exodiark

I want to enjoy PE as long as possible, so definitely Path of the Damned + Expert Mode. I draw the line at Trial of the Iron though, that mode is plain torture )

I'm sooooo gonna role play Gordon Ramsay. So when your cooking skill is maxed, your dialogue choices suddenly become more and more douchey.

Sakimichi no Apollon is only modern teenage anime that's palatable.Ooooh I watched that too )Great rendition of My Favorite Things, nice soundtrack, good choice of setting, and likable characters. Need to tone down the intensive gay overtones though.

Happy Birthday America :D Hope you're old enough now to realize that it's silly to play moral high ground and learn to mind your goddamn business. Sincerely, Middle East and China.

One man's "discomfort" or "annoyance" is another's challenge. You shouldn't presume that other people dislike survival simulation mechanics simply because you don't. I could presume it because it is my opinion. P.S. Also, Hardcore mode in FNV sounded good initially but in the end turned into a boring routine and ultimately failed to simulate hard and unforgiwing world of Wasteland. Really? I thought it was good that Stimpaks don't work immediately and bullets have weight. Not to mention you need Doctor's Bag to cure crippled limbs, which are relatively rare. For added challenges. Playing Lonesome Road in Very Hard is quite satisfying, planning a trip in advance CAN be entertaining

Because patriarchy! Heheheheheh, can't resist.

Yes! Smartass devil's advocate option is good, give us a chance to play as Bishop, Obsidian

I think it would be better if Obsidian do it the MOTB way. A good person can't suddenly choose the mindless evil option, vice versa. When faced with such choices, the psychopathic choice will not even appear to good PCs, they can only choose a slightly bad ones at most. Neutral PCs can choose both good and evil choices, but not too extreme. Evil PCs can choose the slightly good choices but also can choose the most despicable ones. This will make the PC's morality more consistent. If you don't want to see mindless evil, then stick to neutral and good, or just don't choose the mindless evil choice if you are evil yourself.

Maybe Obsidian will hire some high profile voice actors, but for the mundane voices like "Hey!", "morning" they could always use their staffs (programmers, janitors, marketeers, etc) They provide a good range of voices.

I see, that's one good way to look at it. Well, I do agree that NWN2 is the weakest Obsidian game in terms of story. Still, at least it's not Mass Effect 3 bad hahahahahahah )

PrimeJunta did NWN2 stole your bacon or something? Your hatred sounds personal :D And all i said is said in-game Besides under your heavy scrutiny, every game will fail your test, even games like MOTB )

Refer to what Stun says: Ha! Where is your god now? the SOG is even explained in-game ) It's not a wikipedia explanation true, maybe it's best left that way? It's designed by the gods, so maybe how it works is incomprehensible to mortal minds? It's not the first a literature pulled something like this. Not everything have to be explained and all you need to know is that SOG is needed. You really need to read http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GameplayAndStorySegregation Every games do this to a degree, only I admit that NWN2 did it too much. I hope PE is better in this regards. (See? I give criticisms too!) The Ritual of Purification is needed to kill KoS because he was DESIGNED to BE DECONSTRUCTED that way, the story dictates that even if the gameplay doesn't reinforce it. You don't like it, too bad. Besides, it isn't really that disjointed, you can defeat him without it, but you can defeat him EASIER (it's a throwaway slot-less spells anyway) with it. Makes sense, since you deconstructed him in the way his creators intended to. If you think KoS fight is too easy and doesn't really fit the narrative, well, gameplay and story segregation! Every game does this in their final boss fights. Yeah bro, the guy who whacked the sword is powered by the source of ****ing magic itself, directly. It's not by coincidence like you said, it's because Ammon's foe is too powerful. And since when villains can't destroy their weaknesses? Skynet can upload itself to the Internet and made itself invulnerable, why not KoS? Because Mordor is infested with enemies, that's just like saying, hey bro let's fly US fighter jet across China! The reason why Frodo can be rescued by the eagle at the end it's because the orcs are drowned from the battles before. I'm bored with games nowadays, still waiting for PE. Have free times to pick up some fight

