Gorth

Oh, I thought he was taking a jab at my computer It's a Counter Strike feature/meme. Never played Counterstrike. That one went over my head

Oh, I thought he was taking a jab at my computer

If I'm not part of the problem, does that make me part of the solution? Saw that one for the first time this year as in-flight entertainment. As for why people play 'x' game? It probably helps if you have pushed it enough to become the "de facto standard" that other games needs to compare themselves to. Then it becomes the default that people return to when new versions come out, because everything else is 'x' wannabe's. How many publishers have had dreams about making the next WoW? The next Diablo? The next CoD? The next (insert popular franchise typically summarised by a single game name)?

Well, I'm setting myself up for a play through of ME2 and ME3 once I finish DA2 and the DLC's. I'll keep that in mind

If we can have arctic dwarves, why can't we have hordes of nomad elves, living in clans on the vast steppes, being expert horse archers? Oh wait, no horses... damn.

Do you have Keldorn in your party? That would be one reason IIRC. Edit: Something about one of his items doing "retaliatory" attacks counts as magic use for game purposes.

I usually skip cutscenes as fast as the program allows, so I don't pay attention to such details. What did bother me (gun related) was that I kept pressing 'H' all through the game to make my guy holster his gun and run faster. Of course, it never worked

I would love for once to have a game blessedly free of those transmutated humans that Victorian writers have cursed literature with. I'd be fine with that. Heh, that probably came across as more negative than intended. It's just that there are so many options and possibilities in a new setting, that adding such traditional archetypes seems like... waste of opportunity? But then, the addition of rather typical classes and races already has me worried.

I would love for once to have a game blessedly free of those transmutated humans that Victorian writers have cursed literature with.

Congratulations... I suppose? (said the perpetual bachelor)

Besides DA2, continuing my game of IWD2. I really don't like the "retcon" part with Malavon and Ginafae. Just feels too contrived in order to include some cameos. Drider caves were nice, even though my poor flesh golem got himself killed. Had my thief clear out all the lightning generators and killed the elder brain. Forgot the ambush once exiting the underdark and got wiped out. Damn... next time.

How are your (in-game ) siblings doing? Well, I had to take the Qunari by the horns so speak and settle the Viscounts problems with the "squatters". Bethany doesn't seem to like me much at the moment

It also had the fetch quests to become a mage that was made exactly for the purpose of testing your patience. In fact, most IE game quests fell in one of two categories, fetch or kill. Sometimes both. If you remove fetch, you are pretty much reduced to kill type quests. There have been a few exceptions (body guard and escort type quests), but they have rarely been more interesting than fetch and kill. I remember that mage quest! It was brilliant. Besides fetch and kill quests, there's the deliver/inform class of quests too ("meet & greet" as a subset), but I don't remember too many of those in the IE games as they're always used as transitions. Escort quests--I don't remember those in IE games at all, huh. Probably not escorting as much as bodyguarding, but come to think of it, it may have been a kill quest too. It's been too long. The one I had in mind is one of the Paladin stronghold quests where you have to protect somebody in the safe house in the docks district.

BG1 and BG 2 - the game the most people seem to want PE to be like - had a number of them. Planescape: Torment parodied the fetch quest with stuff like the Pandora's Box quest, and the Rat Catcher, so I don't think Obsidian will be filling this game with them, or if they do have fetch quests they will somehow make it interesting. It also had the fetch quests to become a mage that was made exactly for the purpose of testing your patience. In fact, most IE game quests fell in one of two categories, fetch or kill. Sometimes both. If you remove fetch, you are pretty much reduced to kill type quests. There have been a few exceptions (body guard and escort type quests), but they have rarely been more interesting than fetch and kill.

When did that ever stop anyone with his mind set in stone on something else? Thor could strike you with lightning every time you denied His existence and you would just write it off as bad luck and unusual weather patterns (or some other denial pattern).

