Nonek

I haven't read the gentlemans book nor anything to do with the controversy surrounding it, though a lot probably stems from the clickbait inflammatory title, but i'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Mr Owen wants games to be: More "filmic," shorter, streamlined, dumbed down and accessible, and that therefore of course he should not have to learn how to play the game because he should simply be catered to, never challenged or in any way impeded. After all no other games force you to learn the rules and play by them, we all know that Chess and Poker are sit down and play passtimes.

B.b.b.but i'm old and ugly as well, you unfeeling brute. No, I will not lose faith in you Volourn, you are our voted for God and I shall believe in your higher wisdom.

I have just finished SOMA, and am impressed, it is stylistically a massive departure for the developers and a step forward in my opinion. Though it does not have the tools or options that the Penumbra series offer, it is also not fettered by overdue reverence to their hit Amnesia. I have only one problem with the game and its plot, and I shall spoiler it so as to not diminish enjoyment of the ending.

Personally I like Kreia for a few reasons: One, she's not the usual squeeing idiot spewing jokes every few seconds trying deperately to be liked, she has pride, gravitas and is unashamedly opinionated. A woman of strength and character, rather than a giggling girl child. Maturity in an RPG is extremely rare and welcome, though of course no one will champion the inclusion of the aged as it is not fashionable. Two: She is for all of her terrifying strength and determination realistically flawed: She is blatantly speciesist, lacks almost any kind of empathy despite (or maybe because of) her psychic knowledge of people, is far too sure of her own abilities and manipulations, is immoral in many ways when her goals are met by obstacles she cannot overcome, and can be unnecessarily cruel which is counterproductive to her manipulations. Three: She has experienced life, with and without the Force, this is what differentiates and empowers her from the usual Jedi or Sith whom are for all of their justifications addicts, whom have never known what it is to live life without their drug, their binary philosophy or the comfort of their group and its brotherhood. Four: She tries to understand her enemy, and in knowing them is able to outmaneuvre or overcome them, for instance using Nihlus addiction to destroy him or Sion's mental frailty to bend him to her will. Studying the enemy is extremely rare in an RPG, TSL and Alpha Protocol are two of the few games that do so. Ultimately she uses this technique to turn the Force against itself, one can imagine that Kreia would be a fantastic practicioner of Judo. Five: In knowing and serving both sides of the Force, and more importantly being without it, she has come to the logical conclusion that this binary tyranny pitting one philosophical side of the same religion against each other for no reason whatsoever must be ended. A brave and radical decision that she alone pursues, asking for neither aid nor reward, she pursues a selfless task because she believes that it is the right thing to do, rather than because of the rewards she harvests. She is an idealist. Six: She spurns violence, in her own words it is better to open anothers eyes to ones cause rather than close them forever. Massively refreshing, especially in a genre (and admittedly) a game that relies on racking up massive amounts of death and victories to harvest experience and items. A masterfully written original character, that really builds on the fertile acorn that Ravel was, sprouting into a thriving black barbed mighty Oak. In my opinion anyway.

Watched the old Bill Bixby Incredible Hulk pilot today, I have to say that it stands up rather well despite its age, I don't think any of the modern actors takes on the character have been so realised as Mr Bixbys. Obviously Mr Ferrigno's Hulk is not a patch on the later animated monster, but in this iteration one hardly sees that side of the duality.

Yes it's where they used to leave the body while church services were held, obviously no longer done in that manner, because bodies usually no longer stink, bloat or are diseased due to modern techniques of preparation. Edit: Nice to see them using old English but i'd have personally given the apex Undead a title such as a Sisyphean or somesuch, more indicative of their nature.

I was chatting with the Vicar this morning in the shade of the old Lich Gate, I wonder why Gygax and Arneson chose that particular word, seems rather unremarkable.

Well Peter Sutcliffe proved that one can play both! Good Lord I must be in a dark mood, that's positively disturbing.

