Nonek

As I pointed out earlier however it's Imoen who springs you from Irenicus' prison at the beginning of the game, thus making you the damsel in distress and your later rescue more a matter of payback. I agree with Malcador however this is largely mountain out of molehill piffle.

Then again the vast majority of the populace in Thedas would be slaves to the agrarian feudal monarchy, peasants and serfs etcetera, whose working and living conditions are far more harsh than the mages living conditions. So would the mages really want to live amongst their brethren, worked to exhaustion, bound to the lords lands, and judged as chattel to be sold with the land they work. It certainly wouldn't be freedom, just a harsher and more exhausting form of slavery.

Fair point sir.

To be honest I find Biowares handling of women to a little reprehensible, none of them are able to resolve their own difficulties, they're incompetent in anything but slaughter, they're so stupid they wear shirts into combat in a sea side city where they would suffer from hypothermia within a half hour, they're morally vacuous and will not leave the protagonist whatever actions he takes, they come and go at his bidding for years at a time placing their lives on the line at his say so, and they sell their favours for trinkets like common street walkers. Basically they're slaves. I found this to be utterly sickening in Dragon Age 2 and the missus was also a little perturbed by it, the courtship quest of the incompetent guardswoman was especially galling, a grown widow woman who cannot even approach a man openly but once again needs the protagonists shepherding, utterly absurd. Bioware needs to really step up in this department. It spoiled my enjoyment of the game to the point where I had to jettison every character from my party, though in fairness the males were not handled much more successfully and were equally risible, and I winced every time they'd be forcefully reinserted into my presence.

Technicolour bear god or spectral schizophrenic soul devourer, decisions, decisions.

So Britain, Spain and France all claimed them long before Argentina, seems like the best thing to do in that case is leave the matter in the islanders own hands as the recent vote has just done. As you say it's a shame the Argentinian occupiers didn't get the right to decide their own fate then, so why deny the occupants that right now?

Watching the tropes versus women video and I was left with a rather poor impression, this comment seems to sum it up: Dry as dust pointless rehash of games history for the first ten minutes, badly needs editing and some direction. On podium preaching towards the last few minutes, rather clumsily handled, very condescending. Needs better subject matter than a couple of childs games. Drop the ridiculous earrings. Needs better diction from the presenter they've hired, sounds a little whiny, might try a trained actress with recieved pronunciation. Needs the issue examined from all sides not just a female feminist one, either by an objective opinion or an opposing argument, otherwise the few points she makes are just preaching. The man playing as Damsel in Distress is merely swept aside, but anyone familiar with gaming will recall being rescued repeatedly by women friends such as: Kreia, Deoinarra, Annah of the Shadows, Ravel Puzzlewell, Flemeth, Morrigan, Imoen, Bastila Shan, Mona Sax, Victoria from Thief, Triss Merigold, Saskia, Philippa Eilheart and I could go on. Bloated and needs more bullet points, emphasising key arguments along the way. In summation i'm not very impressed, this issue needs a better more concise spokeperson and far higher production values and editing, i'm at a loss as to where the kickstarter money has been utilised. Edit: Oh and I notice the young lady said crap at one point, resorting to profanity on a subject is not the way, cut that out of the script.

If referencing the conflict of 1982 I would say not particularly, the islanders remained as before the conflict staunchly loyal to their British origins, and there was not a large enough Argentinean presence to kick out or bully. That said the islands history is long and wracked with circumstance, so I cannot be sure which war you are referencing.

There is probably some now non existent tribe that "discovered" the islands back in history, if not then it was probably first noted by Portugese mariners. All of them have nothing whatsoever to do with the people who are living there now, and they should be the only ones deciding their own fate, as they have clearly and unequivocally done. Rule by an unwanted foreign power for the sake of a particular group of settlers (one of many) from centuries past is rather absurd.

Simple concepts over-elaborated, brevity is not their enemy.

I've got to say I did like the hints that were handed out over the course of the game in Arcanum, that the world had been involved in some kind of metaphysical coexistence with another realm of pure thought and magic, which might possibly be the void, and that this interaction had caused the supernatural selection process of Arcanum. It was handled very subtly, but with a pleasing pay off, as I was left wondering what effect the dwarves machine you use to return to Arcanum would have on the world. The broken world of Dungeon Siege 3's 10th Legion causeways also fascinated me as well, hinting at far more than it revealed. The shadow realm of Mask of the Betrayer is also of course absolutely brilliant, a refreshingly bold move on the developers part, to make that mechanic so central to the story, reminded me of Raziels spectral plane in the Legacy of Kain games.

Oh sweet Lord yes please.

If handled poorly I agree they can be immensely fourth wall breaking, however I think Mr Sawyer does this quite well, I was pleasantly surprised by another branching of Ravels incarnations being present in the dockside prologue of Icewind Dale 2, and it fit seamlessly.

Wouldn't mind a little intro/tutorial vignette before the Event befalls us, a nod to our past lives and motivations, if it fits in with what the devs are aiming for. If there are masses of backgrounds, feats and skills to choose from at character creation however I don't see how every variation can be easily catered for, unless we get some sort of forced implementation. Drafted, enslaved or what have you, which I usually am not exactly a fan of.

