BruceVC

That's a terrible analogy (not to mention a geometric falsehood). A line can stretch infinitely. A triangle can't. In the context of these debates that spring up on this forum, there's never 3 sides. There's only 2 sides. People like you just publically sit on the fence in between and sometimes take thinly veiled pot shots at one of the sides. Oh how I take great pleasure in pushing fence sitters off the fence. Thats a big harsh. I have found Lephys to be more concerned with the principle of reasonable debate and logic. People who don't understand this won't get his posting etiquette Stun, and any others, I want to ask you a relevant question. You have answered this before but this is probably a good time to refresh your response...think about the question before you answer What is your issue anyway with optional Romance arcs in RPG? I know you are passionate and vociferous in what you don't like about Romance but what is your primary reason for not wanting them ?

I remember you use to work in the strip. You told us a story once of that attractive lady who always use to walk past your window and the one day she waved at you or something similar Personally I love the Vegas strip, the lights, the revelry and the irrepressible energy....its exactly what you want Vegas to be when you visit....you just don't want to live there I also suffer from horrendous jet lag when I fly to Vegas because you are in the plane for over 20 hours so I am always wake at 4 am or earlier. And I normally head to the strip to kill time and I always meet very interesting characters from all walks of life who are obviously also awake for different reasons

I'm disappointed by this response but not surprised. This forum is full of people who are happy to constantly criticize the West for historical mistakes but aren't prepared to contribute constructively towards issues that we now have to address You have a good knowledge of politics and the Middle East, is it really so hard for you to suggest how the threat of ISIS can be reduced? ....what? Off the top of my head. Iran: 1953 Syria: 1957 Iraq: 1990-1 Afghanistan: 1979-92 I was going to go into some detail with these examples but come on, seriously !? EDIT: I've got some free time tomorrow, maybe I'll write something then. I have never said the West was perfect, like every movement or country mistakes happen. But under Obama American foreign policy has definitely changed, the West now respects the views of the UNSC veto. Of course this creates its own challenges, like the required interventions in Syria but thats on Russia and China for vetoing any military action I can cite many examples but just one point to dispute what both Zora and Rostere have said. They both say American foreign policy is driven by either the Saudis or the Israelis. Both these countries have certain influence in the USA but neither of them determines American interventionism...despite what people assume. We know this because both countries wanted the USA to bomb Iran. And guess what, Obama prudently rejected any military actions. In fact American ( well the Obama administration ) and Israeli relationships are really at a low at the moment. Netanyahu took an unprecedented step and refused to meet with Democrats recently...that is a sign of just how strained the relationship is http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/25/1366753/-Netanyahu-refuses-to-meet-with-Democrats-because-he-doesn-t-want-to-appear-partisan#

"The romantic NPC should be picky, it's obvious he/she has high standards. In Planescape: Torment, we made it pretty clear that Annah and Fall-From-Grace didn't express interest in just anyone, and the player was the only one out of thousands that ever piqued their interest." http://forums.obsidian.net/blog/1/entry-79-blog-o-romance/ Sorry Stun, I can empathize with you and how you must be feeling. There are very few things worse during a debate when we say something like " prove it, I don't believe it " and someone actually finds some obscure link or proof that makes our previous opinion wrong...the only consolation I can give you is that happens to all of us

