Pop

:D Maybe maybe. Most of the art needed wouldn't be available.

It's in the BOMB-001 design doc. I'm just relishing putting my players in that situation.

Considering how many people consider it to be the "best game evar" I wouldn't be surprised. My friends go on and on about how I should play it based on the ending. Haven't bitten yet.

Maybe, it wouldn't be a passive thing. What if the PC makes a critical failure (assuming there are critical failures)? Are they convinced of the truth of whatever statement they're hearing? That's the thing, you'd be rolling to determine if the character percieves a lie, and just like rolling to hide, if they failed their roll, the DM wouldn't be able to tell them so, so it's all relative. Unless the PC has some extraordinary perception (given through a spell or somesuch) they wouldn't be able to roll and determine whether or not what they're hearing is absolutely true or false. Given that, it seems to be better to just leave the gullibility or shrewdness of the character to the player.

What? We know the VB ending? I knew I should have finished reading all those design docs. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Indeed. Basically, the PC tracks evil would-be dictator to a space station outfitted with nuclear ballistics (it's much less ludicrous than I make it sound) and defeats him, but the launch of the missiles onboard is initiated. The PC can then either direct the nukes to hit certain places, or try and stop the launch. Except, he can't stop the launch, and at least 2 of them are guaranteed to launch (random cities if not directed) Conversely, the PC can choose to blow himself up with the station for a 60% chance to prevent the nuclear strikes. I thought it sounded pretty cool I'm itching to get there in PnP. I'm tempted to insert a Jack Bauer character in there to scream "NOOOOOOO!!" when the time is right :D

The ending to Half-Life 2 was pretty ****ty. The Episode 1 ending was much better (fanboi that I am, I couldn't help but envision a similar ending for a next-gen Fallout 3 " ). Another worst - IWD2, since I never got to it, and not for lack of trying <_< as far as my faves go, it's: Fallout - O'course. I was about 10 when I first played it, so naturally I read a gameguide and found out the ending beforehand, but the Master (I hit Mariposa first, even though I believe you're supposed to do that last) was amazing (dialogue-wise, at least) and the ending still breaks my heart a little whenever I play it. Even though it was never made, the ending to Van Buren seemed pretty awesome, and was one of the main reasons I ventured to attempt it in PnP. Diablo - Hated it at first, but it made more sense over time, and Diablo 2 made it even more dark.

Also, it should be established that for the sake of ease, this thread will feature spoilers optionally. So, uh, enter at your own risk from here on in, k? thx.

I haven't played Arcanum in awhile, but the ending was ruined for me when I got sent to that other dimension after the wizard dude's apprentice and then found him and talked to him. For a few seconds it all came together, and I thought "ZOMG THE WIZARD DUDE WAS THE BAD GUY ALL ALONG AND HE SENT ME TO THIS PIT TO DIE!!@" (this was shortly after playing HOTU for the first time). But no, the apprentice really was the inital bad guy, he just happened to not care anymore and was "good" after being imprisoned for so long. Moreover, the real bad guy was conveniently trapped in the other dimension anyway. Poo. As an aside, the epilogues of Arcanum were also pretty weak.

Bah. Can't edit the first post, so the title stays the same. Given the awesome power that I have as creator of this thread, I won't consider it off-topic if people want to reminisce about their fave endings as well.

I was under the impression that (at least in D&D) conversation skills like diplomacy, bluff, etc. aren't used against the PCs. That might work in a computer game, but in PnP it might be considered overzealous DMing if a player who is obviously skeptical of an NPC fails against the NPC's roll and is effectively forced into believing a lie, or at least not being able to actively detect one. A good, attentive player shouldn't need to rely on rolls in conversation like that in the first place. It adds a nice element of uncertainty to the gameplay by taking that out as well. It's always fun when players don't know who to place their trust in. It's more fun when they put their trust in the wrong person.

Sure, it'd be easier (I suppose I could amend the thread to include both, if it needs it) but obviously some games are created less equal than others. ToB had a final fight that was just as formulaic as NWN2's, but it had the same (I thought) generally satisfying epilogue, and I thought giving the choice between being mortal and being a God was well done. KOTOR2, on the other hand, doesn't even make any sense.

Buy. Or d/l, if you can find a torrent.

