Monte Carlo

I think it's a tad hubristic to release your fan-fic before the game is a huge success.

Apparently, if you dont put enough points into moving silently, your character develops verrucas. It's awesome.

Back on-topic, BBC news reporting that the Captain has been rescued. Three pirates died in the operation, one arrested. Congratulations to the US military for pulling off what looks like a tricky operation at sea. Am particularly glad that this ended safely for the Captain. Cheers MC

^ Wow, he looks like a Gerry Anderson puppet, circa 1971.

Worked in the First World War, when 'Q' Ships where used against German submarines along the UK coastline. They were exactly as you describe - converted merchant vessels fitted with naval guns. A U-Boat tactic was to surface and threaten the merchantman with it's deckguns before torpedoing it. When they did the 'Q' Ship would open fire. Cheers MC

Hey, a multi-faceted influence system can only be a good thing, right? As long as it doesn't become a tool of the Bio fan Tamagotchi tendency, that is. I always find it ironic that some of the people who hate 'micromanaging' NPCs (i.e. equipment, spells, feats, level progression) are some of the most passionate advocates of, ahem, micromanaging romances, influence (etc). I'd hope for a mix - personally in a small party I'd be happy with one problem child who needed influence, one loyal Minsc-type dolt who will follow me whatever and one complete mercenary who is coin-operated. But turning my party into an episode of The OC but with swords? No thanks. My views on romances OTOH are on the record and do not require repeating. Cheers MC

Back to tactical mode: Three two-man USMC sniper teams with light fifties on board every merchant vessel would probably put that problem to bed. Cheers MC

Back in the day I wrote my undergraduate thesis on Counter-Insurgency. I referenced the British use of air power to police Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) in the 1920's using air power. That is to say, if the natives got restless the RAF dropped 200lb bombs on their villages. The occasional visit by flying columns of armoured cars flew the flag. Why put too many boots on the ground when you could, instead, cow the locals into submission using superior technology? Not too long afterwards the Germans planned something similar for the untermensch of the East, beyond the lands conquered for lebensraum beyond the Urals. Please note that I'm not comparing the British Empire with Nazi Germany - just the tendency for military men and politicians to occasionally use a monkey wrench to fix a circuit board. So this isn't remotely new, not least because it didn't work in either case. It's tempting to use technological solutions to solve thorny politicial problems - the USA could easily use naval and surveillance assets to interdict what are, after all, lightly armed gangs of criminals in small motor boats. The US carrier battle groups are awesome and have all the toys, the ultimate force projection assets in world history. Aircraft, drones, marine battle groups, special forces to raid coastal bases used by pirates, naval support to merchant vessels, installation of heavy weapons on merchant ships... we could go on (and blow the defence budget whilst we're at it). Somalia is broken. You could suggest that it can't get any more broke. So why not just bomb the coastline? Why support a failed state? Yadda yadda yadda. Because before you know it you have to go back in when it's an advanced Afghanistan, and we all know what that means. Somalia is a verdant, potentially prosperous and moderate Muslim eastern African state. It just has no real histroy of governance, so it needs it putting in there probably by force: You will initially need to knock some heads together there to get a result, but we could do worse than consider actually sorting the place out. Yes, a form of enlightened imperialism that was fashionable in academic circles in the early 90's during the Clinton era, before 9/11. I'm sure the Somali on the street, short of food and living under the shadow of brutal militias, people for whom Mad Max 2 is a model of stable governance, really wouldn't mind. I know the US has form here from the early 90's but hopefully Obama isn't Clinton. Ignore the UN. And while your at it, sort out Darfur and let us Brits do something similar to support nascent democracy in Zimbabwe. I know, I'm a neo-neo con with a heart. What can I say? Cause and effect. Cheers MC

The problem isn't actually offshore, really, is it? We could tie up gazillions flooding the area with warships, surveillance etc. The problem is Somalia. But we don't do nation-building any more, do we? Can somebody please find a massive oil field underneath Mogadishu? Anyhow, in the spirit of the original post, I take my hat off to the sailors who stood by to repel boarders, and especially the heroic ship's captain. I hope they all make it home safely. Cheers MC

Er, no. Have voted with my feet and not bought a Bio product since HotU. No dogma, just nothing has really appealed. Played KOTOR on XBox at a friend's place and loathed it. Cheers MC

Wrath, there's a DA website chock full of vanilla, high-fantasy DRAMA out there. Even with very basic investigative ability, I quickly scryed the general gist of the setting. Cheers MC

Morgoth speaks with much wisdom. I'm playing MTW2 a couple of years after release, modded and expansion-packed by fans with pro tech skillz. Result? The game I'd like to have played on release. It's utterly awesome. I have no doubt, whatsoever, that it'll be the same with E:TW in about 18 months from now. This is why I'm happy not buying it yet. Cheers MC

