Kindo

Oh, that's brilliant. Has it been done in any game before? It made me instantly think of the character of Gaius Baltar in Battlestar Galactica, but I can't recall any games I've played that's done a similar thing.

Simply avoiding clichés is good enough for me. As long as they don't make it into some sort of parody at the same time, it's alright. I also don't believe they're going for the sometimes over-the-top pop-culture reference feast that is Fallout 2. That being said, the only cliché that truly irks me is the "I am the chosen one!" - it works when it's part of the game that you have "been chosen" but in reality you're just a more or less normal person, but if you actually are unique and super-duper-special, I usually just sigh with contempt. No divine powers granted to you at birth or some such, thanks. I'm not someone who needs to feel like I'm the centre of the Universe or the saviour of the world. Edit: Also, I can't stand it when the world, its factions, or its characters are portrayed as utterly black or white. Everyone and everything has their own moral compass and reason, thinking they're good or whatever, but subjectively that is rarely the case.

I hate it when people confuse "mature and adult" with "gratuitous sex and gore." I love me a truly mature game, but maturity does not come with boobs and sensationalist sex scenes (or sex implications; the poll offers the laughable examples of Dragon Age's and Mass Effect's so-called sex scenes). As a matter of fact, it has the very opposite effect; they instead end up appearing very juvenile and immature. The moment a game decides to flaunt a naked boob (what about naked men, by the way? One thing I've campaigned for in the past, when it comes to The Witcher 2, is that there should also be male nudity in the game. Fair is fair, after all.) or playback a sex scene, and does so in a way that makes it apparent that they're doing it just for the sake of it, they lose a whole lot of credibility. (The same goes for blood and gore, of course, but this topic seems to be focused on sex.) A mature game stands neutral in relation to sex and nudity, which means it neither sensationalises it nor censor it. It shows the "reality" of it if it fits the world it takes place in, in a way that makes the player notice it, but without making them get stuck in it. A mature game can portray these things either in a "gritty and real" way, or in a "romanticised" way, if it chooses to; it really doesn't matter, as long as it feels like it belongs, and like it isn't there for simple shock and awe (or to make drooling boys soil their underwear). The Witcher 2 has already been mentioned, and that by all means is a mature game, but for other reasons than nudity and sex (which it sometimes succeeds in, and other times is guilty of the gratuity factor). It is a mature game because it deals in issues that matter and feel real, while it at the same time paints us a world riddled with characters and events that are believable and make you think. I digress... The poll made me roll my eyes. It focuses entirely on female nudity, and none of the options anywhere felt satisfying to me. I ended up voting "no" everywhere. Project Eternity could have nudity and sex in it, sure, but it needs to be done right, with none of the sexism or gratuity or the censored PG13-dito Bioware gives us, or not done at all.

I've had a bout of nostalgia the past month, and I've been replaying old(er) Final Fantasy games. Their genius diminishes as I grow older, I've noticed, but they're still great. The two games in the series that I feel really stand the test of time and age, are Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy IX. They are both equally (if not even more) brilliant as they were when I first played them as a kid. I'm about done with FFIX, however, and I'm wondering what to play next. Replays of both New Vegas and Chrono Trigger tempt me greatly, but I've also been meaning to start playing Guild Wars 2, finally. Not to mention Dishonored and Borderlands 2, and my entire backlog of 20-or-so games I have waiting on my shelf on GOG, including Arcanum. Sigh... So many games, so little time in the day. :/

Alpha Protocol is one of the finest RPG-experiences I've ever had. While the gameplay itself usually was little more than "OK", the way the game handled characterisation, dialogue, and the whole choice & consequence formula, are nigh-unparalleled. It's sad that it was not a more commercial success, of course, but then again, aren't many of our masterpieces often overlooked not only in this day and age, but throughout history?

If a second program needs to be started before I can play a game I already purchased, it's a form of DRM. As long as the Steam program needs to be active and running for me to be allowed to play my games, I will not consider it DRM-free, even if no other specific line of code is used in the background. GOG does not do this, as I don't need a special program to even download the game; I just get the game and install it, and then I can run it any time I want without connecting to, or launching something else first. That is why GOG has more of a right to be called DRM-free than Steam has, and that is why I immediately sent Obsidian a question about this when the Kickstarter project launched, asking them if they would also offer a DRM-free version of the game (i.e. a GOG-version).

It is done. I request: Modron of the Obsidian Order.