Humodour

So I got the stupid shotguns achievement and can now use shotguns on a Sentinel. With that, I created one this afternoon and am having fun casting Barrier and then running into combat blasting away. I find that the shotgun is pretty accurate even at medium range, as long as you zoom. Certainly, I'm losing less health than I did playing with a pistol. I am locking forward to gaining the rocket launcher ability for my shotgun as, aside from the large AOE damage, it's long-range and perfectly accurate so I can use it for sniping. Pity the cool down is so damn long. I tried throw on a Geth Shock Trooper and to my surprise it killed him in one hit as he was next to a wall. Cool.

People pre-ordering games that don't even have a firm release date yet has always confused me. When I heard that Duke Nukem Forever had been cancelled, I thought about the people who pre-ordered and smiled.

Yes. In fact, it's so accurate, Obsidian doesn't even know about it.

That'd unquestionably be the Shock Trooper, since they can have their shields up permanently during a fight. All a Nemesis offers is a bigger lift AoE. Shock Trooper gets: 28 second Barrier at 1250 HP. When it runs out, cast, Adrenaline Rush, then cast Barrier. When Adrenaline rush runs out, wait 12 seconds and cast Barrier again. Repeat the cycle as long as needed, although this gives you over a minute of shields and I doubt the fight lasts that long. Along with that shield boost, they still have their Lift ability, which is as strong as ever, and their Adrenaline Rush can be used to refresh it. In terms of straight shield strength, Sentinel turned Bastion is strongest, since they get the shield boost from both improved Barrier and their tech talent (Electricity?). And the sentinel really does get a permanently on Barrier. Sentinel is also powerful beside that, because they get super Stasis and Lift. I doubt you'd notice the lack of weapon training since you get a pistol bonus and the pistol is inherently accurate anyway. As for weapons: they all do comparable damage. But in terms of straight DPS, yeah it's the pistol. WILL has a good point about the shotgun, though. Right, I'm off to restart since doing the Liara mission first thing off the citadel and being unable to defeat the final encounter of that mission (Krogan + Geth) I've discovered just how powerful biotics are (if I could lift, singularity, or stasis it'd be a piece of cake). Time to decide between building a Sentinel, a Vanguard, or an Adept. Leaning Sentinel for the tankiness and pure spammability of abilities. A maybe I should go kill a bunch of things with a shotgun so I can take a Sentinel with shotguns. Good combo with his tankiness and all. Yeah, I'll do that. Liara can whip up singularities while run in and blast away blindly.

Only if that was a typo and you meant sultana.

Exactly. This is a discussion forum for the game, no? There are a lot of people anticipating this game who are starting to have questions arise due to the silence and no word on a hard date a suppposed month away from when it is 'supposed' to release. If you want to ignore all that and pretend like they have been upfront with us, then that is your right. However, please don't tell those of us who simply want to know what the deal is to "shut up" in a forum where we are supposed to be discussing the game. Maybe you should write long rants on an internet message board about how a game you haven't yet paid for is not yet released and how that's intolerable because you think the employees of a privately traded company 'owe' you something. I mean, it'll get you somewhere, right?

I put on my robe and wizard's hat.

A good definition for art would be anything which requires creative endeavour.

