Aristes

It's better than Titan Quest, but I don't think it 'owns.' It's a solid game and a lot of fun, but I imagine I'll toss it aside the second one of the big titles hit. Still, it's a lot of fun. Great job with not a lot of cash behind it, at least according to ol' bucket head.

Yeah, just skimmed and I have to say this whole "I want to see my hair" deal is why Blizzard has the option to turn off the helm and cloak graphics. I would say it's because of teenage boys wanting to see the beauty of their female avatars, but my wife and both of my sisters turned off the helm and cloak graphics because they hate the way they look. That way you can have the benefit of the helm without actually seeing it. Maybe they use a lot of hairspray. Anyhow, just poked my head in to say I supported Allan's sorry backside with a preorder for Dragon Age. I saw it while buying Torchlight on Steam and figured, "what the hell?"

Looting is one of the appeals of a diabloesque game. You keep plugging away because it's certain you will find something better. After all, the game is built on looting. Games like Fallout 3 and NWNx and the like just don't have that. In most of them you'll find the best weapon well before the end of the game. You might have a couple different weapons for different situations, such as melee, close range shoot out, and sniping. Still, a lot of players find the weapon they like most and stick with it even when the situation changes and they have something better on hand. I know, for myself, I never bothered switching to melee even if someone ran up on me. I just kept shooting. I did sometimes keep a sniper weapon on hand in addition to my normal shootout weapon, but my characters normally don't have a lot of strength and so I don't like to carry a lot of extra crap around with me. You can still still improve your attributes and the like, which is a good enough incentive to keep leveling, but I always assumed that most players completed these games for the story. Frankly, the combat was never that good in Fallout 3. The exploration and discovery was great, but the combat was mediocre and the story was okayish. To be perfectly candid, I like the early game, not only because your weapon isn't totally kick ass, but because ammunition is scarce. You can sometimes be forced to cycle through the weapons, which I like. It's like an FPS where you carry a lot of weapons and change due to situations or lack of ammo. In the FEAR games, where you can only carry... three weapons? Anyhow, on harder settings, I found that I would switch out weapons because the ammunition was more abundant for one or the other. Obsidian can improve on Fallout 3 quite a bit just in how they dole out the weapons and where they place the ammo. I certainly don't think thinning out the availabilty of some items will necessarily make the players go ape****. It's a great way to add challenge without doing much to change the familiarity of the basic gameplay mechanics.

Hey, I've been getting the sarcasm, so it wasn't wasted. I didn't know it related to DA, but I haven't read the thread there for a while.

The Brotherhood of Steel was making new weapons alllll the way back in Fallout 1.

Suppress is quite usefull, especially in the early game. I greatly enjoyed putting spirits to rest, in particular the dialogue options that allowed for eternal rest were quite good. However, suppress made more sense in a variety of areas AND you could use summons and Okku to bump up the benefits of suppress. So, it's been a while but I remember the game pretty well still, I think. You don't really need to head out to areas to find undead in order to lower your meter or move your scale to good. In fact, if you're following the do-righter path, you're specific story line decisions put you squarely in the good side.

That is weird. I can recall the bit before right up until the anaesthetist asked me to begin the count down, and I told him to **** off. ( I had been given a morphine pre-med, and was loving it) I had been given Dilaudid some hours earlier and due for another shot which I declined figuring that it would be a waste for the hospital to adminster the medicine to someone who was going to be under anasthesia so soon. Trust me, I wanted to be out. I was counting every second until they put me under. Maybe that's what it is. My mind just decided that the extra few minutes of suffering in the hallway just wasn't worth remembering. As far as the comment about reform goes, I wasn't really trying to spur debate. I just thought it was a little goofy and a bit funny. I mean, I was sitting here thinking that $105 out of pocket for over four hours in the operation and five days in the hospital was pretty damned good when *BAM* I get refunded even that. I need to write a letter to the hospital today. I really did appreciate the care I received. Yeah, it's their job to act like they're concerned about your comfort even if they aren't, but as long as they act concerned, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. The bastard in the other bed can rot in hell for all I care. Rotten cry baby jerk. He was mad because they restricted him after he smoked in the bathroom and so he kept 'accidently' pressing the nurse call button. They didn't like him much.

In a comic turn of events, the hospital sent a check refunding me for the copays for the doctor and emergency room visit which were apparently covered by my insurance. This is probably a good argument for health care reform. while I don't want a single payer system, I certainly think the confusion surrounding all of the damned paperwork could go away. Anyhow, I thought it was funny. As far as the scar and whatnot, none of those hurt and I've gotten to pretty close to my old self again, with the addition of a seven inch scar on my right side, a new belly button about four inches lower than the original, and a couple of small scars where they put the cameras into my gut. lol You know what's funny, though? I would think I would remember everything up to the point where they put me under, but I actually have lost several minutes previous. I can't remember anything from when I was still in the hallway before they rolled me into the operating room. Weird, huh?

