Nonek

One of the downsides to combat in the Witcher 2 for me was that Geralt seemed normal in terms of speed and sword fighting, in the first game he appeared faster, more acrobatic and close to the super fast mutant that he is in the books. Personally I think that ideally a turn based system would more accurately reflect his speed and agility in a game, but obviously considering the AAA status of the game and the unfashionable nature of turn based combat, this is not a possibility.

I'm sure it will have the standard faults. PC gamers will still grind their teeth in frustration as they wrestle with a dreadful unintuitive UI that is not designed for a keyboard and mouse. Combat will again be overly twitch based and not particularly tactical, despite the hours of developer-narrated gameplay footage we've seen where they try really *really* hard to sell us, once again, on how complex and *deep* 5 signs + a sword is (but hey, we got crossbows now! Just like throwing daggers in TW2, but better!). Crafting will probably, again, be an uninspired chore. And my gut is telling me that "Horse management" will probably be more tedious than they're leading us to believe. But that all said, my biggest gripe with Witcher 2 was how small and constrictive the world space felt (Loc Muinne still gives me clusterphobia nightmares. ugh), and they've obviously addressed that in Witcher 3, and in such a mind-blowing epic way too. So I'll probably fall madly in love with this game and spend the majority of my summer inside, in front of my computer, playing it. I think this is mostly fair criticism of Assassins of Kings: The UI was a massive step back from the first game and obviously catered to controller play rather than mouse and keyboard. The combat to me was fit for purpose, one felt that Geralt was vulnerable when in such a position as being backstabbed, but also potent when prepared and ready. There was not much depth admittedly, but it was an improvement over say Arkham or the first Witcher in many ways. Crafting was also endlessly irritating for me, not in the execution which was simple, but in the collection of materials that the crafter should have in stock himself, this was once again a step back from the first Witcher. In that game we simply brought the crafter expensive and rare compnents, rather than masses of tat that he should already have. The itemisation was also far better presented in the first game, finding Coen's silver sword was an important event, and it was an extremely effective weapon that changed ones playstyle. Whereas in the second game swords, armours and the masses of materials were showered on the player every half hour of play rendering them valueless, because one knew that there was a slightly better item appearing very quickly on any path, the rare weapons of the Witchers were now as common as dirt. The world of the Witcher 2 I personally felt was large enough, it was a desperate, hunt for the Kingslayer, streamlined by nature of its narrative. Loc Muinne, the area around Vergen and Flotsam and its surrounds were large enough and fit for purpose to me, they were striking and different in style, with seperate paths that were viable. That said were they the equal of Vizima, Murky Waters and the various swamplands around Lake Vizim, no but the wandering around such large locales would not fit in the hunt for Letho. All in my own opinion of course. Edit: Like Stun I would also say that though I acknowledge and am not blind to its fault, I will probably be enthralled by the third game, like I was by the first and second. For all their flaws, many of which are not covered here, they had just as many if not more strengths.

It's becoming fairly obvious that social justice is merely a cover for a hypocritical hate movement now, they don't represent anybody but extremists. As a moderate i'm not stooping to their level when pointing this out, i'm merely naturally as a reasonable person expressing disgust for a movement that is proud of boasting actual neo nazi's and genocide advocates as revered members of their community. Whereas I (and most other reasonable normal people) would distance myself and shun anybody whom followed such extremism, whether they were on my "side" or not. Standing up for the truth and not buying into media lies is not an extremist view, it is merely sensible scepticism. Gamergate is a sensible moderates response to game journalistic corruption, it is not extreme at all to ask for journalists to do their jobs, and is fit for purpose for a multi billion dollar industry. Only an idiot would state that such a multi billion dollar industry does not need ethical reporting and standards of practise. The extremists are on one side the SJF's stating that gamers are dead, calling millions of diverse people neckbearded scum and basement dwellers, and abusing their control of the media to paint any criticism of them as harassment rather than truthful criticism, while using doxxing, censorship, harassment and threats against anyone whom disagrees with their ideology. On the other side of that extremist scale are the harassers whom allegedly threatened, doxxed and abused various public figures, because they were too invested in gaming as a culture when it is in reality a passtime. Gamergate is in neither of these camps, they have tried to stop any harassment, report any abuse to the relevant authorities and deal with the fact that game journalism is pathetic, corrupt, unethical, unfit for purpose and now openly expressing hatred for us honest consumers whom play games as a passtime. To say that the reasonable goals of Gamergate is extremist is just dishonest, like the numerous false, unproven accusations of harassment levelled at it. Edit: In my own opinion of course.

