BruceVC

I have to confess I haven't played either of the IWD. I wanted to play them recently but the general opinion about them all seemed to be same, they are an excellent Action RPG but don't have much of a narrative or interaction with your party members like BG. Is this true? Well, there is no "canned" party banter if that is what you mean. You create your entire party of up to 6 characters yourself, mixing and matching skills and abilities to suit your style. The story itself however is IMO superior to the Bhaal spawn stuff. You just have to get used to the silence, because you (or some mates if you play multiplayer) have to roleplay the adventuring party rather than a single protagonist. Okay, thanks. I suppose I need to get them on GOG and give them a try.

I didn't say doing a MMO was a bad idea. I just said that it was a bad idea to put so much emphasis on single player story and also it's bad to clone WoW. When MMOs go from subscription to F2P that's considered somewhat of a failure, because they couldn't hold on to enough subscribers to pay the bills. I'm assuming this is one of the reason Greg and Ray quit or were fired because TOR wasn't successful. I don't know if it's true but it was leaked TOR cost $300 million to make. I don't think there is any way they made that back if it's true. I'm also curious about how successful DA2 and ME3 were. A lot of bad PR came with those games even if they were financially successful. EA was also voted worst company in America and I'm sure the bad PR from those games had something to do with it. EA also paid about $800 million for Bioware Pandemic 5 years ago. I'm kind of doubting Bioware has made that back for them or are even close to. Yes TOR did need $300 million to make and it wasn't the huge success that EA expected, but the ME and DA series were both highly successful and profitable. I agree that there was a fan backlash from some but there are still thousands of very loyal Bioware followers. I don't think either Greg or Ray left because they didn't deliver products that weren't profitable. Reading between the lines and what they said I believe its because they did feel there creative input wasn't what it use to be and to be honest they are both now very wealthy. Why force yourself to work where you are questioning whether you can contribute as constructively as before if you really don't need to? Finally that poll that rated EA as the worst company in the USA is clearly inaccurate and doesn't represent the reality. You can't tell me that certain big banks or cigarette companies are better companies than EA. Gaming fans were responsible for that result as they had an axe to grind against EA and we all know how vociferous gaming fans can be

I have to confess I haven't played either of the IWD. I wanted to play them recently but the general opinion about them all seemed to be same, they are an excellent Action RPG but don't have much of a narrative or interaction with your party members like BG. Is this true?

There are some good idea's on this thread, I would like the Gods to be similar to Greek Gods but they are only as powerful as long as they have followers, this doesn't mean they would be defenseless but just reduced in power if no one worships them. Also at a later stage as the series progresses it would be nice to have a showdown with a Fallen God or some cult attempting to resurrect there diety.

If it's supposed to be simple friendly fire like BG or Fallout, than I would prefer option to turn it off. You know, I still remember this WTF moment when people went hostile and tried hand-to-hand combat with my character in power-armor. :] Lol, that sounded like quite a fun experience. Fallout is another RPG I haven't played it but I want to.

Yeah I like the concept of friendly fire, it adds to the whole importance of strategy. I always use to chuckle at how unrealistic DA1&2 were, I would be surrounded by hoards of darkspawn and I would cast a fireball spell on myself and blow them away but never get hurt.

I am also playing Max Payne 3, and I agree that Rockstar have done an excellent job. I am really enjoying the whole Rio setting, its ideal for a washed up Max

Paralytic sycophants, effete betrayers of humanity, carrion-eating servile imitators, arch-cowards and collaborators, gang of women-murderers, degenerate rabble, parasitic traditionalists, playboy soldiers, conceited dandies. East German Communist Party's approved terms of abuse in 1953 for East German speakers when describing Britain Shamelessly stolen from a website with a collection of insults targeting England and Poms Yes, I realise this is getting slightly off topic, but I suppose some things are better talked through than left to fester. No, I'm not a psychologist. Yes please don't lock this thread, these topics need to be discussed. And we all know that another one will just get started again. Damn right. It's pretty awesome. You should try learning about the subject to psychoanalyze people; it gives you a nice, smug sense of superiority. Sounds pretty douchey to me. Not interested. " sounds pretty douchey", thats rich coming from you Grimlorn

