So, as for my game that really pissed me off...

I'd have to go with KOTOR 2. The game was really great until the end, and then they basically... just didn't finish the game. Seriously.

This.

One of the first games I ever finished (I finish almost none of the few I get to play, so I haven't seen many endings) was Doom. My wife and I laughed out loud at that ending, both because it was meant to be funny, and because it was impossibly lame. I've never had high hopes since, so all this talk about bad endings makes me smile. What did you expect? If it isn't ludicrously lame, you're out ahead. How was the actual game?

In a related vein, regarding the very ending of BSG -- what did you expect? There were only a few ways they could have ended it, and they chose the easiest and most obvious. They couldn't go with the other really obvious option, as the original series had already done it.

I'll earn all of your ire right now by saying that:

a) I liked the new "BSG" all the way until the last ten minutes, which was a big, unnecessary anvil-drop. I was cool with all the angel stuff because, hey, that was in the original series, too.

Also, it didn't end with "Galactica '80", which is always good.

and

b) I was fine with the ending of "Lost".

John, you made me drop everything and grab for my mouse so I could skip past the part where you start dropping "Dragon Age: Origins" spoilers. I'm right in the middle of that game for the first time, man!

Guys, calm down. It's okay. I know Wayne's real name.

It's Bruce.

That's right, Wayne Cole is actually Bruce Wayne, who is, as we all know, Spiderman.

No, wait, that's not right...

Anyway, that's it, but he's pretty sensitive about it, so I suggest we just shut up and refrain from mentioning it again. It could get him killed.



Good episode otherwise. I will mention that I somewhat disagree with removing the disclaimer from the top of bonus episodes. Generally when someone finds FTB, if they find it on their own, they probably googled "rpg podcast" or "rpg roundtable discussion", not "bunch of guys insulting each other and wanking about random topics like crimson pumpkins and how bad the BSG ending was".

It takes ten seconds to say "this is not our normal format, so if this is your first FTB episode, go back and listen to the previous one for a better idea of how the show normally sounds". In fact, I just read that verbatim and clocked myself at 7.8 seconds, so there's enough time to add "This is a bonus episode". The disclaimer's short enough that we can all yawn through it painlessly, and every episode is somebody's first. The reason bonus episodes work so well for me is because I know your on-mic personalities, and have a relationship with the podcast and its hosts— not true for a first-time listener.

I dunno, it works either way. Just putting in my two pence, as anonymous people on message boards often do. Good luck on your vacation, Dan, and the rest of y'all have a good weekend too.

Agreed, though I also kind of wish they'd ended after season three, simply because the revelation of four of the Final Five and the wrapping up of Starbuck's arc for the season was so fucking epic that I literally sat dumbfounded, mind blown to bits, for ten minutes. There was no way they were going to do a better episode than that, in my opinion.

Turning Baltar into a Jesus figure was fun, though.

Gradia Xtreme was godawful story/character-wise. But dear god was the combat/character growth system excellent. They took everything from the first few that was good and made it better.

But then, I believe a worthless game story/cast can be saved by stellar gameplay. That's what kept me going through FFX.

As for dropping series when they're bad, I'm glad I don't. It's what got me through the abortion that was most of the second half of Code Geas and to the ending. Was an entire season of crap worth the fifteen minutes of "HOLY CRAP!?" that capped off the last episode? I don't know. But that was a good ending.

I think it's a good idea to keep with a series that's lapsing. It could always Win Back the Crowd or Grow a Beard.

I too didn't mind the ending of Lost. They wrapped everything up in a nice neat bow. At least they made it so that the bloody show ENDED and we're not going to get endless franchise spin offs like other titles.

I also liked BSG. I don't agree with all their choices, but I don't think it sucked.

To me, the highwater mark of BSG was Exodus, Part II. The Galactica's "Hot Drop" and the Death of the Pegasus were epic. The series sank after that, with significant upticks around Crossroads, Pt II "There Must Be Some Way Out of Here, Said the Joker to the Thief" and "The Oath/Blood on the Scales" The Zarek/Gaeta Revolution. As for the Finale, I really had no problem until they abandoned all technology. But I'm a technologist at heart.

Oh, and Romo Lampkin for the Win.

Very true. But there is still much to be done, many that live in darkness that must be shown the way.

On disappointing endings I recently played through Ghosthunter for the PS2. Great game with a neat story, likeable characters, great voice acting (Sir Michael Gambon playing the villain!) and very nice environments to explore. But right at the end the whole thing just... stopped. You fought the villain (a very uninspiring fight compared to the rest of the bosses), won the day and there it was. So many plot-threads left unresolved and a lot of things right at the end seemingly just appearing out of the blue. I can only surmise that they ran out of money and just had to end it somehow or other.