Cantousent

You know, Kasaroth, I like reading your novels. I really do. You're one of the most articulate and eloquent members of the forum. ....But I just don't understand why it's meta-gaming to choose the skills that lend themselves to the survival of your character. In real life, you're faced with choices in order to succeed. Frankly, it's quite in-character to choose a different set of skills in order to further your long term goals. Maybe it's just angry Eldar speaking, but I can't understand the "in-character" argument at all. Now, the leveling system sucks, but that's a different story. The real problem I see, and I'm not convinced it's a problem, is that the game "punishes" some character types. It's really up to the design team to create a system where the player can't make decisions that result in a character that cannot survive to the end game. However, decisions that lead to dead ends are part of real life. So, arguably, all the decisions in Oblivion are quite realistic in that regard.

Okay, charging for the patch sounds ridiculous. I'm sure someone can come up with a reason why it makes sense, but it doesn't. We accept flawed releases with the understanding that the developers will do what they can to fix problems. Now, of course, we're habituating ourselves to accept shorter games with just as many bugs that carry an extra charage to patch after release. If the publishers and development houses don't take us seriously as a consumer base, it's because we don't even exhibit one shred of self-respect.

We act the part in hopes that someday we may live it. I have all sorts of failings as a human being, but maintaining my clean image is not one of them. However, maintaining a clean image requires owning up to the times you have failed. If I do something wrong, it is bad. If I do something wrong and then hide it, I'm twice shamed. Sometimes, because I'm a human being, I avoid talking about past faillings. I'm actually pretty open about these things most of the time, but it's not any better to broadcast our failings needlessly than it is to hide them. We should be willing to accept them and own them, but not necessarily bring them up for their own sake. Not only that, but I won't act in shame for something that is not shameful. For example, we live in a Seventh Day Adventist community. We don't drink a lot of alcohol at home, but when we do, my wife tries to keep the bottles on the counter until we can take them to the city recycling bin rather than put them in the bin we place in front of our house. I refuse to do that. I will not act ashamed for what I do in accordance with my rights and preferrences. Now, on the other hand, I don't feel the need to broadcast that from time to time I consume alcohol. I don't flaunt it in front of my neighbors. I don't introduce the subject just to be a jackass. There's a lot involved with trying to maintain a clean image. If done for its own sake, then I agree with Eddo. However, if someone just wants to live a clean life and set a good example for his children, then it's okay to avoid talking about shameful failings in his past.

Okay, the "official" response is: I'll look over the rules and get back to you. The unofficial response is: we'll handle whatever pops up as we encounter it. I'll respond before Friday with more information.

Do I have to creatively kill all your charactors, or just Dhothlar? heh heh heh Anyhow, got my first response from someone. It was from Jon Birnbaum at Gamebanshee. Pretty pointless in light of everything, but the advice is actually reasonable as a general rule. I'm almost tempted to respond with a link to the first thread. Well, here's the answer I had hoped would shed light on the issue: "I would not accept a post on the RPGCodex forums as fact. I

The avatar is one that my brother-in-law found and resized for me. As you can see, it's not exactly my style, but it does fit the "Eldar" theme and it was a gift of sorts. Instead of a silly "where's Eldar" thread, we should make this an avatar thread for everyone! I can use a change, and so can some of the others here.

The idea of participating in a role-playing game is to break away from your real life persona. At any rate, you can come in and watch the game. I think I'm going to put a password on the room again, since I found it a bit confusing when folks entered and left. If I password the room, then I'll know that the folks entering are from here. For some reason, that makes me more tolerant.

I have to view everything on my laptop right now, but it all looked too dark to get a good feel for the game. I'm looking forward to it, though. I think the story would be much tighter if they didn't include so many races and prestige classes. But, you know, the ship has sailed on that. I'm not going to let it harsh my buzz. I'm sure as hell not going to let it kill the fun before I even play the game. One thing I enjoy is that it has actual dialogue. I can live with most tutorials. In fact, I like some of them. KotOR2 had a great tutorial. Some folks didn't like it, but I've never seen another tutorial capture the suspense of the moment.

Sure, this is truly a pointless gesture, but I guess I've got time to waste. Also, I can't game as my desktop bit it and I'm waiting on replacement parts. So, nothing better to do than waste everyone's time by asking questions.

I'm going to bankrupt you at this rate. Anyhow, I'm going to keep wasting my time because I think it's a valid question. Of course, I'm going to render my own opinion worthless by saying I'm pre-ordering the title. Still, I hope some of these damned folks hold Obsidian's feet to the fire.

Well, I just sent out emails to IGN, Gamebanshee, and Gamespy. I guess I'll write some snail mail to PCGamer and Computer Gaming World tomorrow. Frankly, I have no idea where to start. Still, it doesn't cost me anything to ask and I'm sure someone has to be interested in the answer to this particular question.

Put it this way, Oblivion has flaws, but you folks is nuts.

