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Aliens vs Predator (2010). I don't understand what everyone seems to have hated about this game. Great atmosphere, and playing as a predator or alien is no longer a walk in the park, as it was in previous installments. There is something immensely satisfying about leading a bunch of xenos into a colonial marine outpost as a predator and picking off the remains. I'm loving it.

This. At least D3 can fix the major issues plaguing its release (ie. server issues, bugs, etc.). We're almost 3 months since ME3's release, and the ending still sucks donkey nuts. And the multiplayer problems haven't been addressed either. Poorly designed and unreliable store, ridiculous connectivity issues, mad lag, glitchy gameplay, etc. Most of those are in the game since day 1, and EA has done bugger all about it. Seriously, if anyone is still undecided, they should avoid this **** like the plague. It's hard to imagine that Blizz will handle problems worse than EA has.

I haven't made any arguments, only counter-arguments, so they don't represent a stance other than "it's not as clear-cut as you make it to be". I don't really have a -moral- stance on freeloading, I just accept it as a fact of life. On a personal level I think it's fair to reward effort and encourage further production. On the other hand, I don't really agree with the accumulation of money as an end in itself and the idea that it's a good thing to involve money in everything, under threat of prison or fines if need be. I really wish I had a more manichaean answer for you, but alas, I don't.

Oh, no you don't. You don't get to dismiss opinions and arguments with a wave of your hand and an insinuation that "it should be obvious". You are expected to articulate and explain your arguments, or at least reference them. And it doesn't matter whether you mentioned physical goods or not, because the debate about IP is an entirely different beast. No matter how much you repeat yourself, they aren't going to become one and the same any more than the earth is going to get flat. Nice. Which are these "most" countries you speak of? Downloading for non-profit purposes isn't illegal many countries, as far as I know. Of course, you can just dismiss those as "uncivilized", as you see fit, right? Hint: that's an informal fallacy. Yeah, I guess that was unwarranted. They must have software pirates also in Somalia. I was simply pointing to yet another appeal to emotion in Hurl's post, with his "pirate isn't something positive" comment as the connotation there clearly comes from high seas piracy. Again, equivocation. Or do we know of any (software) pirates that have hijacked a server room at gunpoint and held the sysops hostage for ransom? Didn't think so. Because making a copy of such goods costs exactly zero and doesn't deprive anyone of anything directly - and to prove that there is indirect damage you need to prove that the freeloader would have paid for it otherwise. And at no point I've said it's "ok" to be a freeloader. But it is impossible to calculate the effect that freeloading has on a given system, be it positive as some folks claim or negative as the industry insists. And it most definitely is not comparable to theft.

Seriously, I know you are smarter than this. In a transaction between two individuals, where tangible goods -or services- are being exchanged it makes sense to talk of thievery. Do not equivocate the issue. This is not thievery, it's freeloading. It's just a tad more complicated. So can we just call things by their names and leave corny appeals to emotion out of it, pretty please?

But it is immoral. I'm not sure how you get around that, legality withheld. Someone creates something, they ask for compensation in exchange for that creation, and piracy means you take it without compensation. Pretty simple. The word pirate is used for a reason, it is not a positive term. Because we are dealing with intellectual property, not actual physical goods, that line of thinking is obsolete. No longer valid. Now that your illegal = immoral theory has been refuted, I'd like to see something a bit more solid than "but it's still wrong!" before I take that to heart. "Because I say so" isn't usually accepted as an argument in morality discussions. And frankly, I'm really thankful to pirates for providing cleaner, easier to use versions of software I've paid for. I have a few unopened game boxes lying around which I probably wouldn't have bought if I hadn't known I could turn to the scene to find a workaround for obtrusive DRM, or forced digital distribution/authorization schemes. So, for me, pirate does not have any negative connotations, per se. Unless we are referring to the Somali kind.

I'm not sure what your point is. If you make an order by mail and it never arrives, does it make any difference whether it was due to malice or incompetence and laziness? My point wasn't "either everything works flawlessly or I feel entitled to take it for free", but rather, that when pirates offer a product that is, in fact, better, easier and faster to install/uninstall and use, and more convenient than the original retail, the industry is definitely doing something wrong. You know what's funny, I really am one of those shafted customers. I wouldn't be bothered in the least by an EA server fart if I actually had the superior warez version installed - chances are I wouldn't even be aware there is a problem. So not only his reasoning is bunk, but also his assumptions about me. Heh.

Do you always herp when you derp?

