rtl42

hah, what an idiot. (but it's not only him, the guy in the blue shirt on the far left also didn't clear a single hurdle. what the hell was that tournament, anyways?)

speaking of vanguards in ME2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3C8oT4SQ-U

this was "trending" when i checked youtube just now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWmVrfjDCyw&feature=aso

that's true, i had forgotten about the alignment system in Planescape (as in, it actually kept track of certain actions like ME morality). and Baldur's gate also had "reputation", but that basically boiled down to whether you got caught breaking the law or beating up innocents lol.

just out of curiosity, in your experience, what other games have this kind of "decision" system (and which ones implement it well)?

i'm just curious, actually. persuasion checks in ME1 were easy to check and know quantitatively because it was based on how many points you had in your Charm/Intimidate bar; ME2 doesn't have that, and instead has the morality ratio system, so it'd just be nice to know. Of course, if it's too hard, then I won't bother -- and it's not like I've had any problems with managing morality points. btw, was there ever any talk of *not* having a morality system when you worked at Bioware? sometimes i wonder why they bothered. i don't feel like Dragon Age is any worse for not having a morality system, for example. and even the fact that the end game can change (i.e. you can get punished) for not playing a certain role-playing style seems if not unfair, then at least a bit harsh.

mike: just in case you don't see it, there should be another PM for you. gabe: nooo so difficult to verify maybe on another playthrough, i'll screw around with the setparagon/setrenegade binding.

oh and in case you also ignore your PMs, Mike: please check your PMs!

right sorry, i didn't mean to come off sounding like the idea that it's a ratio is unbelievable, but rather, I have a hard time understanding how "points currently obtainable" is defined. (and since you worked on ME2 at Bioware for a little bit, i was hoping i could ask you for a bit of clarification, "mod non-disclosure agreement" :P ) One post I saw somewhere out there on the internet said something like this: whenever you "open" a new area, the game adds all possible paragon/renegade points obtainable in that area to your morality ratio denominator. However, this doesn't really seem that clear to me -- for example, when I land on Omega the first time, which areas have I "opened", for the purpose of determining points obtainable? You might say, "well obviously, it's wherever you can get morality points from actions/conversations in Afterlife and the shops around it," but the problem is that certain conversations in those areas (and hence, obtainable points) become available only after completing/triggering other game events (e.g. finishing either of Mordin's or Garrus' dossiers triggers the Patriach assignment; completing the mission on Horizon causes the salarian Ish to instantiate the next time you land on Omega), so are the points obtainable in these "later" actions/conversations factored in? Likely not -- so what I'm wondering is, where do you draw the line; or put differently, is it "geographical" boundaries that must be crossed, or is it actually "event" boundaries that must be crossed, to trigger a new incrementation of your morality ratio denominators? Actually, an even better example is the Normandy, itself. So many conversations/actions take place, there, yet all of those morality points that you could get couldn't possibly be incremented once you step onboard the first time. It's only reasonable for it to be event triggers; but from what (perhaps little) I've read, no one has even offered this kind of criticism to the explanation of how your morality ratio is calculated. ------------------------------------ In other news: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/12/13/the-wind-is-no-longer-at-voyagers-back/

ME3 trailer looks kinda cool (although it's not like it was terribly surprising) but i get the feeling we're actually not gonna see/explore much of Earth in ME3. oh hey Gabe speaking of Mass Effect, do you happen to know the "official"/actual way that the morality score is calculated in ME2? People on the Bioware forums (and elsewhere) say it's a ratio of your paragon (renegade) points obtained with the "total" paragon (renegade) points "obtainable"; the problem is, i haven't seen any clear explanation on how this "total points obtainable" denominator is calculated, in-game, so i have a hard time believing what people say. Yuan, did you get my PM?

BBCS2 announcer is so terrible.

chikakute, shitashikute, SOUKAN (rape each other?) rofl edit: oh wait it's also a word in japanese, i see lol.

incidentally, is what Conan was saying true (about the "taiwanese animators")?

?_?

Nigel: sokuon is (probably) too academic, so it wouldn't come up unless the people you asked were particular about their vocabulary. incidentally there's a short write-up about it here: http://www.jekai.org/entries/aa/00/no/aa00no01.htm byuu: feel free to ask any time! (although based on what Mike said, I take it you already know how to read some form of "kanji"?)

may i be of assistance?

hey did you guys see this one: http://beta.ca.news.yahoo.com/arsenic-eating-bacteria-opens-possibilities-alien-life.html

so why not just go to the other character subforum? that's what i've always done -- open thread, search "Baiken", see what comes up. i can't say it felt inefficient or underdeveloped, but maybe that's just me.

they spelled jun'ichi wrong.

i like how it took a kinda RTS turn at around 3:30 lol. also it's funny how i can actually read and understand the chinese at the end, except i'm not exactly sure what 和友好 means (平和 + 友好 ?)

lol did anyone else see this http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/101126/oddities/spain_sun_offbeat

how cold is it over there, now?

^ was that really necessary actually don't answer that; my point is, please stay on topic.

man up, bro.