Gorth

They could pretend that Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back were the only two movies ever made and then build on that

I love it, but we could only pick 7 Otherwise stuff like Sopranos, Rome, Monty Python and a lot, lot more would make it to my list.

Only strange if you consider "Syrians" his own. I could perfectly well imagine that he consider the Alawites "his own" and the Sunnis and Christians a necessary evil. Not too different from Libya where the conflict was between clans and regions (followers of the Senussis versus whatever Gaddafi was). So yes, grey indeed. Not good vs. evil, just us vs. them power struggles, the rest of the world cheering from the sideline for their favourite horse in the race.

Yeah? That's what the Martians said too...

I probably should have added a bit of elaboration to the list, why I in particular like each series. Didn't think of that until afterwards. The downside to checking in on forums while at work

Heh, tough question. All Best of/Favourite lists are subject to change with 24 hours notice The ones I remember right now: Blakes 7 Star Trek The Avengers (the old tv series with Ian Hendry/Patrick Macnee/Diana Rigg/Honor Blackman etc.) Lexx M.A.S.H. Space 1999 Firefly Somewhat dominated by old sci-fi

I wouldn't mind becoming a perpetual student of whisky and micro breweries. Looks like we have veered into a different territory in general now, so I'm locking this (even though I loved the theme hospital version of the tropes). For those who hate DA2, there is an existing thread

Just to continue my thought experiment from a previous post in this thread, if you turn all dialogues into encounters, you could do away with the skills and make it attribute based. Sometimes people don't interpret what you are saying things the way you meant them. Even if you try the polite version of "Your offer is not acceptable", a weak individual may perceive it as intimidating or think you are bluffing (to use some D&D skill examples). If you are big and strong, most of your lines are probably going to come across as something backed by force. If you are the smart or wise type, most of your lines may be suave etc. It may end up as too simplified for some peoples taste and I haven't bothered to take some old IE games conversations and tried to "convert" them, but the idea is basically to use a few of your primary stats versus the other guys primary stats. You may look like Conan the Barbarian and may generally succeed in the bullying of npcs until you meet somebody bigger and badder than yourself. A lot of people may not respond well at all to intimidating behaviour and just withdraw without giving you any information. You would never have a [skillcheck] tag though, as it is part of your "nature" and how other critters respond to said nature. Not sure if I follow... if it has no consequence should the game care if you are truthful or not?

Existing Thread Interest disappeared a bit after the kickstarter.

You jest, right? Oh, I'm so funny... Never played the jester, but I did complete chapter 2 (didn't quite finish the game) as a bard. Mostly to play through the "Stronghold" bits which were worth it. I didn't bother with armour, but relied on defensive spells to see me through. Think of him as a fighter-mage or rather a fighter-sorcerer. If you can cast stoneskin, blur, fire shields and globes of invulnerability etc. you can survive a lot of hostility.

Oh, I think I did (if you mean the personal combat/duel thing). Never underestimate the power of Assassinate and Twin Fangs. Besides, he wanted to run away with Isabella. Wasn't quite willing to let her go yet, I enjoy her company too much So far, the two major detractors for the game (for me) is the dissing of the old combat/skill system and the asset recycling. On the other hand, I like the plot and story better in DA2 compared to DA:O, but then I was never the save the kingdom/universe kind of guy. Personal survival and climbing the social ladder is stuff I can relate to. Now, if I could just have the best of both worlds... The only thing I would wish for companion wise would be some more "manly" men besides Varric. Not because I share peoples fascination with his chest hair, but between the emo wizard, the goth elf and the whimpy priest running away from the responsibility of leadership, they are in a bit of short supply. Ah well, I suppose that's what 'Gorth' is there for I had one of those WTF moments previously when I was suddenly playing as Varric and the mansion where Bertram was hiding was full of thugs, just lining up to get killed in droves... until I realised I was part of the story

If we count the Deep Roads expedition and the Qunari trying to burn down the city as main plot parts, I would say I'm in the third part. Meredith has finally shown herself and asked me to pay her a visit. Been postponing that for a bit while dealing with the more esoteric stuff. Edit to add: Last activity was a very large dragon putting an end to the Gorth & Hubert Mining Co.

Well, that's the thing, unlike DA:O where I found Sten and Zevran had most of the interesting lines between them, the DA2 ones are pretty well balanced. I find myself constantly swapping party members because most of them has something amusing/interesting to say regardless how you pair them

Yeah, Kegs and Keg corpses. Probably the best we can hope for. That and alternative backgrounds for major changes (like the d'Arnise keep in BG2 if you get it as a restored stronghold). The only few games I've seen with proper destructible environments have been "tile based", where individual tiles on the map were easy to replace with their ruined counterparts. No large, pretty backgrounds, it was all about the mechanics.

