exodiark

This is not what deconstruction actually means. 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. A deconstruction of traditional RPG heroism would be making a game that says "If you even *want* a Big Damned Hero to show up and save the world, let alone be one, you're a deluded, horrible person and you should be ashamed." The only thing the NWN2 OC has to say is "Look at me mommy, I can make a ar-pee-jee!" Sorry, my fault, heroism is too broad. Obsidian deconstructed Disney hero tropes in the OC (which are invoked in lots of classic RPGs or Tolkien-esque works), because those trope should not exist and because heroism and heroic acts have their heavy price. All idealistic heroes in OC simply met their tragic (or mundane) end, or became cynical and broken.

Oh I have no doubt the ending could be much better like you proposed. I do hope that Obsidian didn't pull this kind of trick in PE without planning MOTB-equivalent of expansion. But remember that the game is Neverwinter Nights 2, it's a game designed to be conservative, cliched. And Collapsing Lair (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CollapsingLair) is part of classic RPG trope, that's why I said the ending we have is brilliant in meta-contextual way, not just "the ending is brilliant". The ending (and the game) criticize many RPG tropes when they also invoked it straight, which I found very amusing. Instead of your party survived the collapse, most of them died because... well the lair simply caved in. Your epic heroism ended in a very abrupt, ordinary manner and there's a very, dry ironic humor in that. Why you said? Well, because why not? KoS has every right to launch a desperate attack, and people got crushed by rocks IRL so why not your heroes? What makes your heroes special in the end when the whole game is about deconstructing heroism? Contrary to most people, I found this kind of writing "deep" because it's simply self-aware. I like this kind of writing in PE, of course without the collapsing lair stunts :D I think it's deliberate, since Ammon even joked about the collapse in the expansion pack. Besides, it was established that the Ritual of Purification was meant to kill KoS, it's a failsafe. There's no mention that you must take KoS' place while performing the ritual, so any revelation to do so at the end of the game will simply look like total asspull. If Obsidian wanted to implement your ending, they must rewrite their story from the beginning

I thought the OC ending was quite brilliant in meta-contextual way. It really slapped you if you expect that the party will get out fighting ancient evil alive and well :D > I mean, you ARE battling ancient evil, therefore you have to know that the ancient evil really, REALLY, wants to kill you. > So when you killed the ancient evil, it unleashed his desperate attack and collapsed the entire chamber, getting most of your party killed in the process. > Thus, the price of your heroism. > If you don't want to die, then don't be a hero and join the King of Shadows. This is inline with the rest of OC story, because it actually deconstructs heroism: There are no perfect heroes or heroic acts. - The Guardian, being heroic, ends up corrupted and became the King of Shadows. - Ammon Jerro, being heroic, battled the King of Shadows and pretty much became the monster he fought. - Lorne had heroic quality (great strength, large build etc), but he failed to face his weaknesses and only become a hired muscle. - Cormick, beat Lorne and won of the Harvest Festival, a legend in West Harbor, went to Neverwinter only to became a pencil-pusher. - Shandra saved her friends, only to be murdered by her grandpa. - Gith, whose silver sword you used, freed her people... and in her paranoia built a fascist race named Githyanki, the folks who hunted you. and many more if you count your party members as heroes: - Casavir did heroic things, like battling the orcs, but in actuality he did this to ran away from his crimes. (In deleted contents, he murdered his rival to win a woman's love. This was referred by Bishop in OC) - Khelgar is heroic, but he is very shortsighted and prejudiced... at least until you finished his monk sidequest. - Elaine's "devotion" is creepy. - Bishop never tamed his bloodlust and chaotic desires, betrayed you, and got stuck in the wall. MOTB continued this theme too: - Akachi defied Myrkul and tried to destroy the wall, only to face fate worse than death and became Myrkul's pawn in the end. - The Founder, who wanted to save Akachi after his sacrifice, gave you fantasy AIDS and is pretty much an insane woman addled by Akachi's love. There are flaws in NWN2 OC, but the ending is actually brilliant and refreshing.

