Gromnir

what an odd dichotomy? had never considered toliken illustrators to be a specific genre. similarly, lumping erol otus and tony diterlizzi together with larry elmore and jeff easley would seem to be a bit o' an over-generalization. HA! Good Fun!

it is nice to know that fantasy scale not only offers protection, but it lifts and supports for the fashion conscious female warrior who knows how to really use her weapons. *insert eye-roll here* well, maybe the next game does away with such. HA! Good Fun!

Spoiler much? new bsg were 2004. you figure on waiting another decade before watching? rosebud were brand name of Kane's sled. apollo creed beats rocky at the end of the movie. jr weren't actually shot-- it were all a dream sequence. the chick who kinda looked like a guy in the crying game were actually a guy. we would spoil christmas/easter/tooth-fairy for you, but sometimes you give impression of being 'round 8 years old, so we will forebear and lets you continue to enjoy your childlike ignorance. HA! Good Fun! It was actually a really cool series ruined by plot curveballs that made no sense at all. BSG that is. one thing we prefers 'bout many bbc tv shows is that they is having a set duration. producers/writers can plan out a coherent story arc from start to finish. am suspecting that one reason why 24 has been so popular is 'cause each season is an insular and discreet story arc that we presume (we has never actually watched 24,) satisfactorily answers all plot questions raised during the limited run of episodes. bsg, and other such shows, seems to inevitably collapse under their own weight. their were no plan, so the dangling plot threads continue to fray and become an increasingly tangled mess. sit coms, and older episodic shows, could plausibly last forever as there were no singular story one needed to be conscious regarding. even so, such shows invariably get repetitive or dull. regardless, one wishes that American tv shows would embrace the model o' a set run o' a specific # of episodes. that way bsg plot nonsense wouldn't be so typical. HA! Good Fun!

is perhaps ironic then that we know less 'bout poe than we did regarding any o' the ie developments from black isle. as black isle ie games were d&d, and having followed bg, we knew much about core gameplay and setting. we knew vancian magic would be employed. we knew thac0. we knew, or had access to, much o' the lore o' the settings o' games being developed. as obsidian does not have a license holder to contend with, they is free to do as they will. such freedom, and a certain odd taciturn quality regarding core gameplay features, has left us more in the dark than other similar developments from obsidian. am not suggesting that lack of certitude is bad. on the contrary, we thinks freedom for the developer is good. even so, we woulda' expected more transparency this far into development. HA! Good Fun!

bg3, or the "black hound" game, is one that many folks who followed black isle developments would wish to see get made. such a thing is impossible, but for folks who followed the bg3 development while it lasted, your comment will find only sterile and barren soil. HA! Good Fun!

one issue we does have with abrams is that he is more than willing to complete ignore internal logic. there were so many freaking errors in abrams first star trek that even Gromnir, who is not one to quibble over minutiae, were disturbed. heck, abrams tv shows such as alias and lost are perfect examples o' how the director will throw Crap into a script to achieve effect and ignore any kinda plausibility or rationality. also, we will note that for all you folks who has some interest in maintaining canon, abrams is kinda the anti-canon director. gene roddenberry would roll over in grave if he saw what star trek has become. roddenberry were very much against having focus of star trek be 'bout combat and fighting. he would also, given his rather intentional efforts to embrace multiculturalism, wonder why Khan Noonien Singh became a pasty-faced englishmen. we don't mind abrams as choice of director for star wars. star wars space fairy tale is actually a far more appropriate setting for abrams than were star trek, but dont be surprised that if by film 3 in the new series you got all kinda inconsistencies and unanswerable questions. HA! Good Fun!

we were extreme active on the boards of earlier obsidian/black isle games. the obsidian developers made a conscious effort to listen to fans and consider advice, but that quality has diminished and so has our participation. some number o' months ago we saw a poster suggest that as the poe classes were having less defined roles, such classes were less distinctive. why have classes at all if you is just gonna make them customizable to a point o' near interchangeability? at that time we had even less o' an idea o' the specific abilities o' classes than we do now. a developer responded with a curt voloesque response of, "you are wrong." ... we were not completely surprised by such a response, but we did suggest that a bit more of an explanation were warranted. the developer responded again that it were the poster, gifted1 if we recall correct, who were needing to provide more information before the developer would deign reply. it were kinda an illustrative exchange. gifted1 weren't being rude, and he didn't have more information to provide... and even if he did have access to more info, surely the developer had much accurate and current info, yes? nope, the developer in question were not looking to clarify the issue. developer goal were to show that the poster were wrong and little else. that were the last such example o' developer indifference we saw... not the first. we has posted very little since that time. the developers o' poe is choosing to do their way, which is fine. is no reason they need genuine listen to fans at this point. once the beta rolls around, we hope they at least consider player feedback, but at this point player input might not be useful if the developers have a clear idea of what they want to do and how to do it. that being said, we has witnessed the degree to which obsidian developers is embracing player feedback and it don't genuine support your position. it genuine don't matter if we is positive or negative. obsidian IS providing updates on their progress and they is giving numerous little info drops 'bout what kinda game poe will eventually be. such feedback is appreciated, but it is far less reactive than previous obsidian developments. regardless, our point above that success or fail of poe is all on obsidian is undeniable-- am taking a page out o' obsidian book and aiming for right rather than helpful. HA! Good Fun!

