Raithe

For all companies are evil. Some are just more evil then others..

Ahh, the joy of the level that wouldn't transition unless you opened the console up and made it do so... Nostalgia kicks in. Still, apart from those few buggy points.. it was a good game

Let's try to avoid going a bit too far into Burn Notice territory shall we?

Ah. From what I've gathered it's not as if you can actually peruse any dossiers / intel sources in the middle of a conversation... So it's immersing you in the concept that a spy in the field will have had to have read such things before hand and can't just pause a conversation and do the "hang on, before I answer you I just need to access email to see how you'll best take this.." It'll be based around the idea that you'll have had a source that implies "Oh yeah, Sie, she's a serious gunbunny. Doesn't like whimsy, but gets on well with more forceful types". So it'll stick in your mind that Sie would react to aggressive responses better then suave. 8 seconds might not sound like much time, but it can stretch out awhile when it's just that mental juggle of memory and a one/two button press. To me the moment a character turns up, even before actual dialogue opens up, there's that mental run through of what you know about them, what you want from them, and seeing what might be needed to do the mission.. so you'll be thinking about stances before they open their mouth.. which is going to add to the timer that'll click on when they actually expect a response. And that's the other side of it, the timer won't be starting up until they've finished speaking.. so before they're halfway through whatever dialogue they have I'd expect to be choosing a stance.. (I mean sure, it wouldn't be a final choice until they've finished and I've heard it all.. but it'll probably be close). But hey, I recognise that not everyone will think or feel that way.. so it's just my two cents worth

Was that about Obsidian's latin translation techniques.. or just pernickity internet detectives?

From my perspective.. with the majority of crpg's... I find that I invest more in the storyline, immersing in the world and the background more then in whatever character I'm running through the world... The character just become the means to exploring the storyline and any potential subplots / sidequests that turn up... and VO from the protagonist can help immersion in the world. When it's pen and paper, then I crawl into the head of my characters and pick up all their neuroses.

Hey, we can't play the game yet, so we're having fun spinning conspiracy theories..

Rahr! An announcement of sorts is always welcome... Even if its more of an announcement that there can't be any official announcement But it's always nice to hear a little something to stop those abandonment issues from flaring up..

Eh, I have to admit, I was mostly able to enjoy Fallout3.. I mean , sure it wasn't some amazingly brilliant piece of work.. but it had atmosphere and was head and shoulders above the soul-destroying cack that was Oblivion... With the pipboy radio picking up the right tunes and catching the sun setting across the wastelands.. you could feel a touch of desolation (and I'm not talking about the gameplay ).

Of course, you never can tell when one of those yaoi fangirls is actually a 300lb canadian hell's angel who just likes to be called "mandy" on the weekends... But that's just the nature of the internet In an in-depth game with serious story, yes, it can be interesting to go back and play a character of a different sex or race (if applicable) just to see exactly what does change, what other options there are, and at times see what new and funky dialogue options there are.. But it doesn't have to be the be-all and end-all to have those options. Being able to tweak your character at the start is nice, but having a story that pulls you in is better. I'd rather have a storyline that pulls you in deep and makes the character feel immersed then have an amazingly wide variety of choices as to what a character is like ... but then have no real meaning or consequence for those choices of character customisation within the storyline. Which is what usually happens with games like that.

Hm, to my mind from what I've seen and heard of the dialogue stances... part of the decision as to whether to go professional, suave, or aggressive would be based around you playing the spy adapting to whoever he's talking to.. So all the intel dossiers you pick up about other characters, what you might be learning about them before hand, will give hints of how they'll react to different stances you might use.. Thereby changing what options open up. Case in point, it's been repeatedly mentioned that Sie is all about the aggressive, forceful, militant approach in conversations and will react more positively to you then if you're just purely trying to charm her in a James Bond suave style. So from the get go of any conversation you'll probably have an understanding of how to get a "good" response from any characters you've spent time picking up details on. Of course, you as the spy might be thinking "well, I can complete the mission without help from this person so I don't need to have them 'liking' me so I'll react anyway i want." Or you might still try the "let's not burn any bridges just yet and act in a way that they respect". I guess what I'm groping in the dark for.. is that even with a timer during the actual conversation.. you'll have had time in game before hand to think about what stances work in what way with the different people you encounter.. At least, if you're paying any attention to the intel dossiers and rumours you pick up

Keeps the appetite whetted for the game.. Even if it was just a shiny pdf...

Heh, what I found amusing was that I got the message from Amazon.uk that there was a delay in my pre-order.. When I checked , there was the "see shipping estimate in red for revised times" and they said they would be shipping it on October 1st. It hit me with a "hmm, there's a delay in my order.. so you're telling me you're shipping it earlier, somethings wrong there..." Ah well. It's not like they swipe my money until they actually do ship it. So while I was really looking forward to sinking some serious hours of my life into AP this October.. I guess I'll have to wait awhile and see what on earth is going on. Dang it. I'm more hooked on AP then something like Dragon Age.. but it looks if I actually want some freshly minted goodness I'll have to pick that up in a month instead.. Still, the silence and confusion over delay, not delay, how long a delay is getting a touch... irritating.