Gromnir

"Fact is; we DO NOT know how devs will react when producers are gone." we don

some joker adds a noisy swamp fan to a case and people get excited? *shrug* HA! Good Fun!

is no way on God's green earth we is gonna pay $300 bucks for a case with a non-modular power supply that is less than 500w to boot. and don't even get us started on those star wars cases that looks like some half-arsed air-brushed van mural circa 1978. http://www.dinoscustomart.com/ dino can probably do your case better than alienware. HA! Good Fun!

... some of you folks gotta remember to close the door on the microwave when you is cooking stuff. apparently those stray rays can hard boil your brains. whether you intends to continue buying games from mall stores or experiment with download we cannot comprehend how any normal person would see the direct download movement as anything but a boon to gamers. lacks of needing a publisher and publisher capital is meaning that there will be more developers capable of producing more games. and don

was unaware that the d&d movie were based on a computer game. oh, it wasn't? well then, we guess that any movie 'bout a game has to suck... like "the cincinatti kid" or "searching for bobbie fisher." ever see the original "the logest yard"? is 'bouts a football game. "friday night lights" may be one of Gromnir's favorite sports films... we highly reccomend. but you meants a rpg setting translated to movies, right? as D&D is the only example... oh, wait, it ain't. "underwold" is a blatant rip-off of that vampire rpg, right? did pretty well at the box office even if Gromnir weren't a fan. that ain't what you mean? *shrug* as already noted, the best source material in the word has failed to save many a movie. dr. seuss couldn't save "the cat in the hat." hg wells couldn't save val kilmer and marlon brando's terrible "island of dr. moreau." the first dune movie? crap. how many bad frankenstien movies has there been? how many bad attempts at romeo and juliet or some other shakespeare play? ever read "the postman" before costner got ahold of it? "bright light, big city" were one of the many really terrible michael j. fox movies... but the book were actually quite good. "lolita" has been tried. the james mason version ain't completely bad, and peter sellers gets a short bit in it. there has been more than a couple of bad attempts at doing "alice in wonderland." how 'bout the hatchet job of "the scarlet letter" with oldman and demi moore? seize the day, a movie based on a saul bellow novel and staring robin williams is one of the worst movies we ever saw. great gatsby = synonymous with a bust in hollywood. lord jim, the sheltering sky, ironweed, portnoy's complaint, the sound and the fury, the age of innocence, main street, and too many other arguably good to great novels has been turned into hideous movies. the reverse is true. "dances with wolves" were actually an okie dokie movie... but the book were terrible. anybody here actually read the story that "planet of the apes" were based 'pon? how 'bout ben hur? is possible that maybe eldar liked that book, but has anybody else here other than Gromnir actually read it? don't waste your time. the "godfather" is based on some "novels." whoever thought that "stalag 17," a crappy play, would makes a great movie is some kinda genius. Gromnir has never met a single person that has read the book that "bridge on the river kwai" is based on, have you? movies and books is different... so why not games? if somebody actually gots a good script, director and cast for a game movie it might have a shot, but usually they is rushed into and out of production. aside: before the first superman film almost nobody seemed to thinks it had a shot in hell at being succesful. the only reason hackman did the movie is 'cause the producers drove up to his house with a dump truck fiull of money. now not a single summer goes by w/o a super hero flick. HA! Good Fun!

obsidianites? hmmm... just not got the right feel. obsinaties... yeah, that is something we could see on a bowling shirt. HA! Good Fun!

from: http://www.lib.umich.edu/spec-coll/faulkne.../hollywood.html "Faulkner spent long months and long years in Hollywood, making himself use his time and talent on work he believed was beneath him just so he could pay his bills. Usually the writing was what he considered "hack work." But in early 1943, film director Howard Hawks asked him for help in preparing a script for Hemingway's novel, To Have and Have Not. Hawks said that when Hemingway had refused his offer to work for him in Hollywood, he said "I'll take your worst book and make a movie out of it, and you'll make money on it." The novel Hawks selected was To Have and Have Not. Hemingway sold him the screen rights and Hawks went to work, using Warner Brothers for financing and facilities. "The first screenplay was written by veteran scriptwriter Jules Furthman whose credits included "Treasure Island" and "Mutiny on the Bounty." It was a 151-page screenplay that Warner Brothers was "urged" not to film because it featured smuggling and insurrection that reflected badly on Cuba and the Batista regime. Cuba and the U.S. were allies in the war effort and the U.S. was unwilling to do anything to endanger that relationship. Thus, Faulkner had a full shooting script from which to work, but which required an entire reshaping. "Faulkner suggested changing the location to Martinique and developing a political interest that would be the conflict between the Free French and the Vichy government. He also created the character "Slim," based on two separate women in the previous screenplay. Scholar Bruce F. Kawin says that Faulkner was little motivated to change Hemingway's material simply because it was Hemingway. He was more interested in the political aspects of the script, his anti-Vichy sentiments, and the characterization of the Resistance fighters, particularly the women. "When the film was released it was quite a success, becoming one of the thirty top-grossing pictures of 1944." film is different than novels or short stories or games. is not unusual for crap source material to make for good movie... and how many times has we seen great source material end in crap. HA! Good Fun!

