Nonek

In fairness damsel in distress was Geralt's role in the first game, where Triss rescued him repeatedly, so turn about seems fair to me. Personally though Philippa is of course my favourite, a character almost on a level with Kreia in my opinion. Edit: I find Triss interesting in only one respect, that is her manipulation of Geralt's feelings and slumbering memories, after Yen's last talk with her on this subject I expect there to be fireworks when the two finally meet. If Yen's memories are restored, and she's not Emhyr's consort herself as Drudanae postulated.

In a market where a multi million selling game cannot break even because of inflated budget and marketing however, a modest profit selling to an established fanbase seems more than sensible. If Poe makes a few hundred thousand sales on top of us seventy thousand or so backers, which I personally think is likely, then it will most probably be regarded as a sustainable model. Especially when combined with Obsidian's sterling work on other peoples intellectual property, which has been proved with South Park and New Vegas both hitting it out of the park. Personally I see this as a far more sensible method of perpetuating ones work, rather than risking all to go after the big payday, something we have seen in the Financial sector carries great risks. Slow and steady wins the race, long terms goals and secure foundations.

Ah quite near the hometown of Mrs Nonek, no wonder I picked up on it. Much obliged Oerwinde.

I agree that AoS has improved considerably, and about time. However I noticed that the young scientist lady with the cut glass accent does, upon the occasion of growing flustered or angry (with Coulson most recently,) lose her accent and speaks in a more flat, broad tone. Sounds quite northern, Lancastrian or Yorkshire perhaps, I wonder if this is intentional or unintentional?

The Orphanage of Sir Mortimer Whether it be the most righteous and holy of priests or the fairest maiden of the day, none is more beloved than good Sir Mortimer and his daughter Margaret. Together they were once a common sight in the city, trawling the slums to find the unfortunate or beseeching the high born for charity and succor. Now however their noble work keeps them locked behind the high walls of their estate, administering the Orphanage that the gentle Knight created after the Broken Stone War, they have been kept busy in this thankless endeavour ever since Margaret fell ill a scant year past. Here they take in the unfortunate and the dispossessed, teaching, feeding and caring for them as best they can, and occasionally even finding foster parents to take on the younger children. But fate is a cruel mistress and sickness and plague have regularly plagued the Orphanage, leaving many small bodies to be buried in little paupers graves outside the walls, a heartbreaking sight. Even little angelic Margaret might have suffered the same fate last year, for she fell ill and no cure could be found for her ailment, Sir Mortimer seemed a broken man and the city mourned. A miracle came in the form of a man of science and learning. A wise Animancer passing through the city offered his services at a price to beggar a Prince, but the old Knight called in favours from all across the metropolis and gladly paid the amount. Little Margaret was saved, and though pale and of a much more introverted composure was soon seen accompanying her Father on his work, a little spark of hope and goodness in the dark heart of the city. The people quietly rejoiced and felt cheer that a good life had been saved. Of course it was a lie, hope is an illusion and there are no happy endings. Little Margaret was dying and nothing could be done but Sir Mortimer beseesched the Animancer to save her, promising an obscene sum and eternal gratefulness. Grudgingly and for a vast fortune the Animancer did as the old Knight asked, and then fled, for what lay in the sick bed was no longer a child but a flesh eating Fampyr. Sir Mortimer had selfishly damned his child, for loves sake. It only grew worse, the angelic child now craved bloody flesh, and not even the rarest cut of the steak would satisfy her. Finally shedding tears at the cruelty of fate, and wracked by his daughters tortured screams Sir Mortimer took a dying child from the Orphanage, and let his daughter feed. His mind cracked a little then. The next morning however he found his beautiful child humming and skipping, carefree as the wind, and thought that his prayers had been answered. Together they walked out into the city and performed their good works, and the proud Father watched his comely little daughter curtsy and charm all who passed, as she had done before the nightmare. They returned to the Orphanage under blue skies and laughing with hope and joy, but that night as darkness came his child grew hungry again and fed on the boy bound in her rooms. She hungers eternally but a child may provide much meat, even a starving sickly one, and Sir Mortimer will give her no other kind of meat but that which is allready dying. It is perhaps the last of his morals guiding him. Still her prolonged absences have been noted, as have the old Knight's and the young scallywags of the Orphanage who beg and roister in the city are all somewhat subdued, though they are not sure why. A strange malaise has gripped their once lively home, and a mournful air pervades the place. There are even rumours of a small shape slipping over the rooftops and through the shadows, haunting the place and luring boys and girls to come and play, but these are surely childish fancies. Sir Mortimer is sure his beloved has not regressed so much as to be hunting their charges, for she is a good girl, and it is that evil Animancer's spells that cursed her and caused this. Margaret is as innocent as she ever was. Meanwhile the gravedigger at the Pauper's Graveyard shakes his head at the condition of the little bodies, something is wrong here, little rat like teethmarks mar what remains of the poor childrens corpses. Bones have been broken and the marrow sucked out, while hardly any flesh remains, no sickness does that.

