Nonek

Had an hour or two to myself and been playing a nice little third person shooter, Rogue Trooper, based on the old 2000ad comic strip. It's actually quite good, but like many modern properties fails to wring enough juice out of its subject matter. Like with that Space Marine game, I kept wanting to delve more deeply into the surrounding world and setting but was restricted to linear levels and plot progression. Too much formula, not enough ambition.

Did the Templar chick with the McGuffin sword ever come down after she blasted off into space, I quit at that point and uninstalled, so I occasionally wonder if she achieved escape velocity.

I assume the word "hackneyed" rubs your rhubarb somewhat Volourn, I do apologise. I have similar reservations about "actually", always seems a little condescending, probably just me projecting though. Got to admit a touch of bias here, I was never the biggest fan of Mr Greenwoods backyard, and though i'll admit that Shadows of Amn was a rollicking good adventure i'm still not particularly enchanted with the setting. I prefer more grimdark or out there properties, such as Warhammer frp or Athas, Abeir Toril always seemed a little middle of the road. Mind you i'll still be picking it up, if only for the warm feelings of nostalgia and Korgan Bloodaxe's homicidal mumblings.

For some reason the Gnome/Crab people de-militarised zone concept art had me howling with laughter, tickled my funny bone.

Got to agree, went on that Bioware Social Network place once to solve a problem I was having in Dragon Age, the fans there seem a little...avid for wont of a better word.

In my day we didn't hold with such complicated frippery, we just relied on regular appointments with Madam Palm and her five lovely daughters, as well as regular drubbings on the rugger field. Whenever the black dog was on me, one of these two solutions always worked. Or a good smack around the jowels, bracing.

An acquaintance of mine who's still heavily involved with the hobby posits that a part of the essence of Bhaal is still bound to the waters rushing under the Boarskeyr bridge in Cormyr, do you think this could be used as a springboard from which to resurrect the franchise while still maintaining a certain level of creative continuity? Seems a little hackneyed to me.

Thankyou Mr Ever.

Might sound slightly entitled and well outright spoiled but since this is an enhanced edition, do those who already own the game recieve this as a free download, like with the Witcher games or is it a paid for mod? I'm not advocating either possibility mind you, just wondering.

Well Nolans Batman could probably make quite a killing in the obscene phone call business.

I worked for a year in our Glasgow offices, the reception I recieved as an Englishman venturing north of the border somewhat inured me to profanity and sheer scathing hatred. Our Pictish brethren have a natural affinity for frustrated, white faced fury and inventive obscenity that leaves most internet bigotry seeming a little tame in comparison. Just ignore the gentlemen responsible, one is only responsible for ones own behaviour.

Don't know if I was spoiled a little bit by having played the Black Gate beforehand, but I was not particularly impressed by Baldurs Gate and its engine upon debut.Though i'll admit it was very slick, graphically stunning and easy to use, there seemed to be too many missing features in comparison to the Ultima games engines that were made almost a decade before. In point of fact it seems almost every iteration of story driven rpgs has been removing features ever since, usually with the disclaimer that they're improving their core features and trimming the fat. Becoming a little tasteless, they need a little of that attention to detail and distraction back, in my own humble opinion of course. Saying that the real time with pause combat was infinitely superior to Ultimas automated combat.

I sometimes wonder if these "exclusive" dlc's are running contrary to the basic nature of rpg enthusiasts? Making broad, sweeping and ill informed generalisations, i'd say that your average rpg-er is somewhat of a completionist and a micro manager, thus the popularity of meaningless achievement hunting on Steam and such. In fact i'd say that i'm a little OCD about completing games, trawling through every quest and conversation so that I might experience the entire product. Exclusive dlc seems to fly in the face of this, we're left feeling that our playthrough is incomplete and unfinished even if the missing content is meaningless and trivial. Perhaps there is another way of offering this content? Unlocks upon game completion for instance, thus incentivising another playthrough, encouraging customer good will and keeping the product (and any future expansion packs and dlc) forefront in the players mind.

Seems like the gentleman has found something to obsess over, that's not the hard part. It's letting go, ask Dean Domino.

Enjoying a spot of Trine, saw it on GOG and I thought i'd give it a shot. Very pretty, but i'm not so enamoured with all the jumping and physics puzzles, just not my thing seemingly. It did make me think that I wouldn't mind a nice, side scrolling rpg. Something along the lines of Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project, but with less of the emphasis on jumping and enemies and more on exploration, loot and storytelling. Shame that nobody's developing such a thing.

Yes but we've got luminous condoms, thus all the downsides of modern society are counter balanced.

Watched Ralph Bakshi's animated Lord of the Rings today, got a cold so I fancied some comfort viewing. Surprisingly I like the film in some ways more than the Peter Jackson ones: The Nazgul are a rather disturbing bunch here, twisted, shadowy and terrifying. John Hurts broken but strong voice just suits Aragorn far more than Mr Mortenssons and Frodo's far less of a coward, more like the brave little fellow in the books. Samwise's a bit odd though.

Indubitably.

Severance: Blade of Darkness. Why hasn't anybody made a fighting game this bloody good? Stick a deep Obsidian plot and setting onto this fighting mechanic and i'd give up the missus and bairns to play it. Admirredly that's not saying much, i'd swap them for a few ounces of fine pipe shag.

Well i've got no idea how Diablo 3's auction house holds up, not having acquired the game, but that seems to cover certain similar ground as well as the gifting service of digital distribution services. Seems eminently do-able, and mayhap somewhat profitable.

Yes i've still got all my old Ultima feelies and maps, they're rather a part of me. A lot of games on Steam i'd be more than happy to give away for a pittance however, still I understand your point. Is that Kerr Avon? If so much respect sir.

I think what the gentleman was trying to say was that they wouldn't be interested in selling on the product if they were completely happy with it, so if they are selling, then by extension they believe themselves to have paid too much (and are trying to reimburse themselves somewhat.)

I'm in total agreement with you there Orogun, the publishers have been making all kinds of nonsensical moves for a long time, and are still hung up on piracy being the real enemy. However i'd not ask for a change in pricing, merely a change in what percentages of current prices go to whom. Of course I realise that publishers and retailers would fight this tooth and nail, as it infringes on their profit margins at a time of market instability, and no doubt try to pass price rises on to the consumer. Still it seems the right thing to do.

Fair point I admit, if i've purchased a product then it's mine to do with as I wish in theory. Barring certain copyright infringements. However I still think that developers should be accruing some form of compensation for older titles that are still being sold, GOG and Steams back catalogue includes many classic games that the publisher must have been re-imbursed for. A percentage of profits form these transactions should surely be going to the actual creators. As well as retailer re-releases and value lines. Seems a trifle unfair as it stands.

With the recent judgement by the european court of justice on gamers rights to own and sell on the property they purchase, i'm left thinking that though good for clarifying a buyers rights and actually challenging all the restrictive articles we see in EULA's, it may prolong or possibly exacerabate the poor treatment developers recieve from publishers and retailers. Publisher take a financial risk in developing a game, this cannot be argued but to say that developers do not is ludicrous, surely both parties should be re-imbursed to some extent for every sale AND re-sale of their intellectual properties. Thus i'd propose a system somewhat like the royalties used by music publishers, so that re-sales are not just enriching retailers but actually putting a little financial assistance in the pockets of the creators. Obviously this would be an enormously complex undertaking, but it seems rather prohibitive for this portion of the entertainment industry to be so prohibitively ignored. What are your thoughts?