Nonek

The Avowed. A century or so ago at the height of the Broken Stones War the Glanfathan's passions rode high, they saw themselves as the guardians of the Engwithan ruins and had vowed to preserve them from the ignorant farmers and raucous settlers of the Dyrwood. So a group of these heroic Glanfathan's came together at Twin Elms, Berseks, Mind Hunters, Druids, the finest and fiercest foemen that the free Palatinate faced. Here they stood in a great circle of Adra and reinforced their vows to the land and the quest, that vow sank through their flesh and seeped into their very souls and those men and women became the stuff of nightmares for the settlers of the Dyrwoood. Many times in the war they were slain or ambushed only to rise again, their wounds glowing with the fire of the vow that sustained them. Flesh had become nothing to them, all the pleasures of it were denied, only the vow and their task brought them joy and contentment. Eventually they put aside all matter, and emerged in their true forms, glowing wraiths whose ancient armour was yet scribed with runes of Waking, Warding and Wrath. Freezing cold soul fire burned in place of their bones, and their flaming eyes were madness to behold. In the course of the War a few were destroyed by the prayers and invocations of Holy Ones, but they were terrible foes and faith falters in the face of such fearsome opposition, many more priests and clerics fell to their fiery swords and frozen touch, gods forgotten in the heat of battle. The War ended however as all do and the Avowed were left without an enemy. In relief they thought that their task had been done, that they would be granted respite and allowed to return to the great wheel of birth, death and rebirth. It was not to be so. The Vow could not be undone, it coiled around their souls, passionate and powerful and thirsted for more blood and carnage. The Avowed knew despair then, even their fellow warriors looked on them askance, as monsters and abominations, albeit ones that warranted great respect and honour. They were cursed, and the curse was of their own making so it could not be broken, for who can escape what he accepted and desired? In quiet sorrow they ordered death barrows built, and within layed out the treasures and tokens of their life, for they were dead now and should not appear amongst the living. Grim ghosts of war that would frighten the children they had born and raised. In silence they went into their barrows and closed the great stone doors, and sat on their thrones in the dark, living ancestors waiting for the call to war. They wait still, eyes burning in the darkness with the fiery passion of a vow that will never end.

For clarifications sake you can also end your existence in Torment as well as return to pay your debt in the Blood War, though I believe that that is Khin Oin in the background, making that plane the Grey Waste not the Abyss. Personally I find the various endings in Torment to be very satisfying, they were hinted at and alluded to throughout the game and makes sense within the terms of the narrative, after all your immortality was bought at the price of others souls. The various methods of dealing with the Transcendant One, that are gathered from throughout the game I also find very satisfying, it really felt like all of my actions and questions were being referenced, answered and acknowledged. Of course the goal remains to reconcile yourself with your mortality, but that does not invalidate any of the choices you made in the game. I was not playing a chosen one like Shepard, the Nameless Ones situation all derived from his own doing, in fact I would call him a testament of free will and ultimately personal responsibility. I was not facing an ancient destructive evil, merely my own limitless ambition and ruthlessness. The antagonist was not revealed in the last few seconds of the game, he was a shadow nipping at your heels and pursuing you through countless lives. Thus I can see why Wolfenbarg would want such an Odyssey and an ending again, it beats primary colours without a doubt. I enjoyed the first two Mass Effects as silly enjoyable fun however. Edit: On topic. I think that just because there have been numerous examples of poor save imports does not mean that one should abandon them, simply refine and limit them. After all what can one person do to affect the world at large, and how many nods to our littlest actions do we expect to be present? For me most games have a little too much protagonist empowerment at the sake of the internal consistency of the world, I do not expect my actions to change everything merely the few situations that make sense within the narrative. Though I would like to be brought to book for certain actions or reputations in a game, there is a lot of catering to the player but not very much punishment. I think this would be a very risky but satisfying addition to an expansion or sequel, to have the protagonist be held accountable for his noteworthy previous actions, if he was caught or witnessed commiting them.

Thank you Tsuga, that's been bugging me since an hour after I wrote it.

Torchlight 2, i'd forgotten how charming and enthralling this game is, one of the few instances I can recall in recent times where a game has built on it's previous success and added to it. And I get to wear a monocle!

On a somewhat related note i'm oft repelled by gameworlds that move on too fast, Dragonlance was a perfect example: It lurched from epic world changing crisis to yet another cataclysmic crisis and I was just left with a feint sense of deja vu, as each new escalation and re-invention changed the world. I'd far prefer the steady, subtle building of a world and a proper introduction over a few games. So that when we return to it, there is a sense of homecoming, of familiarity and yet the little changes will stand out all the more clearly. Fallout 1, 2 and New Vegas did this well, as did the Ultima games. Our actions in those games were important and had very clear consequences, but the backdrop was not so flighty and in permanent upheavel. It felt more organic to me.

I do believe that you might be in luck when it comes to sentient fauna, I seem to remember Mr Sawyer or one of the other developers stating that the Engwithan's were experimenting with the souls of the oldest of Dyrwood trees. From the look of the second city that we are shown, Twin Elm's, I think it's highly probable that we might witness this first hand.

Arise Ragnar of the Odinsblade! Great game, played it recently but there seemed to be a lot missing from it however, like the cavern where you get the Roman Sword. A more varied selection of monsters however.

It's not a bug, the Beholder or somebody cast a time spell when the volcano exploded and time has gotten all tangled up in that vicinity. As I remember what you do is go through the room and over the safe bits of cooled lava to uncover the mystery of what happened then, appearing back at the beginning multiple times until everything is solved. Then you can proceed. Long time since I last played however.

Tales from behind the codpiece, a hundred and one tempestuous titillations troubling a Templar.

