Tale

I'm in the "most likely Tigh, but could have been the 5th" camp. If she saw Anders, then there'd be some nice drama when they finally unboxed her. So, they'll avoid that.

Gaming evolution should not be defined by graphical standards. If that's how one tries to measure progress, then we're stagnant already. Working with a known platform that you already have experience with gives developers more capability for design of gameplay mechanics than a stronger graphics card.

Still playing Persona 3: FES. Putting off Nocturne until I'm done. My computer should be ready today, so I may give Kane's Wrath a whirl. Though, I'm toying with the idea of finally finishing The Dark Tower and putting all games on hold until then.

Doubtful. I don't know exactly how Bioware/EA 's EULA is written right now, but they can modify it to restrict sales. Novell (and I believe a few other companies) have had eBay pull down auctions of their second-hand software for years and years without being sued. How an EULA is worded is irrelevant in this regard. No company can deny First Sale doctrine. They can ask ebay to take things down and ebay can deny access to ebay's services at their discretion. Whether or not asking ebay to deny services is a violation is something that has not been tested. It's up to the courts though and according to Wikipedia there's still no clear winner when it comes to to the First-sale doctrine and computer software. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_sale_doctrine For First Sale applying to software: Bauer & Cie. v. O'Donnell Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus Circuits 1-6 & 9-13 Softman v. Adobe (2001) Novell, Inc. v. CPU Distrib., Inc. (2000) Against Davidson & Associates v. Internet Gateway Inc (2004) Circuits 7 & 8 So, while there is a debate, it's pretty heavily sided for First Sale applying to software.

Doubtful. I don't know exactly how Bioware/EA 's EULA is written right now, but they can modify it to restrict sales. Novell (and I believe a few other companies) have had eBay pull down auctions of their second-hand software for years and years without being sued. How an EULA is worded is irrelevant in this regard. No company can deny First Sale doctrine. They can ask ebay to take things down and ebay can deny access to ebay's services at their discretion. Whether or not asking ebay to deny services is a violation is something that has not been tested.

Something has long been wrong with the world. Politics have invaded way too many aspects of our world. And it's not just limited to our politicians.

2K gave in early and upped it to 5 for Bioshock, heh. And I hear rumors they removed it from the Steam version, though I can neither confirm nor deny it. But Bioshock did do it when I bought it. Every game I have on Steam does it, at least technically, every time I start Steam up. Though they're not overly tight with their restrictions and even have an offline mode I've barely ever used. Sam & Max episodes does it. Is it different for me because I trust Valve and Telltale more? Probably. Valve has given me free stuff and a secret forum. Telltale employees actually took personal time to get me that Max animated gif.

That joke was so funny I took you off ignore.

I'm already firmly entrenched in online authentication that it would be hypocritical to avoid this instance on principle. In fact, the every 10 day activation isn't even that draconian an addition by my prior reasoning so much as a nonsensical addition. Well, line in the sand. I'll take it at that. _>

Ever been kicked in the face?

Bioware backs down! http://kotaku.com/5008452/bioware-backs-do...-authentication I'm back on the "getting Mass Effect PC" bandwagon. Good thing, too, I spending $1k+ on a new compy. It sounds like it might be using the same method as Bioshock used. Which... actually doesn't seem to address all of my previous concerns or even the key one among them. If the authentication is disabled, you may not even be able to install. Though, if it's limited to first-run, you might be able to patch. But circumvention is DMCA violation. So, does my concern still stand? Should I jump right back off the wagon? Ouch, my brain thing hurt.

I'd like to point out there's a world of difference between having a complex system of cause and effect and having a "morality system" akin to D&D's alignment and KOTORs light/dark side meter.

