Rhomal

The vast array of non-gaming software and options that linux and mac simply don't have. And no... 30 different text editors in linux or 6 different versions of itunes or ipod related apps I do not consider a valid counter argument

Sorry, but that's just the logic of most computer software. It's why we are no longer using rigs with 512kb of RAM Or in the case of the Color Computer 3 128K

*waves to Rob* Long time no chat! I would LOVE you (both 'you' as in YOU specificly and obsid as a whole) to take on either of these products. I think obsid and a dark, mature setting go natually hand in hand. You have, IMO, some of the best producers and writers for PC games currently. And if you could some how wiggle getting the SR or WoD lic that would be amazing. I know I'd be first in line to buy it! Sorry to gush like a fan boy but after my expose to obsid via nwn2news I certainly hold obsid, (and you specificly among several others) in high regard. If you have the time to reply, off the top of your head what kind of idea generally would you be interested in persuing for SR or WoD story wise?

err, you do know who owns and in the end runs LUCAS arts right? That's like saying he has nothing to do with his film production studio or his ranch where all the FX is done. That aside I see nothing to rebut anything I said about him other then splitting hairs.

It's like a car wreck.. its horrible, sad and painful to endure but when passing by you just can't look away...

And you don't think hes milking the movies (both live action and animated?) Did we REALLY need the clone wars animated film that just came out a few months ago? You don't call that milking? What next, a animated film of yoda's youth? Also lucas arts had produced many of the SW games and cartoons not just leased the license. Sorry but hes just about sucking in the fans with poor quality merchandise as he cares little about the product anymore (as the last 3 live action films show or, obsidian/bioware aside, pc games have shown) just the almighty $. Not that I am against making money. So are all folks like that, and thats not the issue I have. Its hes the opposite of say Ron D. Moore or the writers for obsidian, sure they want to make a $ but they also care about the quality of their writing and product. In fact in his podcasts RDM rips himself apart when a script or finished product in his eyes fails as he has a 'buck stops here' attitude. Lucas OTOH couldn't care less it seems about quality, just quantity. Hence why I say hes milking it and, IMO, making all the SW fans out to be, in the end, suckers.

QFT and ditto!

You are being sarcastic right?

It's like with every step you take you have to throw up a little bit huh? You guys reminded me of the peep in my forums that is hell bent with the stance FO3 isn't 'real' fallout unless it gets the blessing from the NMA and DaC folks. And since they say it isn't it HAS to be 'true'. *chuckle*

Oh come on, I'm not getting into this mud fight again. That's good for you and your ego.

'outdated'? Ermm NWN2 still looks VERY good and the new engine has aged quite well past few years. If you mean you simply do not like the plot of the XP's well that's a matter of taste, but if atari is ready to fund XP #3 clearly the sales numbers are there and while you are entitled to your opinion you are in the minority. While I doubt obsid is in anywhere near the brink of closing if what you say did come to pass that would be awkward on a few levels.. one specifically comes to mind... (at the entrance to Bioware new ex-obsid devs come to interview) Ferret: Hi guys...

First point totally agree, the skilled folks would simply find homes elsewhere to continue their craft. Second point, You sir have regained some of my respect... Jim Ross: MCA delivers a massive clothesline to the Woo-miester.. Woo staggers to the ropes The King: Look at JE on the apron JR, itching for a tag, hes ready to lay some smack down on Gaider the way he's looking at him!

This from gamebanshee; funny I just made the comment the other day bioware has new masters and thing are going to change as happens when all dev houses get bought up as the former execs/owners turned middle mgt try to put on a brave face saying 'little changed'... and then I stumble upon this interesting tidbit. ---- Blue's News is pointing to a story on Games On Net claiming that EA has shuttered the Brisbane branch of Pandemic Studios, less than 16 months after acquiring BioWare/Pandemic in 2007. This recent news wasn't a surprise to employees, and today isn't the first set of cuts to the developer - EA suffered (like the rest of us) from the economic crisis late last year, which saw job losses at various developers. Earlier in the year, it was revealed in a poorly-kept secret that the local development team working on a high-profile (bat-related) title were running behind schedule and had missed a number of internal milestones, meaning the higherups cancelled the project, laying off or relocating staff members. So - while we're still waiting on official word about just what's been going on (Pandemic's phones have apparently been disconnected), it seems that things aren't as bad as we'd once thought (but not as good as we'd hoped, either). While it seems there's no more Pandemic presence in Australia, at least, for now, there will be something exciting rising from the ashes. And, judging by the disappointing scores being handed out to Pandemic's The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, it wouldn't surprise me if more people are let go in the near future. To get a better perspective on just how much things can change in a little over a year, here's a snip from an interview with Pandemic Studios right after the acquisition: Do you feel that your way of running the studio might change? Are you worried about changes under EA management? Or are you expecting things to continue as they were? Greg Borrud: No, absolutely. We kind of pride ourselves on our independence for the last couple years, and we definitely want that to continue. And by all signs, that will continue as we move forward. Nothing is changing internally in terms of management, nothing is changing in terms of the way we develop games, the kind of games we want to develop, our core pillars of building big brands and having event launches, and attracting the best talent in the industry. Those have been kind of core to who we are at Pandemic for years, and we think that actually EA allows us to take that to the next level. JR: That's why they're partnering with us. That's how they ascribe value to us. They want us to continue to do what we're doing but grow and get even more support from their organization to continue on that path. GB: We really do see our [company] as hopefully a really strong label within the larger EA organization. We're being brought in to really fill out their action-adventure category. And we think that compliments their strengths in all the other genres. And we think we can really help push their business forward by giving them all the great products in development right now. Let's hope that Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2, and Star Wars: The Old Republic do well or one (or more) of BioWare's studios might suffer the same fate.

