BruceVC

Malc you have to admit its always better playing an RPG where you can explore the various Romance arcs? Nope he doesn't. Planescape: Torment Arcanum of Steampunk and Magik Obscura Vampire: Bloodlines To name a few. An engaging story does not need active romantic pursuits for the protagonist to engage in. Romance does not make writing engaging or good just by being present. Good writing is what makes writing good. Ideally, if the romantic arcs were well written and did not take away resources from other aspects of the game, then, if they weren't forced down people's throats, one could make an argument that it is always better to have more options. But it is not better to play a game with crap on the side just for having crap on the side over one that doesn't have that. After all, most of us here enjoy a good steak, none of us though would ask for the cow to crap next to the plate. (yeah I know, terrible analogy. Just pretend it was said by Al Pacino or someone else who can get away with saying anything in a movie.) I didn't explain my point properly. I'm not saying you have to have Romance to have an engaging RPG ( but I do think it enhances and makes party interaction more significant ) I am saying if an RPG offers optional Romance its better to partake of them than to ignore them

I would strongly prefer a symmetrical arrangement. How about both of us buys BruceVC a $15 game now, and he buys the winner a $30 one when the wager is decided, assuming he agrees? Then we can all gloat/sulk about it together. I like that idea in principle, its offers a reasonable compromise The only criticism I have is the most fun of a bet is the anticipation of waiting to see the results and who wins. The excitement would be diminished if you give any prize away before the end result?

Well it is about half a year later so I don't know if I can remember to check it by then. That's why I want to buy you games first so you will not go all around the place claiming that I am a deal breaker in the event that I lost. Can we do it this way? I gift you $15 worth of games first, if either one of us forgot about this wager when the result is determined then you are off the hook. My memory is not as good when I am younger so tell me what games you prefer by Saturday? Don't worry Gnostic, this bet is very fascinating. You can be assured that I'll remind you about the conditions of the bet. I've got your back

Malc you have to admit its always better playing an RPG where you can explore the various Romance arcs?

Nobody has suggested a TV series is critical or relevant to people. I was giving one reason why some people do it due to content being pulled. If anything, it's had the opposite effect with pulling content. And it appears HBO don't care. What I would like to see is content available on different platforms like it used to be which would cut down on piracy. Not the opposite with pulling content and encouraging people to 'acquire' the episodes through other avenues. What this does is then encourage people to 'acquire' other TV shows and those networks would have an issue with this. Just because HBO doesn't seem to care, doesn't mean other networks don't care either. And this creates a culture which is what we're seeing in Australia with terms like 'the national pastime'. That's not good when you're changing the social landscape of a country. We're one of the smallest countries in the world with a population of 23 million and yet we're on the top of nearly every list of downloaders in the world. You're taking people from how they used to watch TV shows a decade ago to a new paradigm on how they watch TV shows today. Fair enough, I see what you saying. You make some good points around the consequences of content being pulled. I must say it is interesting to see HBO view on Pirating.

? Is this supposed to mean justification to steal, merely because not to have it affects the person negatively? That's never justified ~not even for heart pills... but with heart pills at least it's a lot easier to forgive... though the person should still have to pay for them somehow. No of course you are right, I was just joking and using an example to demonstrate how TV series are not really relevant or critical to a persons life

You can roleplay a morbidly obese assassin that passes every stealth check, sneaking while saying "te hee". You don't find that appealing? Good point

I don't know Hurlshot, what if you went to work the next day and the headmaster called you into his office and asked " have you watched the latest Game of Thrones episode " and you said "no" What if he fired you immediately in anger for lack of Game of Thrones commitment. Without a job and revenue steam this would impact your family and I would assume dramatically effect your life?

Which threads need to be locked quicker in your opinion, this type of thread or threads that highlight the importance of Romance in RPG ?

For me Its always good news when a company generates impressive revenue through sales of games. It bodes well for future games and development and that suits us all

No way, that practice is basic human survival, sometimes the only way to get through the day. I pretty much have to ignore my hairline these days, or else I'll sink to the floor whimpering in remorse, but at least I enjoy a slim waist and strong hands. Or maybe I'm not understanding the analogy. You right of course, people do generally ignore the bad and focus on what's good from an overall confidence perspective

I do, sadly. I hope this Orlesian ball will be a good opportunity for my rogue to use some stealth and pick-pocketing ...oh wait, I'm going to be the head of a major organization, stealing stuff wouldn't make much sense. Meh. That's what I always hated about RPGs. That they are trying to appeal to the kleptomaniac crowd? That they are not appealing to us kleptomaniacs enough. By the way, is pick-pocketing in DA:I? I always find it interesting how people typically adopt a certain playing style in RPG, like stealth or hard core fighters. For me I prefer a wizard or sorcerer who holds back but casts devastating spells. I have never found the appeal to stealth but I know many people enjoy it

