P ) A trademark used for a canned meat product consisting primarily of chopped pork pressed into a loaf. spam n : (trademark) a tinned luncheon meat made largely from pork [syn: Spam]

It would be more interesting if rather than just levels these had interesting titles associated with them, like the old Black Isle titles. Then it might be interesting to see what the higher titles would be called.

Well I think, like Buffy, the show always had its niche so not everybody would be into it. I thought it was better than Buffy though and always had its own different flavor from Buffy Some more info on TVGuide: http://www.tvguide.com/news/entertainment/040218.asp Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) is being asked again to show up on the season finale or one of the later episodes. She previously said it felt too soon but perhaps she'll reconsider if this is the last season. Also, they are shopping the show to UPN for a pick up, just like how Buffy was picked up by UPN after 5 seasons at WB:

Why do you think TB is better suited for a multiplayer game rather than a single player game? I would think that in a multiplayer game the delays inherent in TB will even be worse as you are waiting for the other players in the game to act.

Sounds like you haven't yet tried Morrowind then. Although the character/monster models suck in that 3D Studio Max kind of way (amazing how much more "real" sprites can look), the scenery in Morrowind was the most amazing I have ever scene in a computer game, if you have the hardware to display it. So you may want to try it if you can find it for free and have a high end graphics card. As far as TB goes, I'm of the opinion that both limited RT and TB should be implemented if at all possible. I don't agree that this is inherently not doable. Having two viable fight modes adds to the replayabillity. Having said that, true TB (as in FO) or true unpausable RT (as in Morrowind) are both bad choices IMO. If I had to pick only one I would choose TB, because RT allows for no strategic fighting at all and that is part of the fun of a CRPG IMO. When RT is implemented very well (Ultima Underworld, Arena (maybe), Might and Magic 8, Arx Fatalis etc) it can be fun, but the lack of strategic options is a significant weakness. But a good pause and play implementation in combination with quick spell, quick attack options seems to retain most of the strategic aspects of TB while also retaining the excitement of the fight. If the pause is instantaneous enough, it leaves you the time you need to make decisions and prepare just as much as TB. I found fighting in FO to be fun (although it wasn't very strategic as compared to games like BG2 or Might and Magic 6-8 in TB mode), but the slowness of the action made it feel more like a game of battle chess than a real fight. The adrenaline rush is just not quite there. Plus, quick kills of much weaker opponents are not possible in true TB. Even Morrowind can be paused but you are limited to choosing magic spell/scroll/item to cast next, drinking potions and changing armour and weapons. However, it does make casting or changing weapons much easier especially on the XBox to pause and go into the interface.

Sounds like a fan created project, similar to say Era or Ultima 5 Lazarus and others. Am I correct?

Reminds me of the old Black Isle days where projects were named after presidents. I am sure the only distinction of the name choice is it's the first state to join the union as this will be the first game from Obsidian. It's a better choice for a code name than Project X.

Games that lack just one of several different RPG criterias, aren't automatically not RPG's. I am sure it'll be possible to role play in STALKER, even though there's no character advancement. Due to my FPS skills I'll be playing the sucky Stalker who gets killed every fifth minute. STALKER has a huge, free world, lots of NPC's with agendas and dialogue trees and a bundle of quests. That is enough for me to classify it as a RPG. But I am sure it's playable as a regular FPS too. If your own reactions or skill with the controls are the deciding factor in combat and other scenarios rather than how the character is defined, then you lose the "Role" in Role Playing Game as now you are just playing the Role of yourself and your abilities which is what Sammael or Taks meant. Probably the most important aspect (I don't look at is as just one of many aspects) as well of RPGs is the ability to develop and grow your character as time goes on so the character's skills can improve. But the definition of an RPG seems to be so vague and misunderstood these days, I guess it doesn't matter. At best, I would consider this game a FPS with RPG elements. Not a big deal. So is Deus Ex 2 and others.

