Cantousent

I don't think good sales inoculate a game from criticism. I also know that some games succeed quite well either critically or comercially (and sometimes both) that I don't enjoy personally. Saying that you didn't like this or that aspect of a commercially successful game is perfectly legit. Complain about Bethsoft or Bioware. Bitch about Obsidian or Blizzard. Who cares wether the game sold well or not? You have a right to express your views and advocate for your position. Nothing has been made clearer over the years than the force of internet complaining in regards to game development. Where I agree whole heartedly with Hurlie is in saying that there is no hard fast provable way to claim a game is good or bad objectively. I don't think good sales and high critical praise is any more objective than anything else, but I don't know what would be better. The narrow viewpoints of people with such rarified tastes that virtually any deviation from their rigid judgment automatically puts a game out of contention? If my choice is between sales and the gaming Gestapo, I'll choose the former every time. The reason we come here is because we share a certain outlook on video games and the opinions of the folks here can be helpful in deciding which game to try or not. For that reason, Hunter, when I see an argument that relies on 'it's nothing but hype! The game actually sucked!" I tend to tune out. Statements regarding qualities found within the game are better than general statements about the game.

The problem with the 'favorite x of all time' threads is that I think that examples can only convey so much of what's great. I love PS:T. I love New Vegas and I loved M.U.L.E. and I loved ZORK and I loved Sundog. If we stuck them all in a blender, I'm not sure it would be palatable. As to you, Claw, my comments were meant more generally. I can't imagine wanting to draw down on you, but I would be a lot more open about it if I did. :Cant's good natured guffawing icon: Seriously, though, I didn't realize you'd tried ToR and didn't like it. Probably my poor reading skills. Anyhow, I don't mind you complaining about a specific game or developer (or even publisher). This is a nice safe place to do it. I only think it's crazy when people make every thread in which they participate about a specific hatred of this or that company or game, which is most assuredly not a pointed comment aimed at anyone here.

That's terrible, W. I get how you feel. For myself, I'm probably going to fire up my current run of New Vegas when I can and finish off Lonesome Road. The wife and I might or might not head out to dinner afterwards. Depends on what la jefe has to say. Otherwise, I'll have to figure out what to cook for dinner. Hmmm, it occurs to me that I actual don't say what I did so much as what I anticipate doing in this thread most of the time.

Well... I said I tend to buy the same cheeses over and over again, such as muenster, cheddar (sharper the better for the wife), swiss, Mozzarella, colby jack, pepper jack. We regularly use feta and Parmesan and Romano for salads or pasta and the like. However, I actually use a variety of cheeses for cooking or special events. The big decider on the types of cheese I buy revolves around what the wife likes or not. For instance, I love brie but the wife hates it so I don't bother getting any. She's not too fond of muenster, but she doesn't bitch at me about it quite as much. I love blue cheese, and she does also, but we don't tend to get it as much for some reason. Geez, Bruce, ya bastard, now I feel like visiting a cheese shop myself! EDIT: Ah, forgot Asiago and Gruyere. I like cheeses that work well in cooking. For example, I make my own Mexican pizza with homemade refried beans, jalepenos, shredded or ground beef, and a variety of queso.

I enjoyed ToR, but I can't really get into MMOs anymore. I can for a while, but as I neglect other things in life (such as sleep) I just find I get run down. That and I can't abide grinding. I think ToR actually has some great ideas for an MMO. If folks hate MMO's on principle, then I guess there's no discussion to be had, but if you're willing to try something new and listen to other folks' accounts of how the game plays, then you might find you enjoy it. Blind hatred of a game isn't any better than blind loyalty to it. It's no better to be a hater than a fanboy.

Naw, I like the new one, Red. It reminds me of the kind hearted woman symbol.

I thought the $250 tier did, Squeaky. Actually just went to take a look. $250 still has it, but I don't know if that's true for the current paypal. They might have changed the tiers now that the Kickstarter ended. Zurk makes a great point about managing the project. I mean, it's not like they'll have to answer to a publisher, but it does mean they'll have to structure the effort themselves. I know early money is better, but I never really thought about the fact that they have a lot of planning to do and need to know what kind of funding they have.