My comment was funny hey Malc Maybe you can then explain to me what Gfted1 meant when he said "Every thread must be dragged down" Dragged down by what exactly ? Dragged down by your insistence to see bogeymen everywhere and as evidenced by Keyrock and others reactions. Perhaps you can just make one thread, maybe in Way Off Topics, where you contain all of your issues with the world in one place instead of dragging every other thread into it? You don't have to of course, this is just me talking to you without my mod hat on, but it would be considerate to other posters and I know you live and breathe for that. I appreciate you giving your personal opinion on topics, I have often defended the fact that I like the way the Mods on this forum get involved in discussions but obviously if you have to do your job as a Mod you do it. And I know you don't take my criticism of some of your comments personally, I know I don't when you criticize me A couple of points in response. The last serious discussion we had on SJ issues was probably 2 weeks ago in the female gamers thread. And this thread was closed down which I feel was a mistake. So its a gross exaggeration to say " every discussion gets dragged down by SJ issues" This is simply hyperbole and not true Also I'm sure you noticed I'm not the only one who enjoys discussion on SJ issues. There are several people who chose to comment on this particular issue. I am sorry Keyrock has been inconvenienced by our discussion but once again these discussion are not frequent, people just think they I think its an excellent idea to start a dedicated thread on SJ issues, I was going to start one but I was just waiting for a worthwhile topic Finally in respect to this particular debate I only raised the issue of the Watch Dogs video because Malc posted a Kotaku link. I did not start the discussion but surely you can't expect people to not comment when someone posts an interesting or controversial link? I thought that was the purpose of a forum?

Yes that's definitely what he meant and has explained several times

Gromnir you must stop "sighing" as much as you do when you are about to dismiss someones view, its not good for your health to be so depressed Prime is saying you must take him a bet that PoE will be released by the end of 2014. If you don't agree with him, in other words Obsidian won't make that deadline, then take the bet. That's what he means by "put your money where your mouth is" because it appears you don't think PoE will be released by the end of 2014

My comment was funny hey Malc Maybe you can then explain to me what Gfted1 meant when he said "Every thread must be dragged down" Dragged down by what exactly ?

This post for me is the most reasonable and obvious comment that disputes the justification around pirating. Since when did we get to a point in society where people feel entitled to pirate something because they deem the cost of it too expensive? The irony here is they wouldn't walk into a Rolex store and steal a Rolex watch if they couldn't afford it because the risk of being caught is too great. So the reality is most people don't pirate because its a way of protesting against exorbitant prices but because they want a particular item and there is really no risk of being caught and suffering some consequence

Every thread must be dragged down. Maybe we should make a segregated forum for those posters? That's one thing that is a constant on these forums Gfted1, I know I can always rely on your support around issues of social justice. I would say you are probably your most vocal when it comes to the objectification of women in games and how female gamers feel they are victims of verbal abuse . But you are supportive on almost all issues around SJ we discuss

You have articulated my concern with this type of video accurately, nice one

I suspect the problem is that regardless of the intent of the poster, there will be viewers who'll think "**** yeah!" when they see the video. It does remove - to me as well - any ability for the video to be funny. I'm glad someone of your reasonable perspective also doesn't find it funny. It reinforces the fact I am not over-analysing this particular development because I know I sometimes do that

Yeah, its terrible state the world is in. We actually challenge people around there actions and opinions on the Internet especially when those actions or opinions are considered offensive

I'm not following you, what do you mean in the context of this discussion by "neglect to get outrages over the fact that profiling is being done every single day around the world" My suspicion is that he's saying that the game highlights a problem that perhaps as a society we should be outraged over but aren't - namely the day to day profiling of people within our society and how the use of the "profiler" in Watch Dogs is an underline to the dangers of real profiling, ramped up in Video Game style to a level which its odoriferousness cannot be ignored. Okay I understand that concern and how it might be seen as discrimination , in the USA a person from Pakistan going through customs at an airport might get scrutinized more than a person from France. We know the reasons for this. But my point is much simpler. I have an issue, for example, with someone making a video in a game like Watch Dogs with the title " how do address the crime in the USA" and then showing in- game footage of them only killing African Americans and then posting it and people finding it funny. I don't see how this is normal or dark humour Sorry but that's just me?

I'm not following you, what do you mean in the context of this discussion by "neglect to get outrages over the fact that profiling is being done every single day around the world"

I really glad someone else, Kotaku, raised this. I thought that someone making a video of his exploits in the game killing minority groups with the title "making the world a better place" as utterly tasteless and not funny at all . I actually deleted a post I made earlier on these forums when the video was first posted because I thought I was over-analysing this development so I'm glad Kotaku shares my sentiment I found it was pretty funny and really did give me an incentive to play the game, kind of like a 40K inquisitor set loose in the world. If you go on some rampage in the game and kill everyone that would be fine but if for example you go into the game and only profile gay NPC and then make a video with the title " how to deal with the issue of homosexuality" and post it then that would be very concerning. Surly you can see the difference?

I really glad someone else, Kotaku, raised this. I thought that someone making a video of his exploits in the game killing minority groups with the title "making the world a better place" as utterly tasteless and not funny at all . I actually deleted a post I made earlier on these forums when the video was first posted because I thought I was over-analysing this development so I'm glad Kotaku shares my sentiment