I don't think it's Bioware hate, actually it's Bioware exasperation. look at many of the comments here (including mine)... people respect them as a developer and enjoy their products (personally I haven't for some time - I find their linear, cut-scene heavy style, not to mention the smothering hype around their products not to my taste). I really respect the Bioware back-story and think they deserve their success. So, as probably the most influential CRPG development house out there, I think it's natural that Fans Like Us (i.e. gamers who care enough to spend our time talking about this stuff on forums) will look to Bio to push the bloody envelope. Not make something that, on the available (and burgeoning) body of evidence is derivative and vanilla and... meh. Yet the hype bombards us like Soviet artillery with how original and ground-breaking it all is. Do something daring, why don't you? You create your own IP and... it's vanilla high fantasy? I reserve the right to be wearily disappointed by that. I like these sorts of games. I'll buy it. I might even enjoy it. But I'd be even happier if the setting was fresher, newer.... different. That's why the realist in me posted the lowest common denominator comments, which I stand by. This setting is. Bio could have used their popularity and muscle to take us in a direction new enough to excite jaded fans but familiar enough to be commercially viable, but they've clearly chosen not to. Cheers MC

Huh? Try reading the post for a change before hitting the add reply button. I described the setting as lowest common denominator. No single person. Alternatively, you could apologize for getting the wrong end of the stick, but I suspect that's too much to ask for.

Im just going to put it out there blatantly and honestly: my taste is better than yours.

^ FWIW, the gameplay videos shown above rather prove my point.... the muscle-bound warrior in comedy plate (straight outta Diablo) and the cleavage-tastic mage (something Bio suggested they were moving away from, part of my snobby elitist tastes include a growing disdain for casual sexism in games). Which is a shame because apart from that as a tactical combat engine in a CRPG it looks very much like my cup of tea. The charge of vanilla, cookie-cutter high fantasy however remains on the record, and that video is exhibit 'A.' Cheers MC

I'm not going to defend my taste in anything, because it's subjective. But. Lowest common denominator isn't necessarily pejorative, is it? A Big Mac is arguably lowest common denominator food. Now and then I like one. Conversely, budget notwithstanding, I also like the occasional trip to a place with a Michelin star. I wouldn't like to eat Big Macs all the time, nor Michelin star food either. Capiche? Bio is unasahmedly going down the "Would-you-like-fries-with-your-CRPG" route. They're trying to dress it up, as others suggested, with some tweaks to approximate originality. This is like our Big Mac being served with a slice of fois gras: it's still a Big Mac but with a posh bit that isn't really simpatico. There's nothing wrong with this (hey, Greg & Ray have my respect for creating such a successful business, they really do). So, call me an elitist snob in petty ad hominem insults if you wish, but nowadays I'm hankering after a game a bit more Michelin star than BK drive-thru. That's all I was saying. Cheers MC

I really appreciate where you're coming from there, and I sort of agree. But if they were going to do that, why not set it in the early 1950's? I think the problem is that the producers are trying to have their cake and eat it with the new Bond. Cheers MC

Yawn.

^ Yes, unashamedly so. So what?

It's rubbish because it's meant to be (I mean, LARPing is inherently rubbish). It's referencing the infamous "LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT!" 'ogre battle' LARP video, which is one of the funniest things on the internet if you can find it. I think I posted it here for your delectation a few years ago. Cheers MC

Cool, let's talk about James Bond. I liked Casino Royale a lot, Dan Craig is coolio and I was looking forward to them refreshing the whole Bond thing. Then QoS, which was basically Bourne in a dinner jacket. Zzzz. They need to do better next time. Cheers MC

^ Crash, as a massive fan of Moorc0ck and the Eternal Champion, I've noticed for some reason that his work is commonly described as Science Fantasy. ::shrugs:: like it matters. Like people said, the distinction is moot but DA:O looks to me to be pretty vanilla high fantasy. And like others have said also, as long as it's a good game then that's not a big deal. Ulitmately, Bioware went with a lowest common denominator setting for understandable commercial reasons. The minor tweaks to the traditional setting (OMG peasant Elves! No clerics!) are just that: tweaks. OTOH people here absolutely love Planescape, they are the extremely creative and polite distant cousin of the Fallout fan. Planescape didn't realise the commercial success they think it deserved - which is why Bio is so good at making Joe Gamer think he is playing something special and different when it palpably isn't. As for romances - sure, I'll ignore them but that's resources that could have gone into something else. I reserve the right to fight the corner of Stuff I Like. After all, there are hordes of romance fanz on the Bio boards who want nothing else, aren't there? Cheers MC

Wow, after playing all the IE games to death over the years I never came across that one. What was the armour? Cheers MC

By the way, here is the imdb entry for Red Dawn. Wolverines!