Slowtrain

I'd buy it. As long as it kept all the features of Jag 2 rather than streamlining the **** out of it.

It is the 1.13 mod. Purple is the AET (Advanced Energy Transfer) ammo, which is available for some of the pistols and submachine guns.

Verisign certs are DRM?

One would kinda expect game deveopers to get tired of the whole "walk through door, door locks behind you, monsters come out, door unlocks when all monsters are dead" thing. But no. Its like having the female trip over a root when running away from the killer. It's just too easy to not do.

I think having a unified console standard would be great. The hardware could be built by anybody but all would play the same games. I think having a single hardware platform, controlled by one company, that all games have to play on would be not so great.

Basically, yeah. Because it's not true that the game doesn't work, rather it's a case of it doesn't work well enough or it's not compatible with particular systems. It does turn out that way, doesn't it. Which is why I shop from the bargain bin and discount rack as much as possible. If I have to buy a game that doesn't work, at least I can often avoid paying full price. Its not much, but it is something.

That's totally true from my point as well. If I buy a game for $50 and then get $20 from a resell, that $20 plus a bit more would go into buying another game, most likely at retail price. Good post.

What version of the game are you playing? The English language version of the original had some cut content. SOme of that was restored in the EE but maybe not all of it. I played both the regular and EE versions of the game (ENglish l;anguage version) and don't remember either of the scenes you were describing. But perhaps I am simply not remembering them. I don't even remember halflings being in the game at all, tbch. But maybe my brain is melting down?

So then given that if: 1) I cannot get a refund or an exchange on a game that doesn't work. 2) I cannot resell a game that doesn't work to someone else (Remember: 2nd hand market teh EVIL!) What do I do when I buy a game that doesn't work? Am I just out of luck? 50 USD down the drain? Throw the game in the trash and move on? Please explain.

If your ticket or dvd fails to function properly you can either get your money back or another version of the ticket/dvd that actually works. Big difference right there. I can only hope that as some point the govenment steps in and ends this ridiculous freedom of game developers to sell you something that doesn't work and yet still get to keep your money.

You mean, even worse than the in the first game. That's really not something I'm looking forward to then. mkreku said the same thing. I agree. Its impressive how many of SoC failing's were fixed or adjusted. At least that is what I can say for now. I am just entering the Dark Valley. The swamp level was a lot of fun especially. Except for all that story-related expository babble at the start. Painful. But still, I've played that whole level through several times just for the heck of it. Quite fun. Have you joined a faction? I am holding off for the moment, though I am tempted to join the stalkers and wipe out the bandits. Those guys really piss me off. I'm trying to get everything I can out of them first though. They pay a lot for Vodka though. Even after quite a few hours of playing I'm not even sure what the plot is. SOmething about emissions killing the zone or something. :/

I'm probably bad example as I am one of those who cling to the humorous and archiac notion of wanting a purchase to result in something tangible. I actually don't like digital media very much and would prefer to stick with something like cds exclusively. However, the convenience factor is undeniable. It is ever so much easier to carry around a tiny little mp3 player than the smallest possible cd player. Ideally I'd like to see music on tiny little discs the size of a fingernail. That would be the best of both worlds. Except I'd probably drop them down the drain or something by accident.

Which I pretty much agree with. I don't expect any purchased item to last for ever. Whether its furniture or entertainment media. I expect what I purchase to last for a resonable amount of time based on how much it cost. My old three hundred dollar dvd player died and I replaced it with one that cost $25. I don't expect it to last very long. But if it gets through a year or two, I'll be content. I think DRM is a waste of money and a stupid concept. People who want to bypass it, will. People who don't want to are probably not the people that need DRM in the first place. I would prefer DRM go off to a small dark room and never return. But I don't see it as something that is going to affect the use of my products down the road any more than is already so. HOWEVER, something like the Microsoft thing is a bit too like planned obselence (sp) for my taste. I'll pass on their plan.

I kind of agree with Hurlshot though. For example, over the years I've owned Blondie's Eat to The Beat on vinyl, cassette, cd, and digital media. That means I've purchased the same collection of songs 4 times over a span of about 30 years, simply to keep up with new technology. There are quite a few other albums as well. I don't consider it a problem. However, re: the Microsoft article, I WOULD expect my songs to last through more than a single phone upgrade. That is pretty ludicrous.

lol. That's cold.

The only thing that strikes me as odd about Eve is how you train your skills. That just seems too mechanical, and basically nothing more than a testatment to how long you've had an account. I'm sure the process has defenders, but to me it just seems cold and dry. Perhaps I am not fully informed on how it works though.

Well having played Far Cry 2 and seen how easy that was, you're probably right. STALKER: Clear Sky is somewhat more difficult, although the AI is still iffy in places. CLear Sky makes good use of cover and um, leaning.

Is this a bad thing? I mean in the real world, it would be. But so is cutting someone's head off with a sword. Or shooting a squad mate in the back with your M1. Within a game world psychotic, criminal, and antisocial behaviors are usually quite enriching to the experience.

lol. Do you guys keep little sayings like this taped up in the lounge? Nothing like having built in excuses for your failures. There's also nothing like someone buying a toaster then blaming the manufacturer when it doesn't work because they live in a house with no roof and it's raining. I don't get what you mean. I always check the system requirements before I buy a game. I wouldn't expect a game to work if I didn't follow the guidelines as to what is required to run the game properly. Is that what you are referring to? I'm confused by your analogy.

Well, that's what you get for being a STALKER fan! lol. so true.

Yeah, ok, I will agree that if I came across as saying that devs don't have any pride in their work, that was not OK. I am sure that SOME don't care at all, but yeah, I'm sure a lot do. It's just unfortunate that we've reached this point. I remember when I could take games (opened and installed ones) back to the store just like any other product. Money is tight and I hate that when I buy a new game, I have to just hope that everything will actually work, because if it doesn't I've just wasted a lot of money. My current solution is simply to wait for a several months after release at least before buying a game. Each time I break that rule, I end up eating crow.

Mostly I'm just reacting to your assertion that removing options from a game makes it better in some way. You may not like leaning, but other people might? No? You think? Maybe? I said I don't care about leaning, and don't understand people that can get angry about the lack of. Get over it, leaning may be important in Thief, but it's useless in a fast-paced FPS. Well, I disagree that removing features is ever a good thing, but whatever. Obviously this one doesn't bother you, so you don't care. Fine then. We will call it a day.

Right. That must be because I said coding was easy. Of wait, I didn't, did I? What I said was that if I pay money for a product that product should work. If it doesn't, which does happen sometimes, I should be able to get my money back and buy a different product.

Mostly I'm just reacting to your assertion that removing options from a game makes it better in some way. You may not like leaning, but other people might? No? You think? Maybe?

lol. Do you guys keep little sayings like this taped up in the lounge? Nothing like having built in excuses for your failures.