Renevent

Well the developers said it was 20-25 (I think someone posted that earlier) and of course this is related to reviews...it's something that will effect a person's enjoyment from the game. It may not be a professional review, but it's a from a player review. It also may not be true...so we will see as the game rolls out.

I'm hearing a lot of reports from dirty pirates that the campaign is only about 10 hours...

sure, because there's no difference whatsoever in code for PS3 and PC, right? riiiight No, it shows that the bug is something within the software independent of the OS/Console/ect. It clearly and unequivocally runs in the face of what you are trying to pretend is the explanation/excuse.

Titan Quest is by far the best Diablo Clone. It had the deepest class system, fantastic item system that puts most arpg's to shame, fantastic graphics, great use of physics, excellent art, and many other advantages over the competition. And Fate? LOL...I mean I do like Fate in fact I've been playing Fate: The Cursed King which just came out a few months ago. It added a bunch of nice things like a part system, more spells/items/monsters/ect...but it's basically Diablo-lite. It's mechanics are pretty casual and the game is just a fun romp not an in depth game like Diablo or Titan Quest. TQ had some flaws though, like no closed net (developers didn't have the budget), and the start of the game was a bit too slow for some player (ADHD crowd). Oh, and no blood/gibbing did suck as well. Overall though TQ offered so much it made up for it's flaws in spades. The game is just filled to the brim with content. I would personally rate (in order) ARPG's like this: Diablo series Titan Quest Sacred (the first one) Dungeon Siege series Divine Divinity Torchlight/Fate (practically the same game) As far as the majority thinking TQ stunk it's just not the truth. The game averages 8+ (player reviews) on most gaming sites and it eventually went on to sell over a million copies.

Sorophx I'm going to get you a cross so you can hang yourself up on it for Obsidian lol. The game had plenty of bugs (so did NWN2) which were noticed by TONS of people including reviewers. Nothing to do with a "stable OS". The games were patched but pretending like these bugs didn't exist or were only the problem of end users is just outright ridiculous.

Yup. Though by taking down the site/provider, you get loads of evidence if the files aren't encrypted. At least that's how they caught several "power users" when they raided that finnish server I was talking about. The only way industries can win the battle is if they can "destroy" all the groups releasing pirated copies (not very likely) or manage to take down every **** server that pops up (not gonna happen). Since they sure as **** can't ever fully take down the end users. Unless their fear campaign of random raids suddenly scares pirates into law abiding citizens.... ISPs don't want to do it because they would lose that customer and 2342342 others to the company that doesn't care at all. The extra work isn't that much and wouldn't really require all that much effort. Though the company I worked for did actually shut down 3g wireless internet connections from time to time. Due to "malware and other harmful software". No idea how it was being monitored etc. since it was done by an other department. Did get few calls from puzzled customers though I meant the extra work of tracking down individuals from IPs. Blocking sites is easy-peasy, but bad for business. You "win" by offering an equal or better service like Steam has done. That is you focus on the actual paying customers and ignore the pirates, not the other way around. The entirety of Steam *is* DRM...and they do not ignore the pirates. In fact Steam has a very harsh stance on pirates and they have been known to close entire accounts (and all the games within) if the detect you are running a pirated steam game. I guess that example was somewhat lopsided, they do focus on the paying customers with the sales and whatnot though. I guess a better example would be GOG or maybe some indie game developers like 2D Boy or Amanita Design. It's not lopsided, it just runs counter to your point. DRM isn't really a determining factor. Steam is the largest DD by far (and not only has internal DRM, but also some titles carry 3rd party DRM)...gog...not so much. The thing about steam is they do have a great service, they integrated alot of community features early, and they were the first to really start doing amazing deals. I like steam a lot, I just find it crazy when people rambling about DRM bring up Steam as an example...it's hypocritical.

never encountered anything even remotely similar So it must not have existed right?

Yup. Though by taking down the site/provider, you get loads of evidence if the files aren't encrypted. At least that's how they caught several "power users" when they raided that finnish server I was talking about. The only way industries can win the battle is if they can "destroy" all the groups releasing pirated copies (not very likely) or manage to take down every **** server that pops up (not gonna happen). Since they sure as **** can't ever fully take down the end users. Unless their fear campaign of random raids suddenly scares pirates into law abiding citizens.... ISPs don't want to do it because they would lose that customer and 2342342 others to the company that doesn't care at all. The extra work isn't that much and wouldn't really require all that much effort. Though the company I worked for did actually shut down 3g wireless internet connections from time to time. Due to "malware and other harmful software". No idea how it was being monitored etc. since it was done by an other department. Did get few calls from puzzled customers though I meant the extra work of tracking down individuals from IPs. Blocking sites is easy-peasy, but bad for business. You "win" by offering an equal or better service like Steam has done. That is you focus on the actual paying customers and ignore the pirates, not the other way around. The entirety of Steam *is* DRM...and they do not ignore the pirates. In fact Steam has a very harsh stance on pirates and they have been known to close entire accounts (and all the games within) if the detect you are running a pirated steam game.

I do, and it's always better than an interactive screen saver. It's ok

You're right. It's better. this. If you like linear story driven console RPG's with limited multiplayer...sure.