Are you paying attention to the story? Let me help you. This is explained thoroughly in the game: > The Guardian was created to be the ultimate guardian for Illefarn. > He was a hero who sacrificed his very self to become the perfect guardian, a protector with no pride or ambition. That's your who. > He drew his power off the [Weave*] and was thought to be able to protect Illefarn forever. > However, during his reign, the [Weave*] disappeared for an instant when Karsus tried to steal divinity from Mystryl, the then goddess of magic. > Faced with a choice, either dying and leaving Illefarn unprotected or to turn to a darker alternative, the Guardian turned to the Shadow Weave as a new source of power, because he was programmed to protect Illefarn AT ALL COSTS. > But in doing so, he became a creature of darkness and shadow that leeched life from everything around him, called KoS. That's his power and you can even see it in-game. > When the Illefarn people realized what had happened, they sought to destroy him, seeing that he had become corrupted and was destroying the very thing he was created to protect, with a failsafe called Ritual of Purification (them statues, you need it). I don't think these six powers need more exposition, basically KoS is a constructed golem which can be deconstructed by this 6 magicks. That's quite enough. > When they attacked him, the Guardian (now the "King of Shadows") saw them as enemies, after all, he was the protector of Illefarn and anyone who attacked him was perceived to be an enemy of Illefarn, even if they wore the Illefarn colors. Keep in mind that KoS is ambitionless automaton now, it has blue and orange morality. And no, he doesn't want to take over the world, he just want to protect Illefarn, or what's left of it. So KoS is not even "evil" since he has no morality. He leeched life because he used the wrong battery, and when people attacked him, he fought back because he was programmed to do it :| > In the end he destroyed them all, but not before being driven into the Plane of Shadow and locked there for centuries.> Now he seeks to return and to fulfill the very purpose he was created for, despite the fact the empire he was created to protect no longer exists and its enemies are gone as well, because he's a robot, a smart robot, but still a robot. > Ammon fought him and failed > Now it grew even stronger and threatened Neverwinter. *[Weave] It's explained in-game that Weave is the source of magic, and they explained that the Weave is what makes the Guardian the Ultimate Guardian. Therefore Weave is a powerful sh*t. Dark Weave is dark powerful sh*t. No, he's not a force of nature (you can't really defeat a force of nature, while you CAN defeat him), he's just a loose WMD from the past that's currently f*cking neverwinter right now. So yeah, the history is relevant and all your questions answered if you pay attention. The answer is, it's not because it's powerful, it's simply because the SOG is the right tool for the job. Yes, I know you can craft badass sword, but it's no Sword of Gith as far as the story concerned. The Sword of Gith has no parallel, and you have to use it. NWN2 doesn't have a good story-gameplay integration, so I basically segregate it. The Sword is not important in the gameplay, but for the narrative it totally is. And don't think that this is a bad thing. there are many cracker programs in the world, but the best way to penetrate any security is simply having the password (or the priviledge). SOG acts as the magic key in this story, In NWN2 it locked the portal and in MOTB it opened the trans-plane door. And for your other question, it's because Ammon failed (Gasp! I know, characters can fail!). He had the sword but NO RITUAL OF PURIFICATIONS. which he didn't know at that time, that's why he failed. In the battle, Ammon was losing and KoS destroyed the Silver Sword of Gith. Swords break in battles and yes, villains have right to do that. Because why not? A man can survive with a bullet in his head: http://gawker.com/5905830/world-record-holder-for-longest-living-person-with-bullet-in-head-dies Your OC have f*ckton of luck it seems. This I agree with, but you could always, you know, join the KoS if you don't like it. You definitely get the better ending.

Obsidian usually make unsatisfying endings, but not necessarily a low quality ones. Low quality one would be like ME3 ending since they employ a total asspull DEM. I've never seen Obsidian endings employing a DEM, well maybe once in NWN2 ending, but I'm not sure it's a DEM. Unsatisfying means that there are lots of questions unanswered, usually meant for sequel or dlc baits (kotor2, nwn2 OC) or maybe they didn't want to violate somebody else's lores so they usually leave it hanging on status quo. *spoilers* If you can help Kreia by doing suicide in KOTOR2, there will be clear conclusion that the force is dead. But doing this will simply angers the star war fans. The same goes to wall of the faithless, they can't do anyhing about it since it's somebody else's IP. But when they are given the approval to do it their way, the ending are usually better. Alpha Protocol's and New Vegas' endings are quite satisfying )

Won't that be too jarring if there are lots of active casters in the party? I mean, there will be pockets of areas when the colors are inconsistent. This idea sounds good on the paper, but I'm still not sure )

Definitely one of the funniest poll results ) I vote for purple-ish pink because that color is simply uncanny and relatively rare to find in nature. I'm against desaturating magic, because if PE world is full of magic, then you will find many areas in black and white, including your local shops or street lamps maybe? Purple can still be mixed with any colors and retain its vibrance, but desaturating simply make all colors bleaker and bleaker. To comply with this lore, the magical world will have to be bleaker in color.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/gamepro-feature-the-26-best-rpgs.27585/page-5#post-630494 http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/aliens-rpg-now-officially-canceled.33947/page-3#post-817166 you can blame alot of nwn2's issues on ferret's decisions and the status of the game when he left. Thanks, I have an interest in game development, so I like stories like this.

well, you know... equipping your wizard with a crossbow should solve the problem. that's because nwn2's lead designer ferret baudouin left obsidian in a hasty act to work on da:o. what he left was a mess, to put it kindly. josh did his best to get nwn2 back on track in time, but there was only so much he could do. imo what the team achieved, even at the cost of lots of cut content, speaks for itself. despite its flaws the oc's an entertaining campaign. I never heard of this, is there a source? I'm just asking since the accusation is quite heavy without source. If it's true, well, yeah Josh's team did a great job salvaging what's left , NWN OC is still an enjoyable game, overall. But MOTB, man that is something else.