Lets see there's Torment, Ultima iv-vii, the Witchers, The Sith Lords, New Vegas, Mask of the Betrayer, Krondor, and a few other real oldies. I guess what appeals to me about them is not just the writing, though a logical and well plotted narrative is something I consider to be essential, but the sense of a living and internally consistent world. Take Torment for example: Why would Nameless wear heavy armour when a little trinket can achieve the same task as the heaviest of harness, or Grace who naturally in rebelling against her heritage chooses to become a puritanical seeker of mental sensation. The Transcendant Ones simple desire to kill you once more at the cost of a companions life and send you back to begin again, thus extending the cycle that ensures his longevity. With aid from Nordom you can even realise that your memories are not lost with each death but are taken by Him and his shadows, though you can work this out yourself if you pay attention to the previous incarnations speaking of being deathless and yet maintaining their personality. Yes as well as logical, well plotted narratives, and internally consistent worlds that one can easily lose themseleves in I also consider subtlety of presentation to be something desirable: Whether in the presentation of underlying themes such as the moral absolutism of Warriors of Destiny or the nature of monstrosity in the Witcher. The presentation of characters, such as the tormented and conflicted cast of Torment or the many faults, strengths and ideals that motivate the players in the Sith Lords, and the reasonable motivations that drive the Witchers antagonists to such depths of depravity. Edit: Oh and Severance because the combat system still hasn't been bested, immensely enjoyable to thrash a goblin with its chums limbs.

Finally finished the big stodgy main course of Neverwinter Nights 2, now on to the delightfully sinful, rich and dark dessert of Mask. Yum, yum.

Null. There is a man who stands on the street corner, dressed in the rags of a beggar and stinking of sweat and urine he would seem to be just another member of the great unwashed masses, but something is different about him. Maybe it is his thousand yard stare, his stillness, the thugs who do not bother him or maybe the space that everybody maintains from his presence. He stands out, even on the most crowded of streets, and he is repellent. Even watching him causes your ire to rise, and disgust to build in your throat, something about him is deeply unnatural. A Cipher passing by will suffer far worse symptoms, he will grow sick and dizzy, and have to take cover behind the walls of his art while the dead eyes of the Null turn in his direction. The man thing will begin to walk through the parting crowds intent on his prey and the Cipher will try to run, not fight or strike out but just get away, for what he sees coming towards him is simply death. Nothing living stands there, there is no soul inhabiting that body, only a terrible will and a hint of some cancerous presence. If the Null should lose its prey then it will simply come to a stop and stand waiting once more, patient and still. If the creature should touch the Cipher however, with as little as a finger, then they shall duel for a single moment of eternity, and if the creature wins then two Null shall stand where there was once one, before walking of in opposite directions. If the Cipher manages to stave off the creatures mental assault and maintain the sanctity of his mind, then the Null will stand idly by and wait for a less stubborn foe, while the Cipher staggers away sickened and weak. The Cipher will not talk about it, only the ocassional mad man has muttered ought of the Null. Telling tales of minds that were overtaken by the darkness beyond the stars, of wills broken reaching too far into their own souls and beholding the infinite, of a parasitical gestalt entity that swarms and multiplies under the very noses of humanity. Lies, fever dreams or truth who can tell?

Aye these modern bloody millionaires with their space trips and their technological innovations, in my day we made do with champagne, laudanum, societal repression and expensive escorts, and we were thankful for it i'll have you know!

Sorry, I loved me some Ultima back in the day but I like to do my RPG's in the old fashioned way, anti-social and antiquated. I'm also not financially supporting a multi millionaire, who can pop off into space ocassionally.

I'd be perfectly happy if they dropped the Torment name before the game came out, they'll have got the backing by that time and established that this is a spiritual successor, liked Dragon Age used Baldurs Gate as a namecheck. Numenera is a more than good enough name on its own, and certainly sounds very interesting as a gameworld, so if they are successful and manage to secure a sequel it would make sense to have it be another Numenera titled game, rather than Torment. Still not a big thing to me, i'll gladly Paypal £35 for any new RPG that's not following the same trajectory as most of the AAA developers, they don't seem to want to cater to my tastes.

This is a brilliant idea, don't know if it's implementable but I like it. How about the Dane Axe as sported by the Vikings and Saxon huscarls, a very light, thin but broad blade having a perk such as: Butchery (double damage against lightly armoured and un-armoured foes.) Perfect for rogues and the mounts of cavalry.

I'm in the same boat as the OP in that I was never as impressed with BG as others were, i'd just finished a mammoth Ultima runthrough (iv-viii) when I first picked it up and the comparison was not flattering, there were a whole host of features and interactivity that were missing from the Infinity engine. Interactivity with the enviroment, weather, npc schedules, vittles etcetera, etcetera, the genre seemed to have taken a giant step back. Then again in truth I never particularly cared for the Forgotten Realms setting, too overpowered, and D&D while a nice starter system just grates on you the more experience you have with it. Still BG3 was better and Torment was sublime.

Okay we'll have your tax dodgers but please take back Madonna. Pretty please.

I used the term Evil Ascendant for EA Tale, but I can't claim that's mine, I stumbled upon it on the Witcher forums a while back.

I guess i'm just old fashioned that in a time of diminishing returns and sales I can't see any reason to be restricting players access to products, trying to intrude on their passtimes or dictating the times when they can access it. In my mind if sales are slumping, then pile it high and sell it cheap on the players terms, not on your own. They're the ones with the wallet, and should be respected and catered to not blamed. Seems only GOG does this.