"Still, I'm not sure why Gromnir had the impression that Blizzard's CG artists were much better - did you see the WoW intro?" did not see wow movie. warcraft 3 and diablo 2 both had very impressive movie sequences given the date of their release. if blizzard has changed philosophy and no longer dumps big cash into little movies, then good for them. HA! Good Fun!

I have nothing against downloading games, my preference is to buy them in the store on a nice CD. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php?sh...71entry614471 *shrug* HA! Good Fun!

blizzard stuff works 'cause they dump so much money into the effort. you gets kewl factor after seeing blizzard stuff. obsidian and atari ain't willing to spend the time and effort on blizzard quality movies... so we gets a blizzard-lite intro... which kinda misses the whole point o' why the blizzard stuff is cool. if you ain't gonna try to dazzle us with hollywood movie quality animation, then don't bother... is money pi$$ed down the drain. is not like any of the cut scene movies is really gonna add to playing experience anyway... is simply an opportunity to makes people "ooh" and "ahh" at your effors... and with our ADD generation, those seconds of glitz is maybe all some folks will be able to recall from a game. to this day we still is thinking that iwd had our favorite cut scene movies and intro. sure, blizzard has done some visually impressive stuff, but 5 seconds of blizzard pyrotechnics not could compare favorable to winchester narration and very nice story books drawings we got in iwd. HA! Good Fun!

forgive us for being blunt, but we suspect that many of the folks 'gainst download games is simply the deadbeats that can't get no credit card necessary to be purchasing games on-line. ok, go back to your bickering. HA! Good Fun!

lord knows that Gromnir has been anxiously awaiting the dd age for games. small developers just don't have the resources to print and distribute copies of their games w/o the aid o' a publisher. give small developers a chance to cut publisher out of the equation? how could that be bad? yeah, there is gonna be lots more crap available, but we is also finally gonna see what happens when developers is able to take risks... and to makes games the way they thinks games should be made. *shrug* dd has the potential to change everything 'bout the gaming industry. that being said, does anybody know how long it takes to dl a modern game with a typical dsl connection? is probably quite a wait. am not sure how economical it is for Gromnir to go back to cable simply for dl of games

it has been noted in the past that almost half of the cost incurred by a publisher to gets a game developed and onto shelves is simply the cost of distribution... ship finished product from manufacturing site to retailer wharehouses represents a HUGE expense. something to consider. HA! Good Fun!

okie dokie, that were actually kinda amusing. HA! Good Fun!

based on info we got we can make no reasonable guess. however, for you folks that insist on doing so, we will note that josh told us that some of the areas from nwn2 had recently been cut from game so that obsidian could meet deadlines and maintain quality. so, as you makes your guestimates be sure to gives some value for how many hours you thinks obsidian were shooting for (X), and then be sure to subtract some 'mount from that value to reflect the diminished content we now gots available (Y). so if you were thinking that the developer were shooting for 40 hours (X=40,) then makes sure that you subtract some quantity from that (40-Y.) no game in our recollection ever gots additional gameplay when content had to be cut to meet a deadline. next step is to adjust for whether you thinks developer gameplay estimates is higher or lower than actual gameplay you will gets. some of us discover that developers is... optimistic with their time estimates. game developer says 25-30 and you get 10-15? maybe reverse is true and a developer says 40 hours and you typically get 50 from them. obsidian only has made one game, so such an adjustment is almost useless unless you widen the scope of your analysis a tad. maybe includes past bis titles? so, if you thinks that maybe obsidian were originally shooting for 30-40 hours of gameplay from nwn2 in addition to and on top of efforts to include mp and toolset aspects, then you gots a rational and logical method for coming up with an estimate that ain't based simply on how lengthy you hopes or wishes nwn2 will be. is still a complete guess, but we thinks that at least our approach is having the benefit of being a bit more dispassionate. so knocks yourselves out... HA! Good Fun!

The alternative would be non voluntary regulation. Which would be both stricter and take longer. Stunts like leaving things on a disk to be found dosnt do the non censorship side any favours. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No regulation. Use common sense when you think about purchasing a game, or parents should use common sense if they feel the game is too violent or sexual for their children. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> don't go and get reasonable. if a parent sees her child throw a brick through a window it is easier to blame tv or video games or sun spots than it is to takes responsibility. democratic government can also leads to the tyranny of the masses. Congressmen and Senators, whether you like it or not, is 'posed to represent their constituents, so is no reason to be surprised or offended when they do. in Gromnir's biz we often refer to certain Supreme Court Decisions as "cute cases." is a stupid label, but what it means is that occasionally the Courts seemingly ignore precedent in favor of protecting some special groups o' people. the amish, the mentally handicapped, children, etc. children, in particular, is a source of much fuzzy law... gotta protect kids from hearing swear words, so even if indecent speech is technically protected... *shrug* industry lawyers and ceos is real familiar with irresponsible parents who somehow manage to gets their Congressman to pass all kinds of wacky laws and those lawyers and ceos also know that when it comes to protecting kids the Court can be bit unpredictable... regardless of what past Courts has claimed were the meaning o' the Constitution. so, games industries and movie industries and record industries figures that it is far better to police themselves than it is to have Government setting the standards and policing. game industry efforts to police self is completely practical

