BruceVC

Here's the thing though: she is not a real person, so "because she wants to be" is not a real reason. I get that they gave her motivation and backstory and she's a modern (medieval) independent woman in control of her sexuality, but the reality - like, in the real world, reality - is that she is a video game character. And as a video game character, in a game played mostly by men, many of whom will never finish the game or pay much attention to her backstory, she is a scantily-clad woman who has big boobs and talks about having sex A LOT. I am not saying such a character should not exist or cannot exist, and I am not saying there was not an honest attempt to write her intelligently. But, fundamentally, you can't get around the fact that her function in the game is more sexual object for the player than sexual being. She reads to the player as "the one with the boobs who likes sex." Bioware is trying to have their cake and eat it too with this character by subverting expectations - but those expectations are never actually subverted. She basically still *is* that superficial character the player imagined. You can tell the player "Well, but it's HER wanting sex, not you" but this is meaningless in a game where you essentially control the outcome. All of the potential romantic partners in any Bioware game "want" the player to the same degree as any other - that is, to the degree the player selects the "heart" dialogue choice. This idea could work, maybe, in a game where you didn't have one single PC avatar and you were controlling (or not controlling) all of the characters equally. But in the traditional Bioware cRPG formula, Isabela still reads (to me at least) as a pretty awful presence in the game. YMMV This is a very good post, and one that sums up my objections to the character nicely (full disclosure: I never finished DA2). The other thing that bothers me about this standard defense of her character is even if we grant she is a liberated free spirit or whatever, she simply talks about sex too much. I mean, she talks about it all the time. This isn't a woman who is comfortable with her sexuality -- as written, she comes across as completely crazy and irritating with the constant sex talk. That part of her personality was completely oversold by the writer(s). Isabella is not a believable portrayal of a woman who is comfortable with her sexuality, or simply even a woman who just likes sex. She comes across as a sex-crazed lunatic with an annoying habit of making almost every conversation about sex. It's ridiculous. Also, I think it is disingenuous for BioWare (or any other company) to point to the legitimately disgusting behavior of some people who have a problem with LGBT folks, and use these clowns to dismiss every criticism of DA2 as grounded in bigotry. The average age of a gamer in the US is over 30 years of age. Most people who play these games are adults, not stupid teenagers trolling on the internet. And like most adults of my generation, a good chunk of these people have absolutely no issue with LGBT people, and many of us take very seriously issues like civil rights, bullying, and discrimination against LGBTs. And that's just the US -- what about all other places where BioWare sells their games? Are we supposed to believe that every Frenchie who disliked DA2 did so because he or she is secretly a closeted homophobe? Absurd. So when someone points out that hey, maybe spend less time on making every flavor of romance with your oversexed characters and more time developing decent maps and enemy AI, you might want to listen. I don't give a flying eff who I screw -- or who you allow me or anyone else to screw -- in a video game. Really, I don't. Throw it all in there! But please don't do it and point to yourselves as "pushing the boundaries" and expect that kind of social justice cred to erase the fact that you churned out a crap game in 18 months. You make some good points but I don't agree with your assessment of Isabela. I found her character to be very believable. She oozed self-confidence and had clear objectives. She also supported other ladies in the party. I also only remember having sex with her near the end of the game after I had built a relationship with her. So I fail to see how this made her a "sex-crazed lunatic"

Are you not worried about running into something similar to the Abominable Snowman?

Welcome to my world. Mmmm, I can't see how starting the game as some sort of insect would be exciting or how it would make sense in the context of an RPG Sorry guys but that's a really bad idea

Thanks for the tip, I didn't realize those books have been translated. I am on the last book of "The Malazan Book of the Fallen", the Crippled God by Steven Erikson Once I am complete I'll start on the translated Witcher series

Interesting but I do think Breaking Bad is superior What about Walking Dead?

Sorry Alan, but this sounds like the EA 'party line' when criticized. A pure deflection. "We got voted worst company in America because of homophobes!". It took two awards in a row to get a whimper of an admission that maybe there was a little more to the 'awards' than just being pro-LGBT. I would not have reacted to your post if you had simply said "in part" rather than "in large part". Here's a bold and novel thought for you: the BSN forum is so divided because BioWare decided that the passionate fans they had were not numerous enough to feed their new artificially bloated budget and increasing shareholder appetite, so the best thing to do was to ditch those fans and start making the sort of games that those fans specifically came to BioWare in the first place to avoid (ie games like 95% of AAA releases these days). BW made a ton of other changes to the RPG and the BioWare trademark formula in ME3 and DA2 that I find it simply wonderous that you single out LGBT as the 'largest' issue you think your fans have. If you truly believe that homophobes have nothing better to do than A) playing a game they despise because it deals with gay themes and B) spending years on the developer's official forum trolling about it ... then I am truly at a loss for words. I spent years on the BSN before and after DA2. All I can say is - I thought the forums pre-DA2 tidbit leak were among the more civilized on the interweb. Up until 2011 people derided 'Biodrones' because whenever you said anything bad about the game on the BSN, you'd be set upon by a swarm of rabid, indoctrinated fanboys. Notice how hardly anyone is using that term any more, or if they are they're very occasional gamers that last played something in 2010. Feel free to think that your drones have mostly buzzed off "in large part" dut to LGBT support. Wow you really have a low opinion of BSN? Its funny I have never been attacked or verbally insulted on BSN. It may be because I have the same posting style that I have on these forums and I find people to be civil and keen to provide feedback when you are equally polite. Also I absolutely support the inclusive nature around the way Bioware has tried to include all types of relationships in there games. And I also feel that bigotry is a reason for some of the discourse on BSN. Some people use surreptitious means to "stimulate debate" but in fact they are bigots and enjoy hijacking debates and see topics get disrupted