You'll find I can tie lots of things together- representing a romance does necessitate some degree of understanding of interpersonal relationship mechanics. For example, two things I could tie together are your condescension and blanket assumptions about other people who live thousands of miles away from you based upon unfounded demographic stereotypes. @ themanclaw Thanks for attempting to bring some science and facts to this debate its appreciated even if its misunderstood by some of the Romance haters. You should have seen some of the anachronisms and generalizations towards this topic on other threads that wanted an element of romances, they included People that want Romance\Sex are sexual deviants People that want Romance\Sex are socially inadequate in real life If people want some kind of gay relationship we should include the option to have a some kind of pedophile relationship, after all whats the difference?( this one annoyed me the most) Also there was a massive poll and thread that was eventually locked around this and 70 % of the people wanted a relationship so people against it are just vociferous but in the minority Finally Monte Carlo isn't actually that bad and he jokes a lot , you will encounter people during this debate that are truly uninformed and obnoxious

The idea of that is depressing. I'd hoped the apathetic would be in the majority, by far. I am surprised you would find thought depressing, BG2 type relationships were good enough for me and they were a small part of the overall excellence of the game and you could choose to ignore them.

I know you joking buts that actually how some people expect you to feel. But there is no need to worry, people like us who want Romances\Sex are in the majority so I am confident we will see some implementation of it in the game

Johannesbug, South Africa.

Come now thats a bit dramatic and exaggerated? BSN also has thousands of people who don't talk about Romance\Sex and contribute constructively towards threads It's a common slur. I won't hide that I've been a member of the BSN for years (since DA:O more or less forced you to join) but I will point out that the people I've friended over there and the conversations and threads I pay attention to almost never have anything to do with romance. There's quite the Project Eternity support over there, and some not-so-gentle rubbing-in-the-face of Eternity's success so far to BioWare. Mock the people who say BioWare can do no wrong ever all you want - apologists fo that extreme devotion can do with a little ribbing. I know I'm biting back snide comments at all the Planescape: Torment worship, too. Here are some very active threads over there as well, to counter someone else's cherry picking - Top 5 things you would like to see in DA3 Inquisition ? (yes, there are people clamoring for romance stuff in here - and many more who's lists don't mention it) Remove conversation icons (strong dislike of paraphrasing is a common complaint amongst many members) Dragon Age III Multiplayer (disdain for inclusion of multi-player is a common complaint amongst many members) Alternative to the Day One DLC Model (BioWare forum goers dislike Day One DLC as much as anyone) What class of character do you plan to play in DA3? (just a discussion on which classes people expect to play in DA3) What could Loghain's role be in Dragon Age 3? (controversial thread as Loghain has many "haters" - though, personally, I love to hate him so...) Put more effort in the ending(s), please (there's no shortage of disappointed (or worse) fans to DA2 and ME3 on BSN) Dynamic Quests (Example- The DAO Quest "Captured!") (this thread is about asking for more quests like the mentioned one, which was GREAT) There. And instead of going three pages deep, those are all page one DA3 conversations. You could also jump over to BioWare General, where it's Off Topic board, alone, has more threads and posts than all of Obsidian's forums combined. And, you know, good luck finding threads about romance in games in Off Topic. Seriously - there IS a lot more to BSN than whining for more romances. Do you find more of it there than other forums? Sure, because BioWare games have more romance than most other game companies. But it's a small percentage of what is discussed. I completely agree, you have posted the facts around why BSN is not just a depraved group of Romance/Sex fans who have nothing else to discuss. Also there are several topics around games like BG and NWN1&2 where you can get advice on the game and modding. Its just a silly generalization to write off the entire forum, and I am also an unashamed member of BSN.

Come now thats a bit dramatic and exaggerated? BSN also has thousands of people who don't talk about Romance\Sex and contribute constructively towards threads

Well, females and dudes with too much estrogen. No difference. I would suspect young males with too much testosterone, too little social skills, and a need for back patting and instant gratification to be the loudest group. But as said above, the only ones I know of that has systematically analysed behaviour is Bioware and they are unlikely to share their numbers. I don't think any of the points above would realistically qualify for reasons that most people want Romance\Sex in a game. Basically you, and others like Grimlorn and Twinkie, are suggesting that people address some inadequacy or social ineptitude that exists in real life when they insist on Romance\Sex in the game. It sounds really absurd that you guys would think that a person is somehow going to satisfy a real life insecurity by a few lines of text or some pixel generated image of a character in there party that says " l love you, ravage me quick" People want Romance\Sex for many reasons, for me its about the role-playing aspect of the character and his actions. I want an immersive experience that allows me to explore cloud castles , kill dragons, visit towns, rescue maidens in towers, find unique items in subterranean dungeons and have Romance\Sex with the members of my party who have experienced these trials and tribulations. Asking for Romance\Sex in a RPG is no more unreasonable than wanting any of the other things I have mentioned in a RPG