Me, i'm old and hard of...hearing...have poor vision...yes that's it. If the rest of you don't post in this style then I am offended and you're all harassing me! No I will not wear my glasses, you should adapt to me, because i'm worth it. I use that shampoo...on my bald head.

SOMA. I'm becoming more intrigued by the game and its central premise, it's opening up very nicely. So far i'd definitely recommend the game.

"Violent video games are turning children, mostly boys, into killing zombies." Now i'll not say anything about this conspiracy theory that has no factual evidence behind it, and relies on McIntosh and his sock puppets feelings, but I will state that perhaps there could be a law denying the sale of violent video games to children. What, we already have one I hear you say? Well then the matter has been resolved, simply enforce that law or trust parents to know their children and buy responsibly. Edit: I think there should rather be a seal on political statements, calling out whether they are absolute equine fecal matter or not, reacting to the latest fashionable trends or outrages for a few positive column inches and potential votes.

Google, I wonder whether they regard spying on foreign nationals as harassment?

I've been told that one can start the expansion at any point in the game, though the designers recommend level 30+ so as to remain capable, i'm afraid I can't vouch for the veracity of this rumour however. Playing Soma and it seems to have quite an air of System Shock about it so far, is it just me or is it obvious that the protagonist is just another ? PLEASE DON'T CLICK THE SPOILER IF YOU ARE AGAINST SPECULATION ON WHAT SEEMS TO BE ONE OF THE KEY THEMES OF THE GAME!

Not saying i'm old but as a pupil I would never have carried out such an act as this youth, mainly because sundials were too heavy to carry around and i'm not sure one could make them explode. Rimshot, I hank you.

Well the claims of mass harassment are quickly becoming farcical, the Twitter example was disproven through independent analysis, and it's quite obviously just a means to silence debate or opposition to fashionable groupthink. Of course the fashionable lie will still be parroted, especially when the corrupt media are championing that falsehood, and trying to spin their false agenda, but then again they are digging their own graves as they become more and more irrelevant and fail to just do their jobs, or even step down from their podiums.

I would personally go back one in the Ultima series and cite the Black Gate and Serpent Isle as extremely satisfying for a player utilising spellcasting, the usual reagent gathering was still there, along with buying spells from the acknowledged masters of the craft in Britannia, but it was the sheer volume and usefulness of the spells that stood out. With the modern focus on combat being the only core feature of an RPG the class has well and truly been emasculated, and rendered utterly mediocre with a varying handful of boring spells that do fairly much the same things in combat. Whereas the sheer utility of the Avatar's spellbook was amazing, for instance one had the lowly linear spells which required no components and hardly any Mana: With these one could douse and ignite fires, create displays of fireworks, awaken sleepers, summon light, control the weather and even teleport oneself before the throne of Lord British. The higher level spells were equally useful, and impressive: Creating food for the party, curing ailments, enchanting weapons, unlocking ensorcelled portals, marking locations so that one might teleport between them, rendering and revealing invisibility, speaking with the dead, creating currency, summoning banes of great power, and destroying all life on Britannia. The games showed imagination, a willingness to give players tools and not a care for any balance or game breaking exploits. It was a joy to play as a Mage of power and usefulness, not merely a battlefield asset. Arcanum for me ventured here, giving one those sixteen schools of Wizardry with which to dabble and not caring a jot for their misuse. When approached by an Ore Golem I could with a gesture destroy it with a disintegrate spell, then teleport to any location on the map I wished, or maybe seek clues from the spirits of the dead, spellbind the native fauna of the world, charm shopkeepers to give me better prices on their goods, or open locks with a muttered word. There was a similar joyous utility to this game as is displayed in the Ultimas and of course the AD&D rulebooks whose spelllists we all drooled over when younger. It makes one wonder where that joyful wonder and imagination has gone, when one sees spells that are so mediocre, dull and pedestrian. Edit: The reactivity of Arcanum also desreves mentioning, a great Mage will be greeted as such, technologists will spurn him and train conductors will ask him to leave lest his aura interfere with the workings of the steam engine. Ones power and choices are affirmed constantly, and one has to praise Mr Cain and Troika for such a glorious piece of choice and consequence, especially in a genre where almost nothing of character generation and progression is reflected in game. Oh what could have been...

