Slowtrain

I absolutely agree that purely from a gamer's POV, definitely I'd rather see Obs spend their time on an original IP. Much more potential to make something really interesting. But, if you think about it, DS was such a mediocre game that Obs can do pretty much whatever they want to it and nobody's going to really complain. They basically have an opportunity to reboot a crappy IP, which is almost like getting the chance to do something brand new. If they were taking on a sequel to a bettrer IP, they woudl probably have less freedom to change things. Depends who you listen to, I guess. Some people do feel that a lot of AP is pretty cool and unique. Haven't played it myself though, so I can only go by what others are saying.

Not exactly inspiring. "If we make less ambitious game, people will care less if we fail!" hmmm. Not quite the way I intended it. Still, the point is that Obs didn't make the first one (or the second for that matter), so they cannot be faulted for the quality of those games. And I don't think any development company can be faulted for taking on paying gigs like this in today's economic climate. I mean, better to make DS3 than go out of business, right? Might it be a terrible game? Sure. But, otoh, maybe Obs can take the broken pieces and put them together in a much better way: better, faster, stronger, etc and so forth.

Regardless, its a lot less pressure trying to make a good sequel to a dull, uninspired, mostly forgotten game than it is try making a good sequel to a cherished game. Regardles of how bad DS was, it wasn't Obsidian's fault and they have nowhere to go but up!

And at least we get an actual forum to talk about it in!

Ah yes, I had forgotten that explosive firearms were being moved under the explosives skill. That does make a difference as far as weapon skill balance goes. I'll just say that having these considerations to think about is a Good Thing, as far as a gameplay goes, regardless of the weapons in the game. One question: does the DT of armor grow less as the armor takes damage? Similar to how in FO3 the DR would grow less as the armor took damage? Or is the armor DT a constant number regardless of condition?

Hey, in this economic climate, if someone's willing to pay, you take the job. So good for Obsidian. Now, it's true that Dungeon Siege 1 was the most boring game I ever played. (Never bothered with DS2) But that doesn't neccessarily mean that Obs take on DS gameplay has to be boring as well. Sometimes, even just a few small design and mechanic changes can make a big difference.

It got more weapons to give more tactical options to the player. In the video, I hope you noticed that the minigun was more effective at dealing with individual targets than the GMG. That's by design. Truth be told, I'm actually a little unclear on this whole concept, in light of the merging of Big Guns/Small Guns. The argument could certainly be made that such was a problem in FO3: a small gun specialized charaacter had no way of doing AoE attacks and that their options of dealing with multiple targets at close range were limited. COnversely, in FO3, a Big Guns specialized character had few options when dealing with single targets at medium or long ranges or with multiple ttargets at medium range. (Of course with the vast number of skill points available it ewas easy to be good in everything, but ignore that for the moment). However, you've effectively eliminated this problem by combining small guns and big guns, since now a charcter can switch from the sniper rifle to the rocket launcher to the minigun to the magnum without penalty, all on one skill. There would in fact seem to be less need for a variety of weapons in NV since one skill now covers more bases.

How many energy weapons does one need? Is that a different one for each day of the week? A variety of designer colors? I mean, I can see low power, medium power and high power iterations for the sake of game balance, but FO3 all ready had more than that. What else are you looking for from energy weapons?

If every gun, or even just most of them, give a viable tactical option that differs from the others, then that's a big step forward from FO3 and that'll be great. Yep, I agree totally, but I also think it's extremely unfortunate that such is the case, so I reserve the right to voice my objections as needed.

Knife? Please. Anyone who can't save the world with a spoon should stick to Tetris. It's not a matter of realism though. Just that it sounds kind of like NV is getting more guns just to have MOAR GUNZ, if you get what I mean. FO3 already had enough guns and probably half that list could be cut without noticeably affecting gameplay options. Like I said before, I think most of what we've heard about NV is solid.

That makes sense, because that would be a pretty dumb thing to think. I've never played a game that automatically gave me free health every second whenever I needed it. Have you even played any game that has regenerating health? Because regenerating health isn't the god mode you seem to think it is. Health is never "free". While health is no longer a limited resource in games with regeneration, losing it means giving up the advantage, needing to retreat and heal, giving your enemies the upper hand. This can be true in games that use health kits/stations as well, where I need to run away from any enemy and run over a kit that automatically fills my health bar, but contrary to popular opinion* in games with regenerating health your health does not regenerate while you are being damaged. Funnily enough, this isn't true of games that use health kits. In Deus Ex I can use health kits from the quick slots or from the paused status screen and heal myself even when taking damage. *By popular opinion I mean whiny anti-regen crybabies. Sorry. I misssed this. Games that give you health while you stand around doign nothing is free health. Spit hairs of the definition of the word "free" if you want, regardless, the game is rewarding you for doing nothing. WHat's next? An rpg that gives you XP for just standing around? You know, just in case the gamer is having difficulty. Wouldn't want them to get stuck or anything, after all. SO we'll just give them regenerating XP sp they can level up again and get on with the game. I mean, why not. It saves them the effort of actually having to go out in the gameworld and you know, do things.

Never said they don't work as adverts. Or maybe they don't. Wan't my issue. Just questioning the point of gamers using them as any way to judge a game. On a side note, I'm quite sure that many gamers don't even realize that what they see in a trailer has nothing to do with the game. Could bring up the deceptive nature of non-in game trailers in that sense. Publishers aren't dumb; they know what they are doing.

grenade machinegun, huh? What about an rpg pistol? No? Flamethrower minigun? No? hmmm. Surely we can make this game even more munchkin friendly. Oh, right. Orbital laser platform. Check.

You would think that would be obvious to people who have played games for a while, wouldn't you?

That, I think, is the day computer games start to develop. Once nobody is talking about the dang tech and the dang graphics, once all that is just taken for granted, then developers can start actually making interesting games.

Yep. Sadly, you, me, and a handful of cranky old gits don't count for much.

Gunther was certainly a one-man army as well. He couldn't really blend in to a crowd very easily though. And of course he was a psychopath.

Part of the subtext in DX1 was the alienation that mechanically augmented agents had to endure since their augmentations reduced them to walking mechanical freaks. That was a part of the conflict between Paul and JC with Gunther and Anna.

*shrug* That's the way the lighting changes the facial tone values in Facegen: generally one are lightens while another darkens, so it gets a little weird. Plus the level lighting can create odd highlights, shadows, and color changes. It was far far worse in Oblivion. There's nothing to complain about here.

Once I've played a game for a while, even the weirdest looking faces kinda normalize and I stop noticing them. Except for Oblivion, of course; the faces in that game were non-stop visual trauma.

Big difference between Free health regen for every player all the time and trading something (ie constant Bioeletric energy plus an aug slot) for the ability. The latter is great: it's a choice with both a cost and a consequence. The former is just crap. Interesting. I never played a game with health kits and said, "Man this game would be so much better if the game was automatically giving me free health every second whenever I needed it!" I was too slow, damnit. Curse these brittle bones of mine.

But they look assloads better than Oblivion and Morrowind, so it's all good.

To say Florida's tourism industry is going to have problems seems an understatement.

Yup. I think SS2 was the better game in a focused sense. It did less than Deus Ex but it was stronger in that singular vision. Deus Ex though was probably the more complex gamng experience.

I get tired of the Bioware worship, but yet it continues.