Recently I wrote a small list on one of my Gamespot friend's blogs of blog posts I don't respond to which included things like, music I don't listen to, videos, games I'm not interested in and things of that nature. It seems I have to append that list and add to it this Giant Bomb crap. In fact I'm I'm putting out a general order along with it and here's why...

For the most part I don't care if you plan on moving to another website and in fact, those of you outside of the ROF (coincidentally if you don't know what the ROF is, it's an easy way to tell you're on the outside) really won't bug me if you decide to leave.

You guys forget that this is a community and if you don't like things around here then it's partially up to you to change them. If you don't like the people that flood the General Game Discussion topics with 500 posts about "Sephiroth is the coolest vilian ever and he can cook a mean falafel too" start reporting them and they'll be taken care of. If you feel like you have a good group of friends with similar interests create your own board or union, don't like Gamespot's reviewers than find user reviewers you agree with... or if you want to bounce around from site to site because they're newer well I guess that's well within your rights too.

But I don't care if you leave and don't be offended if I remove your name from my list so that I can keep track of blogs of people that are staying around a bit easier.

And now for something a little bit different.

~The Creative Writing Union~

I started this union or just a bunch of posters from here that want to get people to preview their writing whether it's for reviews and editorials for this site or Fan-fic, short stories... anything in words you'd like people to look at and tell you how you're doing. There's a small amount of us so far and it's off to a slow start so I'm extending the invites to anyone on my friend's list that would be interested in such a thing. It's pretty much a free flowing union and any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

We already have a few stories up, a script for a tv show, some poetry and an editorial. I don't believe in just mass inviting people because I know how annoying that can be so if you're interested you can just leave me a comment or PM me.

Well first off I have to say I was surprised by the responses to my last blog that made the Soapbox. A good, mellow discussion followed with mods, Gamespot Staff and a bunch of users all giving their two cents with hardly any incidents. I am aware that a few posts were moderated and I wish I was able to see them before they were moderated but... It shows that there are a bunch of posters here that think a few things should be changed and who know what effect this will have if any on the way this site works.

Anyways my main purpose of this blog is to rant about a game that I'm experiencing a Love/Hate relationship with.

Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer.

In this expansion, Obsidian does a great job of picking up the momentum where the base game leaves off. I've only played through the first chapter but I already see an interesting supporting cast starting to play out, I've been introduced to a play mechanic that no other RPG has done before and there is enough nods to the original main quests to make me smile like a nerd inside.

The game mechanic is the Spirit Meter that looms over the left hand of my screen like a ticking time bomb. Now many people have complained about this because it turns an RPG into a frag fest but only if you let that meter dictate the way you play. You see, the meter counts down if you don't eat souls or forget your hunger during a 24 hour period. If you decide to eat souls, which you can only do 10 times a day, you turn into a "soulhead", or a being so dependent on devouring spirits that your soul meter decreases quicker. If you chose to forego the hunger which you can once a day, you get a very short reprieve which is like putting a band aid on a bullet wound.

Either way it's a lose - lose situation and all the NPC's you talk to will remind you that you're pretty much S.O.L. So my character with his death sentence is stuck searching for a way to get rid of this curse and is sent on a ton of missions that promise to give me information or solutions. I actually like the urgency it places on the game and like I said before, I'm not letting the game dictate the way I play. My character is still a Chaotic Evil character that will take advantage of a situation if the opportunity presents itself.

However that's where my main complain comes from. My character is a Rogue/Shadowdancer able to spot traps, unlock doors, summon shades and disappear at the drop of a hat so that he can sneak attack his enemies. Utilizing his skills, he's a formidable support character when there's a warrior ****to absorb all the damage. However the way Mask of the Betrayer plays out, I have no control over the character ****s of the party members that tag along.

So far there's a wizard, a shaman, another rogue and a cleric. Wizards and shaman are great back up characters but when they are thrust into battle because my character needs to sneak attack foes to be of any use, it tends to drop the life expectancy of these magic users to roughly 13 seconds. It seems the cleric fairs a bit better in battle but still clocks in around 20 seconds of life while the extra rogue, a very interesting character, is absolutely useless, making the game very difficult to advance far without constant reloads and an overhaul of tactics.

So I've decided to take control of the magic users in the group and summon as many beasts, creatures and allies as they can to act as damage sponges and decoys. This tactic works wonderfully and makes the screen explode with the chaos of battle. Spells are flying, summoned elementals, shades, dire animals and planatar warriors all assisting my party and foes are dying. The problem is that since this is D&D, I can only cast these spells a couple times a day so then my other choice to have the mages cast spells to transform themselves into creatures when they've depleted their spells. My one Wizard becomes a Frost Giant or Horned Devil while another supporting character turns herself into a Hulking something-or-other. Unfortunately these spells do wear off and I'm left with party members that are absolutely useless unless I have them rest to regather their spells...Which would be great except for that ticking time bomb on the side of the screen.

