213374U

^ Interesting point, but I'm going to have to disagree that plot interactivity mechanics are "gameplay". A fundamental part of games is challenge, or more accurately, the ability to lose the game. You can choose a way of conducting your character that will lead to the worst possible set of consequences, but you cannot very well "lose". Similarly, you don't "play" choose-your-own-adventure books - you read them. To me that's simply different, more or less elegant and involved ways of presenting the story, but they belong to the narrative aspect of the game, not the actual gameplay.

Err... not quite. German troops weren't significantly better equipped or trained than their most direct adversaries. In some cases, their equipment was worse, in fact (T-34/Pz.Kpfw.IV, PPSh-41/MP-38, etc), and to further compound things, the Wehrmacht suffered material shortages from day one, which only got worse as the war progressed. German "Panzer" divisions were lucky to have a regiment worth of tanks. The fall of France seems to have been a bit more complex than that. German commanders charging without (or against) orders, a lack of Allied air reconnaissance essential to successfully account for and eventually counter the fast German breakthroughs, obsolete French doctrine and finally luck all played a role in the battle of France. Few in OKH believed that a war against France could go Germany's way. By all rights, Germany should have lost in September 1939 when France called off their offensive. Hitler gambled that he wouldn't be attacked in the West... and won. And if you look at the numbers of Allied (especially American) troops deployed to fight Germany, you'll see that they never enjoyed the numerical superiority that Uncle Joe had in the East. So I'd say that troops quality did play a role, even if it wasn't the only or deciding factor.

This is exactly how I felt. In fact, I stopped playing for so long I actually lost my saves and had to start over. And I only did it because of the hype surrounding the game. That's fine. For me, games are first about playing, then about narrative. I have yet to see something that convinces me that solid gameplay must be at odds with a storytelling of similar quality. MotB nailed the atmosphere, the characters and (most of) the plot, but for me that's only half the game.

It's Arsenal of Democracy... which is essentially HOI2.

Some people never learn...

Yeah, everyone talks real tough in safety behind their keyboard and... uh...

I try to keep my enemies off-balance at all times. j/k

That's pretty EXTREME, commander.

Pretty much. - Kelemvor: Look, you'd better not try it. It's really difficult and it would be quite messy. - Spirit-Eater: Oh, okay then. *wanders off* This after the whole buildup, completing the quest and raising hell in Kelemvor's realm. You just... turn around and walk away. O-kay. After beating it, I was left wondering. Why did OE choose to develop a story where, at the very end, it's not even possible to try? Some sort of sick joke at the players' expense? It's even worse after going for the evil ending where it says that the player devoured a few gods before a coalition of powers managed to take him down... so chances are the player could have in fact succeeded. I could totally feel WotC flipping the bird at me, at that point.

You can't skip the intros, but you can prevent the game from playing them. Go to Mass Effect 2\BioGame\Movies and change the extension of the following files to .bak: BWLogo ME2_006_ON_AntiGlamour2 ME2_Opening_SunMid_INT ME_EAsig_720p_v2_raw NumberReel Opening_End_Seq Opening_End_SeqFM Opening_Seq_INT ProNor_Pod2 ProNor_Shepard_Rebuilt ProNorEscape ProNorEscapeAsh ProNorEscapeKaid The only thing this doesn't skip is, obviously, the Normandy segment where you have to go save Joker, but all intermingling movies before and between that and the character creation menu are gone. Also disabled are the EA and Bioware logos that play on startup. And yeah, Adept is a bit of a chore to play - if on Veteran or below, he's full of win buttons. If on Hardcore or above... he's basically useless.

Stop dumbing down threads!

Thanks. I feel like an idiot now. ;C

Not even close. While the point may have originally been that, you have denied that the Soviet Union engaged in ANY sort of genocide. So, that's what we're discussing presently. And even then, the US don't factor in this anywhere. More squirming. You are focusing on an aspect of that website that YOU claim is inaccurate, which is tangential to the point we're discussing - and are then using it to dismiss whatever valid historical data it may contain. Just because you are ignorant of facts, it doesn't mean those things didn't happen. I have provided specific sources, you haven't. I'm done wasting time with you. Well?

What, so imprisoning people on the basis of ethnic identity is genocide? Don't tell that to the United States, then.Misdirection. It's the USSR we're talking about (because YOU brought it up, too). "But you're worse!" is no defense, even if it were true. More misdirection AND style over substance. Can't you post even once without incurring in one or several obvious fallacies? What does that have to do with the mass forced relocations implemented by the Soviets after their annexation of the Baltics? Stick to the point, use reputable sources to back your claims, and stop running circles. German, on the other hand, is.

