I'd agree with you, up through book six. The endings of books seven and eight were definitely more lackluster, and book nine was on track for an equal "meh" but then hit with a devastating, intense ending that was more on par with his earlier stuff. Unfortunately, book 10 was in many ways his most disappointing.
When I was a college instructor, I would prepare my course readers myself, using entirely public-domain documents downloaded from the Web. The reproduction costs would be about $10, and I was able to include introductory blurbs, study questions, vocabulary definitions, etc. I used to go to the bookstore and see my readers next to a published reader (most history classes used both a text and a second book that contained a selection of sources/readings that went into more detail). The published reader was typically $50-60, often for a volume that was half the length of the textbook.
Well, they left open the option for a sequel given how Ryan's DNA is tied to the regeneration chambers. I think that there's ample opportunity for him to escape and try to build a new utopia... maybe on the far side of the moon? They can even have an early version of SHODAN make a guest appearance as a proto-AI.
Right, all it has is shooting games. And driving games. And sports. And Live Arcade (can't seem to stop playing Catan of late). And 3rd person action titles (Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Dead Rising). And RPGs (Oblivion). And rythym games (DDR, Guitar Hero 2).
The 360 does have a lot FPS titles, but they make up only a small part of my game library (I prefer FPSes on the PC). Let's be honest here, there's something for everyone on this console, and there are titles like Blue Dragon in the pipeline that will try to appeal to those who like specific genres, like JRPGs. Whether or not that will work, who knows. Personally I find the 360's library to be quite diverse.
While I agree 100% for the original, NWN2 clearly was not designed for multiplayer. The game on release had a barely functional multiplayer aspect, and it is definitely not friendly to Persistent Worlds. The requirement for the download of a bulky walkmesh file that has to be re-downloaded everytime there is a change makes casual play on a PW server almost impossible. Furthermore, the DM Client was completely broken on release and is just now (in Patch 1.07; 1.06 is just being released now) getting some attention.
NWN2 has a decent single-player campaign, but it was clearly designed and released for that audience. I guess I cannot blame Obsidian; NWN's history shows that the vast majority of those who purchased the game bought it, played the SP campaigns (and maybe a SP module or two from the Neverwinter Vault) and then shelved it. Now, the multiplayer component is what gave NWN1 it's unusually long life, IMO, but it remains to be seen if Obsidian will fix NWN2 multiplayer to the point where it can rival the original. It's got a ways to go, in my opinion.
More tilesets. NWN2 suffered from the same problem as NWN1 here... it relied on the same few tilesets to make up the vast majority of its locations. I say to hell with the toolkit for once - give us some decent looking unique locations in the main campaign. This added a lot of atmosphere in BG2 and it needs to be done again.
I assume you mean the interiors? NWN2 exteriors use heightmaps and can be almost infintely customized even without adding new textures. I think you'll be surprised what some of the custom content builders produce just using the default tools when more polished mods start coming out six months or so down the line. There are already some prefab areas on the Neverwinter Vault that are pretty impressive even with the relatively short time builders have had to play with the toolset.
As someone who is into roleplaying games, I find I actually get to play more due to technology helping out. I had to drop out of a few groups because I didn't have as much time as an adult for 8-hour Saturday sessions anymore. My last group had something like 10 players but it was very rare that more than 5 would make it to any given session, due to RL commitments. Plus the game site was a 40 minute drive from my house. I finally had to quit because I was missing too many sessions.
But since Neverwinter Nights came out, I've been able to run two long campaigns, one of which started in August 2002, the other in September 2003. Both are still going. Using the matchmaking/scheduling site Neverwinter Connections, I was able to find players for both games, each of which plays two hours a week. One of them I run early on Sundays, while my wife is still asleep. While it has some disadvantages over tabletop gaming, my campaigns have now lasted longer than any tabletop RPG I've played. In my experience, most roleplaying campaigns die out due to scheduling issues. In this case, technology has made it easier to run a long campaign.
I agree with the reviewer that the single player campaign is decent, if flawed by the UI and AI issues he mentioned. However, the multiplayer component is where NWN1 really shone, and here the sequel was released significantly incomplete.
