Rimat

MotB is proof that Obsidian hasn't lost it at least imho. But I can see why people would think that way. Obsidian's entry into the market and it's subsequent development was marred with unfortunate circumstances and also screw-ups. In the end though like I said I don't think they have lost their magic. I just think that it's become almost impossible to keep churning out niche products since development costs have skyrocketed in the industry and the big publishers don't want to take risks. Shooters sell like hotcakes, so they concentrate on them, end of story. I'm just curious to see if and when the time comes when nobody of the old guard will be left in the industry. I only keep coming back to games mostly because of two types of them: First the ones who have good writing/dialogue/characters/story. Secondly the ones who just have genius gameplay (think JA2) Obsidian is really one of the very few major ones left from the first category, and you can count all representatives with one hand, prolly even after a nasty accident involving fireworks and said hand. The second category doesn't look too healthy either, but they got some reinforcement from some oldschool devs from Russia and eastern Europe, so their situation is at the very least better. There's also interesting stuff going on in the indie scene so let's see where that goes. If everything fails, whatever. Over the last years gaming has been reduced to one of my minor interests and it's not like I don't have any other ones (actually too many) @poetic obsidian: Word. Though imho the DLC business model isn't bad per se. It's just been used clumsily or just just plain wrong/bad in most cases. @Irrelevant: Yeah Capcom has defied some analysts expectations. But they have a strong fanbase and a very good connection with them. Additionally they have always been a console company and so they have a bigger target audience even if they're somewhat niche after modern console standards.

Of course! And a hot spring scene to boot.

"Burma VJ" I highly recommend this movie. The synopsis from their website: Armed with small handy cams undercover Video Journalists in Burma keep up the flow of news from their closed country. Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma, acclaimed director Anders

@Mina as a Mike-girl: Well Scarlett is certainly the best Bond-Mike girl and SIE is just a awesome bomb of aggressive fun (and testosterone ^^) but imho Mina makes a great Partner for professional Mikes. @BEES: Huh? "Sold you out" in the meaning of forcing you into Alpha Protocol? Then yes. But she didn't sell you out to Leeland/Halbech or was in any way working with them - in contrary her whole agenda was to investigate Alpha Protocol and then to bring Leeland/Halbech down. I'm repeating myself here but if you're in a good relationship Mina confesses all that by her own choice. You probably got her clothes off too fast It seems that I'm one of the more pro-Mina people in this thread but just want to point one thing out again: If it weren't for her Mike prolly would've died. @jokerwoker: probably depends on how much Leeland would've though that you could be turned or used a as a tool. In any case if they did leave you alive you'd be working to further Leelands plans and that would be an no-go for me.

@IwantbetterRPGS: Since you made a comment about NwN2 it seems like your PC is good enough to run that, right? And it sounded as though you haven't played the Addon Mask Of The Betrayer? Then I would recommend to try that out. Imo it's the the best "traditional" RPG of the recent years. Good story, amazing atmosphere, characters, dialogue and writing. And I support Rostere's last post @WorstUserNameEver: Very good and detailed answer And you even made me aware of some interesting indie titles I haven't heard of yet: I know of Avernum and I'm also awaiting AoD eagerly, but Eschalon and Geneforge is news to me.

Good to know @missiles. Would have been weird if Mina had sth to with it, as it doesn't fit the image I have of Mina. @cesko: Heh, he deserves that anyway. First time I didn't even contact him since I knew from found intel and Madison that he was Leland's initial collaborator and opted for pdf/Dengs message instead. @Morgoth: You had to "accidentally" shoot someone because of AI? Not sure I follow. But tranquilizer rounds would have prevented that relationship drop. Though I'm not sure if the drop was meant to be so big or if it's a bug. I mean normally there's only -1 with her for killing innocents, but they are CIA/state agents after all.

Throughout the game she was one of my more trusted people but I was still a little cautious and wondering what agenda she might have and if she was working for another organization, especially after that intercepted email from the NSA about a deep mole contacting them. Which were not unfounded as I found out later in the game Exactly, I also unlocked her dossier 100% and the secret fact and also learned *Spoilers* that she was the one that made you rogue. Should I trust Parker, or shouldn't I? This game has so many shades of Grey it's awesome =D Well, if you have a good relationship with her, Mina even tells you herself that she was the one who forced you into Alpha Protocol at the beginning. It also didn't seemed like she enjoyed deceiving you, in contrary seems rather regretful and I don't think she's faking this. But when she confessed it I must admit that I was a little unsure what to think of it, but after giving it some thought I wasn't angry at her. I mean a) she did it for a good cause b) if she hadn't done it you would be either working for an organization that was fulfilling Leland's plans or dead, if the missiles were sent by Leland/AP and meant to be lethal And about those missiles: Not sure about that, I haven't talked to Parker about that yet only about Madison after which he ended the transmission. But I'm not sure how much I would trust Parker on this - he seems not like the bluffing type, but considering he's the initial mole for Leland and was pivotal in transforming AP into Leland's tool... not very much i guess. But next time I'm gonna try to talk about the missiles with Parker and we'll see what I think of it then.