I wish I had a good group of folks who would play DnD with me. I'd love to try this Firefly game. Sadly, even though some friends have tried to get into the game with me, either I didn't think there were all that into it or they were so aggravating that I wanted to do something else. So, instead of DnD, I'm going to fire up a game of New Vegas and continue my drive through Lonesome Road. BTW, Super Cal, I let the lottery winner live this run. He just seemed so earnest! :Cant's **** eating grin icon:

Yeah, I saw this in Pen and Paper and kind of wondered why it was there. I just figured that claw got confused or there was a board mix up. Happens to me at least. As to the original assertion, I don't know of many of the folks who are most hardcore Obsidz fans who really descend into stultifying slavery. I guess I'm a fanboy and I say they should decide the issues on their own, but I also advocate what I want or not and encourage pretty much everyone else to do the same. I mean, I don't like to encourage people I perceive as trolls, but I do encourage folks to voice their expectations and desires. ...and most of the Obsidian hard-core fans are actually pretty brutal on Obsidian. I know I've given specific people compliments that they probably felt had come from the back of my hand. I would wager that anyone who's come under Gromnir's scrutiny at Obsidian knows the quality of a good fanboy. We don't even get a lot of folks who shout other people down all that effectively.

I didn't think hardcore made much difference in combat other than the way stimpacks work, but if you're playing hardcore and the highest difficulty (I think there are only three levels, but I can't remember) then combat can be tough. I hear things about a Sawyer created mod that makes combat bragworthy, which I might use next time. So... firing up the game, I have to say that the sound in the divide itself is truly awesome. I don't have music playing so I can hear the sound, and there's this one lonely bell that rings. It's a deep-throated and sorrowful sounding bell that really sets the tone for the whole area. I don't like the dialogue with Ulysses, but I do enjoy his journals. Makes me hate the legion even more than I do. I haven't reached the end, but I figure I have to be halfway through by now. After this, Dead Money, baby!

I dunno, Plaz. If they're opening an Obsidz store, which is what I gathered from one thread up in the Obsidian General forum, then the materials shouldn't be that big of a deal because they're offering the items on a regular basis. It might be a big deal if they suddenly get a huge influx, which could happen with or without a paypal sort of pledge thing. Of course, it's more likely if they have this pledge tier thing happening. I don't think the vast majority of people in the Kickstarter would mind terribly much if folks could come in later and pledge to get good stuff. Maybe Obsidian could mix it up just enough to protect themselves from the vocal minority of people who will bitch and moan every time they think they're even slightly disadvantaged or miss out on something to which they're 'entitled,' but I'm convinced the vast majority of backers would just be glad at the increased support for the project. The only thing I think Obsidz might want to do is severely limit the types of things folks can do to create iteams and npcs and the like. Maybe just bump up the price, but at some point there just won't be an opening for yet one more backer created doodad. Of course, that's speculative on my part. If the sky's the limit on such things and the game doesn't suffer in quality, it's not like I want to deny anyone something they find important. I personally pumped what I considered to be a lot of money into this because I'm a long time fan of Obsidian. ...But I also know that they've been successful in the field and I doubt the established core of the company is reduced to ramen noodles offset by beans and rice for every meal. I'm incredibly excited to be a part of this effort. I have high hopes, but the immediate rewards were less important than the movement itself. Next time, I'll have to be more circumspect about how I approach it. I'm not saying I wouldn't pledge the same amount if they offer something as awesome as... say... a sequel to a truly excellent game or maybe even an attempt at a Firefly Kickstarter RPG, but it would have to be contingent on how well they can manage the tens of thousands of pledges split between tiers and add-ons on one end and the final product on the other.

I've pretty much decided that I'll just use the Obsidian Store that's going to open up eventually to buy stuff. I'm not going to a higher tier, so even if I put in enough money to reach that tier, I'm just going to use the money to buy add-ons, which I can do through the store. Most folks are probably better off increasing to a higher tier, so I don't pretend that I represent the norm. What's funny is that someone I managed to get to back the project now expects me to back the Settlers of Catan gaming board. lol Total comedy. I backed it at $5. I think Settlers of Catan is kind of like the Civilization board game, which I have long loved but can't convince my current spread of friends to play. So, thanks Obsidz. You've brought me Kickstarter mission creep.

