Nonek

I agree and am a firm proponent of progression being a key feature of games, challenge and satisfaction rest upon it for me, however an easy way to combat this would have been to simply continue Assassins of Kings skill trees. They were far from complete even at max level, indeed one could barely complete a single one, and they could easily (I assume) have redesigned the existing skillset of the Wild Hunt to accomodate this as they're really quite similar, apart from a few new tricks. Swap throwing knives for crossbows etcetera. That said i'm more than happy with the game, and probably wouldn't be quite as critical of a product that I wasn't so enraptured of, which is a double edged sword if I think about it. I suppose it would have helped if they had a rule system developed at the outset of the trilogy, but too much forward thinking might have ruined the ambition and passion they poured into the first Witcher I think. Edit: Extremely fine Ninjitsu.

Yes I agree entirely two (almost complete) resets now with no real reasoning behind them. He's got amnesia at the start of Witcher 2 and he's lovesick and not thinking straight in Witcher 3. See? Rational explanations for decrease in skill. He has the amnesia at the beginning of the first game as well, his mental state does not alter in between the first and second so this is not satisfactory to me. A better explanation would have been that Alvin's Dreamrealm drained him in some manner. Lovesick and not thinking straight is an almost perpetual condition for Geralt in the Witcher novels, it does not affect his skills in any way so I find this unsuitable as well. Sorry to be so finnicky, however i'm rather anal about internal consistency and in other areas the Witcher games are fantastic about maintaining that.

@Bartimaeus: I'd agree on the inferiority of NWN1 graphics and Dragon Ages, but I thought NWN2 was a very pretty game and an enormous improvement on the first game. To be honest however it's the art design that puts me off the former two, and attracts me to the latter, as well as those you mention, Poe and the IE games. Indeed i'd argue that the art design of Poe is really one of the srongest parts of the game, it's simply beautiful and detailed. Edit: Though I did miss the dance of death animations from NWN1 in the second game, i'm still unsure why that was dropped, made combat far more interesting visually to me.

Yes I agree entirely two (almost complete) resets now with no real reasoning behind them.

No i'd just expect them to implement it in a better fashion. @Gorgon: Exactly my problem, personally i've used mods to remove the levels, found one such excellent compilation on the Codex of all places (one would have thought those gentlemen would not hold with such a cinematic experience) and its suiting me down to the very ground: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/perkel-mod-compilation-for-tw3.104041/ Edit: Didn't Mr Perkel used to post on these good boards around 2011 or so? I seem to remember the name from somewhere, a gentleman with very strong and well reasoned opinions as I remember.

Yes but in the books Geralt takes every advantage he can, he is mortal even though mutated, and some of the monsters he combats warrant every trick he knows. I think you're right that a good stealth option would have been a very good addition to the game, make more use of the dagger he habitually carries for skinning, take advantage of the day and night system, legitimise his blatant thievery, and add a nice optional gameplay method apart from the usual slaughter with hopefully some unique benefits. Then again there are quite a few options available as is, so mayhap i'm somewhat spoiled by everything that is already on offer. That said I still miss sword sharpening, eating, drinking and preparation from the previous games.

Sale's on chaps.

Ah well Star Wars, Empire and Jedi are always worth a watch, think i'll find out for myself this weekend.

Well my last Bethesda game played was New Vegas and the graphics were perfectly viable to me, it was the horrid UI, the floaty movement, and a hundred and one other things that irked me, not the rendering. In truth beyond Mr Sawyers excellent mod I see no need for extra graphical fidelity in a playthrough, though they are nice. Then again I routinely play games from twenty plus years ago, so my view may be somewhat skewed.

My lad has recently been rewatching the original trilogy, he told me that the Leia - Luke kiss at the Death Star bridge has been edited out, along with Han shooting Greedo first and a number of other things. Is this true? If so the South Park Indiana Jones episode really does spring to mind. Edit: Missed a word "first."

