MechanicalLemon

I'm currently playing Avadon: The Black Fortress. It has some weird quirks, but I'm enjoying it.

I really enjoyed VIII, but Tactics (the first one) is by far the best FF title.

Spike VGAs 2011 Nominees Expect nothing of the modern gaming industry and you will never be surprised. Glad that Old World Blues is up for best DLC though.

I'm a big fan of Mansell. So glad he's doing the music for ME3.

MCA tweeted this review of FO:NV's DLCs. It's very different from other reviews. Quite an interesting read.

Hi-five! Bah! I can't wait to join General Tullius in crushing you rebel scum!

Kind of reminds me of Rage or Borderlands.

I love how they listed "id software" as Skyrim's developer. Whoops. Also interesting is that they liken Skyrim to Fallout New Vegas. There are some flaws, but the game's sheer scope overshadows it. The perk system is much better than the leveling system before. No more watching how I level in order to get that x5 modifier.

It'll probably be taken down soon but here's my favorite track so far. He's uploaded a few other tracks as well.

130 new screenshots People are already uploading the in-game music. I've been listening to some of it for the last hour...it's very good. Explore Day 2 is my favorite so far.

They have Christopher Plummer and Joan Allen? Huh. Also, in-game locations look really nice and diverse.

Bioware revealing 'brand new franchise' at VGAs Wonder what it is.

^Finally!!! And here's the cover art.

Stole this from GAF: By the way, was that Michael Hogan in the intro? It sounded like him. Also,

Pretty sad. Only two kids showed up at my door. My neighborhood is practically dead this time of year. Oh well. More candy for me.

I'm considering going Nord instead of my usual Dunmer. Gotta represent the local population.

Yeah, I noticed that voice-acting was pretty meh all around, although it's still too early to tell. Melee combat looked floaty still, which is a shame. Animations look a little wonky too. The caves, the river, and that mist looked quite nice, however.

Anyone else see the intro footage? Zenimax has been clamping down pretty hard.

Decided to go back to Arcanum. I kind of wish the map had more encounters and locations. It's pretty sparse as it is. Oh, and companion AI is seriously making me . "Use your spells, Geoffrey! Why are you punching? Why-" *sigh*

Doesn't the Gardens of the Moon have a glenn cook quote to promote it? (And the Instrumentality of the Night books have Erikson promoting those?) I think Erikson would have a lot more followers if he nailed down the narrative to a slightly more linear structure IN THE BOOKS (I don't mind the books being all over in chronology, but actually IN the books I think it needs to be less... schitzophrenic). And maybe explained more about the world. I think so, but I can't recall where I saw it. I do know that Erikson dedicated Toll the Hounds to Glen Cook. The Bridgeburners is a direct homage to the Black Company.

I wanted to hold out and wait for the GOTY edition but all that new footage is seriously tempting me. Aww, that's too bad. Well, you can't have everything, I guess. Having in-depth companions would flesh out the world but I can certainly understand Beth's position of not going that route.

Malazan is a tricky series in that people inevitably love or hate it. Erikson doesn't tell his story in a straightforward, chronological way. For frame of reference: Combined with a huge cast of characters and a shockingly in-depth world...it can get confusing. I remember having a lot of trouble in the first few books. It gets easier once you become familiar with the world and its terminology. It's similar to GRRM's ASoIaF in that it nails a dark, gritty atmosphere but whereas Martin has a more low-fantasy world, Malazan is full of magic and gods who like to intervene (resurrection, making pawns, etc). Also, Malazan has a lot of characters but at the expense of depth, unfortunately. You probably won't find well-written characters on the level of ASoIaF. So if you prefer fantasy that doesn't rely on magic, stay away from these books. The closest parallel I can think of is Glen Cook's The Black Company. Chances are if you enjoy that, you'll like Malazan.

So any word on what the followers are like? Are they going to be in-depth companions with backstories and unique quests like FO:NV or are they going for quantity (lots of NPCs at expense of depth)?

Rereading Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. Great book. I have to say that the book makes a lot more sense the second time around.

Great article. It's too bad we won't be able to read that entire interview with Feargus. I'm curious what he let slip.