your reasoning is disjointed and erratic and incomprehensible... random. sure, once you hit on a conclusion you will stick with it regardless of resistance, but the almost alien rationales we seen you use to backs up your position is disquieting. vis contradicts self every 10 seconds, but vol is simply

too bad you is getting an answer to the wrong question. looks at the two previews linked. one says 40 other says at least 30. these preview guys is getting these numbers from somewhere. if no estimate can be given, then why did fergie give 20, and why does obsidian keeps giving out estimates to reporters? was 20 the mistake? maybe 40 were... or 30. they get another preview that say 10 and future one that says 50 and obsidian will be able to comes back after game release and simply say, see, we were right. pretty much gotta be with a range like that. lead designer tells us that some areas of game had to be cut... but gameplay hours has seemingly doubled. go figure. and again, if no gameplay hours is possible to estimate, then why is the damned developers continuing to give out estimates to reporters? maybe we hear from josh that nobody at obsidian gave out the new estimates... which means that either the reporters is liars, or they got their numbers from atari... in which case the only estimate we still got from obsidian is the fergie estimate. HA! Good Fun!

if fergie says he doesn't really know how many hours nwn2 gots and he pulled "20" out of thin air then he looks silly, but issue dies... for now. fergie could also claim that the guy at codex is a liar, and that he never said no 20 hours... but if it turns out that the codexian weren't full o' crap... is a number of options for fergie. come clean and admit that he were talking out his arse when he gave estimate might be a bruise to his ego for a second, but we would respect him more than we does now. oh, and for the record, being the suspicious kinda fella we is, we does note that shortly after we seen a good 'mount of feedback here and at bio suggesting that 40 hour would be much preferred for nwn2 as 'posed to 20, we now suddenly sees a preview from gamespy that says 40... or maybe you thinks gamespy reporter pulled 40 number out of thin air too? HA! Good Fun!

btw, is not like Gromnir needs fergie to tell us how many playable hours nwn2 gots. josh told us that fergie were talking out his arse when he came up with 20 hours... noted that fergie not had 'nuff info to makes a reliable guestimate... pointed out that nobody at this point gots power to make a reliable estimate. fine. we accept that. problem is that we still not know why fergie made his 20 hour estimate... or if he even did... and he ain't trying to clarify at all. fact is that we gots a german magazine article we cannot read... and we gots a german guy telling us what fergie said in that german magazine article. 20 hours. 1) 2 weeks ago fergie says 20. disturbing # of people is ok with that, but many complain. 2) josh informs us all that fergie cannot have made an educated guess 'bout hours of gameplay and many of you is mollified 'cause that mean that maybe you gets more than 20 hours, right? 3) now you sees in some preview that the guestimate is 40 hours and more of you is happy 'cause 40 hours sure sounds better than 20... but you seems to forget that josh were just telling you how improbable a current guestimate of playable hours at this point is. 4) Gromnir begins to thinks that many of you people is on drugs. 5 minutes of time for somebody to clarify. oh, and vol, leave the job of trying to get eldar or Gromnir brought up on harassment charges to the da... 'cause you not know what in the hell you is talking 'bout... as is par for course. heck you admit that you is full of crap often nuff... maybe you tell fergie that doing so ain't so hard, then maybe we gets a response. HA! Good Fun!

and yet you is telling Gromnir and eldar and others that we should just accept silence as our answer. bah. am not gonna act as if you is reasonable... is wasted effort. HA! Good Fun!

"If Mr. U wants to give you answers he will. Asking questions over, and over can go from being an intelligent potential consumer to harassing." anybody recall krazy? his dual-wield nonsense drove most of us a little nuts... but Gromnir were right there with him up to and until he actually GOT an asnwer. krazy only went too far when he refused to accept the answer he got... but we applaud him for pushing for a response. HA! Good Fun!

if Gromnir is over-reacting it is 'cause we sees a void left by the folks we thinks should be reacting. am frankly disgusted that so many who we know does care 'bout this is just so damned complacent 'bout it. is why we keeps getting shorter games and buggier games: 'cause we lets the publishers and developers get away with it. one thing that guts under our skin is when folks simply accept what they has been told or what they has been given. sure, when nwn2 comes out and it is short or buggy lots of you will complain, but it will be too late... 'cause you will have already bought game and proved to obsidian and atari that your post purchase complaints is just so much noisome wind... leave nothing but stench behind. now is when you got a chance to get some meaningful answers that could leads you to making an informed choice. don't simply wait til game is released to complain... 'cause you lost any real power at that point. HA! Good Fun!