That's my dilemma and the reason I'm enjoying and also hating this game. It assumes you've picked a warrior ****or that you like to micromanage 3 other mages during the tide of battle and forces you to play that way. I have to save and reload often and I'm wondering if I even make it to where I'm about to get rid of this curse, if my character will have enough strength to complete the inevitable battle once that time comes.

I'd hate to play a 20 hour game only to find out I can't win unless I open up the console commands or start over again with a different **** That's not my idea of fun.

Just what Gamespot needs, another person spouting the impending doom of this website as we know it. No I'm not upset because some editors left, I'm not questioning integrity or weighing how much is left or even care if this place does exchange reviews for cash. I'm upset because there's a thriving forum community looking to improve this place and member's eager to stick around to make a difference.

This upsets me because it's being relatively ignored by the powers that be at Gamespot.

Sure you toss out some emblems our way to keep us calm and make it look like we're being rewarded for our time and contributions but when's the last time you actually listened to us? When's the last time you actually spent time talking to us to get input and maybe some constructive criticism? Who actually is in charge now that could make a difference and do they even care?

Here are some suggestions that every user on this site could probably get behind.

1. Growing Up Gamespot: On the most popular personal networking sites and blogging communities, people come together from all walks of life and from various age groups for the ability to discuss or rant about anything they like this side of porn and hate speeches. Now I'm not asking Gamespot to become the next Facebook or Myspace, but just how relevant is a website that deals with videogames of all forms where I can't even type the word %^&* even though it's commonly used in many of the games you cover and advertise all over the site? Hell I've even been moderated in my own blog for using the word jerk.

Now I'm not asking to loosen the rules so I can start a spin-off pornsite from Gamespot and I understand that there are children on the website (the same children that spew offensive words on XBL) but how about calling off the Mod hounds and throwing one of those age verification pages up if we were able to mark our profiles as mature. That sounds fair right?

2. The Presidential Effect: You know who the most powerful man in the world is right? He's usually seen as the President of the United States, with a bit of debate. Anyways that's not the topic here; the topic is more about his term in office and how it is limited and limited for a good reason. Now look at your mods and tell me what is missing from this analogy. The moderators on this site are given mod status for what could possibly life and some of them have gotten a little intoxicated from that piece of knowledge.

I know how hard it must be to find a decent, dedicated and loyal volunteer staff to run the mod proceedings for any given time however, unlike most cheese and fine wines, age doesn't improve all of the moderators. You have moderators that hang around moderation queues with such fervor that you would think that they were paparazzi trying to get pics of the latest scarlet sans panties. These are the same moderators that don't moderate in context and will moderate/suspend one user for joking around with a user that they are friends with. Then you have moderators that will consistently threaten moderation if a poster has an opposing point of view. And lastly, how come when closing a topic, moderators can flame a poster freely? Are they exempt from the ToU?

3. Survey Says!: Do you guys at Gamespot ever wonder what your loyal subscribers and posters think about the site? I mean you do realize you're offering a service right? I've seen countless other sites that have a little pop up that offers an optional survey, and while sometimes these pop ups are annoying...they're better than not being asked my opinion after being a customer for 6 years.

Sure, you might find out that the majority of us do dislike the new review system, there will be some crap talk about integrity and things like that but most businesses do this so they know where they are lacking in customer satisfaction and if this data is used properly can actually increase sales.

4. If I make a post in the suggestion forum, does it make a sound?: Honestly, how many suggestions have actually came to fruition? 0.01% - 0.08%? I remember a brilliant idea of a Poll Board being suggested where all the annoying questions about favorite villains, which character's dad could beat which character's dad and all those needless polls such as those could be grouped together in one terrific spot that doesn't have to be constantly locked and moderated. To me, this seems like a great idea and it even had a good backing from a lot of prominent members on the forums yet we still don't have an answer.

If we make a suggestion, we should at least be give a no, maybe or it's in the works just so that we know we've been acknowledged. Without dialogue it looks like our suggestions are being ignored and that the suggestions board is 100% useless.

I don't know, I would think after that Gerstman gate debacle and how easy it was to lose a bunch of paying members in protest, you would at least throw us a bone and try to win back these customers. However it seems that Gamespot's motto was taken from a famous president and they're just going to "stay the course" no matter how bad it gets.