On a slightly related note, EA servers seem to be down. As a result, users are locked out of their games -you know, the stuff they paid for- especially those that actually paid more for one of those Collector thingy editions that came bundled with DLC that needs authentication every time the game is booted up. So, apparently, the more money you give these people, the worse they treat you. On the other hand, if you pirate, you get the better product, 100% hassle free. It's funny 'cause it's true. But what really boggles my mind is that you still have people pop up and defend the rights of these suits, when they are perfectly happy to trump -paying- customers' rights in return. Have fun getting shafted, I guess.

Doesn't seem to work that way on the Internet. Read up on Kim dot Com's case, they were able to bust him because there's alleged proof that they not only knew that illegal **** was going on in their servers, but also actively encouraged it to make money. If it were as simple as you say, there would be no online hosting services when, in fact, they pop up like mushrooms. @delfosse: it's not that there's no freedom in the West (which is only true in an absolute and meaningless scale), but rather that no one really cares about that **** anymore. D:

Carnifex and especially Paladin are basically sniper rifles when fully upgraded. They weigh way less than that Widow or Black Widow and pack some serious punch. Can't have everything, which is a good thing I guess. In SP where lag is not a factor, I've found the Graal is amazing. Charge the gun -> release the shot -> Charge yourself -> unload a second blast right after coming out of the Charge. With projectile delay you'll be landing 3 attacks with next to no delay which is enough to bring down protected mobs instantly. It's also pretty accurate over long distances so you don't need a backup gun. The downside is it's fairly heavy. As for the ninjas, have Liara or Kaidan prime them, storm to Nova -> Charge -> shotgun blast to the face. I find enemies that can't be staggered such as Cerberus turrets much more troublesome. Those are responsible for like ~90% of my deaths or something. Been trying some Gold matches lately, branch out a bit from the Asari Adept biotic bomb spam on FBW/G. PuGs are generally terrible. Doesn't help that my gear -and skill- isn't up to snuff and can't carry the team myself. :/

I liked K

If you say so. I find that standing idly in the open gets me killed just as quickly as it did back in ME2, and unless I aim real good and land a headshot, the Claymore isn't a reliable one-shot-one-kill tool anymore -which is why, coupled with them doing away with the reload trick, I no longer use that- so I don't think the player has been significantly buffed other than by tweaking cooldown mechanics. The real balance changes have been applied to the MP portion of the game only, as far as I know. Balance? Bwah it's worse that ME2 there ( talking about Gold, you can solo Bronze and should have an easy time on Silver with pretty much every char ). Shots from nowhere, paper cover, powers and mods not working properly and gazillion health on the enemies, not to mention that from all the weapons most are completely useless. Well, Gold IS supposed to be hard to beat. I agree though that the bugs aren't cool. I've lost count of the times I've become locked out of the map after Charge bugged on me. Mobs can somehow still kill me, even though I'm floating a hundred meters above the ground, though. Mad skills. And don't get me started on connectivity problems. I must have roughly a 50/50 chance of d/c before matches end. Lost connection on wave 11? Sorry, you get nothing. That's not only bad netcode, it's poor design right there. Still, pretty fun for a while.

Yeah. What exactly is going to be the art director's role in a project that basically has all the art already done? Just for the new areas then? Bah, even I, the pussiest of **** gamers have no problem with those. Wasted resources, working as intended. True... Must be pretty cool to never fail a save. And no, that sort of thing is deffo not WAD. I guess all this longtime fan "support the bestest game evar" talk comes apart when you start discussing the actual game. Of course, I understand how zoom is way more important than silly, peripheral stuff like bugfixing. Ah, why do I bother.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/taliban-commander-turns-self-in-for-reward-on-wanted-poster/2012/04/17/gIQAbVjqNT_blog.html It's funny 'cause it's true.

^Yeah, peeps have found creative workarounds such as making Imprisonment work as a long-duration Maze spell and petrification a stun-like effect, but charm is still a problem. Especially if you are soloing.

If you say so. I find that standing idly in the open gets me killed just as quickly as it did back in ME2, and unless I aim real good and land a headshot, the Claymore isn't a reliable one-shot-one-kill tool anymore -which is why, coupled with them doing away with the reload trick, I no longer use that- so I don't think the player has been significantly buffed other than by tweaking cooldown mechanics. The real balance changes have been applied to the MP portion of the game only, as far as I know.

That's... disturbing. Seriously though. Since you are apparently following this quite closely, have they mentioned any changes to common hardcoded annoyances? I'm thinking stuff like <CHARNAME> petrification/imprisonment = game over, fully charmed party = game over, etc. That's the kind of thing that should be a piece of cake for pro developers to fix, but has been known to cause no end of grief to players.

