Gromnir

very rarely we will play some archetype... but usually in an over-the-top manner. generally, we plays characters who is... odd. seems like a waste o' our effort to play a familiar character... so we takes rp opportunity to do different things. is no specific typical character type for Gromnir... though we almost never play a d&d druid... 'less there is one of those birkenstock wearing, patchouli stinking folks who likes to play elf or half-elf rangers in the group... play a wacky druid can really cheese those folks off. HA! Good Fun!

when off-topic portions of message boards require more mod scrutiny than any other portion of board, then they is no longer a benefit to obsidian. am recalling off-topic at black isle, and as much as some of you were sad to see those closed down, we do not doubt that the powers that be thought it were necessary. can off-topic be policed in less restrictive ways? sure... but that ain't the point... 'least not from obsidian perspective. when a very small and tangential aspect of these boards becomes a disproportionate drain on resources, then the obvious thing to do is kill'em. as of now, obsidian ain't killing the off-topic... but obsidian no doubt believes that they gotta do something to make off-topic less of a drain... so you all is being trained in a straightforward, albeit very crude manner. we not mind harsh moderation as long as it is applied in a fair and evenhanded manner... and heck, we not even mind if sections of board is shut down... as long as obsidian is honest in the way they do it. no explanation is better than bs. HA! Good Fun!

winning ain't really a goal, but thanks anyway, we seen it linked at the alfa board... wouldn't really use any of those, but we appreciate the thought. HA! Good Fun!

"Feeble, is it? Ironic, since I thought that term would better suite your thread. " that ain't really ironic... you and allanis morissette (sp?) should take a class

p.s. we not mind the feeble but well-intentioned attempts of posters to defend fergie. we told fergie that such would happen... and that by posting more often he and the other obsidians would get a more loyal and tractable fan base. keep it up. such responses will hopefully encourage even more frequent obsidian posts. "And he didn't close them after looking into it." a threat does not require that the threatening principal follow through with the threat. "I fail to see your point here. " yes, Gromnir can see that. "And the needless flames were beginning to overrun the board, not just a single percent." the flames were not needless to those posting... and the "DONKEY BALLS" posts that s'possedly inspired and required fergie's threats did not account for even a single %. we hate replying to each sentence, but you seem kinda all over the place. HA! Good Fun!

'course it was a threat. just 'cause somebody not say, "i am threatening you," does not change it from threat to simple observation. also, you should read fergie's threats more close. he specific noted that negativity not bother him... it were the way in which the negativity were being posted. "DONKEY BALLS" posts as he so colorfully described 'em. now, if we take as true and accept that negativity weren't really the issue... 'course we all knew that were not really the whole of it, eh? he threatened to close the boards 'cause of the "DONKEY BALLS" posts which accounted for some fraction of a single percentage of total posts on this board... bah. HA! Good Fun!

where we ever said that fergie not got a right to close the boards on a whim or for any cause he could imagine or concoct? Is obsidian boards and we fully recognize that they can do as they wish with

real story malak and revan got drunk after glassing some rim world... all that blood and carnage made the sith boys kinda rowdy. anywho, after both sith had imbibed maybe one too many, revan dared malak to shave with his lightsabre. malak took the dare... and lost his jaw. to save face (apologies for bad pun,) malak made up some ridiculous story 'bout having lost his jaw during a life n' death duel with a jedi master. the concocted story seemed far more plausible than did the truth and so most folks accepted it as genuine. however, from that point on, malak's relationship with revan were never the same... always suspected that revan weren't really all that drunk at the time he dared malak. this stuff is all made up. your story or Gromnir's ain

albert pinkham ryder's "the flying dutchman." it just kinda speaks to Gromnir. HA! Good Fun!

male: bob female: betty jedi bob seems to work for us. HA! Good Fun! p.s. the seemingly random use of apostrophes in sci-fi/fantasy names is a shibboleth o' the creatively impaired. quality o' character is inversely proportional to the number of apostrophes. thankfully the practice seems more common in fantasy than sci-fi.

d&d alignment notions is silly oversimplifications that do nothing good for games... not need alignment in d&d games, and such things clearly hinder non-d&d games. unfortunately, star wars, has the light v. dark thing woven into the fabric of its universe... and we doubt lucas would allow developers to just chuck his childish and oversimplified polarity in favor of something more... mature. as much as we dislike the light v. dark aspect of star wars, we recognize that all star wars games will have it. we accept it and simply hope that a developer will do the best they can with something we ain't a fan of... is kinda like when keanu reeves is in a movie. keanu reeves is, in our estimation, a really bad actor. nevertheless, just 'cause keanu reeves is in a movie it does not necessarily follow that we will hate the movie. just 'cause a developer gets stuck with star wars light v. dark it does not follow that the game is doomed or crippled... gotta work with what you got. HA! Good Fun!

