Cantousent

Well, I can make it this Friday. Frankly, I'm interested to see what you guys do about that horse. The necromancy angle is a bit weird, but I don't care what you guys try to do. It'll be worth it to see how the hell you think you can manage to perform some serious necromancy. BTW: I just had an in-person game today. They're playing a more conventional campaign. Even that has some strange stuff in it. I have two groups of in person gamers and we can only get together once a month or so, if we're lucky. Anyhow, one group is like-aged guys. I mean, we had one of my school friends try it once, but a cute 21 year-old girl in with a bunch of 30 to 40 something guys makes for a weird experience, so it's been an all male beer fest since. The other group includes my wife, my sister, my aunt, and my mom. I definitely don't invite my school friends to that one. hahaha. Anyhow, my mom plays a bard and I make her sing when we play. It's comedy. She gets so angry about it she starts to threaten me after a while. Getting my mom to play a PnP game is one of the coolest things. It's funny as hell. My Lord, it's comedy. Another funny thing about it is how seriously she takes her character. My aunt is a Paladin and my mom, the oldest of her siblings, just gives my aunt such a hard time. haha. Oh, it's great. Anyhow, I've spammed my own topic enough. It's just that I felt like sharing.

Okay, I've recently purchased a new rig. Altogether, I came way over budget, but not for the rig itself. I needed a new monitor and speakers since what I currently use is around six years old. I also wanted another copy of Office for my gaming rig. Call me stupid, and some of you will, but I like to have registered versions of my software for each machine. I don't do a lot of work on my gaming system, but I find that the times I simply cannot use it for work are frustrating. So, I've got a new rig with a new speakers and I'm thinking to myself, will the built in sound work? Should I get a separate sound card? I listen to music. A lot. I listen to more music than most folks watch television. Granted, I'm not a difficult consumer. I'll listen to music however I can get it, so I often listen to music on my laptop while I work. Sure, the speakers sound like something I've attached to a tin can at the end of a long string, but I can hear the music. Okay, that's music. I'd like more, but it's not a huge deal. My hearing isn't the best anyhow, so it's not like I'm particular. However, that brings me to the next point. My hearing isn't all that great. If I can hum to a song, I can get by without hearing every detail. I'll probably remember all the details anyhow. ... BUT, games are different. For some games, it's important to hear all those details. Finally, what about performance? I mean, if the performance is the same, no biggie. Unfortunately, and this is the reason sound cards have suddenly become an issue for me, I've recently seen some info that leads me to believe that sound cards can have a significant impact on performance in games. Okay, that's the background novel. What do you brainiacs think? My new motherboard has a Realtek ALC850.

1-03 Beethoven_ Symphony #1 In C, Op

I've had so many cards over the years, I won't even try to catalogue all of them. I've had rage, early geforces, and intel, but most recently I delved into the Radeon 9600, the Radeon 9800 pro, and I recently purchased the GeForce 7900GTX. I'm a big ATi fan, but I'll try the Nvidia until the DX10 cards hit the shelves. Then I'll decide between the two.

Folks agitating clearly have no power. It's true. There is never any reaction on the part of developers or publishers in response to what people say.

Okay, they didn't have an effect. I mean, I'm just going by the experiences of the board at Interplay. I suppose I just got it wrong.

They'll still change their position if enough folks agitate, Vol. Really. It's true. I remember the folks at Interplay trying to figure out how to deal with the Fallout fanatics. You might only be a pathetic board monkey, but enough of you pathetic board monkies make noise, you will make a difference.

Hey, that still gives us six years to do something stupid!

Yep, mus?, the big question.

No, Vol, the point isn't to give Obsidian a pass for doing it. If the DMC is a big issue for you, I suggest agitating. What I was trying to convey is that we cannot blame Obsidian for starting a practice that began before the company formed. The absence of the DMC isn't the first step towards the death of PC gaming. If it is a step, it's not the first step.

We could send a team up to attack the Ozone Hole menace. Hey, that would make a great CRPG. The real question is, what does this new bit of info say about global warming? I mean, the question isn't whether we have global warming or not. Global warming and cooling have been part of the natural planetary cycle since... well... the planet. The question is, did mankind create the warming this time around and are we responsible if the warming trend doesn't stop. If this info is true, then can we reverse global warming? Maybe we could terraform our own planet!

Did anyone mention patching? What game showed that publishers could wait to fix problems as long as they came out with a patch later? That's a worthy feature. Also, expansion packs. Which game feature an expansion pack rather than a sequel.

That's a phenomenon that will clearly work in favor of NWN2 as well. However, I agree with you completely. I didn't like Civ 3 as much. I refused to buy the expansion packs because of the whole MP debacle. What it shows, however, is that this idea of falling short on one goal and releasing it later isn't new or isolated. If the industry is habituating the consumer to accept an "unfinished" product, then we can't really blame NWN2 or Obsidian. This sort of thing has been in practice before.

How's this one? Avellone: if games get an increasingly large slice of the entertainment industry, then the folks who create these games must expect a greater social profile. While that is not yet the case, what impact do you think larger budgets and a more diverse following will have on future developers? Do you see yourself becoming something like the writers, directors, and producers of today's films? ...Or do you see your current status as a computer geek head and shoulders above other geeks as part of your unchanging role. ...Or do you even see yourself as a dying breed of designers who's rarified skills cater to the narrower tatstes of the elite CRPGer? Is it possible to give new life to CRPGs without leaving the old skool RPGer behind in the past?

What is FRAPS and how do I use it?

I can't take a screenshot in Obvlivion with Prtsc unless I turn off Bloom and AA.

How do we take Screenshots in Oblivion without disabling bloom and anti-aliasing?

Too Romantic -- Tommy Dorsey

It's hard for me to get worked up about the DMC. Frankly, if the resources that could have put the DMC into the original package went into the packaged campaign, I'm happy. Frankly, I didn't bring up the Civilization 3 experience lightly. The fact is, Civ 3 shipped as an incomplete product. Up to the bitter end, they were hyping the multiplayer component which didn't ship with the game and came as part of an expansion pack. Some folks paid for that expansion pack. I didn't. I was rather unhappy. The point is, regardless of my reaction, Civ 3 went on to get multiple accolades and led to at least two successful expansion packs. Just because NWN2 will, apparently, ship without the DMC doesn't mean the game is worthy only of the middle layer of the bargain bin. There's more to it than that. However, whatever else, it does show poor planning.

Somethin' Stupid -- Nancy and Frank Sinatra

I am a Courtier Grave and Serious -- Gilbert and Sullivan

I'm wondering if I'll be able to play this on 1600x1200 on my new rig. The new monitor has a recommended resolution of 1600x1200 at 76Mhz. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to trying it again and I'll take some screenshots when I do. I might do the dark-brotherhood quest-line. If I do, it will be with the intention of infiltrating the organization in order to visit divine justice upon the members. In the meantime, Sawyer, take your evil loving backside and visit the archmage Deirdre. She'll put you right. In the ground. Rotten, evil bastards. EDIT: by the way, how do we take screenshots without turning off the bloom and anti-aliasing. I don't think the Prtsc does justice to my characters.

That's what folks say about desktops, isn't it?

Well, sure. I can imagine you and Child in a tag-team. ...But who's going to DM?

When I've assembled my new rig, I plan on playing Oblivion again, just because I can!