ME3 Insanity is easier than ME2. I'm not sure why that is, but I died all the time in ME2 and in my current Insanity playthrough (2nd overall) I'm beating most encounters in the first try. And I'm definitely nowhere near those Vanguard pr0s posting crazy no-cover Collector ship vids at the Bioboards. My main beef with ME2 gameplay was that it felt... random. And quite clunky, for a shooter. Enemies routinely shooting with pinpoint accuracy through cover -or not hitting despite having a clear shot- always focusing on the player, regardless of everything else including their own safety, and squadmates reduced to little more than warp bomb helpers. All of that seems to have been, at the very least, disguised to be less noticeable in ME3, so the game is more fun to play. I'd still like to have a greater variety of enemy skills and more consistently interruptable insta-kill animations, but this was a step in the right direction, for sure. Shame it doesn't have a plot to go along with the improved gameplay.

I'd hold that judgment until we see this "extended cut" thing they are putting together... D:

Hurlie, don't you get it? Video Game relationships= Virtual Harem. No point in them having a life without being at your disposal 24/7 Funny, because while you can still **** them (provided you did back in 2), they aren't interested in joining Shep, for some reason. So it's not really the harem thing, but rather, how their "going on with their lives" is presented. It's nicely handled for most characters - Grunt, Zaeed, Jack, Thane- but some others just make no sense. I mean, Jacob? Suddenly Saving The Universe is no longer his thing and he'd much rather make babies. Can't blame him, but come on. It's especially bad if he was Shep's LI in ME2, I hear. There is no good reason why Miranda couldn't join the crew after doing her thing, either. "Admiral" Tali? Why am I not even given the chance to have her stay with the Migrant Fleet, you know, like ****ing admirals are supposed to? On the other hand, they did give us EDI cameltoe.

Yeah, looks like I missed something, alright. I checked Giantbomb et al and Watamaniuk wasn't listed for ME3. But in the in-game credits, he does indeed appear as lead designer. I guess the in-game credits are the go-to source for this. I was also misled by the fact that Watamaniuk is known to be working on TOR... can't say since when, though. After reading on it a bit more, it seems he took over Christina Norman's duties after she left. I'm not sure what that means. My bad.

Makes sense, if you think about it. Good organizational and project management skills aren't something most people are born with, exactly. So maybe, just maybe, the project lead for ME3 was in over his head. It's odd, because while both ME and ME2 have a "lead designer", there is nobody credited as having that job for ME3. You can also see how the lead writers changed from ME to ME3 and, coincidentally, main plot quality has seen a very steady decline. The question is, will something be done about that? Does anyone at EA/BIO care? Are they even aware there is a problem? They did receive over 9000 perfect scores, after all... I think the narrative is... different. BG2 is a huge game, but the plot is thinner. The game is full of moments, but the plot was never meant to be as cohesive and intense as in ME, the designers' vision for which is, apparently, pretty much an interactive movie. In BG2 sub-plots and secondary characters are on the spotlight more often than the main plot -for which the game did draw criticism, what with Act 2- but it works because of how the game is presented. BG2 has way more meat plot- and gameplay-wise than any ME game, but the cracks are harder to notice because the main plot isn't being shoved down your throat continuously in the form of unskippable cutscenes.

Mmh, I refer to what I posted in the other thread, there were obviously some very talented writers (and designers) working on this game, yet there are some macro level issues throughout the game that actually snake into the "micro" towards the end of the game (basically Thessia onwards). Not sure if they worked on the game chronologically and just ran out of time, or if their resources were directed in the wrong places or simply if their project direction bit off more than they could chew. Some of the "support X or Y" moments are, oddly enough, better presented and played out than main plot knots. Ration medical supplies or try and help everyone? Militarize C-Sec or emphasize its policing functions? Is existence dependant on life support really "life"? Whoever said that this game feels as if it had been basically bolted together at the end of development hit the nail on the head. The difference in writing quality between different parts of the game is... gaping, to say the least. I wonder how much Karpyshyn's departure from Bioware has affected the quality of the end product, if at all. Oh well. Since I'm having more and more trouble enduring the plot and it's mostly the action segments that keep me engaged, maybe I should give MP a shot after all.

At this point, I'm going to recommend two things: 1.- re-read the thread and find the original post which originated the whole exchange. It was, in fact, parroting. 2.- go for a walk, work out, jack off, whatever gets the stress out of your system. Before you get an aneurysm. Or, you could, you know, keep trying to get under my skin. Good luck with that, though.