Tigranes

Probably because you've gone great length to cite and create examples that are overflowing with kawaii? By foregrounding those you're inviting everyone to discuss the issue with starry-eyed Romneys in front and center. I don't know why you would do that if that's not your intention. But sure, let's talk about less stylised examples, such as Guild Wars 2. I played a little bit of that and saw the dialogues with close up models - what did they add? There's really not much added expressibility. You see someone put their hands on their waste and puff their chests out, or frown. This is what I've been saying all along. It's very simple, so it conveys no additional information. It doesn't convey those simple emotional frames any more effectively than well written text does. And it doesn't add any subtle texturing of emotion. So, what is it doing? You have to do better than just 'pictures tell a thousand words' or 'visual representation does things text does not' - we can talk about generic universalisms all day long, but at the end of the day I need to be convinced that these specific visuals add something unique or significant. Basically, no, I don't see what is gained if the hand-drawn portrait of the Nameless One has a 'grinning version', 'angry version' and 'surprised version'. The text has its own way of speaking, and it spoke superbly in Torment; let it speak, and don't interrupt it with pictures that don't do a whole lot.

Because visual representation is just as powerful as "text" representation. Just as powerful as sound representation. Not saying that it has to be in but it is a tool for sure. Not only do you read how Forton feels, hear him hum a short .wav file, but also sees how he feels when he smiles. In another picture, later on in the game, he instead shows concern of the task ahead, in voice+sound+portrait. If it is out of the scope in resources I can understand, just saying that narration can include texture as well. You're giving me a very general answer about why visual representation in the universe matters. Of course. Nobody can disagree with that. The question is whether the kinds of visual representation that are practically possible / the ones you describe will add the kind of representation that is significant, fits the mood, enhances expressibility, etc. And as I suggested above, teardrops and 3-4 happy/sad portrait states aren't going to do much - or, in cases, take away from the expressibility due to their limitations. It's exactly like the argument on voice acting - great, varied voice acting can do a lot to add expressibility, and for many, it is worth limiting the ways you can imagine the text being spoken to hear it done so well. But when you have mediocre or crap voice acting, it actually detracts from the expressibility of the text.

I will play some guitar, read some books, cook, eat, and listen to some music.

Except Wasteland 2, Project Eternity, Chaos Chronicles, Knights of the Chalice 2 (perhaps)... if we get two or three great, replayable games out of this oncoming surge that should make me happy. I also think Piranha Bytes and CDProjekt have it in them to do a bit better.

I played three times and I think I exhausted it. I really enjoyed it too, but once you see all there is to see plot wise, the gameplay is just too weak - single character, sword combat not as robust as the first, not much complexity or variety in enemies/tactics, the character progression / monty haul element also mediocre. Same with TW1, really - I rate them both highly but they just show how even the better RPGs post-2005 have such shallow gameplay / combat.

I'm not opposed to the idea in principle, but even stand-up avatars, which are probably the best way to do them, don't really often add a whole lot of actual expressibility for me. Think about it. You will never have 20, 30 different portraits for NPCs - so you will just see them cycle through Normal, Angry, Sad, Pensive - but really, do you need such wide, general expressions visualized? What does it add? The subtleties of character expression, the meaning of the words, and their emotional effect - it's going to be conveyed through the text and limited voiceovers, and not those. So I don't really see the point, but I have nothing against them being in, as long as they aren't done terribly. Torment and other games are good examples of how text, narrative description, and other verbal indicators can work more than well enough. As for inserting emoticons and other expressions in there - you want it to fit. Just as you want a way characters speak in text, or the kind of accent and voice VAs have, to fit the setting and mood of the game, you don't want cartoon teardrops and things like that. I enjoy my share of manga and JRPGs but it's frankly an ill-considered proposal here.

I spent a few teenage years dipping my toes in and out, but mostly amounted to several barely-finished NWN area files, lots of word files and such. I don't actually think I'd like to work in the games industry, and I think I knew that deep down - from what I know of the process, especially these days, I wouldn't have wanted to make it a career. But it's a pity I never buckled down and actually finished a mod or two. I still want to reach that stage, but sadly it's rarely high enough on my priority.

I barely have time to slowly do this LP, and this is during my 2 weeks off, unfortunately. Hopefully I'll be able to chug on. Updating sometime today.

My only exposure is the gigantic Persona 4 LP on the Codex: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/lets-reach-out-to-the-truth-in-persona-4.68074/ I enjoyed reading it but it didn't seem great to actually play, for me - a lot of filler. Seems there's a lot of fun stuff inside though.

I've hypocritically succumbed to Steam and they have improved non-update / offline mode settings, but I'm just fine with skipping Ubisoft games. Until they release Beyond Good & Evil 2 they're not likely to create anything I want that much, anyway. Same with Origin, seeing as I no longer play Bioware games...

