Haven't taken the black widow perk yet. Normally I max out small guns, science and lockpick-related perks, hit up a couple ranks of intense training, get strong back so I can carry more gear, then start spreading out. But I've recently downloaded a mod that removes the level cap from 20 to infinite (which remains balanced because it also raises enemy levels along with you) so I can get all the perks and max out my skills. There's also additional perk packs I could install, but I'm not to that point yet. I think I'm at level 22 right now in my current game, and I'm only on the beginning of Waters Of Life because I like to do side-quests more than main quests. And yea, never took ladykiller either... seemed like the only thing it could offer me would have been dialog choices and now that you say they're pretty limited anyway, I'll just pass until there's nothing left to take.

Ultimately, I just love that cha-ching money sound every time you kill someone or pick a lock or what have you. When I first capped out at 20 it was way ahead of me completing the game and it felt like half the fun was out of it because I no-longer heard the cha-ching/gained XP. An exploding head just isn't the same without a cha-ching after it. Or the thrill of the level-up music. Or picking a lock before hacking a terminal that unlocks it because you know you'll get more XP.
XP is like a drug to me. lol...
Plus modifications in general have allowed me to even play this game as long as I have. So glad I have it for PC.



lol.. Michael Jackson MMO?
That will be hilarious.

ehh, I can see myself getting into the graphic novel but I feel like I could do without the replica poker chips and cards.

I loved the plot-twist, though.

fair, but they have to give away the crap somewhere. the inclusion of a graphic novel is quite original though and should add a nice layer to the lore of the game.

@FD - i'm playing on pc as well but i never bothered with mods. this time around i maxed out repair first of all, having 100% quality gear at level 8 is pretty awesome.

i also agree about the satisfaction of that 'cha-ching' sound effect with every kill. just like you i'm all about picking a lock before hacking the terminal that controls it. double XP for the win hahaha

playing world of warcraft... trying to get my very first lvl 80 before the new expansion comes out... anyone else play? if so, pm me and maybe we could start new toons together or something.

My boyfriend and my other 2 flatmates have just started playing again and I don't know if I should be ashamed to admit it looks like a really cool/ fun game... But I refuse to get an account. Partly because I have no money and partly because I wouldn't be able to mock them about it anymore.

I've been there. Honestly, though, I did do the free trial because my friend wouldn't get off my ass about it. I never got it...it isn't that fun. It's the same thing over and over. Make some money...go on a quest...make some money...go raid some dungeon...make more money...repeat hours on end. It's not for me. My RPG's need an awesome story and a really fast pace.

i play WoW. it's probably the best game i have played. the gameplay is what does it for me. i mostly just do arenas and battlegrounds. leveling sucks though.

yeah i finally got myself to stop playing the game. it took over my life and thats all i could think about. It is honestly one of the most addicting games i have ever played. man o man

Can. Not. Wait:


The reputation system is going to be awesome. Not to mention Hardcore mode. I was also watching some of the gameplay demos and interviews with Obsidian and I think this is going to be my new favorite game ever.
Oh, and we can GAMBLE IN THE CASINOS! Mini-games ftw. And we'll have faction-based currency instead of simply.. caps.

Hurry up, October!!!
:jailed:

this is EVERY MMO in a nutshell. the appeal is the social aspect and the powers that be who control the MMOs are preying on the superficial competitive nature most people nurture whether they want to admit it or not. there's no winning but there's definite bragging rights when you have a full set of unique gear for a maxed out character, if you're into bragging about virtual accomplishments.

the other angle is the potential for full scale cooperative gaming, which CAN be just as fulfilling as playing on a sports team. when you play with a regular group and everyone works together to progress as a real team through areas and situations where it would be completely impossible to make it through solo there's a very real sense of accomplishment and camaraderie that establishes itself. the game itself is almost secondary.