Obsidian ruined other games for me DDDDDDD; Now I can't play other games without bitching how incompetent their villains are, how black-and-white the story is, and how annoying it is when our choices doesn't matter. A bit late, but, happy birthday Obsidian

Dat orlan is furry sexy.

Lol, and you subscribed to 200-year-old idea? Time is changing, the world is not the same since there's Internet and there are billions of humans today. There's not enough room for everybody if they all want to live like Americans. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_overpopulation) And you based your judgment on speculative fiction such as 1984? That's as reliable as basing your judgment from the Bible. I am not American, I dont want to live as American, yet I am spied by Americans. There is saying: These who dont learn from the past are doomed to follow same mistakes. (Say hello to WW3 - ultimate survival) To be honest replying to something like that is little bit insulting. If you like beiing spied, good for me, but dont apply it on me please, go and by XBox - new in-house all time online camera in your living room. Rejoice everyone! Lol and are you using American web services right now? Like Google or Facebook? They're spying as much as Kinect will be, or worse. These who dont learn from the past are doomed to follow same mistakes. (Say hello to WW3 - ultimate survival) Except this is the first time humanity faced globalization, internet, climate change, and overpopulation, there's no past theories that can solve all today's problems. All we can do is trial-and-error.

1984 has an excellent non speculative basis in the Panopticon theory as espoused by Jeremy Bentham- simply put, that you can control people by the belief that they are under constant surveillance. That theory has a very good basis in observation and behavioural science, simply the threat of observation is enough to get most to alter their behaviour to the form desired. For obvious reasons it is a favourite theory of any totalitarian state. Well then, if what you say is true, then show people the scientific journals that supports this psychology phenomenon in real life application, even theories have to be tested, right? Don't just stop at 1984 The second task is, is 1984 actually relevant in this topic? It is confirmed that NSA still have to retrieve data through legal means from those web companies. They don't have total authority over this.

To be fair, you pay for Xbox hardware, not Xbox Live service. I can access Xbox Live for free with my PC (http://www.xbox.com/live/pc). Xbox live service is free, unless you pay for Xbox Live gold.

Learning the habits of potential customers have proven to be very good for business. MS will do it if they think they can get away with it. Kinect must check in and report on you at least once a day in order for you to be able to play your games. Which is negligible if you have constant internet connection. Besides, it's not like you're forced to check in everyday. Just check in if you want to play games. Example: Monday - Check In Tuesday - Friday - Busy, didn't check in Saturday - Check in and play games. Sunday - Check in and play games. You still have the choice of not checking in. If you're in a pinch, you can always tether your phone, the bandwidth needed to check in won't be big I think, it's more like signing in to Google or something. If you don't have phone reception or internet connection, then this console is simply not for you. You still have the option of not buying it. For me, Kinect 2.0 and the cloud computing outweighs the hassle of checking in. Most of the time, it's not even a hassle. As I have stated earlier here (and elsewhere,) I can probably literally count the number of households in my county outside of the one town that can even use it, because there isn't reasonably affordable reliable high speed internet. Although, I just checked, and the price of the infrastructure for it to be installed in my home has just dropped in price by $100 - to $499, with a 3 yr contract. For what the Xbone says it recommends (1.5Mbs). That only costs $60/month - 20 GB max/month $3.50/GB thereafter. A lot of us just go elsewhere to use the internet (work, family, friends, restaurant w/wifi in the city...) It's a strange route they've gone, intentionally shutting out entire consumer bases. I guess there's always the 360, eh Mattrick? No need for all us yokels to enjoy graphics from the last couple of years on a console. I've only had one Red Ring! The keyword is "recommend" not "require." It's easy to see that 1.5 Mbps is needed for cloud computing for graphics, AI, etc, which of course, are all optional. Checking in will be just as painless as logging in. I could be wrong, but I can't imagine there will b much data to be transferred in checking-in mechanism.

