Starwars

Anthony Davis also posted that on one hand we have the player-generated characters which will have no personality, but there will also be people you can recruit in the game world who will be characters with personalities.

I don't think 15 hours is particularly short, it sounds what I got out of my first playthrough of MotB (and I also think it's what they announced for it intitally). I think that's a fine length for a game if it means a more focused experience. I thought MotB was mercifully free of those boring slogs that seem to plague RPGs (Act in NWN2, dungeon crawling towards the end of PS:T, awful planetary exploration in Mass Effect, the list goes on and on), as was Fallout 1 (which was not a long game either). Though I definetely think there'll be plenty of replay value, it was one of MotBs best points. I wish more full on RPGs took that route, providing shorter campaigns with a higher quality.

Now we just need Obsidian people to come in and tell us how tyte it will be.

I would guess this is pretty much confirmed with what it being on ESRB, Anthony Davis confirming it on the Codex and Rob McGinnis in the NWN2 irc channel. Sounds pretty nice judging from that snippet, hopefully we'll get more info soon.

Playing Mass Effect for the PC, and as usual when it comes to Biowares games, I don't see what all the fuzz is about. It's decent, but far from great. I'm also surprised at how we see design decisions like riding the Mako around on the different planets in this day and age, is there seriously anyone who finds this fun? It's entertaining enough to play though, but I suspect that it will be my least favourite Bioware game as of yet (excluding NWN if we don't count mods). While dialogues can be entertaining, the whole cinematic approach does nothing for me except make me feel like I'm mainly watching instead of participating. Even the graphics were not as good as I expected (though I'm not complaining about that really, it definetely looks good enough, and beyond, for a RPG). The audio is excellent though, generally good voiceacting and some wonderful music. Sound effects are pretty nice as well. The whole setting feels really familiar, in a not so good way. Most games/movies/whatever borrow stuff, but in Mass Effect I've found myself thinking quite a few times (oh, that's just like <insert game/movie here>) which is not a good sign, though it doesn't really ruin anything either. Still, I'm having fun enough to keep playing.

The Codex is a rather hit-and-miss place nowadays. There are defientely people who know what they're talking about, but then there are the people who're turning it into something... not so desirable. And the quality of newsposts and content have greatly diminished since Vault Dweller left. Still, I felt that the complaints about that dialogue snippet were justified. Of course, one shouldn't judge the games writing based on that, but what was showcased didn't feel very realistic to me. Nor did it succesfully achieve that "spymovie" wittyness (which was what it seemed to go for as far as I could tell) that we see in James Bond. It was also a weird example to use in that article since the choices seemed to amount to the same thing in the end. I like Avellones writing a lot, as well as Mitsodas from Bloodlines, but writing a spy-themed game inspired by James Bond and Bourne or whatever is a very different thing than what they've done before. Like I said on that Codex post though, I cannot understand how someone would criticize Alpha Protocol based on the technical side of the visuals. I mean seriously, the game looks fine. The whole graphics thing is becoming more and more silly with each passing year. If this isn't good enough for people, then...wow.

Definetely recommend the expansion for NWN2, Mask of the Betrayer if you like RPGs. It's very good. There are also some good mods for that game out now if you're into that sort of thing. Harp & Crysanthemum, Dark Avenger (Chapter 2 just released), Asphyxia... The Witcher is worth a shot, there is a demo (that is rather big for a demo as well) that you can try out. Mass Effect just came out for the PC, so far (haven't played it that much yet) I don't think it's particularly great but definetely not bad either. Make sure you can stomach the copy protection stuff before you get this.

Back to playing Tropico. Such an addictive game, and the soundtrack is made of win.

This is very old news, heh. Word was given in the recent Westgate previews that they're aiming for June, however due to some delays of the 1.13 patch (which I think will contain the copy protection stuff), it wouldn't surprise me if that turns to July instead. I'll likely buy it though. It really looks like an excellent adventure, and I'm sure it will be worth supporting Ossian for.

Indeed, I welcome the spirit-meter and wish we could see more stuff like that in games where plot elements are supposed to affect your character or the world. It's not hard to manage, except *possibly* if you're playing an evil devouring-everything character on the first playthrough. Even if you are, I really doubt you'd run into to much trouble if you try to learn the abilities. There is even a last way out if your energy gets low, which a really cheap price (way to cheap if you ask me). And yeah, the alignment shifts for using the abilities were removed in a patch. I liked it quite a bit. Not perfectly implemented, but I enjoyed it.

Age of Decadence NWN2: Planescape Purgatorio NWN2: Mysteries of Westgate S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky A Vampyre Story There are quite a few indie projects that I'm keeping my eye on, but those are the ones that I'm actively looking forward to so to speak.