Oh? Can you describe to me the courting process of Annah (or Grace) In PS:T? No wait. Allow me. Annah: You stink. And I've never seen anyone so ugly. TNO: :::Kisses Annah:::: Annah: Are you daft? TNO: Admit it, you liked it! Annah: Get away from me! You're making my demonic blood boil! (literally. Permanent +5% fire resistance) And then.... Nothing. Nothing at all. No courting for the rest of the game. Maybe some thief training though...which she vocally resents. ------ TNO: Hey grace? What are your feelings about me? Grace: Not saying. TNO: Oh come on. Grace. Nope. TNO: Ok then, can I read your diary? Grace: Nope. TNO: nevermind then. Ok, Bruce. This is your definition of Romance/courtship in an RPGs? Really? Then I rest my case. You promancers will stretch the definition of romance so that any non-combat scenario = Romance. Well I have good news for you. PoE will have Romances. In fact, the Beta we've played already has 2 of them. Rejoice! Well the development of a Romance arc can be nuanced and sometimes yes it may be difficult to say " this is Romance " but remember end of the day it really becomes a subjective interpretation in certain games. If you think about one of the core reasons why we play RPG is because we like to RP, this may sound obvious but I think sometimes this is overlooked. So every single one of us will have a different experience when we play RPG around how we react and define certain game components . This experience is obviously on different levels...so for example I read the dialogue with both Annah and Grace as the prelude to Romance. I never knew that " normal Romance" wouldn't happen. But it didn't change the fact that my experience was " Romance based" It would be the same as someone who said he liked Torment because of the depressing and doomed narrative....I didn't see the story completely like this but I can understand why others might have

Thats such a 2001-2003 perspective of Western foreign policy in the Middle East. The West has learnt and evolved since those days. You know this yet you still refuse to recognise it, I find this odd Both Iran and Syria are examples that the days of Western unilateralism as far as intervention is concerned are over, no its all about coalitions and UNSC endorsement. And I support this. Just for record what would you personally do about the rise of ISIS ? Lets say you controlled the military of Western countries....what would your strategy be ? Maybe you would have left the Yazidis to die on that mountain in Iraq because that was the catalyst that started the campaign against ISIS?

Stun I think you are misunderstanding something, Romance in a RPG doesn't have to mean sex. Its the courting process and getting to know the NPC that is important. So in Torment I do consider the dialogue with both Annah and Grace a form of Romance. As mentioned by others there is no doubt there was sexual innuendo and I was really under the impression that the relationship would develop so I had this "Romance mind-set" during my interaction with them Yes Black Isle could have developed both those types of relationships in a more physical way but that didn't happen....but you need to believe me when I say "Torment did have Romance "

Well we know from events like Iraq that occupational strategies just don't work, especially in the Middle East where you have this plethora of sectarian groups and historical tension between Sunni and Shia. So the West would have to back one political movement in Libya and support them politically, militarily and financially until they can govern the country effectively. Then the West can slowly disengage. But the objective needs to be the defeat of Islamic extremism in Libya, like neutralizing ISIS The real consideration around this approach is who is prepared to commit the resources to such a maelstrom of real issues that exist in Libya at the moment. So then the questions become " how relevant is ISIS in Libya to the sustainability of ISIS in Iraq\Syria " and "how important is the defeat of ISIS to the West" ? I would think its easier to just commit ground troops in Iraq and defeat ISIS utterly there and in Syria, then someone else can address ISIS in Libya. I imagine once ISIS is defeated in Iraq this will make their efforts in Libya less impressive or militarily challenging? This should be the last but it will mean a period of time where Western countries are more actively involved in the helping to govern Libya. And this would be temporary But I just don't think most Western countries have an appetite for another intervention in Libya...and frankly I can't blame them The only reason the nations in which ISIS operates are failed states is because of western intervention. The people of most western countries either don't have an appetite for more war, don't have a clue, or choose to be ignorant. The people who run most western countries are all about 'interventions'. Divide, conquer, kill, subjugate, pillage, and consolidate more and more power is what they are about. No Western governments gave countries like Iraq and Libya the chance to govern their own countries and decide their own future. In many ways they messed up, don't blame the West for this And no the West isn't about " Divide, conquer, kill, subjugate, pillage, and consolidate more and more power is what they are about " its about a world where all countries are true Democracies that respect human rights and where all citizens have a good quality of life

This should be the last but it will mean a period of time where Western countries are more actively involved in the helping to govern Libya. And this would be temporary But I just don't think most Western countries have an appetite for another intervention in Libya...and frankly I can't blame them

Yeah I agree it may initially appear to be a strange concept but imagine the potential...you could stream a movie that you could then control some of the narrative. Its sounds fun to me Yee of little faith !!! Lionsgate has much more experience around movies than Trion has so I expect something more than Defiance as far as the movie interaction is concerned ?

