Spider

I can actually understand this though. Obviously it's the player deciding on the dialogue, so it should be the player's avatar that does the talking. I'm not sure I agree with the concept as such, but I understand it. Alas, it doesn't really bother me since I always chose dialogue skills for "me" anyway.

Although one rank in Shadowdancer or a few in Assassin removes this problem. Hide in Plain SIght is awesome.

The game is still much too easy on Hardcore. In that mode it's where I've discovered 2-3 challenging fights. Played Hardcore on my first playthrough and had to reload due to combat maybe 5-10 times. Subsequent playthroughs has had me do that one time (and only due to the stupid "get knocked down and forget you're fighting") rules. Currently playing on highest difficulty and still don't lose any fights. So difficult NWN2 is not.

My point about BG2 is that I don't really know if I think it's hard or not. I know I did the first times I played it, but these days I can't play it without tactics installed because it's just so crazy easy. Gothic 3 was extremely difficult. It kinda erred on the side of being too difficult though, at least in the beginning where EVERYTHING would slaughter you. But it made combat much more relevant compared to NWN2. If only the performance wouldn't have been so horrible on my (aging) machine, I would have finished it and loved it. Now I uninstalled it when NWN2 came along and haven't looked back on it.

Gothic 3, (in parts, depending on how you levelled up) Oblivion, Two Worlds. I also found Icewind Dale to be somewhat challenging and definitely BG2 the first time I played it, although that's probably more due to my lack of understanding the rules system than anything else ("Breach seems like a crappy spell, let's ignore that one").

If one could get past the horrible writing and voice acting there is some fun to be had for a while. I think I played it for about ten hours (or maybe less) before quitting. It wasn't completely without charm, but not enough to be worth it. Thinking back I can't put my fingers on what kept me from uninstalling it within half an hour. Controls were pretty bad, combat was much too difficult (and not in a good way, almost every encounter forcing several reloads is just ridiculous) and it used some sort of level scaling I believe. So I guess it's the game actually being better than the sum of it's parts. But the sum wasn't very high to begin with, so it's still a pretty bad game. And let's not forget the fact that horses were even harder to control than in Oblivion and that it kept getting stuck in lines in the terrain. If you weren't riding on the roads, the horse would get stuck ALL the time (and you really wanted the horses, because you had to run an awful lot). If I were to grade it I think I'd give it a 3-4 out of 10 (on a true 1-10 scale, not the computer mag scale where everything starts at 6).

I've actually played it and I can't say I recommend it. Imagine a game that combines the worst design choices from both Oblivion and Gothic 3, add in some pretty poor performance (especially given that the graphics aren't all that) and voice acting so poorly written and horribly acted that it makes the writers and actors at Bethesda look like absolute geniuses. Yes, the writing is really that bad. The story is supposed to be kinda good though, but I never got far enough to find that out.

I would recommend that you go and read any of the eternal champion books by Michael Moorcoock. The central theme in those books is the battle between Law and Chaos. A lot of them have been collected in omnibus editions by White Wolf. I'd especially suggest the one called The Eternal Champion and the Elric ones. Both are mostly fantasy but illustrates the different sides fairly well. But in short, for me Chaos is about change, anarchy and magic while Law is about stability, rules and technology. (or if you prefer corruption and lawlessness vs stagnation and bureaucracy)

Correction, it's another way for the D&D section of WotC to stay in business. The core rulebooks, in my experience, outsell all other books about 50 to 1. At least. And the older the latest edition is, the worse new supplemental books are selling. New players think there's too much material to get into the game and old players start thinking they have enough material as it is. So a semi-regular release of new rules is vital to any gaming company. Yes it means a lot of people will feel cheated (I already have that book), but those people don't have to buy anyhting. But don't say WotC is ripping off their customers, because they're not. If they were, they wouldn't have many customers left to begin with.

Although it isn't metagaming if you're playing a character who is a manipulative bastard desperately trying to get everyone to like him/her. Thus planning your actions based on your companions (expected) reactions would be perfectly reasonable.

David Gaider iirc.

Clearly the standards of roleplaying are quite low in Finland. If anyone in my playgroup sounded as dull and uninspired as the NPCs in ToEE I'd have quit playing with them a long time ago. If anyone sounded like Zaxis (or whatever his name was) I'd probably be in jail for murder by now.

If you're into the diabloesque types of games, I can recommend Titan Quest. It's a very fun game, especially in coop. The expansion is a bit buggy, but still a good add-on and (to my experience) not buggy enough to detract from the overall game.

