Monte Carlo

Credit where credit is due, that's a really good idea. Kudos to Bioware.

Was disappointed to note that there is no "Consumed eight cases of decent red wine whilst completing game" which is my most likey achievement.

^ Yeah, the dwarf ones look like the most interesting and I like their takes on Dwarves = The Borgias. Similarly, I noted that in DA the demi-human races look very human. The elves look like humans with pointy ears; the dwarves simply stocky humans. It was obviously a conscious art direction decision, I'd be interested to know what influenced it. Cheers MC

^ Hey, if it's really good I'll get around to them. I like re-playing games. Having said that, there's one or two origins I'm very unlikely to play through.

I know I'm going to be accused of being a backwoodsman... but it's true that commercial success and popular appeal erodes and destroys all sorts of cultural endeavours. It's particularly egregrious in gaming. However, it also depends which side of the divide you're on. For example, I really can't stand the theatre, mainly because you can't do a ten-handed slo-mo gunfight on Broadway, or a carchase, or a siege. So movies are for me. Sixty or seventy years ago theatre people were aghast at cinema, it really was barbarians at the gates. People who hate comics wish that folks would also read books, but the two happily co-exist (doesn't take a squillion dollars to write / develop a comic). Haute cuisine lovers hate McDonalds. Coffee snobs hate Starbucks. Yadda yadda yadda. So you win some, you lose some. As CRPGs become progressively crappier, I move onto other genres and games. The wheel will turn and hopefully smaller indie developers will prosper like the humans in a Terminator movie. I think technology will make that viable, and FWIW I will aggressively support smaller developers as much as I can. Cheers MC

^ Let's face it, we'll play through a couple of times and watch the others on YouTube or something. In other news, Exposition-Imoen Chick NPC is at it again. "This is Denerim blah blah blah."

^ By current standards, 'difficult' usually equates with not having a SPESHUL POWA marked 'WIN' on the toolbar.

So, they liked the 'climate' of Dragon Age. Does it come with a heater, a pina colada and a pair of sunglasses?

I don't often play games online / multiplayer. However, I am so smitten with CoH that I was wondering if anybody here was up for a game? I'm really easy to beat, utterly rubbish at MP and honestly it'd be practice for you. Although I have been practicing a Goliath rush-tactics trick that might be fun in a 2000lbs of high explosive kinda way. Send me a PM if you're game. Cheers MC

Been lurking on this thread and not commenting because (a) I've not played Mass Effect, (b) I'm unlikely to and © I know I'd hate it. However, I rolled a natural '1' on my WILL save when I saw this question and thought I'd reply. Bioware is the most famous and prolific CRPG developer out there. Bar none. It's like there were only three restaurants in the world and one of them was McDonalds. Thing is, Bioware used to make really good games (this is what a lot of the Bio scepticism is about, BTW). Then success reared it's ugly head. For a lot of us, NWN1 was the knife in the back because it was so freaking awful, and not what was promised. Their success turned them into the Borg of CRPG-dom, the Micro$oft of gaming. EA FFS? So, it's a love / hate thing. We all want Bio to 'come home' with Dragon Age, time will tell (although I think they'll be lucky to make it halfway, I'll be happy with 60%). As for Mass Effect, I haven't played it but the reviews and screenies scream console-orientated, linear, not-my-cup-of-tea meh. None of this, by the way, should detract from the commercial success that Bio has enjoyed. I think Greg and Ray deserve every penny, I honestly do. It's just that a lot of people who were with them at the start (i.e. customers) felt an affinity with the company that was lost after NWN1. In fact, I suspect that some Biowarians feel that the passion the company evokes is a part of that success, be it positive or negative. If there's one thing worse than people talking about you, it's people not talking about you. Cheers MC

I'd forgotten quite how good the main theme to was. Cheers MC

The thing is, my 'puter us defaulting to the one functioning card so I can still do stuff. Problem is, I'm missing the raw power of running everything with all video options maxed out. I know, poor old me. Cheers MC

^ Hey I think we are posting at the same time. See above, there is a anti-civilian case the cards are ensconced in. If I touch it I reckon a huge stone ball will chase me through my house with darts shooting at me and stuff.

OK, I looked inside. There is a sinister, shiny black and green Nvidia case in there with no screws on. It's like HAL in there. This is a custom-built machine I bought from Guys Who Know What They're Doing. I, OTOH, don't, I might phone up their tech support on Monday. Although I'm comfortable troubleshooting software issues, I'll give Driver Sweeper a try, thanks for the tip. Cheers MC

They both worked fine before, then I started getting bluescreen crashes when I tried to update drivers, it might be an SLI problem but I'm afraid I haven't got a clue how to enable it. When I uninstall and reinstall the lot via disc one doesn't update, which with my extremely basic knowledge does seem to involve SLI (which links the two cards, right?). @ Morgoth. Me remove something from inside a computer? Whoah. Cheers MC

My computer (OS is Vista), runs two NVidia GeForce 9800GX2 cards. I'm having problems with them which I'm convinced is down to the drivers. When I try to update them via Windows device manager they crash, or only one works. When I try to update them manually via the drivers from Nvidia they crash. When I uninstall them both and reinstall via the original dish only one works. It's driving me crazy, hey at least the blue screen crashes have stopped, now it's just a black screen freeze with a flashing white cursor in the top left hand corner. Strange thing, though, sometimes in device manager they are Geforce and sometimes they are shown as 'GF.' Hmmm. Thing is, I can't get them both working at the same time. Any ideas? Help appreciated! Cheers MC

We are so in the same grid square on this one. This is exaclty the type of dark, gritty but mature and tasteful romance music I too was anticipating.

Just watched that vid again... bejaysus the VO for the Imoen-lookalike is awful. OK, I only listened to a bit of it, but most ATMs in the UK can manage more emotion than that.

Personally, I like the idea of a camp elf assassin. A lot. Even better, if he was cheerful about his lot in life and was refreshingly amoral about his profession. If only I could find out about it gradually, by talking to the dude, without another NPC telling me his life story in the monotone reminsicent of a speak-your-weight machine. As for his Duran Duran concept art = Shame they didn't follow it through.

Personally, I'm loving the dialogue that consists entirely of exposition.

My son was born just after RT:W was released, he fell asleep loads of times whilst this mix from RT:W was playing in the background... Cheers MC

Harsh. But then again, SoZ wasn't really about plot, I've enjoyed it plenty without being too distracted by why i'm looting, levelling up, beating up monsters, exploring (etc).

SoZ, good-aligned party (although I've added the Drow Warlock for arcane firepower and Ribsmasher because he makes me laugh), currently at level 16 and have done one raid on the high-level bit of the jungle before the final area. Now back in Sword Coast grinding for level 17 / 18 finishing some unfinished quests and getting tooled up for The End. It's really really good fun, it's like playing a superior, gonzo 1E AD&D pen and paper campaign. Kudos to the developers for making an old gamer very happy and more power to your elbows! Cheers MC

^ So I'm not alone. Phew. Now, there are six origins. Three blow chunks, two look OK and one (Dwarf Commoner) I really like the look of. So I'll be doing this really annoying habit with three origins. Maybe we're looking at about 200 hours. By then some smart-arse will have modded it... Cheers MC

It's still a bargain, SoZ is excellent.