Holyshitfuckjeezus. That looks even more awesome than I expected. Hardcore mode.... developers taking inspiration from mods! And faction relationships. And EVERYTHING ELSE.

the problem with mods is that the level of expectations for games at this point has elevated the standard for quality far beyond what most individual gamers can handle on their own. for every worthwhile mod released there are hundreds that do nothing besides thoroughly obliterating any sense of balance and challenge or nudity patches.

it's not like the mid / late 90s when a single person or 2-3 friends could whip up something substantial.

how do you think Capture the Flag became a standard in FPS games? there's a reason the original was called 'Zoid's / Threewave CTF' for Quake1. you might have also heard of a little thing called CounterStrike and perhaps Team Fortress. consider how many full game series have been established based on the strength of those two mods. developers have always listened to their modding community, but when 99.9% of the comments are basically 'give me god mode but make it feel like i'm not cheating' or 'BOOBS!!! lololololol' or 'make it more realistic!!!' you can kind of understand why most mod ideas aren't acted upon.

even mods that strive to maintain balance still end up breaking a substantial element of the product. like the mod Freebase was talking about for Fallout3 that removes the level cap. i can definitely understand the appeal and if you've already played through a few times then by all means have fun with it, but from my perspective it still breaks the game. the 20 level limit is not arbitrary, by the time you reach the cap your character should be able to handle any situation its presented with. the point of the limit is to force the player to customize their character to their playing style, it forces an element of uniqueness into the design. if you take that away what do you get? eventually 10 on every stat, 100 on every skill and every perk gets tagged. so what's the point of character customization if you can have every option?

I agree with what you're saying here. But there are some great mods out there, and it's nice to see some of them being incorporated into the game by the developers (even if it's not the first time mods have inspired someone). There are thousands of crappy mods obviously, but no one cares about those except the people who get some kind of joy out of unbalancing their game (or, oh god, nudity mods). Personally I really only look at top mods lists and whatnot, which generally contain some good stuff.

Edit: Also, I guess a lot is personal choice. Being willing to sacrifice a little bit of balance or a feature the game originally had for something cool that someone made up.

I have never paid for WoW and I completely refuse to do so. In 2007, I started playing on my friend Logan's (bitch stole my name lol) account and was hooked. His account ended later that year and I quit playing for 8 or 9 months or so, then my roommate started playing and I used her accoutn for a little while. Right now I'm playing on my brother's account.

that means you are cheap.

In my experience with Fallout 3 mods, there are definitely some mind-blowing mods that are actually worth getting and make you wonder why the game makers didn't incorporate them into it. Take, for instance, Mart's Mutant Mod. Basically, what it does is puts all enemies on a random, sliding scale for size, stats, and physical features. (and adds more enemies) Realism or not, it gets boring when you see the exact same looking enemy with the exact same stats and carrying the exact same weapon a million times over. Good mods correct that, like MMM, so that whenever you're confronted with an enemy more than once, you really don't know if you'll be able to handle the situation in the same way every time. To me, that adds more to the game and does everything BUT unbalance it.

As far as other mods, there are thousands out there.. a lot of them really just add more playability to a game you've been playing for a long time. Like new land mods, mods that add new quests, beautification mods that fix the way people look so they're more natural, mods that improve textures in the worldspace, house mods, weapon mods... These things are meant to improve the game in a lot of different ways... it's what you use that defines your gameplay.
To think that the end product of a game couldn't use some modifications is like saying XP never needed any service packs. It worked as an OS, but there was a lot of shit wrong with it in the beginning. You get my drift.

i have tried fallout 3 but i don't think i gave it quite a fair shake. after hearing all this praise i might get new vegas. how often do you guys use VATS?

apparently they are making a new donkey kong sidescroller for wii!

I used vats a lot when I first started playing, but after a while you don't really need it as much. As far as Fallout 3 is concerned, at first you'll need a good condition 32 cal. hunting rifle for any kind of long range shooting, then you should get the 308 sniper rifle after a while. If you focus on building small gun skills, you're pretty much invincible to raiders and super mutants when you're crouching hidden and scoring criticals right in their heads. Vats kind of becomes moot after you're comfortable with shooting "from the hip" so to speak.

i was wondering because it really seems to take you out of the action. i assume it's more exciting/fun to aim yourself.

Well even using the Pipboy takes you out of the action, but that's all part of the RPG area of what half the game is about. It's more about strategy than run 'n' gun. Although you can certainly run 'n' gun if you know what you're doing. The point is that there is a choice. You'll be successful at either, depending on how you like to play.

I played the hell out of Borderlands, and was told Fallout 3 was similar and have been dying to try it out.

BUT FIRST! Madden 11 is out, but I plan on picking up FIFA 11 first, which is out the 28th.
FIFA 10 is one of the greatest sports games I have ever played. The multiplayer blows my mind. I'm not even much of a soccer fan, but this game is so damn classy.

Borderlands and Fallout are totally different in many ways (art style, humor, etc) but they are the same in a couple ways (both have level up systems, have big open worlds, quests, etc.). They're both completely terrific games, though.

