Nonek

And the dukes and minor nobility of Normandy were descended from Ganga Hrolf (travelling Rolf) and his followers, a rather fiercesome chap who was so successful in his viking raids that the frankish kings bought him off by ceding Normandy to him and his people. A few historians consider the Norman conquests as a continuation of the viking age, the hardy, warlike and vigorous Normanni aristocracy adapting over time.

When we've stolen all the foreigners tea and not before! No seriously, have you seen and heard our women, we've got to have something to get us out of the house after tiffin. Might as well partake of the old hercules ride to a rumble, otherwise how would the world remember to loathe us with fitting vigour. Plus the price of a season tickets bloody criminal nowadays, so other diversions are needed.

Dear Mr Penn. My government of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland have thought long and hard on your comments about colonialism, we have come to the following conclusion: We're not taking advice from a man who willingly decided to marry Madonna. Yours sincerely. Lizzy Windsor. P.S. Sod off shortarse. P.P.S. When is your bloody ex leaving.

Thinking about it a good way to introduce replayability would be multiple quest routes, say you're trying to infiltrate the castle of Lord Murdo Mc Murderpants: You could be shown a path across the rooftops to an unguarded window by the black hand, the legendary noble thieves of the city. With a nod and a wink to a beggar you could have a key dropped into your palm for the sewers, where the enigmatic Beggarmaster holds court. Staking out the local taverns you could mug a drunken guard and pinch his uniform, before rolling up to the postern gate in a cloud of alcohol fumes to demand entrance for your shift. Or you could have found out about the secret tunnels running from the graveyard to the castles cellars from studying at the libraries of the silent brotherhood, a reclusive sect of monks hiding many secrets. Each of these paths could be fraught with dangers and atmosphere, running from shadow to shadow across the rooftops, the danger of slipping to your death or being spotted by archers and ventilated if you stay too long in the moonlight. Diseases and great swarms of rats (that you must shake off or put to flight with fire or else be borne under by hundreds of squirming bodies) as you wade through the putresence of the sewers. The quick, brutal murder of innocent guardsmen before nervously crossing the courtyard keeping your distance from the other patrolling guards and their fields of view lest you be shot by the crossbowmen above or worse mobbed and overwhelmed to awaken in the torture chambers with Murdo gloating through prison bars. A mix of Deus Ex's numerous paths and Alpha Protocols faction alliances.

Give the protagonist a field of view? You've got a fog of war covering any area yet unexplored, the door your character approaches is just that, a door with seeming blackness beyond. Cue dramatic heartbeat music as you notice blood and scratches on the floor, you interact with them and find them still fresh. Suddenly a huge slam against the door shakes it in its hinges and something beyond growls horribly. You arrange your party order, before pulling open the door to have a freshly gnawed corpse fall through with a trail of blood and chewed viscera leading from it to a nearby tunnel. There are old broken bones strewn along that trail. Just build up the tension so your mind creates the monster, should work even in isometric. Cripes remember the sound of babies crying in the original Diablo, think it was the catacombs, bloody disturbing.

Please not zombies, i'm bloody sick of the rotters. Or Vampires. Thought the Broodmother in Origins was rather spiffing in horror terms, shame about the rest of the deep roads. Not a big horror fan but i'm all for more survival aspects though and a well realised setting that embraces verisimillitude, rather than the overly stylised and exaggerated.

Isn't Dead Money somewhat of a survival horror?

I'm glad my Shepard's dead.

It would be rather refreshing to see the fantastical species (elves, dwarves etcetera) ejected in favour of different races of humans, and add an all too needed amount of racial diversity to the genre. I'm a little sick of the white skinned, dark haired, blue eyed hero with varying degrees of facial hair who seems to be an omipresent factor in almost all games.

I'd like to see a magic system that is not in any way, shape or form magical. Alchemy, science and trickery applied by clever minds and cunning sleight of hand. The fireball throwing mage is hurling an explosive grenade, his staff of power is an antiquated long rifle, his long robes hides a number of ingenious inventions and gadgets. A regular Archimedes of Syracuse whose understanding of the natural world has produced wonders that seems utterly fantastical.

I'd happily chip in a few bob on any game Obsidian chose to make, from Kreia's struggle to escape a binary tyranny to Jayne Kassynder's betrayal of herself and her people, your games have proven to be engrossing and thought provoking in equal measures. A rare things in this era of accessibility and demographics chasing. What i'd really like to see is a struggle versus prophecy, a character who will not accept the mantle of a "chosen one". Who will proclaim, like Patrick McGoohan in the Prisoner. "I will not make any deals with you. I've resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered! My life is my own!" An inversion of the glorious rise to championhood, where the pawn of prophecy will turn on his otherwordly eminences and tear down their palaces. Refusing to accept the little victories or to meekly accept martyrdom for the greater good. Somewhat like the magnificent bastard "coat pocket" ending of Alpha Protocol.

