Gromnir

"Specifically, Moore told the Reporter he had toyed with the idea of a Galactica role-playing game "with Internet participation." " we expect that it would work more like star wars galaxies. didn't get to watch much of season 2, but ain't the humans on some sorta planet now, under cylon control? set the game on the planet and lets you choose human or cylon options. got potential for space fights and terrestrial fights... or you could choose more social interactions rather than simply fighting the rebels or being the rebels. regardless, "internet participation" in this day and age says mmorpg to Gromnir. HA! Good Fun!

but oblivion is a fantasy crpg? you got a nice screenie of shrubbery. would such a thing interest a gamer unless he were playing one of those deer hunter games? HA! Good Fun!

"By the way, which game does this screenshot remind you of?" one of them deer hunter games? HA! Good Fun!

this obtuseness is... perplexing. did bio benefit from some luck in making bg? sure, why not. but that ain't what you has been claiming. is a far different thing to attribute all bio success to ip and luck and hype than it is to note that bio benefited from some luck along the way. *shrug* is too much sp for even Gromnir to handle at this point. HA! Good Fun!

... am wondering if you is doing on purpose. "If I was a publisher between the time of BG and KOTOR who would I go to to make an RPG ? Bioware. Why would I go to Bioware ? Because they made BG/II." yes, 'cause bioware showed selves to be more than competent at developing games. duh. they were the developers of BG1 and BG2 and the expansions for both games... all of which sold well. they also developed NWN and the expansions for that game... games which outsold the bgs. so yeah, we can see why a normal and rational publisher would be interested in bio. duh. somehow to distill all bio success down to happenstance is beyond ridiculous. "Actually I pointed out the other games up until JE all were based on well established properties." we thinks we has been down that road before. d&d has NOT been a particularly successful license for anybody save bioware. star wars ain't been quite the Kiss o' Death that d&d has been recently, but is close. you hardly made a point with that nonsense... so we is surprised you would bring up again. some folks don't know when they has dug themselves such a deep hole that they ain't never gonna get out... but still they dig. "Never said that. I said they got lucky with IP because of the AD&D property." well no, that ain't all you said... but we will not insult everybody by quoting you ad nauseum. in any event, you gots less mileage with the D&D crutch than with most of your other comments, so we don't know why you retreat to such a lousy argument. HA! Good Fun!

btw, am still confused as to why you insist that all bio accolades is the result of some sorta aura that were created by Interplay in the form of bg. lord knows Gromnir doesn't even believe that bg were that great a game... but to give all credit for bio success to interplay and luck is just insane. ... is no way you can honestly believe what you is saying... you is just arguing to see your words on screen at this point. HA! Good Fun!

At the time of BG they had no RPG experience and had no intention of making an RPG. Remember they wanted to make an RTS. So I stand by my they got a lucky break. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> what kinda reasoning is that? what was orson welles' first movie? citizen kane? did bio get help from fergie and company as they built bg? sure they did, but it were still the biowarians who developed... and regardless, you is still ignoring the fact that bio has made many other games following BG... games that has done very well for the most part. you has somehow convinced self that the only reason people buy bio games is 'cause they liked bg... and the only reason bg were any good is 'cause bio got lucky. nonsense. is like your conspiracy theories that require us to ignore any rational or plausible explanation in favor of the notion that bio has managed to hypnotize millions of people into buying their games, and that Interplay, a now defunct publisher of crpgs, were the real Mesmer, while bio were simply the front man. HA! btw, we has met maybe 2 authors of fiction in the past 20 years who wrotes books that turned out as they envisioned 'em when they were outlining. at some point the book developes its own voice, and the thing writes itself. the fact that bg didn't end up as the kanadians first envisioned it is more likely the rule rather than the exception. HA! Good Fun!

we compared bio to bis? sure we did. so, in spite of all the games both developers made (or failed to make,) you limit to iwd v. bg? come now. as to offering an alternative to your Hype + Luck nonsense? ... you is kidding, right? here is a thought: bio is a competent game developer. what a novel notion eh? the notion that bio managed to make games that people wished to buy is so strange that it not even occur to you? HA! the OBVIOUS explanation for why bio has been succesful over the many years is that they is good at what they do. duh. HA! Good Fun!

btw, Gromnir did attempt to point out that for a game that had been imagined out of existence by obsidian boardies, the bio developers were spending lots of time talking 'bout it. most obvious reason for lack o' news is the lack o' a publisher... 'cause otherwise we gotta prop up some grand conspiracy theory that involves Biowarians pretending to develop and discuss a game they got no intention of actually releasing. HA! Good Fun!