The biggest problem, SP, is that you've never made a compelling argument against PS:T that held up under scrutiny. There are arguments against PS:T that do bear scrutiny very well, but yours don't. That's because it's important for you to categorize PS:T as something other than an RPG. Isn't it enough to say you don't like it? That makes perfect sense. You don't like the backstory. You don't like the excessive text. You don't like the background of the PC. You're forced to play a character with a look, sound, and feel that doesn't agree with you. There are plenty of arguments to make against PS:T as an RPG. You don't do that, however. Instead, you argue it isn't an RPG in the first place. Fine. You can create your own definition and then say that PS:T doesn't fall in the category, but in common usage, PS:T is an RPG. It might not be the RPG you want, but it is one nonetheless. ...And you'd go on until the thread suffered lockdown before you'd budge one inch. It's ridiculous. Fine. You don't like PS:T. That's fair enough and I don't think I've had a harsh word for you because you didn't like the game. Just don't try to tell me it isn't an RPG just because you didn't like it. It doesn't sound elitist, pompous, and self-important. It is elitist, pompous, and self-important.

I liked the piece, Llyr. I still think you're a doofus, but I liked the argument. Of course, it still leaves room for folks like SP who hated the amnesiac background. Basically, it boils down to how well the initial premise of the story sets with the player.

You know, ShadowPaladin, I don't mind listening to your hostility to PS:T. I understand that folks are entitled to their preferrences. Fair enough. Why don't you cut out flashing your credentials, however? I've been playing PnP longer than you, and I've had more experience as both a player and a D/GM. When you put it in terms of your so called "old school" experience, it just makes me wonder if the best argument you can muster is "I've played longer than you." I don't care who has played more. One of the arguments you've made is that you're an "expert" RPGer. I remember that from our Interplay days. Fine. You're an "expert," whatever the hell that means. It still doesn't make for a compelling argument.

:Eldar's shaking his head with a bemused smile icon: So, shall we talk about what age of gaming is the "golden age." I thought it was Ultima III.

The good thing is, even depleted, your magic sword still affects undead.

I just want a good game. If we finally get a "Jefferson" of some sort or another, I hope it's good.

Would you guys cut it out. How can we abuse each other over our tastes in games if we're so busy attacking each other's tastes in signitures?

Good lord, it's a crapfest and low level flame battle in the pits. Seriously, I'm pretty damned upbeat about games today. I really enjoyed Oblivion and I'm looking forward to NWN2. What can I say. I'm not living in the past. That doesn't mean I can't remember it fondly, however.

What the hell are you on about, Llyr? I didn't say there weren't any good games. I didn't say I saw a bleak future, bereft of good or even great games. What I said is that, thus far, PS:T is my favorite game. Before that, it was Civilization. There was a pretty good chunk of time between the two, but PS:T managed to surpass my previous favorite. I'm sure there's something out there, in the mind of some developer, that will surpass PS:T someday. It just hasn't yet arrived. Now, on the other hand, as you get older and you've played more games, I think it's harder to be impressed. It takes something truly revolutionary to get to that next stage, and we haven't seen anything really revolutionary for a while. Of course, revolutionary ideas are uncommon. Otherwise, they wouldn't be revolutionary.

LOLZ It does not even come close to being in the same league as Baldur's Gate or Fallout. The two games are master pieces that will never be duplicated again. I will spare all, since you all know my opinion on PST. I never liked the PST game world to begin with which was already a strike to that game before I played it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I don't have the energy to flame you. Please go into a corner and berate yourself for 10... no, 15 minutes. Afterwards, issue me a warning for whatever you said to yourself. PS:T is the pinnacle. It might be that it is only the pinnacle for me, but it's the pinnacle for someone. As much as I enjoyed the BG series, it just didn't compare.

I have the inn set up for you guys because there's no "town" for the time being. It will be easy to bring people in and out of the campaign, although a six person party starts to get a little unweildly. In an in person campaing, I prefer five players. Still, Role-Player will always be welcome to join our games and I will find one way or another to work with him. It will involve some side chat with him as I get him worked up to join, but it can be done. Now, as for our next session. I think we should devote a good amount of the first session to some discussion between the members. After all, while you didn't know each other before the game, you've certainly gone through a couple of battles together. In fact, the last battle was pretty rugged, so you should consider how your characters view one another. Another thing to remember is that you're scouting. I agree with... Baley? Arcalis? Anyhow, I agree with the fellow who said that going back to the inn after killing one vine would be lame. However, you aren't supposed to stay gone forever. You can get some succor back at the inn, even if it's not a town. Keep in mind that your horse (Horace, Good Lord) took four points of damage before the cat switched her attention to Dhothlar. With that said, you people are free to do what you want. Some areas are tougher than others, even though I work with you on the fly in order to give you a fighting chance. An example of this was your encounter in the foothills. So, you can go or do whatever you want, which includes turning your back on the inn and never returning and pitching a camp and trying to establish a new city in the middle of your new "paradise." That's the beauty of a PnP game. You can do whatever the hell you want. Of course, if you try to pitch a permanent camp, then there are consequences and if you fail to report back to the inn, there are consequences. Basically, you can do what you want, but this isn't a CRPG where you leave the inn and forget it exists for several weeks and go back and everything has remained in stasis. Enough of my long, rambling rant. I look forward to playing on friday. General questions should be posted here so everyone can see the answer. Just send a PM for side questions.

PS:T is a great game and, years later, no other CRPG stacks up to it. Of course, I always have an eye out for one that will. In the meantime, there are some great CRPGs out there.

Well, you could take my neat DnD book collection. It's got to be worth something to some geek somewhere. I've also got my engraved "jerkface" medallion.