I have started watching Mad Men for the first time and of course its well worth all the accolades it received. Its fascinating to see the blatant level of sexism that was prevalent and institutionalized in the 1960's and also how everyone smokes. Its great to see how society has progressed

He is just posting some suggestions, no need to be so critical I like the concept of waking up in brothel as then the chance of PE including some sort Romance implementation is more likely But for me Planescape has done the whole " who are you and what is your purpose on this earth" to a level it would be difficult to surpass I would prefer to know who I am but I have this nuanced epic quest that forces you to make hard choices with consequences

I had just the opposite luck at the Sawmill. The place was so packed with zombies you'd pretty much have to stack them on top of each other to fit any more in there. The zombies weren't the problem, despite the fact that I'm not sure I had even brought enough ammo to deal with all of them. The place is also crawling with dogs. But the real problem is the controller (hopefully it's just one). Those creeps suck on any difficulty, but on Misery Mod difficulty, they will pretty much insta-kil you. I gave it a bunch of tries, but as it stands right now, it's pretty much straight up impossible for me to get in there and get the tools. That place is swarming. I'll have to come back later and hope for better luck (or come packing much better weaponry). On the plus side, on the way back I looted a stalker corpse and several beasties, so at least I got some money out of the trip. I'm enjoying you guys describing your adventures in Stalker, it reminds me of how much I enjoyed the game. Of course I played it without the latest Mod

Keep up the effort, I know its hard work but I'm confidant the health benefits will be worth it

Wow that's a hectic story but does it take you 2 hours one way to get to school? In other words you spend 4 hours just travelling?

Risking his neck for a totally artificially created and unnecessary war. How romantic. Now you are sounding uninformed Morgoth, the War in Afghanistan is real and people die there. You can argue the reasons for the UK involvement but you cannot debate the fact every soldier in the Western coalition is at risk from being killed. And Harry is a special target as mentioned by the Taliban, he also doesn't have to go to Afghanistan to serve his country so yes he is brave and well worthy of our respect He is not risking his neck for country and countrymen. Afghanistan or Iraq did not declare war on the UK and threaten to invade or anything, therefor I don't have any sympathy for this brat, or any prince that is fighting dirty and illegal wars for the interest of corporations or foreign powers. If there was a legitimate and clear threat to the UK, then his service would and should be honored. But saying he's risking his neck for a war that he or the Royal armed forces ought not to wage in the first place is just the height of hypocrisy and arrogance. Okay but how can you say the war in Afghanistan was illegal or unnecessary? The Taliban gave shelter to Bin Laden and allowed him to plan 9/11. The USA also gave them an ultimatum to hand Bin Laden over but they refused. The invasion and the subsequent years of trying to defeat the Taliban were necessary. Unless you believe that 9/11 wasn't perpetuated by Al-Qaeda but that's a conspiracy theory. Now the invasion of Iraq was unnecessary but not Afghanistan.

That trailer does look interesting but I hope the game isn't in that grey colour? It is, that's what they're saying. Okay thanks and for clarity sakes why would they make the game in grey?

That trailer does look interesting but I hope the game isn't in that grey colour?

Risking his neck for a totally artificially created and unnecessary war. How romantic. Worthy of respect by strangers online ? Ehh, maybe. Malc you do realize you can respect people you don't know due to there decisions and actions?

Risking his neck for a totally artificially created and unnecessary war. How romantic. Now you are sounding uninformed Morgoth, the War in Afghanistan is real and people die there. You can argue the reasons for the UK involvement but you cannot debate the fact every soldier in the Western coalition is at risk from being killed. And Harry is a special target as mentioned by the Taliban, he also doesn't have to go to Afghanistan to serve his country so yes he is brave and well worthy of our respect

You really like Deekin don't you

I would advise that you flush that piss down the toilet and get some stout or pale ale. If you are writing fiction, I would suggest getting to that nice mellow stage of intoxication where you still have control of your faculties but feel good about everything. I assure you, I am neither a college kid nor a redneck. That level of inebriation is not the goal. I like to think of the target area as somewhere where I can be a little silly, but not quite to the point of writing poetry. Its funny how creativity works. I work with software so its not creative and I find my senses can't be impaired in any way in order to do an effective job

