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Yeah... you do know that Bio has used datamining techniques to gather info on their playerbase, right? And that said info has been used to make design decisions? Considering the result, I'm not surprised at all that Gorth wants to keep that **** to a minimum.

This is probably as rigorous as you can get without shelling out some dough for professional market data, but a quick search at Gamerankings returned these results. http://www.gamerankings.com/browse.html?pa...10&numrev=3 http://www.gamerankings.com/browse.html?pa...01&numrev=3 Take that as you will. Not even the 2010 economic crisis has been able to reverse the tendency of increasing numbers of released titles per year. Not making any statements on the overall shape of the gaming industry; what is pertinent to this topic is how more games released per year means potentially more time spent playing games than actually modding them.

I don't think you have to encourage players to do anything... they will do it if they like the game well enough. I think also the growing number of releases per year is a factor too - modders have a finite number of leisure hours, and may prefer to spend them playing new titles than modding old ones, regardless of the quality of the tools at their disposal. That said, you may be on to something...

Yes, the "something" you are referring to is actually putting some effort into encounter and monster design, and maybe a bit more into AI, as opposed to just repeating the same structure of stupid, insipid mobs in huge numbers, throughout the whole game. There were a few instances of interesting encounters in DAO (Tower of Ishal Ogre for instance), but they were generally too few and too far between. I want fights that force me to think on my feet and make me come up with something other than the same routines that work 99% of the time. I want different enemy groups to have different abilities that require me to actually pay attention to what's going on and do something other than "mana clash the mage, mop up". None of this can be accomplished simply by changing the damage and health factors across the board, it's something that needs to be done, at least to an extent, manually. If you know a bit about BG2 mods, the difference between the current approach and what I'm talking about is like the difference between the cheese-ridden Tactics and the performance-killer Sword Coast Stratagems. re ME2: in ME2, enemies simply use their powers more often in higher difficulties (which isn't that big of a deal really, as enemy powers are weaksauce anyway, except for Harby's), enemies are equally brain-dead in all difficulties. I really like ME2 gameplay, and I think the combat in that game is deeper than what most people admit, but this isn't terribly relevant as that game is essentially a shooter, and your squadmates are artificially gimped so they don't steal Shepard's thunder. It's also more evidence that Bio can't (or won't bother to) program AIs for ****...

This is missing the point completely. You know that the way difficulty sliders work, only coefficients affecting enemy health and DPS are changed, and maybe stuff like crit % and resists. Turning up the difficulty doesn't result in more complexity in encounters, smarter enemies, or more dangerous use of the abilities they have. They are basically the same, with artificially inflated stats. This causes two main problems: combat is just as boring, but now it requires more micromanagement as you are forced to repeat the same kiting/healing/potion AI-exploit cheese routines in every fight - in short, managing combat becomes a chore. The second problem, it doesn't help with immersion if the lowest sorry ass bandits can stand up to the Savior/Champion/Hero in question, and give him a run for his money, because they have end-boss level stats as a result of lazy difficulty scaling design.

You mean, of course, universal suffrage. They aren't one and the same. Largely irrelevant, at any rate, as universal suffrage as it's currently implemented in Western countries is a system -or rather, a sham- built to guarantee stability with the rise to power of the middle class. We aren't really that much smarter, more refined, better looking than people two thousand years ago, that's for sure. If anything, we have better marketing and PR, but that's it. I'm just taking random potshots here, because I haven't slept today so forgive me if I'm a bit all over the place. You are right, we don't bash each other's heads with stones. We invented an industrial process to bash the heads of other people en masse, and from a distance. And, lo and behold, two world wars in less than a quarter century, followed by a "cold war" whose strategic foundation is deeply rooted in the doctrine of mutually assured destruction. The resolution of that game has brought us to a period of fierce economic warfare and constant, low-intensity regional conflicts influenced by global forces. Frankly, I'm not convinced that our way is more "sensible" at all, unless by sensible you actually mean sophisticated. It's the same old, same old kill your neighbor, take his stuff. We just keep raising the stakes, is all.

