Nonek

Hopefully so, Dungeons should as a bounded space where one can more easily account for the protagonists movements, be the place where you enthrall the player and throw every trick at them. Whether that be of an exploratory, narrative or combat nature. But too often they're just a progression of nonsensical combat encounters, in an escalating difficulty. I'd far prefer an unwinding and sickening puzzle like Vault 11 from New Vegas rather than say the Crypts near Fort Locke from NWN2, though the art design of the latter was very nice, especially the placed bodies of previous adventurers and such. I'd have loved to have been able to examine their corpses, find letters to loved ones, clue maps or what have you upon them. Bit of wasted potential there.

A simple thread to suggest new skills for future games set in the Eternity sphere or elsewhere, to provide alternative routes, non combat solutions and more ways of resolving situations. Sapper/Demolitionist: As the engineer builds and provides mechanical answers to problems, so the demolitionist destroys or works around those answers. A mechanic may pick the lock on a chest, set a trap or fix a malfunctioning ancient device, the demolitionist will simply take a hammer and chisel and pop the hinges from a treasure box, take apart the trap and store the pieces, or render an ancient device incapable of operating for the opposition. The key to this trade lies in the tools, and the Sapper must carry many and be ready to replace them when they become worn or broken. The axe or hammer he uses to break down doors may need a new shaft and sharpening or heat treatment, the vial of acid he pours over delicate mechanical working must be refilled by an alchemist, the chisels he uses must be ground and re-hardened, the files constantly replaced as their knurling becomes too worn. With his tool kit in hand, his mind sharp and his patience undisturbed the cunning Sapper can remove almost any obstacle. Traditionally his greatest tool is the shovel and he will constantly carry this entrenching tool with him, especially when venturing underground. As an expert in demolition he is also invaluable when judging whether a structure is safe or near collapse, and can maybe strengthen or weaken them as appropriate. Strangely enough many Sapper's will carry songbirds underground with them, though they do not reveal why this is done, and it may be just tradition.

There's Waldo!

To be honest there were very few GM sucker punches in the IE games as I remember, Kangaxx I certainly wouldn't count as such, that quest line was signposted so bluntly as being massively dangerous that it would take a distracted Ray Charles looking in the wrong direction to miss it. I would count the Twisted Rune as perhaps being a sucker punch, and also the Lich in the Gate district pub. In general everything else was fairly decently signposted, and if you chose to ignore that, well that is your choice.

Whatever happened to Wormy, just seemed to disappear? Mind you Dungeon itself disappeared from England's Newsagents a few years later.

I hope so, it makes for a more intriguing area in my opinion. Those rune covered bronze gates that turn all blows and defeat all spells and mechanical contrivances, they become a mystery we're somewhat enthralled by. Though no doubt some may dislike backtracking to hoover up loot and such, that's not so much a problem if the areas are interesting enough though.

Didn't Mr Sawyer state early on for a lockpicking example that one might be able to burn up resources (in this case lockpicks) to improve ones odds, if not too far below a threshold? Of course that doesn't help the victim of an underspecced skill, but still I think it may be a fair compromise.

I'm assuming that the Vaillian's and their offshoot Republics are at the forefront of modern (for the world) warfare, combined arms making use of the new technologies and what not. Perhaps infantry have evolved into the push of pike, with support from firearms and the deciding hammer blow of the cavalry waiting on the flanks, but that may be a little anachronistic. For the Dyrwood i'm assuming that the bomb destroying Saint Waidwen was a desperate and unproven method of combat, because the young nation could not seemingly match the traditional army of Raedceras, i've no proof here of course except for the use of such an unusual method of warfare. Expanding on that estimate i'd judge that the young colony has not much formal military cohesion, instead relying on veterans training up militia, and the natural tough and resourceful nature of settlers and pioneers in that levy. I'd further assume that a young and seemingly prosperous colony has a problem with law and order, but that there is also a place for rapid advancement and all the benefits of a meritocracy for those who can carve out their own demense, which most likely the protagonist will be doing if choosing to. Banditry I think would be the primary problem, as well as perhaps the monstrous, with setlers who failed to find easy wealth turning to another source of easy money, preying on their erstwhile neighbours. I imagine that under the wild wood however almost every settler is armed and ready to defend themselves. It might be interesting to explore what the wild wood comes to represent to natives of the Dyrwood in such a situation, just as it represented in fairy tales the dangerous and uncivilised aspects of mankind, to be tamed by the woodcutter. So it might begin to be demonised by the settlers of the shore and meadow who suffer from the predations of those haunting the place, and what does this mean for the natives of Eir Glenfath and the two cultures relationship? Also can I just say that it's nice to see a more realistic style embraced by the devs, with Dragon Age deciding to have their characters making use of impractical and over designed ceremonial items for adventuring and combat, it's nice that there's a well detailed and logical alternative that assumes the characters are not dullards incapable of dressing and arming themselves. I've nothing of course against the opulent and extravagant, but even the most overdressed Landsknecht's harness will no doubt be both practical and eminently sturdy, rather than unsuitable pretentious frippery.

Every morning for the past few weeks i've walked past a young chap drawing graffiti in an underpass, the standard stuff about cannabis, unreadable bubbly writing and the aping of West Indian culture, anyway I got talking to the young chap and apprently he was doing this as some kind of community service. Enlivening the places that he used to "tag," which is apparently the word for the daubing of grafitti. Anyway i'd pass him, share a nod and an ocassional word of insincere praise, as I really don't think that his work is of any great merit, but one loses nothing in being nice and the young gentleman is obviously of good breeding but gone astray. This afternoon when I walked to work (half day) I find the young gentleman sputtering in disgust, some wag has drawn an enormous todger over his month or so of work, for some reason beyond my ken I am almost unable to stop myself laughing. His self righteous fury at the "tagging" of his art seem very hypocritical, however I manage to restrain my chuckles and tut along with his complaints. When I walked back tonight there were three todgers, I roared with laughter. I think I may be a bad person, maybe even an enemy of man.