I worked last night, started at 10 pm and then the customers storage team didn't do part of there job and we waited for 3 hours for feedback. I ended up leaving at 4:30 am and got to sleep at 5:30 am. Its amazing how you feel what a waste of weekend it is when you get back so late in the morning due to work and sleep half of Sunday but its fine if you do this when you are partying and need to rest

You funny Monte But on a serious note Alan doesn't have to defend anything. I really enjoy his perspective around some of the decisions and reasons for why Bioware does certain things. But Bioware has million of committed fans, like me, who will continue to purchase there products and support them. They just need to release a game with the word "Bioware" on it and in the first week they will get more sales than most indie developers pray they get over a few months And the reason for this is simple. Bioware has a loyal fan base, they have a prestigious history and there games offer entertainment. In other words the good far outweighs the bad. I sometimes worry about the ubiquitous "Bioware Bashing" that we see on these forums as surly those people should realize there negative view of the company doesn't reflect what the majority of people think so personally I would question my opinion of something if I am in the minority? I don't believe being vociferous about a topic makes your opinion correct. The facts about a companies success and products can't be changed this way. Only a reality where the fan base of Bioware is reduced and the company suffers poor sales would mean its not doing well or its not a respected development house anymore

That's correct, this is actually "normal" for a Zim election. The Zimbabwean people also have to contend with political intimidation. But this should only effect maybe 5 % of the total vote. But the fraudulent voting role for me is the main reason why this election is a complete joke and as you mentioned this effects primarily MDC voters

Sup All I'm sure some of you are aware that Zimbabwe is going through an election at the moment. The last 3 elections haven't been free and fair and the same political party, Zanu-PF, and the same despotic leader Robert Mugabe has been in power for 33 years (seriously how can you have the same person in power for 33 years) Anyway this current sham election in Zim highlights one of the biggest issues that face Africa, that issue is where certain countries governments lack the political and democratic electoral credibility to say they are legitimate rulers of a country. So the result of that is a lack of investment and there economies don't grow. And you can understand this as why would a business or government want to make serious investments in a country where there is political uncertainty and political illegitimacy? So then you have organisations like the African Union trying to rubberstamp elections in Zim, already they are saying "these elections have been free and fair" because they think somehow this will change the reality. Just one example why these elections in Zim cannot be seen as free and fair is that the voters role was only released one day before the election !!!. How can you expect an opposition party to review the voting role in 1 day? Just from the initial assessment of the voting role there have been close to 1 million names on it of people who are dead so who knows the other irregularities that will be uncovered when a proper analysis is done. So what does this mean for South Africa and the neighbours of Zimbabwe, these countries are desperate to extricate themselves out of the economic crisis that the last 12 years has created, they want the Zim economy to recover as many countries in the region have had to absorb the economic and political refugee's from Zim. In South Africa we have 1 million Zimbabweans living here. The Zimbabwean people are very educated and hard working but we have our own issues around unemployment and we can't have thousands of foreigners living on our social services as already our system is taking strain. So unless the Zim opposition party wins, The MDC, the Zim economy won't be recovering and the people of Zimbabwe will have to endure another 4 years of hardships and lack of real investment. It never ceases to amaze why the AU can't see that by endorsing false elections you don't help the situation at all

Wow guys at least you are admitting your platitudes are nauseating But on a serious note and this is not directed at GD and his decision. I find people generally say what is expected of them and give advice on subjects as it sounds like the right thing to say instead of the actual right thing to say. Its just easier to do that but when it comes to people I care about I am generally honest. So someone comes to me for advice about there relationship and says " I really love my b-friend and I'm pregnant. But he is going out every night with his friends and his mom really doesn't like me. Now that I'm pregnant our families want us to married" I could easily say " yes get married, you are pregnant and I'm sure you can resolve these issues" and give her reassurance. But I refuse to do this. I would typically say " you cannot proceed with this marriage unless certain things change, his family need to accept you and he needs to communicate this to them. Love is not enough in these circumstances and if you get married now just because you feel its the right thing to do you are going to have major issues later on " I am simplifying my point a little but I think you know what I am trying to say

No telling yet. Considering that it's not taking place on Columbia, all bets are off. That's a whole other batch of circumstances. I mean I know it's the 50's and all but I doubt a father would lit a cigarette for his daughter. Cigarettes were considered as smoked vegetables in the 50's. They were borderline recommending giving them to babies in place of formula, or so I have been told. No that was Coke-Cola, and it was a true recommendation. But never cigarettes

Hopefully the second time will be the charm! Wow GB, that is huge news around the proposal, gratz. But don't you think you rushing things and what if she says no? Bruce, for someone who constantly pushes for romance in video games, you don't seem very supportive if it in real life. Anyways, good luck GD. If she says no, request kinky sex. To be honest I hope GD isn't offended but I really like and respect him so I feel I have to ask. He has only been dating this lady for 3 months? And I just want to make sure he isn't rushing things