am not gonna go through the ridiculous reply/quote nonsense, so we will not actual respond to lion's share of your post. call it a pet peeve. it may seem like we is being a jerk, but if we use reply/quote as you did, and you follow in the same format, we will very quickly reach a point in which neither of us is actually responding to anything o' significance. it is an asinine way to respond to a post. that being said, fo:nv were fundamentally unbalanced with many weapons/skills/abilities/etc being clear superior or inferior. there is no need for a "compared to." also, the fo:nv conclusion were disappointing to any game we believes had a good or even adequate conclusion? am not seeing how you need clarification. *shrug* as for motb, that were one o' those games from obsidian that some small number of fans adore, and we just don't see it. in the george zeits thread we discussed motb shortcomings briefly... would be repeating self to do so in this thread. regardless, pointing out individual games you like from obsidian is a rather pointless observation as Gromnir already said that we also like obsidian games. we did note that obsidian has a way of self-destructing or making developments more difficult... to a comical degree. kotor2 actual had some fabulous writing. we would argue that obsidian's best written game to date were the first 2/3 of kotor2. the thing is, how does a developer fail to get it in writing when the publisher offers more time to expand the scope of the game? the torn engine blunder is another mistake we can't even fathom as it strains credulity. obsidian mistakes would be funny, if they weren't sad. HA! Good Fun!

FO:NV is superb by any standard. MotB is the least flawed NWN series game. South Park: The Stick of Truth is brilliant at what it attempts. That's three they hit out of the park, which is better than you can say for most studios as far as I'm concerned. seeing as how nwn2 and storm of zehir were obsidian games, your compliment of motb is a back-handed one at best. additionally, we got a substantial list o' serious criticisms of motb that we could share in a more appropriate fora. fo:nv were buggy, unbalanced and had the typical disappointing conclusion that is also a rather infamous trademark of obsidian/black isle games (iwd being an odd exception.) we had no urge to play the south park title from obsidian, so we cannot comment other than to observe that south park were near universal criticized even by folks who liked it as a bugfest... and, "brilliant at what it attempts" is more than a little suspicious, don't you think? *shrug* ​as we said, we like obsidian games, but that is as much in spite of what they does as anything. HA! Good Fun!

will poe have good combat? who can say? for us, poe is a put-up or shut-up development. is a LONG list o' excuses why obsidian/black isle failed to do X or couldn't do Y over the years. torn dies after considerable development time 'cause the engine black isle/interplay licensed didn't meet expectations? seriously? fo3 development got delayed over and over and over 'cause interplay needed immediate cash and iwd were seen as a quick fix. how many years? heart of winter? *shudder* endemic bugginess o' all black isle/obsidian titles were fault o' working on somebody else's engine, or not having enough time from publisher. kotor 2 were kinda a mess in parts (particularly at the end) 'cause Lucas rushed... or rather, obsidian didn't get it in writing that they were to get more time. etc. we like obsidian games, but from an outsider's pov, their efforts look a bit like the following is funny, and sad. the real mystery is that obsidian has been as successful as they is in spite o' them seeming to trip over their own feet at every possible opportunity. well, guess what? there ain't nobody to blame this time. poe is all on obsidian. if it turns out well, obsidian deserves all kinda credit. if it sucks... *shrug* HA! Good Fun!

dps, dots, aggro, cd, gcd, etc. is all terms that we first saw in reference to da:o, and all were foreign to us. developers and fans were using such shorthand with increasing frequency and eventually we were forced to self-educate so we could decipher such mumbo-jumbo. HA! Good Fun!

is having to do with the fundamental change in squad-based tactical combat in RPGs. xcom is not an rpg. stupid mmoRPG nomenclature has not permeated in a similar fashion. conversely, if you believe enoch, there is less motivation for an xcom developer to try an woo young mmorpg fans by using mmorpg staples. HA! Good Fun!