I am currently reading Reapers Gale, by Steven Erikson. Its the 7 th book in a very complex and thoroughly entertaining 10 book fantasy saga called Malazan Book of the Fallen. I wouldn't say the series is as gripping as George R R Martin but definitely worth reading if you enjoy your fantasy

38 NWN2 and BG2.

1000 years of darkness!!1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg14hRntRpg He should rather continue counting to infinity... It would be completely laughable if so many Americans probably didn't believe this. It worries me when I see the influence of Christian fundamentalism creep into and establish itself in American politics. Also I thought that I was ignorant when it come to understanding the intricacies of American politics but even I know that Obama can only have 4 more years, not 1000

So I strongly disagree. It does matter. I guess I am assuming that with control of both houses and the executive, the Dems can pull off some decent policy. Well, if they can do anything about greenhouse gas emissions in the US combined with a continued push for wind+solar adoption (even if it's just a ****ing measly 5% to start with, like Australia's), then that's change I can believe in. For the record: Obama pushed hard on building loads and loads of new solar power stations towards the end of his 1st term. So there is history to back up my hope. I support another Obama re-election. I am a South African but I work for a global American company and travel to the USA and Europe about 4-6 times a year. I also believe that when America sneezes the world gets a cold, so I follow and enjoy the whole American machinery as it is relevant to world affairs. The perception of the USA really suffered under Bush, there will be always be American haters but Obama has done a lot to positively change that perception. Romney seems to espouse a much more militant and arrogant American image around foreign ppolicy For example he was dismissive of Russia and Putin in his tour of Poland and very belligerent towards Iran. So Obama is much better for America's global decisions in my view if you want to avoid the Bush era foreign policy decisions. Romney isn't very popular amongst the minority groups in America, especially Hispanics. And this is due to how he positioned himself to win the Republican candidacy. So he has dug his own grave amongst these groups in the vote. Finally his "47%" comments still shows he doesn't get the average, financially suffering American citizen. Or he just doesn't care. Despite all the spin from his advisor's and supporters he comes across as an elitist and out of touch with certain grassroot issues. He has suffered in the Polls due to this comment. All this bodes well for Obama despite the state of the American economy. I intend to stay awake all night watching the Election in 2012, its fascinating seeing the graphs on CNN and seeing the red\blue states voting outcomes

N Also: More at the mentioned link. (EDIT; btw, only a few moments ago I noticed it was already mentioned in the "known information" thread, but I still think it might deserve its own topic :D) Nice interview, thanks for the link

Actually they aren't the only group, I am a straight male and I support this idea in the interest of equality. Its not like you will even notice it if you don't want to but it clearly will make a difference to people so how will it hurt or change your gaming experience. Please respond, by allowing this character choice how will it effect your RPG experience?

I think its a reasonable and rationale question. You shouldn't ever feel the need in life to explain or justify your sexual orientation. I live in a country where your sexual orientation is protected in our constitution and everyone has a right to human dignity, we are very proud and supportive of our Constitution . I have been surprised on these forums by the occasional bigoted and derogatory comments I have seen by some that people think are an "expression of free speech". These comments are generally around the whole issue of homosexuality in the game on any level

Why not? Why not :D? It doesn't have to be as much as adventure games, but one or two plot pitfalls can really make the game more exciting I agree, the plot choices should influence other choices but not where you can't finish the main story. There should be consequences

People still have to buy the game afterwards. And in enough number, to encourage other projects. If Wasteland and PE fail to bring in the monies, the interest in this sort of stuff will dry up pretty quickly. Yes in essence what Bos says. Normally software projects work on a standard Opex and Capex cost model The KS fund raising is what they have estimated is needed to create the game over the next 24 months. This includes (and there could be other expenses or some that don't apply in this case) Salaries for the developers Cost of hardware and software to develop the game. this includes required backup Maintenance of the h\ware and software Overtime budgeting Marketing costs Distribution Costs Rent of building Now the game is finished and only sells 10,000 copies . This is obviously the money that Obsidian makes minus there Opex costs For example I imagine they will have ongoing support and patches that need to be written so salaries still need to be paid. So end of the day if enough copies don't get sold I can't imagine Obsidian doing this again. End of the day they want to create there own RPG for themselves and fans but if they don't make money from it why would anyone seriously want to spend 2 years doing it again?

I think a dilapidated old pub that needs quests to renovate sounds like a good idea. I don't care much for the family element but it could a good camp to leave your equipment and swop members of the party?