Raithe

What we need are suitable Alpha Protocol related Motivational posters...

I think part of it comes down to the annoyance factor.. I've paid for a game to enjoy hours of single-player strory/gameplay.. and you have to jump through a few hoops and tell something that "no, I don't want to be online" before playing a game. Sure, it's only a couple of mouse clicks extra really, and another minute having it run through the sequence before you can escape to the game.. And that it comes up every single time you try running a game... If it was something that didn't try running on it's own, and I could tell it to only open up and ask me for login details when I _wanted_ it to. If I felt "hey, yeah, I want it to access the net while I play and I'm curious to see how my gameplay talents match up to complete strangers", that would be one thing. But there are games that won't let you play until you download and install games for windows live. Even if you're not going to be using it. Sure, when it does run you can tell it no. But I want the option of having it only run when I actually want it. Not every fracking tme I feel like getting some single-player game time on. As it is, I put up with it. But it is background irritation. I don't like being forced to download and install a third-party piece of software to play a game I've bought. I mean GTAIV is a pain in the keister where you have to jump through rockstar social club and games for windows before you can even get into the game.

Hey, if things aren't handled carefully... people might need to develop a support group... .. although Alpha Protocol Anonymous..

...There was a topic hidden somewhere here?

desperation breeds..... way too many things..

Wild speculation abounds... And anticipation still builds...

What, you mean the wild speculation and communism blurbles aren't normal ?

Let the book burning commence?

Just be careful of Elton John singing "Nikita"..

And thus the derailment continues....

It could just be something like new guy moves in, and finds that a chunk of money has been spent on a game thats had no real marketing right before it's released... So rather then watch it potentially sink because of it's relative obscurity he has it put on hold for a few months to have a "proper" marketing campaign worked up... But who knows. Until there's something solid said by Sega and Obsidian.. wild speculation abounds..

You're on the Alpha Protocol boards and you want to invite the conspiracy theorists out now? After all.. he was just a patsy...

It all depends on whether you mean the gameplay or the storyline being fast paced... A run-and-gun approach usually feels faster in gameplay then careful sneakyness... While stealthy lurking might be a slower approach to a level, but still satisfy a well paced storyline.. The whole "pressure" of being stealthy with the sense of time slipping away purely from the storyline point of view is usually a sign of good writing.... But until we get hands on demos/the actual game...

Someone at Obs appears to be trying to make the best of this. Or just getting a touch annoyed by the amount of sheer speculation going on in the forums Possibly a combination of the two...

Well there we have a comment of sorts So mayhaps the levels of wild speculation will start to slow down and we just deal with the irritation of delay...

All we can really go with is that there's the general feeling of a gag order on Obsidian until Sega gives the nod to say anything. Until something get's said, it's all purely speculation.

The name of the weapon is one thing.. but the image is usually another.. After all, it's not that difficult to have something that looks "similar" to a certain russian assault rifle... or a rather well known Heckler & Koch product.. just enough differences and a completely different name used in-game.. After all, how many gun-bunnies are really worried about exact details for firearms in their video games? At least when those video games aren't trying to be completely "real-world simulator" types..? It comes down to a case of not spending money on licenceing fees over something that probably won't have much actual affect on the players feelings for a game... It sort of looks like an MP-5 .. it sounds like an MP-5... it works in game like an MP-5.. does it really matter if it's an exact simulation of one and carries the HK logo?

If you have to slap warning stickers on cups of coffee that "liquid may be hot" to stop people sueing you if they spill it on themselves when they buy it..... I can understand why gaming companies might be a little careful about bigger things such as unlicensed use of names..

I can't think that the dialogue system could be called anything resembling a QTE... after all, there aren't going to be huge flashing symbols obscuring half of the screen that you have to pay attention to while tapping 2 or 5 keys in rapid succession.. About 8 seconds to choose one of potentially four options with no "fail" because you chose one of them over the other... Nah, that's not a QTE to me. Just a slight case of pressure to keep me moving in the storyline.

So what conspiracy theories can be spun from the latest of offerings... "Darcy never figured out the multiplier I put into his e-transactions - winning the hazing bet got me 2 grand instead of 20 bucks."

Couldn't we just go with the Monster Raving Loony Party ideology? Or is that just too English?

It's suffering from the "it's different!" thing. Until we actually get to sit down and play with and and see how it feels.. it seems rather silly to say whether it's going to be a brilliant concept, an appalling concept, or just a mediocre one. It might be fluid, it might be jarring. It might be something that will really suit this game but would never work in something else. You just can't tell without playing it. Because it's something "new". The Mass Effect dialogue approach might be similar, but there are a fair few differences from what's been mentioned about it. But people will be people when things crop up that they think they'll be uncomfortable with even if they don't really have a basis to judge it on.

True... But then it's been mentioned that choices you make in conversations can have influences hours of game play later.. so on later playthroughs a few different choices might have you dealing with something quite different... I'm interested to see just how much of an effect it will be. After all, they said much the same about DE: Invisible War and look how that turned out...

From what's been shown and mentioned, the dialogue systems is geared towards giving a sense of urgency and pacing to the events... and combined with the fact that you can't "loop" the conversation repeatedly. Once it's been said, it's done. No testing multiple answers...

It could have been worse... I mean, we could have seen a new Fox Special Report about the amount of sheer pornography in a game they've never even played.... Not that journalists would ever be silly enough to not actually research a subject they're reporting on..