Wombat

hey, am i the only one who can't get that video to play? all i get is gamespot's retarded click to enter page, but nuttin' happens. if anyone has a mirror, etc, i'd be grateful... Gamespot requires cookie but you can check youtube, too. Be honest, how long have you been waiting for an opportune moment to deploy that gag? Too much caffeine, isn't it?

O.K. I have come across a game-play video at Gamespot, a part of which shows how the overland map work starting at 06:00. Of course, you can watch whole the video but be prepared for some minor spoilers. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/neverwinter...tml?sid=6196650

Yes. The protagonist will almost definitely end up with finding "truth" behind it. However, if I have to repeat, is it original? In other established media, they have gone far beyond moral ambiguity...moral ambiguity is just a sub product of more complex characters and interesting themes. I think I generally agree with you except the expression in the latter sentences.

I see where your coming from. But random encounters on an overland map just make sense to me. Also random encounters are as much a part of D&D as experience tables , saving thorws.....I just assumed they would be in the game. Shame on me. ??? They will be in the game, I mean, in Storm of Zehir. In adventure areas, the encounters will be planned while in overland areas, which are between adventure areas, the encounters will be randomized. So, you will be able to enjoy the benefit of the survival skills of your characters. Some of the ideas such as hidden places were already in the unfortunate project called the Black Hound.

I like the engine of Bioware but I have never been happy with the cliched settings, the characters and the stories of it. Although the Chantry seems to have it's root in Medieval Christianity, Bioware is definitely going to make some turnarounds or twists in their plot. However, is this ground-breaking? At least, it would be still going behind some fantasy novel plots. As far as the setting is concerned, most Bioware fans are conformists, which makes it tough to change the trend from either designer side or player side. Should I hope Bethesda will make some change by introducing Fallout setting to the major audiences? To be fair, I find the trailers don't betray the bleak and dry atmosphere and humor in Fallout series, though. Unfortunately, speaking of originality, Obsidian's Alpha Protocol may be a new setting to CRPG but not to the major video game industry at all. BTW, I came across some screenshots of it and have found they are pretty much behind the current standard of industry, which is not a good sign for its success especially in console platforms...

"None of our adventure areas are randomized" A little disappointed to read this, although it looks like if you use a new party with a different Class of characters there is a chance for different encounters along the way. That is the place where overland areas would fit. The basic idea of it is from Fallout, I guess. Personally, I liked the Planescape: Torment style narrative heavy role-playing in Mask of the Betrayer and probably won't touch Storm of Zehir. This is only my personal preference and the design decision seems to be through, which is not a bad sign if you know what you are buying.

Generally speaking, I find Levine's works interesting but, occasionally, they appear to be intellectual masturbation. I even think the majority would be happy with some intelligent twists at times, which can potentially deepens their experience. However, if it be rather like inter-action than one-way expression at all, there should be some triggers, which makes players believe the game has some meaning to them. It is definitely a plus that the designers have some intellectual background but there should be some ways to let players invite to their world. While Jordan Thomas and other designers taking care of immersion essence concerning atmosphere, likewise, there should be some factors to trigger emotional immersion or involvement, which eventually turn out to be Big Daddy and Little Sister relationship in Bioshock. Of course, it is bit stupid and rather direct but as an emotional trigger, it worked and seems to have invited many more people in the world which the designers realized. Just like Levine, I don't like some of the decisions in Bioshock but he has been still being one of several writers in the game industry on whom I have keeping an eye.

As far as I know, at least one designer is fond of cars/bikes. Coincidently, his name start with J. There is a great chance that the game go after typical 007 male fantasy factors - cars, guns and women. The question is how well they are implemented. If it is going to be done poorly, probably nobody want them. Well, at least, I cannot expect this level of realism.

I put the game to the shelf when I heard of the improved version. However, the fundamental issue with this kind of game is that it requires a solid amount of time. It getting so obvious that my life cannot coop with traditional RPG anymore. :sad:

Amazing, isn't it? I played the game only twice but there are a lot of surprises in it. I like the feel of playing the custom-made story. I hope Obsidian will do something similar to this with Alpha Protocol. Back to the topic. Currently, no time for playing games. :sad: My free time goes to fictions of various forms.

