Recent content by erethizon

  1. E

    View From the Road: An Axe to Grind, Part 1

    I would say a game becomes a grind the moment you start thinking in terms of how many more opponents you have to kill to get to your next milestone. A good game keeps you entertained enough that it takes you a long time to think in those terms. A bad game causes you to think in those terms...
  2. E

    Arr Pee Gee

    I would say all it means to be a role playing game these days is to have character advancement. If a character can gain levels, skills, etc. then it can be called an RPG. If the only improvement the character ever gets is better items (e.g. new weapons or power-ups) then it cannot be called a...
  3. E

    PCs: Upgrading vs. Getting a new one?

    It mostly depends on how many parts need to be upgraded. If you only need to upgrade one or two things then do so, but if most of the parts are outdated buying a new computer will allow you to upgrade everything at once and you will still have your old computer as a back up in case something...
  4. E

    Voice vs. Choice

    What they need to do is continue to have voice acting for the same parts that they currently have, but if you figure out a way to accomplish the quest that is not the "main" way, you simply get dialogue with no voice acting. They can use voice for the one or two most likely choices that people...
  5. E

    Virtual Property Can Help You Kill Your Wife

    It would probably be to save money in the divorce settlement when the spouse eventually leaves him.
  6. E

    The Needles: You Only Have Yourself To Blame

    Andy is right. If we do not want games with DRM we have to stop buying games that have it. The most complicated DRM I am willing to tolerate is needing to have my CD in the drive and needing offline activation (where you type in the code that comes with the game when you install it, but you do...
  7. E

    The Needles: How Dumb Do They Think We Are?

    It is really a bummer how tolerant gamers are of these things. I refuse to even buy games with DRM features (other than insisting that the disc be in the drive) and the result is I do not buy many games anymore. The last game I bought with DRM is the third splinter cell game (which I purchased...