GameBanshee Forums

dragon wench wrote:I suppose.. to be somewhat fair to those reviewers.. If the threat of unemployment hangs over their heads, can we really, truly blame them for writing some of that drivel?

But DW, you're suggesting we feel sympathy for people (not necessarily the writer of the review quoted above, who might just be immature and brainwashed) that knowingly sell lies. I've met some like these at conferences and conventions in the past. They're scum; they brag about all the perks they get for free by agreeing to write positively about things they've never or barely played. Why should I feel bad for such a person? It's like asking me to feel bad for the shyster lawyer who will lie for any client, gets big ads, and represents anybody. As far as I'm concerned, they're finding a new line of business is good for everyone except that new line of business.

I mean, perhaps they went into the gig thinking they could write objective, critical reviews, only to find out that had been deceived. If that's the case.. well we all need to eat.
Plenty of jobs out there require the selling of one's soul in one way or another, and while most of us would prefer to avoid such situations, it's not always possible.

You can always opt out. I won't name names, but back in the 90s one of the magazines (a very well known one, now out of business) I wrote for took one of my reviews and inserted a smaller, very positive review inside it for software I'd never seen. I complained, and was told it wasn't a good idea to feel that way. I told them that it was unethical to put my byline on something I hadn't seen, and while I lost that magazine as part of my paycheck, I've never felt badly about that decision. There are other ways to eat besides selling your body or (as in this case) your soul.

BuckGB was just writing me that you can have very extended conversations with some of the NPCs, which I am truly looking forward to when my copy arrives. Hopefully, the conversation will be worth it.

I just got the call from GameStop about the pre-orders being in. I'll be swinging by to pick it up right after work in the morning, so I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Same for me. GameSpot called today and said that the game is ready for pickup. I think to celebrate, I'll leave my classes early.

So, does anyone have an idea as to what their first character will be? What kind of spells/talents you will focus in? What specializations you will take? What race and origin you will take?

I know I'm going in as a human rogue, but I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to build it up. BG2 was awfully forgiving in that you could be sort of good in all thieving abilities and still scrape by, but what I've heard about DA:O would indicate you've got to plan your build carefully.

I think I'd like to do a stealth-based character, but skill point allocation is still up in the air at this point.

Bah: my copy will be here, Wednesday. Ah, well. It will be interesting to hear the reactions of others, in the meantime.

The rogue seems to be build up quite nicely here since you use cunning for multiple things, such as lock-picking and offense. From what I understand, when you master stealth, you can essentially hide in mid combat, which is very useful indeed. Now, what I'm interested in is the possibility of "backstabbing" with a ranged weapon.

I'd like to try a mage and explore the spell combinations. So far I'm thinking of trying the shapeshifter specialization. From what I gathered, the forms are sustained, so you can only remain in the for a certain period of time. For the second one I'd use an Arcane Warrior, though I'm not sure if the abilities can be used while not in your normal form.

A question about characters: Do we know if any character has more importance to the story than any other? From what I heard, Alistair and Morrigan are considered very important to the story, which, if true, would imply that you should take them both on your first playthrough.

Crenshinibon wrote:Same for me. GameSpot called today and said that the game is ready for pickup. I think to celebrate, I'll leave my classes early.

So, does anyone have an idea as to what their first character will be? What kind of spells/talents you will focus in? What specializations you will take? What race and origin you will take?

Same as every other game. Pure combat tanking all the way.

I absolutely love the concept of warrior mages, so I'll still try to make one despite BioWare saying they'd like to avoid it. I assume you were talking about a warrior, but what of a tank rogue? Since they have high dexterity (bonus to dodge) and the Evasion talent (20% to dodge), it seems that they could take over the tank role pretty well. Essentially, the rogue gains 20% (plus the bonus gained from Dexterity) more life. What I'm wondering is if it's actually possible for a rogue to do more damage than a warrior through the Lethality talent.

Bloodstalker wrote:Same as every other game. Pure combat tanking all the way.

No finesse. Didn't you see in Oblivion that stealth/backstab is the ultimate tactic in these games?

Aqua-chan wrote:No finesse. Didn't you see in Oblivion that stealth/backstab is the ultimate tactic in these games?

Presumably this will be one of those improved Bioware games that don't permit backstabbing with staves.

Which ironically was the best backstab weapon in any of the Infinity Engine games.

Crenshinibon wrote:Which ironically was the best backstab weapon in any of the Infinity Engine games.

Well, it stands to reason, doesn't it? I mean, if someone snuck up behind you, and you noticed, and they had a dirty big staff in their hands, what would you think? "Oh, you're going to backstab me with that dirty big staff, aren't you?" Not hardly!

So you'd turn around, and before you know it, WHAM! for 85 points of damage, and you're lying on the ground. Must have been that tequila you bought off of that gnome, last night.

Not to mention that you're skidding across the room, acting as a pinball each time you hit a wall.

At least your morale is still boosted.