Same thing happened to me - stuck at 69% on the last preload. I had to cancel the preload (erasing all the prior preloading) and start again.

Wrong. Characters speak with actually pretty decent lip synching. Apparently you bought a different game than the rest of us Ray.

Yep, I saw it with my own eyes. It was pretty good actually. And I also haven't seen any of the "squashed" textures or other problems complained about in that initial Gamespy review. The game looks good to me.

Not to fall into a trap here, but:

Besides Randy Smith leaving the company,

The same one who was one designer among many on the prior Thief games?

the focus on consoles

Not necessarily a bad thing. There are some great games on consoles.

Invisible War

Not a bad game in my opinion, but . . .

people's accounts of Harvey Smith's displeasure at E3 (and his recent departure).

You mean the guy that (I seem to recall) some here have accused of being at fault for the alleged abomination of Invisible War? Seems like that's a good thing...

I think it's pretty well settled that intellectual property is property that is protected by laws just as much as tangible property. And I also think it's pretty "clear cut" (ref. an earlier post) that downloading software is just as much copyright infringement as uploading it. What is the controversy here?

Yeah, as far as I can see there's really no reason for everyone to be whining so much. There's no reasonable basis for the conclusion that Thief 3 is going to be a bad game (no basis, that is, other than everyone's totally unreasonable expectations). Even assuming it does suck, most normal people out there don't even get so worked up about disappointments in life that are truly significant. All this tells me one thing - if you're complaining about the quality of a game that hasn't even come out yet, you need to get a life. Even if you're complaining about Deus Ex 2, you need to get a life! Complain about something really significant, like the current administration in the U.S. that is making us all look like barbaric fools.

I don't know how many copies Thief or Thief 2 sold, but I'm sure it wasn't enough to break even. Of course they're going to make changes to make the game appeal to a broader base because there aren't enough "hardcore" fans to make it worth their while otherwise. Besides, 80 percent of the people who really enjoyed the first two will buy the game eventually, no matter how much they whine about it. It makes sense.
Besides, I don't see why everyone is complaining so much. The game will be good enough. Here's an idea to all the whiners: if you're not utterly astounded by the game, FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO!

DX: IW is a fine game. Shodan the helicopter pilot makes it more than worthwhile.

So what you're saying is "less is better"?

Sometimes it is -- you know, "less is more." Maybe it's because people actually have to work for a living now (as opposed to 2000, when DX came out). When folks were making money merely by touting the "next big thing" and sitting in their Aeron chairs, sure they had time to spend 60 hours to finish a game. Now people don't need "games" to take the place of "work" in their lives. They want entertainment.

This whole "DX: IW sucks" phenomenon is interesting to me. I don't think it sucks, and apparently neither do most of the professional reviewers out there. Half the charm of the first one is how radically different it was from other stuff, but there were lots of lame things about it too. People should really stop complaining.
And I am sure Thief 3 will be at least pretty good. It's a good thing if designers have to fit their games into the "limits" of the XBOX. It forces them to have some discipline and efficiency, rather than creating games with an endless array of controls, half of which you never use because it's too cumbersome.

At least they didn't call it "Thief: Silent But Deadly"

Moot now.