Would you prefer to see the writers posting as Kreia calling everyone "fools and imbeciles?" <{POST_SNAPBACK}> as 'posed to what we get now? yeah... yeah, we would prefer that. josh could be... how shall we say... "prickly" mayhap? nevertheless, folks often read the bis/interplay boards just to get josh's feedback. "I think Mr. Urquhuart's reply was quite civil and honest." yup... his response in THIS thread seemed civil and honest... but for some folks to suggest that he should gets a UN negotiator job 'cause of his diplomacy is... laughable. threaten board closure 'cause of a fit of pique is sorta the equivalent of Gunboat Diplomacy. were hardly completely civil or honest. "I can see why most developers don't keep in such close touch with their communities if they get flamed for it so much. Neither insults nor adoration are real communication. " personally, we cannot see why developers would fail to keep in touch with fans. is just the hypersensitive folks that would be discouraged. given how expensive print ads is, wasting an opportunity/avenue like these boards, a resource with goodwill cultivated and paid for in large part by Black Isle and Interplay, would be the height of folly. *shrug* HA! Good Fun!

novels

reason kotor2 won awards? there were very few crpgs last year... and if folks think that kotor2 were buggy, then consider the competition. vampire:bloodlines? also, in spite of all the complaints, kotor2 was a very good game... new coke v. classic. did not realize that magazine ads had tripled in cost over the last few years... but we did know that they were expensive. is a reason why these boards is a very nice alternative (though hardly a replacement,) for magazine ads. as to fergie's diplomacy... we find that observation to be somewhat ironic given his recent threats of board closure... but we does admit that fergie is one of obsidian's few recognizable voices that actually gots some personality when he posts... which is kinda odd considering the number of writers obsidian gots. HA! Good Fun!

No, but the Force does seem to cause an awful lot of treason and betrayal. In the real world we don't have U.S. Army officers signing up with al-Qaeda, but the equivalent happens all the time with Jedi knights. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> the big difference, from kreia's point of view, is choice... free will. force users = force slaves. the force seeks balance.... and it bends and breaks people to achieve that end. how many aspiring tyrants has risen or fallen simply 'cause of the force's demand for some sorta metaphysical equilibrium? kreia, understandably did not enjoy being a pawn... a slave. HA! Good Fun!

again, not relevant as to the question of whether or not kreia is evil. HA! Good Fun!

"Whether Kreia was good or bad really wasn

OK, I'm being a little facetious. But doesn't she have a point? Wouldn't the ordinary people of the galaxy be better off without all these Force users running around? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> could get the same result with nihilus... gobble up all the force users. kreia was looking at big picture... she hated the force itself. the force as a quasi-sentient entity that controlled and altered events and people to achieve the suspect goal of balance. we agree that the galaxy would be better w/o the force, but kreia's motives seemed more... personal? she blamed her own downfall on the force, and she wanted payback... no matter the cost. HA! Good Fun!

as to the original query 'bout why bio did not do... announced reason: bio didn't choose to do a kotor2 'cause they did not wish to work on licensed products anymore. we suspect that bio also saw what many of us fans noticed... that a kotor2 sequel would be problematic on multiple levels. much of kotor success were based on nostalgia, helped along by backlash following episode 1 and 2. folks liked the original sw flicks and they were disappointed with the new movies... so bioware cooked up stories and characters and plot points that were lifted directly from the original flicks. with the aid of lucas, bio were able to make the game look and sound kewl. little emphasis was placed on making combat challenging and the rules simply existed to make powerful jedi characters w/o real concern for balance n' such. again, the goal seemed to be kewlness. those who would choose to make a sequel to kotor would not have the advantages o' nostalgia in the same way bio did with kotor... that pony only does one trick, but if they chose to use the same engine the developer in question would be stuck with all the obvious disadvantages that came with it. no doubt bio saw what Gromnir did

josh were sick and tired of crpgs... is not like he got stuck working at midway. were a pretty good gig for a guy who were a junior developer on one successful game, lead on two games that tanked, and were part of a team that cancelled 3 other games. regardless, the point is that josh was widely recognized in the gamer community... and that recognition was more a matter of his visibility on boards than due to his r

