~Di

Well, obviously! If EVERYBODY in the country is a thief, then EVERYBODY'S momma has taught them to be thieves, so naturally they'd be proud of their thieving progeny! After all, it's the parents who teach morals... or lack thereof... to their children in the first place. But I'll certainly keep in mind to avoid this country of thieves when I book my next vacation spot!

Wow. An entire country of thieves. Not just most people, mind you, but EVERYBODY in the country is a thief. Your moms must all be so proud!

I'm a PS:T fan. Just reinstalled it and played it again last month. For me it survived the test of time beautifully. I played it start to finish, reveling in the depth of companions surrounding me, and still pulled along by a story rich enough to hold my interest although I had "read" it many times before. PS:T may not be everyone's cup of java, but it is nonetheless a magnificent and unique game. One thing PS:T did that no other game has ever done (except BG2, and then not nearly as well, I'm afraid) is to give me companions so very real that I actually had a visceral reaction to them, and to the things that happened to them throughout the game. (Nordom was my favorite; yes, it was time-consuming to get him... but oh, so worth it!) Even today, with a top-of-the-line computer and games with eye candy that can take my breath away, I go back to the older games that held my interest through story and intrigue rather than just "look at that!" graphics which, face it folks, do grow old very quickly. Sadly graphics are it for games nowadays. Fancy graphics, and speed. Everything else is secondary. And it shows.

I don't so much have a problem with graphic gore as I do with the context some games use. For example, I've heard that in one game the player gets points for driving over civilians... prostitutes being worth more than grannies. I don't think that's either funny or appropriate, particularly for younger kids. I don't approve of games that either require the player to massacre non-threatening people or reward the player for doing so. Games like that are not only inappropriate for very young players, but they actually are pretty damned inappropriate for any player in my opinion. Now I'm a Jagged Aliiance 2 fan, among other violence-oriented games, so I'm hardly a prude. But as long as there are certain games that stress the utterly unacceptable then those games will endanger the rest of them since they can be shown to an already-nervous congress as proof that the entire gaming industry is the devil's spawn. So when we as gamers support such kinds of games, we are putting the nails into our own gaming coffins, so to speak. If that makes sense...

Ah, another "I can't afford everything I want, therefore I have a right to steal it!" argument. Gotta love the hubris involved. God forbid anyone not be able to instantly claim anything and everything their little heart desires. Why, stealing is not just reasonable, it's a God-given right! w00t! [/sarcasm]

*glances at her watch and waits for Phosphor....*

I like Gothic's combat. :ph34r:

Can't say that I'm sad about it. At least I won't be annoyed by more lying advertisements claiming Troika made Fallout. I'm surprised they haven't been sued over that. I'm sure there are some really nice people who will have their personal/financial lives completely upended by this, and for them I have sympathy. But my experience with Troika personnel (years ago, granted) is that they were arrogant, incredibly rude, and refused to take responsibility for even the most blatantly stupid of their *cough* "design decisions". Talk about a bunch of blame-mongers. Anyway, their demise doesn't affect me one way or the other since I haven't bought a Troika game since Arcanum... and regretted buying that.

I truly love the Gothic series, so I agree that if Dungeon Lords parallels a Gothic-type experience, I'll be in seventh heaven!

Gosh, I wish I was as elite and cool as the CRPG purists of the world. Then I too could heist my nose in the air, and pretend I was so much better than anyone else because only I have the knowledge of what is good and holy and fun in the CRPG universe, amen.

The game I've wanted more than anything is one I'll never see... Jefferson, aka The Black Hound. Sawyer's vision of that game made me weep with anticipation. Interplay's scrapping of it just plain made me weep.