What does this mean? It means that Bio would much rather make Indigo Prophecy 2 than Baldur's Gate 3. DA2 needn't be a bad game, but it sure as **** is shaping up to be a pretty atrocious RPG. In truth, this is to be expected - for Bio, gameplay has always been just a vehicle for storytelling. When gameplay was solid (we're talking NWN here), this was cool. But considering that players would much rather have a romanceable king Cailan than actual tactical depth and varied, well-designed encounters, solid and distinct class development etc, it's not surprising that they are scrapping certain aspects of "traditional" RPG gameplay. I have faith though that, despite PR talk, their MMO will still essentially be a number crunching business, dominated by a need for careful planning and a strong emphasis on gameplay.

Hahaha. Looks like even Bio fans could be alienated by a design philosophy that revolves around catering to the largest possible amount of people, no matter the price. ADHD-afflicted teenagers putting down the game before earning an achievement? We can't have that - more titties and blood splatter are clearly the solution. And get rid of all those confusing numbers and needlessly convoluted mechanics, not everyone can count, much less add and substract. Oh, and that fazing interface and tactical camera need to go as well, the game is meant to play in autopilot anyway. Sorry folks, but Bio's datamining has revealed that retards players can only be trusted to move from one encounter in the derp roads to the next, that's it. So that's what they are keeping. I also read that DAO's lead designer quit his job shortly after completing work in that game, but he hasn't revealed his reasons. And now those who told us oldfags who wanted a solid RPG to go play Torment are apparently hating the changes. Roofles indeed.

Funny how (pop) history tends to paint the guy at the front of the movement as the defining factor for change - when often nothing could be farther from the truth. Gandhi didn't force the British from India, Hitler and Tojo Hideki did. I remember reading some time ago about a letter sent by ol' Winston to the king when he was the First Sea Lord, expressing concern that the exorbitant costs of maintaining the RN were about as high as the British Raj's, and while the Empire may not need the Raj to survive, the same most certainly could not be said about the Navy. On the thought of non-violence, here's a quote from a guy that, unlike today's generations, knew what he was talking about from personal experience: "We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us."

Funny. Wouldn't that apply to the magazine as well? I have yet to see the anti-piracy corps even comment on that. Yeah... the problem with IP is that it's so ****ty a concept that analogies using real-world things tend to be flimsy at best. There's a very real reason why jaywalking is illegal (potential property and/or personal damage, traffic disruptions...). What's the potential harm that downloading an illegal copy of a freely-distributed demo can do? Honest question. That would be an intelligent, practical and even elegant way to go about it. EA is dogmatic, unlistening and treats customers like retards. But hey, the industry is being destroyed by pirates.

Interesting angle. How would this explain the failure of revolts in several places? Does it correlate with the spread of such comms? I've no idea. If so, get a paper out about it, double quick. It looks more like that the amount of popular access to outside influences (media, trade, etc.) improves the chances of success and the degree of motivation. Ideas can indeed be dangerous. Yeah... the idea that the revolution can actually triumph being the most dangerous of all. Impossible to say for certain, but I doubt things would have gone this far if Ben Ali had managed to stay in power. Is it 1848 all over again?

Feels good man. Anyway, I'm still interested on the distribution permission details for the demo - are copies from the mag under different restrictions than from other sources? This is one odd case of "piracy", where the good being pirated is free, (not even the mag is charging anything for it, even if they clearly stand to gain from releasing early). This whole argument hinges on the assumption that making copies of the demo is copyright infringement. But is it? Demos are, generally, distributed freely. And as far as I'm concerned, Wiki is as good a source as any. It's not like any source is above reproach; this is the internets after all...

I asked because legislation is not homogeneous and I'm pretty certain it's not copyright infringement here in Spain, despite attempts by EU bureaucrats to undermine national sovereignty. At any rate, do you have any information on the relevant TOS? Generally, demos are distributed freely so long as no profit is made. The problem is that the demo was released earlier, and so the only available source in practice is the mag - in theory you would -will- be able to download it from any number of gaming sites. I think the excessive hyperbole benefits neither side, here. Also, what happens when the demo is officially released tomorrow, does it cease being piracy? Or is it piracy still if it's downloaded from MU instead of the EA servers?

People have been finding out specific details of future DLC from data present in the game since Kasumi. Apparently they don't care. Is this their way of throwing us a bone?

Maybe yourself or someone else with knowledge of the specifics of German copyright law and TOS of the demo itself can explain how exactly this constitutes "piracy". Don't take it personally, but if you don't have time to lay it out for us, I don't have time to give a flying ****. But dude, this is the new sh!t.

