Tigranes

I wouldn't mind a unified console. More choice for the consumer, because you aren't limited in your games selection. I like what Wii did because instead of having 3 exactly same consoles (what, you thought PS2/3 and XBOX/360 were different? Pfft, they're the same bloody type with variations), they went and did something different. If we had differences like that (or more) then 2-3 consoles won't be so bad. Can't see Microsoft getting out of this though. Maybe Sony if they royally screw up with PS4. But probably not.

Well I've been lazy, but waiting for SOZ and waiting to finish the SOZ campaign *was* important, as I suspected. I haven't dug in the toolset for new functions and whatnot yet, but just in terms of art assets, it opens up a lot of interesting possibilites and lets me get away more from the "Highcliff Look" without having to rely on custom assets. Nearly done with my grad applications, so probably going to start fooling around with an area, but this time an actual one.

Sounds like what I expected then. I'm a bit too tired of Fallout 3, at the moment anyway, to bother with it. Thanks for the info.

I highly doubt we will see an NX3. Good thing too, all things considered. I am just about to go to the final area for SOZ, convinced that I wrapped up the majority of things you can do. I could never find out how to get to that mountain in the sword coast, and I never found the gauntlets of ironfist, but oh well. After a MOTB run just before, I'm gonig to have to take a long break from NWN2, but I will probably play SOZ one more time at some point. It did get me onto an old-games frenzy, though. Trying Ultima 7 for the first time (and about time). Got killed.

1) Is there any role-playing, interesting backstory, choices to be made? 2) Is there any interesting tactical decisions to be made? 3) Does the story make sense this time? 4) Fun?

And if being the real theslug gets you screwed, then be theslug: genius edition.

Moved to the appropriate forum. A CRC error may not have a noticeable impact on your game; did you try choosing 'Ignore' and continuing with the installation? Otherwise, are you installing from a CD, and if so, is it fairly worn? Scratched CDs or bad backups of setup files can give you CRC errors, afaik.

Just take it. It doesn't make sense that you told yourself you'd stay if an internship came along, and now it comes along, you don't. The obligation stuff should be far, far down your list of priorities.

It's not 'not quite the same', it's a completely irrelevant non-comparison. Of course, with a game, it's a lot harder to draw the line as to when it is broken enough to be 'broken'. I do think the bar right now is a bit too low, though, mainly because that bar has been set by the industry itself.

I need to cart back and forth throughout the whole game (including those who only appear temporarily)? Screw that, Ima kill him. (That is, if that 'Attack' option does give you a battle.)

Nearly at the end of the game now I think. Just finishing up a few bits and bobs, just how many bloody cohorts do you need to ? I already did 3. Also got to do the West Harbour bit, I heard there be dragons. My initial impression looks to be set in stone. Wonderful music and art direction, along with the overall well-done OM / Trade systems, make it a fresh and fun romp, but nothing memorable or awesome. I can understand budget constraints preventing bigger areas, but the battles are, in true NWN tradition, dump mobs. Loading times are still silly when running back and forth, but hey, I played unpatched Gothic 3, so...

Maybe that's the whole point. Calax: Been around a while, not the guy to rock the boat, so to speak, loves anime, exhibits various signs of being a white western unmarried male in his twenties.

What exactly is a 'Human development class'? Sounds like some sort of hideous selective breeding course that is an HR Dept's wet dream.

You missed my tempestuous, border-hopping love affair with Volourn's twin.

Honestly? For me, SOZ is an Underdeveloped IWD. Now, I absolutely loved both Icewind Dales, and sometimes they had delicious areas, but for at least half of each game, the IWDs too were hackfests with 0 dialogue options and enemies simply placed into the map. They were characterised by BIG areas full of enemies (and thus combat after combat) with anything from minimal to some dialogue / choices, and accentuated by great visuals/music and areas that seemed to make sense (in terms of, Dragon's Eye really looks like a place where lizardkin live, unless you are a super lore stickler). SOZ is exactly like that, except with *tiny* areas instead of big, and missing the welcome exception such as the Severed Hand. Which tells me, underdeveloped. It's fun enough for me to go on with despite the frequent loading times, which in itself should speak volumes, but it does feel, increasingly, like a good game that missed its opportunity to really be what it was meant to be.

True, although: 1) For me, the fact that an argumentn comes from a religious background doesn't automatically invalidate it, and; 2) Homosexuality has more roots than just Christian discrimination, which arguably comes directly from those other roots.