Yes, mass deportation to labor camps on an ethnical basis IS genocide. Your squirming and attempts at semantic equivocation are evidence of your weak footing on this regard. Your calling it "****", without providing any evidence doesn't make it so. That's the website of a Latvian museum which, understandably, don't portray Soviet atrocities kindly. But regardless of the tone used in that page, Operation Priboi IS a historical fact, unlike the pseudo-intellectual gibberish you insist on mortifying us with.

Is this where we're going? Posting random images we made?Oh, sorry about that. Maybe I should have added some cyrillic to make it more credible? I assure you, I didn't google that. "I have that information on recall". What, you mean that if Google can find it, it's not a valid source? That's is a new low, even for you, tovarisch. Let me remind you, that ALL the evidence you have come up with so far is your own weak rhetoric ("they didn't cause the famines on purpose!"), a chart that as far as I'm concerned you made yourself, and some links in the past to the web of the "people's party of somethingorother". And now you demand that others deliver academic historiographical sources, when your own are merely one click removed from "I'm getting lucky". Pathetic. I pointed you to Conquest's book "The Great Terror", which gives a figure of ~14 million murdered by the Soviet state. A figure that doesn't include unlawful killings by the RKKA in wartime, or various deportations including (but not limited to) that of Germans (Against their Will, p.279) or Latvians. You also claimed that the RKKA didn't engage in any active genocide, which is a patent lie. Even if we write off the all too common unlawful killings, mass rapes and general mayhem as "lack of discipline", the mass deportations to labor camps ARE genocide.

I posted a video a few pages back that shows a class and a way of playing that revolves around CHARGING around the battlefield instead of hiding behind cover and taking potshots. But that must be "lies, mythical myths and innuendo". I wish proving everything was this easy. <SNIP> For some reason, Bio had the mad notion that it's fine for every mob to have perfect accuracy, always, regardless of difficulty level. That's what makes combat "too tight" - if there's more than one mob shooting you at any time and you are out of cover, you WILL be taking a lot of concentrated fire, and die. That's not how it is in other cover-based shooters, and I have no idea what they were going for with this. Possibly that's also the reason why enemies use special abilities less than you would expect and they affect the player so little when compared to gunfire - throw in really powerful enemy biotics on top of their mad gun skills, and the game would be impossible.

Ahh... it all makes sense now. You are still butthurt over BIO's decision to turn the game into a cover-based shooter at which, obviously, you fail miserably. Hence your need to crank down difficulty to a point where you can play blindfolded. And then you come here to patronize about how this power and that tactic are superfluous. Really man, boasting online about your exploits on a single player game is really retarded. But to do so while you play on the easy(est) setting, is too much, even for you. "dumbdownedness", R00fles!

So basically you play the game on autopilot. Well, seems to me that it's time for you to either try a harder difficulty where classes play differently (and they do), or stop being a petulant prick when others discuss tactics as those only pertain to higher difficulties -- since "it all comes down to the same thing", in whatever you're playing. "ZOMG TEH GAEM IS SO EZ" - No **** Sherlock, you're on Casual!

Hahaha. Priceless. A shotgun-focused Infiltrator. So, what is, according to you, the point of picking an Infiltrator over another class?

HAVE you played on Insanity to put put your nonsense to the test? Ah, I forget. Changing difficulty "isn't necessary". It's clear enough that Volo has been playing a bit too much Bizarro Effect. Yeah, because it's not like the Infiltrator specializations revolve around maximizing sniping efficiency. Nope, not necessary. It's not necessary to use biotics as an Adept either. Nope, that ain't the point. Because this is Volologic we're using, here.

Whoa, whoa! Stop the presses, Volo is being anally retentive again! Ammunition for the Mantis is 10. 12 for the Widow. Some encounters throw far more enemies than that at the player, so you have to maximize damage per shot AND move around to get more ammo, which is risky. The whole point of an Infiltrator is to use the sniper rifle. It's not "necessary" to do so, but then again saving, mining for resources, changing weapons, and using abilities aren't "necessary". Life is full of things that aren't a "necessity", but make it less painful, easier or otherwise more bearable. Case in point, you are living proof that thinking isn't really necessary... but it's generally an advisable habit. edit: also, try Insanity.

Would you like to know who staged Shep's daring escape from the Cerberus facility? Find out in the next DLC!

Ah, of course. I have some information of my own, as well. Here: Serious business! The math involved in calculating that one is far too complex for you to grasp. And last but not least: That should settle it!

Hahaha. I cite specific sources, and lof counters with... rhetoric. How predictable. BOR-ING