Bumplestiltskin

I don't see anything wrong with pre-ordering games. There's an obvious profit motive for game publishers/distributors but (even before the pre-order craze) many times I have tried to buy a retail game on day 1 and had to search numerous stores just to find a copy. There's a clear incentive for me as a consumer to pre-order if I so wish. There's value on both sides of the arrangement. With that said I barely purchase anything at retail anymore (digital is my preferred method of getting games) and even the games I get at retail I normally don't pre-order.

There are orbs that fall that heal you. In addition, there is a defensive skill you can use that does in fact heal you over time as well...so no...it's not the lamest game ever for a fighter. Go to your skills page and read all the skill descriptions...you will see one that can heal. You can also boost it's healing properties in the talents page for that specific skill. I apologize if you don't have the terminology correct, as I am going from memory on a single play through of the demo using the fighter (whatever his name is).

Yeah the poll sucks...I probably will still get the game but I never pre-ordered and the demo disappointed me. The poll forces me into specific choices which don't even really apply to me.

Well this is good news, I hope it continues to get good reviews and the game is really solid past what the demo showed us. Did any of the reviews mention how long the campaign is?

I don't care much about the story line or dialog...I care more about the world a RPG is set in and the depth of it's mechanics. A perfect game to illustrate this is something like Arx Fatalis. Atmosphere, environmental interactivity, lots of options to solve quests/puzzles, things like that. Story in my opinion gets in the way of a truly great RPG giving a false feeling of choice and options. Games these days have their little dialog wheels where you can usually chose 2-3 basic actions, most having very little effect other than a slight change in a cut-scene or dialog. Meanwhile, the things that need to get cut (or minimized) from a RPG in order to develop rich stories and "deep" NPC interaction is everything I actually enjoy as allowing a player too much freedom can mess with the pacing and cause all sorts of issues. Not to say there hasn't been any games to pull off both, but these days it's so rare. As it pertains to Dungeon Siege...well now we have an entirely linear game with a much less open skill system and less interactivity. Were going from A -> B now and the story is the driving force. For me that sucks, I am sure others like this it's all preference I certainly realize that. But to me it's more Final Fantasy (and not the good old ones) then Dungeon Siege and I'm not happy about that. Playing games like Dragon Age it's like a freaking soap opera. I really don't care about all these interpersonal relationships and their petty resolutions. Totally uninteresting. You know what RPG I had the most fun with recently? Eschalon Book II lol! Sure, it has dialog and a story, but it's an old school game more about surviving and building up your character to progress through a very hostile world. Difficult and fun! Kinda went off on a tangent there...but yeah that basically answers the question

Some of the stuff in the interview felt a little contradictory...but overall nice find and I enjoyed reading it.

Your memory is mistaken (regarding maps). Your opinions regarding if it was boring/clickfest/ect is fine and your own.

The problem is some of the fans are being disingenuous (regarding specific issue brought up) and these are not matters opinion...but rather measurable differences that are provable. That doesn't mean that it's inherently bad or good (either way), however, the claims themselves are factually incorrect/disingenuous. Perhaps someone likes more linear/focused/confined game maps as they feel it moves the action forward and lets them focus on gameplay (or whatever)...that's a perfectly valid view point and anyone is welcomed to it. The problem (and the revisionism) arises when they claim it's the same as the older games. It's absolutely not.

Again, the revisionist comment wasn't about people who liked/disliked the demo...it was regarding the map in the originals vs DS3 (at least in the demo). And yes, for this particular issue there is evidence.

It's hardly revisionism when the majorty of people who've played the demo genuinely enjoyed it. I'm not talking about people enjoying the demo...everyone is free to enjoy or not enjoy the demo as they see fit. I actually thought the demo was ok myself...some parts of it were even fun. That doesn't mean I thought it was amazing though or that I don't have legitimate complaints.

I am not whining, just getting tired of all the revisionism going on in this forum.

You are wrong, the originals were nowhere near this linear and confined. There were large open spaces, interconnecting areas, large hidden under ground dungeons, and in general the maps felt much more organic and had more to explore. I already posted the maps (including one with scale) in a different thread, but if you want I can here as well. The FACT is what we see in DS3 is much more linear and narrow then what was in the originals. Vocal minority which does not represent the majority who enjoyed the demo (except for the control issues) judging by the polls I've seen on a few forums. Just curious...which forums? I visit quite a few gaming forums and almost all of them most people seem to be pretty disappointed with the game. Could be most forums I visit are PC gaming specific though...

I beat the witch first time...though I came really close to dying the first 10 seconds or so. After that, Figured out all you have to do is run away most of the time while using the heal defense skill, then go in and attack and rinse and repeat. There's basically one skills she uses at close range that you need to avoid, but that's about it. Simple fight but for a action rpg I thought it was pretty good.

At this point I don't think it has much to do with the original DS fans at all...looking at PC centric forum and threads about this game it's looking pretty bad. Check out steam's DS3 forum...it's brutal and half the posts are from people who never played the originals. I'm more of a PC gamer myself, but for this game just going to have to forget about everything and play it on my 360.