I'll take your 2015 and i'll raise you 'til 2017.

The protagonist becoming the Slayer through knowing himself is in my opinion the weakest part of the above argument, i'd also think the Slayer would manifest when the human element was removed, a la Imoen's soulless state.

Interesting thoughts on the BG2 dream scenes, however personally i'm not enough of an expert on Freud and his profession to tell whether it stands up to scrutiny: Okay the BG2 dreams, Imoen's got no idea what you're going on about when you talk to her about them, (as I remember, only just had the first one) so i'm left thinking that all the players and locales were of the protagonists own imagining. Candlekeep is an obvious setting, it's where the Bhaalspawn grew up and developed, which is very much a Freudian construct, so i'm going to use my rough grasp of Freud to interpret them. There are three players in the dreams: Firstly Imoen who is confused and seemingly weakened, but is constantly referencing various outside stimula, such as: Candlekeep, Gorion, Elminster, Khalid, The Cowled Wizards etceetera. These all share the aspect of what society expects of the Protagonist, and yet they have all been taken away due to circumstances beyond our power. Imoen for me represents the SUPER EGO, but one that is doubtful and divided, the Bhaalspawn has lost too much structure in his life, and thus Imoen is weakened by unrelenting change. Irenicus, a cold voice of reason, who raises logical arguments and encourages self knowledge. The protagonist is given a choice, of whether to accept the gifts bred in his blood and bone, or face the consequences for turning aside. Irenicus seems to wish you to sate the taint within, by the most expedient method. This to me is EGO, and it tells you the truth in every dream. It is obvious to see why the protagonist equates Irenicus with this role, he too is looking for a way to master the taint within for his own use. The third actor is only seen once, but present in every dream. It is the Bhaalspawn essence, played by the suitably monolithic Sarevok, who accepted and embraced his infernal fathers gifts. There can be no role other than that of ID for this creature, it is the pure chaotic drive to murder and kill that consumes you, as it does all the Bhaalspawn. That devilish restlessness that defined the protagonists years at Candlekeep, and which is fondly remembered as carefree high spirits by many of your old acquaintances. The base instincts that must be satisfied now, and which Bhaal trusted would see all his children fall to his restless grave. When the Bhaalspawn essence comes to devour you, it is to the heart of the dream that you flee. The inner sanctuary of Candlekeep, your childhood stronghold where you grew and developed. Here the ID pursues you and it is here in this stronghold of reason, from which EGO Irenicus gave all his lessons, that SUPER EGO Imoen can match him. Thus the super ego, all that we have learned from outside stimulae and the lessons of civilisation, contests with the id, the petulant desire to sate our childish needs. Balanced by the pure rationality and logic of ego, which seeks to resolve by the quickest expedient. Thus the Bhaalspawn stops the essence of his father from consuming him, and when it is stripped from him he can live on through knowing, accepting and mastering himself, thus the Slayer form accessed. Don't know whether this is what Ray and Greg, who must know Freud at least better than me meant to suggest, but it's my interpretation. Personally I think the writer may be overthinking the dreams somewhat as Bioware are quite straightforward, but if not then i'm rather impressed.

Usually when I wanted to make one of my players nervous or paranoid I would not do anything untoward to the person in question, instead i'd pass notes to everybody else at random intervals, usually concerning the individual in question. Then let the hints and glances work there magic, by the end the target would be quite paranoid if not a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

Ni?

Humans indulging in mind altering substances and hallucinating one assumes?

Personally i've never seen any artform or entertainment break from reality at all, there is nothing purely alien in anything i've ever seen.

Well that's your perogative Mr Jarrakul, however I disagree, Warden's Keep was for a half hour adventure massively overpriced and should have been included in the base game for the stash alone in my opinion, however the Stone Prisoner was acceptable in terms of value and content. All told though I would repeat that I believe the content gouged out of these games made them feel incomplete to me, and are a prime example of the poor practices and value of the trend. I'd prefer that dlc be like the Stone Prisoner or even better like the large adventures of New Vegas or Treasures of the Sun, though I have to admit that dlc almost embarassed the base game with how good it was, and I thoroughly enjoyed Dungeon Siege 3.

Well if you insist gentlemen, personally I thought both Dragon Age's were incomplete and the second Mass Effect game, and that the price of Warden's Keep, the Cerberus thing and all of those was extremely overpriced when compared to the hours of value I garnered from the base game. I forget the rest but there were a few that I disliked at the time. Is that serious enough or should I include some form of emoticon?

You wish me to be serious Mr Bryy? Most certainly not.