Exactly, nobody is forcing people to buy X1. Some, like me, simply like kinect 2 and the potential it could bring, so we choose X1. And connecting to Internet is cheap and painless anyway, so the complaints are waaaay overblown. Steam did this to PC gamers and they still have truckload of subscribers.

Lol, and you subscribed to 200-year-old idea? Time is changing, the world is not the same since there's Internet and there are billions of humans today. There's not enough room for everybody if they all want to live like Americans. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_overpopulation) And you based your judgment on speculative fiction such as 1984? That's as reliable as basing your judgment from the Bible. The novel 1984 wasn't speculative fiction, it was Orwell's critique of Stalinism set in a fictitious England so his audience would relate to the characters. Not that the comparison is valid, no one is being black bagged, secretly tried, and brainwashed, they are just being monitored if they are talking to certain people outside of the United States. All of this came out in 2006 with the last leak. If you are really upset about it, stop whining and write your congress critter to get the law changed. But considering FISA has been around since 1978 and is effective at disrupting attacks, good luck with that. Thanks for the confirmation, but anyway 1984 is still a fiction, and basing real-life judgment from mere fiction is not wise, and reality is often stranger than fiction so no work of fiction can portray nor predict it. And I don't really oppose PRISM, it has its merits. I was just responding to Chilloutman's answer.

Learning the habits of potential customers have proven to be very good for business. MS will do it if they think they can get away with it. Kinect must check in and report on you at least once a day in order for you to be able to play your games. Which is negligible if you have constant internet connection. Besides, it's not like you're forced to check in everyday. Just check in if you want to play games. Example: Monday - Check In Tuesday - Friday - Busy, didn't check in Saturday - Check in and play games. Sunday - Check in and play games. You still have the choice of not checking in. If you're in a pinch, you can always tether your phone, the bandwidth needed to check in won't be big I think, it's more like signing in to Google or something. If you don't have phone reception or internet connection, then this console is simply not for you. You still have the option of not buying it. For me, Kinect 2.0 and the cloud computing outweighs the hassle of checking in. Most of the time, it's not even a hassle.

Learning the habits of potential customers have proven to be very good for business. MS will do it if they think they can get away with it. Yeah, unless it blatantly disregards American's fourth amendment, then it's bad for Americans, their main customers. Anyway, this is irrelevant, It was confirmed that Kinect will have privacy policy which you can adjust. They confirmed that it will only hear you saying the magic keyword to turn it on. That's more like turning the lamp on with a clap. In standby mode, they simply can't send data through the Internet, nor they can process every sound that they hear.. Oh ye of little faith, I'm actually waiting for horror/action games that can adjust the gameplay based on my heart beat, or fighting games that deals dynamic damage based on my muscle force. Just Dance is also nice though.

Lol, and you subscribed to 200-year-old idea? Time is changing, the world is not the same since there's Internet and there are billions of humans today. There's not enough room for everybody if they all want to live like Americans. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_overpopulation) And you based your judgment on speculative fiction such as 1984? That's as reliable as basing your judgment from the Bible.

I dunno why people FEAR Kinect, it's just as harmless as your phone and you will have full control of what data you will send. http://asia.gamespot.com/e3/microsoft-confirms-privacy-policy-for-xbox-one-6409427/ http://asia.gamespot.com/news/microsoft-attempts-to-calm-xbox-one-privacy-worries-6408951 Besides, putting spycams are bad for business and MS is a business. They won't do that. Even PRISM data are obtained through legal means and the American Congress knew and approve this. The world is not that romantic.

Such pessimistic view, only Sith deal in absolutes. Well, if people don't like it, but doesn't want to go back to wild west, there are also alternatives like: - banning immigrations, especially people from China, Middle East, or other unfriendly countries. - Don't pick fight with the rest of the world. Invading Iraq with fake WMD is pure **** move. - Don't pay tax and move out America if you don't like the current administration. Nobody has a perfect solution for globalization. Apparently PRISM and other large surveillance systems are quite effective in maintaining order in very large, multicultural territory like USA and China.