As far as I know you can always format and install another operative system on a laptop as well. You just need to get an install disc separately. My laptop came with XP, but it's a crappy version (with a lot of junk pre-installed) so I've stopped using the rescue disc and just do clean installs with a better version when I feel the need. Don't see why newer laptops should be any different.

Yes, Deadwood is very interesting. But how funny would any of the characters be to play, apart from possibly the sheriff? And even so, not having archetypes is not the same as not having the same professions. With a skill based system, I could construct any character in Deadwood, while a system with archetypes would feel much more limiting. Westerns are at their best when they break away from expectations and dare do something different, a la Deadwood.

Interesting?

Or, you know, just go with a classless system.

Learn how to spell will you. And Cant, once you've got your interviews donw we will be happy to publish them. If you've got suggestions for creative illustrations to go with them, that's even better. If you've actually got pictures yourself we can use, I'll buy you a beer as well.* *=provided you come to Sweden and collect on said offerings of course.

Not having played Deus Ex, I'm not sure whether or not it is cyberpunk. But the genre doesn't have to be ALL THAT technological, although the technology is certainly in focus. Biomechanics isn't necessarily a factor. Gibson's second trilogy (Virtual Light, Idoru and All Tomorrow's Parties) is significantly less technological than Neruomancer. The focus on (or at least presence of) online societies though is key. The term Cyberpunk is coined from the word Cyberspace after all (which I believe was made up by Gibson). Interestingly enough, or society has moved so much towards the online world Gibson imagined in the eighties that it's almost scary. And the genre of Cyberpunk has thus almost played out it's role. Gibson's latest book even takes place in our world but still it really feels like Cyberpunk when reading it. That book, by the way, comes heavily recommended. One of the best books I've ever read and definitely Gibson's best since Neuromancer (could actually even be better, I'm undecided). A sequel of sorts is also on it's way, which I'm greatly looking forward to.

How come Cyberpunk got two entries? Bladerunner is very much a cyberpunk movie, you know. Those two entries should be consolidated into one, I think (which would then presently have a very strong lead). I voted for Cyberpunk myself because I'm a huge fan of the genre. Something in Gibsons original Sprawl-setting would be nice. The Bladerunner-setting works as well, but a game there would risk falling too close to the movie, otherwise there really isn't much point in using the name Bladerunner.

So you're saying you want every fight to be as challenging as the next? You do realize this requires a very streamlined game (ie no variations in character levels) or monster level scaling right?

Cool. Then I had it mixed up with another game I played recently (or rather several, as you say it's astounding how many developers ignore this option). Really makes me wish I was playing the game on my own computer and could fiddle with the controls. That actually would go a long way to alleviate the main issues I have with the controls. For all PC users who don't have a gamepad, and for those who have one but don't like playing games with it. I think that is a vast majority of PC gamers. I agree that there's not much reason getting one (especially since more and more games are developed primarily for consoles) and I know I've been thinking about getting one on several occasions. But somehow I never do and most people I know are the same. I don't think I know anyone who has a gamepad (for their PC). That being said however, if the game supports a five buttone mouse, the controls can be customized in such a way that I doubt they will be clumsy at all. Like I said, it is a very good port to begin with (in stark contrast to the horrible port that was made of Jade Empire).

Which is my point exactly. The game was created for console and ported to PC. But even if it is to be expected, it is a drawback of the game (for the PC user). It's also a good thing that they allow for key customization (although to what degree I can't say since I haven't played with those options. Playing on a friends computer). And as I said, it is the best keyboard/mouse adaption I've seen.

Now, I didn't say the controls were bad. Just that they weren't optimized for the PC. But the controls are very good for a console port, and to be honest I have played plenty of PC only games that have had far worse controls. (spellcasting is a particular pain for instance, so much so that I hardly ever do it) In the end though, the quality of the game hangs completely on the players ability to appreciate the humor and atmosphere.

I've played something like 5-10 hours and it's pretty fun. It's not a very complex game and it'll probably feel a tad repetetive towards the end. But so far it's great fun. The minions keep me giggling through most of the game so far. Now, this is a console port and it shows. The interface isn't completely PC friendly, but it's better than any console port I've played in the past so it's not a huge deal. I don't think the game supports more than two mouse buttons which detracts some (although I'm not 100% on this will have to check later). Level design is decent, but not spectacular. The game is basically a platformer, so the levels are fairly linear. But as I said, the game masks it's flaws with a good deal of humor. The minions are fantastic. Voice acting and animation is great. And so is the atmosphere in the game. So if those are to your liking the game is definitely worth checking out. Also, any game in which you get to slaughter halflings by the dozens is a good game in my eyes.