The important question for me is, does it make for a game that is more fun to play and stays true to its own internal logic or is it a reflection of a real world agenda unrelated to the game world? The answer to that is also the answer to if I care or not.

They talk the talk. Unfortunately trying the 'alpha' demo is only an option if you pre-order the game. Sort of a catch 22 Recent violence against X-Com and Jagged Alliance has left me with very little expectations. If the Carmageddon Reincarnation project fizzles, then it is indeed time to build a mausoleum for great games Given that I am in the Alpha (soon to be Beta), I can tell you that they indeed do more than just talk. The game flows and ffeels really really good. It's a true seuqel to the old X-Com in all aspects. Except it has better air combat and graphics Speaking of which, the nex XCOM is a good game, but it lacks freeomd and depth. The AI also cheats like hell and the dificulty is artificial as hell. JA: BiA is a good game too, altough it too lacks the depth - altough in this case it's simply due to being rushed and lacking some features and polish. Also the leveling/repair mechanics has been changed to a far, far worse one. With a few changes and a bit more polish, it would be a worthy sucessor. And no, the real-time tactical planing system is not a problem at all. It works well. Well, I bought the XCOM game, but I haven't had time to play it yet. Story of my life, always so little time I tried demo when it was released on Steam, it didn't impress me much, but I trust alanschu's taste in such matters, as we seem to have some "overlap" in preferences. You are however the first to say something not negative about the JA:BIA game though.

It's hard to guess, as it would very much depend on how the story and idea implementation was executed. On paper, it would have helped to make more sense of the stuff that happened in ME2, i.e. human shaped reapers, weapons of mass (effect) destruction found on planets etc. If it would have been better or worse is a different (dark) matter... (oh,the puns!) I never really played ME1 (apart from a brief stint on an xbox360), so I don't know how events there would tie in with ME2&3. As it is, ME3 feels more like a replacement for ME2 than a continuation.

Real men eat casu macho marzu

The worst thing that can happen is, you die. No big deal in this game As mentioned, Wis, Int and Cha needs maxing out. Important hint, multiclassing is different from traditional D&D. You can be one of 3 classes at any given time. To first become a class, you need a "trainer". Once trained, talking to your party member will let you switch class at any time (thief, fighter or mage). Talk to everybody, including random bystanders. Talk to your party members often (especially after gaining levels and adding to Wis, Int and Cha). While combat happens, it is trivial in the big picture of things and serve more to space story elements out a bit, than to prevent you from progressing. Read the dialogue. Read your journal (this one is actually helpful). Play how you like it (good, bad, psychotic, whatever). \

Fortunately, so far it has indeed been a non issue. The few exceptions over the years have indeed been exceptions. There are some size guidelines and for the rest it's a matter of common sense and if somebody have avatars/sigs that go out of their way to attract attention (nudity, ridiculous sizes, gore, "strobe" flashing etc.) and flaunt common sense, they get addressed individually on a case by case basis.

Well, those of us who are old enough remember a time when Danes would consider anything more than a pinch of salt or pepper added to your food "excessively spicy". Time to move where the pepper grows (Danish saying, doesn't translate well) How is life treating you in your new country Jan?

This. It's not like Obsidian hasn't done most of the stuff on that list in the past. Sometimes you just have ideas that you would love to see become real, yet can't find the support amongst those with the means to finance it. Doesn't mean they are Anti-something as much as Pro-something else.

To repeat the above, thanks a lot, much appreciated.

Still on my first play through of DA2. Finished the "Legacy" DLC which was "Ok". Nice backstory and nice scenery (and nice change from endless Kirkwall). I just still hate the kind of puzzles that seems have to be squeezed in there, no matter how much out of place they feel. Still worth the price of admission though. Looking forward to try Mark of the Assassin soon. As for the main quest, I thought I was almost through it and coming to a head with the Qunari boss, when my companions decided it was time for round two with companion side quests. Aveline's campaign of wooing guardsman Donnick is comedy gold, especially with Isabella in the party. Caught myself laughing out loud several times.