True however this implies I have to love or even like SW somehow? Glad it got obsidian off the ground, just despise the franchise myself.

Aside from the fact its a a bunch of stereotypical archetypes with pretty window dressing at the core, a pretty avarge quality sci-fi story, no not really. Plus the way hes milking the franchise and the sucke... ermmm fans eat it up which just finances more of his poor story telling amazes me. IMO vicious cycle.

DLA? Please thats laughable. Plus they have more or less washed their hands of NWN2 since they couldn't make such inroads behind the scenes to obsidian as they did with bioware. That aside I do agree it would be interesting to see what ossian aka codi would have for ideas (I feel the writers for codi were far superior then those of and other community group excluding certain indiv. folk)

If you didn't put words in my mouth you would have had a point V. The phrase 'most reviews' <> 'all' or even imply such. Majority yes, every one no. And if you need me to post links to major review sites stating such I'll be happy to but I am sure you can find them on your own. I also never said or implied they were 'trash' I said they were 'dated out of the box'. Again most reviews and players agree with me. If you doubt that as fact again, google is your friend. But you know this is true even if you can't bring yourself to admit it which I think it the root of the issue here. I also made 0 comparison of nwn1 vs todays rendering engines. I did say however they have not aged well unlike other games and I stand by that comment. Perhaps if you reply to what I actually said we could have a productive discussion.

QFT (still love you V even if your blind loyalty of nwn/bioware gets in your way of objective opinion)

No. Different game, different needs. NWN graphics were great wehn it was released in 2002 in my biased, uneducated opinion. For present standards, it isn't IMO. Corrected.

From my understanding of C# I totally agree. However I'd like to get on board with both and since a little of my past knowledge at least gets me started on the VB route i'd feel better with that. I plan on then taking a crash course in C# afterward. In the end I want to get comfy with BOTH, in today's IT field being able to program in both certainly makes me more dynamic then if I focus on only one. Plus I can choose which of the 2 langs works best for the type of module(s) I want to develop for DNN. However I don't want to turn this into a my lang can trump yours thread, that wasn't the point. I wasn't asking what I should study my question is, is there anyone here I can bounce questions off of here for vb.net? My minds made up on what, its the how I need help with

Ho boy. I'm sorry but it's absolutely ridiculous to hear about somebody fudging server-side scripting with VB and then actually advocating it to others as a replacement to PHP! If you compare DNN vs most other major PHP CMS's from independent security sites you will find DNN has had far less exploits per year then most major PHP/CMS packages. The mindset something in vb.net is inherently more insecure then php is false, the opposite is actually more true (or simply say the DNN devs are better coders security wise then the php coders... either case numbers are numbers). http://secunia.com/advisories/search/?search=dotnetnuke 3 major PHP packages http://secunia.com/advisories/search/?search=xoops http://secunia.com/advisories/search/?search=postnuke http://secunia.com/advisories/search/?search=wordpress http://secunia.com/advisories/search/?search=joomla <-- for comparison I rest my case.

Its a fact the rendering engine for nwn1 was dated out of the box. Most every review said so and was pretty obvious to any gamer. Had to do with nwn1 languishing in dev for so long gaming tech passed it by to some degree. But it still broke ground in other areas, it simply wasn't close to cutting edge or even 'average' for its time and certainly has not aged well.

Well, we did redo the homepage with a new content management system a while back called Joomla, which makes it a lot easier to do things with periodic updates like news or a blog. Not that the forum-based blogs are bad, per se, but if we did a Joomla-based blog and made it a more prominent part of the homepage it might be a little easier for people to find it, instead of having it simply exist on the forums. Plus, you get to do cool things like add a Twitter widget, do trackbacks, maybe have a blogroll for employees, etc. This is still in the planning stages and might not work out anytime soon, but we're definitely thinking of some stuff. You know with a powerful CMS like Joomla or DNN you could replace the entire site. As there's nothing the site does now that couldn't be emulated by either of those types of packages but with the added bonus of doing it even better or/and easier to edit. Just a thought I used a CMS's for nwn2news (Xoops which was PHP/mysql based) and currently for wodonlinenews I use DotNetNuke (DNN which is .asp/mssql based) and both are quite robust, feature filled and open source.

ok sweety now you are loosing me... star wars...? *burp* Excuse me... I just threw up in my mouth a little bit...

motb aahhh got it! Good to have such a skilled vet back!