Hurlshort

First off, Obsidian is a company, and if they are offered money to do a major project, then yeah, it isn't desperation. The big complaint with Dungeon Siege has always been lackluster story, dialogue, and characters. Obsidian is fantastic in those departments. So this might work.

Is the ice in Antarctica really growing? Huh...why don't we just move the Polar Bears down there then?

In my area, math is being pushed very hard, much harder than it was when I was a student.

If the film's good enough, you sort of don't notice them, just read them by default. Nikita is a good example. All the same I thought it was best to mention it, for some subs are a dealbreaker and I didn't want to waste their time. My wife has a learning disability, and reading subtitles fast is just extremely difficult for her. So there are legitimate reasons why some people avoid them.

Swiper no swiping!

I wasn't actually the one to originally compare Splinter Cell and AP. In fact I think the better comparison is Deus Ex to AP. But I believe the original comparison came up because we were talking about gameplay mechanics. I agree with most of what you said though. Were you cut off in mid sentence?

There are major releases every month, I really don't see how RDR affects AP at all. They are very different products. I can see the argument that the new Splinter Cell game might be an issue, as they are both spy games.

As hard as it is to agree with Volourn, I'm pretty sure Sega wasn't setting out to publish AP as a niche product. Although I hope they weren't expecting KotOR or NWN numbers, that would be unrealistic. I think we will know more in another month in terms of how successful AP is as a product.

Eventually we will hit a plateau in computers, where the technology won't change enough over a decade to render games obsolete so quickly.

Surrogates - Decent Bruce Willis sci-fi flick. It was pretty silly, but the concept was fun.

The voice acting alone makes Deus Ex a non-perfect game. It'd be like if Al Pacino spent the Godfather talking like Kermit the Frog.

Lord of the Rings Online is going free to play this Fall. I'm a bit surprised, they went f2p with Dungeons and Dragons Online and I thought that was more out of desperation, but they must have found some success with that model. I'm in store for a ton of free bonus points since I've been a subscriber since the start.

This is a pretty new situation for Bethesda. I know they have published a few duds, but I think this is the first time they are outsourcing both their engine and their IP. I'm optimistic.

I agree with everything Slowtrain said. I'm also not outright comparing AP to DX. I just think it is a closer one than Splinter Cell. I guess I can see Mass Effect, as they are both dialogue heavy RPG's with a third person shooter element. I really don't expect every game to meet the level of Mass Effect though, I'd be disappointed often. But really, AP is a rather unique game. Sure, it has flaws, but it also has some greatness to it. I think it is looking to shape up as a cult classic.

I was talking about Obsidian... The posts got confused. I can see how you read it like that. If you took the original Splinter Cell and compared it to Alpha Protocol, I think you'd find them to be fairly even. The Splinter Cell series has had many iterations to hone their craft. And even if the gameplay is much better, the writing has never stacked up. I also don't see what the criticism is about the AP voice work. It seems pretty great to me. Is Dues Ex AAA? I think that is a better comparison. DX had average graphics and average game play.

I prefaced my argument with only buying games you are interested in. Basically I'm saying if the game interests you and it is from a company that you are closely connected to, then paying full price for the game seems like the best way to show that. It is a personal philosophy, of course, but it is nice to hear others share that sentiment here.

Two Worlds was excellent!! You know NOTHING!!1!oneoneeleven I second mrkreku's fury at your statement!

As a gamer, you vote with your money. I bought Brutal Legend at full price despite the fact I knew the gameplay was not for me at all. I did it because I wanted to support a unique product in a market saturated with copycats. I ended up playing very little of the game itself, but I did not regret the $60 I dropped on it. Obsidian is at a fairly delicate place in their company history. This is their first IP. I'm happy to support it. It is also a very fun game so far, so I consider it an even better investment than Brutal Legend.

I always wanted an MMO where you play and level a character, then retire that character and start a new one as the child of the retiree. You get bonuses and such on the child. Seemed like it would be a neat mechanic. I also wanted to have aging implemented, meaning the more hours you put in, the older you get. Eventually you reach a peak and your skills start to decline, making retirement a good choice.

Do you spend a lot of time on the Bioware developer forums? This is also a game that is a lot more indie than Bioshock. That initial sale is much more important to Obsidian than it is to 2k/Irrational.

I am sure sitcom hilarity will ensue!

Not to lay a guilt trip or anything, but if you are thinking about getting it, why not pay full price? My reasoning here is that you are a member of the Obsidian community, you take part in these forums on a regular basis. If you enjoy that, then why not support the company that hosts these forums? I can see you not buying the game if it just doesn't interest you. But if it looks like a title you will get something out of, why not give it your full support?

The two were coincidental. Today was my day off which I'd been planning all week, whereas I felt horrible because my stomach was upset. I think you're jumping to conclusions. And I'm not sure you'd have a clue what was unhealthy in my life without knowing me personally (i.e. in real life). No reason to get defensive. Drugs in general are unhealthy, even prescription ones. My point was that if your body (or mind, you were fairly vague earlier) is telling you that something is wrong, like your stomach issue, then doing something that is already unhealthy is even worse. It is a warning sign. You don't have to agree with me, I just saw it as a cause for concern.

Krezack, it is a bit worrisome that you are doing drugs to stop feeling horrible. That is very unhealthy.

There were quite a few folks that seemed to really enjoy SoZ. From their reviews, it seemed to be a more classic Icewind Dale type game than the standard narrative RPG's we see mostly today. By that I mean you roll a full party up and go kill stuff. It sounds like it wasn't Volourn's cup of tea.