Monte Carlo

:: Shrugs :: The game mechanics in Diablo are like the plot in a porn movie - sort of superfluously necessary but not what you're concentrating on. The game still looks awesome and the core attribute changes make sense, probably more to people who are really interested in maths. Bring it on Blizzard, we know it will rock.

The British army overturned it's ban on homosexuality almost ten years ago with no perceptible impact on unit cohesion and effectiveness. The thing that did impact on unit cohesion and effectiveness was the Labour government's obsession with human rights law, health and safety, budget allocation to defence and a cavalier attitude to foreign policy (q.v. Afghanistan). Women serve in every capacity in the British army, with distinction, except for the infantry and cavalry. This, like GD points out using his experiences in the USMC, is as it should be.

^ I've heard not one genuinely libertarian sentiment from him, and his allies seem to be the usual leftie suspects. Thanks for the quick lecture, I had no idea of what a libertarian was.

^ To you maybe there are similar games, for me the differences are profound enough to make the comparisons valid. Bio games are now FPS (ME) or console-action games with a novel bolted on. BG / BG 2 and the Black Isle games are completely different.

All-black combat units were only used towards the end of WW2, led by white officers who were extremely racist. Even by the standards of the time (I'm not a revisionist). The results were mixed but subsequent events showed that there was no reason why soldiers of any ethnicity couldn't work in integrated combat units. OTOH, the British and French armies, with long histories of Empire used all-black or Asian combat units who performed with distinction. Then again, different cultural and social issues. With Gay soldiers integration is easier. A gay soldier will look much like a straight one. If, on a two-way range you are worried about someone's sexual preferences then you need to sort your head out. There are better things to be getting on with. In any case, gay soldiers have existed in every army since time immemorial, covertly tolerated by a sensible chain of command. Now there need be nothing covert about it. I take Guard Dog's view and largely agree with it, twenty years ago this would be harder. But we are where we are. The biggie, however, is female combat troops. This won't work, there you go I've opened up a new front on the equality war. The British army has just kicked it into the long grass for another ten years.

Could have fooled me. DA2 is the quintessence of fast-food rpg-lite gaming. Say Relic stopped making great RTS games and started making dating sims? Or Blizzard decided to make FPS games? Does it start making more sense now with regards to perspective? I see where you're coming from, but the point surely is that they did make BG and BG2. It's like saying why are people upset about Robert De Nero making 'Righteous Kill' just because he was in Taxi Driver and Raging Bull?

I'm sure there were lots of people who had similar arguments about letting blacks into the military. The organization will adapt and be no worse off for it. ^ He shoots, he scores. Precisely.

Yeah, those Spartans couldn't fight for ****, could they?

They adore him. :: Projectile Vomits :: That's it, I'm out of here. It is Twilight. It's disappeared down a vortex of emo wierdness.

I respect your opinion but frankly disagree. This type of civility has no future on the internet.

We've got the Olympics in the summer of 2012 here in London, which I have absolutely no interest in whatsoever*, so that release date works for me. *Unless hacking, slashing, fighting in tunnels and l00t gathering become olympic sports.

A WoW move, like the game itself, would blow chunks.

My compete or even feel inadequate in anyway to some half-wit taking steroids? Your physical achievements are more valid 'cuz you ain't taking them.

Lit fire. Played some Lego with Monte Jr. Played some Company of Heroes, got beat by the CPU on a map I didn't know. Then I watched the snow pile up outside. Am currently lighting a fire and contemplating an arctic-style dog walk. Happily I am stocked up with Fuller's London Pride and a case of Pomerol for later. I am also of work until next year!

Fair enough, each to his own, but Gaider's comments suggest that those of us who prefer not to pay thirty-five quid for a screen-saver are out in the cold.

Wow, how did Julian Assange get hold of this - is nothing sacred? D3 is going to be the biggest thing in PC gaming ever and despite being too grown-up to get this giddily excited about it I am. The fact that there are two XPs planned is great. Then there will be D4. Life is good. Hint to EmoWare: Diablo has no romance options.

The emo and fey NPCs are meh, the action-RPG combat option looks like Gauntlet-meets-Dungeon Siege but... ...the RTwP option looks quite crisp and well done. I think the conflict between the new styles, as games dumb down, is the new TB versus RTwP! RTwP is the new turn-based! Who'd a thunk it? Attention Deficit all round!

Another army of strawmen, wrapped in uniforms made of hyperbole, marches into the breach as yet again LoF besmirches others as Nazis. Edit: he's on the ignore list now. Troll.

Trust me, my world is a billion shades of grey. My position on Wikileaks is pretty straightforward: 1. The US Government left their information in the cyber version of an unlocked car in an inner-city neighbourhood and they got burnt. Tough. 2. That doesn't make Assange some sort of hero like his fawning left-wing fan club seems to think - he's a grand-standing contrarian with an agenda. 3. He's also got serious double-standards. 4. The leaks aren't really a big deal and don't tell us anything that real journalists aren't already telling us. 5. OTOH elected representatives need confidentiality, it gives them the space they need to do their jobs. Shades of grey. 6. I want the internal message logs of everything Wikileaks does posted on their site. Just saying.

Well done, are you going to be cooking eggs in the cafeteria or re-stocking the soda machine?

Mr. Assange (or Mister 'It's All About Me') seems to have been strangely quiet about poor old PFC Bradley Manning, who after all is his 22 carat Deep Throat. Poor old Bradley. Thirty years in a super-max prison. Julian's too busy trying to be a 21st Century Dreyfus to hat-tip the guy who provided all the information in the first place. Maybe eventually they will get adjacent cells.

I'm going on a diet. In March.

Julian, you just don't get it, do you? From a UK tabloid:

Monte, I don't believe there are people here who haven't yet played FOT not sure about America and Europe, but in Russia FOT received quite a bit of praise from critics. but of course no sales figures, since there was no such thing as video games retailers in 2003 Possibly, but it is still underrated by any gamers and put into a similar bracket as that BOS console game.