I'd just like to chime in with support for the idea that weapon degradation should be limited or removed. I approach these things from a practical matter and it was more work than fun. In fact, it really wasn't fun at all, especially in light of the weight restrictions. Like Gromnir said in an earlier thread, the weight restrictions didn't stop me from hording loot and cash. It merely made it more work. Since you never know when you're going to achieve critical mass in terms of loot and cash in any particular title, that means I feel compelled to be super careful a lot longer than necessary on the original run. In regards to your question, Sawyer, I don't know that it must be an either/or choice. I think there should be a variety of weapons and that the power and condition should play a big role player choice, but including a selection of rare weapons where the condition is not subject to rapid degradation would really make discovery a lot of fun. If it comes down to more variety with less reliance on condition, I think a greater variety is more important. Having condition play a role is good, but making it a chore for the player is not. As far as the repair skill goes, I'm sure that the current design helps lend more impact in terms of player reward, but it also makes it a pain in the ass. Repair is a substandard minigame in Fallout 3. Science and lockpicking work much better in that regard in that at least they build into true minigames as opposed to a half-assed attempt to make players feel like they weren't complete fools for plugging points in the repair skill. mkreku's solution works pretty well without dramatically changing things (and therefore pissing off the players). I'd be happy with scrapping it and just making sure there are some ways of using repair in the game, like on things in the environment (maybe elevators for example) and the like. I've been lurking in and out of this thread for a while, so if someone has already said this stuff, accept my apologies and take my comments as support for your original statement.

It's been quite some time since I've played the game, so I might be remembering the term incorrectly. From what I recall, surpress is when you supress your hunger. Is that not right? I used to gather a bunch of spirits next to me and use that to lower my hunger as much as possible. Anyhow, like I said, I might have things mixed up. I have, however, seen all of the game endings and the vast majority of the dialogue, most of it in game. I especially like the ability to lay souls to rest. That was pretty awesome and the in game rewards were a side benefit. The real reward for me was feeling like my character had done something good and noble. Beats the hell out of real life where a lot of the time I'm too small and petty to remain above the fray. RPGs should allow us to do things that are outside of our reach in real life, and MotB is excellent in that it really offers more to the player than a simple "dark side/light side" approach. In fact, you can really approach things in a variety of ways within the game to win.

See, I disagree. Using surpress and refraining from eating souls gives "good guy" players a chance to experience the game in a satisfying way. Sure, the less than optimal good ending isn't terribly exciting. However, if you play your cards right, the Dudly Do-Right ending is excellent. Most folks who are dedicated to playing a good guy find rewards outside of extra gameplay bennies. By the way, a lot of folks who like to play the "bad guy" find enjoyment in acting... well... evil. It's nice that you can find rewards going to either path and, even better, those rewards are quite different. Frankly, you can mix it up a bit without a lot of problem. The spirit meter is more of a nuisance than a real problem with even a little bit of planning. I could have done without the spirit meter as an in-game mechanic, but I believe the design team wanted that aspect of the story to be more visceral to the player. In that regard, they did a good job.

I've never been much of an "evil" PC gamer, but One of Many's lines are total comedy. I loved them. Couldn't finish the game with him, but I did read all of his dialogue just because I got a kick out of it. I think the game was great in that it gave evil players something other than "chaotic rude." It also gave good players great times. One of the best games in recent years. I'd heard that the design team went a different direction with the next xpac and so I passed. I just can't take another NWN game. Ugh.

Actually, Fringe has grown on me. I like it now. It's not my favorite, but it's good. Flashforward is good. House is much better this season than last season: The Season of Suck. I've been following Eureka. I watch LOST which the wife hates. Otherwise, I don't really care about most shows, but the better half watches the Mentalist, Bones, Numbers, How I Met Your Mother, Leverage, Ugly Betty, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, and Ghost Whisperer. I don't really mind any of those except Ghost Whisperer, which I utterly despise.

Now if it actually goes the way it looked at the end of the previous episode, that will be quite impressive and a true wrinkle.

Fraud is a different story, though. If the CEO or board of directors or other folks in positions of responsibility step outside the law, then bonuses should be the least of their worries. Prison should loom largely in their minds. As part of their punishment, they could possible forfeit their bonuses, but certanly breaking the law could carry a variety of punishments.

I second that great post! I especially agree that the devs don't need to explain every detail or limit the gaps to the point where the player can make an irrelevant assumption without creating any mystery or ambiguity.