In twenty years time they'll have moved on to whatever is new in society and be wagging their fingers at and demonising some other group, same thing as happened with novels, rock and roll music, video nasties, rap music and so on and so forth. The self appointed moral arbiters of our time always lose, they are always forgotten and their causes never last more than a few years at most. Mary Whitehouse today, gone tomorrow thankfully.

A relatives passing has always been for me a very mixed experience, one sees the best and worst of people at such times, and it usually serves to reinforce ones particular feelings on an individual disappointingly enough. My commiserations. The Rugby world cup has been so far an absolutely fantastic experience, and thanks to the acquisition of VIP tickets from an old player contact, the games have been an absolute pleasure to watch. Along with some first class catering and service, I was quite impressed by Englands technical ability in their first victory, though Fiji showed great heart and potential.

Does anyone proofread what they produce on the internet? I for one thought that the relaxed posting style and grammatical laxity was an attraction for the medium. Then again when one has to deal with such matters professionally, a break from doing so is always welcome.

...I'm pretty sure the squeeing idiots weren't meant as femme fatales. If you meant "female characters in general" by the term, I still think we have a pretty decent selection. No I meant what I said, the subtle humour employed by femme fatales has morphed into the usual squeeing idiocy that dominates all manner of media now. I'm afraid i've uninstalled Mr Anakin, sorry about that.

Well what a surprise, arguments are maintained when more people take part in them, how revelatory. Honestly, whom exactly would have thought this shocking news in any way, shape or form?

Mona Sax in the Fall of Max Payne is probably one of the few female protagonists i'd say was done right, likeable, deadly and intelligent. It's rare to see well done femme fatales nowadays when they are usually reduced to thuggery or squeeing idiots.

As a father my protective instincts automatically kick in around such issues, however the alleged perpetrator must be given the benefit of the doubt, must be treated as innocent until proven guilty and the police must be trusted (however hard that seems) to do their jobs: Investigate any wrongdoing, and if finding a case is warranted hand over their findings to the courts so that the abuser may be prosecuted and removed from decent society. However the victims (if any) must first be given adequate counselling and better homes where they are protected from such abuse and taught that it is both immoral and wrong, and they should not stand for it. All too often such crimes make abusers out of their victims, it is truly a circle of hatred and sickness that must be ended at all costs. Edit: If the accused is found innocent and they were just jokes then we as proponents of free speech must accept their rights to make such jokes, just as they must accept that some people are not going to find abuse of minors humorous and call in the authorities when they hear them. Of course if the individual went anywhere near my children, innocent or not, i'd put my fist through their face, but I think that's a given.

A quick note, thank you for the clarification Mr Keyrock, my post is quite heated but obviously not directed at your good self: So basically spoiled players don't want any challenge or progression at all? They want everything right now, because perish the thought they are ever less than all powerful. I'm sorry to say but this is wrong headed, stupid and destroys any internal consistency in the game. What is the point of even having levels in the game, or differing opponents? Accessibility really is the curse of video games. The Lady of Pain holding back the Blood War with quiet persistence, Vecna the Archlich, Mordenkainen of the Obsidian Citadel, the Pit Fiends of the Dark Eight, Tiamat the Chromatic Dragon, all now reduced to the players level because nobody wants to be challenged or have even the possibility of losing. Pathetic. Edit: I didn't even think to start complaining when pen and paper modules were labelled 8-10th level, I looked forward to reaching such dizzy heights and the adventures along the way.

Are there Fora dedicated to the re-enactment of first and second world war campaigns? If so one would think that would be quite the spot to gain the inside track on any such accoutrements, re-enactors are notoriously anal in observance of their uniforms so might have tips on acquiring such. I once heard two pseudo Redcoats arguing heatedly over buttons for a solid hour, they did look magnificent however.