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So suppress state-financed treatment for tobacco-related illnesses. Instead of having the gov't tell you when to take a piss, how about we have people deal with the consequences of their own choices? Yay for the liberating power of socialism. No. Discipline is about enforcing a code of conduct and ensuring the fighting ability of the force. If a rule cannot be reasonably ascribed to either it's arbitrary and, consequently, an abuse of power.

Are quality and reliability the only factors the US military looks at when deciding who's going to be supplying the next zillion rifles for the grunts? Not even they have an unlimited budget.

Smoking does not decrease a soldier's ability to do his job for the most part. And in those cases in which it may, folks compensate by being in better shape than they'd need to be if they didn't smoke. Next stop: Global Warming!

Haha, that would actually have the effect of making tobacco a niche product and a symbol of status. Not exactly what you'd be aiming for...

Huh, I need to replay this game.

We want our Dragon Age this decade, you know. Get back to work you slacker, you!

Yeah, that's why I'm asking for the name of the NPC that gives you an informed description of the thing. It's been a long time since I played F2, and I don't remember that at all. It also makes sense that the GECK would be the magical solution to all problems (or at least that's what everyone believes ingame), since it's the main force driving the plot forward until everyone gets abducted - and even then, it's still "essential" for the survival of Arroyo. A handful of seeds, fertilizer and a water purifier is something the player could easily acquire in the more developed towns, simplifying considerably the main quest. While MCA's take on it is certainly clever, I don't think it made it into the game. edit: Ah, so it was Renesco - he's an ex-Vault Citizen, right? Or was that the other doctor guy? What's a "basic replicator unit", anyway? Looks pretty magical to me. Also, where do they specify how long did it take for Vault 8 inhabitants to start rebuilding? For all we know, they could have started last year.

Aren't we back to square one, then? Either way, you end up paying for added content (xpacks), that's released and debugged less frequently than MMO content modules. You also get a game with a shorter lifespan, whether you like it or not. If you get bored with an MMO you can just cancel your subscription - you can always come back later and check out the new content. If you get bored with a game that isn't getting any more xpacks, you'd better find something else to play.

Hmm. BG2Tweaks has a component which allows thieving and casting in heavy armor (with appropriate penalties), but it doesn't allow pure mages to wear armor. The problem lies deeper, I think, with the absence of feats and how dual/multiclassing is handled. I don't think it would make much sense to have the squishies don a full plate and get the same benefits as fighter classes do... not even barbarians can wear all armor. All in all, I think it's fair. edit: except for some stupid random restrictions on race/class combinations, that is.

SCS is awesome. Hell Irenicus is... hell. Did you get the BG1 version too? If you haven't, you may want to get aVENGER's Rogue Rebalancing, or at the very least, aTweaks. That one has a component that makes fighter innates uninterruptable, so it's worth getting for that alone.

DDO is NOT going free. They are simply switching to a business model in which you pay for stuff instead of a monthly fee. You can buy the items but you are not required to. It's not just "items". What you get for free is actually a stripped down version of the game, with several important features cut out or limited. It's essentially another trial system. And, depending on what you choose to purchase and how long you play the game, it may be cheaper to subscribe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_...#Future_Updates It's a nice game, though, if a bit light on the MMO aspect.

No Kaftan, you're not tricking us into reading your fanfic, no matter how you disguise it. Asimov wasn't ALL sci-fi, btw. His works on ancient Rome are ok.

DDO is NOT going free. They are simply switching to a business model in which you pay for stuff instead of a monthly fee. It may be fun to try, but it looks to me like the game's death throes... They keep releasing new content on a regular basis, though.

Anytime you ask about a GECK in a conversation with someone who actually knows what one is, they tell you it's a bunch of seeds, fertilizer, and a water purifier. And who would that be? I can't seem to remember anyone in the game telling you that's what the thing actually is. I know that's what the Fallout Bible states, for all that's worth, but I'm talking in-game lore.

http://www.d20srd.org/

No, I just assumed that's why you wear it - you can't possibly be any fuglier without it.

errr...the ones i regularly surround myself with? the heck is your problem, buddy? NO YOU CANNOT **** ME (but i guess i'll let you touch it for a few bucks). Imaginary friends don't count. Real people, please. And just so you don't get your hopes up, no. Balding, scrawny kids who grow a beard because they look 12 without one aren't really my type. Go beat your meat.

No, that wasn't a rhetorical question. I actually meant for you to tell how many gamers do you perceive to be regular readers of the authors you cited. Well?

Yeah, yeah. You rock for fighting the good fight and all. Just answer the question.

Yep. It's really cool to be the pseudo-intellectual elitist **** on a games dev forum. I should know, I do it all the time. On the other hand, it could be argued that you're a bit of a loon for demanding that games, the McFood equivalent of intellectual stimulus, are held up against those standards. How many gamers read Sartre on a regular basis? Or ever? You're out of luck.

When everything else fails... lower the difficulty? edit: oh, and do buff your party and don't let them standing idly around the level entrance while you take on several mobs that focus on flanking/backstabbing all by yourself.

In FO2 it's never really explained what the GECK is or how it is supposed to work. But seeing Vault City and how utterly useless Citizens are, I'm leaning more towards the "magical" interpretation in FO2 as well.

Hahaha. Fundies are always great fun. But fundies wrt trivial stuff... that's just too much. At least do it for God or something.

Hm. I do believe I said "end of thread", didn't I? Anyway, it's not like we're talking about a feature that changes gameplay, affects mechanics in any significant way or requires a heavy modification of the engine. It's simply pushing the XP slider at the start. It would require testing, but really... how much testing would it really take to see if a feature that is applied at the very beginning and does not affect the rest of the game at all works? Okay, I exaggerated before. Make that thirty seconds. It's possible that a few problems could arise if there are scripted, reward-only skills or similar, but simply disable those/make the bonus redundant and you're good to go. At any rate, this is irrelevant (and speculative, so I'm going to shut up), as any efforts invested on this are pretty much wasted - cheats can achieve for the player the exact same result. This game does not have a MP component where you can benefit from grinding in SP, so what's the point anyway?

I guess you would know better, seeing as you are in on the biz and all - that could, on the other hand, make your argument suspect, if I were a wee bit cynical (). But even if I didn't want to believe that it's not financially viable for a developer to make a game with a branching ad infinitum plot... why would they want to put in much more work for the same money? Who the hell does that?!