Gorth

But what about me?! My needs are important, too. Oh stop that... Chest out, Chin up! You'll get over it (eventually)

Hey, it might give me a chance to play through those 200gb of games that I've bought and downloaded, yet haven't played yet

I'm probably a minority, but I'm a "minimalist". The less powerful items and artifacts in the game, the better, because it allows to appreciate the one or two I might find a lot more. If they have to have some powerful items, I agree that pacing and distribution is important. What is the fun of getting the sword of spider slaying as reward for killing the last spider in the game? I don't remember which one, that offered a sword of +3 vs. lycantropes for wiping out the last know werewolf. Very funny... not. What I do like is the idea of family heirlooms, where some unique (not necessarily powerful) items comes and leaves with a companion. In BG2, I usually left Anomen, Kheldorn, Valygar etc. with their family shields, armour etc. as it just seemed like "theirs". Hard to explain, but I guess I'm just not a powergamer.

Poor Kiwis, they always get left out

I wonder if sacrificing a chicken in a pentagram will assist in recreating the look and feel of Icewind Dale? Although to be honest, I found the art direction of PS:T stunning too.

Don't have a car, don't drink or smoke, don't eat out a lot, no big purchases planned for the near future. I thought long and hard about this one. In the end, it's not only about Project Eternity, but also about supporting Obsidian. The games they have released are all games I have enjoyed immensly and consider some of my favorite games of all time. My contribution is small in the grand picture, but worth it for me. I still look at the sum and shake my head sometimes! Thumbs up (for those days where 'like' just doesn't cut it)

I used to like Tomb Raider, but it's been dead (or unrecognisable) for a number of years now. It feels and plays like a mass produced action game (including every formulaic ingredient from QTE's to horrible boss fights) and has become boring beyond my pain threshold. Wasteland 2, I'm very much looking forward to, but not expecting that it's going to be released in 2013. As sad as it may sound, the game I'm currently looking most forward to is the GoG version of the old Carmageddon plus Splat Pack, and that one will hopefully come out this year. Come to think of it, I might just tear out 2013 from my calendar

You mean besides the obvious strategic interest of denying your enemy the territory? You need somewhere to fight your proxy wars and use as stepping stones to expand your sphere of influence Might not have been what you had in mind though. The cold war did cause a lot of money and effort being spent on strategic (and often obscure) goals.

David Warner... Wouldn't mind seeing Sara Kestelman (Kreia) do a return to voice acting

I believe a lot of PS:T's artwork was based on DiTerlizzi's work

I thought it was the most cruel and unusual punishment they could inflict on Breivik in the absence of a death penalty.

Depends on the number of arms available for the various races.

Bah, my gelatinous cube protagonist won't need armour, I'll just wobble and then cover you in corrosive acid. Yeah, I won't need swords either! Obviously I'm joking, but it could be interesting to see something other than biped characters. Heck, a banshee or an invisible friend would be a nice change.

What?

That is only until your '@' runs into a vicious 'C' with a venomous bite or a bunch of 'k's ganging up on you... I don't know what the system requirements could possibly be, but I suppose checking out other games/projects that have progressed further down the path of using the Unity engine may give some pointers. As for the money and what they get from it? Dunno. Maybe they had planned for a relatively basic game to introduce the settings and the mechanics and then anything extra would add content. No idea what reasoning or plans were behind the numbers. Edit: It's 1.9m now

I can understand your line of reasoning. Consider this though, they have to come up with some kind of personality, plot hooks, story etc. for companions. If it fits the story, they might as well include a bit of intimacy in the relationship. Not necessarily "Nice dress, let's have sex", but the kind you would find in say, PS:T where there is "something" between Grace and the player. Sometimes a hint or subtle tension can be a great substitute for the more ham-fisted attempts.

I remember playing the first one a long time ago... Once you got used to the Alien's perspective it became very fun to play. Sucked to be a marine though. Life expectancy was predictably short

Well, females and dudes with too much estrogen. No difference. I would suspect young males with too much testosterone, too little social skills, and a need for back patting and instant gratification to be the loudest group. But as said above, the only ones I know of that has systematically analysed behaviour is Bioware and they are unlikely to share their numbers.

Yeah, browsing through PS:T's data files with NearInfinity was almost educational. Both in how your own alignment changed (seriously, is teasing Morte really a chaotic act???), and how you had to break down your companions "barriers" (wasn't that variable called fortress_something?), to get them to improve their stats and abilities. By all means, get rid of the obvious messages and numbers, but some kind of feedback would be nice and not completely unrealistic. Depending on circumstance, feedback on whether people approve or disapprove of your actions can be non-existant, subtle, obvious or rather physical (from a punch to a kiss). Get rid of the numbers though, show - don't tell.

Depends. Perhaps not modern Bioware style, but from what I remember most of the people writing BGII romance mods were women. Well, they seemed like women. This is the internet after all. Of course, that probably can be ascribed to the general difference in preference for porn between men and women. It would be interesting to get one's hands on all the data that Bioware mined while people were playing. They probably have a decent idea of what their "target group" is, both gender and age-wise.

I would be very surprised if the female half of the population were the loudest proponents for "romances" in crpgs.

Hey, that was *my* cookie! Anyway, it looks like people have had a chance to let off a bit of steam. Nothing wrong with the subject itself though, but it's "usefulness" for PE seems to have run its course. Feel free to create a new thread in WoT though to discuss sexism/chauvinism/etc. if people still feel they have something to add to the subject.

Got a lot of my GoG games installed. Started a game of Icewind Dale. I really just wanted to try it out... then I made it to Kuldahar. Now i have to finish that game. Also got Startopia installed, so I can give that one a try.

Sorry to hear that Hurlshot. Uncertainty is never pleasant. Hoping for the best

You can easily have sex without romances being involved. You can also have romances without sex being involved. I think the latter is where most of Obsidian's past coverage of the subject has gone (with the possible exception of NWN2 with the tacky Elf stalker "romance", which felt completely out of place).