I shall partake of a little pond gazing in the manner of Narcissus: Are teachers now weaponising their pupils? There must have been some event for children occuring today in the city, and as I am strolling briskly to the rail station I come under assault by a wave of noisy toddlers herded straight towards me, I dodge one or two, say excuse me a number of times and then finally decide to reciprocate and walk forward obliviously. Then I come across a solid cordon of madly screaming children forming a solid line between me and the station doors, once again I ask them to excuse me repeatedly and this failing I attempt to wedge myself through a thin break in their lines, pushing them aside gently with my umbrella and briefcase, including one of the ignorant teachers staring off into space. Now I am a large gentleman after a lifetime of playing as a scrum half and fairly exhaustive exercise, but I was as gentle as a mother bear, and yet as I walk past this cordon I am accused of being: "What a rude, angry man!" by the teacher I had to push aside, I simply shake my head and wonder what exactly I am supposed to do, levitate, teleport, send telepathic messages? One would think in teaching the children that it would be basic manners to leave aisles in their ranks for the dozens of frustrated passengers whom are trying to enter the station, especially at a busy hour such as lunchtime. I'm glad I can raise my own children to be far more respectful, quiet and well mannered. Then again our local headmaster is an ex military gentleman who prioritises manners, respect and upbringing in equal measure to the curriculum, a staunch Christian with iron morals and little tolerance. I may be spoiled from such excellent childcare and teaching.

GCSEs are worthless and an utter failure, even old O level equivalent results are now pathetically easy, there is a generation of people leaving school without any of the basic proficiencies that we expected as standard thirty years ago. Why? In my opinion because every government has meddled with teaching, tried untested methods and held an almost vicious antipathy towards teachers. This is sadly why I have mainly been employing foreigners, though this is also because of their get up and go, which shames the English competition. Then again with GCSEs being nearly worthless (and degrees becoming ever more devalued,) there has been a shift to enthusiasm, determination, actual experience and single minded focusing on a task which really transcends education. Also almost autistic focus on a single objective is primarily a male thing i've found, there are i'm sure many women with a similar focus but I see it more with men, women are better all rounders generally.

Near Dark?

Yes, regular bathing and the brushing of teeth is difficult enough. What's interesting to me is in which ways they choose to rebel, quite unexpected usually.

Yes, he seems to be a veritable Arnold Rimmer.

I assume Mr Chu is very young, this is the usual spiel of those with no real life experience or practical knowldege, he will learn in time and laugh at the pompousness of his younger self. Either that or grow bitter as life treats him in the exact same manner he approaches it. I really wouldn't take the gibbering of this idiot seriously, it's simply amusing.

Yes the little things, I don't think we stop often enough to take pleasure in our own existence, or think about what we actually need in life. So much of the time our needs are dictated by society, ego or tradition, but as i've grown older I have to say that i've more and more come to realise that only a few things are important in life, and they are not measured in terms of wealth. Indeed some of the wealthiest individuals i've ever met are nasty, amoral and bitter little yapdogs. A drink sounds very good, in wine there is wisdom, as the saying goes.

Though a realist, I attend church every Sunday and believe that there is something glorious in creation, it for me does not have to be limited to a deity or any kind of sapient consciousness. A God who holds all reality in his hand and is all reality is simply not concievable to me, and I do not think that we would be perceptible to him. We are slabs of meat, but we also have self knowledge, perception of our surroundings, the ability to aspire and create beauty and goodness. We are alive and that is lucky in and of itself, we are conscious and that is even more rare, the fern is a far more successful species than ours and consciousness is not needed for life. We are surrounded by a universe of unimaginable beauty and fertility, a true Eden, and lifes pleasures (despite all the complications we create) are simple and good, and we are capable of such kindness as to astound the uncaring stars. Yes we die and rot in the ground, this is why I do not believe in any heaven, but when we rot we return to the mother and enter a near eternal cycle that is billions of years old. Becoming one with all life and the universe is to me not such a bad end, it is harmonious and somewhat poetic. We are not special, life is short and pointless but that is what is great about life: We have an opportunity to do so much, to pass on our genes to our children, to give them a good start in life, to help our friends and contribute to society. Life is pointless until you give it a point, and strive towards that, and try and improve yourself and help others. A little kindness here and there, such an easy thing to do, to improve and leave behind a heritage that may not matter in the uncaring dark vastness of space but matters to us for the brief time we are here. Humanity is flawed, we are petty, corrupt and hateful but we do not have to be, we can aspire to the greatest heights. And though that may not have any point, it also does no harm and makes the brief lives of ourselves and others a little better. A small victory. That sounds rather sappy, but never mind.

Reminds me of playing a Chaos Champion when the rules for Khorne and Slaanesh came out in Realms of Chaos if I remember, all those mutations and powers, great stuff.

