random n00b

Less than three Master Vrook. No matter what, he always manages to make it look like you're screwing up big time. "If we are going to have a Jedi Council at all, somebody, somewhere, is going to do what it tells them!" Nobody pulls rank like Master Vrook. Honourable mention for Sion, but mostly for the concept and voice acting. Execution was not so good. He proved to be Teh Ultimate emo kid of the Universe, in a "I'd cut myself, but it's no good" way.

Here's hoping that the game won't encourage you to be a mass murderer. The less people I can kill to accomplish a game goal, the better for me. Stealth is a spy's #1 weapon. Kill counts, as well as any bonuses associated with them, need to be implemented very carefully, if at all. Otherwise they detract from immersion and serve only to imprint a feel of "arcade-ness" that doesn't fit in an RPG. They also tend to skew game balance towards unrealism. I certainly am not watching this game for its potential to deliver several delectable ways to murder goons with your bare hands or a sharp object. But that's just me... In Hitman: Blood Money, killing dudes with a garrote was very satisfying but also potentially dangerous. It took longer to perform than other killing techniques (meaning it was more likely that you would be caught while doing it), but it left no blood and made no sound. Also, the garrote was effectively undetectable (IIRC), so you could take it into places where weapons weren't normally allowed. You could also smack guys in Blood Money and take their weapons, but overall the game wasn't oriented around melee. Yep, the fiber wire was undetectable. And given the AI model of the game, using it was pretty much the most reliable way to get a rating of SA. Funny, that. A game that featured a boatload of weapons (as well as limited customization options), and at the same time discouraged making use of them.

Yeah. Make the US Prez the #1 baddie in the game. Oh wait...

All you could ever possibly need is a fiber wire and some outrageous disguise, really.

I wasn't too sure about Korgan so I just checked to make sure, and both are immune to Imprisonment while enraged. Demilich Howl still kills them fairly often, tho. Maybe their rage wore off? I do have a number of mods installed (including tactics, which brings Kangaxx more in line with what's expected from a demilich), but I don't think any of them changes the properties of either rage effect (Minsc and Korgan's are different).

No, like throwing people into the dirt and not giving them any means to take it off. Also, and more commonly, restricting or denying access to letrines. It's hard to keep one's dignity when you are afforded less respect than a dog, and treated worse than one. EDIT: yeah, what Gfted1 said.

Well, Sarevok is overpowered (for a party that level, has crazy HP and THAC0), but it's more Angelo and Semaj that really ruin my day. Angelo has those insane fire arrows (that for some unexplained reason don't affect his allies that much), and Semaj is just a pain in the ass, dispelling my buffs all the time. I cannot seem to win the fight unless I resort to cheesing through (spam Chaos while outside visual range) or taking advantage of the AI shortcomings. Um. Protection from magic + ring of the ram make short work of him. Protection from Undead also makes him unable to target you. Also, you are immune to Imprisonment while in the Slayer form. Korgan and Minsc are immune while enraged, too. Cheese, but it's one of the worst designed monsters in all of the IE games. I mean, a demilich that ONLY casts Imprisonment, regardless of its efficacy? Devs please!

! Also, BGT. Am I a wimp for getting my ass handed to me by Sarevok? And some DDO.

Well. If you shout "Conspiracy!" every time, you're bound to be right eventually... And no, Chelsea won't beat Manchester.

Sensory deprivation by itself will accomplish very little. It needs to be combined with something else; the cold cell/shower, suboptimal hygiene, verbal and (limited) physical abuse, all work well together in disorienting one and inflicting the feeling of powerlessness and self-worthlessness that's intended to break a person's will. But, as has been stated before, information extracted in such a state may or may not be reliable.

I think I read somewhere that people born with extra stuff not only are more prone to health problems, but also in most cases, their "extra" whatever can't function normally because the brain isn't ready for it, therefore offering no advantage. There are exceptions however, such as people with an extra kidney, but those are rare. Since some evolution theories propose that opposable thumbs (and, more generally, the ability to control each finger individually) may have been a factor in the development of higher intellect, imagine what an extra set of (functional) arms would require. And the optic nerve is some of the most complex nerve tissue in the body... I wonder if both sets of eyes work, and how her brain interprets it. And, as a side note, "survival of the fittest" doesn't apply to the human race anymore.

Are you setting things up for a torrent of cynical and distasteful jokes revolving around "two-faced" and "politicians"?

I see. I'm not familiar with the development process at Beth, so I'll take your word for it. I do think, however, that even if they work that way, it's a long shot to assume that the setting will not be Fallout-ish enough. After all, it is post-apoc. And I can only take so many 50's references before it starts getting silly for me. I think it would be a mistake for them to try too hard to be Fallout, and end up saturating the game world with winks to the previous settings in an attempt to appease a sense of failed continuity in the fanbase. All right. I didn't play Oblivion much (my comp couldn't handle it at the time), but I didn't think Morrowind was generic, at all. From the look of the Roman... I mean, Imperial Legion armor, to the architecture of Vivec, the design of Daedra, the Ordinators, the races... well. That, if anything, was what kept me from dumping the game. Perhaps if you point to some game whose setting you don't find generic, and explain your reasons, I will be better able to understand where you're coming from.