Dark Avenger 2 for Neverwinter Nights 2. Very good so far, I liked the overall direction of the first Chapter though the execution left something to be desired in some areas. Chapter 2 seems like a general improvement in quality. Really enjoying it.

Kreia is my favourite character. Very awesome. The annoying teacher and the liar. It worked well for me, but I think many people do not like that she's such a vital part of the game. If you don't like her/care for her, then you miss out quite a bit. From the other party members, well... I only dislike two, that being Bao-Dur and Disciple. Bao-Dur is still interesting, but feels very unfinished and I belong to the camp who really disliked the voiceacting. Disciple is just, urgh. G0-T0 is actually one of my favourites, a character right up my alley. The voiceacting, and the filter put on his voice nailed him for me. It's hard to take a liking to him though, because of the way he joins the party though. Many people dislike him as a party member since he kinda sucks in combat, but then again the combat is so ridiculously easy and sucky that it doesn't really matter to me. Handmaiden also worked well for me, though I'm not exactly sure why. I think it's her tie-ins with Atris (one of my favourite characters in the story) that makes me like her.

I don't think the devs visit this board very often anymore, but could be wrong. Anyways, this is really something that could be discussed until the end of time. I always viewed it as Kreia is just Kreia, and not really Jedi or Sith at the time of the game. I believe many people (justifably perhaps, since it's a Star Wars game) try to classify stuff in KOTOR2 as black and white, Jedi or Sith. But my guess is that Obsidian wanted to kinda break that view. I think however, that most people who played the game would view Kreia as a Sith (and hey, she shows up at the title screen). The hints are there, from the title screen to her change in appearance etc.

Tommy Emmanuel & Bob Littell - Workin' Man Blues

I always thought Korriban was a good planet (though I suppose a bit short) and never really understood why so many people dislike it in KOTOR2. The "Dagobah cave" worked well, and sneaking around the academy was pretty nice to.

Telos is a bit of a snore. Malachor V is the worst one though, just a lot of boring combat sprinkled with the odd cutscene. Nar Shadaa is a great setting for roleplaying, but it's not pulled off as well as it could be. Some of the level design is pretty bad, and it's just not as interesting as it should be somehow.

Last Exit for the Lost is probably my favourite song from them. Also makes me remember my Call of Cthulhu pen and paper days. Muriel Anderson - Lady Pamela

Vince mentioned that more devs would be joining in later (from the Witcher for example), maybe they can get Mitsoda on there as well. They had tried to get a hold of Bethesda devs as well, who said yes, but Pete Hines put a stop to it. Would've been interesting to hear what they had said, some of the ones on the Bethesda forums "developer thread" are pretty cool. I like what Josh said about non-linearity, hopefully we'll see more of that kind of stuff in Obsidians upcoming games. I also really liked George Ziets input, and I think that his description of semi-linearity was pretty much dead-on in Mask of the Betrayer. EDIT: And oh yeah, thanks to the Obsidian devs (past and present) and everyone else for being in the interview. It's pretty inspirational stuff I think, and a lot of fun to read the different views on things. It's very interesting to read as a RPG fan.

Thought people here might be interested in this. Age of Decadence loveable teddybear Vault Dweller got a few RPG developers together to share their views on a few things, developers include Chris Avellone, JE Sawyer, David Gaider, George Ziets (who wrote MotB), people from Mysteries of Westgate and a bunch of other cool guys. It's a very interesting read, and I highly recommend taking a look. Setting: http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php?topic=330.0 Story: http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php?topic=342.0 Characters: http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php?topic=343.0

Does that mean the problem of people basically popping up behind you if turn your back still exists?

Still playing NWN2 mods, this time the fairly new Asphyxia. It's very good, just wish there was less humor in it. Don't get me wrong, the author is actually a very good writer, but I would've liked this mod to be super-serious. The change in tone occasionally feels a bit weird. Nevertheless, definetely one of the best NWN2 mods yet.

Replaying the Harp & Crysanthemum mod for NWN2, this time with a Spirit Shaman. This mod is really something else if you ask me, very well crafted. It also makes me rather embarassed about my own attempts at areadesign in the NWN2 toolset.

His dungeon tracks for Oblivion were also quite good and most definetely ambient. I would've actually liked him to have a go at Fallout if that interview snippet is true, and if that meant he used a more electronic feel in his ambient stuff. I hope Morgan gets back into cRPG composing at some point though, maybe for Alpha Protocol or Alien... *cough Obsidian cough* I don't really mind Tactics much as a stand-alone game. But it suffers from it being Fallout in name, and stuffing the setting up a bit. And secondly, even as a tactical game and not a RPG, it's just not *that* good at what it does if you ask me. It's sort of OK, but not much more.

I'm not drunk either, but I sure could use a drink now.