Nonek

To be fair I think any spiritual follow up invoking the names of BG, IWD and Torment has to have a fair bit of melee, and that was a large atrraction for two of those series for me personally, the strike and counter strike of BG2 and the more balanced and gnarly feel of IWD. Do I think that the genre could do with less combat and more non combat focus, on average yes, i'd like to see more innovative and off the wall ideas explored in most games. And I do not particularly mind if they are borrowed from other types of games, the hallucination system of Dead Space 3 recently struck me as a brilliant mechanic for a party based rpg, and there are dozens of other gameplay ideas to be explored other than combat. However I would say that Poe has chosen very wisely in making use of the brute force, nuance and simplicity of text to tell its story, and i'm eager to come to grips with the end product, because there is literally almost no boundary to what may be presented by good prose, whereas graphics however striking come at a very high price.

Reloaded Dawn of War: Dark Crusade along with the Firestorm Over Kronus mod, an amazingly ambitious and thorough piece of work, it has a few downsides such as the Chapter Master being an available unit, which in my mind makes no sense for the vanilla campaign as Azariah Kyras was not there, but that's just a personal bugbear. Other than that it completely revolutionises the base game, and makes so many great changes as to render it almost a new product, but with the same fun and outrageous gameplay of the original.

Pops on some Barry White. Oh yeah baby, physically fulfill me. Feels so good. You know it can't be bad when it feels so right. Uh-hu, just like that. Sorry it's what I keep thinking of when I read physical fulfillment.

I wonder if Druids can lose themselves in their Wildforms?

I can't pronounce Baccaruda...Barracadu...BAH...RAH...CUD...AH...Baharadacadudah...that fish.

I never particularly cared for Hordes of the Underdark, in fact i'd say that Undrentide was far more enjoyable personally, i'm very much alone in this view however I realise. Personally I think that simplifying those who raise legitimate criticisms of any developers games as haters is a little prejudicial, I care for neither Bioware or any other company, because most assuredly they care not a whit for me and i'll no doubt recieve neither birthday cards nor a pack of socks at Christmas. Criticism is a good thing, well ordered and logical criticism even better, and to dismiss any criticism and just rabidly defend all problematic aspects seems a touch too impassioned and involved. Obsidian at the moment makes content I generally like, it does not mean that I wish to take warm baths with the gentlemen and ladies of that establishment, merely that our tastes are at the moment generally sympatico. If they fail to be so then I shall most assuredly move on as a good consumer should, without hurt feelings or a strange belief that they may "redeem" themselves.

Nothing wrong with Microsoft having a little competition in my view.

I assume this doesn't affect one in the slightest, all my rewards are digital (as I despise clutter to an almost Spartan level and wanted to support Obsidian more fully) and i'll most probably choose GOG as my distribution choice. If apathy is death then i'm afraid in this instance that I choose death.

I believe that Mr Sawyer is going for general cultural archetypes which the various fantastic species (Elves, Dwarves) are a part of, thus the Dwarves of the Dyrwood will think of themselves as proud, independent pioneers, just the same as the various Human races colonising the Dyrwood do.

Personally I don't give a fig about EA or Bioware, I simply judge games based on their own quality and my own criteria. The last two games I played by Bioware haven't appealed for various very obvious reasons, which I won't bore anyone with, but I more than got my money out of them and ME2 I quite enjoyed for what it was. I will of course as an informed consumer be wary of their next games, and look for informed trustworthy sources to review them, that being not "Game Journalist's," but I still have nothing personal against them as they're just entertainment producers. I neither feel an urge to defend or criticise them unduly, though discussion of various elements is never harmful to my mind, whether it be old or new games.

If you do purchase Dead Space 3, you might wish to partake of the Co-op campaign at some point Tale, it adds a gameplay mechanic which in my opinion is very well implemented and quite innovative.

Nobody ever gets my jokes.

