Raithe

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..

From high-brow to under-boob in just a few short posts....

Eloquence, thy name is not Purkake...

I wouldn't say it's the fact that they've delayed it that are causing the villainisation of Sega.. It's that they delayed it but didn't make any public mention of it. They left the fans with nothing but a few rumours, right up until the release date and only then did something turn up.. (and that was just a small change on Sega's site of the date). There was, and still is, a wall of silence over the whole thing. And that is what's causing more grief and speculation and general irritation with Sega over the matter. We know Obsidian aren't allowed to say anything at the moment, so no-ones casting aspersions on them over the matter. So the irritation runs up the line to the big, bad publishing company that seems to be behind it all.... Until there's some form of actual public announcement, with possible reasons for it, there's just going to be a continual upswell of ill-feelings towards Sega.

If they're packing heat, they're a legitimate target.. Or to go with the quote :

Yes, you don't need every character to be romancable. Some characters and storylines work better without romance possibilities lurking. Although it might be interesting to see relationships formed other then "party follower" or "potential romance" in rpg's these days... (Although probably not any bromances needed...) but some of those pseudo-family roles that can spring up between characters in stories could be a change of pace in rpgs...

A lot of European countries.. but not in most states of America.. which is generally the guidelines gaming companies use for such matters.. for some strange reason..

You can try to believe that... the troubling aspect of that, is that haven't they kind of got a game thats going to get a sort of mature / 15 rating due to the violence and potential romance/sex aspects of the game.. so half of that age bracket probably wouldn't be able to buy the game... Of course, then their parents will probably pick it up, not paying attention to any age warning on the box, and then turn around and complain that this game isn't suitable for children after noticing violence and sexin...

Gee.. Sega screws things up once more and people start panicking...

Sis is the teenage jailbait sociopath with some guns.. who is the one female you can't have a romance with because she's jailbait...

I believe it reads "llamasoft"