The date of the article is .Very close...I mean, if it were April 1, I would have thought J.E. Sawyer's playing some kind of trick on us.

I began to watch anime through the net since each episode requires half time, which is convenient. I am currently watching Persona Trinity Soul and Wolf and Spice. I haven't played Shin-Megami Tensei: Persona but I found some essences are interesting. Dialog consciously tries to simulate casual and daily expressions while carrying the story well. The core theme is about family/friend relationship with less expressive and more introverted Japanese approach. For example, even when someone notices a secret of his/her beloved one, he/she often avoids direct questions but tries to accept him/her as he/she is. In western culture, this "inaction" tends to be taken as a weakness or at least rather passive. I would probably like this one more without anime cliche such as anime-robotic "persona" and shadowy underground organization. BTW, if it means "hidden self", then, isn't it more of shadow rather than persona? I know this is a nitpick, though. Wolf and Spice is fantasy anime without sword and sorcery. The core theme seems to be about Nature and Civilization with some basic economic knowledge and light philosophy. To some extent, it's about wisdom and cleverness. However, the cute drawing and the setting of "wolf goddess" being a teenage girl soften these often serious themes rather nicely. I wonder why the wolf goddess uses satokotoba, or, particular phrasing used by prostitutes in feudal era... The phrasing is said to be originally used to conceal dialects but it may have sounded mythical to their "customers", though. As for gundam...can this be categorize into Sci-Fi genre? I wonder how I should put my words on this one. The antiwar theme with colorful robots is kind of psychedelic. However, the simulation of placing impressionable teen-agers in war seems to have some influence on teenagers who watch it despite of some unbelievable settings. I cannot think of other media which can do this kind of thing. The antiwar theme stays subconscious of Japanese through some works such as Godzilla (the original black and white version), though. It seems that some traditions won't simply die and carry some collective experience to generations. In both works, I like the feminine and poetic feel which wrap everything up. Anime for boys used to being more violent, sex-conscious and rather overly admiring the masculinity while one for girls tend to being overly emo and confined within schoolgirl relationships. It always been a problem with anime/manga that the artists don't have knowledge and experiences outside of school since they are too busy with polishing their drawing skills. Things seem to have changed, though. Nowadays, multiple people cooperate to make a work, which lets scenario writers concentrate on their jobs. In any case, less than thirty minute entertainment with interesting factors is welcome.

Actually, it's news to me. As far as I know, among Asians, Koreans are traditionally known for hard but clean defense, though. If you are confident with what you are doing, I don't think the caution above would be applied to you. In my personal case, I find my strength is stamina and I keep in mind a piece of advice from Rommnel: "Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, and brains saves both." I'm quite persistent, too.

Oh, from a new zealander and connection with All Blacks, I naively imagined you differently. Seriously, never attempt sliding tackle from behind since it can cause severe injuries. When tackling, you should always go for the ball. Also, if you annoy the attackers enough, you can get a similar psychological effect. If you began to see "you-again" expressions on the opponents' faces, it means you are doing good in defense. I wonder if this is something to do with my inclination to rogue type characters in RPG. Thinking of that, I created a rogue with mobility feat in MotB... I don't do "sneak attack" but join offense when I see the opponent become exhausted and less effective since it is easier to see the movements of each player from behind: It's good to keep low profile till tactically important moment comes. Friendly fire? Seriously, sorry for your pain, AnthonyD. In any case, assuming we are doing sports for recreation, it is important to make sure nobody is injured.

No slide tackling in this league, but J.R. has been carded a few times this season for hackin' dudes. Oh, don't be silly. You wouldn't like to make someone/yourself hurt in recreation. That's not necessary risk and injury can be severe. Also, sliding tackle, although it may look cool, is rather a gamble than a basic block tackle. Missing the ball leaves the opponent free. Jockeying is often enough to distract attackers since not so many people feel confident in dealing with balls in small spaces. :) After all, unlike role-playing sessions, it's not your characters but you who are risking injuries.