Yeah, it's a weird 'position' I'm in at the moment and it's hard to communicate. I don't blame you, by 'aggressive' I meant 'in terms of defending arguments and advancing my position'. And once again to clarify, yes, 'pro-gay positions' can be very different from 'do whatever they want'. I don't think I equated the two up there? I'm saying I've seen a lot of people who just say 'gays, whatever, I'm not gay'.

Cats can get cancer?!

I will hate you forever, but I'll give you advance warning at least.

The torture involved in international applications. If I stayed here in NZ I can do a Ph.D straight away (and finish by the time I'm 23), and most likely get full scholarship, to boot. Instead I'm trying desperately to get in a school in North America so I can, uh... get a Masters instead and haemmorhage my finances. I already know what I want to do, at least.

Sorry, but I'm still confounded as to why some people keep interpreting arguments so aggressively. I have no desire to 'justify'my fence-sitter position because it is a temporary one based on a lack of information and lack of analysis on my part. If anything, it comes from a lack of justification. The consequences I outlined were extremely speculative and nonjudgemental for that reason. Some of them *could* be detrimental in my eyes, others positive, but for me to make blanket predictions such as "accepting gays will significantly increase the proportion of gays in our society and this will mean a better/worse world" would be idiotic, given what I said just a few lines above this. What I am saying, and all I am saying, is quite simple. I think homosexuality is an important issue for our world with long-reaching impacts on society as a whole, and not something you can just say "gays do whatever they want, I'm not gay", because of the kind of possible consequences I outlined above. And that's the only thing that I can argue quite strongly here; that homosexuality and its position in our society does have consequences. Man, I tried not to go too far into this because my thoughts are so speculative at the moment, I sound like a bloated waffle ("X could happen, or, uh, not. X might be good, or, uh, not.) Edit: I also find it hard to make a rational judgment on this topic because I am so disgusted by some Christians I personally know, who are non-fundamentalist, reasonable people in many ways, but have simply been indoctrinated to consider homosexuality a despicable thing, and get instinctively disgusted in the presence of one. And that's no good reason to decide one way or the other.

Notepad isn't quite so bad with word wrap at full screen. Have a go. Satires of Obsidian forumites are a valid topic for the fanfic contest.

Wait, you don't have notepad? And we have a bar fight every week.

*cough* I admit all the stuff taks and GD and others talk about in politics goes over my head; something I really must remedy at some point. That said, what do you guys think Obama will actually be able to accomplish / screw up / start during his first term? From my uninformed / limited perspective it strikes me that the financial crisis will take at least all of 2009 to get over; Obama will have to work to keep spirits up during that period - closing Guantanamo down, which he's moved on to, should help ease the pain. I doubt he can just start pulling troops out 'tomorrow' - he'd have to negotiate a stand-alone plan for Iraq and so forth, and it's not as a universally agreed upon solution as GB is. The pullout *should* be complete by end of his term though, safe for a few 'peacekeepers', unless something else blows up big around there. Israel/Palestine, doubt he can do much about that. Universal healthcare again, seems like a big ask; expensive complicated controversial plan in a time of tightening belts. I wouldn't have my hopes very high on that one. Generally if he can repeal or stem the tide of some of the more ridiculous anti-terrorist / Homeland Security policies of the Bush years, not screw anything up bad in Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan/Pakistan/North Korea, close Guantanamo Bay and steer the country relatively unscathed through the depression, I'd notch that up as a successful presidency..

They are not fears. They are consequences with a wide impact that can be reasonably suspected of happening (if not 'expected'). They only come across as 'negative' because you are applying your predispositions on them and framing the argument in terms of 'fears'. Observe: 1. Proliferation of diverse types of sexuality is not in any conceivable way a 'fear-mongering attitude' in and of itself. It may be celebrated/welcomed by some (and I lean towards that). It is only 'fear-mongering' when used as such, like anything else. Besides, if some people use that point in a fear-mongering way, does it invalidate its likelihood? No, it doesn't. 2. Whether you or I think diversification is 'good' or not, again, has absolutely no relevance. My point is that this can be reasonably expected to happen in the hypothetical situation of complete 'gay acceptance'. 3. See my previous post on marriage conventions. 4. I think you agree with me here and your comment was just a lateral one, so cool. I'm pretty sure you don't really disagree with me. You just need to abandon the misunderstanding that I am talking about fears or negative consequences.