Use a piece of paper to graphically represent a tree. Each node represents a decision that will cause a branch in the story. Branches can eventually merge back together at a node. Branches can end at a leaf which is how the game accomplishes multiple endings. You can have multiple beginning as well. The different beginning can all merge together into one node or proceed along different decision paths. This is how I would conceive a non linear storyline before this is taken and implemented in a game. It's like a Choose Your Own Adventure book but there are no specific tools I think other than this conceptual tool. In practice no game is truly that nonlinear in storyline. The amount of different branches leads to alot of work for little gain. Usually, you might see that you have a choice, such as saving Paul or not in Deus Ex, that later on in the game might affect some choice or event. Or the game might have multiple endings at the very end such as the three endings of Deus Ex. And a tree isn't the best conceptual tool either as you might have some very similar branches end up that just simply started similarly or differently but it's the only method I can think of at the moment. Most games like Fallout that are considered non linear are really a combination of linear paths added together. In fact, most games would be best represented as a collection of trees. Each tree being the separate quest or side quest and it's different decision points. EDIT: I noticed now that Crakkie also recommended the same thing. I don't really know how else you'd represent a nonlinear storyline other than by trees. And there are tools for doing as well... Hmm... :ph34r:

I agree about that. How can people claim the game has options for evil characters when I can't choose to be despicable person who murders half of the people I see. That may have been a console RPG influence but even on the consoles I see no reason for that.

That's not hard for someone who sees problems where they don't exist.

People who use the Bible for interpreting modern society are just ridiculous. Why should something more than 2000 years old (and much older than that in the Old Testament) be used for judging today's society?

Or she wasn't considered a 'child' by their laws regarding this. It's also a character that for the most part you control in the game as well.

Well said. Volourn. Consider the following example (which is similar to the points raised earlier), which is not just about software piracy. You miss this week's episode of Stargate SG-1. In the past, if you missed an episode, you can tape it our borrow a taped copy from someone else. Now instead you can download from the Internet the episode. It's a copy taped by an amateur, it might have Sky One's or SciFi Network's logo in the corner or even small ads on the screen while the show is playing (SciFi does this), there may be obvious placed where the ads had been cut, the quality isn't assured, etc. It's still technically illegal but in this case you can't go to the store to rent or buy the episode and it won't be on TV again for quite awhile. So in this case it is still breaking intellectual property rights but it's quite similar to just taping the episode yourself or borrowing it from someone. On the other hand, let's suppose you download over the Internet Season 6 of Stargate SG-1, ripped off of the DVDs with high quality. Would this not be considered piracy? In this case it's not an amateur's copy but rather a pretty good copy of the original. I see the latter being what software is. It's not some cheap imitation like taking a camcorder to a concert or photocopying an article from a newspaper. It's a pretty good copy. You download software off of the Internet and for all intents and purposes it works the same as the version you'd buy in the store. It may even work better because the copy protection had been removed. You can argue that most of those people who download it never would have bought it anyway but then in that case why did they download it anyway if they are not interested?

In terms of your point in general, as long as you delete the game after you have determined that you are not going to buy it then I guess that's not as bad. In the case of games that are more subpar though, some people might be more tempted to just keep on playing the game and completing it (because it's an easy choice) rather than deleting it when they decide it's not worth their time.

you mean toee? you had d&d rules (yes, i'm aware that some of them were broken. still i find the tb combat in toee really cool). you could talk to people and monsters, and you could kill people and monsters. you could find interesting, powerful items, or forge them. your party got stronger by gaining experience, and thus leveling up. thats rpg, atlthough very combat-oriented. Actually I believe RPGs are more about freedom and personally choice by the player, giving the player total control and letting him do as he pleases. Basically playing a role which allows the player total freedom to do as they please. There are few games that are called "RPG" that match that definition. Arguably Morrowind does in its open ended ness as I suppose Fallout or maybe Ultima 7. BG2, NWN, PST and most other games called "RPG" don't match that definition. Not that I am arguing with you that games with that quality are bad. Far from it.

Piracy is stealing. You are robbing the publisher and the developer of that game the revenue that they deserve for making the game, not to mention the retailers and the distributors of that game. Just because many people in Asia do it or have done it doesn't make it right.

Some countries such as Germany refuse to sell games depicting or allowing the murder of children but I didn't think you were serious about this anyway. Why restrict the audience you sell games too? I am sure KOTOR didn't break that rule because of how it was done.

Troll. When initially the board came up the quality of the avatars uploaded was fine but when I tried uploading the same avatar yesterday there was a marked difference in quality and reduction in size of the avatar. I was just agreeing with the previous posts about the avatar limitations.

Seppuku is Japanese. It's the formal term for hara-kiri. http://victorian.fortunecity.com/duchamp/410/seppuku.html Also, many of us got our knowledge of what it was from the movie Ronin (which is a Japanese word) with Robert De Niro where one of the characters on the movie gave an example of how the masterless Samurai committed Seppuku because of dishonor.