Worth it, do you think? I'm disappointed they won't actually get a move on with KB2. Loved Legend & AP but didn't try Crossworlds. I'll tell you guys once I find the time to actually play them I tried both briefly and seemed like great games (always subject to taste, I like my turn based combat, thank you very much). Warriors of the North is like an improved version of Armored Princess (disclaimer - no idea how the campaign pans out if played in full) and Fallen Enchantress looked very promising what little I managed to dig into it (not a lot, so take with a sack of salt, not enough play time to get a feel for balance, challenge etc.). Bah! By that time the sale shall be over! You're dead to me. Dead! Meh. I imagine a -75% sale will come for it sometime next year.

Worth it, do you think? I'm disappointed they won't actually get a move on with KB2. Loved Legend & AP but didn't try Crossworlds.

Uh...... Okay.

I'm a pretty good judge of what games I'll enjoy, so more often I'll be picking them up on release. (It helps that there aren't many that pass my judgment.) I'd rather play BG2 again, and have more fun with it, than pick up a game I only sort-of-enjoy for $5. So each year I only pick up two or three games on sale, usually older titles I'd missed. This year it was Caesar 3 and KOTOR2, both for convenience of digital copies.

That's how LPs work. It would be insane to try and play this with 6 people, logistically. Although we would die a lot more.

Crusader Kings 2 was good. Risen 2 was OK. The obligatory annual PES 2013 & Football Manager 2013 were OK. Diablo 3 was disappointing. I think that's all the full price purchases in 2012. Otherwise, timesinks included the Age of Decadence demo, Caesar 3, Skyrim, Arcanum, Dungeons of Dredmor, BG2 and KOTOR2 (current). Feel confident in ignoring for now: Dishonoured, X-COM, Hitman, Dark Souls - will be looking for them at 5-10$ sales.

Making our way out of the Keep, we rejoin Nalia. (Sorry, dialogue has been abridged.) Nalia whines a bit about how she needs a puppet Lord to underwrite the Keep so she can rule the place. Sorry girl, I know better than to risk my credit rating for an inexperienced no-hoper like you. Besides, we've pretty much looted the entire place. Something tells me there's not much worth keeping here. The quest reward XP sets off a flurry of level ups. (Please imagine a Sailor Moon-like wave of party members posing in the air.) Neeeeepenthe! Calax! TrueNeutral, who can now become a werewolf six times a day! And Pid-Up, again. At long last, we return to Athkatla. We have a little bit of cash to spend, though the best items are still far out of our reach. 20,000 gold is not difficult to earn, but we must keep investing the cash in order to stay competitive. Our primary gains are Breach, and Lower Resistance, both of which I memorize. Pidesco cannot cast 5th level spells yet, and the two scrolls alone set us back 3,000 gold. Next up: the Bard Stronghold... maybe. It probably means more deaths, but hey, that's what you wanted...

Oh, well... I guess the troll took offence at being written off. Pidesco is scratched to death from the rear while we focus on the Yuan-ti. This is Pidesco's second death. Thankfully, my confusion finally wears off, and I can actually contribute to our most difficult battle yet. I take revenge on the troll. There is still little we can do against the Yuan-ti until its buffs wear off. We need Breach, or at least Spell Thrust, but none of the mages know the spell. The Yuan-ti too, thankfully, is out of higher level spells; the worst it can do is a skull trap on Gorth. We've now expended all of our good healing potions, quaffing the lower efficiency ones every turn to keep HP up. The teleport field kept annoying us, so we relocate, drawing the Yuan-ti out. Its globe wears off, but it seems to retain, as you can see by the blue aura around the feet, Minor Spell Turning - so we can't magic missile, etc. to interrupt spellcasting. I therefore use Wild Magic to try and cast a Nishruu - a sixth level spell that summons a ghostly entity that unmemorizes the target's spells with every hit. With it, the Yuan ti should no longer pose an offensive threat. Wait, what does Wrong Target mean? Ah. a hostile Nishruu. We drop back again, gathering the band together as TrueNeutral returns to human form and casts Mass Heal. I try to haste everyone, but instead double my own hitpoints. Good enough, I guess. Finally, everyone exhausted, the Yuan-ti's buffs run out and it falls quickly. We then take care of the Nishruu, in order to finally spell victory. Nalia's father lies dead; but we are not too late... ...to loot the place.