I've lived in or around Henderson my entire life, but I don't recall that cheese shop. I also love cheese, but I'm probably a little pedestrian for your tastes. I tend to go for the same cheeses all the time, and that's nothing more exotic than I can get from the grocery or costco. However, if I ever get back to Henderson again, which is unlikely, I will stop by the shop you mention and buy a few pounds of cheese. On the other hand, if you're going to peruse the cheese selection, you might want to sample a selection of local wine from across the border in California.

I'm a bit more cheerful tonight than I have been in a long time. I played some New Vegas and ate some seven layer dip a dear friend brought over to me. I don't kid myself about hard days in the future, but tonight, life. is. good. Memories are good. The only sad thing is hearing that Wash is having to cut back on the libations, but I'll try to make up the difference my good man!

It wasn't that big of a deal, but I do appreciate it. Many thanks.

Yeah, I miss the skull. I actually took a photo of my pops off the wall and scanned it in order to use it as my avatar only to have the board give me an e-beatdown.

I was going to say that I didn't like Lonesome Road as much as the first two so far. That's still true, but I do enjoy the interaction with ED-E quite a bit. I'm playing on normal and the fights have been easy, but that was my choice. I could increase the difficulty, but I kind of like smoking Deathclaws with a couple of sneak critical headshots. I tend to agree with Lexx and AGX in that the story just seems too full. It's weird, because I've enjoyed a lot of Avellone's writing, but I find this dlc a little too self-important and :Cant's gasping icon: I wasn't particularly into Keira in KotOR2. I did love PS:T altogether and I thought he did a great job with Gann. Still, I have enjoyed playing Lonesome Road, but it doesn't have the personal impact of Honest Hearts and it doesn't have the fun and campy feel of Old World Blues. Of course, I didn't know Avellone did this dlc until I read AGX's post, so for all I know he did HH and OWB also, in which case, he nailed the first two and the third is still fun.

You look like you don't have an avatar right now, Gorth. Red looked like hers was gone, but now it's back. Weird. ...And her avatar with the kitty licking the lollipop always kind of freaks me out, too.

Ugh, I'm sorry I got you involved in this mess. Well, when you find out the answer, let us know what to do.

Walk to the location and, somewhere a safe distance before you actually arrive, tell Fitz to wait. Of course, I'm assuming he's a companion. I don't remember Fitz, so maybe he's a guy in one of the dlc? ...Or maybe I just don't remember him from the main story. Anyhow, If you can have him wait back a ways, go in, trigger the attack, and then mop the floor with Legion mooks. You can walk back and get him after it's all done.

Yeah, I've had the same problem.

Firefly is my favorite t.v. show to get canceled in the last several years. ...And considering how many shows get canceled these days, that's saying something. It's the best science fiction show I've ever seen. I've enjoyed some of Star Trek and Star Wars, but the Firefly 'universe' has always struck me as the most genuine. I would be even more excited about a Firefly Kickstarter than Project Eternity, and that's saying something! Of course, Project Eternity has a personal investment for me that no game ever has and I can't imagine ever having in the future, but that's because of events in my personal life. In terms of the 'universe,' Firefly would still be the perfect setting for me.

All done with Old World Blues. Honest Hearts was the serious dlc, and it was excellent for that reason. Old World Blues is campy and goofy and it excelled because of it. In terms of a moving personal story, Honest Hearts has it hands down so far. In terms of a huge fun area to explore, OWB has it. I have to say that they serve different purposes, so I don't know which one I like more, but i think it's on to Lonesome Road or Dead Money. I think those are the last two, right? HH, OWB, LR, and DM?

The Amazon charge has already posted to my account, so that's good. However, my Kickstarter account uses a different email than my forum and Amazon account. I use the same one for this board and Amazon and a different one for Kickstarter. Will that screw anything up?

yeah, the card I had on file at Amazon expired this month and I had to put in a new card. If I hadn't done that, I would be in the same boat. It's easy for these things to creep up on us, but you *did* contribute and, even if you didn't have the money, you've participated and discussed and exhorted folks. With all those things, you've proved your worth, orgre.