Humodour

As I stumble to the exit of the vodka freezer, I think to myself "that vodka was ambrosia", and scream at the curmudgeon doorman "THIS COAT IS MY COAT. THERE ARE MANY LIKE IT, BUT THIS ONE IS MINE" and quickly stagger out before he can accost me for it. I bump into a shifty looking fellow on the way out.

What's with 'origins'? The name was fine as Dragon Age - slightly generic, but fine. Now it just looks retarded.

Well, they're already doing this with both Aliens and Alpha Protocol, so fair crack of the whip.

Congrats Enoch. That's great to hear. :D

My blood runs cold My memory has just been sold My angel is the centerfold http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx6t11D99tA...feature=related

Here's a nice post from Bioware's DA: Origens forums about magic http://forums.bioware.com/viewtopic.html?t...44&forum=84 (scroll down a bit to see what Maria Caliban has to say) A few highlights, though (for the lazy ones, like me ) Magic is going to be very dangerous and rare. The Church and the religion in Ferelden, the place in which the games takes places are against magic, any magic. Mages are born. Period. You're a mage or not. Period. As soon as you show any talent for magic...well, you get taken away to...ehm...another place. Mages can cast mind control spells. It is forbidden to do so. Anyway....when did stop someone... Mages are feared by the common people. Magic does not include summoning, teleportation or resurrection. There will be no healing potions or healing magic. When you're hurt, you're hurt. You need to fight your way back to base camp to get medical attention. To me, this is looks far better than the system used in D&D... It will definetely not be a Tolkien rip-off at all. Maybe it will blend some RTS elements into the RPG environment? Sounds good! Anyway, a Tolkien rip-off wouldn't have much magic. How much magic did you see used in LotR, hmmm?

Hmm sounds like it's worth me buying.

I feel very thirty, so I go to the closest tavern. It has broken windows and there are shards of glass everywhere on the sidewalk. I decide to avoid it and visit this new 'vodka freezer' instead. The doorman tells me I must put on this Eskimo jacket as I enter. The temperature is -20 and there are flowing fountains of Vodka. It is excellent.

Well, I kinda made the assumption that you support the concept of the smaller developer as being something worthwhile, but not the actual development house itself. Would that not imply I support the existence of Flagship Studios, as a smaller, independent developer, though? I don't see how it has to imply I buy all their games. I don't even do that with Obsidian.

Exactly why, although I didn't buy Hellgate: London, I supported them. How does one support a developer without actually buying the game? If you can read, you should be able to answer your own question. I don't know what that means. And it sounds a little snarky. I'm asking a serious question: You support a developer without buying their game and they go out of business and then you talk about how you supported them without buying their game. What? If boycotts of games don't work I hardly think me not purchasing a game I don't want would make a company go out of business. I really can't be bothered trying to explain to you how somebody might support something in a non-monetary way, however.

Exactly why, although I didn't buy Hellgate: London, I supported them. How does one support a developer without actually buying the game? If you can read, you should be able to answer your own question.

Exactly why, although I didn't buy Hellgate: London, I supported them.

This is coming from someone who thinks that NWN 1 is the best thing ever. L0llip0p I second that emotion.

I notice Deadly_Nightshade walking out of the local jail. He is walk a bit stiffly.

I'd pay to see that.

Um, well, personally, I was making it up about the footage because it was amusing to see how people reacted.

I'm pretty sure Volourn is drunk. Nobody can make that many typos and be that arrogant in one post. Not even Volo.

But it had pretty graphics. And I agree, Tigranes, that a universal inventory system is a bad idea (I believe that's what you were implying); it should be designed to suit the game.

http://games.slashdot.org/games/08/07/13/0122213.shtml Not unexpected? I wasn't expecting it. I didn't think Hellgate: London was doing poorly, and though I think it could have been handled a lot better.

Ah Volourn, you're too much.

Seconded. But then, mkreku said similar about the Dragon Age trailer, which I found was also graphically acceptable. I mean, come on mkreku, do you really want to encourage the cult of graphics? Perhaps graphics have gotten to a point where they are sufficiently detailed that improvements can be made, but it's not worth the development time/resources which could be better spent on story and gameplay? Graphics can't improve at an exponential (or even linear) rate forever; graphics and processor hardware is slowing down in improvements, and once it hits the wall, game graphics will soon follow. I hope you won't be saying "Graphics look ****! They're 4 years old." then. I've certainly noticed a trend towards ever less stunning/amazing graphical improvements over the years (i.e. things look better all the time, but the margin by which they look better gets smaller all the time). It's particularly interesting because many observers have noted that Moore's law is somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy. As for what Ranger said... well, yeah that's a different kettle of fish. I'd agree with him for things like Oblivion because it's somewhat shallow, but dark-themed games it doesn't seem like a youthful, beautiful character would really suit. (Making a character look pretty and making a character look graphically aesthetic are disparate.) Edit: What am I smoking. I thought this was the Hinterland thread. Well, point remains, although now mkreku is getting angry about one game's graphics instead of two.

you guys saw this article, right? i think it's on the money: on the one hand, being able to carry unlimited amounts of loot is silly. on the other, it's kinda dumb to make carrying your gear such a major part of gameplay. as the article points out, most story-driven CRPGs approach it more sensibly, by having weight limits tied to character strength. but it still comes across as kinda arbitrary sometimes, e.g. you get DEX penalties for wearing a certain kind of armour, but no penalties for hauling fifty scrolls, fifty scrolls, two staffs, two swords, three shields and twenty library books into combat... Haha. I wouldn't try to rationalise it. For me it's just part of the complexity dynamic; complex enough to be interesting, but not so complex it's hard or annoying to use. Diablo 2's inventory system verges on annoying to use, as does the IE engine's. I found Deus Ex did it well, even though it would seem there's little difference. It certainly worked well to balance the weapon system and such. I wouldn't really shed any tears if such a system were reworked as Night suggests. However, if we're simply to end up with Bloodlines's or Fallout's system, that's hardly better.

Based on the article it would certainly seem differences in expectations of console gamers and PC gamers is the reason for it being console only. Suppose it is (and I concede there's a degree of ambiguity); where does that leave games designed to cater to both groups at once?