Well, I'm happy that I finally broke through that barrier.:P

Two more days and I'll reach Level 39.:)

By the way, I've been reading some conflicting posts on Dragon Age: Origins. Some people are posting that 1.04 is the last patch, and I just read a post stating that Patch 1.05 is in the works.

Anyone know which one is true?

As a PC gamer, I really enjoy purchasing games via Digital Download (DD). There are some advantages to this purchasing decision:

1. Patches are automatic...download and run.

2. Saves driving time and the prohibitive cost of gasoline.

3. Game requirements are on-screen, no need to squint to read fine print on the back of the box.:lol:

There are a number of really good vendors to choose from - Impulse, GamersGate, and the EA Store, just to name a few.

But there are also some disadvantages:

1. Publishers haggle too much for their percentage...they allow a vendor to sell a game, yet they cut them off from offering DLCs (2K Games).

2. Having to have an unnecessary program to run if you want to play a game you already paid for and have a License Key (Steam).

3. Having to be signed-in online to earn achievements in a game (Starcraft 2). Even EA/BioWare sees the folly in this - they allow you to earn achievements offline, and you can log-on and upload your achievements at your leisure (Dragon Age: Origins).

I myself am a RAM purist...I don't believe in having extraneous applications running in the background that aren't required by an uber-game's executable.

Thoughts?

I just couldn't believe my eyes...here I am, running Patch 1.04, expecting it to function perfectly, as had all of the others beforehand.

I purchased DA:O from Stardock on Impulse, and of course I have every addition BioWare has developed for the game. Patches are automatic, like Steam.

One of the file writes failed, so the patch stopped. I booted DA:O, and Oh. My. God. Every single addition under "Downloadable Content" was now marked either "Unauthorized" or "Disabled".

A typical computer operator's nightmare...ARGH!

Thinking quickly, I decided to uninstall Dragon Age, then do a reinstall (which would be 1.04).

It worked. Once I logged-in to the DA:O servers, everything was back to normal - all additions authorized and re-enabled.

Even with cable broadband and fast downloads, I still find it tiresome to sit through; however, I'm glad I cultivated within myself the habit of doing so.

It pays to watch your machine when downloading, installing, or patching.:P

I'm not bragging or anything of the sort, but I have declined quite a few union invitations during my three years here, but that is because they were for games I didn't have, or because the union was based on hardware I don't have.

Doesn't make much sense for me to join a Wii-based union, for example, if I don't own one.:P

I joined the Decision-Based Gaming union because I really enjoy WRPGs that have decisions within the storyline that you have to make, and which cause the game to branch to different directions.

So I'm somewhat curious. What was the deciding factor that caused you to join a union?

Like everyone else, my PM Counter doesn't increment from "zero" no matter how many unread PMs I have.

A temporary workaround - go to a union homepage. I've gone to one union I'm a member of, and when I do, my PM Counter then displays how many new PMs are in my Inbox.:)

Bioware has made it very plain that you get the sword Blightblood (in both Awakenings and the Main Game) when you complete Darkspawn Chronicles.

I got the sword all right, it was available when I started Awakenings immediately after finishing the Chronicles. So where's the glitch?

It happens when you get to the tunnels under the Wending Wood.

[spoiler] Once you escape you have to fight Experimental Subjects to get your gear back. My other three members got their gear back, but there wasn't an Experimental Subject with my gear. Later on, I noticed my character had a sword shaped like Blightblood still on his back, but the inventory still read darkspawn weapons, and I didn't have the armor and other items I had prior to going underground. Also, the chest next to Armaas at the end did not have the rest of my Inventory, only the plot items. [/spoiler]

So Darkspawn Chronicles is not compatible with Awakening. I even reloaded a saved game and the same thing happened again.

Edit: My character was a dwarf commoner rogue, with Dual Weapons maxed-out (main-hand weapon in each hand).

Finally *whew* I'm "Wicked Sick!":P:lol:

It took me seven & a half months to go from Level 20 to Level 30. What do you think - is that quick, about right, or slow? This could have happened a couple of weeks earlier, but I lost some time due to having to wait for a new Desktop PC to be delivered, plus I lost a few days while in the hospital.

Overall I'm fairly pleased with my progression here at Gamespot: I've gone up 22 Levels in just a single year, and I've reached the 3-year point in my Gamespot membership.

I've been quite pleased with what I've experienced thus far: I've met some really great people on this website, I've got a strong Friends List as well, and I really like the people that are on it.

I've also had a grand time on the GS Forums - namely OT and the DBG Union - and I must say I've enjoyed posting with some really deep thinkers. I have also been impressed with the quality of the blogs my friends have written in the past 12 months.

Plus I GOT SPAZZED!! :lol: Spazz and Solidruss got me with their prank, but I enjoyed it.:P

I'm looking forward to the next 12 months, but I certainly won't repeat my latest performance - no way I can achieve another 22 Levels - the percentages I can earn have dropped dramatically.:cry:

Wow....Level 30 and my 3rd anniversary....I wonder if Jody will surprise me with a present (5,000 points with a ribbon?):lol: (just joking around, Jody):P

For those of us who have served, we have certain traits within ourselves: a love of country, honor for our flag, but above all a reverence for a living document - without which our nation could not endure - the U.S. Constitution.