Right. Now we're all... fresh, we buff up like mad for the upcoming fight. We summon monsters, cast Bless, Chant, Holy Power, Haste, Mirror Image, Stoneskin, Remove Fear. Tor'Gal, buffed with SCS, is a fierce opponent. In addition to the giant trolls he is accompanied by an Umber Hulk Elder, and two Yuan-ti Mages; it is the latter that are really dangerous. With SCS's pre-buffs, they activate a flurry of protections upon site - as one is doing here - then can unleash their spells on us at will. Of course, I had been casting spells beforehand as well. Triggering the battle, I quickly drop back as Pidesco casts Web; we follow up with Cloudkill, which hopefully ties down and disrupts the Yuan-ti in particular. Our plan was to follow up with Chaos and Ice Storm to keep them busy while we deal with Tor'Gal. As you can see, though, the Ice Storm fires, but the Umber Hulk confuses me, on the wrong side of the door. This is bad. We have no choice but to push beyond the chokepoint, and go on the offensive. Nepenthe, TrueNeutral-Wolf, and Calax tank Tor'Gal, here seen casting his periodic Cloak of Fear. First we quickly destroy the Umber Hulk before it does any more harm. Then it's TorGal. Gorth breaks out his Bolt+1, and Pidesco the Arrows of Piercing, of which we only have twenty. Tor'Gal is very fast, very strong, regenerates, and hits hard. The only way is to hit him hard before the rest of the enemies enter the fray, and while we are at full strength. Unfortunately, Tor'Gal has the effective power of at least three trolls. Calax succumbs within only two turns. This is Calax's second death. Meanwhile, one of the Yuan-ti break out of our AOE spell combo, and breaches my spell protections - most notably, stoneskin. This is bad; only Nepenthe and TrueNeutral stand between Tor'Gal one hitting me to oblivion. We redirect our bolts and arrows at the Yuan-ti, but it has its own Stoneskin on. Fortunately, it casts Shadow Door as its next spell making it invisible, and my confused self wanders away from the battlefield. Quickly, Nepenthe leaps and closes the door behind me, ensuring I don't come back before I am cured. Meanwhile, our good ol' fashioned beating has worked; with primary contribution from TrueNeutral and Gorth, Tor'Gal breathes his last. We are not out of danger yet, however. One of the Yuan-ti has thankfully expired in the AOE zone, too slow to put up its buffs; another giant troll up North remains webbed, and of little threat. However, the living Yuan-ti reappears with globe of invulnerability, stoneskin, and who knows what else besides.

21. You Be Hidin' On Tor'Gal Click Here for Table of Contents We're back. A quick one today, as I am still caught in the Yuletide KOTOR2 Festival. (Admission: only two and a half pounds.) We near the very end of De'Arnise Keep, wherein Head Troll Tor'Gal dwells. Our last obstacle is a room full of Umber Hulks. They're not very tough, but throw around innate Confusion abilities that can be very annoying. If we had access to the Death spell we could take them all out in one go, but I am still limited to Fifth level spells. Yet another reason for the Will to Power. For now, Gorth sneaks past them towards a looped corridor on the South side. This is what we had brutally murdered Spot et al. for earlier in the Keep; Umber Hulks go crazy for dog stew, and we will be able to lure them in and lock the doors behind them. Some dog bones. This is the place. Gorth:Uh... I don't have the dog stew. Tale: Oh, bloody hell. Did you leave it with us? Pidesco: I don't have it. Calax: I wouldn't touch the thing. Nepenthe: ...but we definitely made it, and it has no combat uses... Tale: ... didn't we give it to you, TrueNeutral? TrueNeutral: Uh... no. Give me what? No, I uh... never seen it. Nope. Tale: ... you didn't. Gorth: Well, I suppose in his transformed state- Tale: Don't say it. Don't. TrueNeutral: Look, it's just umber hulks. We can take them. Right? Guys? (Seriously, I have no idea where it went to. BG2 doesn't really have the kind of bugs that makes items disappear randomly, and it's not even a usable/consumable item.) Still, the umber hulks prove relatively simple to overcome; three of them fail the Cloudkill save and die instantly. Our way is finally clear. Searching the room yields a stylish suit of Orc Leather +3. As the only resident leather-wearer, Gorth is given the privilege. Gorth:.... "Finger bones, ribs, and skulls cover the armour"? Seriously? Hey, wait till we get to the Bridge District... We take a quick rest before taking on Tor'Gal, and I am transported to another dream sequence. This time it is not Imoen who greets me, but Irenicus. He looms ever larger in my mind with every passing day. As his cultured baritone waxes lyrical on Power, my eyes cannot help but roam over his features. The piercing eyes; the alternative fashion sense; the exposed chest... ...and, of course, the prominent sack front and centre, highlighting his magnificent- -oh, right. The woman. Yes, right. Woman lived her life, now she is dead. Gotcha. You're preaching to the choir, Jon. Can I call you Jon? I mean, this is just a dream, right? Oh, Jon. Don't tempt me. Jon! JON! Uh... yeah. I guess I got a little excited there. It is inevitable, indeed.

Halfway through KOTOR2 - completed Nar Shaddaa and Dantooine, just landed on Onderon. Never used the restoration mod and I've forgotten enough of the game to not notice much, but am looking forward to the HK Factory. I'll get back on the LP presently, but I really didn't expect K2 to be this fun after all those years - back when it first came out and I played the whole thing at 7fps.

KOTOR2 is great, I just played through Pelagus in one go with TSLRCM and it's been fun. I just need to fix the fast-forwarding cutscenes bug.

I don't know, but I assume you will need the same mods. He could install the same mods and same components (your WeiDU.txt in the BG2 folder contains a full list of what mods/components you installed, in order), or yeah, I suppose sending the entire folder could work, if you can do that easily. IE games multiplayer are a bit cumbersome, but they work.

Christmas in Europe:

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/baldurs_gate_2_complete Probably will be on sale, too, sometime this week... I picked them up at $5 each last year to reduce the hassle.