Personally, I found it a kind of lukewarm: The fragments are easy to find and yet possible to be missed. Also, you can simply search the net and found the answers nowadays just like this.

This can be a possible explanation since I have no problem with the conventional mouse navigation. It's quite fair even. One can still finish the game, just a certain option isn't given. Complaining about this is like complaining that you can't get a certain NPC if you don't do something to a possible party member, or complaining that you couldn't with safiya or if you treated their bad, so... *shrug* The difference is that such choices are given in the course of the main plot while only one mask fragment is tied to the main plot as I have already mentioned above.

No, they're not. I think you get one as part of the main quest, the others require fiddling about Strictly speaking, they are found at , and

Is the Witcher dark? There are many much darker movies, novels and even TV shows around. Also, you don't need to sit down for hours and hours (even if you have such time) but simply start playing it when you'd like to. You only need to keep the save files. The Witcher's journal system requires some reading. Personally, I liked the comprehensiveness of it but people who don't read regularly may suffer from the comprehensiveness itself. As for the function, different from the Wither's quest system, Obivion's quest system can even track NPC, which made job much more easier for the players. Even if the players haven't played the game for a while, it is not tough to go back to the quests. If Oblivion's quest system allowed tracking even in town maps, it would be more desirable. For example, the players could directly go shopping by just browsing maps or see an NPC, as long as they have already known the shop and the NPC in question. This may sound too lazy for some people but, if you have some experience in game-mastering, you must have had to make the players refresh their memory of the last session before you start a new session. After all, the players have their own lives outside of role-playing games. The same thing is already addressed above. The Witcher is based on Polish novels and these comments are for the readers. For people who haven't read the novels, there are most heavily amnesiac option of "I don't remember anything", which usually lets NPCs to explain the situation. Inventory is yet another element which slows down the pace. I unload every single ingredient at inns after making a few kinds of potions. Also, I keep only two best weapons. Other slots are for loots. Presents are troublesome since I cannot tell which one is needed beforehand, though. I think conventional "RPG elements" really needs speeding up to compete against other games. If you have ideas for pacing up, write them down at the Alien RPG board. Without feedbacks, what is the point of visiting developer boards, after all?

Yes, I felt that part slowing down, too. The pacing doesn't seem to be done well in the Witcher, which even made me write some suggestions on Obsidian's upcoming RPG. If you have better ideas, how about posting your suggestions at the Alien RPG board?

Pop, I think you are too early to judge story. The combat is built up from point-click action RPGs such as Diablo. So, if you expect something like immediate action such as Oblivion, it leaves you unsatisfied. Quite many people seem to compare the system with Jade Empire, which I haven't played. I normally play on High Isometric mode for transitions and multiple hostiles and change to OTS one against a single one. I definitely miss the dialog options - the present, drink contest and insignia are O.K. but annoying at times (I keep Wive's Tears available). I'd like to see sneak option with convincing gameplay but I wonder lockpicking fit the witcher. I found the atmosphere of Bioshock is much better than that of Oblivion especially by fitting the theme but you brought S.T.A.L.K.E.R...hm... The fist fights don't seem to work as it is explained in the manual but the timing seems to be similar to that of sword-fighting since I became accustomed to the fist-fight somehow. I find that I play mini-games more often in this game than unusual. Probably it's related with the lack of game-play options, waiting NPC turns up for some quests and some stupidity makes me feel Geralt more human than a fighting machine. I even let Geralt seduce a town girl in quest just for comic value.

As long as the interesting themes are presented, whether a work belong to Sci-Fi or fantasy is just a matter of "cosmetic" issue. Personally, I'd like to see historical and/or real world RPG but as long as themes are intruding, I don't care about "cosmetics." Dedicated art direction won't hurt, though.

Yin-yang is not about good and evil but light and shadow. I haven't played JE but the philosophical presentation seems to have gone wrong.

Just like when they are losing their virginities. Jokes aside, the system seems to be working properly, then. I guess Obsidian did a great job here.

Then, the design concept is working, I guess. It was just because I had come across so many people complaining of the fast craving when they play evil.