Nonek

There are various strongholds of one of the two dominant dna types (Briton and Germanic) in the British Isles, for instance Cumbria has quite a high population of Norse (Norwegian) dna, in its mix of Briton and Germanic sources. Anglia and parts of Yorkshire are very heavily Anglo Saxon/Danish, indeed visiting Mrs Nonek's relative in their little village, one is struck by the amount of blue eyed and blond haired natives there are. The Isle of Man has mainly native Briton blood, but with a healthy dash of Norse, which is also reflected in there language. Could Mannannan have been a half Norseman? Unfortunately the two Roman legions, Normanni conquerors and other groups didn't really affect the dna makeup at all, leaving the two dominant dna groups largely untouched. One a Germanic, Frankish and Scandinavian supplanting and interbreeding with the indigenous Britons. You can still see the differing skull shapes, colouring and various genetic cues if you travel the Isles extensively today. Very interesting in my opinion, especially the changes in regional accents, traditions and culture. Interestingly enough one of the only shared cultural elements is the Black Dog, whether it is called Shuck, Shagga, the Barghest, Padfoot or what have you. One thing is sure though Scotland is not so very different in a dna sense from their brethren south of Hadrians, but then again no man is massively different from any other the world over.

Chronic masturbators? Seriously though I fail to see what inclusivity measures need to be included for games to aid minorities, colour blind mode is a very nice addition, as is a game that can be played mouse only for those whom are movement restricted, subtitles are good for the deaf, but all these are already being implemented to some degree. The wife has no problem playing games, except with poorly designed and insulting caricatures like Isabella (and fairly much all of the other poorly written characters) in Dragon Age 2, dragging quality down. And she does not mind playing as a man, an alien, a robot or a woman as it is escapism. I'm curious what more is needed? The fact that women now outnumber men in some forms of gaming says to me that it is inclusive already, are they overcoming hurdles to do this? It would be nice to see more ethnically diverse worlds, and that is something i've long hoped and campaigned for, though obviously not at the cost of the worlds internal consistency. In a dark age or medieval setting where there is no magical transportation, and the average man or woman rarely ventures beyond the local market town, ethnic diversity will not be as feasible, except at seaports and recognised trade-routes. Crossroads of the world such as Byzantium, where one can see a great mass of peoples from all over the world, drink in foreign cultures and become lost in the bustle and pace of the exotic. Or Rome where all Christendom comes in pilgrimage, traders come to partake of the legendary wealth and emissaries from far distant lands arrive to politic and spy. I'd be curious to hear what inclusivity measures are needed.

Yes quite enthused by that trailer, very Torment-ish ambience. Was that little quote at the end Mr Fargo's subtle dig at the SJF's? After all the gentleman is a gamer, formed a company that had the tagline, by gamers, for gamers and now is supposedly after decades of advancing game development judged to be a hindrance to the industry.

And now gentlemen, please be upstanding for the Patriarchy's first Public Service Announcement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sehy5EgR_pk

A fantastic and very professional summation, very well done Mr Palior, it left me enormously enthused for the product.

I am more Ogre-ish I think.

To be fair; his mustache does make him look like a molester. That is because he is a proud member of the Patriarchy, in essence we molest the world, thus our whiskers are entirely warranted. What else would we stroke, while we cackle manically as our Patriarchal plans unfurl? Persian cats are so outdated.

