Nonek

I'm sorry but that makes no sense. The Barbarian can attack ten people when surrounded, through growing additional appendages or whatever mechanic is used, but these all fall off when faced with an individual?

So if fighting just one strong individual the Barbarian no longer has multiple attacks, just one that is sub par versus superior opponents, why would he not just focus all of those area of effect attacks on the single individual?

Guardians of Folly. The merchant prince Kjartan once bestrode the world like a Jotun, his fleets brought treasures from far off exotic ports, his words were heeded by both king and thrall, his charisma could make an ally of the bitterest enemy, and the most expensive of courtesans considered it an honour to grace his bedchamber. Truly the gods seemed to grace his luminous soul. His fall was meteoric. In the deepest forests of the Dyrwood, in a place holy to the Orlan, where a fallen star rested, Kjartan found his doom. He was enraptured. Here at last was something that he could not unravel, a mystery from the heavens, surely sent to test him alone. So he bent all of his will to the task, in dream and waking he contested with the unknowable powers that slumbered there, and slowly but surely answers began to come. Years he lingered there, vast resources he brought to bear, and a strange home he began to build upon that fallen star. It was a place of madness, impossible angles, insane geometries, pointless passageways and stairways that ascended into emptiness. A half constructed ruin that disturbed and disquieted, a place of soaring towers so ethereal and baeutiful they enchanted the eye. It was a dream brought to life, or maybe a nightmare. A paradox fashioned from a thousand different stones, at the roots of which the heavens lay. Kjartan waited there in his bejewelled gilt throne, so ornate as to shame the emperor of Vaillia, the great hall about him an empty roofless hovel, a spoilpit of fallen and misshaped stone. Winds battered him, snow gathered about his feet, rain soaked him to the bone and the sun baked his flesh, he paid them no mind. He ate enough to stay alive, he talked enough to demand more money of his bankers, he showed enough anger to ensure his great work was continued. Everything else was forgotten, for the riddle still vexed him. Every answer birthed ten more questions, but there were hints, signs and patterns emerging, a symmetry slowly beginning to reveal itself. Truth, untarnished and immortal, a concept so beautiful he wept at even the slighest glimpse of understanding. His trade empire was a crude, ill wrought and ugly thing in comparison, his past achievements were as nothing to the labours he now pursued. He abandoned it all, sold off everything for whatever price he could gain. The money bought slaves, architects, artists and resources from across the world, so the dreamscape about his desolate hall began to spread, a place of power built according to a geometry none could comprehend. But in his dreams he walked its halls, and they were correct, as they should be, as they must be, resounding with the song of a million spheres in alignment. The outside world gave his stronghold a name, Kjartan's Folly, and when he heard this whispered in the minds of his workers he laughed until blood fell from his eyes. This was the only work that mattered, had ever mattered. Kjartan arose from his throne, body wasted away to near death, and demanded that all see what he saw. A thousand men, women and children were bound to him that day, enslaved by his terrible will, and the promise they saw at the heart of his madness. Relentlessly they laboured, neither eating or drinking, until death took them. Then they laboured on, free of the flesh. The shadows of Kjartan's Folly spread across that lonely dale in the Dyrwood, and reality shuddered like air heated over a fire. Kjartan smiled. Then the Dyrwood swallowed them. Travellers in the deep Dyrwood may sometimes see the shadow of tall impossible spires spreading over the forests, or twist and turn wracked by dreams of such a place, and feel a hint of terrible madness raving at the corner of their minds, of endless illogical halls stretching off in every direction at the corner of their eyes. At such times they will be joined by a quiet Orlan, and decide that their course must change. They will leave immediately, turning aside from the path they previously pursued. The Orlan will nod, content that Kjartan's Folly remains undiscovered.

Guts barbarian incarnate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akrIUNjt7zE Well I don't think that it will be that silly, why is that male model named after the stomach?

I donated simply because Obsidian are one of the few developers making games that actually innovate, i'd have donated whatever they announced, The Sith Lords, MOTB, Alpha Protocol and New Vegas earned them a shot in my eyes. The infinity engine games were good to excellent, but I thought in many ways games such as Ultima, Wizardry, Krondor and Darklands were equal if not superior in certain aspects.

