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I'll probably get flamed or modded down for this, but oh well.

I agree with you, I like playing hybrid classes. The Dungeon Siege series tried to make this viable, but it just didn't work. I hated how there was only a finite number of monsters to kill, so every single hit you made with your character to level up your skills was precious. I tried to play a combat magic-fighter hybrid but he was just a gimp compared to the "pure" classes in my party.

Titan Quest, on the other hand, is one of only two games on my computer at the moment because it's fun, caters to the Diablo loot lust factor and lets you play hybrid classes. Want to be a warrior-storm mage (a thane)? Sure. Want to be a hunter-nature mage (a ranger)? OK. Want to be a defensive-earth mage (a juggernaut)? You can do that too. In fact there are 36 different combinations to play.

There's quite a few combinations (more with the expansion pack) and the hybrid classes are powerful, not gimped. And if you put your points down the wrong tree there's a guy in almost every city who you can pay to reallocate your skill points.

I'm sure Diablo 3 will be great, but I've never actually played any of the Diablo games, just games labelled as "clones" (Just because a game is in the same genre does that make it a clone? Are all 3D WWII FPS games "Wolfenstein" clones?). I never liked the "oh so gothic and evil" atmosphere of Diablo.

However, Titan Quest was the perfect action RPG for me because I love the setting and it let me play hybrid classes however I wanted to.

What specifically will this entail? Will these be limited to the Bioware [Good/Evil/Mercenary] decisions, or opt for the VTMB/The Witcher system of [no right choice/moral grays]?

Also, how much impact can we have on the world if the dialogs are optional?

I've been closely following Obsidian Entertainment's development of NWN2 and so far I'm quite happy with their approach. They've completely redone the graphics and toolset, kept the part of the game that worked (rules engine and scripting system), and are focusing on a single player game that so far sounds quite good.

In the last few days, they've released new screenshots (and here), as well as new movies. So far, it looks to be a very pretty game at least.

They're having problems finding Demon Door #2 in Greatwood Gorge.

That looks a bit like the fish people (Selkath) from Manaan in KOTOR. Atleast they are keeping consistent with the world from earlier SW products.

That looks a bit like the fish people (Selkath) from Manaan in KOTOR. Atleast they are keeping consistent with the world from earlier SW products.

I originally posted this in google groups, but I feel I need to post it here as well

apparently you feel the need to post it repeatedly.

You don't like GDS. We get the point.

In the interview I referenced, Gygax gives credit to Dave Arneson, Jeff Perren and Don Kaye for their part in creating D&D. It's an pretty good interview.

Sadly, the article only makes a passing reference to the patriarch of D&D. I guess ownership is everything nowadays. GameBanshee.com has a nice interview with Gygax accompanied by lots of D&D artwork.

Sadly, the article only makes a passing reference to the patriarch of D&D. I guess ownership is everything nowadays. GameBanshee.com has a nice interview with Gygax accompanied by lots of D&D artwork.

"The massive scope and flexibility intrinsic in the Toolset, the DM Client and the Official Campaign will be unprecedented in the gaming world"

I'm surprised nobody talked of Morrowind. Like Neverwinter Nights, its gonna be a huge rpg world coming out with the Construction Kit. Unlike Neverwinter Nights, its gonna be single player.

You will evolve in a world free of your action : there will be a main quest, but you can forget about it as the game is so huge and there is so many side quests. There is absolutely no linear events. It's a game where we will get lost by our surroundings, not because we don't know what to do, but because there is so much. Do the character you want, and play it the way you want.

The Construction Kit coming with the game is what will replace the "multiplayer longevity". There is already a whole mod community moving to do their own quests. You want to add an undead island ruled by a bad ancient wizard ? No problem, the construction kit use a simple drag'n'drop system but is complexed enough to edit the *whole* game within. The developers create it only in the Contruction Kit, and you got it. After creating your island, you export it in a plug-in file and everybody can download it so they can add the island into their game. Don't like ? Simply remove it without affecting your game.

The graphics are superb, they make a really good use of pixel shaging (you see each raindrops plunk in the water).

There is a unique hyperlink dialog system too. To learn more of a subject in a conversation, you can click on it if its hyperlinked. All the key word you hear are added in a word bank too, so you can investigate on those subject later.

If your an rpg fan, check it, I really can't appropriately express myself how great it's gonna be, and I surely just said half of it.

Funny facts about Morrowind (taken from gamebanshee.

Non-player characters (NPC's) in the World: 3,244
NPC's in the world that you cannot kill: 0
NPC's in the world that you can't kill if you want to finish the main quest: 1
NPC's who begin the game being not alive: 63
NPC's who start the game wearing no pants: 5
Number of empty bottles per capita in Morrowind: 1.89
Number of bottle recycling centers in Morrowind: 0
Standard-sized novels' worth of text in Morrowind: 6
Variations of creatures and nasties wanting to turn you into a fine paste: 217
Hand placed objects in the world: 316,042
Dungeons in the game: More than 300 (marketeering for 301... including basements, cellars and hobbit holes... just kidding - there are no hobbits, I looked.)
Ninja Monkeys used in creating Morrowind: 6,404 (Ninja Monkeys are placeholders in the editor and represent random leveled creatures in which you specify what range of levels and/or possible creatures you want them to become when they are generated.)
Polygon count for a fully armored Ordinator character: 5,000 (most games feature 2,000 poly characters... and of course, less)
Polygon count for a skeleton: 5,000
Total number of different characters you can create and play: 480 billion
Total number of years to complete the game using every variation of character, completing it two times every single day: 657 million
Total number of wonder women who's voices are used in the game: 1 (Lynda Carter's voice is used for the female Nord Characters in the game)
Basic Spells in the game: More than 500
Additional spells that can be created during the game using spellmaking: 150 billion (I won't go there)
Talking crabs in Morrowind: 1 (now I have a mission!)

Gazou

PS. The game will be released in Spring 2002

• Is it me or have PC RPG's really gone downhill?

It's just you. The Baldur's Gate series is old school. There are several gating points, but you're more or less free to play it any way you like. Good, bad, indifferent, press on or seek out the sub-quests, chat to the NPC's, whatever. There's a lot in there, and the content is as important as the presentation.

Maybe you should give them a try. You should be able to get Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 on budget or in a multipack by now. If you're in any doubt about the depth or care put into them, ponder the pantaloons (spoiler).

Yes, Ultima was wonderful, but so is Baldur's Gate. And Ultima never made me actually shout out loud: "What the...? Is one of my own party stabbing me in the back? He is! Stop it! Stop stabbing me in the back! Bad dwarf! Bad! Aaaaagh!".