Transparency would be useful and it is a valid criticism, but I fail to see the need for all of the melodrama, the gaming is selling well as it is apparently. For a huge gentleman i'm always surprised by how fine Mr Nash's facial features were, seemed rather incongruous.

Has Mr Obama ever publicly stated that he was not born in America, like Ms Sarkeesian has stated that she never played games?

Oh fun fact the ladies removed from the Calgary expo have been compared to the KKK on Twitter by none other than Chris Priestly, onetime community manager at the BSN, and now the community manager at the Witcher Forums apparently. Personally i've been a member there for eight years and have never seen him post anything, so I was not sure he actually was the community manager. I've got to admit that this is all hilarious, strong women with truthful opinions are not wanted, only the acceptable liars and their lies are wanted in Calgary. The SJF's are becoming more like politicians as time passes. Edit: Mr Priestly just retracted and apologised for his tweet on the Witcher forums: http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/34878?p=1606731#post1606731

Started the Witcher, figured that I may as well play through both one and two before the Wild Hunt is released, have a nice, perfect save export available. I still am left in amazement at what CDPR did with the absolutely hideous NWN engine, it boggles the mind that they made such a beautiful gameworld out of such a graphically unappealing one. The amount of life squeezed into the world boggles the mind as well, rats underfoot, birds in the bushes, dozens of NPC's going about their business, and that strange little capering monkey that follows one around in various places.

Woah, woah, woah, never mind the new Spaceballs, when did a new Blade Runner get announced, why wasn't I informed, is it because of the Voight Kampff test results?

Wouldn't the Dane Axe be rather anachronistic in the current Poe time period? Perhaps just found amongst the Glanfathan's?

Shouldn't the last letter of that quote be an "f" considering the Hoff's vocal talents?

Chewie is so vain. smh.Aside, according to the Chewbacca wiki page, he's already 200 yo when he joins up with Han! I don't think anything besides movies are canon anymore. I'm always reminded of a new lion king killing the old rivals cubs for some reason when this happens, rather grim image. Edit: Mr Tobacco looked a little unreal, I wonder if he's CGI and Mr Mayhew has been dispensed with.

Shorts or trousers, one cannot wear both, it's simply not cricket!

Four hours a night regularly, with an occasional slumber that lasts around twelve to fourteen hours once a fortnight or so. Slept like this ever since I was a wee sprat. I really do like to be out and about before dawn, the quiet world, the fresh air, the brightening skies, a perfect time for exercise and self contemplation. It puts the proper perspective on a day at work, and within the metropolis. Edit: The only difficulty is in trying not to wake ones family, but many years of practise have lent me some experience in stealth.

Due to work and tabletop I must admit that i've been neglecting Poe somewhat, however I finally got around to the end of act II. I think that I will now go back to neglecting it for a while, rather disappointing.

Off to play some more Poe now, I do believe that matters are coming to a head, and ones choices in Defiance Bay are going to bear fruit. I'm excited to see what passes.

Texture quality, graphical style - 2d, 3d, fps, tps, isometric, voxels etcetera, UI layout and usability, content density, platform, minimum and recommended specifications, statistical minutiae of the game, gameplay overview, known issues etcetera. The list goes on and on.

As with any other form of journalism, game journalism should strive to inform and constructively criticise the games industry from an objective viewpoint, or as near as that is actually possible considering personal bias. It should try and move the industry forward, challenge degenerate practises and give us the buying public, without which there would be no industry, a voice and an unbiased view. And of course as with any journalism it should maintain integrity, and a certain professional distance from the subject matter it is supposedly judging impassionately. Video game journalists should not have friends in the industry, they should only have acquaintances, whom they use and are used by, they should not represent any developer or worry about their feelings. They should not sleep with any developer, unless they previously disclose this to their editor and publicly recuse themselves from working with or covering their work in any way. Conflicts of interest are easy to avoid, one merely has to act ethically and with public service foremost in their mind, it is not an onerous or difficult duty, and there is no excuse or justification for not declaring ones conflicted interests. Lastly it is there to hold to hold publishers and developers to account, this is their job not the consumers, to report on and notify the public of any practises that are counter to their best interests. It is not there to hype games for companies, to judge and hector consumers, or to champion personal views that have been disproven time and again. In general there is not enough well reasoned criticism, nor scepticism, nor raising of degenerate practises. It is fine to have a subjective opinion on a subject, however to deny that there are objective measures in video games is dishonest and a pathetic excuse or justification for failing to do ones job. At the current moment video game journalism is a joke and simply unfit for purpose, and however much they castigate consumers and insult the public, they are what is wrong in video games, and their corrupt, unethical and regressive opinions are creating a toxic atmosphere of hatred and censorship. It is a good thing that they are dying, perhaps when they are gone we can have an ethical industry that is fit for purpose, overseen by a neutral ombudsman and with a published code of practises as a multi billion dollar industry deserves. Just ones opinion however. Edit: I should add that my displeasure with journalism does not simply stem from video games, but has to do with the regressive trends and practises that have been destroying all journalism for the past two decades or so.

