Aristes

I did a search for Eldar and he doesn't even exist. Someone would have to create him and then he can be my alt.

As regards religion, I don't see why it should be reduced to cultism. There is a good chance that religion might instead be reduced to functionalism in combination with other factors to provide some stability for the population. Anyone who thinks that Christianity in some form would completely cease to exist as a result of nuclear war better bring out the compelling argument. Of course, I disagree with the entire limiting aspects of such views of religion in the first place. That's what I mean about putting forward the best argument for each faction. Someone as part of the religion isn't going to say, "oooom shakalaka! I bear the great mugumbo!" I mean, sure, some folks might, but the religion will have survived because of the genuine adherents. I'm sure they won't describe themselves as "cultists" any more than they'd say, "we serve a function in society otherwise we wouldn't exist." You might believe that, but they will have a counter argument and those counter arguments can be quite compelling. In fact, we should see the future as largely the same as the past and present at its very heart. Different groups will vie for supremacy based along some sort of ideology, culture, or other sort of identity. While there will be a variety of motives for the people in each of these groups, every group will have some folks who believe in the essential point of view and be able to represent it. Not every argument will be good. Some of the folks will be better able to present the case for their side than others, but each side should have folks capable of making a strong case to others. This idea clearly transcends religion. The other thing that I've said that I must reiterate is that there will be a variety of motives, and I don't mean that in a bad way. Some motives will be bad, but members of every group will have multiple motivations. I'm a Catholic, but I believe in freedom and democracy. So I will do my best to strive for a world view that accomodates each. Not every character will be so well developed that we'll see these internal conflicts, but the writers should understand they exist.

That pretty much describes all games though, dealing with anything. Testified! Er... um... I mean, I agree.

This is a feature all games need. As long as they don't make it happen when you urinate. That would just piss me off!

I have a suggestion. Travel. Extensively. Preferably by automobile. Who needs the latest survival horror game or movie when you can just get lost in your own mind.

My Indian name is "God is my Judge." I thought Harry was short for Harold. *shrug* It's probably short for both. After all, if Jack can be short for John, then Harry can be short for Henry.

Weren't we discussion Fallout religion. hahahaha Anyhow, I'm really not for vehicles. I guess having a FO2 style car, where you quest to get the parts and whatnot wouldn't be so bad. However, having a world with extensive vehicle travel would be the nail in the coffin of Fallout retro setting. First of all, with that kind of transportation option, we've already got a different game. The variety and amount of available goods will be vastly increased. While some areas will suffer from rampant warlordism, many areas will be able to police more or less stable boundaries. The Fallout world already has too much technology, in every game, to support the basic premise. Add reliable transportation and you've all but destroyed it. I don't mind if they change the game from Fallout to Mad Max, but I have to admit I'd rather just have Fallout: New Vegas. The way I figure it, I wanted another game like Fallout 2 and I didn't get that, so as long as I can enjoy whatever they make, I'll be happy.

I don't think religion should be portrayed as positive or negative in a game. I'm Catholic, myself. I think religion, just like every other faction in the game, should have a reason why it has survived. On one hand, you show why folks might not like it. On the other hand, the adherants will probably try to give their best argument on behalf of their religion. Some of them will probably give better arguments than others, I'm sure. Let's not take religion bashing as our example, since bashing religion is most decidedly 'politically correct' in our day and age and it is so often used it it cliched. Let's be creative instead. How about this? We have an environmentalist group. Since we're shying away from making one group the real baddies, we won't depict them as evil. Of course, most developers don't make environmental groups the baddies anyhow, right? By the same token, no group is our shining armor good guys either. So we depict the environmental group as a realistic thing. It will have faults. Some members of the group might be dishonest or hypocritical. (Yeah, just like folks say about religion, I know.) The group might have good goals, but is particularly strident and implacable. (ditto.) Their lofty goals might be combined with questionable means. (I don't have to keep doing this, right?) Now, not every group will have the same problems and strengths, that's true, but every group that has managed to exist should have some reason it has managed to do so. There have been atheists and religious people for at least as far back as we have written documents. Some of them will simply sound stupid when they argue for their position. However, some of them will make strong cases for what they believe. Some might make a strong emotional appeal. The design team should do its best to make that emotional appeal as strong as possible. Some of them might make a strong rational appeal. Once again with the design team. Every relgious person will not make an emotional appeal. Every atheist won't make a rational appeal. Returning to religion in the wasteland, having the Church of Latter Day Saints survive and actually thrive in the Las Vegas/Henderson area is not only a reasonable assumption, it's actually unreasonable to assume it wouldn't. After some time during which the world survives a nuclear war and its aftermath, that religion will probably have changed, but it will also probably exist. Maybe some new religions will have popped up. However, relgion in the Fallout games has never been realistic. Finally, I'm not putting this in as a demand. I don't think that it would be particularly bad on the PR front. I think it might make it hard to craft a good story that doesn't offend anyone. For one thing, having a strong Momon presence would offend not only other religious sects that weren't also represented, but it would also offend a lot of atheists who prefer not to have a strong religious representation from any Christian church. (Yeah, I know that some Christians don't consider Mormons as Christian. Whatever.) That's why I put it in as a suggestion. I'm not going to be a strong advocate. I just think it would be a possible way to nuance the game. Even if included, I don't want to have it as a central theme. The important thing for me is that the design team represents each faction as strongly as possible. Put the best arguments in the mouths of the adherants, on behalf of religion or not, as the writers possibly can.

