alanschu

To me though, I almost think that the long, good story RPGs also started with Baldur's Gate. Outside of games like Final Fantasy, I cannot remember many off the top of my head that were truly long, epic games.

I can't afford any beer. Spent all my money on the tickets hahaha I'll try to keep an eye on them for you.

Ryan Malone most likely. He played well in Pittsburgh last year, but he was a big fish in a very, very small pond.

I would agree. Length for length's sake is silly. Deus Ex was great because it IS a long game, but the story is coherent and it's not just filled with mindless filler. Everytime I realized that there was more to the story I got all giddy :D

I'm sure somewhere down, or I guess up, the line I'm related to Michael Schumacher. He's probably like my 256th cousing 14 times removed or something.

Vedder and Chris Cornell are probably my favourite male vocalists. Which probably isn't too strange because I find they have similar voices and singing styles. Maybe it's a Seattle thing? Once upon a time, I was of the mind, To lay your burden down. And leave you where you stood, You believed I could. You'd seen it done before. I could read your thoughts, And tell you what you saw. And never say a word. But now all that is gone. Overwith and done, Never to return. I can tell you why People why die alone I can tell you why The Shadow of the Sun. Staring at the loss, Looking for the cause And never really sure Nothing but a hole, To live without a soul And nothing to be learned. I can tell you why People go insane I can show you how You could do the same I can tell you why, The end will never come. I can tell you on The Shadow of the Sun. Shapes of every size, Move behind my eyes. Doors inside my head, Bolted from within. Every drop of flame, Lights a candle in, Memory of the one, Who lived inside my skin! I can tell you why People go insane I can show how You could do the same I can tell you why The end will never come I can tell you on The shadow of the sun. Shadow on the Sun! Shadow on the Sun! Shadow on the Sun! Shadow on the Sun! Shadow on the Sun! Shadow on the Sun! Shadow on the Sun! Shadow on the Sun! Sun! Sun!

Yeah, the open ended ones are the ones that take a while because you can literally get caught up doing other things. I will concede that there does seem to be less open ended games out there. Spore will likely cause me to lose hours and hours though. As for Ender, I was referring to all games, but perhaps a bit of focus on RPG as this is an RPGish discussion board. But I do remember people complaining because a game like Episode 3 was short, and my roommate made a comment about "There's no way he'd ever buy a game that only gave a few hours of gameplay," when I'm pretty sure there are plenty of action type games out there that do only offer a few hours of gameplay. Coming from the guy that determines the value of a game by the hour-to-dollar ratio?

Well, you never know how that third one will do. PSX came literally out of nowhere, and XBOX did surprisingly well. Would the console market become too complacent with just the two?

Heh, you could have manual control on combat, but on all but the slowest computers it became unweidly IMO. I just had it auto attack with my Two-Handed Sword of d00m! Ultima VII is still one of my all time favourite games, of any genre.

I've seen people complain that games are getting shorter, often citing such epics as Baldur's Gate 2 or Final Fantasy 7 has the apex. We all remember the 50+ hours we spent on games like this (Baldur's Gate 2 truly was a huge game length wise). But I was wondering, were games like that more the exception than the norm? Even for RPG games? Despite knowing everything about the games, there's an asymptotic lower bound for the length of time to fully play a game like FF7 or BG that is still quite long. Even though I've played BG2 in it's entirety twice, I'm betting it would still take me around 40 hours or so to beat the game; it's just that long. However, a game like Fallout really isn't that long at all. Granted, I'm talking from hindsight where I know most about the game, but I can literally beat Fallout 1 in pretty much a single sitting (a long one, but still). Certainly a weekend. Fallout 2 is a little bit longer, but still nothing like Baldur's Gate 2. The Final Fantasy games have always been rather lengthy, but KOTOR can be beaten by me in a weekend too. Ultima 7 is certainly a game that can occupy tons of time if you just goof around, but I recently replayed the game and beat it within a weekend as well. But I would never dream of trying to play Baldur's Gate 2 within the span of a weekend, unless I felt sleep was optional. But the only games I've seen with really any length are RPG games (and adventure games too I suppose, but those are pretty rare today). I know people complained because Max Payne 2 was only a few hours long, and there were those disappointed with the length of Metal Gear Solid. Deus Ex was a long game (much to my joy), but System Shock didn't strike me as an overly long game. However, when I look back, I don't consider many of the older games to be really that long. I have a friend that can beat Contra in like 10 minutes. And I remember back in the day claiming that we were "elite" gamers if we could "wrap" a game without dying. But I don't really expect them to be long, given that they couldn't save their games or anything of that like. The only games where I've truly lost hours in were the more open ended games, without an actual plot (or at least a plot that had to be followed). This would include pretty much strategy games, generally TBS (Civ, SMAC, SimCity, etc.). An individual game may not last very long, but the randomness of said games were what stretched out the game time. Sports game could also be tossed in there as well. But I can't think of too many games with stories that really occupied for much longer than most games today. So are games really getting shorter? Or do we just remember the huge epic adventures of Baldur's Gate and Final Fantasy, and compare game length to them? Discuss.

