Just picked this up, haven't actually played it yet.

The cashier asked if I wanted the scratch protection plan for $4.  I politely declined.

Because of the increasing complexity of the VvW games, I wanted to make a list of the possible roles and auction house items before the game starts.  If there are some I missed, feel free to add them.

ROLES
Barber: Once per turn, can make a werewolf appear as a normal villager.
Stealth Assassin: Cannot be the target of killings, but only if he doesn't post or vote.
Xanatos: Can kill whomever he wants, but only if he can convince everyone else he didn't want that person dead.
Octopire: Automatically wins the game if all other remaining players have exactly eight letters in their names.
Werepiñata: When this player dies, all other players receive candy!
Garlic Salesman: Immune to vampires, but cannot share victory with the humans because they shun him.
Quadruple Agent: Gets to make his own win condition, but automatically loses if anyone can guess what that condition is.
Tailor: Repairs the werewolves' ripped clothing.  If he's dead, the wolves have to buy all new clothes every morning.
Lunatic: Is made fully aware of everyone's roles as the game begins, but no one believes him.
Fireman: Counters the effects of the Arsonist, and cannot win until he is brought to justice.

ITEMS
Graveyard Duck: Find it to live longer, but tends to waddle off.
Magic Beans: Plant these in your backyard to learn a valuable lesson about trusting strangers.
Macho Brace: Increases the power of fighting type moves.
Cell Phone: Combine this with the Cell Phone Charger in order to call any other player who has a phone.
Raw Steak: Momentarily distracts a werewolf, or can be cooked to create Well Done Steak
Crystal Ball: Used to bash skulls.
Baby Alligator: Cute now, but after several turns it will grow up and eat you.
Nintendo DS: Makes everyone else playing vaguely uncomfortable as you need everything repeated to you because you're not paying attention to the damn game.
Water: You need to drink this every day or you die of thirst.  There is a 1 in 100 chance that the water is infected with Cholera and will kill you.

So it has come up in other topics that people don't particularly trust game reviews.  I say "people" as a particular subset of the internet that may be particularly paranoid, and may or may not include people here.  The most extreme views from these people state that game reviews are bought and paid for by those who produce the game, and in return they get a very favorable score.

I know such an opinion pisses Sharkey right the fuck off.  I can't blame him, since I wouldn't want anyone to claim that everyone in my profession is a corrupt, money-grubbing asshole, whatever profession that may be.

This may have been part of the reason for Sharkey's new whiteboard, which talks about making reviews and the potential for bias.  I think it sort of ignores the elephant in the room, however, of reviews being monetarily influenced.  Sharkey mentions the potential bias of reviewing games created by people you are friends with, but I don't think that ever comes up as a concern for people.  Maybe from inside the industry, the idea of buying game reviews is ridiculous, while having favorable bias for a friend's game is very real.  It's just that from the outside, the opposite seems more likely.

In my opinion, something as rash as buying favorable game reviews IS ridiculous, no company could ever count on cooperation from the media, and the potential for bad publicity could be devastating.  I do think bias for big-budget games can creep in unintentionally, but not through direct intervention from the games industry.

I made this point before: I think reviewers will give the benefit of the doubt to the big, popular titles that they may not be willing to give to other titles.  I look at the difference between the reviews of FFXIII and Resonance of Fate as an example.

DISCLAIMER: I am aware that these reviews are written by two different people, and that this may be the main reason for the differing scores!  I also have not played either game, and cannot judge for myself of their relative quality.

Reading the reviews, both games seem very similar: RPGs that take many hours to get into, but afterwards are very rewarding and fun to play.  However, RoF gets a C+ while FFXIII gets an A.  The slow start in Final Fantasy is seen as an acceptable flaw which doesn't impact the greatness of the gem, while the similar flaw in Resonance is seen as an obnoxious hurdle which severely degrades an otherwise great experience.  It would be irresponsible of me to claim there was any conscious decision to rate a game higher or lower for any reason, but it really seems like Final Fantasy got a free pass while Resonance was held at the gate.

Sorry to ramble on like that, I just wanted to illustrate how I think reviews can be unconsciously biased without being corrupt.

Game reviews, what do you think?

POLL IS UP, VOTE NOW NOW NOW

I'm curious as to which webcomics are the most popular here.  I'll never think of every single comic out there on the first try, and I don't want to have to repeatedly alter the list and reset the votes (Froctopoll), so just reply with the names of webcomics you read.  Here are the requirements:

-Must be exclusive to the web, or have originated on it.
-Must still be active (updated in the past month or two)

When the poll goes up, I want you to select every comic you regularly read.  I would say that means that you check for new comics at least once a month.

The Game Informer exclusive on Portal 2 has been leaked.

It's a long read, but pretty interesting to see.  The biggest reveal is that it will be a stand-alone, full priced game, not part of another collection.

Also, they hired Jay Pinkerton, the guy who made those Spider-Man comic edits

I guess it's kinda dumb to post about a game that's not coming out until the end of the year, but oh well.

Oh yeah, if you didn't notice, they changed the ending to Portal 1.  Go check it out or Youtube it.

Since good feelings seem to be permeating the boards lately...

Have a lovely love day, Brontoforumus!

this poll is serious

who should overmoderate this board?

Yeah I think it's time for a new topic.

Even though my highest level character is 53 or something, I might re-up for Cataclysm just to see the redesigned zones.  Way to go Blizzard, you ingenious bastards.

So I'll preface this topic by saying that I kinda hate the Video Game Music thread.  Well, to be more specific, I hate what it's become.  The thread is nothing but Youtube links to seemingly random game tracks.  In a picture dump thread, you can absorb everything by just scrolling through the thread.  In video dump threads, videos are usually posted one at a time so you're not overwhelmed with content to sit through.  In the music thread, I'm presented with three tracks per post from games I've never played, and I don't care enough to check them out.  What's missing is context.  Why is this track significant?  It doesn't have to be an essay, just some info about why this track moved you enough to post it in the thread.

I was inspired last night by Paw's Top 9 Music Moments in Gaming (Old School and New School).  The "story" parts are take-or-leave, and the lists are hit-or-miss, but I like the concept behind them.

Video game music, by definition, does not occur in a vacuum.  Even if the music only plays during a non-interactive cutscene, something is happpening while the track is playing, and that makes the track more significant in your mind.

So I'd like to make this thread about the moments in gaming where the music made the difference.  If you can't find any videos to show the context, just describe it.  It's inevitable that most of these are going to be opening or ending tracks, but that's just how it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv_dd7vPssw

One of the all time greatest intros to a game.  I can't think of a better way to communicate "the game you are about to play is going to fucking rule".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8Ao63nmzuE

Oh, right.  Maybe Capcom did it nearly a decade earlier, but both intros do exactly what they should, and watching them again makes me appreciate how it felt to see them as a kid for the first time.