How many extra hours, though? The only thing that might tempt me is a decent amount of extra hours play and something to change the abysmal ending.

Hey, that's pretty sweet, boyo! Nice job! Oh, and tharb wobbler grunk bark.

Hey Gizmo, that would have taken at least half a day to accomplish. Were you so patient or you wanted all that Killian

Damn! Now I want to see it! I was wondering, "There were flames in the 'Playing Now' thread?" hahaha

Yeah, this is done abstractly by the "mashing together" process, but being able to strip down the weapon would make it easier to carry spare part, I guess.

Oh, come on now, cronicler, I've been playing the Witcher, where full bodily nudity abounds and sex is a damned mini-game. If we want mature content, then we need to accept that there are knotty social issues to attend it. That's why, in one of the earlier threads, I said the design team should stop imposing their view and put out the best, logical argument for every side. If one side appeals more to emotion, make a compelling emotional argument. Plus, I don't think we should make religion necessarily prominent, but it is still a major motivator in society. Sure, we can stick to churches of the bomb because they're safe, but I think they could go further in pushing the envelope.

I'd probably go to the shindig. I'll bring the crates and maybe a bottle of scotch, some sodas, and... whatever. The crates, though, I've gotta bring a variety of crates.

The reason I want a huge map is because, in addition to being a Las Vegas native, I've spent a lot of time driving in and around all of these locations. I remember driving just over the horizon so I could get a clear view of the Milky way without all the light polution. (Thanks, Luxor. Rat bastards.) Anyhow, having a larger map would give us more variety in the locations. More of a wasteland feel than just Las Vegas/Henderson. Plus, someone mentioned earlier, but the Church of Latter Day Saints has a tremendous presence in Henderson. Really, both Vegas and Henderson, but I think Henderson politics is still pretty much dominated by Mormons. First of all, I've had a good rapport with all of the Mormons I've met, so I don't think this is a bad thing for the city at any rate. More to the point, apparently Van Buren managed to include some of the different religious aspects in the game. For example, we Catholics have a big presence in Las Vegas and even Henderson. Probably the largest single religious group in the City unless you count all protestants as a single group. I don't want religion to be some sort of overbearing, in your face aspect of the game, but I can see how it could add a little flavor to the game. Some nuance, maybe.

I think the Jefferson model had a lot going for it. That could have multiple consequences with folks on a gameplay level. It's good to have consequences for player choice play out in the story, but having them affect relations with a variety of faction and in a variety of ways would be awesome. A choice shouldn't boil down to someone liking you and another not. It might make another person notice you and some other guy might even get the idea you'll be easy to dupe. Meanwhile, since you've argued and won the case for this merchant here to sell baby toys in the city, this poison merchant gets one step closer to plying his wares in the city also.... and maybe the baby toy merchant is the poison plyer. Like folks have been saying, the computer can keep track of these things and the player need only pay as much attention as they want. Hell, they might not always know that a specific aspect in the mid-game arose as a result of some decision in the early game. They need only know that they might never know. If players got the idea that their actions would be so far reaching as to cause cascading effects, they'd adapt easily, I think.

Oops. Double post. I must be an internet noob. Anyhow, Obsidian did a great job expanding and modifying the crafting aspect of KotOR. I think they can do the same with FO3.