the problem with kotor 2 release were that somebody at obsidian forgot rule 1 in business negotiations: get it in writing. HA! Good Fun!

aside: we find "toon" to be silly... though kinda appropriate to upcoming wildstar game. personally, and while the term is not exclusive to mmo, we find the ubiquitous use o' "rape" to be the least appealing bit o' mmo shorthand. Gromnir does not spend much time with 20-somethings, so perhaps use o' "rape" by the current kewl generation is akin to excessive use o' "brilliant" in harry potter movies. hypothetical: college kids is watching a basketball game and somebody gets dunked 'pon. is the reflex reaction to yell that the dunkee got "raped"? we hope not. nevertheless, it seems that the absence o' the aforementioned offensive term would effectively stop innumerable mmo chat discussions and queries. ... all of which is not good fun.

swtor were our first genuine mmo experience, so perhaps we is looking at things different. when development o' da:o were progressing, we saw folks asking 'bout tank abilities and wondering which class would have the best dps. am admitting we found such discussions less than illuminating as we did not play mmos. had to learn new vocab. nevertheless, the nomenclature had a tendency to drive the discussion. inherent in a discussion o' tanks were the ability to taunt. the developers responded in the language o' the posters. rpg nomenclature were/is no longer pnp nomenclature. heck, look at josh discussions o' pillars o' eternity a bit further down on this messageboard. he is using mmo nomenclature, and as poe is 'posed to be a throwback to ie/bg/iwd roots, am doubting that the younger twitch crowd is for whom obsidian is trying to create appeal. and josh ain't a rare kinda abberation. listen to a group o' p&p gamers and They also use mmo nomenclature. it were an insidious thing-- the overthrow o' more sophisticated p&p tactics. as we is in a da thread, we believe that the tank/dps/heal distinctions were off-putting to many o' the younger fans you identify. rpg and tank/dps/heals were already the norm when da"o were being developed. action/twitch were the somewhat insulting label for the young crowd. da2, in particular, seemed like a much more focused attempt to appeal to the younger crowd... folks who liked action games wherein they could press up-down-y-y and get a sooper-dooper kill strike. in any event, more than making new games appeal to the folks familiar with mmos, and create broader appeal with mmo fans, we thinks developers realized that simplistic mmo mechanics were far easier to implement than other tactical improvements. and HA! Good Fun! ps read the pathfinder boards. paizo is trying to develop some kinda mp game, but pathfinder success were in part 'cause its rejection o' d&d 4th edition's slide towards mmo sensibilities. the thing is, you cannot read pathfinder board w/o knowing mmo nomenclature, is insidious and pervasive.

played wildstar over the weekend. we were too busy (or perhaps we is too old) to do a marathon session, but we were still able to get a character to level 17. an extreme brief list o' pros and cons follows. good -we likes the aesthetic. 3d duck dodgers... with star wars influences. also, the notion o' playing a psychotic pink bunny with dinner plate sized eyes who wields psychic powers... appeals to us. - had assumed that the targeting would be off-putting, but actual combat were kinda intuitive. more important, combat was fun. -we only scratched surface of the game, but there were an extreme variety o' environments and critters-- diversity were a plus bad -buggy. we had connection issues. freezes and weird ui nonsense that required us to /reloadui every 20 minutes or so. -crafting is... weird. sure, we were more focused on leveling, but crafting is not intuitive. - other than combat, much o' the game is non-intuitive. had no idea what/how were were 'posed to accomplish things via the ui and the in-game explanations were less than helpful at times. -there were a gold cost that were attached to doing group missions-- seemed excessive. -subscription. am not gonna pay for 2 mmo subscriptions at same time. is a matter of principle, not money. HA! Good Fun!

With 16+ toons, legacy storage is one of those things I've been pining for since... well, since I created my second toon I suppose Now if they could just get rid of unmoddable armour (lots of cool looking stuff gets sold to stim vendor because it's outdated pretty fast) and stuff that is bound on pickup (make stuff bound to legacy instead), I could save a gazillion credits by not having to use legacy armour/guns to ship stuff around between toons. we played wildstar over the weekend-- free beta. as fun as the game were (despite being buggy as louisiana swamp in august) am thinking that the thing that bothered us most were the lack of easily moddable gear such as swtor orange shells. is amazing that something that doesn't impact gameplay in any genuine fashion (pun intended) would be something that would disturb us. am recognizing that wildstar has some kinda "costume" feature, but it is far less user-friendly than swtor moddable shells. having to pay 3 gold to join a 5-man heroic were also kinda disturbing. took us 2 days o gameplay to get 8 gold total, and we needs to use 3 to do a mission that might end in complete failure? still, am seriously considering taking a closer look at wildstar. HA! Good Fun!