The DM Client, essential for small-group multiplayer games, was released in a patch. It was decidely a beta version, with only the most basic functionality included. The 1.03 patch has improved it considerably, but it is still not truly possible to DM a game, in my opinion. Basic functions like moving creatures you aren't possessing (and making them attack in groups), and player inventory control, are absent.
The toolset is much more complex than last time, which is a blessing and a curse. Obsidian obviously elected to let the community complete the interface with plug-ins, which are fortunately starting to pop up on Neverwinter Vault. And every time that the toolset is patched, the plug-ins become useless until recompiled by the community, which is a big downer. Most of the wizards that were present in NWN1 are missing here. And building areas, especially outdoor areas, takes a ton of time... in part due to the greater power of the toolset. I'd say an average height-mapped outdoor area takes about 10x as long to build than in the tile-based system in NWN1. They will look better, but casual builders will be discouraged.
Some groups of players like the Persistent World (PW) community are also left out in the cold. The new heightmap system requires that players download a hefty walkmesh file before they can join a server. It's true that many PWs required hak packs (custom content downloads) in NWN1, but they weren't necessary. And the walkmeshes can get big; I had a 14 area module with very little in it (just maps, almost no placeables, and no area over 12x16), and the walkmesh file was 65mb.
To conclude, NWN2 has potential, but for MP builders and gamers like myself, it is incomplete. I've already gone back to NWN1, and will check back in six months to see if some of the issues have been ironed out. Hopefully most of the community won't have lost interest and moved on to the next big thing by then.
You get achievements for completing each act of the game at each of the three levels of difficulty, so it's not quite logging in to get one, but you only have to play for an hour or so to start getting them. There's a whole other set of them for multiplayer as well.
I think he should also mention that there is a button command (left shoulder) that allows you to order your AI helpers to be more conservative, more aggressive, or to drop everything and come join you. Although sometimes if they're really in trouble, they'll yell back that they can't make it to you.
I tried to get our circle of friends into Puerto Rico, but after 1 play-through they unanimously elected to go back to Catan. I think the game takes a bit longer to grow attached to, since the strategies aren't immediately apparent and it provides a ton of choices--too many for the new player, maybe.
Carcassone is a great game that I've used for new players when there isn't enough time for a game of Catan. I've probably taught 15 people to play Catan, and about another 10 to play Carcassone.
These quality games make it hard for me to go back to inane American titles like Taboo or the various singing/acting games where the emphasis is on how stupid you can make your friends behave in a group.
I understand quite well how our political system and its historical antecedents. Despite the factors that you posted, I disagree with how the electoral college works and feel that presidential elections should be based on the national popular vote. I was disagreeing with the OP, in a way that I did not think was disrespectful to him or his ideas.
As for you, your post title just leads me to think that you're an asshole. No wonder you post AC.
I think that the big states SHOULD carry more weight. Why should some guy from Wyoming have 3x the impact with his vote than mine in CA? And people claim that we need to "protect" the "small" states... why? It seems to me that the more populated states seem to give more to the union via taxes and economic output than those big mostly-empty western states. I don't understand why we should encourage politicians to cater to the people in the smaller states, either... what's wrong with trying to "run up" the vote in a big state? Do those voters over 50%+1 just not matter? Why shouldn't their voices be heard?
Well, at the very least let's fix the system so that states get the right number of votes in the electoral college. Wyoming has something like 3x the # of electors per capita than CA, even though it seems otherwise at first glance (I think it's 3 to 53 or something like that).
I don't see why they shouldn't complain if they want to, as far as the console itself goes. The cost of electronics has been going down steadily since the 80s, both absolute and inflation adjusted. This is because producing them has become cheaper. In the late 80s a PC would cost thousands of dollars; today you can get one for $500 at Walmart. A game console in 2005 costing the same as a game console in 1985 after adjusting for inflation isn't impressive in the least. So if people percieve the price of the 360 as too high, well, there's some basis for that. Personally I don't think it's bad.
I think a 360 has a lot more components in it than a NES had. Take out the hard drive and the DVD drive, memory card ports, wireless, etc. and I think you could make a more accurate comparison... and your point about similar components being much cheaper would hold true.