In my opinion, and across the majority of reviews one can find published on the net, both NWN2 and KotOR2 were better written and structured then the originals they were based on (bugs notwithstanding). This especially holds true for KotOR2 which has some of the most mature dialog (philosophically speaking) to ever grace the Star Wars canon. Since the general structure of those games were created by Bioware you shouldn't have expected them to reinvent the wheel. You can't say that. You can't say "bugs not withstanding" - because they do stand. Bugs severely impact on my game experience. So does cut and unfinished content. For that reason, KOTOR2 was an OK RPG rather than a brilliant one, same for NWN2 to a slightly smaller degree. And in general, both NWN2 and KOTOR2 tried too hard to be the 'dark and philosophical beauties' you claim. I say this as someone who can recognise an epic game for what it is, in terms of deep, thought provoking storyline (e.g. Planescape, Deus Ex). I quite enjoyed KOTOR2 until 2/3rds through, and I do enjoy dark and philosophical storylines... to an extent. Obsidian hasn't got the balance right so far. Bioware errs on the side of shallow and comical (and always has) but at least that's fun and enjoyable. BIS has always been darker but still tended to get the balance right, while Obsidian just seems to be trying too hard to be dark and intellectual with their games. Maybe AP will be better since I've heard them mention a comical/superrealistic vibe. Thanks for your opinion. But funnily enough, Mass Effect is doing two things really well: atmosphere/immersion, and gameplay. And as somebody who dislikes the consolisation of PC gaming I'm not minding the way they did it for Mass Effect - maybe Obsidian can learn a thing or two from Bioware if they plan to succumb to consolisation. It has weapon heat, which is essentially recharging ammo. A bit different. It also fits slightly into the futuristic atmosphere. I don't think Obsidian could rationalise infinite ammo in a modern spy game, and I saw no plans to introduce something like weapon heat to make up for the strategic deficit of removing ammo. But I'll admit infinite ammo was something I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt about. Actually, Fable was ****. I never mentioned Fable.

Oh really Enoch? "Seriously, people, they are just games" is a valid reason to violate consumer rights? Because he had a good point.

Warren Bills, you are really annoying. Where's my ignore list...

Come to Australia. The beer is better here, and the women have tans and teeth. The beer is NOT better there. British ale is the best in the world. full stop. Bull****. Irish beer is the best you'll ever find. But fine, the beer is cheaper here. And better.

Of course it's art.

How is that more believable than them wanting the IP to make money from it? They may want to make money from it, but they may also want to make sure no one else makes money off of it (or creates what could be a competing product with the IP) The point is they don't just "want the IP". They wouldn't get into a lawsuit with Interplay over this (which costs money - millions probably) unless they wanted to make an MMO or felt IPLY would destroy the brand image (which is laughable since Bethesda do that well enough on their own). Recall Bethesda already owns most of the IP and is essentially renting it to IPLY (for royalties IIRC).

How is that more believable than them wanting the IP to make money from it?

Anyway, smells like Bethesda wants to make a Fallout MMO.

Yeah, I'm just laughing. Interplay ****ed Fallout over, Bethesda is ****ing Fallout over... let 'em at it.

I'm sick of hiding this, so I'll confirm it with this account: Yes, LoF is my account.

Damn ****ing straight. The unlockable content via achievements bullcrap in Mass Effect is ****ting me to tears.

Come to Australia. The beer is better here, and the women have tans and teeth.

Yeah, he's on my suspect list as well. And considering you suggest this as a mod who can check IPs...

Why is a post-scarcity society not possible? Because you don't want it to be?

You have to give them credit - they know how to play American politicians. They contribute their millions to Republicans and Democrats equally, so whoever gets in is on their side.

No. And yes, I agree. There's a lot of things about this game I don't like, gameplay-wise. But some of them have them have been changed or removed, such as infinite ammo, so I don't know where I'm at. But in general it doesn't seem like the type of game I want. I'll buy it because it's Obsidian (so they probably don't give a **** about my opinions as long as I buy it), but I'm not psyched/hyped. Edit: On the upside, it seems like it'll still be a full, vibrant RPG, and there's been a paucity of those for a long time, so I'm probably being a little harsh. I guess I've just lost a bit of faith in Obsid. At the end of the day, they are not BIS, and the only works to judge them on have been NWN2 and KOTOR2, both of which weren't bad games but lacked a certain spirit. I was beginning to think it was just me not enjoying computer games anymore, but I just started playing Mass Effect and am really enjoying it. So, yeah.

Except this economy will last maybe two years while he's been doing this for 10 years and has no plans to stop.