In all seriousness Mr Raven have you thought of buying a Dog? They are the finest form of companionship one can wish for, non judgemental and ever loving, and as mentioned above the simple act of walking them may be an aid to ones temperament. The body thrives on the exercise while the mind has time to think over ones problems. All the best sir, and I hope you soon feel better.

You mean the cane? Her mage staff? Good grief, well I think that seals the deal and this game is most certainly not designed for me, I shall adieu and hope the game meets your expectations good people. Wow, so you aren't going to be play DA:I because of one item represented in the artistic interpretation of one charatcer... tough crowd ( I hate to think about what you will say when they start talking about the Romance implementation in DA:l ... ) More a case of the straw that broke the camels back Bruce, the emphasis on style over substance in this Vivian ladies case is only one egregious element in a long tally that i've been keeping, far more important was the previous blurb announcing that she would be a suicidal dullard. I didn't like the unmotivated, idle and idiotic female characters of DA2 for this very reason and so i'll pass on the next installment. But you'll still post on the thread, right? No. I don't wish to negatively affect anybodies enjoyment of the game, and realise that my complaints are not shared by most Bioware fans (and are not even able to be seen by many of them) so i'll leave you to discuss the game without my perjorative opinions.

That's not depression sir, it's marriage.

You mean the cane? Her mage staff? Good grief, well I think that seals the deal and this game is most certainly not designed for me, I shall adieu and hope the game meets your expectations good people.

I liked the first book of Donaldson's Gap series, the rest were however...not to my taste. I liked certain portions of the Chung Kuo series of novel by Mr Wingrove, though that might be judged as Cyberpunk rather than Sci-Fi. Other than that the classics of the genre (Simmon's, ****) still hold their appeal. Some of Moorc0ck's works are strange bastardisations that could be judged as Sci-Fi, though with the nature of his multiverse and the Dancers at the End of Time one is never sure.

Personally I thought all of the DA2 companions were poorly designed caricatures, part of the reason why I tried to solo the game, except it kept forcing the needy, overly emotional dullards into my party. Was never able to find a way to get rid of them until near the end either.

One has to wonder why the young lady is holding an overly ornate Rabbit?

I see...so it is "investigation mission" themed? Now it sound like Dragon Age : Inquisition a bit...the world is in chaos out of supernatural phenomenon and event, the Veil to the Fade torn apart, sky open up and demons comes into the world in Mage vs Templar war...the Inquisitor must investigate who is the culprit and solve the problem...either change the world to be a better place or leave it to bitter end... Dear Lord, I hope not!

Just watched the new Robin Hood film, the one with Russel Crowe, and I was somewhat entertained. Personally i've never had much of a liking for the gentlemans acting skills, nor found him to be much of a charismatic lead, and that hampered the film somewhat for me. However I liked a few of the period details they threw in, the presence of the Marshall etcetera, and generally I did not find it too egregious. Certainly it was far more pleasing than fairy tales like Braveheart that make a mockery of history. Still the real history of that period was far more interesting than what they managed to shoehorn into the film, and leaves me wondering why we in the west can't have something similar to the 2010 adaptation of the Romance of the Three Kingdom's, we certainly have the history. Cate Blanchett played a nice version of Marian, strong, self motivated and still womanly.

The Eternity Project was a dream given form. It's goal to preserve the rpg genre, by creating a memorial to the heroic past, that the discerning might back and thereby ensure hope remains. It can be a troubling place, truculent humans and foul degenerate promancers prowl its halls, seventy thousand voices crying out into the night, but it is our last, best hope for a return of good crpg's. The year is 2014, the name of the thing is Poe.

Well i've got five minutes to peruse the latest computer game news, think i'll pop in to the Obsidian Forums and......

As a wise old Zerth I once knew was wont to quote: Balance in All Things. I like good implementations of combat systems, turn based ideally, but they must not come before all other considerations, as that allows a weakness to fester and leads to combat becoming a crutch that cripples the other legs of the game. Personally I do believe that many interesting aspects of the genre have been abandoned or simply judged unsuitable, when the truth is almost anything can fit into a good rpg, and nothing if implemented well is a wasted feature. Enviromental interaction, durability, npc schedules, politics, history, study, training, all of these and more can and have in my pen and paper games come into play. To the betterment and richness of the setting and the characters. Except romance of course which is a cancer that needs treating with the utmost prejudice, and maybe atomic warfare. I'm of course not asking for a graphical novel that plays itself, that is truly degenerate and makes a mockery of interactivity, but I do believe that ideally a more rounded amount of content should be included other than just combat and conversation, in corridors.

Well at least the little Elf chap looks like he is capable of dressing himself, unlike the suicidal mage they previously showed.

I broke my own moratorium on reading RPS to peruse that article, it's now firmly back in place and of much firmer constitution, Mr Nathan Greyson is quite clearly an idiot and the sites "journalism" has degraded to Kotaku levels.

Personally i'm hoping that the expansion simply builds on what we explore in the main game, a new area perhaps (exotic and interesting hopefully) but also access to the old areas so that the setting steadily grows as we explore it.

For the longest time when I saw pictures of Mr Gabe Newell I thought it was a photograph of Robin Williams, and that the gentleman had let himself go a trifle, the similarity is quite striking.