If Poe had the combat and situations of Blackguards, or Blackguards had the narrative of Poe, it would be an instant classic for me personally.

Inspired by a recent playthrough of Fallout 1&2 I had recently decided to introduce my RP group to the Fallout universe, however upon watching the television program Oz and remembering the semi prominent part that the Prison played in New Vegas, my plans changed. Imagine a huge Supermax prison somewhere in the badlands of America, a self sustained metropolis, with wells, gardens, cattle herds, crafts that the inmates practise and the various strata of factions and groups that inhabit it. The Warden and his guards, the Aryan Brotherhood, the Muslim alliance, the Mafiosi, the Bikers, the small township that serves the guards and long since vanished visitors with a bar, a brothel maybe, a general store etcetera. Now set this in the Fallout universe, and theorise what changes might occur after the great silence blanketed the land, this quiet beacon of supreme law and punishment left all alone in the midst of the Wasteland, overlooked by the enemy nukes due to its remote locale. How will the society evolve as life changes due to the new paradigm? Will the various power groups persist, or will they fracture and forget their past? There are numerous possibilities inherent in the setting, and ways that the unique Fallout setting might affect it, such as: Rockerbillies and Greasers having turf wars, similar to the Kings of Freeside. A benign AI overseeing the facility, its circuits slowly degrading, but still insisting on its inane chatter. The Padres, a bloodthirsty gang feared by all whom once served as the prisons chaplains, but whom now weild hog legs and righteous wrath in one hand and holy books in the other, fanatical preachers in the style of Jon Shannow. My minds is aglow with whirling ambient nodes of thoughts cascading into a whirlpool of invention. Do you think the setting has legs? Do you have any advice? Do I start the party as inmates, lost travellers, guards put down? Is the Enclave still monitoring the facility? What part of the timeline do I set it in, Fallout 1, 2 or New Vegas?

Yes for all of my criticism I am enjoying Poe, as Lady Crimson says it is a very good game, it is just that mechanically it seems...off. I know that is vague but I really can't explain it any better, it just seems dry and I know not what, whereas in some of the IE games I enjoyed the steady escalation of combat, abilities and challenges.

I've got to ask, does the combat in Poe get any more...fun? The ghosts and shadows were a nice touch thanks to the teleportation and needed response, but since then i'm just falling back on the same tactics, using the most efficient builds and the most efficient items, which are so far unfortunately utterly boring. There's no unexpected situations, no game changing artifacts, no crazy builds, no thrill from the fall of the dice, no immunities to overcome or anything else i'd consider fun and challenging. It's unfortunately becoming tedious and simplistic. Still the narrative and world building is interesting.

I'd forgotten that Yen likes to romp on the back of a Unicorn, the Vampire definitely stole that trailer however. Edit: I wonder if that's Yen's voice actress?

Isolating and tracking down the source is almost always at the heart of any investigation i've GM'd, sowing hints, planting Red Herrings and if necessary ambushing the players upon the path i've set them upon is standard practise. However one thing i've found that is necessary is for the players to be invested, obviously striking them down with the disease is an obvious and blunt way of doing this, they have an all too simple personal stake in the matter then. However if one can get a player to care for an area, a people and their plight, that is a far more difficult but satisfying achievement as a GM, for me at least.

Me and Mrs Nonek have been somewhat gripped watching Oz, it's very gruesome and gritty but very good, i'd never heard a single thing about it before happening to catch a repeat on TV.

Well it's quite brittle and prone to shattering, though this produces sharp edges that may be used in a similar manner to flint, so whether this is "wrong" may be arguable.