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I'm away for like five minutes and when I'm back, what do I see? A pro-Croatia post! AAAAAAAAAARGH! 

Anyway, this World Cup shows that just when you think there can't possibly be a worse team than Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro appear(s). (un)fortunately, that country doesn't exist anymore.
Trivia: Of all S&M (sado-maso?) players, only the goalkeeper is from Montenegro.
Now that my team is out, I expect the quality of football to improve dramatically. There are some really great teams there - Argentina, Brasil, Italy, Czech Republic, Holland, Mexico, Portugal, etc. For now, I'm rooting for Japan and Australia  and then for my favorite teams - Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago. Yeah, baby! 

Wooooohoooo!!! Edge of Reality is back! I remember playing the first part of the game many years ago, when I joined the RON community. Ahhhh, the memories! Weird puzzles, brilliant descriptions, bizarre inventory items, tons of bugs  Truly, the greatest RON game ever! Cheers, Blake!

Well, we're planning on meeting next weekend. The 21st, I believe it is.
We're both excited about it (I think. I hope...)
He's been such a nice fellow, and he invited me to this lovely old abandoned house with soundproof rooms. The only condition is I'm not allowed to tell anyone where I'm going or how long I'll be. Sounds exciting, right? Yay!

Okay, well that was all crap... well, apart from meeting him. I am. Next weekend. Damn I'm tired.

So, whatever happened with this thing?

Well, I liked A Puzzle of Flesh very much. Sure, that was many years ago, but I'm seriously thinking of replaying it. I kinda like those interactive movies. And besides, this game had the beautiful Monique Parent! 
Seriously, I think Phantasmagoria 2 is a really good game. The puzzles, if I remember correctly, were quite challenging, I had to use the walkthrough (I figured out the RATBOY puzzle myself but failed finding the password to Warner's computer). The acting was surprisingly good (for a game) and the characters... well, Curtis was kinda bisexual, Trevor was gay, definitely a brave decision.
(On the other hand, I liked the first Phantasmagoria, too. I admit it has its problems (acting, length...), but the atmosphere is reeeeaaaaly scary.)

Have you noticed that in (almost) EVERY SINGLE adventure game you can pick up only those objects that are necessary to finish the game? (Okay, not in ALL games, but certainly the vast majority, including the most famous ones). So, you're stuck and you keep walking around with a key, a rope, a bucket and a credit card, thinking "Now, just where am I supposed to use this bucket? Or, where's the door that this key unlocks?" Basically, your gaming philosophy is changed from "How can I solve the problem I face right now?" to "Where can I find a problem to solve with my objects?". And that's something that makes a... how should I say... "gap" between adventure games and real life (well, not REAL life literally, otherwise it would appear I'm against fantasy games or something, but you get my meaning). Like, in real life you probably wouldn't visit every single location and try your key on every single door you see. And you would definitely not carry any buckets with you.
Now, here's where Ečstatica kicks in. I got stuck in it numerous times not knowing what to do (and the fact that you could carry only two objects at a time didn't help). For example, one of the first locations in the game contained this key. I spent hours and hours trying to find the door that the key unlocks and guess what happened? I had absolutely NO NEED for the bloody key! The same goes for an armor on a wall, a broom and lots of similar stuff. Actually, I had some ideas about what to do, but I was thinking "This can't work, the game can't be over this quickly, I haven't even used half of the items!". Naturally, one day when I decided to carefully explore the surroundings, I finished the game pretty quickly.
It's pretty similar in Dreamweb. Your inventory is limited (fortunately, not only to two items) and, just like in real life, you can pick up almost everything that isn't nailed down. You can take empty soda cans, trash, pieces of clothing, useless papers, CDs and various other junk. There are even some items that appear useful (like some wires on the floor) but actually they are not. So inventory management gets a very important role. Not to mention that it absolutely kills the notorious get-everything-that-isn't-nailed-down-and-try-using-everything-on-everything method that works so well in Sierra games.
Well, just thought to mention this. Of course, I'm not bashing the classic adventure games or something, just thinking that this "freedom" to pick useless objects kinda increases the quality of the gameplay and forces you to think the way you would think in real life. Bah, I'm boring...

I miss those Greeks, especially Butcher. Every single post he made was priceless, not to mention his games.
Bah, they are probably too busy celebrating the basketball title.

Good composer and even better person. Yey!

Don't worry, Vel, Uriah Heep coming soon, when we talk about progressive rock!

"You look like Harrison Ford, Robert Redford!" (gee, I wonder which game was that...)

"I reject your rejection of my rejection of your rejection..." - Nihilism (RON)
"Dead girls are easy. Traffic patrolmen are easier." (LV 2, paraphrase)
Just about ANY line from the brilliant (though unfinished) Edge of Reality
(when clicking on a flying pig) "Either Pink Floyd's in town or you have a date." (LV 1)
and so on...

I, personally think it's "Telegraph Road (live version)" by Dire Straits. I think neither Hendrix nor Page could outmatch Knopfler's solo play in that particular song (after the "like a rollin river" part).