Whilst perusing the Witcher forums for mods, I came across this rather biting piece of ribaldry: This just in: Renowned video game developers Bioware/EA have announced that despite creating over one thousand seperate pieces of downloadable and pre order content for their latest eagerly awaited masterpiece, they have forgotten to make the ACTUAL game. One Mass Effect 4 developer who has been on the crunch since disco admitted that the game just got overlooked. "Dude, we were just so busy coding various tat for nickle and diming the suckers that we kind of forgot there WAS a game." An EA executive when asked for comment announced that all dlc will be fully playable in other games and that there are no plans to actually release Mass Effect 4, because and I qoute: "We've allready made more cash selling a non existent product to our discerning customers than Michael Jacksons plastic surgeon, so screw 'em." Fan reaction has been mixed with many long term fan stating that this was just a matter of time, however a large and vocal majority of fans (the Dragon Age 2 Fan Troop or 2 D.A.F.T.) have come out defending Bioware's corner. Stating that the developers are implementing all their dlc in other cross promotional games and that players shouldn't have the temerity to ask for an actual stand alone game, 2 Daft have called for the imprisonment and eventual execution of anyone caught criticising or not offering blood sacrifice to their lord and god, a move which EA has stated that they are considering for their next end user license agreement. In this reporters opinion the assault course, kidnapping, robbery and torture that are required in the current eula are enough, but it seems that the pirate menace which funds terrorism and the drug trade (which EA are currently trying to corner the market on) may drive the publisher to develop such stern measures. As always this is the Dirk Thrustington AI, bringing you your future news. Give us a minute and we'll condense ten thousand years of history into easily manageable soundbites. Bit harsh but rather amusing.

Thinking about it i've been playing Eric Cartman in rpg's for quite a few years now.

Enjoyed your work immensely sir, good fortune at Blizzard.

I will say this, the entire Collector plot will be far more viable if earth is lost in the third game. Those colonies and settlers Shep saved will be the future of mankind, doubt Bioware will follow that path however, it's a little bold. Can't see how the population of earth will resist the reapers psychic death rays, seems a much more effective weapon than the big dakka.

Have a nice cup of tea and a choccy biccy sir, I find the mood always improve after a good brew.

Only plot hole that I could see was why Shep would calmly accept Cerberus's aid in the first place, with admiral Kahoku's widow and children still very much in mind, and that became all the more galling when meeting Alenko. On the whole I thought it was a rollicking good ride and I think that dying in the suicide mission is a perfectly valid ending to the games. I'd have liked Shep's ressurection to have affected him in at least some way, but that didn't spoil my enjoyment. Didn't trust the menagerie at all, with the exception of Garrus.

Yes, I just made a point to prioritise the mission and its urgency over crewmate loyalty and resource gathering. I'd stop to do a few side missions if in system but totally avoid any therapy sessions with the menagerie, I trawled every inch of the first game so I thought i'd try something different for the second (and luckily enough I started off with a fair wad of resources from the level 60 import.)

Rather a brave decision on the makers part, to dissuade certain players from partaking of the third game. Thinking about it I actually approve, still shame i'll not get to finish the trilogy, but these things are sent to try us. At least i'll avoid Chobot's nasal whining, silver lining and that.

Oh, well that's rather a waste of twenty hours, seems a wee bit rum but thank you anyway Nepenthe much appreciated.

So this Vincent Vega chap, is he going to be the protagonist for those of us who lost Mr Shepard at the Collector base? Or will they be using the old lazarus elastoplasts again.

Really? They've hired Jessica Chobot, the woman with the most god awful accent in christendom as a voice actress! Have the worlds talented and professional thespians suffered a Permian mass extinction while I wasn't looking? Fore God and saint George, shame on you Bioware, the calibre of your voice acting is usually unimpeachable. One has half a mind to tread the boards again in protest and decry such blaggardry to the masses.

Ah that would explain it then, thank you C2B.

Wouldn't the fact that the project is secret imply that the game in development is not an original IP? If I were Obsidian and pioneering a new property i'd be touting around every morsel of information I could possibly provide to drum up interest from fans and publishers. Then again i'm no expert on marketing, so maybe I have overlooked something and the game is not under wraps due to publisher stipulation.

I decided to get NWN2 after seeing the scene with the ghost dragon (Nolaloth?) in a let's play, absolutely despised the first games campaign so I was a little wary of commiting so many hours of leisure time to another neverwinter game. Fortunately I found the whole experience utterly enthralling, if a little rough around the edges and found the purchase of the two brilliant and innovative expansions to be a foregone conclusion. For a little glimpse into style and mechanics they're utterly priceless for me, reviews are rarely accurate and the story and atmosphere are almost never featured in pr material.