Ah, thanks. I've never played Minecraft, heard a lot about it though.

[Charisma]"Vote Gorth for President!" I'm a bit in two minds about the issue. I don't like the obvious [tag] thing, but finding better solutions to what I would like to accomplish might not be feasible either. I liked that bit of Alpha Protocol where you added the inflection to your dialogue, but you can't really use what works in a quasi action game to an old school type crpg. You could then write up all combinations of dialogue choices, but if I had to chose between 15-20 options for a "Nice weather today, isn't it?" type dialogue it will make PS:T look like stenography by comparison. Maybe if every conversation was considered an "encounter" and every choice had a skill check? Walk up to a peasant and initiate dialoge: "Hello friend, nice weather today?" Since you are not trying to lie or threaten him, it would check your general speech skill and if failed, the peasant would respond with "No it isn't". If you rolled a critical fail behind the scenes, he would also punch you on your nose for suggesting such an outrageous thing. A contrived example and a peasant might not want to punch you if you are 3 meter tall and wearing dragon scale armour and wielding a claymore, but just an example of turning every dialogue and every choice into a skill test. No need for tags then, because you know every choice will be held up against your stat sheet. You are only going to have useful conversations if you can substantiate your POV with either skills or companions that can pitch in for you if they are better at something. Might not be a viable approach and too much work, but a fun thought experiment anyway

I was curious about Windows 8, but checking Microsofts website, it looks like only the upgrade version is for sale at the moment. By upgrade, they mean literally that you have to create a mess on your PC by first installing an old windows and then pile Windows 8 on top of it. If it had just been a product key upgrade, I might have been tempted to upgrade my old Windows XP key.

Good guys finish last...

I think I'm getting closer to the end of my first playthrough of DA2. I finished Mark of the Assassin. Was kind of fun and a nice break from Kirkwall (which really is getting on my nerves now). Nice touch that you can chose between sneaking and brute force your way through the end part of the DLC. Dear Bioware... next time, swap Tallis and Sebastian. The former was way more interesting as a character (even if I was inches from just killing her at the end). Yeah, Kirkwall, Templars, Mages and Anders' constant whinging is taking a bit of fun out of the game, but the inter party banter is somewhere between good and brilliant. Makes wandering around less of a chore. Only a few side quests left to do in the third section of the game, so might as well return to the main plot. Edit to add: Managed to get started on XCOM yesterday. Still going through the tutorial levels. Lost a rookie during the first escort mission (damn teleporting aliens)

"I wrote a couple hundred games for the C-64 and the Amiga"... if this guy is such a prolific developer, what the heck does he need funding for???

Who or what is 'notch'. Google was only semi helpful suggesting a few people besides the literal meaning of the word.

Moved to the general gaming section. If anybody around here still plays the game, they are more likely to find it here Not sure about the specific problem, but it took me a while to work out which bonuses stack and which don't (some add up, some just give you the best of the pick). As for heavy armour, it makes sense on "fighter" types who hopefully have allocated their attribute points in things like strength and constitution rather than dexterity.

Among other things yes. Hence the PS:T example. If I remember correctly, you could also finish Fallout without a "boss fight" (you still had to face the Master, but you didn't have to fight him). I'm not a game designer, but I'm sure that there must be *some* way to conclude logical segments of the game rather than ye olde mass brawl between good and bad guys.

I'm not following entirely. The concept of Boss Battles that you need to dodge and move to the side and stuff like that or....? Just reflecting on the point that "boss battles" are a gimmick dating back to the early arcade machines where you end a wave of opponents with a "boss" battle. It's as kliche and formulaic as QTE's and minigames. Like something that climbs up on a pedestal and in a booming voice, that shatters glass, pronounces: "I AM A GAME, STOP BEING SO IMMERSED AND SNAP OUT OF IT!". It would be nice to see at least a bit of deviation of game Standard Template Construct #1147 and do something other than encounter with above average opponents as part of the "chapter closure" process.

Where is the option of getting rid of the concept entirely? It may have been fun on the arcade machines of old, where you had to insert another coin, but you would think they could come up with something else since the days of Defender and Galaxians. At least you didn't have to fight TNO in PS:T, but could solve the "encounter" in alternative ways.