Tale

Anyone know what's up with finishers? I don't think I've seen them. It's possible that they're in, but lacking a slowdown I've just never noticed.

If you're hoping they're more strategic and intelligent than DAO, they aren't. You can no longer do pre-emptive attacks against guys standing around by attacking them out of their aggro range. Their aggro range is line of sight. If they're spawned in and you can see them, they are going to attack (with rare exception). I kind of like this bit. A lot of the fights are wave based. Enemies will start appearing to reinforce. It nicely limits AoE, since they show up either after it's gone or don't necessarily run into it. Might make Glyphs more useful, too. Some people hated fights like this in DAO. I enjoy them. Encounters tend to be mixed. Most larger groups have Archers and/or Assassins mixed in. A few lieutenants (or so I assume, they have longer health bars). If you played the demo, the very last fight, against Hayder, is what most encounters are kind of like. Hayder was boss class, though. Most just have lieutenants.

What's the save corruption bug?

That's the one and only thing I don't like about Steam. I actually used to keep a collection of Counter-Strike patches. I always, and still do, like the idea of playing the version you want to play.

I'm not talking about the main quest heating up to the climax. I'm talking about running out of sidequests by act 2.

There are three types of side quests. Only one of those types feels like cheap filler. And they are literally find an object on the ground, now go find the guy it belongs to. You're running the bloody lost and found. This type of quest is called "side quest," but secondary quests and companion quests are also side quests in the traditional sense.

It's just like BG2, and everyone loved BG2, so that's must be good, right? Right? It's also just like Mass Effect 1. And simply too many games. They drop you in a major hub and put all the quest givers out there. So you spend the first half of your time (sometimes more) doing sidequests, then the second half wrapping up the main plot. It's just uneven. One thing I like about Mass Effect 2 is that it alternates. Companion quests, collector mission, companion quests, collector mission, etc. Maybe DA2 does something like that, I'm only in the first act. But yeah, they're definitely trying to channel Baldur's Gate 2. All these sidequests are you trying to earn money for a main quest.

Thoughts so far. Visuals + Everything seems more detailed. - Old models and textures from Origins stand out as incredibly bad. Quest + Lots and lots of sidequests. Quests are divided into main plot, companion, secondary, and side. Only side quests feel like cheap filler and they're easy to hit up while doing the rest. - It's a slow start. I've spent way too much time running in circles just to get quests. I don't know if this continues throughout. Companions - Everyone wants to get in my pants. I'm not a piece of meat, damnit! - Friendship/Rivalry is apparently an excuse to approve and disapprove of everything you do. Everyone is Morrigan. I lost points with Anders and Aveline just because I didn't bitch at someone using blood magic. This wouldn't be half as bad if I wasn't gaining points for everything else I do. Two steps forward, one step back, every single time. Combat (on Normal) + Faster and more interesting. Enemies feel weaker, with normals going down in 2-3 hits, but often come in greater numbers. - Sometimes too fast. When they don't come in greater numbers, a single lightning is usually enough to clear them out.

We all make mistakes. And by "we," I mean "not me."

I'm glad your crystal ball has told you that, since you can't play an uncracked version before Thursday. Unless he's proxied into a region that can. Or is playing on a console.

I always hate hearing about people leaving Obsidian.

Bioware released the medium textures. They say they did not have the high resolution textures ready by the time they sent out the build that became gold for certification.

It makes sense. The console demo was bloody awful. Press to attack is simply stupid. If you're out of range when you press it, your character flails his arms and is incapable of doing anything else for that animation. And since you're used to spamming the attack button, you might have just spammed it here. Enjoy being useless for several seconds.

Still being angry for the emprah. Tried out using nothing but assault squads. Takes a while to start pumping those out, though. Tried my hand at painting some Pretty Marines, but don't have a custom badge for them.

Don't expect a new generation for a little while. Part of the reason Kinect and Move were released was to substitute for a new generation and extend the console's lives.

6-11-9 Got bored. More incorrect guesses than correct guesses, though he was winning.

At least until they patch it. Apparently the file for it went missing when they made the master copy. Oopsie.

The demo for DAO is spectacularly silly. I can't believe it would sell anyone on the game.

ALWAYS ANGRY ALL THE TIME Dang IG deployed a Baneblade. I caused it to run away twice with minimal losses. The Tyranids deployed at least 3 Carnifex, but that is no match for the ANGRY MARINES.

I should hope you're not blaming Obsidian for problems with Fallout 3.

I was thinking about doing a Let's Play.

What's wrong with Michael Bay?

There's dismemberment in Mass Effect 2? I completely missed that.

Now I'm imagining Volo with sunglasses.

Ms. Crimson, we need to get you some help. It's time for an intervention.