Jettoki

I haven't run into a single problem trying to play this game. Granted, my computer is currently 'the best' you could hope to assemble, so most of the technical issues other people seem to have are nonexistent.

Most of the criticism I hear directed at this game stem from a misunderstanding about how the controls work or how orders are meant to be issued to your party members. A lot of people don't realize that your third mouse button lets you drag the camera angle - driving camera mode is the only mode with issues right now, and 1.03 will fix that. Other people think the AI sucks, because they don't realize you're supposed to pause relatively often to issue orders in combat. Some people aren't even aware of the 'broadcast command' menu, which is crucial to keeping your party in order.

But man, NWN2 is easily the best RPG I've played since BG2, and I'm starting to think it really surpasses even that. The graphics are beautiful, if your machine can handle them. The characters are some of the best any D&D game has ever seen, and the story is very lengthy and compelling. To be truthful, I was expecting EITHER a short, high quality game OR a long, middling quality game. Well, I think I'm pushing 60 hours now, and it just keeps getting better and better.

You would have to be demented not to snap it up for $25.

You're entitled to your opinion, but not everyone hates EQ2.

You may find the game boring, but I guarantee you it's more interesting than reading pointless, biased articles like this one.

Anyone who finds this "sad" or indicative of some problem in America is just envious of the kid. At 8 years old, I was playing games much more violent than Halo, and I sucked at them. I'm not sure how his situation is worse than mine, and I got a full scholarship to my school.

So congratulations to Victor, who is probably the first 'athlete' to earn a paying contract before graduating elementary school.

To #1:
Presentation does not determine the weight or depth of a saga. Generally speaking, the grittier a series presents itself, the more heavy-handed and hopelessly pretentious it becomes. Take for example Final Fantasy. FFIX had by far the most mature plot and characters out of the series, but it presented itself very lightly and thereby avoided taking itself *too* seriously.

Compare with FFVIII or FFX: these games are shallow by comparison, but they "seem" more realistic because of the art. Given the option, I always choose FFIX over these two, because at its heart, it is so much more genuine.

This is why I still watch the campy old 80s D&D cartoons, but D&D: The Movie is growing cobwebs on my shelf.

Cindy Yans from Computer Games Magazine. I've always enjoyed her reviews.

That was the best show ever. I will do The Mario all I freaking want, man. Get a sense of humor. >_

Wow, how ridiculous that Vanguard:SOH wasn't even a finalist alongside this junk. The obvious reason is that these developers prepared exclusive interviews with the game sites, whereas Sigil simply demonstrated their game to anyone who came by their booth.

I watched Gamespot's coverage of Age of Conan. It looked polished, but buggy and rather dull. The interview consisted of about three sentences repeated over and over and over. Meanwhile, Gamespot gave all of 5 minutes to Vanguard, and Jeff Butler spent those minutes tripping over himself trying to answer questions in that limited amount of time.

So I guess we know which game site we can count on for unbiased coverage.

There's a lot of speculation surrounding this move, but the reality is that Sigil saw a chance to grab the IP rights for Vanguard and did so. They entered into a co-production deal with SOE, but they maintain all rights to the property, and SOE will have no hand in development. SOE will be marketing the game and providing server support; that's pretty much it. Sigil now has MORE freedom in terms of plotting the overall course of develop.

In short, this is a very, very Good Thing.