qaz156

here's my qualm with dell. They use not so good and sometimes proprietary motherboards that are hard to upgrade. In this case they're using a an 650i, which is OKAY. But in SLI mode, the cards only run at x8. The flipside, is that the board runs well compared to its brother, the 680i, and is pretty reliable and battle tested. Dell likes to do that. But they tend to charge waaaay too much for what they offer. Firstly, the mobo is so-so. Secondly, they don't give you many options for customization. It's either, you buy this overpriced stuff. Or you buy this overpriced stuff with more overpriced upgrades. If you even try to downgrade your components, it gives you no credit, so they get to charge you the same price for lesser components. I'm checking out the alienware site, and at least they offer better components it seems. I'm also looking at Vigor Gaming. Reseller Rating is above 9 for lifetime!

any particular reason why?

Yeah. OS is additional. But I already own a copy of XP. Oh, and the Mobo for Dell is a NVIDIA

Cyberpower Configuration: CASE: Hot !!! Apevia X-Telstar Junior 420W Case w/ Temp Display and Fan Control (S Type Black Color with Side-Panel 250mm UV LED Fan) CPU: (Sckt775)Intel

how about a warhammer 40k rpg?

thanks everyone. That does help. have any of you tried to play crysis?

So I'm finally getting a new computer. Usually I'm not the type to wait around for new technology, but since I get a computer about once every 5 years, something finally made me think twice about purchasing now: 3 way SLI. Although the first board offered (reviewed at anandtech) isn't really a step up from the 2 way SLI boards, soon they will be releasing better boards sometime in the next year. The reason why I'd want one is to be able to upgrade my cards in the future to maximize the gaming life of the pc (with this initial purchase I"d prolly get just a single 8800 GT). One reason to wait for proper 3 way boards is because I one day want to be able to play crysis. And I'm afraid that if I don't, then soon, with games like Crysis, I won't be able to play them except at low settings. What do you all think?

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/21/is-world...pc-games-market First I'd like to refer to the above article. And second: any thoughts on why blizzard is able to CONSISTENTLY stand out? (Plz no, "They make good games" answers). Obviously every developer strives for that. Especially would like to know the opinions of those in the industry, because I'm sure they talk about it, concerning the major success of blizzard and how they're able to pull it off. (They're consistency is almost so scary that it's like "are they enslaving lots of third world genius programmers and artists?")

http://pcgames.gwn.com/news/story.php/id/9993/ yes, I hope. And I know, it's not. But just imagine....

I was just wondering if any of the devs or staff would like to comment on whether or not their political inclinations ever seep into the games. Of course, anyone knows that most writers unconsciously write on themes that are salient to them in some way or another, even if they aren't consciously realizing it. So certain things that have affected or are affecting someone may turn up in the writing. For instance, Fallout 2 dealt with themes of Xenophobia: (Enclave/Vault City.) Corruption, (no surprise here), but also "good institutions" doing "bad" things for profit, i.e. Vault City supplying drugs. Kotor series dealt with themes of corporate crime/corporate monopolies (of course Obsidian just kept this theme from what Bioware had created). PST obviously dealt with the central question of "what can change the nature of a man" (I guess this is less political.) There are probably much better examples. I guess I just sort of listed ideas the designers have dealt with before. Now, I'm pretty sure the devs would probably say that any political parrallels are incidental, or unconscious and that they served the story first. I'm just interested to know if some political event while they were making the game, or world event, triggered a certain area, or quest or character etc...

All religions may be crazy. but this one is especially crazy. And it eats up more of your money.

It sucks she (Katie H.) converted. She's in for some craziness with that religion.