With BioWare's Revolutionary Proprietary UglyTech® Rendering Technology, We're Now Able To Produce A Staggering 75% More Ugly Characters. * UglyTech is a trademark of BioWare, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. All right reserved. What is wrong with Morrigan? She loosk good....except the lip syncing which stretches her mouth. But of course, you have to find the worst picture so you can have something to complain about... OMG My Sides HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA

I think PRISM is necessary for US, because: - NSA has a lot of grounds to cover. USA is seriously big. - USA has the most diverse population in the world, which loyalties varies wildly. - USA has made a lot of enemies (or frenemies) in recent years: the Middle East, the Central Americans, Russia, China, North Korea, and many more. This surveillance system kept China safe from their neighbors so I think USA can benefit from this. IMO security + stability >>> personal freedom anyway, since: - you can't ever be free anyway, you can't break free from law of physics. - anarchy is horrific, live in Baghdad for a taste. Car bombings everyday and people get killed just because they are in wrong place and time. Imagine Boston bombing, but even more frequent and organized.

I learned not to trust Bioware's trailers. Take a look at their: DA1 Ashes trailer: The gameplay has never been more misrepresented. DA2 Arishok trailer: was the graphic and animation that badass? ME3 trailer: I didn't see sunflower field in the game, and Shepard can't jump and charge with his blade either. I want to believe. To be fair, there's a disclaimer at the start of the DA3 trailer, so at least we will get the graphics we see. However I'm not sure with the ME3 formula, like gathering allies to save the world. TW3 trailer looks great, they showcased important points like battle mechanics, open world, beautiful graphic, and great cities with good immersion (the crowds, etc)

Obsidian games: - Overall Mature writing of characters. So people can relate or sympathize to even the most evillest characters. Story that doesn't judge. (You betrayed [Home Nation]? Well I'm sure you have your own reasons, but here are the consequences, both negative and positive) - Fallout New Vegas Vibrant warring factions ready to stick a sword to each others' throat. Dark humor and tasteful popular art reference Great, mature handling of sensitive materials, like slavery, nationalism, religion, and etc. This is especially so, because Fallout's lore is heavily based on real life. - Alpha Protocol Timed dialogue in stressful conditions (The cave is collapsing fast! What will you do? (5 seconds)) Pre-mission preparations (Sabotaging pork shipment before attacking a fortress will ease things up, intercepting ale shipment will increase the intensity of riots, etc) Reactive, believable NPCs (If you're nice to guard A, he will not tell his underpaying boss about your intrusion) Evil choices that makes you feel really, really awesome. - Dungeon Siege 3 Great map design Reinhart-like character (Sci-fi element in High Fantasy) - Neverwinter Nights 2 - OC Humor, definitely its humor. It ranges from high brow to low brow. Crossroad Keep - Neverwinter Nights 2 - Mask of the Betrayer Intellectual, multi-faceted story Diverse three dimensional companion. Especially one-of-many like character. Evil choices that makes you feel really, really bad. - KOTOR 2 Tasteful and total deconstruction of common high fantasy tropes That feel when you realized that your companion is manipulating you. (You don't influence Kreia, Kreia influences you and makes you go neutral if you want to gain her approval)

I think it's kinda confirmed they'll go for NWN/Baldur's Gate High Fantasy Style, but maybe there will be one or two eccentric areas that will remind us of Planescape. I do hope that the story is a mix of Bioware's save the world and Obsidian's personal stories ("you were what? shot in the head?")