Both are parts of the answer. BIO got lucky with the BG thing. If you want to offer another explanation then feel free. How long did BIS have to work on IWD ? You cant compare BIS because BIS didnt have the same development times alloted to them. Certainly didnt have the same advertising budget either. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> where did we compare iwd to bg? you noted that bio got lucky when they hooked up with interplay, and Gromnir pointed out that bis WAS interplay. if the interplay connection were such a major factor, then why did the bis games do so poorly compared to the bio games. you still ain't answered that. really, you is just being silly now if all you got is luck and hype. HA! Good Fun!

Look how hyped games like BG/II were compared to IWD/II. Theres your answer. Dosnt really matter if NwN wasnt under interplay it was still with whoever had the rights to D&D. Biowares rep was built on such properties and that started with the lucky break of doing an AD&D game. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> luck AND hype. well, there's your answer then. *snort* you is bugnuts... honest. bio got lucky, but bis didn't. yup, that's the explanation. HA! Good Fun!

bethesda really shoulda' made enchanting weapons & items more intuitive... or they shoulda' done a better job of explaining in the game. HA! Good Fun!

No it's really very simple. Who else was there? The reason is easy. There was no one else around to it and Bioware owe their RPG rep to the lucky break they got with IP. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> who else was there? were all kinds of crpg developers back then. looks at all the mediocre games and complete failures that were made...games like revenant and darkstone and arcanum, to name just a few. bio got lucky and they only got sales 'cause of d&d... those were your reasons, right? HA! your insanity is unassailable when you continue to refuse to acknowledge that black isle didn't enjoy the same "luck" working with interplay that bio did. if bio got lucky to be working with the amazing Interplay publishing co., then black isle sales shoulda' been downright fantasmalicious, no? forget the fact that bio severed ties from IP and ignore reality that bio's biggest sellers came after leaving IP if you must ('cause you will,) but please, explain to us how bio could be so lucky to hook up with IP, and black isle, the development arm of Interplay, could be so preternaturally snake bit. well, at least you seems to have abandoned the notion that bio owes fame and fortune and continued sucess to wotc or lucas. were making d&d games, 'cause oddly 'nuff, nobody else has been able to reap any such benefits from d&d logo. so much for that theory. some of you people is nuts. the funny thing is, some clown over at codex were parroting sp... but he were trying that tired bird song to explain away fergie's early business success. fergie simply got lucky to land kotor2 and nwn2, and now that such luck has obviously run out (based on lord only knows what evidence,) obsidian is doomed, DOOMED! see, the argument goes that fergie wouldn't be nothing w/o bioware. gets both sequels 'cause somehow he happened to be first name lucas and atari could think of, or 'cause fergie hooked up the kanadian bio docs with $1000 hookers whenever they were in LA... or some other equally implausible reasoning. luck? blame on luck is so much bs. blame on luck is like blaming on magic fearies or sunspots or the illuminati... 'cause you not need no proof for such things. in fact, the absence of proof is all that makes such arguments plausible. bah. congrats on out codexian the codexers. HA! Good Fun!

*sigh* "How many non D&D tiltes have failed ? How interesting did Biowares original idea for the game (name I completely forget) sound ? " "Why was Bioware chosen for NwN ? Because of BG. Why were they chosen for KOTOR ? BG/BGII. "Jade Empire you can see as Biowares first attempt to escape from doing licenses. And as you yourself said it was hardly a spectacular success." by pointing out that both non-d&d games & d&d games fail you has acheived... what? you prove our point: regardless of the recognizable logo on the box, games sometimes fail. now name the d&d pc crpg sales success made in the last 8 years that were NOT bioware titles. iwd? yeah, that is real strong evidence that the d&d logo makes for big sales. 1 title NOT bioware's that were making money. on consoles bg: dark alliance dropped in price real fast... am not sure how much of a winner that were. in either case, using sp logic, the only reason that either of those titles made any money is 'cause of bioware's work on bg... so bio gets credit for those 2, right? as to why bio were chosen for kotor and nwn, that is a more complicated issue than you would makes it appear to be. btw, nwn outsold bg1 and bg2. from a sales standpoint, and possibly from publisher perspective, nwn were the big winner from bio. sp is one of those insane bio haters... has dogma 'stead of reason. HA! Good Fun!