I don't think it's always so cut and dried as a simple solution. To some degree, good leadership can pay for itself, even if a lot of folks say that it what they did was take simple steps that anyone could have devised. The fact is, the credit goes to the guy on top, and some times his leadership made all the difference. On the other hand, I do think that the corporate mentality plays into things. On a different note, I think the Obama administration is perfectly within its rights to lower the salaries and bonuses of companies that have significant public investment keeping them afloat. Now, I will say that the rotten bastards might use this as an excuse to regulate pay for other private companies, with which I completely disagree, but these particular companies are fair game. Personally, I think that, the recent and ongoing crisis withstanding, companies that pay out exorbitant sums to their CEOs should simply be allowed to fail if they overreach. I don't agree with government intervention in salaries because, idiots mocking the slippery slope and all, the government takes every inch it gets and runs a country mile with it. On top of that, large scale wage and price controls tends not to work very well over the long haul in a free market system.

I'd just switch to decaf, Allan. You do seem to get up in arms about stuff a bit quickly. ...Although I do subscribe to the idea that those gophers had weapons of mass destructions. They got what they deserved, rat bastards!

So, heads or tails, you swallow?

Don't know about the warming and such, but stay healthy, dude. Glad you didn't end up with some major injuries.

lol Gorgon. You bastard! Hey, is that a filtered word?

I don't know. The driving thing could be pretty bad. Fatigue kills a lot of folks and the areas where we saw bad crashes had fast moving cars. Plus, I think the FBI's response to the sudden crow deaths is probably what they'd tell any scientists who came to discuss the matter. I still think that the problem with the airplanes is kind of perplexing, though. There were areas of smoke coming from buildings from around the city, and I wonder if those were caused by small airplanes that were in manual control and helicopters. I don't know how that would work, but I do know that even relatively slower moving car can still cause a lot of damage, not in terms of explosions, but because of rolling and hitting trees and whatnot. The bus thing was kind of freaky. I like the show and I'm probably going to give it good amount of leeway. I just don't want it to be completely stupid. ...And, while I can enjoy LOST, please, try not to have thoroughly stupid mind ****ing games. Don't screw with us just to show off your mad skillz at twisting a plot. Keep it simple and make the plot twists count.

Actually, that's probably the biggest break for me. Even more than the bird, I would think that airplanes wouldn't just fall out of the sky. Sure, helicopters might bite it and I can see other problems that would occur, but I thought planes midway would go to autopilot. I'm not a pilot, though, so I wasn't sure.

God, you guys can be insufferable. I mean, for a while this thread was entertaining, but someone makes a pro Finland post and folks fall all over themselves touting it as the bomb. If someone posts something as provincially chauvenistic about the US, the howls and screams are heard for miles. I actually have a lot of respect for Finland. I have respect for most countries, and Finland does have a noble history. It has a brave history. Still, it's a tiny nation (at least population-wise) with a homogenous population and built in trading partners. By their own hard work, the Finns have become prosperous, but they didn't do it on their own. Hell, no nation does, especially today. Finland has a population of, what? about the size of New York. ...And New York's economy probably dwarfs Finland's. Per capita income in Manhattan alone is probably much higher as well. Does that mean that New Yorkers should pile on Finland? Most New Yorkers probably don't care about Finland. From what I can tell, a lot of them don't even want to recognize that they're part of a union. California probably has more ethnic diversity that Finland. ...And that's recognizing that Finland does bring different cultures to the table. I live in a city with one of the highest longevity rates in the world. In fact, allegedly one of the top three. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0511/feature1/ Does that mean I can tout my healthcare system as inherently better? Yeah, Wrath did go a little overboard in defending the United States. He still wasn't wrong on every point. As someone who has been to and lived in foreign countries, I can tell you that most of them have some good and bad. The US isn't any different. Still, because Wrath had the audacity to step up to defend his country, you guys have been piling on indiscriminantly for pages of this thread. Is it possible to have anything resembling a real discussion, or is it really only about talking down the United States? My point isn't to insult Finland. Far from it. I admire Finland. However, that doesn't mean I should be ashamed of my own country. The United States has a noble history too. Like everywhere else, that noble history has an ugly and ignoble twin, but that doesn't mean I should not take pride in the accomplishments of my country. Probably the only specific issue I take personally is that we Americans, as a general rule, are stingy. We're not. We are a giving people and give quite a bit of money to private charities. One of the highest rates of personal donations in the world. I could only find this article in a quick search, but it does underscore that the private citizens of the United States are a lot more generous than the 'stereotypes' presented here. http://www.fraserinstitute.org/Commerce.We...reCanadians.pdf Once again, my point isn't to insult Canadians. However, I contend that we are a giving nation and that most folks don't fear socialized healthcare because they turn a cold shoulder to sick folks. The single biggest reason, I am personally convinced, for the widespread stance against UHC is that Americans don't trust the government. Maybe you think that's a crappy reason, but it does help explain why a people who are so personally giving, not only domestically but also to global causes, especially in times of crisis, would not band behind UHC. At any rate, the amount of vitriol spouted at the US in this thread dwarfs whatever offense you see in Wrath's praise of it.

Yeah. That makes sense. I was about to throw in the towel on House. tv is like that. Jump the shark.