Yes I would say that crutches may be made, horrors might be locked away and truth denied quite easily. Or that one might gain a deeper understanding through ones trials and tribulations. Of course you can't have an entire party of madmen, but maybe you can have them finding strength through unity and brotherhood, and keeping the darkness at bay through some manner of ritualistic soul binding or some such. Perhaps even capturing an otherworldly horror and locking it away can reinvigorate the frayed nerve, as one realises that there are laws governing these things and that they can be manipulated and contained. Duty can be quite a nice crutch to lean upon, especially if one sees that duty as righteous.

Personally I don't think you're trolling at all Mr McKinnon, you raise valid points, and we have seen several games where one simply cannot purchase an entire product but must buy overpriced dlc to complete the experience. The price certainly is overblown on most dlc considering the base game, and I see this as rather a profiteering business practise, that has a distasteful ring to it. Not to mention that quite often dlc items break the game or make its base items totally undesirable, thus removing whatever enjoyment one may find in the accumulation of mountains of vendor trash. That said however four fine examples of dlc were the New Vegas adventures from Dead Money onwards, which added significantly to the base game as well as featuring their own satisfying and rich content, as you are no doubt aware. I would champion that form of dlc which was more like the old expansions rather than arbitrarily splitting the content up to nickle and dime the less discerning, but then again if somebody wishes to purchase overpriced content they're welcome to and somebody should probably cater to them, as easy money is easy money and there is no shame in making a profit.

My p&p games did away with Wisdom and made Charisma the default ability of the Clergy, for the gathering of followers to the faith and pleas to their Deity, for the Demonic/Diabolic priesthoods that Charisma figured into their infernal bargaining. Wisdom is experience in my view, and I implemented Willpower in its place.

Yes, though a fan of the last two games I admit they had problems and I think a healthy degree of scepticism is warranted, no offence to Mr Nightshape is intended of course. You see that far away field, you can plough it.

I don't know and neither do I. Sorry.

Genius and depression do often seem to go hand in hand, as I remember Mr Newton retired to his chambers for a year of absolute isolation while formulating one of his many revelatory works, and that gentleman could be said to grasp more of reality than most of the rest of humanity. Edit: I do agree that the descent to madness is a little too swift in CoC, personally I always thought that character traits should be subverted and made excessively ritualistic until they become a crutch, that of course may be torn away. 2nd Edit: Of course it might be that Azathothian nightmares do actually produce some form of radiation that is harmful to the chemical composition of our brains, or perhaps the synaptic pathways, and the madness that comes from encountering them is a purely physical reaction. That would work I suppose, though I don't think certain creatures of the mythology would qualify for this effect.

I always saw the Cthuloid madness mechanic as somewhat similar to Shellshock, a massively sustained traumatic event has triggered a regression from societal norms. My Grandfather spoke a few times (when inebriated usually) about chaps he'd seen suffering from said affliction, and how you could never tell who would crack and who hold steady. Then again he positively enjoyed most of the Great War it seems, and the rest he wouldn't talk about, so the old chap was obviously of a rather iron constitution. I quite like the incomprehensible angle, but preferred when it was taken a step further, to the point where the mind could only concieve of various Impossible Angles stretcing to infinite depths and then would quite calmly refuse to see any more. Just as the constant blast of whizz bangs and shells would assault a Tommy's senses, so the essential truth of the Outer Gods would bombard a chap with too much sensation.

I'm sorry Mr Bjorn but being a publisher I cannot possibly trust a word you say nor accept that you are anything but the antichrist taken material form, no hard feelings however as I too am a graduate of the Belgian school of Evil Applied Rambunctiousness (BEAR,) having graduated with a BSC (Bachelor of Scheming and Cavorting,) PHD (Pilfering, Hoodwinking and Deception) and of course the obligatory MIT (Moustache Incremental Twirling.) Jolly good luck with all your endeavours Sir.

Personally i'd like the gameworld to be expanded and built upon rather than moving to a new locale, it does not necessarily have to be set within the first game however, i'd simply like to see a gradual evolution and expansion of our playing area. That said I most definitely would not want to restrict the developers in any way shape or form if they have some revelatory idea for the expansion, the kind that sets the creator giggling with manic glee, rubbing their hands together as the various aspects align in a serendipitous assemblage. In that case i'd prefer the ladies and gents simply follow their muse's bidding, and keep true to their vision.

I'm not too fond of this unexplained mechanic myself, seems to break internal consistency, when all one needs is a quick idea and some exposition to explain and reconcile it. And if players going back and forth between the Dungeon and their Stronghold is such a problem, then simply have the loot disappear if left behind, and make choosing what to carry an important part of the game itself. Adds a certain strategic and tactical edge that way, and makes inventory boosting items far more valuable. Then again I think the tyranny of loot is fairly much destroying rpgs, and devaluing treasure until it becomes a useless arpg-esqe feature. Edit: I'd really like to see at least one character in an rpg carry a backpack, where exactly are they storing all this stuff?