Also keep in mind that scientology's views on psychology are as dated as dianetics, which was written in the fifties. They still adhere to those ideas even though the course and methods of psychiatry have changed dramatically. It's also interesting to see if Scientology just hates psychiatry or both psychiatry and psychology. I know they think all psychiatrists want to control people's minds by putting them on drugs and destroying the human spirit. They think psychiatry is a massive conspiracy. OH, btw, Rolling Stone and Time both ran major articles on Scientology. Time was in the early nineties, and the Rolling Stone one was very recent. Both exposed scientology for the scam that it is, and the way that they try to control their members (no discussion/debate about scientology itself is allowed. In addition, the biggest crime someone can commit is to speak out or question scientology. Hubbard basically said that anyone who does is fair game for whatever tactic to be used against them until they are silenced.) http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story...ide_scientology a very good article.

Use to play the tabletop game but it is so darn expensive. But I play DOW and I love it. It's just a very well crafted game. I'm waiting for WA. hmmm..... a Warhammer 40k RPG........... I honestly think it sounds intriguing. The world is pretty cool and with the right devs, who don't just succumb to the action element, it could be pretty good.

I don't know if I have a slot. I thought I would just remove my old graphics card if there isn't a free slot. But I'm a layman here. Do I need a specific slot or something? In terms of money, let's just assume I'm willing to get something like the 7800 GT.

It's upgrade time for me, considering next year NWN2 will be out and it'll need a good graphics card. Any recommendations?

Yeah, that's for sure. I honestly was awed by it at first, for like the first 20 hours. Then you realize there are no real characters, they're all just robots. The world history is well written, but the plot is sucky. There are no characters who are interesting, who really come along with your quests, no romances... Eventually you realize that Morrowind, is just a huge world, without any real story or flesh and blood to fill it up. Also do not attempt all the quests! The game is not very condusive to that. One thing that is very very annoying is the fact that you don't get experience for doing quests. Your character advances his or her skills through practicing said skill. In fact, in Morrowind, there's an imbalance in the amount of time you put into a quest and the rewards you get out of it. You get better stuff not from completing the quests, but by exploring the right caves that sometimes coincide with a quest. Thus you don't even need to do quests if you know the right caves to explore. So after you're done exploring the world, and realizing how superficial everything is, then all you have to do is practice your said skills (you don't need a quest to do this at all) and go to the right caves. I loved morrowind when I first got it and now I hate it. What a dumb game.

To be honest, I don't know how they'd do a Fallout 3 and make it good. One was awesome, and two was good, but I thought that in 2, things started to get a little less post apocalyptic with all the cities. It stopped being Fallout, and became the post-post apocalyptic RPG in CA, and that just isn't as cool as when the apocalypse is more fresh, the towns are grittier, the people sparser, the gangs more feral, and the land more dusty and barren.

Well, in a perfect world, we'd get Kotor3, an original OE RPG, Fallout 3, and Baldur's Gate 3. But wait -- uh, isn't Dragon Age at Bioware supposed to be the "spiritual successor" to Kotor1, and Baldur's Gate, + it's an original RPG. It's like hittin many birds with one stone and fallout is the only one left behind. Of course, DA still doesn't tie up the plot of the Kotor series with the cliffhanger...

Well this one is sure interesting to say the least. It mentions both Obsidian and Bioware and talks about why the people at the website dislike both companies. What do you all think? http://rpgcodex.com/content.php?id=122