The Constitution is deeply intertwined within the Armed Forces: so much so that every member must take a binding oath before God, to "support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic." That oath is not to be taken lightly. If it was broken, that would mean prosecution and a jail sentence.

There are some individuals on one side of the political spectrum who have a stated desire to see the Constitution abolished. If that were to occur, then this nation would be utterly destroyed. Ponder for a moment what is within this unique document:

1. The framework of our Federal Government.

2. The Separation of Powers.

3. The Bill of Rights.

If the Constitution were abolished, then we would no longer have individual rights: one could be arrested simply for assembling or voicing an opinion. Anarchy and chaos would be the rule.

So what would be the unthinkable? If the Constitution were ever in danger of being abolished, then it is nearly a certainty that the U.S. military would have to step in and take full control.:o

Sounds a little scary, doesn't it? The oath must be fulfilled, it cannot be abrogated. Well, if this occurred, we wouldn't have a general at the top giving orders: no, what would happen is first and foremost the President would be protected by the military - that ensures the Executive Branch is kept intact.

Insofar as would be humanly possible, the higher members of both the House and the Senate would be also protected, as well as the Supreme Court justices. The main thrust of this would be in keeping with the oath: the framework of our Federal Government would be maintained at all costs.

Sound somewhat farfetched? Not really, because there are some who want our Constitution dissolved, abolished, never to return. That will not happen, not as long as we have people who are honor-bound to protect our most cherished rights. I, for one, thank God we have them.

Consider this as well: those that guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier never leave their post. One day not so long ago, a hurricane was heading towards Washington: the Guard was told they could evacuate the area. They refused to abandon their post. If we have such reverence for our honored dead, how much more for our nation's cherished rights?

If you venture into the System Wars forum, on nearly any day of the week you can find a thread about which console is better. Sometimes these very same threads will go on to postulate that either or both consoles outperforms the PC.:P:lol:

The cardinal question that is being overlooked here for both machines is: "What is inside the casings?"

The answer is obvious: modified old PC parts.

We'll begin with Mainboard RAM. PS3 = 256 MB, 360 = 512 MB. PC (32-bit) = 2 - 4 GB, (64-bit) = 8 GB or more. Right off the bat I can state that the executables for console games are of a necessity much much smaller than their PC counterparts.

Omg, the PC intro cinematic for The Witcher is almost half a gigabyte.

Let's move on to Graphics Chips, or GPUs. The Xbox uses an ATI Xenos. Developed under the codename "C1", it is in many ways the precursor to the R600 Desktop PC graphics card series. The R600 is the foundation of the Radeon HD 2000 and 3000 GPUs. Those are old cards.

The PS3 uses a nVidia/SCEI RSX, which in reality is a modified GeForce 7800 GTX. A decent GPU upon release, outperformed its 6-Series counterparts. However, this is what kept me from upgrading from a PS2, because my PC at the time had a 7800 GTX: I saw no need in purchasing duplicate hardware.

The 7800 is a 5-year-old GPU. Install this GPU into any Vista or Windows 7 PC, and you lose the following: Direct-X 10 & 11; Phys-X recognition; Cuda; PureVideo (the list goes on). The 7800 can see only DX 9.0c and older.

Let's look at Dragon Age. Recommended requirements for the PC is an 8800 GTS, a DX 10 GPU. The graphics were undoubtedly trimmed down quite a bit so they could be displayed on the 360 and PS3.

Let's look at Prototype. The PC Version was hailed by Gamespot as maintaining a high framerate even in full-on melee combat. Match the number of tanks, soldiers, helicopters (all firing at you), plus monsters and people fleeing the scene, and you will have framerate slowdowns on the consoles.

The 360 and PS3 were fine upon release; however, they are a bit long in the tooth at the age of five years.:)

I purchased seven uber-games this year, listed by release:

The Dark Eye: Drakensang

World in Conflict (CE)

Demigod

Prototype

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

Borderlands

Dragon Age: Origins

Worst of 2009 - Demigod, hands down. No background story, no tutorial. Either practice and die quickly, or try to go online and die quickly.:lol: Granted, the first try of any new game is the most difficult, but Gas Powered Games engineered a disaster in my opinion. Gamespot was generous to award this a 6.5 rating.:P I would venture to say place it in an unmarked grave alongside Stalin vs. Martians.:P:lol:

Most Difficult to Play would go to Call of Juarez. Wave upon wave of NPCs, nary a respite to be found. At least in Bioshock there were areas where you could walk and take a breath or two: not in Call of Juarez.

Most Stable Framerate: Prototype. I admire Activision for this. You could be in the center of a street choked with NPCs, tanks, and helicopters all firing at you, yet the framerate remained steady and playable. But this was only on Vista. Sadly, XP users endured a raft of bugs and glitches.

Most Innovative (Programming) goes to Dragon Age: Origins for their NPC AI. The interpersonal relationships were extremely well-done. Bioware even programmed for a player who chose to romance more than one person. That was a handful - I found myself having to load a saved game several times.:P:lol:

Most Innovative (Genre) goes to Borderlands for making a RPS. I thoroughly enjoyed this game, but I found myself wishing for a NPC companion in single-player mode. Respawning enemies made the going a bit rough at times.

Best of 2009: An easy choice to make - Dragon Age gets the ticker-tape parade. I liked everything about this game, although Bioware needs to fix the slow loading of new areas, which becomes progressively worse the longer you play. The interim fix is to exit and restart the game.