Agreed. I couldn't get over the idea that the big lunk in front of the party was essentially exercising a limited type of mind control over every enemy we faced, regardless of their intelligence and training, their leadership and discipline, or their ability to comprehend human speech. I couldn't help but imagine how much more interesting and fun the game would be if tactical positioning were a more realistically effective way to manage which party members faced the brunt of enemy attacks. Of course, such an approach would've forced everybody to play the game the way I played it-- zoomed all the way out in the overhead tactical view and pausing every 4 seconds on average. am suspecting that what ruined squad-based tactical combat, were something ridiculous simple-- nomenclature. d&d 3e, originally, didn't have to contend with mmo vocabulary, so when you looks at a game like toee, there ain't no specific tank abilities or some kinda distinction 'tween a barbarian as dps or a paladin as tank. you scout ahead with your sneaky character and see a giant mob o' bugbears in a room, so what does you do? plant your most heavily armoured guy in the doorway and then lob a fireball into the room? is one way to do it. and perhaps your barbarian would actual be the guy playing as your door. when bugbears try to get past your door to reach your spellcasters, you gots folks with reach weapons or ranged turning the goblinoids into kibble. is other tactics that would work... and if enemy has spell casters too, then you has need o' changing your tactics. all this were possible in a pre-mmo world. the thing is, once tank/dps/heal distinctions became the norm, developers were able to use abilities to substitute for crafting complex tactical scenarios to challenge players. is much more difficult to come up with complex geography or scenarios in a game than it is to tweak ai a bit and add waves of mobs to challenge a party. mmo nomenclature made design easier for developers 'cause it added a layer o' tactical complexity, but it did so in a way that was much more simple to add into games than were considerations that, particularly w/o a meaningful z-axis, were technically demanding. am thinking that if mmo nomenclature hadn't become popular, developers wouldn't have been so quick to use it as a crutch. mighta happened anyway, but am doubting the change woulda been so stark and ugly. HA! Good Fun!

Spoiler much? new bsg were 2004. you figure on waiting another decade before watching? rosebud were brand name of Kane's sled. apollo creed beats rocky at the end of the movie. jr weren't actually shot-- it were all a dream sequence. the chick who kinda looked like a guy in the crying game were actually a guy. we would spoil christmas/easter/tooth-fairy for you, but sometimes you give impression of being 'round 8 years old, so we will forebear and lets you continue to enjoy your childlike ignorance. HA! Good Fun!

am not complete disagreeing, but we will observe that saying "Dragon Age" in the above statement is a bit misleading. we would suggest that the tactical sophistication of bg was actual a bit inferior to da:o. we is talking 'bout a crpg version of d&d 1e/2e that only went from level 1 to 7-10. from a tactics pov, a fighter had very limited options in bg: ranged or melee. flanking didn't give you special bonuses. there were no advantages to superior elevation or cover, so once a fight started, the fighter types had few options 'tween choosing ranged or melee... 'cause choosing weapon proficiences were actual a strategic concern. mages and clerics had a limited catalog o' spells, and the option of mass summons coupled with grease/entangle and firebals or arrows o' detonation made strategic concerns almost completely academic as there were a guaranteed win-every-battle strategy in bg. again, comparing first game to first game seems fair. now that we has removed the rose-colored glasses regarding bg tactical sophistication, we will observe that compare da2 to bg2 is a whole different scenario. da2 greatly increased the "action/combat" focus o' the da series. whereas bg2, perhaps because o' the inclusion o' more diverse and powerful enemies, necessitated greater tactical sophistication than bg. fight spellcasters, dragons, illithid, drow, undead and fiends were requiring much more diverse tactics than previous ie offerings. conversely, the leap in tactical sophistication 'tween da:o and da2 were not near as great as the evolution' o' the ie offerings. furthermore, it is da2 that genuine felt more like a actiony game... not da:o. bg improved 'pon the tactical sophistication o' bg by an enormous degree. da2 chose to improve combat not by increasing tactical sophistication to a significant degree, but by making combats more actiony. da2 design goal were not nearly as focused in improving tactical sophistication as were bg2. honestly, it seemed to us that many o' the da2 combat "improvements" were the result o' a n endemic half-assery that should embarrass biowarians and ea. the extravagance o' bg2 were replaced with a sad frugality. bg2 improved bg but did not make wholesale or fundamental changes. da2 improved da:o by reducing tactical sophistication, adding the ninja pounce option for enemies, and recycling an excessive number of maps. da2 were not near as bad a game as some might suggest, but for those expecting da2 to improve da the same way bg2 improved the bg series, peoples were bound to be disappointed. da:o were popular. makes one wonder why the biowarians/ea decided that changing the da formula were a better route than simply improving what worked in da:o. HA! Good Fun! ps Gromnir is currently using excessive painkillers, so if our post above were insensible doggerel, we apologize in advance,

nwn2 is an obsidian game, not bioware, so that comparison is questionable as well. HA! Good Fun!