[infinity mentality on]Circumvent encounters and lose loot? Valuable loot? It's like skipping undersea section in BG2 en route to Underdark...AND LOSING CLOAK OF MIRRORING? CLOAK OF MIRRORING! [infinity mentality off] Which is as it should be! There's only ever 3 reasons to kill something in a good RPG 1) Loot 2) Experience 3) Story I'd be completely happy with a complex system that gives you #2 and Perhaps #3 by successfully avoiding the enemy. But #1 Should be sacred ground. The best, most powerful magic items should only be earned through blood. There should be NO way to acquire something like a Hammer of Thunderbolts or a Staff of the Magi without killing someone powerful who's using it against you. Items like that lose all their value if they just fall from the sky and into your hands, or if all it takes to acquire them is to walk into a shop and buy them, or sneak past an enemy to steal it from his cabinet or whatever. Or even worse: Pick his pocket and take the powerful, legendary-level weapon. Oh I don't know, you could have something like a trap filled labyrinth (perhaps an entire level of the Endless Paths?) built for the sole reason of guarding one of the treasures of Od Nua. Dangerous and deadly, but totally enemy free, make a nice change from more waves of Golems and Undead. I'm thinking something like a Raiders of the Lost Ark scenario. You could have a Ciphers weapon, a secret kept by the greatest of the mind mages across time, hidden in the minds of selected individuals. That the cunning seeker must plumb and puzzle through to attain his prize. A Chanter could find snatches of an ancient saga scratched into the ruins of various Glenfathan structures, and slowly piece together a chant of astonishing power through logical deduction and guesswork. And of course much exploration. A Paladin or Cleric, famed for their devotion to the cause and their unstinting zeal, might be gifted with the sacred weapon of their order. The newest weilder in a long line of storied heroes and heroines. A Fighter who has proven himself to be the finest weapon master of his generation, deadly and wise in the arts of war, might be awarded one of the legendary weapons of the Grim Brotherhood. Something like the Heron swords from Wheel of Time, a mark of mastery and undoubted potency.

Adore this idea of finite health whatever your stamina, hopefully it will really make combat a dangerous proposition, as it should be. Still one assumes the camps are still available to fall back to, if one feels the risk is too extreme.

I suppose you could have a vocal or text warning from the groups wizard or other arcane class, alerting you to powerful magic being weilded by the enemy. A passive ability perhaps? Or maybe the rogue spots an item of undoubtable value while scouting?

Ha, most amusing Cultist. I guess the truth is that the book in IWD2 is correct, and we are all neutral evil.

In a few of the sagas shirts of mail "which no weapon may pierce" are mentioned, I always wondered whether these were inspired by Varangians bringing back advanced (comparatively) armour from Miklgard.

Considering Geralt's profession I was a little surprised by how little combat there was in Assassins of Kings, in comparison it was miniscule to the usual rpg, where we are interrupted every few yards by rote slaughter. Refreshing to say the least.

I do believe I remember a developer of the Witcher 2 saying much the same thing in an interview, that he liked to play on the sofa with a gamepad. For that I agree the controller is a more viable solution, it's perfect for relaxed fun. I wouldn't risk playing with a controller in an insane runthrough however.

I've got to admit i'm very worried about these preferred role mechanics, especially with their aping of Dragon Age 2 and World of Warcraft. With Barbarians now being ideal for trash mobs not bosses, fighters being meat shields and rogues being the damage dealers of choice. I just can't see how exactly a Barbarian is supposed to hit multiple foes, or a rogue untrained in arms, armour and one on one combat can suddenly match the damage output of a well armed and trained man at arms. Personally i'd prefer if the Rogue were a master at misdirecting, crippling and weakening the enemy, with the option of a killing stroke if the enemy should be severely incapacitated. The Barbarian be the high risk and high reward warrior, the classic berserker whom terrifies opponents maybe with his bloodlust, perhaps feeds on the pain of other in direct opposition to the monk. While the fighter is the master of damage and duelling, an expert at taking down whichever foe he's focusing on, rather than being a soldier and shieldbearer. With perhaps the Paladin taking the role of damage sponge and attention puller, to work in tandem with his buffing, an anchor for the party. However I will add that i've not played the rules as implemented by Mr Sawyer and co. so my worries may be totally baseless, and their vision the optimal and fun method of resolving combat in Eternity.

Personally I found mouse and keyboard far more responsive and precise than a controller, my arena score with m&k was a few hundred thousand points higher than with controller. May just be my preference, but i'll definitely be playing the third game with m&k.

Sorry C2B. In principle I agree PrimeJunta, that's partly the reason why I walked away from the Letho battle, combat is getting as overused and tiresome as superheroes, vampires and zombies.

I thought Dungeon Siege 3 had a very good ending, it wrapped up all of the narrative threads and introduced all of the changes that the last legionnaires had ushered in, while setting up further conflicts and hints of something deeper behind the scenes. I think what made the ending for me was not just how personal it was, but the foreshadowing and hints laid throughout the game that suddenly all came together. It made sense and seemed revelatory, something I always enjoy. Other fine denouements in my opinion: Soul Reaver 2, a whirlwind of revelations and empowerment, self referential and byzantine in its unashamed complexity. Alpha Protocol, specifically the magnificent bastard ending, where Mr Thornton quietly takes control using the tools other thought to use against him. New Vega, reactivity up the yin yang, a clear demonstration that games are at their best when interactivity is key. Ultima 4, 5 & 6 brilliant and moral approaches to conflict resolution, that are underscored by the inevitable return to the mundane. Torment, obviously. Fallout, multiple approaches and a believable antagonist, whose pride and hubris in his urge to do good were his undoing. The Witcher, a brilliant turnaround, a righteous condemnation of a monster that is suddenly revealed to be the child you failed. The Witcher 2, not in itself the best of endings, but it allows us to do that rarest of things, simply walk away. To me after so many forced nonsensical boss battles, that was gloriously refreshing. Apathy may be death but sometimes it is also freedom.