I am ? Whether or not Bioware jumped ship dosnt change that they had a very lucky break. Interplay had D&D at the time so I'd definately call that lucky.Biowares name was made with those two titles. MDK isnt really well known. Read the bits I've bolded. What that says to me is the big sales have been of known properties. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> you is being silly as vol, but opposite. how many d&d titles has failed? more than has made money... in fact, before bg1 the franchise were often described as "dead" as far as crpgs were concerned... and the pnp game weren't far behind. bg1 resurrected d&d, not the other way 'round how many star wars games has failed? more than has made money... etc. and again, you misses the point. if bio success were simply luck in being tied to IP, then why did bis and IP end up in the tank? bio is still 'round. bio is making games. bis, which were the development arm of the publisher bio were so damned lucky to be involved with, died... and their games didn't sell near as well even when they were still around. HA! Good Fun!

we keep within 10 years. anachronox were better and diablo 2 were better at being the kinda game oblivion tries to be. other than bg1, iwd2 and how, we prefer every crpg made by bis and bioware to oblivion.... which is quite a list in and of itself. add in fallout as it were pre-bis. we took the dare and named far more than 1. HA! Good Fun!

Sometimes they fall for thier own hype. There are two factors when it comes to Bioware though. 1. They got very luck with Interplay and BG1/2. 2. They have had the CRPG field more or less to themselves for quite a number of years. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> you ignore reality. bis didn't have as much luck with interplay as did bio? HA! and there weren't a flood of crpgs following diablo, the game that resurrected the genre? most of 'em is so bad that you don't recall maybe. and let us not forget that bio released far more than bg1 + bg2, and sales for almost all has been very good... excepting mdk2 and je. the bio fanboi thing is as incomprehensible to us as is the people who insist on ignoring what bio has accomplished. you both gots your dogma. HA! Good Fun!

"So let me help you with the thinking part. It means that it looks like Bioware is wasting a lot more resources on marketing/developing their next console action RPG than on their next PC title. " and you arrive at such a conclusion 'cause the me site has more stuff on it, right? *snort* again, as we noted only a post ago, the da undertaking is Huge in scope, and they not even has settled on a publisher. they not necessarily have neither 'nuff material to be worth revealing, and they very likely got reasons to not wanting to step on toes of the eventual publisher... a publisher who typically handles the release o' such info. is all kinds of likely reasons for not making more info readily available, but somehow a handful of smart guys reach the most dubious of conclusions. the way some folks arrive at conclusions w/o any kinda support save for their gut boggles the mind. *shrug* you can't fight the conspiracy theorists. HA! Good Fun!

am not sure what that proves. spend 20 minutes reading the da boards and you can see that the developers is working on the title... and actually responding to fan questions. the fact that the da site is offering ups a paucity o' info means what to you? means that bio ain't working on da? heck, bg3 never had a site, so we guess josh should quit bitching 'bout that title getting killed 'cause it never really existed and nobody were really working on it anyways, yes? that being said, Gromnir does wonder if bio is trying to become the sisyphus of the game development world. nwn were not the failure some suggest, but it were not the game bio hoped it would be. even so, bio spent 5 years on a game that were incomplete in every aspect. the biowarians, post nwn, admitted that they tried to do too much in creating a compelling sp crpg & a toolset & dm client. too much... somewhere maj. general stanislaw sosabowski were turning in his grave. so what is they doing for da? the same damn thing. 'stead of trying to makes a really good sp game or mp platform, they is again trying to do both... but this time they is gonna improve sp campaign by making it shorter. ... we like the biowarians well enough, but sometimes we wonder if they is completely oblivious... kinda likes how they insist that je were a wonderful selling game and the start of a grand new franchise. HA! Good Fun!

am not sure we needed 'nother oblivion thread... not for this. in any event, we is not a huge fan of oblivion, and we see some major flaws in it, but it were not a badly made game... not for what it were 'posed to be. it were kinda a diablo 2 + sidequests... and given the popularity of diablo 2 we not see that as a bad thing. also, right now there is 0 single player crpgs available other than oblivion, so bethesda gots that going for 'em too. is not a terrible game for what it trys to be... but even so, it has 'nuff Big flaws that we has a hard time understanding the typical reviews we seen from most notable sites. is too many reviews that is claiming that oblivion is perfect or near perfect. worst game evar? not even close... though reading codex might make you think so. best game in 10 years? again, not even close... though reading the reviews might give you that impression. is an okie dokie action-rpg at a time when nothing else is on the menu, and for those famished fans who is seemingly hungry 'nuff to thinks that those cheeseburgers with the grey meat and stale bun served in your average public school cafeteria is gourmet fare, oblivion is a satisfying morsel. it is what it is. HA! Good Fun!

