Nonek

Mr Conan will be ripping the game apart on his Clueless Gamer thing apparently, should be good for a chuckle.

In one of the mnemonic poems of the Skalds Odin names himself as Thor when in Valhalla, while reciting his hundred or so names. Edit: There is some contentious debate that All of the Aesir were aspects of Allfather however, the Norse or Snorri really seemed to like their symbolism.

Anybody else always think the gentleman looks like an overgrown baby, with his innocent adolescents face and large round head? I do wonder when he's finally going to drop the pretense and simply make a film called, Attack of the Anorexic Kung Fu Girl, ever since I read that article the other day.

I'm not really sure IWD2 deserves all the bad reputation it gets. I'm not even sure where it comes from. Granted, the Infinity Engine did have a bunch of problems with the ruleset - the lack of sneak attacks essentially killed the rogue class now that every other class could invest in thieving skills as well. Combat was hard but never unfair, at least if you ignore the Iron Golems and those damnable Whisps in Fell Wood. Dialogues probably had the most reactivity to stats and classes in all of the IE games except PS:T. The (in?)arguably worst part of IWD2 was the Ice Temple. It was annoyingly huge, featured a boring ass host of puzzles (turn the dais, speak the passphrase and hey, shoot some lightning at mirrors, how wonderfully original) and of course the awesome battle squares, but afterwards it wasn't so bad. It's not like Icewind Dale didn't have its fair share of dungeons that went on a bit too long, like the entire Vale of Shadows and Kresselack's Tomb - entire zones filled by Yetis, Skeletons and a mummy or two, and once you went all the way to Kresselack and asked the probably most ridiculous question in a cRPG ever ("Are you the evil that plagues the Vale?", what, like, for real?) you had to go out and kill that priestess of Auril and haul your ass ALL the way back to Kresselack without any shortcut outside of cheats. *shrug* I really didn't mind the Vale of Shadows and its little crypts, it and Kresselack's tomb had an aweome soundtrack, the combat in the Black Wolf's lair was interesting and a good tactical and strategic challenge, and without the combat encounters it was quite easy to traverse and deal with the Aurilite. If Kresselacks tomb had had just a little more interactivity and reactivity (something sadly missing from most modern rpgs) i'd count it as one of the best dungeons of the IE games. I really thought the Black Wolf was going to be the returned spirit that had taken Wylfdane in the Heart of Winter, quite surprised when it was revealed as the Orm. Edit: I agree about the Ice Temple however in IWD2, though it was nice to see little Nate grown to manhood and referenced by the game. That was where the game headed downhill for me, there was absolutely no reason to leave the airship and wander around aimlessly grinding for experience, and to then meet the airship upon leaving the Mind Flayer layer was a frank slap in the face.

Yes, though it should be noted that unusually BG2's Underdark section was both interesting and involved, a real highlight of the game.

He's not really pro consumer, unfortunately. He did write the gamer's bill of rights but he then proceeded to ignore most of the things he wrote himself. He's a raging right winger who will alienate a lot of people if asked the wrong/ right questions. Which is the problem, really, with electing 'representatives'. They'll end up saying stuff as the voice of [movement] that a lot of people will disagree with. Same thing happened with Occupy and it drove a lot of their support away. Personally I don't see him, or whomever is chosen, as a representative of gamergate, more just an independent voice speaking upon behalf of those slandered. Still this warrants further investigation of the gentleman, much obliged.

It would be interesting to see a party embrace a new take on the current system of unsustainable financial affairs, however due to the city being our largest source of income (and more importantly to them) funding and advisory positions for retiring MP's, I can't see any politician having the integrity to do so. Just as it took a Mrs Thatcher to thrust the city into the dominant position it now enjoys, i fear that it will take a similar iron willed individual to break that power and reorganise affairs for a more equitable and sustainable society. I see no such candidate however, nor any bottom in the whole procession of clowns we see currently parading.

The best laid plans... Ten years in business, numerous best selling titles and staff whom are keen to rejoin the company, well that speaks for itself. Especially in the midst of an economic downturn, where numerous contracts were cancelled and desperate situations arose. Obsidian have survived where Titans have fallen, and sometimes a canny businessman has to play it by ear in a turbulent market. Edit: This is not to say that i don't have valid criticisms of Poe, but they are minor and I feel that my purchase was all in all worthwhile. I cannot say the same for many AAA+ games I have purchased whose budgets dwarfed Jim Sterling's lunch bill!