compare da:o to bg2 is a bit unfair, no? bg2 has benefit of bestiary from bg, totsc, iwd and the stuff added, finally, with bg2. heck, iwd were a black isle game, so bio got benefit o' a second developer's art. da:o, on the other hand, were game 1 in a new series. lord knows we got no idea what is relative effort to create 2d o' bg vs. 3d o' o' da:o, so am not certain how to balance that issue in favor o' bg or da:o, but at least we is limiting to a single offering from a single developer. now, you may return to the seeming pointless p3*** measuring. HA! Good Fun!

agreed, we highly recommend that wals should go unto the peoples with chronic diseases and lay-on hands. am suspecting that before he gets three confirmed miracles he will either contract something horrific himself, or he will get beaten to a pulp by peoples who don't much like the idea o' being fondled by a grubby englishman with pretensions o' glorification. either way, we thinks that the experiment would be an entertaining learning experience. HA! Good Fun!

the notion that there is canon for any sci-fi or fantasy world/universe is inherently wacked. is all made imaginary to begin with and all it has ever taken to complete invalidate fantastic canon is for the license holder to allow for change. heck, even if you obstinately cling to notions o' canon, all that is required for complete upheavel is one jackarse writer to manage to gets time travel worked into a script or story and your beloved canon's foundations is reduced to sand-- anything can be changed with time travel. ... am thinking of the new battlestar galactica tv series. recall the silly "all along the watchtower" music and sudden having new cylons revealed... and some wackiness with tigh's wife being the Big Brain behind the cylon plan? is not as if that were planned from the start o' the series. the "and they have a plan" was a mystery to the writers as much as to viewers. the show's creators were asked 'bout their big reveal and they were surprisingly honest that it just kinda happened organic. they kinda hit a wall with story and didn't know how to advance it. gotta bunch o' sci-fi geeks sitting in a meeting wondering, " so now, where do we go?" somebody suggests something crazy/insane and in a moment o' poor judgement (or perhaps because nobody has anything better) you gets new canon. argue over canon is making sense if you thinks you is arguing over the literal Word of God. sure, if you is an atheist, such arguments may strike you as utterly ridiculous, but at least is understandable why peoples would want canon for religious dogma. canon for star wars? *shrug* is like arguing over scooby doo canon. has fans debate how mr. carswell could be the ultimate villain in more than one episode. is... nuts. HA! Good Fun!

well, that is... horrible? that were his "analogy"? am wondering if he actually cooks. not that it matters, but first of all, cooking and baking is different. ever see a baker periodically tasting batter to make sure it is right? 'course not. baking, when done correct, is chemistry. learn to measure, mix and apply heat. and the thing is, if you show us a picture o' a german choclate cake, Gromnir can make you one without too much difficulty. red velvet? angel food? whatever. sure, might not be exact what you want, but chances are it is gonna be a whole lot closer to what you meant by "cake" than if you leave up to our imagination. you are allergic to strawberries? oops, we made a strawberry shortcake. our sister loved pineapple upside-down cake. pineapple upside-down cake? made the mistake o' making a chocolate truffle cake with alternating layers o' dark chocolate and white chocolate ganache for her birthday one year. when she saw the thing you woulda' thought we had run over her dog or somesuch. a picture o' a cake is a damn sight better guide than is imagination. ... now, if you tell us that we should make a moist yellow cake with bittersweet chocolate frosting (d&d p&p rules,) but you tell us we is making for a strict vegan who is highly intolerant o' gluten and is diabetic.... and we only have access to a microwave oven, that would be a bit like trying do d&d p&p in a crpg. Gromnir could gets something that might eventually look a bit like a yellow cake with chocolate frosting, but it would taste like... well, it wouldn't taste very good. tell us to make something delicious for the aforementioned person using a microwave oven and we coulds indeed come up with a meal plan, but yellow cake with chocolate frosting would not be on the menu. 'course we would complain 'bout idiotic vegans and their nonsense pov, but that is beside the point. can't make a cake from a picture? *snort* HA! Good Fun!