Um, why? One of Beth's strong point *is* atmosphere. And any post-apoc setting with 50's references, mutants and blue jumpsuits would be indistinguishable from Fallout, alright. I don't think it's quite the Holy Grail of CRPG settings, really. I could understand your comment if it were about gameplay or graphics, as those are going to be completely reworked for FO3, but atmosphere?

Arbitrary, unsupported, overly generalising and fallacious. The thing with interactivity is that details aren't compulsory. It's the player's choice to be immersed in the details of the plot, or not. They are accesory, not fundamental. In RPGs, the player controls the pace. There's plenty of room for thinking. Rich narrative != convoluted narrative. At least, not in an interactive medium.

And that apparently small amount of changes (despite their significance from a narrative standpoint) is what I was referring to when I said some people will be disappointed, perhaps expecting major reworks and/or large content additions where (save for the HK factory) that's not really the focus of the project. Perhaps this guy would have something to say about it. They have it easy. They sell SW games. Not much more to be said...

The autobalance system in the game seems to be one of the things that suffered from the deadline constraint syndrome. This is especially glaring with enemy saving throws reaching absurd values once you break the 20th level barrier. I'm guessing this is due to a lack of time to polish details and fine-tune the system, combined with the devs' awareness of the amount of uber-cheese combinations possible in the game. The game doesn't care about your individual stats, it only takes into consideration your level, and buffs mobs in proportion, in a very blunt and generic way. Funny, because even without the cheese, you can still cut a swath through anything the game throws at you without much trouble... I just edit the 2da and tone saves down to reasonable levels, myself, rather than bothering with raising my WIS and CHA scores to ludicrous values.

You running for the White House or what?

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I think some people are going to be disappointed regarding TG's work. Not because of the quality of the work itself (which I am not going to comment on until I get to try it) but because the insane amount of hype the project has generated. Read the beta testers' impressions threads. It's not a huge rework of the game, it just makes it more faithful (hopefully) to what OE had originally intended. More consistent, seamless, less of the "WTF?" feeling. For me it's K2 all the way, TSLRP or not.

Those look quite nice. But Beth's strong points *are* graphics and atmosphere, so nothing new there. Maybe they aren't releasing anything on NPC interaction on purpose? Besides, there's only muties in those pics. Needs moar raiders plz No, not really.

"Enhanced interrogation", heh. Whenever I read one of those phrases, I'm always reminded of "wardrobe malfunction", for some sick reason. Anyway, you some kind of History buff? You seem to know your stuff pretty good.

I think a spy would like to keep a little lower profile than competing in the UFC. But it would be neat if there was an underground fight club in the game. And a meat grinder like Wanderlei Silva would probably mop the floor with poor little Jason Bourne... in a MMA-style fight. Which aren't the ones a covert operative would pick to begin with. I assume a realistic approach to weapon concealment is a given? That was one of the aspects I liked the most of the Hitman series... and it would be goofy otherwise.

As I said, it's been a while. I don't doubt that you're correct on MR and Insect Plague. But I was talking about one-high-level-enemy-mage battles (who seldom had significant MR), not dragon or golem battles. I never really had the patience to go through the combat log and remember which anti-magic spells countered which defenses-- I just Plagued 'em and hammered 'em into the dirt. One of my attacks (like, say, the various elemental bonuses from the Flail of Ages) usually got through. Save for, obviously, mobs that are immune to spellcasting interruptions. Lovely. I'll have to try that one on Kangaxx. That could be circumvented by applying a blanket era-effectiveness flag. Modern Age units should be able to stomp Stone Age units, period. And as far as the importance of research goes... it's not the modern military that will kick your opponent's rears. It's the huge boost in production that modern city improvements bring. As it should, I think. Definitely, Civ isn't one game to be looking up to as far as balancing goes. Or perhaps I just suck.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Obi-wan Good job. I think the Prima Guides do have some canon value, albeit very low. So unless there's another source that conflicts with it, that's his age. 38 is also consistent with his attitude through the game, and it gives him some room for Dustil, too. And what do you mean "nerdy"? I ain't even wearing my Jedi robes at the moment! Please note that those were simply educated guesses. I was in no way trying to impose anything on people's vision of Revan. There are many examples of contradicting facts in the EU, that are never addressed or even acknowledged. So Revan could indeed be made to be in the middle 20's or even younger, at the whim of some LFL editor, an in-universe explanation being readily concocted to explain it. But yeah, Bastila's age is probably right. Either that, or she's simply immature and annoying as hell. She is just a padawan after all. The exile is probably intended to be younger than Revan, since she was knighted during the Mandalorian wars, as opposed to already being a knight by the time of joining Revan's crusade. Mira's comments probably aren't intended to be taken literally.