No I would say it's a very small minority on the internet whom do not represent the majority, whom deplore their actions and have stated so repeatedly. Most reasonable moderates are in no way, shape or form prejudiced against women, as many are married, have female kin and are born of and respect their mothers. The issue I find disturbing is the hate and dehumanisation that the game journalist friends of Ms Quinn are indulging in, blaming millions for the actions of these few, not only is this intellectually bankrupt, it also mirrors the actions of those they are supposedly making a moral stand against. Both sides to me come off as fanatics, far too invested and slightly unhinged, to the point where anybody whom is not for them is automatically equated as being against them and guilty of all the sins they can think of. It is the debating tactic of children, demonise the opposition to lionise oneself, and it just propogates hatred and group think mentality. We have seen this before many times, and sometimes it has born bitter fruit. I'm against both sides, and would prefer that we stick to facts. The gaming press is in general unfit for purpose, they need a watchdog to monitor them, they need journalistic codes of conduct, they need to have some basic ethics and integrity, and they need to distance themselves from the medium they report on and strive to judge it in an unbiased and objective manner. They certainly cannot have sexual relationships or be friends with developers. That is a clear conflict of interest. But most of all I would say that they need to respect their customers. Enough that they do not feel they have the right to preach at them about issues, enough so that they feel beholden to them to serve their interests, and enough so that they do not feel they have a right to equate millions of innocent gamers with a handful of radicals. As for Ms Quinn, I am sorry for her trials and tribulations, but I am not my brothers keeper and I do not even use Twitter or Facebook. I suggest she concentrate on repairing her personal life, ignore the harassment while the police investigate it, and do something constructive rather than focus on the negative view many have of her for her adultery and suspected corruption.

Funny, I visit the knocking shop to get beaten up, humiliated, spat upon, whipped and electrocuted. Like any normal gentleman, you perverts.

The blade in question looks like an arming sword more than a longsword, but it was not unknown for a sword to be called just that, most terminology was reserved for foreign weapons like the famous Spanish sword and imposed by modern sources for accurate archaeological catagerisation.

As I remember every class had a level name, don't know why, they were all fairly random.

AD&D 1st edition Magic User level titles aren't they?

Though not participating in the beta myself I too offer my thanks to Sensuki and all of the ladies and gentlemen whom are participating, it is very much appreciated.

Elemental: Destiny's Embers?

NOT MEG RYAN! FOR PITYS SAKE, SPARE ME THE RYAN! Sorry showed emotion there for a moment, upper lip and buttocks stiffened Sir. I'll be there.

We are men, manly men doing manly things, we cannot lose. Our Patriarchy has designed the world this way!

Revered, significant and bulging members of the Patriarchy. I present myself before you in shame, my head held low. In my own home I have been cuckolded. The woman (me good lady wife) whom I should be oppressing and manipulating, as any husband is commited to doing, is flagrantly flaunting her enjoyment and making a mockery of our marriage. Her beau, the popular online card game Hearthstone, a game that is taking up her time, thoughts, attentiveness and I fear reverence for my undauntable masculinity. I have informed her repeatedly that this game is not for her, that it is designed for men alone, that she cannot hope to compete at a reasonable level because only men are able to do so. She has refuted each one of my points, in a display of brazen temerity, made clear that she enjoys it, and has played with a number of other ladies, some of whom are quite high in the rankings. She then had the gall to challenge my dominance of all I survey by challenging me to a contest, of course I declined stating that ever since Wizards did what they did to AD&D that I have sworn off all related products. A good thing too, as I fear she would have spanked me like a virgin watching his first pornographic movie. What say you gentlemen? How can we reiterate to minorities, women, anybody slightly swarthy, Aliens and the Welsh, that our white, Anglo Saxon, fiercely heterosexual, privileged passtime is not for them? Now I hear many rash words now about how anybody could play, and indeed did, since they were young the video games that are made for and by us subhuman scum. What they do not understand is that we do not tolerate such inclusivity, we resist it with every fibre of our being, as do the developers whom ideally wish to only sell a dozen copies to friends and acquaintances. And thus not sully the perfection of that shining, beautiful creation. Inclusivity gentlemen, it is worth fighting against. Personally I think that DNA scanners must be researched and implanted into all entertainment products, ones that will briefly tell the recipient that they are unworthy of sharing our passtime, pass on their details to our Patriarchal Upnet System for Surveilance of Yahoos, and then self destruct with a small, contained thermonuclear reaction. Yours tyrannically. Nonek. P.S. I submit myself for electro flagelattion at any specified date and time for failing to control my little woman, any days good for me, i'll bring the nipple clamps. Tata.

Join the Patriarchy, feel a man!