Been a long time since I watched anime, I have some personal favorites like: - Monster - Master Keaton - Cowboy Bebop I tried to watch the recent ones and boy they are painful to watch, because: - High pitched moonspeak chatters from female characters, especially moe characters, boy I hate them. - Overused scenes like female characters denying their love to the protagonist while abusing them physically ("What did you hit me fooooor?!") - Over-the-top gestures and voice acting, I mean, they speak in shouting voice all the time, it's weird. - Weird and usually contrived world-building. I was forced to see this anime about cat-like creature turning school girls into magical girl to reverse entropy in the universe with magical contracts. - Too much exposition chat before fighting in action animes. That being said, I still tolerate some of recent animes like: - Full Metal Alchemist, I don't like Ed since he's kinda loud, but the story and world is pretty cool. - Bunny and Tiger, I dig the deconstruction of American superheroes. I especially like the sponsor logos stamped on the armors, an example of unintrusive-yet-blatant advertising because those logos fit the capitalistic world. - Ixion Saga DT, a random anime I picked up, a total deconstruction of JRPGs. I hate the main character, but the humor is very low brow and shameless (it has forced vasectomy, erectile dysfunction, transsexual stubble, hopeless man-virgin, sexual debt, and psychotic pedophile manchild D:) , which, translates to fun on lonely nights.

If you want to get the best out of NWN2 and MOTB, play Rogue with good Diplomacy, Bluff, and Intimidate. Like any other Obsidian games, it's very dialogue heavy, and have lots of great dialogues hidden with skill and influence checks. Your game will be harder as well, to add the challenge.

I think Obsidian played it safe in NWN2 OC, you know, after the flak they get in KOTOR 2 for being too ambitious and too deconstructive. So for OC they make a conservative DnD story with conservative characters, with a bit of Obsidian twist. Of course, for a full Obsidian taste, there's always Mask of the Betrayer. However, there are several points Obsidian can use for PE: - Humor. I mean, showing your d*ck to a misogynistic demon to prove your manhood? That's just plain hilarious =)) Khelgar's defense from being accused racist is just too funny as well. - The way Obsidian handle evil characters, like Bishop and Jerro. Bishop is 100% pure heartless psycho, yet can still amuse audience because of his raw wisdom which he learned from Mother Nature (he's a ranger after all). His tendency to act as a Devil's Advocate is refreshing and he kinda deconstructs the notion of "Nature is good," because it's not, Mother Nature has always been the alpha b*tch from before the dawn of mankind. Ask the dinosaurs. Jerro, while evil and selfish, still listen to reason. He doesn't do evil for evil sake, but because he thinks everything will be worse if he doesn't act. The moment he killed Shandra and the moment you make him realize that he's King of Shadows personified, that's just pure high point. - Crossroad Keep Management It's a nice break from all the fightings. Gathering liutenants, managing budgets, building the keep, training the greycloaks are very nice. - The Trial Taking account all your past deeds to confront your enemy in Atris-style debate? Yes please ) Wish it had different outcomes though, maybe PE will invoke this at the end of the game. ===================================================================== Mask of the Betrayer - Genuinely great and intellectual interactive story. I'm not easily impressed with what people call "great story" in video games, but I do have a soft spot for Obsidian, because their stories are usually coherent and always multi-faceted. You can see both sides of coins in MOTB AND you can decide who to agree with. Unlike the Geth one-sided propaganda, or the fact that religious Comstock is fated to always become a maniac in every timeline, MOTB story have healthy debates in it, like the Wall of the Faithless, should it be torn down? or not? If yes, then your choice could destroy the DnD universe because everything is run by faith. If not, well, know that an unknowing baby is technically an atheist, does it deserve to have its limbs twisted in the wall and live next to Bishop? Amazingly, the Wall is not even the point of this epic story. It's love, and how far people will go to find it or protect it. and you can even deny it with the evil ending ) - Great Influence System. Unlike NWN2 where I have to get Jerro's point in a hurry (because there's only a few occasions to get Jerro's approval), MOTB gives you a lot of chance to gain companion's approval and replace lost influence points from past interactions.

"Japan already messed with China well before WW2." Well, it's true that they joined western forces in dividing China before WW2. But their government suddenly had enough taking orders from the westerners and start "liberating" Asia. That is by slaughtering civilians, of course =)). Their government set the standard of new low. To be fair, it was the Chinese's fault for being too trusting in the first place. Yet another merit of xenoohobia