Ran a special Ravenloft AD&D episode tonight, the party fresh from escaping Strahd's wolves and running into the Mists stumbled into a down full of barrows (original eh?) and the creepy little village nestling amidst them. The party accepted the burgomeisters request to rid them of the devils from the hills, and marched into the downs. I ran a mostly story focused campaign, with a few foes that attacked and then fled back into the gloom. The story of these cursed moors and the ancient civilisation that once laid their dead to rest here was told on standing stones, carved in runes and sigils that needed time to translate and attracted watchers whose eyes shone from the darkness. Eventually they found clues leading to a distant keep, under which a king of these ancient people was laid to rest, and that stood lone on the horizon. In that windblasted place, situated at the heart of a long disappeared hillfort they found a skeletal guard still stood at attention in the tower, propped up by wooden crosses bearing their crumbling forms and rotted harness. They made camp here and as the moon rose and night crept in the skeletons began to sing a dirge, first one then the other, praising their dead lord and pledging eternal fealty to his long vanished kingdom. Double watch that night for some reason, until finally our Half Orc Grim smashed the choir to bits in anger. With that silence descended, no bird, beast or even wind stirred the night and the party got more paranoid not less, as I described a sense of presence brooding in the darkness all about them. They awoke to a blood red dawn, the sun too bright, painful to the eyes, its brightness not bringing warmth while everything seemed too clear and defined. They descended into the keep, lifting a great bronze trap door, and entering a dungeon where skeletons similar to the one they had smashed stood in alcoves, watching them pass. As they descended further the skeletons far behind them began their dirge, and from the corner of their eyes they saw glimpses of movement, skulls shifting, hands tightening around spears. The party stopped Grim from attacking the skeletons, worrying that they'd animate, and shortly after green witch light sprang to life in the corpses eyes. A single skeleton warrior barred their path at the end of the passage, stood before rune covered bronze doors, the thing intoned. "I am the champion that could not be felled, I am the blade that was never sheathed, I am my masters dread will made flesh, I am the enemies end and my lords shield. Come in peace or die!" Instead of saying they came in peace the party attacked and were almost (thanks to poor rolling) wiped out by the skeleton warrior, which for four fifth level characters should have been fairly easy. Healing up with spells, kits and potions they cracked open the door and stepped into the kings tomb. Here he sat upon an iron throne, a sword alight with witchfire blazing in his gnarled fist, his flesh black as jest, his long white hair rising and writhing in an unfelt wind and his eyes blazing with the same witchfire as that which radiated from his sword. All around him lay the treasures of his life, shining copper, bronze, silver and gold and reflecting the dread fire suffusing the place. In the walls skeletons whispered their mournful dirge and stepped down from their alcoves, clashing their spears against their shields, eyes springing to life with green fire. The king stood, his great height enhanced by the shadow that rushed forth from him seeming to leap at the characters as if eager to attack, with his left hand he pointed at the party and spoke. "So, my mortal servants at last send me my pound of flesh...come my blade thirsts for your sweet blood and my retinue must dine on your marrow!" With that the kings eyes blaze with the light of the midday sun and he and his skeletal minions step forward ready to attack, everybody roll initiative. At this point our suspicious Half Orc Grim says, "Nope!" and declares that he is running for the entrance, the rest of the party mutter various expletives and do the same. I'm amazed but play along, having an ocassional skeleton step down from its plinth to block their path and be smashed aside, telling them that they can feel a coldness from beyond the grave clutching at their backs until finally they burst out into daylight. The ironic thing is that the king was just a Wight, 5HD, a +1 sword, no real challenge, less so than his skeletal champion. His skeletal servants were just that, 1HD skeletons and not really a problem or shouldn't be. Admittedly we had a Druid and not a Cleric to turn Undead, but still the party stood a a great chance of survival. Must have done a good job on the atmosphere. Ended the session there with the party headed back to the village, intent on revenge, looking forward to the next.

Until recently I thought that Mr Chu wrote the most stupid things i've ever seen...

I'm looking forward to this. Not exactly what it seemed to be in the initial trailer, but it still seems interesting. I was really hoping for the game to be a simulation of the life and times of Oscar Wilde, the biting delivery of razor sharp witticisms, the charming and challenging of society with our risque personal behaviour, the writing of some of the most enduring works of art one can imagine, the wholesale consumption of industrial sized quantities of Laudanum, the wearing of stylish cravats and far too tight breeches, lunch at the Savoy etcetera. Alas.

Funnily enough i'd rather be imprisoned than be forced to sit through Wicked.

Caught between the rot and a hard place.

I have to say that i'm really enjoying your battle reports Melkathi, Nuffle certainly seems to be against you at time however.