My fellow Patrirachs good afternoon. Ahem...As a long standing member of the oppressive and evil Patriarchy I feel it is my duty to speak out and inform this august body on an issue troubling us all, this issue is of course the deplorable state of literature and prose in games. Even the finest exponents of prose in gaming garner no praise, and those whose work shine through are ignored and worst of all clicked through on the way to the next portion of gameplay. These gentlemen (and others whom I will not accept exist) work hard to bring us a coherent, nuanced and most importantly interactive narrative, that is all too often ignored and forgotten. For shame! Now Nonek I hear you cry out, what can be done against the degenerate practises that bedevil prose in video games? How can the esteemed members of the Patriarchy, all glory to their name, make a stand against such blind ignorance? The answer is simple my friends, we reach out and initiate a dialogue with those whom adopt this degenerate policy, we initiate a discussion and try and meet somewhere in the middle, as respected, mature and intelligent consumers. Whom after all keep the industry alive with their custom. I propose to do this by issuing a blanket statement condemning all "Readers" as subhuman scum, unworthy of the oxygen they are breathing. Vile, idiotic, racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, claustrophobic and French. Pollutants of our fair Earth whom should be harvested for spare parts and loose change, and that the literary community no longer needs. I feel this respectful and moderate approach must surely reach out to our likeminded brethren, and take us forward into the future of thrilling interactive narrative that surely awaits. I urge this august body to say aye to this proposal, and bring to bear the fearsome influence of the Patriarchy. Thank you gentleman, and those in the back wearing false beards. Nonek. Tl/dr: For shame Sir!

I've always liked the idea of Resolve governing stamina (endurance, energy or what have you,) as a regular runner and hiker its never been my fitness that's failed me, rather my will to continue. When in a bloody minded or conversely a jolly mood I can push on mile after mile, and take satisfaction in that determination, but when the black dog is upon me my logical mind kicks in, doubts and apathy eat away, the bodys aches seem more urgent and I falter.

Ah good, as a newly inducted member of a minority in gaming I do believe that it's only correct that we have a safe haven from the tyranny of the matriarchy.

Thought i'd eat into the old GOG back catalogue, downloaded Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption. I quite like it, though it's dialogue is a touch too verbose and tends to drag, as well as indulging in too many thees, thous and doths. The combat is standard Diablo clone stuff, but seems to cry out for a pause button, or some other method of handling tactical concerns mid melee. The graphics are surprisingly pretty for the year it was released, though somewhat stylised, but they function admirably. The plot works, though i'm not particularly enthused about the budding romance between Anezka and Christoff, but then again he's French. Personally i'd have preferred to remain human for a much longer while, the inevitable turning to vampiricism occurs quite quickly and I was just beginning to enjoy myself. The introduction and lore of the Masquerade is of course well done and fascinating, as it should be, and it's interesting to see how the game was played in the old world. There are a few errors in the timeline, but overall the setting in medieval Bohemia works well, though Prague is a little cramped. The combat when within a group, or coterie as the game calls it, is to be frank awful. When fighting alone in the Bonn mines early on combat is enjoyable and satisfying, with the addition of more members however it becomes a chaotic chore, having to deal with the abilities of your team, as well as your own mid melee, without any form of tactical pause is rather difficult. You fall back on (cheesy) viable single person tactics, feral claws with speed and strength buffs, clear the room then drink from the last survivor. Have your companions summon a Wraith to tank etcetera. It's spoils what could be a very rewarding combat system. The game would work better with just a lone protagonist. Overall though i'm enjoying myself, the little touches of choice and consequence (usually affecting ones Humanity statistic) are quite nice and the plot cracks along at a fair old pace. Worth a quick playthrough i'd say, it could be so much better but it's not terrible by any means, and it's certainly worth the price on GOG.

I still have a fond recollection of Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat and Dark Omen. The non linearity of the campaign in Shadows was enormously enjoyable, and the difficulty was refreshingly challenging if one did not abuse the Amber Mage. Dark Omens UI was of course a massive improvement, as was the gameplay in general, but a lot of features and content were removed that make it far less satisfying. Edit: When are GOG going to release these?

I've got to admit my knees have been killing me lately.

So what's the lowdown gentlemen, are we still subhumans in need of extermination or have we got a new label courtesy of the self appointed moral guardians of the "gaming press?"