And on that note, I'm definitely getting that new Borderlands DLC on the 28th.

Right now I'm playing alot of Left for Dead 2, first game I've really gotten into in a LONG time.

Civ ****ing v!

Also SC2 and a dash of minecraft.

this is like saying Gran Turismo and Burnout are pretty similar because you race cars in both. while i enjoy both games i have a clear preference.


@KL - how's Civ5? i'm anxious but i'm going to postpone it because i've got other game purchases on the horizon (GH6 next week / RB3 and Fallout next month). i'm quite curious about how not being able to stack units changes the flow of the game. i was never much for building hordes of units so i'm hoping it lends itself more towards my style of passive development.

@FD - that MMM mod definitely sounds worthwhile. randomizing the features of the enemies would definitely add a fresh feel to the game. same as higher quality textures, but there's a reason those aren't always shipped in the final title. there's only so much development time to be used and the product needs to run on some pretty low end machines (relatively speaking). the amount of extra work to implement higher quality graphics might not seem like much but it's an extra layer of work for exhausted developers, that would still need to be approved by the publisher first, then tested, then the PR people have to work overtime to soothe the 360 owner's egos when they inevitably start having a fit at the fact that other versions of the game now look WAY better than theirs as opposed to just marginally better.

it's a WHOLE lot easier to leave it to the smart modders who'll look at the product and chuckle then whip out the higher quality assets for those who've got the know how and the systems to handle them.

though i don't think the OS analogy quite works, as there's exponentially more functionality and use to be addressed in an OS than a game but i do get your drift. it's more like getting a plate of spaghetti and either eating as is or adding some Parmesan cheese. unless it's rushed out the door to meet contractual obligations games are pretty much finished products that could use but don't necessarily need improvements.

Yeah, I'm cheap as hell... almost seems like I'm Jewish.

Well, I've been playing little simple girly games haha. I like things like Diner Dash, Farm Frenzy etc.

I've heard Minecraft is really fun- think a few friends have been starting up games. Would you recommend?

Also Thrice, Borderlands and Fallout 3 really aren't similar that much. I guess they both could be called RPG-FPS hybrids but Borderlands leans way more to the FPS side while Fallout 3 leans way more to the RPG side. Personally I think Fallout 3 is a much greater game in terms of style, story and general feel and I'd definitely recommend as long as you're not just looking for a straight up shooter, but Borderlands is way fun for what it is (till you get to the ending. That just sucked balls (Course the Fallout 3 one did too. I really need Broken Steel)).

Playing Shadow of the Colossus for a second time. The OST is too good, sometimes I just don't want to kill the big beasties. In terms of bosses, this game has it wrapped, just fun interactiveness and hair pulling goodness if you fail to properly hold onto the Colossi.

I played WoW for a few months a couple of years back. It's nice as an immersive form of escapism and the social teamwork aspect is cool. But I found that the game itself became pretty repetitive with its endless quest/harvest/raid/loot cycle.


I've been pretty busy, but I've found a few hours each week to indulge in Thief 3 and it's unlike any game I've played before. It's somewhat unique in that sound really plays a crucial role (I certainly can't listen to music while playing). And the atmosphere is neat too... there's nothing like creeping through eerie primordial caves and clubbing pagans over the head.

I've been laptopping it so far, but I'm saving the last couple of levels for when I build my new desktop in a couple of days :p:

Civilization 5

that is all.

yes and no. You will find that large portions of your life will be missing and you are not quite sure where the went because that game is so addicting. The guy who made it is making over 100K a day and it's still in Alpha. It also is viral as hell right now. But just be aware, once you pick it up it's hard going back

i just got it too. these tutorials are mind numbingly boring. i think i should just dive in...

I'm playing Left 4 Dead 2. Pretty fun game.

absolutely! is this your first Civ or something?

i wouldn't bother with a tutorial unless you need guidance on a particular aspect. though i'd rather just run a game on the easiest difficulty and figure things out from there.

having to research a particular tech rather than building transport ships so military units could cross water is the biggest twist i've noticed so far, though i haven't made it past the middle ages in any playthrough yet.

I'm totally waiting up for the new Borderlands add-on to come out.

me toooooo. I'm addicted.

Currently, I'm on a Champions of Norrath and Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 kick.

http://kilobyte.com.br/games/wp-cont...orrath_ps2.jpg