No, by eating wasteland travelers. That made me laugh, but it's also probably true. Maybe that's why humanity is barely crawling out of the dark ages some 200 years after the war. As far as things I'd like, I still go by my original list. As far as things I don't like, foregoing writing in general since the specifics would take too long to post, the item deterioration rate heads the list. Crashgirl brought up the worst part of item deterioration -- forget the weapons, carrying around armor is a pain. ...And carrying around an extra set of power armor or two? Like I said earlier, I'm leery of complete overhaul the skills, stats, and perks. I don't want them to add skills, but I would like the skills we already have to be retooled a little. On the other hand, I'm also pretty forgiving. As long as it works out in the end, I won't care. Nope. it's the item deterioration and the need to carry around two or three of everything that irritates me most.

I'm playing Witcher. Great game. I'm very happy I bought it.

Fair enough. What would you like to see in FO:NV? For myself, I have things that are the highest priority: Access to the greater basin area, including Henderson, Lake Mead, Valley of Fire, Mt. Charleston, Red Rock, and Boulder Dam. A stronger, tighter story More memorable NPCs I have things that I'd really like to see: Remote locations from Las Vegas, including Area 51 and Death Valley. Better selection of weapons with a significantly reduced deterioration. I have things that generally sound like a good idea: Even more locations like Mt. Pass and Baker. Retooling VATS to some degree Better crafting Some minor tweaks and improvements to the perks, stats, and skills. There you go. Hardly even a full sentence in that whole mess. Maybe I'm not so literate after all. EDIT: and even then I screwed up. had to change locations around a bit.

I guess my point regarding sales is that it's a factor no matter what you argue. You don't have to believe that sales equate to quality, but you're arguing a case for your vision of the game. Your argument simply must be economically feasible in order to carry the day. The Fallout Faithful have caused a big stir for pretty much all of the Fallout titles over... what?... the past decade? Blindly pushing for what you want will simply not carry the day. Simply storming the barricades has only made for zero tolerance policies on the part of the license holder. For that reason, I think that cronicler is probably the best spokesman for the Fallout Fans. He focuses less on what he hates and more on what he thinks could be improved. The biggest problem is that the Faithful have always been stronger on the attack. Gaining consensus on what they want instead, outside a few items, has always been the harder trick to turn. Once again, as I've said many times, you should argue for what you want. You ought to make sure that your arguments are effective, though. If you completely alienate the folks making the game, they probably won't listen to you. ...And I don't think it's in OEI's best interest to foster Bethesda bashing, which is why the mods are a little heavier handed than usual in these threads. Oh, I'm quite sure all of the folks posting here are literate. Otherwise, how exactly do they post?

I really like his work, but I still consider him part of a team. I am biased because of PS:T. He also did the dialogue for Gann in MotB, which I thought was very well done.

Aside from all the crap about posting styles, the topic of which I find silly, I think you're entirely right, Ziggy. I think one of the biggest hopes that I have personally is that Obsidian follows a similar pattern with FO:NV that they did when making KotOR2. In fact, it's a particularly apt comparison in that I really liked KotOR, but KotOR2 brought some real improvements. NWN2 was not, in my opinion, a shining moment, but I think the quality of MotB proves itself. I never played SoZ, mostly because I'm fairly sick and tired of the NWN franchise, but I know that they put a lot of creative effort into it. I'm an MCA fan, I guess, but not a particularly ardent one. However, I think the Obsidian team as a whole has a lot of talent, which is most apparent, to me personally, in the writing and design work it did for MotB and the simply splendid atmospheric quality of KotOR2. In the meantime, I don't see what any particular aspect of the game can't get a tweak. Earlier, I said PoV was probably off the table, but why not improve 3rd person for folks who want it? I don't think Obsidian an do everything given their current time frame, but I think they will probabaly brain storm on things that they will improve, and I'm convinced some of it will transcend story. Edit: Removed references to members.

Hey, bro, we'll be glad to have you. If you're ever in my neck of the woods, I make a mean Bulgogi. Seriously, all fresh ingredients and I've experimented with some different marinades, also. I recently made a honey, balsamic vinegar, and coconut marinade. I took a coconut, drained the milk into the marinader, then finely grated the meat into it as well. I used just enough honey to taste, and then let it sit for 36 hours. My God, I wish I had some now!