RangerSWG

Essentially this is what I would say as well. NWN out of the box was mediocre. But NWN with the Aielund Saga, Swordflight, the Kosigan series, Thain, Ravenloft: Prisoners of the Mist, and other high quality SP and MP FREE downloads was a treasure. NWN2 did not succeed to that degree, IMHO, because it was painful to mod in compared to NWN1. I also have a hard time ascribing 'good campaign' to the NWN2 OC. Parts of it were every bit the slog the NWN1 OC was. Hordes of the Underdark was a good XP. Mask of the Betrayer is the only reason to play NWN2, IMHO. But neither would have the lifespan that Morrowind had, (and indeed, both were inferior to what is, IMHO, the best of the ES games by far), if not for the modding community. I have a hard time believing any major studio today would hand players a kit as simple, powerful, and accessible as the NW Toolkit today. I don't think Atari would have THEN if they had known how much gameplay was going into FTP resources. Even the Bethsoft kits, as frequently lauded as they are, only work within the basic framework of the existing game. None of them allow the kind of open creation flexibility the NWN kit provided. And anything that didn't have that as an intrinsic aspect of the product would be the cheapest of cash grabs.

There is no winning with the Twitterian Justice Mob. One either is guilty for wrongthink, in which case the Truth and Safety Council will remove their verification immediately. Or they will be guilty of the wrong kind of virtue signalling, which will require the public apology to the mob, to last until the next victim can be found. Or one is hounded for NOT paying attention to the mob, in which case they are 'insensitive' to the suffering of the mob. Like Global Thermonuclear War, the only way to win is not to play.

Formerly, it was the tradition of the media to alternate red and blue between the political parties, usually along the lines of incumbent being blue, opposition red. This changed in 1980, when in the wake of the Reagan landslide, the news declared, "A red wave engulfed the country." Red became identified with Reagan, and hence the GOP by extension. The "Red states" moniker thus includes allusion to the areas of the country formerly Democrat strongholds that the Reagan Revolution turned more or less permanently GOP. Blue States originally referred to those that maintained allegiance to their traditional coalition. But neither has ties to the traditional Euro meaning, rather the accident of history that was the 1980 demolition of Carter.

Novigrad and Beauclair are two of my favorites as well. And loads of both depth and explorability. Novigrad does have verticality though, from the harbor to the top of Temple Isle, and then down into the catacombs again. Beauclair is more noticeable from beyond the walls, I will grant that. Vivec was impressive as well. New Vegas from FO2 was fun. And I'll grant the Citadel in ME1. Less so in the subsequent games, when the snippets never seemed as alive as the original. One of the clearest signs to me that ME3 was below the standards of ME2 was how the Citadel was a smoking ruin for weeks or months after the coup. Even when people were saying how beautiful it looked.

Jango Fett, Boba's father, actually. But still, someone who needs suicide-by-Geralt. Don't recall if you get the opportunity to provide it, either. Amusingly enough, I did that quest, and wasn't thinking about the reference until after the fact.

This might be a point of debate between the younger generation and the older one. Once you have a 9 to 5, a family and all the other obligations, your time becomes very valuable. Rather than play a 60 hour game that's been padded with grinding and meaningless collectibles, I would much rather have a shorter game that really delivers. Since it is very likely that I won't finish the former but will definitively enjoy the latter. Interesting, maybe I'm strange in this one: I'm 7-4 working, have a wife and obligations, but I still love being able to invest a hundred hours+ in a game like Witcher 3, Europa Universalis, or Football Manager (though not as much this year's version). If the game supports the weight of its ambition, then I have no problem following it all the way through. If it doesn't, then I do find at my age than I'm less willing to endure dross. Goes for my reading too. Used to be I'd finish every book no matter how poor as a matter of economic utility. Now I have no interest in throwing good time after poorly spent money.

Dawn of War 3 will probably be well marketed. Also Ultimate General Civil War. In past years: Paradox Interactive games, Total War games, Homeworld Karak, Ashes of Singularity, Company of Heroes 2 was bestseller, Wargame series have some niche, War of Goo was not pile of poo. Game like Z could be a good idea, it was casual enought and cut off boring stuff. Just need some modern gimmicks like special abilities or hero units. Offworld Trade Company kinda did that. Paradox is the inheritor of the grognard title from the old days of Turn-Based wargames like Panzer General, IMHO. They have a niche they're cultivated well, and they know how to service it. They get a lot of stick from the unfamiliar for their DLC plan. But to my mind, it makes sense: Everyone gets the rules changes that the DLC is implementing for free. You only pay for the actual gameplay that's being added. So the continuing tweaks and balancing (which is necessary in a free-form sandbox RTS disguising a grand alt-history simulation), get passed on to everyone. I can see how it's sticker shock when you come in 2 years on for Crusader Kings 2 and see a dozen DLC. But you don't NEED every one. And there's no harm in skipping any of them that don't interest you. Perfect for the grognards making up their audience.

Can't call it perfect. But I'm much afeared no game will approach its quality anytime soon. As far as leveled loot goes, PoE does the same thing. But at least W3 has the Wolf Hour decoction that allows you to bump your item restriction up 2 levels for duration. I would say 2/3rds of my loot went into crafting. Minus swords off my victims of course. Never a shortage of bandits willing to commit suicide by Geralt. (Love in Blood & WIne when Geralt mutters to himself about this.) And while I wouldn't say combat in the Witcher 3 is 'perfect,' it definitely feels more like a master swordsman who has to rely on brains as well as brawn throughout. No matter how overpowered you are, carelessness gets you in a world of hurt. I like it better than W2 combat, which seemed more like an exercise in QTE mashing at times. But YMMV, some prefer W2. Also have to agree with the previous comments about Blood and Wine, it's just about a flawless capstone on Geralt's story. And of the Main Game areas, only Skellige was as fun (to me) as Touissant is. Another area of agreement, ignore the level guide on the Main Quest when you get to Velen, at least until you hit level 10. You can do most of it with only a couple tricky fights. And the worst one you have sorceress backup from one who doesn't inadvertently kill you with every casting, (Hi Triss!) Marigold must have wasted me five times during her quest with the Witch Hunters. After you're lvl 10, hit the secondaries and don't let a notice board go to waste. Once those within your level range are exhausted, and only then, go around random exploring. Not only does random killing give you less...much less...than quest pursuance, but because W3 uses repair mechanics on your gear, it's very easy to get caught in a money-trap, where all your killing does is render you too poor to keep your gear in order for when it's needed. I actually struggled with this hard until I read the forums and saw the advice to disregard the Velen Main Quest level instructions. Then I went questing, found myself lvl 15 in less time than it had taken to get from 5 to 8, and the game got much easier.