That really made me laugh...and I'm still laughing

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/02/24/lionsgate-telltale-super-show/#more-272611 http://www.lionsgate.com/corporate/press-releases/1644/ I think this is very exciting news and has huge potential to create something significant Basically Lionsgate films and Telltale games will be collaborating to create some kind of new interactive media....so a hybrid of a game and movie. Similar I suppose to games like Walking Dead...but having the backing of such a talented film studio like Lionsgate only bodes well for this idea. I'll be watching this space closely

Never that many..thats highly likely....remember Gfted1 this is not wealthy America but merely a new RPG from a much loved studio. We need to set realistic expectations 42 Ah ....I see..I see. I never read the Hitchhikers guide so I missed that one

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/18/world/isis-libya/index.html http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/16/africa/isis-libya-north-africa/index.html This is not completely new information but ISIS is becoming more emboldened in Libya. In summary ISIS has now an established presence in eastern Libya and has been committing its normal barbaric and reprehensible deeds, they recently beheaded several Egyptian Christians. But the fact is that Libya is a failed state and this type of environment is what ISIS thrives in, they have access to manpower and mineral resources like oil It may become necessary for another Western military intervention in Libya to prevent ISIS from using Libya to fund its operations in the Middle East?

Never that many..thats highly likely....remember Gfted1 this is not wealthy America but merely a new RPG from a much loved studio. We need to set realistic expectations

The Romance is good...done ..sold ....you should have said that earlier. Where do I sign-up

Of course its true that you are right on most topics...and you like Romance so that just confirms it

False. There is no correlation between the harshness of winter and my enjoyment of summer. It's a nice thought, but it's untrue. Keyrock you do need to try to see the positive, you could be living in the Arctic circle...don't you think the snow would be worse there?

Yeah, I checked the latest pictures of Twin Elms and I think it looks very picturesque and an exciting place to have a few cold ones

Nice topic Not sure....6-7 is a good number. I am more interested in meeting interesting people in the various Inns. Like Torment and that Inn where you met Ignus. I love chatting to people in Inns and getting quests not necessarily relevant to the main quest

I have to be honest but I use a combination of user reviews and normal gaming website reviews. On Gamespot for example you have the user reviews which I have found to be very consistent in their accuracy around what I have found was the quality of the game. I don't see why people think youtube personalities are automatically immune to the perceived corruption and influence that permeates normal gaming journalism ? Thats why I prefer user reviews

I doubt that deep southern Texas accent would be a problem, I can understand perfectly fine most of what you say when you make posts?

Is it not possible that Sera's jokes are actually very intellectual and humourous but.....you just not getting them ? That may be true in some cases, despite appearances Sera is fairly well grounded and smarter than she seems. Quite a few of the jokes Sera is a part of are either immature, oh look how mad she is or Kathrine Tate style chav humour though. Don't get me wrong, it's not all bad, I love her banter with Varric for example and she does have great lines throughout the game. She's actually pretty endearing once you get her world view and see her open up a bit. But her archetype/stereotype was very much a characteristic that a lot of people were going to dislike. I like the character but I hate the chav thing, I tolerate it because like Jack once you dig past it there's more to the character. It's also worth pointing out though that Sera doesn't want people to get to know her, I think she feigns and exaggerates being bat**** crazy and annoying to a certain extent and pushes people away when prodded like a defence mechanism. It makes sense why she might act the way she does, given her past and what she's made her life's mission to be. I like this post because it gives a more positive perspective around Sera ..and its good to read this because there is clearly a lot of negativity about her character

The Ninja series is an excellent idea, it would obviously be set in medieval Japan ( or whatever age Ninjas came from ) and could be all about a society of Ninjas how they operated and survived. I don't think I have ever heard of a TV series about Ninjas ?

Well I can't speak for others but I know I'm too stupid to understand all these " 1's and 0's " discussions that developers have...I just want to plaaaaay the game