Amentep

That's kinda my feelings as well. Really didn't like the first game.

I sold Far Cry 2 back after two weekends of trying to play it. Besides it giving me motion sickness when I drove around, I was total crap at killing anything, ever. Really liked the idea for it though.

Because Garrus is a badass pulpy cop who excellently embodies Renegade principles while simultaneously avoiding being a pointless douche and whose worldview is cool and which you can positively effect. On the other hand, Wrex is a boring character who you may recall from KotOR as "Canderous Ordo" and Jade Empire as "the Black Whirlwind." Wait, The Black Whirlwind was boring? Spear Catches Leaf: "You've just had the... unexpected honor of defeating the Black Whirlwind, the self-styled deadliest mercenary in the Jade Empire." Player: "What earns a mercenary a title like "deadlist?"" Spear Catches Leaf: "The tales say this man once stormed an entire fortress alone, naked, and screaming his defiance into the night." The Black Whirlwind: "Ha! Scared the tar out of those border guards! But they botched the story; I was naked, screaming, *and* I was dead drunk." Sure he was no Kang the Mad, but boring? Mind you I didn't think Wrex was boring but did find Garrus' stories always boiling down to the same thing (OMGWTF?! I have to follow rules! Wah!) to be repetitious.

Fans of Fallout 3 would claim that Obs were reusing Bethesda's ideas (Antagonizer/Mechanist), I'm sure...

Don't try to fight the irresistible lure... Being a bit more serious, let me put it this way - if your setting already contains a number of high powered concepts, how does adding a different high powered concept make it "more ridiculous"? I think this is the point where I'm having trouble following you. Its a bit like saying that 557 rabbits are okay, but 558 is just CRAZY! The distinction in how they're different is lost on me.

Not sure the world is ready for Day the World Ended - The Game. Besides there's only so much role-playing of being trapped in a cabin surrounded by killer radiation with 5 other people (one who is slowly turning into a radiactive flesh eating monster) I could take.

So your take is that Fallout all ready has a boatload of ridiculous stuff so who cares if they add more? My take is that Fallout all ready has enough ridiculous stuff, let's not make it any worse. I'm not Gromnir, nor do I play him on TV. Fallout as a setting already has Alien Ray guns, magic super-mutant making virus, zombielike ghouls (one with a tree on his head), magic pills that take away all effects of radiation (except suddenly growing 6th toes), computers that still work after 100 years of inactivity, and robots with giant brains in a clear plastic bubble. Is a mini-nuke launcher or giant space laser really all that out of place amid that? I don't think so. It isn't about there being a certain number of "ridiculous" things in a game, but that certain concepts either fit in the setting or don't. Neither the launcher nor the space laser seem particularly out of place to me (on the surface at least).

Any lawsuit involving corporations are subject to out of court settlements at any time. So while I didn't know it would happen, I'm not really surprised (and I can't imagine that a deal wasn't struck for them to drop the suit). But I could be wrong.

Watched Django from 1966. Lots of people got killed. Movie was pretty over-the-top. Not as good as the Leone films, IMO, but it certainly has its low budget charms.

Their numbers are in the same general area as athletic supporters, I hear.

I just realized the phone booth one doesn't work anymore, since phone booths don't really exist in the way they used to...

I didn't pay attention to them to be honest, but yeah eventually seeing won't be believing.

All it takes (here at least) is for one dude to be streaming porn on his phone and one over-reactive parent thinking their little Timmy or Sally can see it to cause a lawsuit.