Played the Haze demo yesterday. I'm not a Free Radical fan and have not been overly looking forward to this game, but I can easily say that was a poor choice for a demo. I'm not making excuses and saying the game is going to be great, but it totally went with the lamest thing about the game. Part of the game is about the schism between the world the Mantel troopers see and the real world. The Mantel troopers see things as very clean and mundane. They don't see blood, they don't see bodies. Thematically, this is intended to simulate that they don't really see the consequences of their actions. In the demo, it's just like that. But when you play through that, you're not really going to catch that theme. You're just going to see the world around you as bland because you're seeing only that clean and relatively mundane world. You're seeing faceless enemies fall down and their corpses dissapear. You're seeing injured people surrounded by spic and span bloodless surfaces. It looks generic and toned down with obnoxious teammates. There's a few hints that there's more to it, but it's not enough to hook you.

Yes. Players are generally offended by the notion of their character changing from the pre-set design they have in mind. It doesn't matter how many members of your family are raped and gutted before the PC's Paladins eyes, the player still wants to play his character the same as when he was dancing across a field of posies. If the player does by chance happen to change his actions and morality as a result of the sequence of events, he'll delightfully come up with an excuse for why he hasn't really changed at all, then get pissy when the game disagrees. If the player decides in advance that he wants to play his character as a Paladin, no amount of adversity, horror, or even greed on his own part will prevent him from wanting to ride off into the sunset on a white horse. I don't recall a morality system in those games, but I have played them. I don't recall much. Torment had probably nearly no use for one as all the important things that would be relevant were managed in other ways, but hey, it was still D&D. I can't even fathom what the point of it would have been in Fallout.

A reputation like system would be better. I don't think a morality system makes sense in context in the least. There's no magical spells with modifiers based on alignment. Besides, the concept of character development (in a non-stat building sense) is offensive to players, so the option to change alignments when that is valid is wasted.

Which is a wholly different situation. New technology and remastering is like your new OS being inoperable with software. Not the old software deciding to tell you can to go **** yourself. It doesn't have to be remastered. The old ones still exist and work, barring non-intentional obsolesence. My old books still exist and fully function. I can hand my Berenstein Bears books off to my children to read barring excessive natural wear and tear. The book doesn't clasp itself shut and demand I buy a new copy if one day they decide to republish it. This isn't a "technology moves fast" issue. It's not like people are complaining that they might not be able to use Mass Effect with Windows 7. This isn't a "get the benefit of the newest technology" issue. This is an intentional kill switch that deprives us of control over things we rightfully purchase and might want to keep and preserve.

I think there's some major differences with the ID analogy overall. This isn't drinking. I'm not handling controlled substances that are illegal to distribute to minors. I'm playing a video game. It's closer to being put on parole. For being a customer. I'm come to accept CD-keys easily. I could probably come up with a ridiculous analogy there. But I don't feel the need to. What I do feel the need to be offended by is the potential lack of control we're allowed over things we purchase. In the US, if they shut down their authentication servers, I no longer have a legal right to play the game I purchased. It's essentially saying that we no longer have right to the media that contributes to our culture. It's like, at Disney's whim, you can no longer tell your children about Snow White, Cinderella, or Peter Pan. You could never show them that movie. They our elements of our culture. What if nobody was allowed to listen to The Beatles again. Or an Elvis album. Legally, anyway. That's quite literally what that is. Music, movies, books, and TV shows have defined generations and culture. Games can do so, too. The Library of Congress recognizes this. They want to start cataloging games. Forcing us to check-in with the publisher for approval to operate these games will prevent that chance of passing on and preserving these things. That's more my contempt for the DMCA combined with this, of course. I can only hope that one day a "culture-preservation" law will be enacted. Something that ensures we can preserve these things indefinitely.

Man, I'd love to play a loose cannon cop. Full of cheezy 1990s dialog. Captain: You destroyed over 3 million dollars in city property in your little stunt! You're out of control! I want your gun and your badge, right now! *receives phone call* Captain Pick your badge and gun back up, I need you on a case. Player: I'll get on your case... if you get off mine.