Hell Kitty

You want something and you can get it for free, but it's illegal. There's no chance you'll get caught and punished for it, so you do it. It's as simple as that, any further explanation is just an attempt to justify ones behavior. Everyone is going to have different ideas of what is "okay" (it's okay if already I own it on a different platform, it's okay if my disc is broken, it's okay if I'm just testing it, it's okay if I wasn't going to buy it anyway, etc) but you most certainly don't have the right to take what you want without paying for it. That's not the deal on offer.

True, but somehow it feels worse in ME. Atleast to me. I just can't point out why, it just does. Possibly because you don't like ME as much other games that do it? I mean, when you really like a game it's easy to overlook things in it that would otherwise bother you in a different game.

Yeah. It's typical of RPGs for persuasive characters to drastically change an NPC's mind with just a few lines of dialogue. Are people unaware of this, or are they just ignoring it for the sake of a bit of Bio bashing?

By pirating a game? Of course not.

I take off my robe and my wizard hat.

Batman is almost a "metroidvania" type game, hell, it's even got the occasional 2D side-scroller segment.

"A bomb!" Finished Batman: Arkham Asylum having completed all the riddler's challenges. Great stuff. How many hours did you put into that game? And fall alseep in your chair... what are you, 90?

They never "made" the GRAW games, they just made the PC ports. The PC versions of the two GRAW titles featured the same player character and the same basic story, but it wasn't a port, it was a different game. Ubisoft did a similar thing with the last Splinter Cell by having two separate Double Agent games, except rather than a PC and console (360) version is was a "current gen" (PC & 360) version and an "old gen" (PS2 & Xbox) version.

Criticising the swearing of those kids in Fallout 3 as being immature, laughable and childish is missing the point. Those kids swear for the same reason many kids in real life do, because they think it makes them seem more grown up, when it actually has the opposite effect.

In a game, of course, because that's the point of the romance. Relationships are mini-games and sex is the reward for winning them. It's what the audience expects. I don't have a complaint, I didn't write the article. Perhaps you could read the article and find out? Calax points out in the very first post that the reason Alpha Protocol is targeted is due to the "Ladies Man" achievement. Even if sex is the expected conclusion of the romance, one could argue that it's the journey rather than the destination that's important, that character interaction is the appeal of RPG romance, rather than the promise of sex. My understanding is that the author sees the inclusion of this achievement as showing that Obsidian is admitting that "no, it really is all about bangin' chicks!"

Did you read the article? The issue isn't the desire to have sex, and the article doesn't even use the word misogyny. A man takes a woman out to dinner, he pays the bill, they go back to his place, and now he wants sex. Does she want sex? That's not important, he showed her a good time, payed for dinner, and now she must reward him with sex. The issue is that this is how sex in games is typically presented, a commodity to be traded rather than a shared experience between two people. A relationship/romance is the work you have to do rather than enjoyable on it's own. Sex is the point of the relationship, rather than just a part of it. Personally I think sex and relationships in gaming is an interesting topic, but insisting that sex sells and games are just meaningless entertainment is a rather dull response to it.

Yes, but why do you think that is? I think you agree with me more than you disagree. As you mention, the problem with the little boy is the assumption that he is either gay, or will grow up to be gay. And what is he doing by being gay? He is lowering himself to being like a woman. The stereotype of gay men is that they are like women, they enjoy and take part in the kinds of things that only women are supposed to. Gay men are like women and thus less than men. When a straight man freaks out because a gay man came onto him, it's because he's scared it will cast doubt on his own sexuality. People might think he is is gay, people might think he is less than a real man, more like a woman. Homophobia is not a fear of people who are gay, it's a fear of an association with homosexuality, having your masculinity and maleness put it doubt. Not when it's got a pair. The cards in The Witcher exist as a reminder of the women you've have sex with. Like photoshoots in mens magazines, the images exist to titillate, and it's dishonest to claim it's purely the viewers who choose to see them as sexual. They are sexual in nature, that's the point. That you also see them as beautiful is irrelevant.

I never got on board the "oh no not another WWII game there is so many of them wah wah" train because, not being terribly interested in WWII as a setting I never played that many WWII games. There are loads of modern warfare FPS out there, but it's mostly uninteresting budget stuff.

Perhaps misogyny seems too harsh a word, but our society definitely sees women as being less than men. If a little girl dresses in boys clothes and plays with boys toys, she might get called a "tomboy" but otherwise such behavior is fine. If a little boy dresses in girls clothes and plays with girls toys, it might initially be seen as cute or funny depending on how young he is, but parents will seek to limit such behavior. When a female is like a male she is elevating herself to a superior status, when a male is like a female he is lowering himself to an inferior status.

Yes. I can understand that. I don't go to the Bio boards so I'm not at all familiar with the crazy annoying people there, but on the boards I do go to gay romance is mostly brought up as a negative. I'm not really for or against romances in RPGs, but I guess I'm pro-gay romance in Bio games simply to oppose the homophobes who freak out about it. Someone mentioned appeasement earlier, and I'm certainly against Bioware removing gay romances or limiting romances to straight characters in an effort to appease their homophobic fans.

Wait. And. See. That answer's a cop-out, Nightshade. You think that Dragon Operation game you're working on will make CoD:MW2 obsolete?

Does the game assume you loved Dad? I mean couldn't you track him down because you thought he was a jerk who abandoned you?

The whole "you can't include gay characters unless first dealing with other, more oppressed minorities" thing is just stupid. Including gay characters (romanceable or not) in their game does not mean Bioware is pushing some gay rights agenda, though I can certainly see how people who have a problem with homosexuality might see otherwise. If fiction shows homosexuality in anything other than a negative way, the next thing you know kids will be taught in schools how awesome being gay is and doctors will be told to prioritize gay patients over straight ones and priests will be forced to give everyone a gay marriage. For those who don't like (and don't take part in) romances at all, the nature of the romance should ultimately be irrelevant.

Apparently there is no Commandos 4.

I finished my first playthrough of ME at between 40 to 50 hours, with a maxed out (Level 50) character. My ME start screen is telling me that there is new downloadable content available even though there isn't, but a quick google tells me that it is apparently available in Germany, so I guess release is imminent in other locations as well.

It's not the conversion rate, games are more expensive here and the prices on Steam for Australian users are set to something comparable to our retail. So, like Kevin Lynch said, while the price for him is $49.99USD, for Australians it's $69.99USD.

I just completed it at 100%. It was fab, I need more games like this. They have a whole bunch of Orson Scott Card books to get the plots from, so I wouldn't worry. If by "a whole bunch" you mean "two", then sure. The game isn't particularly plot heavy, though.

I just completed it at 100%. It was fab, I need more games like this.

Yep, and that's true of every board. Knowing what you like and don't like is not the same as knowing what is right and wrong in game development. Consuming a lot of products doesn't make you an expert. While individuals will occasionally post good ideas and points, there is a whole lot of whiny crap to wade through to get to them, and often it's just not going to seem worth it.

I loved the voice actress from the first Secret Files, so I was disappointed to get someone different for the sequel. I really liked both games, and it's rare for me to find modern adventure games that interest me.