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We tried running a V:tM campaign over IRC, which Ender graciously offered to GM. We used IRC because it was cheap, unobtrusive and offered inbuilt die support in the form of bots. Only lasted for a few sessions mostly due to trouble getting people from different timezones to agree on (relatively) reasonable schedules, and Ender ended up burning out. It was pretty damn awesome, while it lasted. The thread with the session transcripts should be around here somewhere. If you can get over the organizational problems, you'll be on for some nice roleplaying with peeps here.

Sweet, a direct Alpha Protocol reference. A pity they ultimately decided to adopt the exact opposite design philosophy and, you know, make major decisions not count for ****. I lol'd

Thematically it makes sense that taking decision making code from individualistic AI like Sovereign or Harbinger and adding it to collectivist AI like geth would convert them to an individual model. Practically too it's perfectly believable that adding code from an individualistic AI (reaper) to a collectivist AI (geth) would have that effect. I feel more inclined to believe it's the Enhanced Emotional Impact than a code injection thing as, from what we know about them from what Legion says, Reapers are in fact closer to the geth AI architecture than, say, EDI's. Frankly, I wasn't impressed by Bio's blatant attempt to ingratiate Legion to players even more by making it an individual in the traditional sense, thus undermining the defining trait of geth sentience. "Anthropocentric bag of ****", to quote an actually interesting character. It's funny because Bio writers seem to go from doubting their work enough to revise it to conform to trite conventionalism, to huge ego demonstrations, as illustrated by the way the endings were devised -if rumors are to be believed- and how the fiasco is subsequently being handled. edit: oh yay censorship.

Nice dodge bud, but no. I'm not doing the legwork for you (much less on Twitter. Ugh!). I was simply curious whether you really knew any actual details about the new build beyond "ZOMG mousewheel zoom!" or just buying into the hype. Shame it's the latter.

Yeah, that's puffery, so I expect that kind of talk to appear in the devs' Twitter and ****. But, since you are apparently paraphrasing, maybe you can explain in detail what "a complete graphical overhaul" exactly means, considering that "the details of which aren't all clear at the moment". And while you're at it, maybe elaborate on what that "plenty of new content" actually is...

I sank an absurd amount of hours into DDO - don't know whether I should be excited or worried.

At least those didn't force you to endure endless unskippable cutscenes. D:

From the DLC press release, this is more or less what we should expect as far as "clarification" goes: I kind of admire that they are sticking to their guns, but that doesn't excuse the fact that the ending(s) are nonsensical, feel forced, don't work with the overall tone of the series, and pretty much fall short of being adequate for a RPG. Good thing it's just the last 5 minutes.

You only get banned if your SP mods also affect MP, apparently, which is understandable. Just keep a backup coalesced.bin for MP play and you should be fine. Code-injecting stuff such as Texmod is probably much harder for the Origin anti cheat system to pick up, and I'm guessing it could be used for wallhacks, etc. But I still don't understand what is the point of cheating in co-op.

I was afraid of that. Doesn't matter that they are limited to two weapons - for all I care, they can go with just one. A very, very light one. Overload spam is all I really need from them. Two? Nova and what else?

Thanks for the editor heads up. Unfortunately, the game doesn't seem to recognize a good deal of the changes I'm making to the save file unless I change the booleans and, at this point, most are still unknown. I've also been trying other classes, and they do nothing for me. Guess it's either Insanity Vanguard, or putting the game down for a while. I'm not really into survival co-op. His hairdo is still pretty bad, and he's at least as whiny as Ashley, up until Mars, anyway. His talent and weapon selections are top notch, though. On an unrelated note, are squaddies' powers also affected by load fatigue %?

Finally finished it. Loved the combat, hated the unskippable dialogue clips and cutscenes, the mush, the dream sequences, and Tali. The game does have some awesome moments, but it's a bit all over the place in the sense that it takes heavily after stuff like War of the Worlds, Saving Pvt. Ryan, Star Wars and who knows what else, without ever attaining an identity of its own. I got the feeling they were trying so hard to go for that "cinematic experience" thing, that the quality of the product as a game suffered in the end, if that makes any sense. This is made worse by the way that major decisions of the previous games are rendered irrelevant -a hallmark of Bioware RPG design- and the continuous obtrusive railroading with regards to PC decisions and attitude. It seems to me that writers at Bio would be happier directing movies or writing books than making games. I'll freely admit, however, that I had lots of fun playing the game. If only they didn't take themselves so seriously... As for the ending craze, wow. I expected the ending to be much, much worse. It's not very good, but hardly warranting the reaction the game seems to be getting. I'll probably be giving it another spin, after I find a good save editor to change import flags and decide what class I want to try next. Suggestions?