Who cares? If the games are fun, I'll buy and play them, regardless of how many numbers are after the title.
If the games become just derivative spam, then the market will respond. I no longer buy RTS titles, for example, because I've been playing them since Dune 2 (really, since Herzog Zwei for the Genesis) and they have gotten very, very, old for me. Others still enjoy them a lot. Same with FPS titles; I enjoy this genre, but pass on maybe 75% of the "major" releases because I've been there, done that.
All entertainment builds on past innovation, as others have already noted in this thread. If sales go down on the redundant games, and people flock to the few "innovative" titles, then more of those will be made. But it seems like most people are happy with "more of the same"... and having fun!... so that's what is made.
*sigh* Time for another fanboy thread, I guess. Look, both the PS2 and XBox360 are great systems, with lots of good games. The PS has the advantage of a larger catalog, the XBox the advantage of power and "newness". They don't even target the same audience, IMO; they are in totally different worlds in terms of price point, although I do believe that most die-hard gamers will end up owning both.
This same conversation has been going on at Ars (and to a slightly lesser degree, here at/.) for months now. The threads are usually fairly amusing but for every useful and informative post there's 10 that are just blind fanboyism. Not that those can't be fun as well...
I think the reason for the fanatic dedication to a particular console brand is the need for consumers to justify to themselves the huge investment they made in their purchase. All of the consoles are expensive, and with a halfway decent selection fo games and accessories you're looking at several thousand dollars invested. Nobody wants to feel as though they made a "mistake", and that the other guy's product might have been the better choice.
When it comes down to it, however, other than a few total bombs in the past, all of the current generations of consoles have a lot going for them, not the least of which includes a ton of quality, enjoyable games. I just wish we could remember that when we engage in these occasional console-wars threads.
Having children isn't necessarily a choice. No form of contraception is 100%, and it just happens that those who are least likely to be able to kids are also those who are least likely to be educated about preventing unwanted pregancies. This isn't helped by the establishment that wants to ban all discussion of contraception (other than "abstinence only", which I don't even count in that category) in our schools.
If having children was a deliberate choice, rather than the default outcome of sex as designed, then we might be better off.
Bioware's philosophy has always been, "It's done when it's done." Actually refreshing compared to some dev/publisher combos, which will force things out the door half-finished (looking at you, TOEE and KotOR2).
When I signed up I figured if I just got 5 a month it would still be a better deal than going to the local BB or Hollywood, where rentals are now over $4 each with tax.
The last two months I've rented 11 and 12 movies respectively with Netflix. Heck, even if I dropped below 5 for some reason I'd probably keep the service, since I used to really hate going to my local video rental stores (most have stopped carrying anything but new releases and a token selection from other categories, and the lines are always long, with only one register open).
Netflix isn't perfect but it's a nice alternative to the traditional model.
There's a lot of good games for young kids on the XBox Live Arcade; several of the puzzle games are pretty intuitive and that one where you control the fish eating other fish are pretty basic and easy to control. And you don't have to cough up $60 for each.
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I'd agree with you, up through book six. The endings of books seven and eight were definitely more lackluster, and book nine was on track for an equal "meh" but then hit with a devastating, intense ending that was more on par with his earlier stuff. Unfortunately, book 10 was in many ways his most disappointing.
When I was a college instructor, I would prepare my course readers myself, using entirely public-domain documents downloaded from the Web. The reproduction costs would be about $10, and I was able to include introductory blurbs, study questions, vocabulary definitions, etc. I used to go to the bookstore and see my readers next to a published reader (most history classes used both a text and a second book that contained a selection of sources/readings that went into more detail). The published reader was typically $50-60, often for a volume that was half the length of the textbook.
Well, they left open the option for a sequel given how Ryan's DNA is tied to the regeneration chambers. I think that there's ample opportunity for him to escape and try to build a new utopia... maybe on the far side of the moon? They can even have an early version of SHODAN make a guest appearance as a proto-AI.