I enjoy Dungeon Siege, and am looking forward to Dungeon Siege 2. I know DS isn't rocket science; I don't care. It's beautiful, it's fun, and it's one of the few party-based games out there nowadays. So I don't care if it's an action hack-n-slash, it's a fun action hack-n-slash, and Dungeon Siege 2 promisese to be even better. *waits for the pompous RPG elitists to ooze out of the woodwork* :D

(I moved this post from the Announcement forum, because this seems a more proper place for it) If Atari wants NWN2 boards over at BioWare, that's fine with me. I just don't see why BioWare must have the ONLY NWN2 boards. Why couldn't there be two forums? Truth be told, I don't like the BioWare boards. Beyond the time-consuming and poor performance of the massive board itself, they have a couple of official moderators over there who are rude and unpredictable. I've found it a nerve-wracking place to post, and a generally unpleasant place to hang out. Would it not be possible to have NWN2 forums here and at BioWare as well?

Eh. Bummer. Very disappointing turn of events.

I like mana-based games. I like non-D&D games. I'm looking forward to Dragon Age. Of course, I'm looking forward to NWN2 too... although it will be stuck with the old D&D ruleset that I have come to understand fairly well, but still find to be... lacking. Two hopefully excellent games on the horizon. The FAR horizon, unfortunately. And so I wait...

$800K? Ha. Chump change. I'd buy it out of petty cash, if it weren't for that lousy Valley fog y'all have to put up with... @Dakoth: Ugh, I hate laminate even worse than I hate tile, that's why. I know, I'm impossible. Husby says that all the time...

Bah, the Metalheart home page is gone. I can't really find out anything about the Cops 2170 thing either, since I don't read Russian. Also I was interested in Goldenland, but it doesn't seem it will ever be released in English... and I have my doubts whether most of the others on this list will be either. Frustrates me, because these European games by small developers are the ones that sound the best to me personally.

Thing is, I adored Civ 2 and Alpha Centauri, so I ripped Civ 3 off the shelves the day it was released... and I freaking hated it. The cheating AI made it nearly impossible to survive, and was so frustrating that I felt like throwing my computer out the window. I managed to win one game, then tossed the CD aside, whereas I've played Civ 2 and Alpha Centauri probably two dozen times. If Civ 4 goes back the Civ 2 roots, then I'm ecstatic. If it's going to be more Civ 3 "let's screw with the player, muhahaha" crap, then I won't bother.

Granite countertops? I'm so envious. I wanted granite desperately when we built our home. Husby said no, too expensive. So then I lobbied for Corian. Still too expensive. So I got a cheap tile job. Every week when I have to scour the grout I pretend it's my husband's pompous face. Tell your partner that the kitchen is a woman's throne room, and no man with a brain will force his wife into a kitchen she hates. You are right; your partner is wrong. Cut corners anywhere in the house... but don't cut corners in the kitchen.

I like Puuk. I hope he's enjoying his work... he sounds a bit stressed, LOL... and I hope the next part of the interview gives us the real skinny about why his employment with SSE was so short (although I imagine it probably has more to do with logistics than any juicy scandal.

Pirates is a strategy game that, from what I've read, really doesn't appeal to me at this point. Bloodlines is a Troika game, living up to the legacy of a brilliant opening, a ton of bugs, some game-stopping, and a disappoint final half. Morrowind I've played and enjoyed many times. The Fall isn't out in English yet... and the Spanish, German, and French versions are so buggy people cannot even finish them! Never heard of Sea of Destiny, actually. I'll do a Google... Thanks for the info!

Ah, pity... but thank you so much for the response. Truth is that I'm not terribly enamored of FPS's, so Halo 2 is not of much interest to me. The reason I resent consoles so much is that they have commandeered all too many "exclusives" for their particular consoles, leaving the rest of us desparate for new RPG's. Besides, I don't have room for an entire second gaming set-up in my computer room and I like to complain. Sue me.

Well, I actually enjoyed Morrowind, and spent probably 150 hours playing it the first time. True, I now find it somewhat boring... but good God, 150 hours of RPG'ing pleasure? That's really getting my money's worth. I will buy Oblivion the moment it hits the shelves. And yes, I will secretly hope that Bethesda discovers that there are more colors in the rainbow than dismal brown...

So does that mean that Fable never has been and never will be released on PC? (Yes, I'm that desperate for a new RPG...)

This seriously sucks. The Fall was one of the very few games I'd planned... hoped... to buy this year. Now I'm wondering if Silver Style Entertainment is the European pen name of Troika.... *sulks*