I'd buy a console to play that.

^I think all the WC games had that branching campaign structure depending on player results, except for Privateer and maybe Prophecy. WC1 had some pretty sweet writing too - the feeling of grief and general morale breakdown as Confed lost ground, as conveyed in conversations with wingmates and the Col. was a very nice touch. Plot interactivity, in a game that's two decades old. Yep, I think I can see the developmental regression alright.

You *need* to use Singularity. Even if it doesn't work as advertised on protected mobs, it will cause progressive damage and inflict a stagger on enemies in close proximity, which you should exploit to take out their shields. Once they are floating around helpless, have Miranda Warp bomb them for MASSIVE DAMAGE. The Adept is the only class that can set up its own Warp detonations, so be creative. And don't forget your melee attack either, it hurts pretty hard, staggers mobs and if you time it correctly it can cut in half your reload time. I don't recommend Hardcore for a first playthrough, though. Learn the game, the different powers/weapons and your squadmates, and if you feel like replaying you'll have a much better chance of enjoying the harder modes without reloading n times for every fight.

Does not compute. All previous attempts to create such a thing have failed, the more catastrophically the bigger the government - the chief product of such things being usually megadeaths. I'm opposed on principle to what is, basically, a grand social engineering project engendered by wishful thinking. The same kind of wishful thinking that disregards real problems that current social science hasn't found a solution to, like the potential for free riders to destroy the viability of many of those proposed systems. Of course, megadeaths may very well be the inevitable result of and solution to the sustainability problem of limited resources vs unlimited population expansion. But somehow, I doubt this is the advertised outcome. edit: do I suck? or do I suck?!

Bloodlines endings were awesome. I swear my jaw dropped after getting the Prince ending. And the only "good" ending in Stalker was the secret one. Good stuff.

My bad. I confused Veteran with Normal. I meant to say that the game is supposedly balanced around the level of difficulty where regular mooks don't have shields/barriers. That would be Normal, I think. And yeah, I don't think *anyone* liked the heavy-handed approach they took wrt biotics and protections, to me it's just lazy design. Among the many changes I've tried is removing the "shields block powers" rule and the game feels genuinely more fun to play as an Adept. Enemies still have a ton of health and hit pretty hard, but stuff like Pull Field is crazy OP, and YMIR/Prime minibosses become a joke. That said, (spoilers) . The required level of practice -and reading- for pulling that off is probably beyond what the vast majority of players are willing to invest into a single-player shooter. That's an entirely different discussion, so let's not go there...

There are no "speed bursts" per se, the closest to that are some class-specific abilities (Infiltrator, Soldier, Vanguard) which slow time down for short periods in certain circumstances. Grenades and shield/barrier buffs are special (companion) powers you get to select later on. Cloak is the Infiltrator's trademark move, so for variety's sake, you won't get it unless you mod the game or replay as one. I would suggest you focus on maxing out your class passive skill (the "Adept" tree) first, and then branch out. The cooldown reduction from that and upgrades makes quite a difference. Combining powers is something you need to figure on your own. Most combinations involve using your companions' powers (which you can drag into your shortcuts so you don't have to pause the game each time you want to use them), especially if you are an Adept. Heavy Singularity + Miranda's Unstable Warp is the Adept's bread and butter, for example. However, you don't really *need* to use spell combos unless you are playing on Hardcore at least, as spamming Throw/Pull works just fine against unprotected mobs - the cooldown is short enough that you can keep them down almost permanently, and ragdolled targets take extra damage. The game is supposedly balanced around Veteran difficulty, but it's only in the higher difficulties that there's some room for tactics and the combat isn't reduced to spamming shockwave and shooting from behind a crate.

****ing ****, looks terrible! <insert old skool RPG rant and suitable suggestions of plagiarism of DMC and GOW> I'm outta here.

I don't know what you are referring to, but unless he's a wife beater or a sex offender, in my eyes that doesn't hurt his image. So, he's an **** and makes no apologies, Boo ****ing hoo. I'm sick of this goody-goody make nice guilt-flavored syrup being forced down my throat with everything. And regarding his extreme weight changes, I'm betting he's healthier than most people who lead a sedentary life and eat trash. If only because he's got enough money to hire people who know how far he can push himself while doing that.