So bored I created this topic. CVG had a little piece on the subject (found through Joystiq) and it seemed like a good idea for a topic, seeing how everybody has stories about a time when a good game (since I'm assuming nobody finishes bad games) holds your attention for a time and then drops you like a sack of vegetable soup at the end. KOTOR2 made it on that list too. As of now I'll say that KOTOR2 really was too confusing and incomplete and deserves its place on that list. But I'm holding out for the TSL Restoration Project to make the ending better. Personal l0l @ Shenmue 2. My personal picks would probably be: Half-Life - Xen as a whole was pretty lackluster, really. Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit for you Euros) - Another game that started out utterly captivating and devolved over time, culminating in a convoluted, ****ty mess. What a disappointment. Bloodlines - I was unsatisfied with all three endings. The way they rushed development, I shouldn't have expected much more, but it was good enough going through the game that it deserved better. And before somebody beats me to it NWN2 - KoS fight was not good. The epilogue had me intrigued enough, and I suppose as an "ending" it wasn't a bad one, but the last half hour of gameplay wasn't very effective. Still, that VO was like nails on a chalkboard. I realize how bad this thread could turn out, but I wanted to lob it to the forum for kicks, so I have.

The original BG entangle was more like a Fireball than a Web spell, it was an instantaneous effect, so you could cast it while holding your party back and immobilize your enemies, and just walk in and cut them down. It was even better with effective ranged fighters. The BG2 version was a save-by-round continual thing that I didn't dig as much. Plus, like Web, it couldn't be dispelled as an AoE, so if you needed to heal or recharge your spells post-fight you had to wait around for it to end. As far as I understand it, that's the way the spell is supposed to work, but I preffered the earlier incarnation. It's still pretty useful, but with the increased BG2 movement speed and the increased hassle, I usually just use the spell slot for a healing or doom spell.

QOTD.

I don't know how anybody could recover that quickly from getting wisdom teeth pulled, at least on the top. When I got them removed (I was 15 or so) they left holes in my sinus cavity. You don't want to return to normal habits (ie chewing anything that isn't soft) for at least a few weeks, lest you tear the scar tissue and leave yourself open to some incredibly nasty infections.

He arrived several hours ago But Josh is keeping mum until he's got more to show, so let's try to stay on topic, eh?

Well, it's going to be a GnR song on their new album. So it has to be good, right? Right?

Here I was thinking this was just a joke you had put way too much effort into ^_^ Are you planning on making a gestalt adventure, or releasing a sort of episodic content, town-by-town deal? I don't know how much of the Black Hound was planned out, but it must have been fairly long.

Hopefully this means they'll take that **** off the market and start selling filet mignon for a quarter a pound. One thing you always used to do, if you were a poor college freeloader (ie if you were cool), was to go to a 7-11 and buy a cup of ramen noodles, use their complimentary hot water to cook it, and then load it up with the chili and cheese they had there. This cost nothing extra, and ensured that you were filled on a single dollar. Unfortunately, the meal had a natural way of coming rather violently out of either end of you. It also took 5 years off of your lifespan. *edit - btw, yes, it tasted much worse than it sounds. But college life would be much worse without such things.

It's a better song.

Oh, I know. But all my friends are Otaku, and every few weeks they drag me to watch Elfin Lied or Colorful or Steel Angel Kurumi or whatever drivel they managed to dig up, and they binge on it, series after series, and I'm stuck there. Sometimes they'll repeat shows. The only thing I can really do to keep my sanity is point out every tired cliche I see to them. I kind of enjoy it, in a way. Keeps me abreast of a hackneyed genre, for the most part, and I get to endlessly ridicule my friends for being basement-dwelling DBZ fans, and they get company for their anime marathons. Once in a blue moon I might actually enjoy something they put on (usually a Ghibli movie). It works out.

How exactly does one become a corpse raven? Or a porcelain mask?

"Arrogant Bitch" is so my next avatar. *edit - And so it is.

IIRC, initiating the Vampire dance in the Asylum and leaving the computer for awhile resulted in gaining a humanity point. Only happened once, maybe I gained humanity from something else and I don't remember it. Other than saving Lily and getting the morphine for Mercurio, what is there in Santa Monica that allows for + humanity?