Patrick K Mills

A gay romance would be sweet but it wasn't in the cards for this project. That's why he cried.

I should start a blog so funcroc can stalk me.

He might be, things change and his statement is more recent. I'm not fully up-to-date on the bag-ability of some of our women. Also there is a distinction to be made here between "tha ladies" and "female characters." Despite what Snoop may say, women *are* more than just hoes and tricks. EDIT: And most people didn't like the crying scene because of reasons other than the humanization of the main character.

The city watch section was designed with the intention of making you feel the drudgery and tedium of a REAL city watchmen. Pretend that I just posted this on my secret non-dev account, OK?

It was really, really, really long, dude.

The collector's edition was laced with rohypnol.

Cycloneman has asked for a copy of Alpha Protocol, so he'll have to wait for his prize.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVev83o_Q_4

I'm also interested to see if it can be done. Eve has a collaborative narrative. Soul Caliber has visible numbers on weapon upgrades, and does have a narrative. Gran Turismo has a lot of visible numbers. Battlefield 2 has a loose narrative, but it is a strictly multiplayer game. You cannot see your weapon damage numbers in quake, but you can get temporary upgrades to your armor and health that are displayed numerically. It also has a narrative. And I'm totally serious about the reward- I'll even see if I can't get someone else to judge so that it's fair.

This is true, but the offer of free stuff is valid. Cycloneman: In Eve my stats are all combinations of my character's skill level and the equipment/ship chassis you use. "Character" statistics are primarily used for filling pre-requisites to use equipment and many skills have no (or minimal) numerical value in the field. Additionally, in Battlefield 2 I can advance my character by way of points earned in combat, allowing me to buy new weapons, extra health and other tools. I'd also need a more clear definition on why a robot counts as a player character, but a vehicle does not. It seems rather arbitrary, both could be your avatar in the game word.

So does Warcraft 3 and Gran Truismo. Arguably most of the other games on the list do as well, if you include weapon stats.

Just because you say something "fails as an RPG on every level" doesn't mean that it does. I set the pieces, named the prize and wrote the rules. You are doing the same thing. My point, of course, is that there is no objective definition of what makes a game an RPG that satisfies all people who claim to like RPGs. PS. Seriously, you've never played Diablo II or System Shock 2?

http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php?topic=338.0 How does this address FF7, Diablo 2, or System Shock 2? Among others on the list.

There is no MAKO in AP, if that makes anyone feel better.

No, that's not how it works. I put up a list of games in the first category that a not-insignificant number of players would argue are RPGs, they might not all agree on everything on the list, but there isn't a game in that first category that isn't classified as an RPG by the press, the retailer, or by the fans. On the other hand, the second list contains no games that are classified as RPG by any of the above groups, or at least not a significant proportion of them. So your formal definition must contain all of the former and none of the later. That's the rule.

Anyone who can define "RPG" in a way that encompasses the following titles, and excludes others, to my satisfaction will earn, from me, 3 months of time in any MMO they want OR any single game title currently on the market ($60USD max on either). The titles that must be included are: Final Fantasy 7 Diablo II WoW Fallout Planescape: Torment Baldur's Gate 2 Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance EVE Online Oblivion System Shock 2 Deus Ex Mass Effect The titles that must be excluded: DooM Quake 2 Battlefield 2 Warcraft 3 Call of Duty 4 Assassin's Creed Soul Caliber Gran Turismo Magic: The Gathering Online I know that this isn't fair since I'm the judge and the one giving the award, but seriously, if you impress me you've got it. If you can't, step off because you don't have any more of a clue than anyone else.

Considering how rare good games are, that's saying a lot.

Because it was good.

You posted a hilarously biased poll that contains the following line, "I like Oblivion, so my vote doesn't count." and you are telling me that opinions can't be wrong? But, you just said... This thread is very lol.

If AP does well some other developer can wail and gnash their teeth that everything they are doing is being compared to Alpha Protocol. For now, that's our cross to bear. It's cool. ME did really well for good reason and the games do look similar in gameplay and graphics, so it's an easy point of reference. I have a lot more fun shooting guys in our game than in ME, though. I hope that after we start doing hands-on previews that will be the next comparison: "It's a lot like ME except that combat is fun."

It helps that you are wrong in this particular case. As for the "dreaded" Oblivion combat, no, we do not have clumsy first-person melee. We do, however, have guns that generally tend to put bullets where you point them.

on my desk

No, don't be obtuse.