Right, all it has is shooting games. And driving games. And sports. And Live Arcade (can't seem to stop playing Catan of late). And 3rd person action titles (Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Dead Rising). And RPGs (Oblivion). And rythym games (DDR, Guitar Hero 2).
The 360 does have a lot FPS titles, but they make up only a small part of my game library (I prefer FPSes on the PC). Let's be honest here, there's something for everyone on this console, and there are titles like Blue Dragon in the pipeline that will try to appeal to those who like specific genres, like JRPGs. Whether or not that will work, who knows. Personally I find the 360's library to be quite diverse.
While I agree 100% for the original, NWN2 clearly was not designed for multiplayer. The game on release had a barely functional multiplayer aspect, and it is definitely not friendly to Persistent Worlds. The requirement for the download of a bulky walkmesh file that has to be re-downloaded everytime there is a change makes casual play on a PW server almost impossible. Furthermore, the DM Client was completely broken on release and is just now (in Patch 1.07; 1.06 is just being released now) getting some attention.
NWN2 has a decent single-player campaign, but it was clearly designed and released for that audience. I guess I cannot blame Obsidian; NWN's history shows that the vast majority of those who purchased the game bought it, played the SP campaigns (and maybe a SP module or two from the Neverwinter Vault) and then shelved it. Now, the multiplayer component is what gave NWN1 it's unusually long life, IMO, but it remains to be seen if Obsidian will fix NWN2 multiplayer to the point where it can rival the original. It's got a ways to go, in my opinion.
I assume you mean the interiors? NWN2 exteriors use heightmaps and can be almost infintely customized even without adding new textures. I think you'll be surprised what some of the custom content builders produce just using the default tools when more polished mods start coming out six months or so down the line. There are already some prefab areas on the Neverwinter Vault that are pretty impressive even with the relatively short time builders have had to play with the toolset.
Hell, I remember paying $50 for Genesis titles back around 1990. That's almost $80 in today's money.
But since Neverwinter Nights came out, I've been able to run two long campaigns, one of which started in August 2002, the other in September 2003. Both are still going. Using the matchmaking/scheduling site Neverwinter Connections, I was able to find players for both games, each of which plays two hours a week. One of them I run early on Sundays, while my wife is still asleep. While it has some disadvantages over tabletop gaming, my campaigns have now lasted longer than any tabletop RPG I've played. In my experience, most roleplaying campaigns die out due to scheduling issues. In this case, technology has made it easier to run a long campaign.
The DM Client, essential for small-group multiplayer games, was released in a patch. It was decidely a beta version, with only the most basic functionality included. The 1.03 patch has improved it considerably, but it is still not truly possible to DM a game, in my opinion. Basic functions like moving creatures you aren't possessing (and making them attack in groups), and player inventory control, are absent.
The toolset is much more complex than last time, which is a blessing and a curse. Obsidian obviously elected to let the community complete the interface with plug-ins, which are fortunately starting to pop up on Neverwinter Vault. And every time that the toolset is patched, the plug-ins become useless until recompiled by the community, which is a big downer. Most of the wizards that were present in NWN1 are missing here. And building areas, especially outdoor areas, takes a ton of time... in part due to the greater power of the toolset. I'd say an average height-mapped outdoor area takes about 10x as long to build than in the tile-based system in NWN1. They will look better, but casual builders will be discouraged.
Some groups of players like the Persistent World (PW) community are also left out in the cold. The new heightmap system requires that players download a hefty walkmesh file before they can join a server. It's true that many PWs required hak packs (custom content downloads) in NWN1, but they weren't necessary. And the walkmeshes can get big; I had a 14 area module with very little in it (just maps, almost no placeables, and no area over 12x16), and the walkmesh file was 65mb.
To conclude, NWN2 has potential, but for MP builders and gamers like myself, it is incomplete. I've already gone back to NWN1, and will check back in six months to see if some of the issues have been ironed out. Hopefully most of the community won't have lost interest and moved on to the next big thing by then.
Mad World by Tears for Fears (originally); I forget who covered it in this instance.
You get achievements for completing each act of the game at each of the three levels of difficulty, so it's not quite logging in to get one, but you only have to play for an hour or so to start getting them. There's a whole other set of them for multiplayer as well.