I've played the non yellow ones - 2000 * 2000-02-29 - Might & Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer * 2000-06-22 - Deus Ex * 2000-06-29 - Diablo 2 * 2000-06-30 - Icewind Dale * 2000-09-24 - Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn * 2000-09-27 - Wizards & Warriors * 2000-10-16 - Nethack: Falcon's Eye * 2000-10-26 - Summoner 2001 * 2001-03-15 - Gothic * 2001-03-23 - Avernum 2 * 2001-06-27 - Anachronox * 2001-08-21 - Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura * 2001-09-27 - Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor * 2001-11-05 - Wizardry 8 * 2001-11-12 - Geneforge * 2001-12-04 - Gorasul: The Legacy of the Dragon 2002 * 2002-04-05 - Dungeon Siege * 2002-05-01 - Morrowind * 2002-06-18 - Neverwinter Nights * 2002-08-02 - Divine Divinity * 2002-08-19 - Prince of Qin * 2002-08-26 - Icewind Dale 2 * 2002-09-19 - Avernum 3 * 2002-11-15 - Prelude to Darkness * 2002-12-22 - I of the Dragon 2003 * 2003-03-07 - Mistmare * 2003-03-29 - Might & Magic IX * 2003-06-28 - Arx Fatalis * 2003-08-13 - Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader * 2003-09-16 - Temple of Elemental Evil * 2003-10-08 - Paradise Cracked * 2003-10-15 - Geneforge 2 * 2003-10-28 - Gothic 2 * 2003-11-07 - Silent Storm * 2003-11-19 - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic * 2003-12-01 - Devil Whiskey * 2003-12-02 - Deus Ex: Invisible War 2004 * 2004-01-25 - Omega Syndrome * 2004-02-27 - Sacred * 2004-03-03 - Knights of the Temple: Infernal Crusade * 2004-04-27 - Dawn of Magic * 2004-04-28 - Beyond Divinity * 2004-10-15 - Space Hack * 2004-11-16 - Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines * 2004-11-18 - Seal of Evil 2005 * 2005-02-15 - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords * 2005-12-05 - Hammer & Sickle * 2005-12-05 - Mourning's Wrath * 2005-04-12 - Kult: Heretic Kingdoms * 2005-04-12 - Jade Empire * 2005-05-05 - Dungeon Lords * 2005-05-18 - Fate * 2005-05-27 - Restricted Area * 2005-05-30 - Geneforge 3 * 2005-08-02 - Metalheart: Replicants Rampage * 2005-08-16 - Dungeon Siege II * 2005-11-24 - Knights of the Temple 2 2006 * 2006-19-01 - Aveyond * 2006-02-11 - Day Watch * 2006-03-02 - Avernum 4 * 2006-03-17 - Fable: The Lost Chapters * 2006-03-20 - Oblivion * 2006-04-07 - GODS: Lands of Infinity * 2006-06-26 - Titan Quest * 2006-06-26 - Night Watch * 2006-07-12 - The Fall: Last Days of Gaia * 2006-09-26 - Mage Knight: Apocalypse * 2006-10-17 - Brigade E5 * 2006-11-20 - Gothic 3 * 2006-12-08 - Neverwinter Nights 2 2007 * 2007-02-05 - Geneforge 4 * 2007-03-09 - Silverfall * 2007-04-06 - Loki: Heores of Mythology * 2007-05-09 - Two Worlds * 2007-05-21 - Nethergate: Resurrection * 2007-09-05 - Depths of Peril * 2007-09-28 - Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer * 2001-10-01 - The Chosen: Well of Souls * 2007-10-30 - The Witcher * 2007-11-19 - Eschalon: Book I * 2007-11-20 - Mass Effect * 2007-12-27 - Aveyond 2 2008 * 2008-02-17 - Avernum 5 * 2008-07-30 - The Spirit Engine 2 * 2008-10-02 - Sacred 2: Fallen Angel * 2008-10-28 - Fallout 3 * 2008-11-03 - Kivi's Underworld * 2008-11-18 - Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir 2009 * 2009-02-20 - Geneforge 5 * 2009-02-24 - Drakensang: The Dark Eye * 2009-05-05 - 7.62 * 2009-07-24 - Divinity II: Ego Draconis * 2009-08-09 - Knights of the Chalice * 2009-10-02 - Risen * 2009-11-03 - Dragon Age * 2009-10-27 - Torchlight * 2009-10-30 - A Farewell to Dragons So definitely not me who has played the most of them...

My friend Charlie is going to be less than amused, however.

*whew* he's still older than me. Happy Belated Birthday!

But - in theory - if you tag lockpicking, stealth and small guns and can still max those out, and be able to complete the game, you've made a powerful character who is expert in those three skills (and maybe marginal to okay in others). I don't think anyone is suggesting not being able to be great in how you build your choice, but to not be able to have maxed half the skills by the end of the game (although from another vantage point, if you never use those skills, does it ultimately matter if they're maxed out?)

Yeah. "Don't use stims, don't pick up ammo, don't wear this or that. Fallout is supposed to be about choices." Curiously, no-one has suggested missing on purpose to make combat more challenging. I just can't see the appeal in selfgimping. I miss enough on accident to not need to make it challenging. I remember at one point getting frustrated not being able to hit the broad side of the barn, so I pulled a sledgehammer and just ran in...and still missed...

Actually that's not the village idiot, its a attractive, eagle eyed sloth, innit?

and didn't they say it was tested with SDTVs and it looked fine?

They are a gameplay factor in the begining; I guess you could make the argument that as your PC gets more experienced with the ins and outs of the wasteland, they do improve in everything (I think the problem is the perception that being at 100% implies expertise...the trail of broken bobby pins in my wake proves otherwise...) I'll agree they are more of a factor at the beginning, which is indicitive of the fact that they are too easy to raise. The skill increase curve is a pretty b0rked. Although if someone just wants to have a god character and kick ass then I guess FO3 is perfect for them. I just find such an approach rather dull. If I can't lose, I don't see any point in playing. I won't disagree with you; but I will say even with 100% I sometimes can't kill a creature in one shot in my chosen weapon; getting mobbed is a problem and I can still break bobby pins like someone with 25. Now I would have no problem if they changed it so that I could not suddenly be a great hand to hand fighter after focusing on small guns because I have excess skill points to spend. None at all. But having 100% in a skill doesn't equal "auto-win" (or I'm a really crappy player, which with most FPS games is true).

Processed video, encoded, uploaded, downloaded and decoded is an accurate representation of how the game will look when directly played on a tv? What?

Same. My first guess was pornstar-- really, look at that name! Well, I do remember some stories about the fact that.. uhm.. he was well-endowed... but no, that wasn't his profession. He was a damn' good artist, and that's coming from someone who's never been a fan of Type O Negative. R.I.P. Pete, the musical scene will miss you very much. I'm pretty sure he actually posed for Playgirl. And all the goth girls swooned. And given that only 20% of the readership for Playgirl is actually female, so did a bunch of goth guys...

They are a gameplay factor in the begining; I guess you could make the argument that as your PC gets more experienced with the ins and outs of the wasteland, they do improve in everything (I think the problem is the perception that being at 100% implies expertise...the trail of broken bobby pins in my wake proves otherwise...)

Yeah it doesn't make sense. A bit like saying "Combat shouldn't be changed because you don't HAVE to use the minigun, you could use to 10mm Pistol the entire game" (I don't necessarily want the skill system/combat system changed, just for the record. That said, I think it'd be interesting if there was more importance on tagged skills. But then I wouldn't mind a cap on skills based on the level of SPECIAL if it worked within the game system. But mostly I want to have fun and shoot supermutants in the face with a laser rifle).