Graphics definitely looks good, frostbite is an awesome engine. The plot sure sounds like DA1/ME3: > A Huge Crisis (Reaper invasion, Blight, Mage Templar War) > A hero is you! (Commandur, Grey Warden and INSERT_TITLE_HERE) > Travel to to many foreign places to gain support for your cause! (Elves, dwarves, qunaris vs Salarian, Asari, Turian, and Krogan) > Usually there's dilemma to solve before gaining the support you need (elves vs werewolfs, krogan vs salarian) > Become a therapist to help your troubled friends! > Find ancient magical McGuffin to help you fight against the horde > And the secks, definitely the progressive secks. > Vanquish big bad evil. > DLC bait. ... I'll wait for the reviews first.

This combined with their attempt to force SaaS on the common consumer through both the XBone and their current Office offerings is a pretty bad sign. Especially since there is no real benefit to said consumer. On a corporate basis SaaS is useful but except for the support issue none of the other benefits transfer over and the average person just doesn't need lots of tech support. The difference is that Linux is FREE. Windows is not. Nor is it legacy software. So having to **** around to get basic functionality back(As the W8 interface sucks donkey shlong without a touchscreen interface) for a piece of software costing over $100 is blatantly unacceptable Did you see the word "Mac" there? Also Linux is gratis in money only, the time needed to configure and support it can be very, VERY expensive. You can buy $100 OS and just add one third party app to make it right, or you don't spend any money but spend hours just to figure out how to make Linux bootable in Secure Boot PCs, only to find that you have to deal with Nouveau graphic driver being slow without wifi connection, since they don't support your wifi adapter . And the functionality of Start Menu is still there, only in new skin. Start menu is obsolete anyway, you can do anything Start Menu can do with Windows Search (which power-user already do since Windows Vista).

If you guys are so concerned about Classic Menu, get classic shell (http://www.classicshell.net/) and your start menu is back. Your old windows desktop is back. The app itself is free, easy to install, and have no ads. ...and don't complain you have to use third party apps to enhance performance. I have to do this in Linux all the time to make my computer work right (or mac since they don't have window snap) and besides, it's just a single app to install and then your windows work exactly like windows 7, of course with better performance I myself find start menu obsolete with window search, just tap the window button and type the name of the app I want, then press Enter. Beats long list of apps (which I can still access) anytime. Give me reasons why classic start menu is superior, I can shoot them easily.

I agree with that, the contrast between OC and MotB is so strong it smells like Executive Meddling. All in all, barring the controversial ending, OC is a pretty inoffensive RPG with weird humor. It's like a madman trying to be normal, doesn't really suit Obsidian. Glad they're back to their usual self in Alpha Protocol.

Hmmm, let's just agree to disagree in this matter. I dunno, reading NWN2 OC dialogues gave me this impression that Avellone is trying to mock the common RPG tropes humorously, so I find it not so bad hahahahahahaha :D I mean, he hated elf so hard he made Elaine a creepy pedophile stalker, and many more. That's MCA enough :D

This is subversion, not deconstruction. Here's an example: Spec Ops The Line. Love it or hate it (personally I adored it) you can't deny that the game was trying to say "Call of Duty sucks, and this is why." The game you're talking about is one that says "Baldur's Gate sucked, and this is why." You could make a damned good game about that, but NWN2 is not that game, nor is it trying to be. Mask of the Betrayer is almost "Forgotten Realms sucks, and this is why" but it never quite goes that far with critiquing the problems behind the setting's design. ??? I don't get it, you said it yourself: "Deconstruction isn't taking tropes and inverting, subverting, or averting them. Deconstructing a trope is when you use the work to make an argument that the trope shouldn't exist" Obsidian believed that Disney heroes shouldn't exist, so they destroyed all idealistic heroes in the game :| All those heroes ends up being miserable because things they did and they didn't get their happy endings. Sounds like deconstruction to me, according to your definition. EDIT: From TvTropes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Deconstruction): "When applied to tropes, or other aspects of fiction, deconstruction means to take apart a trope so as to better understand its meaning and relevance to us in Real Life. The simplest and most common method of applying Deconstruction to tropes in fiction among general audiences and fan bases, and the method most relevant to TV Tropes, takes the form of questioning "How would this trope play out with Real Life consequences applied to it?" Well, NWN2 tried to brought their Disney heroes to real life standards. Have you seen a hero in real life with happy, perfect life? Not that many I think. By this standard, NWN2 is legit deconstruction of Disney heroism. Oh and, Spec Ops: The Line is AAAAAWESOME. I haven't finished it yet though, maybe one of these days.

Haha, typical Obsidian. The parts crucial to understanding characters are cut from the game. Exactly, it's a shame to see a lot of Casavir content was cut. But then again, everybody hates paladin so they cut his content first to save time hahahahhahahhahaha.