Well well well... Apparently a lot of people misinterpreted what I put forth, but at the same time, I predicted this would happen. Anytime you want a forum thread to go off the hook simply insert S-E-X and voilla! (but you old timers already knew that). I did not say I wanted porno in the games. I again, for the third time, let sexual content remain ambiguous reminding people that there was SEX in BG2 even if we didn't see it. I was trying to open people'sminds about what sex could be in a game, but of course whenever you mention it, people are immediately going to think about porno, and sex cut scenes like in movies. Also keep in mind that sex is not a perfect. It can also be a source of conflict. Take that as you will. For instance, say the gamer is into a said female (assume the gamer is male). What if the gamer finds out said female SLEPT with sketchy competitor for that female. For men this is very different than if they just kissed or are in love. For women of course the emphasis is different. Women tend to care more if the person they are into fall in love with someone else. (These statements are from current psychological studies. Keep in mind that isn't the case for EVERY MALE AND FEMALE. That is just the trend.) Then maybe later the gamer finds out it was just a rumor, feels relieved and yada yada he gets with the female character... Or, for those of you who are thinking MA rating, or AO, sex itself can be a source of conflict. The act itself generates many problems from STDs to just unsatisfying experiences. But I sincerly doubt games will ever get this graphic and I'M NOT SAYING THEY NEED TO. I'm definitley not saying that. What I am saying is that sexual content in a game can mean many many many different things. I put forth sex, because sex in games, in this culture (in the U.S.) is likely to stimulate controversy. Often a time controversy helps a game sell even better. A lot of art and other products have benefitted from controversy. But then again, that's not to say that I WANT more sex in games. And don't forget I first mentioned romance, this I DO want developed. I think it can add a lot to an RPG, and it can add something that many games don't. What I was saying, was that I'm tired of seeing action/rpg crossovers and I was musing about whether instead there could be a better romance element (with well thought out progressions, and maybe multiple possibilities) and POSSIBLY sex to appeal to more gamers, and thereby keeping it "a hardcore rpg." (Note: I still consider Kotor as a medium to hardcore rpg. To me: Diablo/Dungeon Siege are "action rpgs" since there's a HEAVY emphasis on combat. And story and characters aren't really developed like in Kotor.) The sex of course would serve some sort of purpose, just like violence does. I knew that this idea wouldn't really work, besides, most threads don't come to fruition. I simply wanted to generate discussion, and maybe find some sort of satisfactory conclusion to the age old, sex in games debate. Or maybe that people would agree with me that it is better to have a "hardcore" rpg (that has a great story still and great characters, etc..)with a blatant sex appeal, than a diluted action rpg, which they tend to be in my opinion, when it comes to story, character and themes.

I'm hoping that Obsidian or one of the RPG companies in the near future makes an RPG that focuses on making the gamer feel like he/she is really there in that gaming world. VTM Bloodlines was the first game for me that really gave me a glimpse of that, albeit a glimpse. I thought having your own apartment that you come back to, checking your e-mail and being able to turn on the radio and tv, that had DIFFERENT material playing at different points of the game, all made it it more immersive. Sometimes I felt kinda like I was there. Some people obviously may disagree with me. I also thought that Morrowind failed to make me feel like I was there, because there wasn't that sort of detail that was present in VTMB such as e-mail, the radio, the tv or Heather. But now that I know it's possible to make a gamer feel like they're there, I think it'd be cool if one of Obsidian's projects revolved around immersing the player in the experience in such a way.

That's a very good point. A lot of people argue that if you're going to include sex, there needs to be a POINT or it needs to serve some sort of FUNCTION. Yet when it comes to violence, no one really says anything. Sex is a part of life, even in the DnD world. I mean how do people reproduce in the land? (I can just hear one of you sarcastic ones saying the dm spawns them, har har.) and like I said before sexual content is ambiguous, it could mean anything. It doesn't need to mean porn or nudity even. Companies exploit violence to sell games, especially action games. And I'm not saying that RPG companies should exploit romance and sex. All I'm saying is that if they want to, then I would in some ways prefer that to them exploiting violence and action, because that usually leads to another "action/RPG", whereas if they use romance and sex to lure new gamers, you can still have a "hardcore" rpg, as defined by the industry.

Not neccesarily. Why does GTA sell so well? It's got a mature rating.... Also remember that sexual content may not necessarily increase the rating. Sexual content itself is ambiguous and I left it at that. BG2 had sex in it, that didn't raise the the rating. Many pg-13 movies have sex, but the sex doesn't make it go to R.

Obsidian rocks. But I think I have an appreciation for them just like a reader has an appreciation for an author or a filmmaker/artist. Basically what they do to me is like art, it's creative, it tells a story, it has characters, it has visual art, it has music, it has sound, and it is entertaining. To me it's an artform, and I really hope they continue to realize how awesome they are (esp Chris n company/former black isle members). I know that ultimately it's about making money, but sometimes artists can appreciate what the fans tell them, and I hope they read this thread to encourage them on their all too many sleepless nights.