Humodour

Since it seems we share similar views on what constitutes a good mod, what mods would you suggest for BG2? I do that to a small degree if I can be bothered. Most usually item and spell/ability changes.

Well, so do I. But it seems a completely arbitrary assignment.

Were you trying to correct my grammar?

Hmm. It's just that a few games give me polygon issues. NOLF2 mildly, but KOTOR2 in any indoor area it sometimes becomes near impossible to see because the polygons get so large they block the screen. Restarting doesn't help. Another game did it too. Can't remember which. It's definitely a driver or hardware issue I'd say. Was just wondering if anybody had found a fix.

Not according to IGN's own definition. Also it is kinda silly to define a grade in a way that it supposedly can never be achieved. Humans already have the idea of perfection, you guys don't need to define it through a grade. Actually it's not. I agree with Sand here. A 10 is a perfect score. It's more of an 'ideal' than something attainable. It's something games are designed to strive, for, not achieve. When you assigned a game a perfect score, you're essentially saying "this game can be no better", which is most likely not true. Even games like Deus Ex, Fallout, Torment I would not say deserve a 10, but a 9.5 (or 95%, whatever the system you use). But you've a point that IGN have decided to define their grading system differently. I strongly disagree with it, but that's not anybody in this thread's fault.

Who benefits from incorrectly referencing things from the real world? Why not a) reference it correctly or b) rely on fiction? This is a pretty good example of what I'm talking about. Even though the .223 pistol was a good weapon and wasn't based on anything from the real world, the goofy caliber irritated you. Would it have been worse to give it a more sensible caliber? I guess so long as you include things like calibre and real world references I completely agree. I see shirking real-world reference altogether as the more detrimental of the two options, though.

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You kind of can. People expect a 100% to mean something unique, rare and awesome. To feel like you need to give out a perfect score every year cheapens its credibility. What then do you give the game which comes along every so often (and it will come) which completely blows away the expectations of everybody, which IS perfect? If you give it the same score as that "best game of last year", there's a large amount of inconsistency there.

Jediphile: more likely the writers completely forgot about it. They have a habit of forgetting about plot arcs and unanswered questions. It's annoying.

I just don't understand how he makes those claims with a straight face. America DOES intervene in matters of national security, and in matters of personal security. From things like traffic wardens to laws against drugs to the Centre for Disease Control. Yet he has the hide to claim these things are on the verge of Tyranny? It's like the words 'liberal democracy' mean nothing to him.

Ok, as a teacher, that's absolutely ridiculous. Students and parents would lynch me if I had that mentality, and rightly so. If a student turns in a great essay with minimal errors, they get a perfect score. Again, why have the number 10 if it's never used? Wait, what? What do you mean by minimal errors? How can you give a perfect score to a student that makes mistakes in his work? Exactly what I was thinking. Personally I think its yet another symptom of education being dumbed down to make kids and parents happy, but whatever. There should be a highest grade, a 100%, which means exactly perfection in an exam. It should be something rare dearly sought after, not handed out because the teacher is afraid to say "that's good, but not perfect". And as for a maths exam, you should never ever give 100% if the student made a mistake.

You know, I can see why that would appeal to the type of people who listen to rap music. Unfortunately.

Agreed! I can't stand when my mods don't fit well with the game. Poor quality writing, grammar, incongruous NPC dialouge or item drops... it gets me worked up.

People are responsible for their own actions, their own health, and their own lives. No more and no less. Getting the US government involved in the personal dealings of its citizens is a slippery slope. Why stop at disease? Why not go a step further in order to maintain "safety?" A well intention tyranny is still tyranny. You are truly beyond logic.

Yes. And it sort of works; she's been a quiet observer up to now (so we didn't know her temperament). Now, she realises she has power and probably thinks she can resurrect - I suppose it would go to some people's heads. What would be stupid if they all acted like Tory. As it is the reactions have been very mixed and individual. It's good.

No it doesn't; it was rather strongly influenced by Japanese culture and occupation, and in the 50 years apart from mainland China it has continued to diverge slightly in attitude, culture and ideology (e.g. favouring democracy, not communism). Certainly Taiwan and China have the same basic history and culture, but their present-day cultures are not "totally the same". 50 years Japanese culture influence is very exiguity comparing with 5000 years Chinese culture. In fact Japanese culture is very similar with Tang culture of China. I have many Taiwan friends, it's hardly to differentiate them with my mainland friends. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Ta...se_localization http://www.asia-planet.net/taiwan/culture.htm I'm not saying Taiwan doesn't have Chinese culture. I'm saying it's not "exactly the same culture as China", to paraphrase you. It's certainly a distinct culture, however similar. You should visit it.

Ok, as a teacher, that's absolutely ridiculous. Students and parents would lynch me if I had that mentality, and rightly so. If a student turns in a great essay with minimal errors, they get a perfect score. Again, why have the number 10 if it's never used? I know plenty of teachers who'd disagree with you. Then again, they use a grading system that's got a margin of uncertainty less than 10% (i.e. out of 20 or 100). You certainly can't just assign the maximum mark to the best student in the class. That makes the grading system relative, which is a very bad idea.

Any sane government and people knows it is its responsibility to help prevent disease epidemics. It's a lunatic who argues otherwise.

Well, Fallout and Deus Ex pulled this off particularly well. Everybody was free game and you could get the information and show mercy, or you could decide they still need to die.

No it doesn't; it was rather strongly influenced by Japanese culture and occupation, and in the 50 years apart from mainland China it has continued to diverge slightly in attitude, culture and ideology (e.g. favouring democracy, not communism). Certainly Taiwan and China have the same basic history and culture, but their present-day cultures are not "totally the same".

No, a 9 means top notch within its genre. You hand out a few 9's every year. You DON'T ever hand out a 10 unless the game is something timeless, near perfect. A 10 is something to strive for, not something to cheapen. Same thing applies to marking essays.

Yeah, ok. How about you go over to Africa and say that.

I tend to agree. While I've installed Ascension and thus the advanced ToB battles, I generally prefer to play my games essentially as the designers intended. Tactics has always sounded like it strays pretty far from that, and I really don't want to be rewarded extra loot, either.

But it is certainly the government's responsibility to minimise disease epidemics. As such, nobody should be complaining that their tax payer dollars are being spent on making sure the next person they **** won't give them HIV. America has one of the highest (possibly highest) rate of AIDS and STDS of any Western country. It is close to Russia (1%) at 0.6%. It should be at 0.1%, and 0.2% at most!

Agreed, and the fact that so many critics praise it, especially in the way IGN has... that's contemptible.