Icewind Dale 2 recieves a lot of criticism, some of it fair, some of it unfair, however I personally think that it starts off with one of the strongest openings of all of the IE games bar Torment, and ends on a similarly high note. However the middle part of the content is where the grind really hits, one has to venture through the Underdark, and as all RPG gamers know that means a metric ton of grinding enemies over and over again, rather than interesting content. If they had cut out the part of the game where I leave and finally rejoin the Gnome airship I believe that it would have seriously increased my enjoyment of the game. Everything to either side of that I found to be interesting and enjoyable, the siege of Targos was fun, reactive, innovative and quite challenging. The Shaengarne bridge situation was, though a little combat oversaturated as were most of the IE games, enjoyable and new. Even the Goblin stronghold was something that I enjoyed as a challenge and a use of different tactics and strategies. Fast foward to the return to Kuldahar and the heroes vale and the game suddenly sprang to life again for me. This is not to say that there was not interesting content between these points, but that they were drowned out by busywork and arbitrary wandering around acting out the usual murder hobo routine, or as the book in the game states, "Face it you're neutral evil!" There were some interesting and potentially brilliant ideas, that could have really shone if they had had room to breathe and be iterated upon. Then again considering the development time, the fact that Interplay was falling down around the developers ears and the limited staff and budget, well it really should be counted as one of the twelves labours of developing that it shipped in the remarkably polished and content dense state that it did.

At least have the common decency to conquer them first, that's the British way.

Voted for Brad Wardell, he seems to be moderate and pro consumer, while having personal experience of the depths that game journalists will sink to in the pursuit of their hateful agenda.

In my opinion this creates a much better ending for Radovid the Stern, his ending slide with Adda looks too jovial and positive. The time passes far faster in Adda's tomb, the candles will burn down ridiculously quickly.

Donkey abuse is a very serious subbject!

Finished the Witcher, still undisputably one of the most moral endings i've ever played in a game, turning righteous vengeance into self doubt with a simple reveal. It's a pity Jacque's end and Eredin's defeat is not included in the save import, I really want to see some reference to that in the Wild Hunt. Think i'll finish Poe before going on to Assassins of Kings.

I give up, if you can't discern a nuanced situation such as free speech being under threat, then I can't educate you. As i've said either go back to school (if you've ever been there) or see a doctor. I'll finish with a song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxlanfx_91M

For the third time now i'll explain: I respect and admire the USA for its commitment to free speech and condemn my own country for allowing serious attacks on free speech to be staged. This is not a childish either or situation, there are no simple answers on Earth or under Heaven, except to a simpleton. If you can't understand this i'm afraid that I can't make it any simpler. However with your limited understanding have you ever considered further education? A youngster should be able to understand what I said and recognise a nuanced situation, rather than expecting everything to be compartmentalised in easy to understand pigeonholes. If however you do have a secondary education then I respectfully urge you to see a doctor, due to your having to procure prostitutes to meet women, you may be suffering from undiagnosed syphilis, which often degrades mental acuity in its later stages.

I always strive to be reasonable, rational and moderate, i'm not some one note troll. I truly support free speech, I do not just say so and then suggest we devalue it like an idiot would. As to the recent multiple arrests for online comments, this is a hypocritical and dangerous precedent, millions of equal or worse comments go unpunished, and there is no parity or equality in whom is prosecuted. There are actual laws being broken every day that go unpunished, such as use of prostitution, drug dealing, tax avoidance, and assault, as well as societal problems that should be addressed first such as the working classes growing dependance on food banks to survive, the growing number of suicides amongst young men, and the ghettos that blight once industrious pleasant towns. To target verbal onslaughts above these very real problems is both idiotic and reprehensible, and caters to the fashionable hate culture developing around the virtual world that some choose to support. The United Kingdom has for a long time now been indulging in a steady attack on basic personal liberties and freedoms that were hard fought for and won, under the guise of tightening security against a threat that is not as serious as many we have weathered before, many Englishmen and Britons have and still do point this out as a growing concern. But lets focus on my question, are you saying as someone who lives in the UK " the UK doesn't support true free speech " ? Read the answer i've already provided, it supports free speech on the whole, but is facing growing challenges from idiots whom want to undermine personal freedoms and foist a nanny state upon us. Why do I have to explain everything twice to you Bruce? It's like debating with a ten year old, you can't really be this stupid can you?