WARNING! Simulated romances may lead to fan fiction writing, open letters to the developers, obsessive behaviour, self harm, pastry acquisition and posting, delusional equine episodes and a long term lack of sexual partners. Indulge at your own risk!

Personally I think the idea of a remnant of the corpses soul being used to animate the Undead is a very nice idea and makes it morally questionable, as well as the destruction of such things becoming a holy duty to some ethical standpoints. To tear a soul from the wheel of birth, death and re-birth in such a world as Poe seems eminently wrong, but something that may well happen, especially considering the Animat factories. Perhaps the Engwithan's had a far different moral take on this however, and that clashes with modern colonial attitudes in the Dyrwood, a possible spot of contention between the Glenfathan's and Aedyrean settlers? Or perhaps the Glenfathan's are protecting the Engwithan ruins for this very reason, because they judge it as a contained evil? It certainly raises many interesting questions, and makes the traditional Necromancer a far more interesting character. Perhaps such a character can heal flesh through stealing the flickering remains of souls, a disgusting practice but called for when mankind faces his mortality and will do anything?

I've always wanted to visit Thingvellir (apologies for the spelling Icelandic cousins) and the island of Surtsey, see some of the newest parts of the Earth and the site of one of the first parliaments. Snorri Sturlusson's fault.

Quite.

Personally I can't think of anything worse than Star Wars' Emperor or the One Ring as corruptors, then again i'm not a fan of the former and didn't particularly find the Ring to be that good a McGuffin. Though Boromir's fall was nice, he was only trying to defend his homeland not suddenly becoming what he hated, that would take many years and depend on himself not an exterior manipulator. I'd prefer that we are able only to twist a companion, through knowing his goals, aspirations and methods, rather than make them perform a sudden moralistic about face Annie Skywalker style. Then again i'd say that Mr Avellone's writing is far better than Mr Lucas', especially when comparing the prequel trilogy to the Sith Lords.

I think I will try to be a little nicer and more polite as a person, less prone to snapping and sarcasm. I'm noticing that the kids are picking up soem of my natural cynicism and caustic "wit," so I think I will try to restrain myself a little more, for their sake.

Yes I find thematic adherance to be quite satisfying as well, provides a very nice framework for the narrative, while allowing one to make their own stance apparent, whatever that may be.

I'm rather against having wishy washy companions whose will is bent by a few words and deeds, I far prefer the method used when decieving Kaelyn the Dove into accepting you as a confidante, she will not change her views or abandon the crusade, but one can manipulate that certainty. Or the method of making sure that Albatross appears in the denouement of Alpha Protocol, enrage the man with his own mistakes and failings. Or the method used on the companions in New Vegas, where one may alter their views of their predicament but not persuade them to abandon it entirely. Boone comes to mind, unlike the usual revenge driven character the sniper is not pursuing an exterior aggressor, his faults and failings he lays squarely on his own shoulders and that does not change. I like this, as Boone will always be frozen in the moment of looking through his scope, whether at his wife or the women and children of the Khan's. All you can do is help him deal with this. For me that makes a far more realistic and believable character. Dead Money also stands out in Obsidian's prior work, especially the manipulation of Dean Domino, where all too easily one can reveal that they are the Ghoul's equal or superior in cunning and ruthlessness, and thus earn his enmity. As the former showman likes to believe that he is the smartest individual in the game, and seemingly hates anybody disabusing him of this notion. Deionarra also stands out of course.

First edition was Greyhawk for myself, but that world seemed to have been abandoned back in the ninety's. A pity as it had some real potential, when it was not being utterly preposterous, early Castle Greyhawk springs to mind. I endured second edition though I loathe the Forgotten Realms, but balked at shelling out yet again for the third edition after buying most of the complete handbooks.

There are moments in the Lord of the Rings that stand out as mature, hunger, thirst, flight, weakness and failure, but overall I would agree that it was escapism for old Mr Tolkien. To identify what he was escaping from one needs only recall the young corpses lying in the pooled water of the Dead Marshes, and think of the places he served in the Great War. It seems that he wanted a world where there were absolutes, not our flawed world of ever shifting uncertainty.

The Ghost People of Dead Money were very nicely implemented and original in my humble opinion, one of the few times in modern games where the old pulse beat a little faster.

You know that's one thing that i'm absolutely looking forward to, the lack of lighting in the post apocalypse world, for an amateur astronomer the light pollution of modern cities is utterly ruinous.

Q1: I'm fine with three attributes like in say Ultima (though obviously not the automated combat of the Black Gate) or the eight stats of Arcanum. Q2: Fine with Mr Sawyer's system. Q3: I'd prefer that they arise from different attributes, but both from the fortitude statistics as that seems more sensible and intuitive. Q4: Deflection as in blocking and parrying seems to be born of training more than anything, perhaps modified by intelligence? Q5: As I understand action speed is influenced by encumberance isn't it, so less armour makes for a quicker fighter? That sounds fine to me, though a dexterity bonus might be nice. Q6: Inventory size decided by constitution for what one may comfortably carry for prolonged periods seems sensible to me, but strength could be used just as appropriately.

I certainly hope so Mr Parker and I believe Mr Sawyer is a fine designer who will make the system eminently playable, I simply fear that all characters will have to adhere to mediocre stats or be forced into unintuitive stat choices. But these are small doubts and of little moment.

I hate to say it but these design goals seem to point to characters who are not very distinctive, hopefully one can still make characters with definite strengths and weaknesses.

My training partner insists that strength mainly comes from the joints, with muscles being a side effect. Certainly seems to work for that chap, he's very strong and was a solid teammate in the scrum.