I'm very late with my response, but I've just discovered this topic. This is one of the greatest things ever written on these forums. I absolutely totally completely LOVE Telegraph Road (both versions), it's my favorite song ever (not to mention that Dire Straits are my favorite band and Knopfler my favorite guitar player) and it really makes you wonder why the heck they never tried that kind of progressive music again.
Another gem is the live version of Sultans of Swing (from Alchemy live album) with its extended solo at the end.

Hey, great answers, everyone! I mean literally EVERYONE! Apart from being an extremely interesting read, it actually makes you feel better! Yeah!
One thing that always frightened me was like "When I'm 30, will I still like to play computer games?" Sure, when I was 17, it was "When I'm 20, will I still like playing computer games?" It's similar with other things. I guess I never actually feel old at any moment, but I always think I WILL be old in a few years. Strange. Yet funny. In some bizarre way 

For Dave: You met Jackie Chan??? Cooooool!

For nikolasideris: Well, I consider having a (happy) family one of the greatest accomplishments you could possibly make, it's even greater than having made the ultimate AGS horror game.
Which reminded me of another way to look at things. I'm (almost) 26 now, and currently my highest priority is finishing my studies. They started when I was 19, so I'm about two years late, which makes me feel irritatingly old in this environment. However, if I finish by the end of this year and start the post-graduation studies, I have a chance to reach a Masters degree before I'm 30, which is pretty much a great accomplishment, so it would make me instantly feel younger.

This thread inspired me to make another serious one, but not now - tomorrow. See you all! 

This is, without a doubt, one of the scariest threads in the entire forums. When I read Andail's post, I thought: "Now, this is EXACTLY how I feel!" I don't know exactly when it started, but I think it's been at least two or three years since I started feeling... well, old. Logically, that's stupid nonsense (I will be 26 in 8 days, but people say I look much younger, like 20 or something, it could be because of my totally weird way of living - I don't smoke, drink (not even beer), I don't even consume Coca-Cola, Pepsi and anything that contains CO2 in general...), but pure logic doesn't make much difference, unfortunately. It starts with a small voice in my head saying "So, what have you done with your life so far?" and the answer to this is one big ugly "NOTHING". I wanted to write a fantasy book when I was in high school - I haven't done it. Haven't even started. I wanted to make the greatest AGS horror game ever - wrote a couple of pages of plans and my inspiration died. Only a year ago I got an idea to start to play a music instrument (bass). So, I bought a guitar and started to practice a bit, it's going pretty slow, but I think in a few months I'll be able to play, well at least passably. I have no thoughts in my head about becoming the new Chris Squire or Steve Harris, of course, but then that syupid voice comes again and says "Hey, loser, you know, when Cream had their FAREWELL concert, Jack Bruce was younger than you! Mwahahaah! And you're only starting now! You're a failure!" I hate small voices in my head. And I haven't even finished my studies. I started in 1998, so if I manage to finish them by the end of this year, it will be 7 years wasted. Oh, not "wasted". Even worse. When it's over, I'm gonna have to lift my lazy ass off the chair and start working. Now THAT's a depressing thought.
So, basically, I don't like being in company of children and teenagers and similar - I get jealous. You know, it's like they are just starting to travel the road I've already finished and some of them will probably do something useful instead of just wasting time, like I did.
Will someone shoot me, please? (Not because of my age, but because of boring the heck out of good people on these forums  )

How about abstinence? 

Hey man! I remember you as a member of GAC, though you probably don't remember me, as I have a nasty habit of disappearing myself  Welcome back!

Hmmmm... I really couldn't decide between Sierra and Lucas Arts (I just LOVE Monkey Island 1 and 2, but there's Phantasmagoria and stuff on the other side). What about the great games by other companies?
Lure Of The Temptress (Revolution)
Eric The Unready (Legend)
The Longest Journey (FunCom)
etc.
Also, Sierra and Lucas Arts made some of the worst adventures ever, like Monkey Island 4 and Larry 5 and 7.

Hmmmmmmmmmm... How about this:
Ron Gilbert
Roberta Williams
Al Lowe
Gilbert Austin
Lorelei Shannon
and whoever made Lure Of The Temptress
AGSers:
Butcher
Chrille
Captain Mostly
Spyros
Phil Reed
and I probably forgot to mention someone, like usual

Again, I probably won't be able to come  I'll definitely have hard time getting the Visa (which is required when you have the damn Bosnian passport) and my studies will probably get in the way. Sad :-(
But anyway, besides one small game I haven't really given much to the community, so probably no one even cares  So, my plan is: 1) Finish my studies 2) Make the looong horror game I've been writing for the past... 2 years, or so 3) Attend Mittens 2006. Neat, eh? 

Gentlemen, we're wandering off the topic!

downloading is bad. bad and wrong

Yeah! There should be a new word for downloading. Like... BADONG.

Groovy! Keep the info up-to-date!