Mirage

I've heard DLC's are confirmed, but I'm not sure if Bethesda or Obsidian are the ones working on them. Anyway, if Obsidian are the ones making the DLCs I hope they focus more on their strengths, and downplay their flaws. This open world design seems to have hurt their usual creative perspicacity. As well as created one to many bugs. Although this is a definite improvement over AP. One more thing, someone said SPECIAL convo options only show up if you pass the background numbers check, but when I was talking to Walter in Pheeble Minded quest, a "Perception 5/7" popped up in red, so I don't think this is the case.

Indeed MoTB was awesome. Also, I think Obsidian has real potential, NV shows signs of that.

I'll give you one when I finish the game but for now I'd say: -better than Fallout 1; -noticeably worse and blander than Fallout 2. I just arrived to The Strip though, and have done very little there aside from the main quest missions so I may change my opinion. Interesting perspective...and yeah the side quests in Freeside/Strip are generally somewhat interesting, and the main quest branches obviously once you get a little farther. Personally, I found the writing to be decently better than F3's, which doesn't require much effort I suppose. But, I'm reserving complete judgement as there is still a lot left of the Mojave for me to conquer.

Apparently, from what I've read, some fans of the old games still are on the fence about Obsidian's writing in NV (although they all agree that it is better than Bethesda's). I agree as well, but compared to Obsidian's other products, the writing could have been more improved upon. I'll admit it would be hard to make every quest and character interesting given the sheer size and scope of the world. And I'd much rather play NV than F3, but a lot of the characters lacked detailed backgrounds/diverse viewpoints/, etc. Anyway, I'd appreciate someone else's analysis of the writing.

"Birds of a Feather" is also very involved, as is "Volare" among others. Actually, I found a lot of the side quests to be lengthy especially the ones involving Vegas (also Crimson Caravan). They also have better writing than Fallout 3, but that isn't saying much. And the sheer amount of them is simply ridiculous.

Hmmm, I wonder what the core Fallout fans (of the old ones), will think of this game. Some of them seem reserved at this point, and that's understandable.

Maybe too obscure, but David Arkenstone did the soundtrack for a few fantasy games, which I thought were pretty good.

I'm a little confused, does Sega own the IP? That's what I heard, but am not 100% sure. Also, has DLC been completely ruled out?

One thing I was a little disappointed with, was hearing that a significant portion of the dialogue lines were just variations of other ones (depending on gender) This makes sense, but upon first reading the "65,000 lines" or whatever I was expecting a monolithic story with plenty of side missions. I mean I'm sure I'll get my money's worth simply by replaying it, so no big deal I suppose. This mini-complaint probably even doesn't make sense. It doesn't matter anyway as I still have the CE pre-ordered.

Modern RPGs CAN be done well, as I gave an example in my OP (well, from a story standpoint, anyway). If the "vanilla" Modern RPG bores people, then include some fantastical element, or whatever. Though I'd kill for something like AP, but with more freedom, and with it being executed better. The modern world isn't "mundane" if you look in the right places, or employ the right concepts. IMO, anyway.

Well, replayability/story are the main reasons I am getting this game. I'm hoping you can take different routes through side-quests as well. Bit of a tangent question, but who where thinks NV will become a classic?

Yeah, I know what you mean. If Obsidian can create a classic story in the modern day setting w/o fantastical elements, that'd be amazing also.

I absotutely love the modern theme in the RPG genre, though it is severely under-used. Loved VTMB (RIP Troika), and thought AP was one of the more interesting games I've played. Despite the mediocre success of AP, I really hope Obsidian decides to do another Modern day RPG, just prioritize things a little better. So, if this does transpire, what would you want this RPG to incorporate? (story elements, gameplay concepts, etc). For me, I'd like to see it have some fantastical elements, gives the game a little more freedom in storytelling IMO.

Btw, I still have a lot of criticisms towards Fallout 3. I really want NV to out-shine it in every way possible. EDIT: Random thought, but I want to see Vegas itself to be fairly populated, I know this is post-apoc, but I still want to feel like I am in a city of some sort (one that doesn't feel half-abandoned).

Another thing I thought of, that concerns me. NV has been declared to be "roughly as big" as Fallout 3. Now, I love open-ended, massive games. I'm just wondering if that stretched Obsidian's resources too much, and the writing--while it will still be head and shoulders above the industry--might suffer (they might be more dedicated than I give them credit). But, concerns aside, I still have the CE pre-ordered

Obsidian at its worst can't come with writing as bad as Bethesda as its best. For all their flaws, Obsidian still has few rivals in that department. Good point. My fervent hope is that NV, despite its probable combat flaws, is a game I keep coming back to because of the story/characters/well-defined setting. I like the premise of NV, that combined with Obsidian's pedigree makes me less weary. I'm just wondering if it will be among the greats. I, of course, hope so.

That is interesting, and yeah if the DJ had more lines it would compensate for a poor soundtrack, I guess. As long as the DJ's lines were better written Bethesda's version, that is.

I know I'm strange, but my main concern is whether or not Fallout NV will have an enthralling story, with interesting characters that aren't cookie-cutter stereotypes. Also, that it has enough of these qualities. I know with Obsidian at the helm, this is probably the best chance we'll have to see this game be well written. So, I am cautiously optimistic. Oh, and one last thing: Here's to hoping NV will have a decent soundtrack, F3's was grating. But with Inon Zur, I'm not holding my breath. With Obsidian though, they might "critique" his attempts if they don't fit the vibe of the rest of the game. Of course, I really don't know how the recording process works.

I think there should be a substantial amount, but they could make the majority of it optional.

That's true. But from the articles I've read, the story is supposed to be VERY malleable. While that is a cool concept, will that translate into shallow, single playthroughs with characters with very little depth? I could be, and hope I am wrong. I want this to be a great RPG from Obsidian.

Obsidian, while creating better story-related games than most developers, have sometimes created less than stellar stories. NWN2, while adequate, didn't interest me overmuch. MoTB was much better, thankfully. Have not played K2 that much, but I hear the story in that is exceptional. SoZ just seemed boring to me. From what I've read of DS3, it seems to stand a fighting chance in that area. But, I read it won't be as dialogue heavy as NV, so I'm wondering if they will put an equal effort into the story. Thought?

Obsidian could do wonders with a story in that setting, though.

A sequel from Bioware would be the best outcome. And yeah, JE didn't sold adequetly. But wth EA in charge, I doubt we'll see a sequel. Anyway, sorry for going OT a bit.

Hilarious and terrifying...two things I excel at . Anyway, it was just a fleeting thought.

Right, but seeing as Jade Empire was the least popular out of the three IPS (ME, DA, then of course JE), maybe Bioware decided to hand the sequel off to Obsidian. It is probably a wrong speculation, just wanted to throw that out there.