As I said above I think there should be a third path in BG2 where you master your own version of the taint and through that can sense other Bhaalspawn, thus giving you an independent and neutral shot at reaching the Asylum, this needn't take years as you've allready struggled with it in the first game and a simple plot device is to say that Irenicus' experiments triggered something inside you (which it does) and you're trying to explore and build upon that. I also think that Kaine has a point, but one that I think should result in an early game over screen, like in say Fallout. Melissan or another Bhaalspawn finds you some years later and slaughter you wherever you are hiding, removing another opponent for their fathers powers. You don't see this any more in RPG's and it's disappointing to see another feature thrown by the wayside. Facing Irenicus is not the only logical choice as there are a dozen others one can think of offhand, and I never usually play a heroic individual so that doesn't restrict me, however I would say that bearding Irenicus and finding out what he knows about you and how to further master a part of yourself is a very logical choice, and one I would pursue. Simply not in the manner that BG2 forces one into, I don't really mind Imoen unlike a lot of people so that is also a consideration for me, as my character wouldn't knowingly let a woman suffer if he could somehow prevent it in a reasonable manner. I'd say that this would be a fairly easy path to implement, finding artifacts of the Cult of Bhaal, reading prophecies and doctrines perhaps locked in some dungeon, finding a way to take a more active role in ones dreams and thereby direct them before the Asylum and Irenicus steals ones soul. Perhaps make the Shadow Thieves and the Vampires both hold some artifact of the God of Murder that one has to recover to complete, seems in keeping with their remit. And then sail forth in a vessel one chartered by your own fair hand, and perhaps have a differing recation when reaching the Asylum. However this is all hypothetical and largely pointless, personally i'd have liked a game over you died screen in DAO if one chose to not join the Warden's, it's a little aid to that sense of freedom. Edit: Why am I in italics, passing strange. 2nd edit: One could even use the artifacts of Kazgaroth found in the first game perhaps, as an aid to knowing oneself.

What in your opinion does the saying mean: "History tends to repeat itself?"

I too am very interested in reading the Novella, however I regard it as the appetiser of Poe, something to awaken and whet ones appetite before the main feast, like those great old Ultima manuals. As regards Arcanum I expect the gentleman will get to it in time, but I also fully expect him to quit howling in fury at the Black Mountain. However the first few playthroughs were hilarious and personally I regard them as enough to have satisfied that commitment, though it's a shame that he may not see the great things the game offers later on, Torian Kel, the meeting with Arronax upon the Morbihan, the king of Cumbria, the Persuasion quests denouement, the Dwarven philosophy, the Silver Lady of Qintarra etcetera.

I am somewhat split on this subject, yes bearding a well prepared massively powerful foe seems like idiocy, but you also should have the option to prepare and anticipate that conflict. Clues are laid out for you in the game and by Irenicus himself that he has an interest in your unique condition and is trying to awaken it, something that logically my character would seize upon, if an Archmage of such power seeks this then it has undoubted value and potency. Personally I would spend my time rather than trying to court the Shadow Thieves or Bodhi, discovering more about myself and my heritage. In fact I would have done this from the moment I first stumbled upon it, rather than trekking off across the Sword Coast, the powers of a deity are not to be sneezed at and should surely take priority. In a manner you do so, I read on the Witcher forums a while back a strange chap arguing that the dreams one experiences in BG2 are classic Freudian manifestations of the Id, Ego and Super Ego coming to terms with the Bhaalspawn condition. But personally I would have gone further and had the protagonist be able to follow a path where he begins to master the taint through study of his father, the nature of the taint and internal struggle, and perhaps be able to find Imoen and also face Irenicus on a more level footing. After all one assumes that such a condition will be sought out by others as well, one may run only so far before a stand has to be made, and mastering oneself through knowing ones own nature seems a far more sensible alternative to trusting strangers and engaging in harebrained pursuits. To me at least. Then again reading through this I think this approach would suit far more an Obsidian game than a Bioware one.

Yes but other settings with writers and designers more suited have crafted fine political situations in RPG's, ones mind obviously alights upon New Vegas and the sterling work done in crafting a believable contested borderland. Though the Ubermensch problem Humanoid refers to does arise there also, though in far less of a clumsy manner.

A memorial to the fallen of the Broken Stone War. Fiery the Adra fell, and the deep thunder of war drums rolled. From these shores, the indignant burning blood of our youth poured. And souls cried aloud as they fled into the dark night.

