GamerFromStart

I wish to second the comments of the right honorable gentleman and add a heartfelt "Here, Here!!!" Now what of it? you buggers?!! (sorry, I'm just a big fan of the British House of Commons, CSPAN = Good Times!) :D

You are right this is LONG!! But seriously..... Agree! Great CRPG = ability to replay (Different characters, different endings, different middles) - you will note this is a constant theme of mine... Hehe, that's just a great line! Too funny!! Where can I get one?!! Have just started playing Torment again, I am having a better time than I remember last time and I do think it was a brilliant work. However, I think part of Torment's appeal / sales problem was the single "Namless One" character, in the unfamiliar planes setting. For the mass gamer, perhaps "too weird...can't relate?".... So, I disagree that Obsidian won't make another great CRPG vis a vis Torment's pluses, rather they just need to pay heed to the mass gamer's need for more familiarity. Can be done IMO.

Well, we have come full circle. What began as a suggestion to make great CRPGs with great replay ability, morphed into a stirring of the pot of piracy, ending with pirate victory and now a reiteration to the Obsidian group: Make good games!!!! Give us our money's worth!!! And fight the good fight against the pirates!! "We shall never surrender!" -- Churchill. :angry:

Hmmmmm, touche! I'll admit a good point when I see one. But, just as in the music industry, the easy copying does impact some artists/studios, I don't think it can/should be just left to a that's the way it is situation. Maybe, my concern stems from my PC gaming background, where I do not want to see any reasons (real or otherwise) for a transition to a console format. Yes, now that I think about it -- this IS my primary concern and interest in this security issue.

Well we disagree. I don't believe that copy protections are useless. Again, for me as a consumer, I would welcome at least some effort in this area for reasons already stated and I don't see how my life has been made harder except for the price! - cause I haven't seen any copy protections in a long while. Well, at least we're talking about the issue and that's cool.

Lots of caffeine. And Chris Parker looming over you like a shadow. pretty much matches our list. HA! Good Fun! He might be asking what software is used for game creation? Landscape/lighting/level creation software? Character creation software, etc?? Are they commercially available for an up and coming or would be game maker?

This is true: without the threat of censure, there is no impetus for those who pirate (really, it's simple theft, not piracy) to cease their activities. Well, this I believe is one of those unenforceable goals. However, you can at least make it more difficult for people with security measures. IMO, even the slightest security features would be beneficial as they would make people feel ok purchasing the game for $50.00, knowing that some other guy isn't gonna download it off the web a week later for $0.00 and people are generally lazy so putting a barrier in the way I feel can assist. Look how well speed bumps work in a parking lot. The problem now is that it seems PC CRPG companies have just given up totally, I think this is a disservice.

Yes, I'm for balance. And just for disclosure (not to start any more rabid discussions of future possibilities!!), I am a huge Fallout fan. The game was very good - from initial idea/setting to endings, lots of fun, had some loose ends, some missing overall cohesion, but great balance with your own character choices, resulting dialogue differences, as well as choosing/outifitting NPCs, so on and so on. In any event, there have been many games, which have gone down the path of a great CRPG and balance was critical. Again, I feel choices / options and replay ability are the icing of the cake -- too much icing and you defeat the purpose of the cake, not enough icing and you go .......eh....it was good.

I guess...but I would hope that those games that do not offer the replay ability of the games mentioned would follow a longer storyline and be that much better in other aspects, else I couldn't help but feel that the total value wasn't there. Or in other words, if I ever had a choice between a beautiful game with a single start and single end vs. a very nice game with multiple starts and multiple ends, I'm buying the latter first. This is not to say I wouldn't buy the former, but I might wait till it was out a while for the price to come way down, knowing that once it's done....it's done.

Ahhhhh, a brother spirit. Yes, while I enjoyed the very different PS:T world, it did lack the ability to enjoy it again and again from other perspectives and so, as you, I have enjoyed the other games you have mentioned, much, much more. And, while I'm thinking about it, I have had this nagging question, which I hope one of you can help me with..... It is partly my understanding that game companies are moving to console games because of better sales and probably part of these "better sales" have to do with a lack of ability by the gamer to ...ahem....illegaly copy the console and give it to their best buds. Question: what ever happened to PC CD-ROM security features to at least somewhat encourage people to buy it themselves and not get a copy from others? I feel even the most modest features, like an alpha-numeric key per disc can deter the quick copy and thus sales loss. Any thoughts?

First: Hi Feargus, Chris and all of Obsidian, who's work on past games I have enjoyed immensely!! I look forward to great things from you soon. (no pressure). Second: As this is the suggestion thread.......and at a risk of sounding DUH! here goes: There are many aspects to a great CRPG game and we can all rattle them off forever. However, I think it is apparent that it is the RP part of a CRPG that makes a CRPG truly great. And, of course, this is usually the most time consuming and most difficult to accomplish. Again, which is why there are so few great CRPG games around. Your previous work set new bars for world creation and in depth role playing. I do not think the immediate future is to make the RP world bigger, rather my humble suggestion is set the 21st century CRPG at a 21st century level and to me that means in the end a greater focus on replay-ability. The ability to replay a game with a "new/different" character, with some different dialougue, different events, different endings, maybe a different antagonist is, to me, the true icing on the cake. And what's a cake without icing?! And for all those who are saying now....Duh, this has been done before!....the point is....exactly....my suggestion is that replay-ability be polished in your new games, be it PC or Console. Good Luck!! And if you need a beta tester......... :D I'm just an email away. Thank you.