Aren't you always?

Powerglove and Super Scope 6 for teh win!!!!!! Robo? I don't think that was ever intended to succeed, but it's marketting did seem to work out well for Nintendo, given how much ppl seemed to hate video games at that time.

Well, if Kovalchuk was back, I'd probably say pick Savard. But he's an unknown.

Here's another. Guess what band I'm listening too " He could

She lived on a curve in the road In an old tar paper shack On the south side of the town On the wrong side of the tracks. Sometimes on the way into town we'd say "Momma can we stop and Give her a ride?" Sometimes we did, but her hands flew from her side Wild Eyed, crazy Mary. Down along the road, past the Parson's place. That old blue car, we used to race. Little country store with a sign tacked to the side, Said "No L-O-I-T-E-R-I-N-G Allowed" Underneath that sign, always congrated quite a crowd. Take a bottle drink it down, pass it around. Take a bottle drink it down, pass it around. Take a bottle drink it down, pass it a... pass it around. One night thunder cracked <mercy???> backed our windowsill Dreamed I was flyin', high above the trees, over the hills. Looked down, into the house, of Mary. Bare bulb on, newspaper covered walls, And Mary rising up above it all. Next moring on the way into town; Saw some skid marks, followed them around. Over the curve, through the fields, into the house of Mary. That what you fear the most, could meet you halfway That what you fear the most, could meet you halfway That what you fear the most, could meet you halfway. Take a bottle drink it down, pass it around. Take a bottle drink it down, pass it around. Take a bottle drink it down, pass it a- Pass it around.

Did you make that up yourself? In any case: It must be your skin I'm sinking in. It must be for real, 'Cause now I can feel. I didn't mind It's not my kind, It's not my time, To wonder why. Everything's all white Everything's gray. Now you're here, Now you're away. I don't want this. Remember that, I'll never forget Where you're at. Don't let the days go by Glycerine Glycerine I'm never alone I'm alone all the time. Are you at one, or do you lie? We live in a wheel, Where everyone steals. And when we rise It's like Strawberry fields. I treated you bad, You bruised my face. Couldn't love you more, You got a beautiful taste Don't let the days go by, Could've been easier on you I couldn't change though I wanted to. Shoulda been easier by three Our old friend fear and you and me Glycerine Glycerine Don't let the days go by Glycerine Don't let the days go by- Glycerine! Glycerine! Oh, Glycerine, Glycerine! Bad moon white again Bad moon white again, As she falls around me. I need you more, You wanted us less. I could not kiss, just regress. It might just be, clear simple and plain. Well that's just fine, That's just one of my names. Don't let the days go by Could have been easier on you you you Glycerine. Glycerine. Glycerine. Glycerine.

My brother was born on a Friday the 13th too, and was even named Jason. Though he was born a few years before the first movie.

I'm going to make an assumption that you recognized it wasn't the real Volourn and are trying to be funny???

I'd probably go with Langkow in the first box. He's a solid player, and will be playing on a line with Iginla and Amonte. Third one? I dunno....Malone? Though I doubt he'll get the minutes this year. I'd probably go with Morrow (assuming it's Brendan Morrow), and then...hmmmmm...Brunette?

I had heard he checked himself into a clinic of some sort, and it wasn't drug or alcohol related. Meh.

I was just about to say it, but Bloodlines does have an excellent soundtrack!

Most people just quit believing.

Johann Sebastian Bach A ginormous classical music composer. http://www.jsbach.org/

Assuming the existance of God, he set the religions against each other? I'd probably give most of that responsibilty to people, because God had given Free Will to people.