Enoch

I would wildly and uninformedly guess that would not be before Alpha Protocol's release. I doubt AP plays into the F:NV hype campaign much. Different publishers-- Bethsoft is handling the PR for Fallout, and they're not going to care particularly about Sega's release of AP. Plus, as we've been told that AP is 'pretty much done' at Obsidian, it's not as if all the Obsids devs will be tied up in crunch time and unavailable to do F:NV press.

I think Gorth means in that Stalin is still killing Poles.

The engine supports weights down to the ten thousandths place in data but it only displays weights to the tenths. Odd. So, if I coud have a character holding 1000 paperclips, which are coded at 0.01 lbs. but display at 0.1 lbs., would his total encumberance be 10 or 100? The first result would be confusing to the player, but the latter result would be rather silly from a verisimilitude point of view. Making tinier items weightless might be the least-bad end result there. Or, better yet, use a less granular unit of weight-- Go metric, put everything in Grams, and lose the decimal point altogether. The "can't display finer than a tenth" problem goes away if you use a smaller unit of measurment. We Americans may not like it, but we'd adjust.

Well, you're not going to be chatting with shopkeepers and offering to find some fozzle they lost in the cemetary or anything-- you're a spy, not an adventurer. But I get the sense that other contacts, handlers, officials, and the like, are going to have some optional tasks that you can choose to help them with to gain money, equipment, intelligence, and reputation.

I know this is off topic, but text messages rule for work. Far far less danger of getting sucked into rambling conversations. Say what you want, say when it's done. Genius. You and I have very different work environments. I'm at a relatively big federal agency-- all the people I deal with are either co-workers or employees of different federal agencies. With very few exceptions, all the work communications happens either in person, via email, or on office telephones. (And the exceptions nearly all involved normal voice calls to home or cell phones to accommodate for teleworking or official travel.) Actually, it might even be the case that using text messages for work purposes would cause some difficulties under the Federal Records Act. Also, I just get angry when I think about the rates that US wireless carriers charge for text messages. Based on the bandwidth they consume, they are shockingly overpriced relative to every other service they sell.

It's actually not all that spoilerific-- the bottom 20 or so are all still listed as "secret achievements." That's probably just a list as revealed to the player relatively early on in the game. The fact that the "No Time for Love" achievement gives more points than the "Ladies Man" achievement made me smile. Of course, that's probably to offset the fact that the individual "conquests" are likely among the "secret achievements" at the bottom. Also, the just had to get the word "Deus" in there... (For the record )

A much better grapefruit-based drink: 1.5 oz. Gin .75 oz. lemon juice (about half of a large lemon) 1 oz. simple syrup 4-5 dashes of Angostura Bitters 3 oz. Grapefruit Juice. Shake over ice and strain into an ice-filled highball glass. This just blends beautifully-- a very nice summertime lemonade substitute. (Note: Lifted from Dale DeGroff's The Craft of the ****tail. He invented it as a more flavorful alternative to the Salty Dog (vodka, grapefruit juice, salted rim), and calls for the rim of the glass to be similarly salted. He called it a "Salt and Pepper Highball." I don't particularly care for the salted rim, so the name really doesn't fit my version. Also, I added more bitters than was called for, because bitters are awesome.) @ Wals, that infused gin sounds like it would be great in place of the vodka in a Bloody Mary.

I haven't bought any Bio DLCs simply because the basic game + free DLC in DA:O and in ME2 was enough content to get me tired of the basic game mechanics. Don't get me wrong-- both the games were a lot of fun and well worth my money and time. But after playing each through once and then going back and experimenting a little with alternate characters/strategies, I got to the point where I decided that I'd have more fun doing something else. I do agree somewhat with Gromnir, though-- Bio's DLC strategy (with much of it free to retail purchasers) was a very clever strategy for a developer to reduce the bite that used game sales take out of their bottom line. The in-game salesman in DA:O did feel a little 'pushy,' but I laughed it off rather than taking offense.

I'm not looking to pay Alienware prices, but I am presently shopping around for a higher-end netbook that wouldn't be wholly swamped running some moderately retro games. The present leaders are these two. Both come with full Win7.

I had a grapefruit in the fridge that I decided was unlikely to get eaten, so I juiced it and started looking for recipes. First up is a classic-- the Brown Derby. 4 parts Bourbon 2 parts Grapefruit juice 1 part Honey Syrup (basically honey diluted with hot water until it is pourable) It's tasty, but a little too sweet to me. The grapefruit gets lost.

It also requires less voice work from the Shepard VAs.

Better idea: Play pickup ultimate with baseballs and gloves instead of a frisbee. And one player on each team gets to use the bat.

So, for the first time in over a decade, I might be joining a PnP group. The would-be gamemaster has suggested using Mazes and Minotaurs, a free old-school minimalist RPG system that is loosely based on Greek myth. He also plans to set the campaign on a map of the eastern Mediterranean, in roughly the 3rd century BCE, but with magical realist touches in that Gods, Nymphs, mystical powers, and whatnot are extant and influential. Has anybody here played this system? Thoughts, warnings, or advice? Edit: Page 36 of the "Maze Master's Guide" is hilarious.

But then who decides what is "political hate speech" and what is legitimate political discourse? Anyhow, you're talking about the "fighting words" doctrine, which, as described in the first case Grommy linked, is a legitimate justification for State suppression of the speech. (The "fighting words" in dispute in that case were "damned racketeer" and "damned fascist.") But that doesn't necessarily mean that an after-the-fact private suit for defamation based on those utterances would be proper. The test for whether liability would be permissible is different, and is discussed in Grom's 2nd link. (Here is the parody ad that was the basis of that suit. The Court found no grounds for liability.)

I do remember a post many many moons ago that said they tested this out. I think it was brought up pursuant to the now-canceled Aliens game, but the answer made me think that the company was institutionally aware of these issues in a general sense.

Linky. Sample:

Which makes it even more silly that they made it so easy to get through the supposed suicide mission with everybody alive.

"Don't you know there ain't no devil, there's just God when he's drunk" (Tom Waits)

Your link doesn't work, Enoch. Warren Zevon - Back In The High Life Dammit. Not sure how I screwed that up. Try this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5puAN1PGQw

"Should have been included" according to whom? So long as what is playable at release and what each DLC includes or unlocks is well-publicized so that the buyer knows what he/she is getting, I don't have any problem with this. This author thinks that it's a poor deal and won't purchase it, based on the well-publicized information about its size and contents. That's an informed market decision by a consumer. Other consumers may have other preferences, and if the general reaction is sales falling enough to outweigh the higher price point, the company will adjust its practices.

I'd be surprised if the slippage from the original October date was due to ME-related competition. The strategic ME-avoidance probably came in once the holiday release window was missed. Were there no ME2, I bet the game would've come out in February or March, rather than June.

A person's title does not automatically reflect their influence on the project or team. This is especially true in the game industry, where titles change from company to company. Should I interpret this answer as a simple clarification or as a thinly veiled 'that guy is SO full of ****' ? Interpret it however you like, but be mindful of the fact that Sawyer's title on PS:T was "Web Monkey."

Warren Zevon -- Lawyers, Guns, and Money (Live, solo, acoustic, and with an amusing introduction)

As intriguing as MCA's response was, I already regret reading it. I usually don't put too much effort into avoiding spoilers, but that sounds like the sort of thing that would be much better to experience without any expectations.

10 minutes of cheezy Schwarzenegger quotes.