Hurlshort

There are a fair amount of people here that disliked the OC for NWN, or at least didn't find it all that engaging. I'm among them. However, the game is about a lot more than the OC, and I appreciate the fact that it allowed an amazing fan community to blossom.

Well, actually, it doesn't feel good for me even to say that the KOTOR franchise (in terms of single-player) is dead, because I like the franchise enormously, but I am not going to deny it. LucasArts and BioWare decided to kill it - that is hardly my fault. Because we almost certainly cannot change it, it is probably best to try to move on and not grieve the demise of one of the best CRPG franchises, although it might be difficult (I am still somewhat sad about it myself). Besides, if you were dead, you probably wouldn't care too much. After all, you say you would be reincarnated as a turnip. Remember when Blizzard took that RTS game and killed it by making it an MMO? That game used to be huge, and now it is totally dead! Crazy developers, they've got no idea how to run a company!

Yikes, I did wonder where he had been for quite a while now Hope is going to be OK That's terrible! Hopefully he recovers quickly.

Got Out of the Park Baseball off of Steam, since I was jonesin' for a good baseball game. It was a bit confusing (why can't they make a sport sim game that has information pop ups?) but I managed to get my lineup set and play a preseason game. I was down a run, but a 9th inning rally helped me win.

I never understood why this bothered people, I mean, it's annoying I guess but do you really notice it when you're playing? Maybe they shouldn't use it as a pillow when they play?

I'm not sure how fast the leveling curve is nowadays, but I imagine you are still looking at hundreds of hours of gaming before you hit level 80. I made it to level 58 before I stopped and I believe I had about 300 hours clocked on main character.

I agree, although I wonder what the damage would be over time, after radiation storms and such.

Yep, you're reading it right. I do anywhere from 1100 to 8900 damage per spell, depending of course on the spell, DR of the recipient (armor) and whether or not the spell crits. Not sure about tanks, Calax would know, but I think a run of the mill tank would have between 20000-27000 health unbuffed. Don't let this stuff scare you off the game. Some people like to crunch numbers, but you don't need to do this to enjoy WoW. I wore a full suit of Imperial Armor because it looked cool, despite the relatively weak stats. I had no trouble playing through the regular PvE content.

You should try complaining sometime, Hurlie. Its fun! I prefer to complain about serious issues, like when they shut down the Ice Cream shop that was just down the street from me. Tragedy! I'm really not joking, every time I pass that place I sigh. It was dang good Ice Cream. Marble Slab Creamery.

I'm actually getting pretty tired of the 360. My first system lasted a couple years and was great, then my replacement for that one after the RRoD barely lasted 6 months. Lately the newest replacement has been locking up in certain games. It's not a RRoD, but I have a hard time believing that all my games are at fault when they ran fine on the previous machines. Microsoft also won't replace it UNLESS it is a RRoD, which is lousy because that means they gave me a replacement that doesn't work well off the bat.

Much like the VH1 top ten or top hundred lists, these are just for fun. They aren't scientific, and in a few years they could do a new completely different list. People take them a bit too seriously.

I've never understood this line of thinking. Each platform has strengths and weaknesses. As a person who enjoys playing games, I've never seen the need to tear down one platform to make me feel better about the one I play on. It's not like I'd turn down a PS3 if it was offered to me, I just can only afford so many consoles and the PS3 hasn't made me feel like I NEED it yet.

Been crusading against Egypt and holding off the French in Medieval War 2. The English are fun, but I think I'll play my next game as the Moors, or try and get the Mongols to work.

Portal is fantastic, but it has a long way to go before it becomes Guybrush Threepwood.

Yes, I'm a bit shocked no one mentioned them off the bat. It does seem like the art of a humorous game is a bit lost today. I'm glad to see the Sam and Max series has found an audience, but it's definitely a niche product, and honestly I wasn't taken in by it as much as the original Sam & Max Hit the road. So I'd say the biggest detriment to humorous games is the fact that adventure games are dead, and they seemed to be the best genre for comedy. Every once in awhile we get a game like Psychonauts that brings comedy to another genre, but the fact that it didn't sell well obviously hurts the cause. My big issue is the fact that sooooo many games are focused completely on violence. It's completely crowded the market, leaving very little room for other types of games. I think it has really driven away the creative developers we had in the past, the ones that created unique stables of IP's at Sierra and Lucasarts. I was just thinking about all the great characters from those days. Sierra has completely abandoned all the lovable characters it created in the 80's. Imagine if Disney just decided to ditch Mickey Mouse and go in a more adult direction, and you have the Sierra equivalent.

Um, Wrath of Dagon, why are you in this thread? You have railed against ME numerous times. Why would you bother with ME2?

I'm not a fan of being forced to carry an NPC. Realistically, I think most NPC's should charge you a fee to hang out, unless they are a childhood friend or have some other decent background. NWN2 was fairly lousy about NPC's joining, whether you wanted them or not.

Tigranes must have an interesting relationship with horses.

I will really miss scrolling through topics and seeing: You have chosen to ignore all posts from: Dark_Raven. You have chosen to ignore all posts from: Volourn You have chosen to ignore all posts from: Dark_Raven. You have chosen to ignore all posts from: Volourn You have chosen to ignore all posts from: Dark_Raven. You have chosen to ignore all posts from: Volourn R00fles!

Yeah, San Jose is a fairly young hockey town. Pretty much every time I go, I hear someone trying to explain to another fan what icing or offsides is.

I said who has the puck, not where the puck is.

How many hockey games have you attended? I go to a lot of games in San Jose, and I've never seen what you are talking about. Most people just clap and cheer. Do you really think that out of 17,000 people at a game, 15,000 are actively booing? I think you are way overestimating fan knowledge of the sport. Over half the attendees aren't going to have any clue who has the puck at a given time, let alone care about booing him.

Do all sports fans boo? I'd say your looking at a pretty small percentage that actually boo or catcall, maybe 50% in a tough place like Philly.

Bioware would have to buy out their contract most likely if it wanted to break off with EA. A lot of companies have done that in the past, Turbine managed to convince Microsoft to sell off all the properties it had created, and they've managed to be very successful on their own. But as long as Bioware and EA are moving towards the same goals, I don't see that happening any time soon. Morgoth has a very valid point about independent studios. Nothing has changed at Bioware because of the EA deal. Every developer has to work with the publisher and is expected to meet goals, the difference is Bioware used to work on a game by game basis with a publisher. EA now has an interest in every property they are working on. This is great because it probably helps with funding during early stages, but it can be constrictive because Bioware has to run their projects by EA. People get worried because if a project becomes a problem (say the KotOR MMO faces major delays), EA can step in and demand cuts to get the product out. But honestly that is a fear with and developer/publisher relationship, short or long term. The more money invested, the more control they can yield. Also, I know the team that creates the NHL hockey series is an independent team. As long as they get their product out the door in time and stable, everything is roses with EA. I believe Tiburon is the same way with Madden. EA handles advertising and distribution, like every other publisher out there. But I'm sure volologic will intercede here and despite the fact both Morgoth and volourn are correct, Volo will tell us we are all wrong and the world is black and white. There is no middle ground! Business relationships are cut and dry, not complicated whatsoever.

The battles in Total War are just a small part of the whole picture, it's hard to get much from a demo that only showcases that part of the game. All the Total War talk made me want to re-install Rome: TW. That made me want to buy Medieval 2: TW off Steam for $20. I'm downloading it now.