"Interaction with fans is'nt part of their job description." true enough... but if there ain't no interaction then there ain't no point in having boards. "your developers is not rock stars or sports idols, but they is the next best thing in these message board circles." we distinctly recall using the word "not." not rock stars. not sports idols. regardless, the developers manages to attract fans on these boards simply by being seen. recall when josh quit? we suddenly had a dozen news sites reporting on the "incident," and hundreds of posts popped up at bis and elsewhere asking if bis were now dead. dave m had quit a short time earlier and we never heard a peep 'bout it. ask self why there were different perception. *shrug* again, if you not have feedback, then there ain

perspective: Gromnir has, over the years, been the target of accusations from bis/obsidian developers and presidents n' such... accusations that looks real familiar when you look at phos' list. we has discovered just how meaningless those lists are. is a progression... almost always the same. firstest, the developer/organization will claim that they not mind criticism, even harsh criticism, as long as is thoughtful. 'course, when the thoughtful multi-page criticisms come rolling in, the organization is far from happy or satisfied. feedback need now be more than thoughtful... if you is gonna be critical w/o supplying practical solutions then you has supplied no constructive criticism at all. point out that you DID make suggestions of alternatives/solutions and the developer still complains that you is too antagonistic, etc... regardless, the average poster does not have degrees in computer science or english... chances are that they will have a very difficult time describing what was wrong with the kotor2 ending and the likelihood that they will come up with practical solutions to framerate problems seems even more doubtful. when a consumer feels that a product did not meet their expectations they wish to complain 'bout it... but chances are that they does not have the tools to give particularly insightful feedback... so they do the best they can... or the worst. they says, "the ending sucked." is they wrong for doing so? should those folks who not have mfa in english be precluded from posting on story issues? should folks w/o cs degrees be barred from discussing technical concerns. should folks who has not published their own rules system be prevented from complaining of balance issues? everybody wanna believe that they can accept criticism... even harsh criticism. very few can. have no more to say on this issue... 'less somebody from obsidian wanna respond. HA! Good Fun!

"Well, it's my impression that Feargus had wanted a more robust community, a place where people would talk about things with merit and substance, and not be filled with spam, flames, whining, griping, indignation and arrogant demands." nonsense. if every other post was simply along the lines of, "d00d! UR 50 kewl and your game r0x0rz," there would be no time spent considering the closure of the boards. that kinda spam is ok. however, when the comments is negative they is relegated to the status of, "spam, flames, whining, griping, indignation and arrogant demands." pardon our whining indignation, but Gromnir, as often as not, has been the target of complaints concerning many of those things listed 'bove, and we has seen just how fickle those handing out the labels can be. "YOU SUCK DONKEY BALLS," were the example fergie supplied as the kinda thing he found offensive. harsh criticism were ok as long as it have substance... or so he claimed. the donkey balls posts is, in point of fact, a relatively insignificant minority of total posts. however, it is true that virtually any negative post directed at obsidian can be described as being composed of, "whining, griping, indignation and arrogant demands." *shrug* as we has noted 'fore, as soon as these boards become more trouble than they is worth, they will be closed down. boards is cheap and effective advertising/marketing of obsidian product. if it not seem like the right message is being communicated 'bout obsidian products, then we can see why fergie would wanna put the kibosh on 'em. if it becomes significantly more expensive to maintain the boards, then they may no longer be so cost effective... benefits no longer outweigh costs. regardless, the ultimate problem arises from the fact that the spammers and flamers and complainers is NEGATIVE... but fergie surely ain't gonna say that the boards is being closed 'cause of surprising 'mounts of negative backlash following kotor2. where is diogenes when you need