I don't know if this is aimed at me, but I'm going to assume it was. There was neither cynicism nor contempt in my original comment -- I was simply reflecting on how big a role luck plays in making or breaking paragons. Much bigger than skill, physical condition and equipment, that's for sure. The article itself was pretty sketchy on the details of the actual situation, but from what can be gleaned, the kids weren't under direct fire ("there was a chance they could be caught in the crossfire"), and they weren't running around in fear either, but rather, paralyzed by terror. If you've ever fired a machinegun -even a "light" 7.62 one- you know the last thing you do when on the business end of one is run around. Unless you feel like becoming the next Rodger Young. But maybe I'm just a coward.

You mean that a soldier's body is harder cover than a concrete wall? Wow, those must be some seriously tough soldiers! Yep. Undoubtedly, the mother of the kid's grieving would have been quickly ended by his son's would-be savior posthumous condecoration. And it's only a tiny measure of luck that changed that scenario to the one reported by the Telegraph. But whatever, Zor already explained and apparently no one even read his post, so don't let me interrupt the chest-pounding.

So blind luck makes him a hero. If, instead, he'd gotten himself -and possibly one of those kids- killed, I guess the epithet would be far less flattering. I'm not sure there is an actual line that separates valor from stupidity, but it's fairly obvious that success is enough to sway most opinons one way or the other. And success does depend on luck. Funny how that works.

That bad, huh? Guess I'll just wait and see, then. I'm not too worried, to be honest, I'm on record as liking the Lacroix ending in Bloodlines.

If you are getting back pains, then probably your chair isn't good enough for the amount of time you spend on it. Otherwise, Gorth's advice is sound. More deadlifts and squats and proper sleeping never killed anyone, either.

Maybe. But the proof it doesn't hurt as much as they say is that some women have been known to become pregnant, after giving birth once! I could comment further on the Bio love/hate thing by extending the analogy, but I'm under enough scrutiny as it is. As for DA3 MP, I actually quite like the idea. The old IE games were multiplayer, but I think gameplay design would have to steer away from "awesome" and towards "tactical". Maybe they'll adapt some ideas from TOR?

Wow. I think the amount of jaded sarcasm in this thread is actually giving me an allergic reaction. Haven't played ME3, but I can't believe it's that bad. And after seeing the decisions they made with regards to c&c between DAO and DA2, I'm neither surprised nor particularly disappointed. I guess this is just this week's "let's bash BIO" thread. Now, where are my antihistamines?

I apparently can't be overweight. Can't put on weight no matter what, despite the fact that I eat more than anyone I know. I got to 80* a few months back, but it didn't last - my metabolism is apparently hard-coded to keep me at around 76*. As for tiredness and getting fat, meh. The only time I've been consistently tired (sleep deprivation + strenuous physical activity) I actually lost weight, down to ~65*. Interesting read, nonetheless, if a bit scarce on details. How did they compensate for the boredom of the "Big Brother" environment, if at all? What sort of exercise were they allowed? What sort of food was made available to them? Working out is boring as ****. Absolutely can't do it without music. It's a good time to get my thoughts ordered, though. * take that, you non-SI users!

I fully endorse the Llyr-Nick 2012 candidature. It's about time someone who truly stands for the people and the values these boards were founded upon stepped forth. I really believe they represent the change that's been a long time coming, and even I dare say a return to the glory of the old days. I bid you all to rein in your petty cynicism, let go of your reservations and become part of something that is as much a project as it is a dream. Support Llyr-Nick 2012. For great justice.

Explain, please, for the fiscally illiterate. What sense does it make that I pay local VAT for a foreign-produced good or service? Is that a side-effect of tax evading prevention measures for int'l commerce or what?

@Lorfean Nice. I hate Twitter so thanks for doing the legwork for me. I guess that if they simply respect WeiDU compatibility, the modding community will pick up. +Respect for any dev that posts on G3.

Hmm. Unless this is fully mod-compatible, I'm not in the least interested. Frankly, it's going to be hard for them "enhance" the game beyond what some truly excellent mods like SCS/SCSII, aVENGER's RR and tweaks, etc already do. It'd also be kind of a slap in the face to some of the fans if it weren't mod compatible as, ostensibly, the modding community has kept BG alive all these years. Not holding my breath, that's for sure.

Arguably, the US is simply applying a modern version of the tried-and-true Roman policies of client rulers -by outright buying them out whenever they can- and a selective use of force wherever it's unavoidable or just convenient to maintain their preeminency in global matters. And they have proved even better at it than any of the old Euro empires ever were, save for the British -these favored a more hands-on approach, though- so it's preposterous to accuse them of stupidity. And please, show me these "past wars" started for "good reasons". Chances they can all be broken down to a combination of stupidity, greed or envy. Anything else is just window dressing by historians. Aww...