LightofAbraxas

[quote who="kenata" reply="36" id="2909697"] You have a definite point here, but there is another side of this picture that many of us seem to neglect during these types of discussions. The amount of people who played Baldur's Gate is relatively small compared to the amount that will play Dragon Age 2. The fact is that the gamers that have a long history with the RPG genre are slowly being outnumbered by newer gamers who simply do not have a large set of experience with which to compare.

[quote]Again, just a folk theory of an industry that I don't really know anything about, so take it for what it's worth.[/quote] And... [quote]I'm sure that EA sees it that way, but how many times have we seen companies get into trouble when they get big and successful and then forget what got them there in the first place?[/quote] I'm not really sure? How many times have we seen this (and I'm actually being serious here)? I think what it comes down to is: what are gam

*drools* Skyriiiiim. The way I look at it G_DA is (and this might be totally off-base, but...) that Bioware spends the time when they really need to and will get the greatest returns in the long run. Baldur's Gate was a great series because they weren't just selling that game, they were selling a genre to a market that had kind of forgotten about them. They spent lots of time with ME 1 and DA:O because they weren't just selling those games, but were selling the series. Granted, I thou

Yeah, it's finished, fairly interesting, and different than the few other games in the genre. But... it's kind of strategy-lite. It doesn't really have much character and ambience, either. It's good if you want a quick fix without thinking too hard. That said, the sequel should be a good deal better from everything we've seen, and buying now will get you a discount on it.

[quote who="ssantillan79" reply="22" id="2908734"]are u telling me i paid 40 bucks for a fucking beta??? [/quote] We're telling "u" that it's a temporary beta series transitioning from 1.1 to 1.2. Honestly, I don't understand how people get upset about this when you have to go through a multi-step process to enable the "Show Pre-release Versions" option in Impulse to even get the beta release and then are surprised that it's a beta. You can obviously read, guy.

[quote] Also, traits spawned by adventures - i.e. if you read more than ten books (Whether they be for experience, charisma, etc.) you get a "well read" trait that gives you 2x bonuses from books, or spawns rarer books if that hero finds another cache. So instead of getting a +1 attack book, being well read they'd find the +2/4/8 attack book. Or if a hero has come close to dying several times, making them "battle hardened". My contest entry is already locked in, but these are some basic trait

Ahh! This is good to hear, but I have to say that after Empire, I have very little trust that the published recommended system specs will yield halfway decent performance. One to put on the list for about 2 years from now, at least.

Edit: Lol! Ok, I'll just assume that it's not a representative sample, then. And I agree that the re-use of animations makes sense.

Here's a random question... who is the snake lover on the design team? I count three variations on that list. Not that that's necessarily bad, just... a bit repetitive, maybe?

I wonder if Essence will operate such that powerful spells can use it as upkeep (static, not per turn) or instantaneous spells can cause a temporary hit to it with the stat bonus adjusting accordingly. Now that I think about it, my guess would be yes to the first and no to the second if it operates like the other stats in the xml. Still, I really like this. I'm very glad that it's making a comeback.

[quote who="AlLanMandragoran" reply="21" id="2905481"]This guy's hypothesis needs to be judged on its own merits and either validated or debunked. Ad hominem attacks should be avoided. A broken clock is right twice a day after all. Maybe I'm missing it but I haven't seen anything debunking his hypothesis - just attacks on his credibility, the journal's credibility, the fact NASA isn't standing behind him, or elitist scientists dismissing the hypothesis of someone unworthy of their time.

Fantastic! Thanks for all your hard work on the game. I'm especially excited for the return of essence as a "true" stat.

[quote]What if the adventure tech was replaced by a contextual "lore" tech - players can find ancient scrolls / tablets / whatever from dungeons and quests and then bring them back to the city. The lore screen would then display all collected items, and the research progress on each item - each item (or perhaps a collection of items) would reveal possible hidding locations for ancient relics once fully researched. Ancient relics would be objects of great power (think The One Ring,

[quote who="Alstein" reply="4" id="2902525"]One idea off the top of my head would be to tie the number of heroes you can have to CHR. Heroes would have an insubordination rating. Insubordination of all heroes cannot exceed Sovereign's Charisma. Having heirs can decrease insubordination of heroes under them, but increases the odds of your heir revolting against you, with those heroes. [/quote] Wow, good idea!

[quote]Because this thread lacks a definition (value statement) about what science can or should produce?[/quote] Fair enough. I would suggest that a good working definition of 'works' in this context to be: "Produces things that are widely used and would not be available without it." That said, I didn't mean for this thread to be a debate on the merits of the scientific method. But I won't be upset or offended if anyone else wants to continue along those lines. *shrug* I just

[quote]To say the scientific method works is questionable.[/quote] I'm sorry, but how do you expect me to take anything you say seriously after this statement? Especially when you're point against would have been my point for? Everything that has come out of any field of engineering? Thank a scientist for discovering the fundamental principles. It's not perfect, and I don't think anyone would suggest it is, but to say that it just doesn't work is silly. And please, spare me th

[quote]For me its about ruined beauty. I want the Empires to flawed, I want them to have an ideology that reflects the world, utilitarian, cruel, effective. I want the Kingdoms to represent the past world, regal and entitled. But most importantly I want to show the flaws in both ideologies. Neither side is right, neither side is "good".[/quote] Best news ever. Are you willing to spill anything about the level of variety within each side?

[quote]It's more a question of what else do you expect us to do? The scientific method is a logical procedure for testing hypotheses, and it does not contain the ability to prove those hypotheses as true. [/quote] Very true. And most importantly, as I'm sure you know, is that it works . And when we're led up a false path through faulty premises, eventually the bottom falls out and the data are re-interpreted as necessary. [quote]It would appear as though our mi

Oh, that is good information to have, thanks.

[quote who="Frogboy" reply="92" id="2901280"]Well in v1.3 the game takes a pretty different course as I'll be the one implementing features directly. So in brief: Tactical AI changes Strategic AI changes No more training of individual units (4 will be the new minimum) No requirement for buildings to build a unit (buidings will enhance units but not be a requirement) FOW will matter more (money generation) Changes in the food/housing/prestig

[quote] I thought it would be a great time for us to share some general tips that we picked up from other Action RPGs.[/quote] I agree! Based on my experience of Diablo 1 and 2, these are my tips. 1. Left click through the character creation screen. 2. Left click to visit the store, and left click x5 to skip through the poor voice acting of the store owner. 3. Left click to walk outside of the first town. 4. Left click x10 on the first mo

[quote who="Frogboy" reply="11" id="2899435"]FE isn't going to just be War of magic + better stuff. It's significantly different. I'm biased but at $20, it's a no brainer. [/quote] Don't let him fool you. As the CEO, he has to fork over about 1.3 mil for EWoM and the two expansions. Of course 20 bucks seems like a good deal to him.

I've never read any of the Game of Thrones books. Would you say that this series is: a. The absolute best in the genre. b. Above average. c. Not worth your time. (Probably not this one, based on your post, huh?)

[quote] I piss off many of my academic friends when I say things like this, but science is every bit as faith-based as Roman Catholicism. It's just the objects of faith that are different. In theistic systems, gods & other mystical beings are objects of faith. In science, we put our faith in the overall goodwill of the research community and our personal committment to rational analysis of reliable data.[/quote] I'm alright with this statement. Most people with that opinion state

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/06/amazon_tribe_sh/ A group of people living in isolation from the rest of the world until very recently has been found not to have recursion in their language. Who cares, right? Well, actually, a lot of experts think that this could be a pretty important finding. I don't think that I'm exaggerating when I say that this puts modern linguistic theory on p