"This is not balance, this is creating a pointless game mechanic." well actually, in point o' fact, the point of the mechanic is to keep the game challenging regardless of level... so yeah, the mechanic does have a point, and it is balance. however, we recognize a problem or two... 1) the balance is such a blunt and inelegant tool that it leads to often ridiculous results that put too much strain on the credulity of many players. 2) it doesn't work. the first problem ain't an issue for Gromnir, but it coulda' been easily avoided by bethesda even so. scale encounters has one key use: to keep game challenging throughout the lifespan of game. the tool they use to achieve their end is to scale EVERY encounter. fight in the arena at level 1? fine, is a level 1 encounter. fight a highwayman who wants 100gp from you when you is level 20 and the brigand is likely to be wearing a king's ransom in glass armour. these kinda results bother some folks. so, how you avoid? add a basement and/or a ceiling on various encounter types. maybe the random brigand encounter never becomes tougher than an encounter scaled for level 10... but it can scale down to level 1. the arena, on the other hand, might start scale at minimum level 10... and go up from there so that a level 20 character would still feel appropriately challenged, but that a level 5 character would probably have to cheat to make it through the arena. implementation of such a simple measure would, for most people, solve the big issues they gots with scale... while some peoples would still complain that they were not feeling appropriately invulnerable at late stages of game, and were unable t find disproportionately powerful equipment at low levels

after playing 20 minutes with an archer/mage, we realized that w/o sneak such a character would pretty much be a waste. start over. HA! Good Fun!

christ had the good fortune and foresight to be killed thousands of years ago... so that the Truth 'bout his life will never be a matter of certainty. all religions require the Mystery aspect, and too much reality can spoil that for people. am not gonna resurrect the scientology thread, but we thinks that one reason why a guy like l. ron hubbard could never really get his religion to be mainstream is that too many people have access to too much info about him and his church. there is court documents and school transcripts and military records and all sorts of other bits o' info that most of us consider to be beyond reproach that suggest that l. ron hubbard were possessed of more than his share of petty human frailties and shortcomings. is much harder to deify somebody today than it is to deify somebody who lived long before 60 minutes and the washing post. regardless, is the idea we has faith in far more than it is the men. is gonna take far more than a single really old manuscript to change the idea of christianity. now maybe if christ had been a teenage girl we could possibly find his diary

am not sure we ever saw a +5. maybe we gots a +4 once... or twice, but usually it were +2 and +3. typically we used conjure, alteration, restoration and destruction... though we had a hard time getting destruction to level up at anywhere near the rate o' the others. blade and light armour did not advance at quite the rate of our other skills 'cause we typically were running away and our endurance and health stank so we could't afford to engage in combat to improve those skills and their linked attributes... 'cause we would be dead if we tried to do so. wasted some few points on personality 'fore we realized how useless it were... and how using speechcraft were actually hurting us. am not quite sure how the level-up process worked, so we couldn't really meta if we wished to. seemed likes we gots more quick leveling for using weaker destruction spells many times than we did for using powerful destrucion spells to kill enemies quick. on the other hand, we seemed to gets conjuration to level more quickly by conjuring as powerful a critter as possible. summon one of those bipedal crocodiles once were getting us more juice than summoning skeletons over and over. the whole process were... odd. HA! Good Fun!

is a poof detection device. you cannot imagine just how many people before you has tried to do the mockery through mimicry thing. congrats. so, why not share with us your list o' interesting characters from oblivion. is a huge game so there should no doubt have been a few opportunities for some characters worthy of noting... characters that gives you your apparent hope for da future. as we said, we didn't finish, so perhaps we missed the good stuff that they no doubt saved for the last 2/3 of game. we can points to characters from all kinds of crpgs that we has not played in many years as being examples of intriguing characters, but the game we only were playing last week we cannot recollect a single beastie or personage we would hold up as the kinda character we would like to see more of in a future game... which is very odd for a crpg, 'cause story being advanced through character development is kinda a traditional approach for such games. heck, even crpgs we don't like almost always gets one or two characters right. llyranor mentions nwn as an example of a game where the story underwhelmed, but we can names bunches o' characters from that game that were good in spite terrible Revenge of the Evil Mutant Lizards thing they had going on in that game. we won't ridicule your choices... honest. but if you thought patrick stewart or the grave robber or mythic dawn acolyte #305 were an interesting character then we can simply recognize and accept that your notions of "interesting" is a little different from Gromnir's. no harm done. HA! Good Fun!