Personally I would drop the Archdemon, the Grey Warden's and the Blight and simply have a political story play out, (though obviously Bioware would need different writers to craft a nuanced quasi realistic situation as they're currently more focused on companion interaction and adventure,) say dealing with an Orlesian power play for Fereldan. Make the protagonist deeply involved in the matter, through personal means or happenstance crafted in the Origin's, and then let the choices and consequences play out from there onwards. Side with Orlais, Fereldan, the Church, Orzammar, usurp power for oneself etcetera. In a world just being introduced to a character and a new audience one does not have to have world shattering events happen, a small local conflict can carry just as much weight to the players and serve as just as good an expository tool, just so long as all the players and factions are presented in a realistic believable manner and not as vaudeville caricatures. That's just my personal take however.

Finally finished Sout Park, one of the most enjoyable rpg's i've played in a long time, one bug when I finally got Shoe but apart from that as stable as the proverbial brick WC. I'm really looking forward to either dlc, a sequel or Poe if neither of these come out first.

Mr Volourn, I assure you with all honesty that I like neither, and as I pointed out above the two situations seem eminently different to me.

This reminds me of an old joke I heard: Muhammad Ali the famous pugilist was relaxing on a flight to Britain when the stewardess asked him to buckle up his seat belt, the boxer flirtily replied. "Superman don't need no seat belt!" The stewardess smiled, leaned in and whispered. "Superman don't need no plane!" As Superman said it's still one of the safer methods of travelling, unless ones pilots are called Mr Oveur, Unger and Dunn.

Last tuesday, nice piece of gammon for tea.

I fail to see how Elminster and others watching your ascent is a cop out, they could end Sarevok with a single spell so he is no threat to them, but they seem interested in Gorion's experiment with you. In effect they are trying to ally with a potential good deity, hardly a cop out as a logical reason for their inaction Mr Volourn. As I explain above to me the two situations seem radically different, one has Sarevok aiming to start a small local conflcit in the hopes of seizing some of his fathers powers, something that the Harpers can step in and curtail at any time they see fit if the protagonist fails. The Lizard people are a threat to the whole world however and warrant the attention of important indiividuals rather than an unproven adventurer, Khelbun who shares Elminster powers is on hand so why does he not act? All this seems perfectly logical to me, and hardly a cop out.

Personally I wouldn't have joined the Grey Wardens to begin with, and why exactly is it the protagonists duty to combat the Archdemon anyway? It's just another Blight and will be stopped in the same manner as the others, it really is not my characters problem, he had no choice in becoming a Grey Warden and so owes the Order no loyalty. He had no home having been exiled from Orzammar, had no loyalty to the humans of Ferelden and had no personal stake in the matter whatsoever. I think it would have been logical for him to go and inform the Warden's of Orlais, or just wander off and do as he pleases, his background as a Duster thug certainly seemed to suggest that he wasn't a moral individual. I'd forgotten what the antagonist was in NWN but my observation holds true, if they're such a threat why aren't any of the other factions who are far more potent than my character stepping up to deal with it? Khelbun has allready shown an interest at the start of the game, and wields the same god blessing as Elminster, to ignore this massive threat seems illogical to say the least. In BG it is strongly implied that Elminster and whatever other omnipotent authority figures are testing you, and this is confirmed in the conversations he has with you. To my mind it is a little cruel, but since the character is a form of quasi deity such observation seems warranted. The fact that he is just a little late to Gorion's murder, and you meet him the next morning says that he was at least trying to reach his old acquaintance, rather than totally abandoning him. I agree though that generally BG is a weak rpg, not helped by the overpowered and generic setting of the Realms, and I personally do not particularly like it as i've stated. As I stated previously Volourn, this is just my personal opinion however, i'm not attacking Bioware merely stating that their recent record of in game decision has not suited my thinking. Personally I think they need to involve the character in a far more realistic manner rather than just insisting that they follow the plot, the BG series did this through personal means but that is not the only method. Once again I apologise if my personal view feels like an attack against the company you obviously admire and like, but i'm afraid I still hold it.