Well I endured it for sixty hours or so, something must have been enjoyable to me though i've yet to figure out what, so I didn't wish to absolutely dismiss it. It might have been the boots and gauntlets, they were very well animated.

I like a good open world game, such as Ultima 7 but I do believe that ones actions have to be acknowledged in game for them to matter, like for instance the amount of cranium rats you've killed marking you out as a murderer when confronting Many as One or the Wererat assassin sent to kill the rat collector when his bounties begin to take effect on their plans in Torment. These little moments of reactivity are great fun to me, and make me feel that i'm not spectating but actually participating. Too little of these and I feel like there's no real point or reaction to anything I do. It's also important that i'm given logical choices that I would choose, some games one can play through the entirety of and never see a choice one would take, instead being nudged on by the plot insisting "BUT THOU MUST!" The Witcher 2 dealt with this refreshingly, in that it let me die when I made the wrong decisions in a dangerous situation. Clear choice and consequence. Personally i've never played an Obsidian game where I thought all of the choices were hilariously stupid, and I was being forced down a path I didn't want to go, they seem to cater for the most common logical responses. There's a vast difference between a range of logical choices and consequences being implemented, and every choice you make leading to the same senseless point, because the developers want to make a cinematic experience rather than an interactive one. Just because the player is restricted to the developers gameworld doesn't mean that he must be told the narrative rather than participate, and make a difference, in it. If the developers want a cinematic experience over an interactive one, simply make a film rather than a game. That for me is the difference between Mr Avellones and Mr Gaiders quotes, and certainly seems to be the difference in their games. In ME2 I was forced to join Cerberus for no good reason, flying in the face of the fact that i'd been happily slaughtering the incompetent terrorists throughout the first game, and still had not forgiven them for Admiral Kahoku's murder. In DA2 I had no real control over the player whatsoever, I could not speak to family or friends, I did not know what i'd be saying whether of upper, middle or lower right morality and I had no logical choices throughout the game. The game forced me to play as an idle, murderous, thieving, incompetent who had no initiative or incentive, and certainly had no effect on the plot, many may hail this as a good thing but personally that's not for me. That said I did enjoy playing both games, I obviously had to get rid of the utterly annoying caricatures that passed for companions in DA2 first, but after that apart from the ridiculous combat the game was tolerable. Edit: I've got to admit that I quit laughing and pressed the awesome button (uninstall) just before the end when the McGuffin slave Meredith shot up into space. Did she ever come back down, or did she reach escape velocity?

I'm often surprised how different my Nameless is to so many others, not just in alignment, build or the mechanical but in how he saw things and what answers he gave. For instance his answer to Ravel's question, his choice of companions and interactions with them, his method of dealing with the Transcendant One in a manner that felt correct, and even how he judged his punishment battling in the shadow of Khin Oin. I've got to admit that I was a little discontented with the denouement of both the Sith Lords and MotB, because I believed that Kreia was right and so was Kaelyn, and even if the force and wall were invulnerable one should still try to tear them down. I suspect however that Obsidian were not entirely free to go that far in their approaches due to outside influences, a pity though.

I really can't count the times that my old hound has woken up from snoozing on my slippered feet, to look at me in puzzlements as i've dispatched yet another dozen or so wolves. I think it's the realistically recorded dying yips that upset him so, and i've got to admit I feel a bit like that well known butcher Lara Croft as she hunts down the worlds few remaining endangered species. Bit distasteful considering how few recorded wolf attacks on mankind have ever occured

Yes I hate loot with a passion, however I realise that i'm in a minority and there's no real use bringing the subject up, as the vast majority of players find real satisfaction and progression in collecting tat. Personally i'd prefer an inventory like in the first Witcher game, where I can only carry a few weapons and no armour other than what i'm wearing as well as a few trinkets in my pack. That will probably never be implemented again however.

The horror!

Doesn't look or sound like my kind of thing, the more epic and awesome a plot, the less I usually find myself caring. I may buy when it's on sale, if the reviews from trusted sources are approving and of course if it's not restricted to Origins.

I recall another rather well handled manipulation for the more practical of characters was the deception of Kaelyn the Dove, one could convince the powerful cleric that our aid was unstinting and our support unyielding, and yet it was all a tissue of lies. That felt very much like rolepleying the Deionarra confrontation with the Practical incarnation of Nameless, an extremely merciless and quite frankly repulsive thing to do, but totally in line for a character who is pursuing his own agenda without regard for the consequences affecting anyone else.

Ah yes I remember the Warm Ring reference now, much obliged.