Having worked on a farm as a lad i've never seen the point of the disdain for swine, they're actually quite clean, tidy and fastidious in their pens. I assume it's the mudbaths that they indulge in that bothered early Muslims. Putting that aside however i've been looking up the organisation that backed this display today, the ADSF or something, they're a nationalist group similar to the English Defence League (National Front by any other name,) and in fact their leader a young lady was barred from entering Britain recently to speak at an EDF rally. It was clearly an incitement and villification but I still say that they are well within their rights to stage it, and would defend their free speech. However to ensure parity I would also stage a display on Islamic history, achievements, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, culture and languages, as well as the cultures that were present before Muhammed came to the mountain. Teach, display and wave in the faces of such people as the previous organisers how much the cradle of civilisation has gifted the world, and how much later civilisation were unknowingly or not influenced by their cultures. As a last resort throw on some Harryhausen Sinbad films and enjoy the tales that entranced many a child of my era. I think this would be a more appropriate response personally. Mmm.... a reasonable post from you Nonek and one I agree with, its a strange thing for me to see Nonek you said earlier that Freedom of Speech is basically a foundation of Western cultures which as you know I support and believe in In the UK there have been several cases of people being prosecuted for Twitter comments especially when it comes to racist comments. How do you reconcile this ? Does the UK not believe in free speech because by prosecuting people who just make Twitter comments isn't this a contradiction to saying "we believe in free speech " ? I always strive to be reasonable, rational and moderate, i'm not some one note troll. I truly support free speech, I do not just say so and then suggest we devalue it like an idiot would. As to the recent multiple arrests for online comments, this is a hypocritical and dangerous precedent, millions of equal or worse comments go unpunished, and there is no parity or equality in whom is prosecuted. There are actual laws being broken every day that go unpunished, such as use of prostitution, drug dealing, tax avoidance, and assault, as well as societal problems that should be addressed first such as the working classes growing dependance on food banks to survive, the growing number of suicides amongst young men, and the ghettos that blight once industrious pleasant towns. To target verbal onslaughts above these very real problems is both idiotic and reprehensible, and caters to the fashionable hate culture developing around the virtual world that some choose to support. The United Kingdom has for a long time now been indulging in a steady attack on basic personal liberties and freedoms that were hard fought for and won, under the guise of tightening security against a threat that is not as serious as many we have weathered before, many Englishmen and Britons have and still do point this out as a growing concern.

Fertility treatment has made great leaps and bounds in recent years and many whom at one time could not concieve have been given a second chance, the doubt and sense of worthlessness that comes with a failure to bring a child into this world is very real and a stressful, almost marriage breaking obstacle. The joy however when you hold that little delicate bundle in your arms is...indescribeable. To deny this is wrong headed nonsense. I'm not the greatest fan of most of Mr Whedon's work, or his "humour," but these attacks are baseless and spurious.

Completed, i'm afraid that most of my answers were Other - None as i'm not a heavy mobile user, but I assume that is valid considering my advanced age. Anyway good luck.

Having worked on a farm as a lad i've never seen the point of the disdain for swine, they're actually quite clean, tidy and fastidious in their pens. I assume it's the mudbaths that they indulge in that bothered early Muslims. Putting that aside however i've been looking up the organisation that backed this display today, the ADSF or something, they're a nationalist group similar to the English Defence League (National Front by any other name,) and in fact their leader a young lady was barred from entering Britain recently to speak at an EDF rally. It was clearly an incitement and villification but I still say that they are well within their rights to stage it, and would defend their free speech. However to ensure parity I would also stage a display on Islamic history, achievements, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, culture and languages, as well as the cultures that were present before Muhammed came to the mountain. Teach, display and wave in the faces of such people as the previous organisers how much the cradle of civilisation has gifted the world, and how much later civilisation were unknowingly or not influenced by their cultures. As a last resort throw on some Harryhausen Sinbad films and enjoy the tales that entranced many a child of my era. I think this would be a more appropriate response personally.

I can't speak for any Muslims as their faith is not mine, but speaking with a colleague whom follows Muhammed last week, he seemed far more caught up in what Isis are doing to the cultural treasures of the cradle of civilisation, and usually just rolls his eyes at the demonisation and baiting that are indulged in by the gutter press and other media. Then again he's a historian and scholar, and slightly removed from the modern world.

They are behaving worse than the avarage group of 14-year old girls. These aren't just some random people. Chris Totten for example is co-chair of IGDA DC, has written for Gamasutra, frequent speaker at GDC and DIGRA. Well, well, well. Look who just responded to the same thread: Good Lord but I feel for this poor man, no doubt he is already being besieged, villified and ostracised in equal measures.

All I know is Cromwell knocked down my families ancestral castle, the bloody blaggard. Honestly it's embarasiing, all that's left is a long moss covered wall in a field. Then again I was never the biggest fan of Christmas.

When the participants are intelligent and mature, yes. When they're unable to even follow the discussion, comprehend a simple joke, or offer reasoned debate and factual analysis, instead resorting to the same tired false idiocies once again, then no. Edit: For instance if we had a poster whom praised the western world as the epitome of civilisation and government, then wanted one of the undeniably moral and good building blocks of it to be circumvented for the sake of upset amongst people he himself describes as unreasonable and irrational. That kind of person is obviously not capable of rational, intelliegent or mature debate. Your trolling is old and needs a new coat of paint Bruce, everybody can tell what you're going to say before you say it.