I think he should also mention that there is a button command (left shoulder) that allows you to order your AI helpers to be more conservative, more aggressive, or to drop everything and come join you. Although sometimes if they're really in trouble, they'll yell back that they can't make it to you.
It's probably just a bot, but maybe somebody at /. has a sense of humor...
I tried to get our circle of friends into Puerto Rico, but after 1 play-through they unanimously elected to go back to Catan. I think the game takes a bit longer to grow attached to, since the strategies aren't immediately apparent and it provides a ton of choices--too many for the new player, maybe.
Carcassone is a great game that I've used for new players when there isn't enough time for a game of Catan. I've probably taught 15 people to play Catan, and about another 10 to play Carcassone.
These quality games make it hard for me to go back to inane American titles like Taboo or the various singing/acting games where the emphasis is on how stupid you can make your friends behave in a group.
As for you, your post title just leads me to think that you're an asshole. No wonder you post AC.
This post makes the point I was trying to make in a reply earlier in the thread, only much more cogently. Kudos.
I think that the big states SHOULD carry more weight. Why should some guy from Wyoming have 3x the impact with his vote than mine in CA? And people claim that we need to "protect" the "small" states... why? It seems to me that the more populated states seem to give more to the union via taxes and economic output than those big mostly-empty western states. I don't understand why we should encourage politicians to cater to the people in the smaller states, either... what's wrong with trying to "run up" the vote in a big state? Do those voters over 50%+1 just not matter? Why shouldn't their voices be heard?
Well, at the very least let's fix the system so that states get the right number of votes in the electoral college. Wyoming has something like 3x the # of electors per capita than CA, even though it seems otherwise at first glance (I think it's 3 to 53 or something like that).
I think a 360 has a lot more components in it than a NES had. Take out the hard drive and the DVD drive, memory card ports, wireless, etc. and I think you could make a more accurate comparison... and your point about similar components being much cheaper would hold true.
If the games become just derivative spam, then the market will respond. I no longer buy RTS titles, for example, because I've been playing them since Dune 2 (really, since Herzog Zwei for the Genesis) and they have gotten very, very, old for me. Others still enjoy them a lot. Same with FPS titles; I enjoy this genre, but pass on maybe 75% of the "major" releases because I've been there, done that.
All entertainment builds on past innovation, as others have already noted in this thread. If sales go down on the redundant games, and people flock to the few "innovative" titles, then more of those will be made. But it seems like most people are happy with "more of the same"... and having fun!... so that's what is made.
This same conversation has been going on at Ars (and to a slightly lesser degree, here at /.) for months now. The threads are usually fairly amusing but for every useful and informative post there's 10 that are just blind fanboyism. Not that those can't be fun as well...
I think the reason for the fanatic dedication to a particular console brand is the need for consumers to justify to themselves the huge investment they made in their purchase. All of the consoles are expensive, and with a halfway decent selection fo games and accessories you're looking at several thousand dollars invested. Nobody wants to feel as though they made a "mistake", and that the other guy's product might have been the better choice.
When it comes down to it, however, other than a few total bombs in the past, all of the current generations of consoles have a lot going for them, not the least of which includes a ton of quality, enjoyable games. I just wish we could remember that when we engage in these occasional console-wars threads.
If having children was a deliberate choice, rather than the default outcome of sex as designed, then we might be better off.
Bioware's philosophy has always been, "It's done when it's done." Actually refreshing compared to some dev/publisher combos, which will force things out the door half-finished (looking at you, TOEE and KotOR2).
The last two months I've rented 11 and 12 movies respectively with Netflix. Heck, even if I dropped below 5 for some reason I'd probably keep the service, since I used to really hate going to my local video rental stores (most have stopped carrying anything but new releases and a token selection from other categories, and the lines are always long, with only one register open). Netflix isn't perfect but it's a nice alternative to the traditional model.
There's a lot of good games for young kids on the XBox Live Arcade; several of the puzzle games are pretty intuitive and that one where you control the fish eating other fish are pretty basic and easy to control. And you don't have to cough up $60 for each.