Hurlshort

WoW didn't have a free trial for at least a year after release, but with their success they didn't need to right away. They'll probably have buddy passes, which I'm sure will be easy enough to get. Heck, I know I'll buy the CE edition on day one, so I have no problem supplying a buddy pass to anyone on these boards. But your best bet is probably trying the open beta, that will likely give you the best idea of what type of game it will be and if you will like it. Every MMO in the last few years has had an open beta to test the servers, so I'd say the odds are great.

It really isn't just the ignorance, it's more of the fact that "Hey, here's a thread about a list, and here's a link to the list. Let's talk about it." So if DR actually read through the list, she would learn about those creators and might actually have something to contribute to the conversation. But instead she probably never even opened the link and posted some lame comment that is a waste of everyone's time in this thread. And that really is her modus operandi, she makes one sentence posts that are a waste of bandwidth and have no humor, they don't express a particular viewpoint, they aren't even argumentative. They just waste space.

I just finished Conn Iggulden's Ghengis Khan book. It is a fantastic read, I look forward to picking up more of his work. I've read a few different variations on Temujin's life, as well as watched the recent movie, and despite the differences, it is always a fantastic story. I'll probably pick up his Roman series, historical fiction is the best.

Well, you are still paying the $50 on top of the subscription, although the first month is typically free. But you really should expect this to be a fairly different genre. While I have high hopes for their storytelling, it is still going to be an MMO, and there are certain confines you have to stay in when providing a world for thousands rather than a single player. Progress is being made to make it a more dynamic storytelling experience, for example I've heard great things about the recent WoW expansion having a unique story progression and I'm a big fan of the epic books in LotR Online. But seriously, if you are fundamentally opposed to MMO's, then this game will not be for you.

Its really mostly a shell for the eyes (they're the big green topped tube things in the transparent skull; the two opening above the mouth are actually olfactory senses, apparently). He wasn't talking about the fish. ba-da-bump *tsk*

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.