If you have any decent stuff for a harbinger, we should trade!
Where Diablo and its various clones shine though is playing through the game with friends.
The big RPG problem.
- Thread starter Teki187
- Start date
Max we'd done was 5 at a LAN, but it was just a glorified Gaunlet with items and levels to me, quickly got bored of it.
The sign of a good game is that it allows you to play the way you want. You can walk everywhere, use a horse or use fast travel. or perhaps make your own rules up - for example, only fast travel between towns, and walk/ride the rest.
It's a 'role-playing' game. You decide for yourself how you want to play your role, and I'll decide mine.
Then you are daft. The ability to receive appropriate benefit for successfully using different skills is a big plus for the Elder Scrolls games. Don't exploit it and then complain that it's a problem with the game.
That was one of my favourite features of the game. Well not that you can actually screw up the main quest - there is always a way to progress - but it was a revelation to realise that most actions you took could have a permanent effect on the game world. I'd killed that Alistair Whatshisname as before I received the quest from the Ghoul in the Underground to go retrieve a key off him. Cool. I an action I'd taken had a permanent effect on the game world!
What I dislike a little about Oblivion (apart from the levelling) was the fact that you met so many NPCs who couldn't be killed because they were part of a later quest. Let me kill them and face the consequences - or design the game better such that I'm not in a position to kill them.
I know that the were some classic isometric games in the past, but to be honest I can't play them these days. i can't even stand 3rd-person games. Unless I move and view 'naturally' in the 1st-person, any veneer of immersion is broken.
That would be fine, if the NPCS actually responded to what went on.
I did the same thing but the NPCS still told me he was alive and telling me to go there.
But under those circumstances: If you want to follow the storyline, you're forced to take a softly-softly approach, meaning that unless you're willing to sacrifice the plot, you CAN'T do what you actually want.
WoW is a bigger grind-fest that Diablo could ever be! And i was heavily invested in both!
At least WoW had more variation in the locales and more humour
Also, WoW boss battles were way more involving than any in Diablo.
might as well call Sims an RPG.
Nonsense. The storyline is vague; it's an envelope, not a single immutable path.
In retrospect, your storyline should have varied according to the decisions you made.
For example, you can complete the main quest whether or not you blow up Megaton, but the route by which you get there will be different.
The big problem I have with RPGs is accesibility - they need to be able to grab me and get me interested and involved at an early stage. Diablo 2 managed it, Shining Force 2 managed it, KOTOR managed it, but I can't think of many others. I (very briefly) tried NWN, Oblivion and Fable but they weren't able to 'hook' me.
In order to get casual players such as myself playing, RPGs really need something early in the game to make me feel like I'm involved, developing and eager to learn more. Don't overwhelm the player too much early on - for example, get the first level up done quickly (to give them a sense of achievement), but don't then present them with 500000 different skills/stats/upgrades etc to choose from. Keep it simple and then expand the depth of the game the more they progress. Introduce NPCs early and let them build up a long-standing relationship with the player. But also, don't forget that they player wants to see some action - if they've been running round the castle talking to NPCs, picking up quests and the odd item for 20mins+, that's maybe too long - let them get out there into some kind of really basic combat. I've seen some games overplay the storyline at the beginning of the game - yet at that point, the player hasn't really built up a strong sense of association with their character. Learning about their past is something best dealt with throughout the game, not at the start.
In order to get casual players such as myself playing, RPGs really need something early in the game to make me feel like I'm involved, developing and eager to learn more. Don't overwhelm the player too much early on - for example, get the first level up done quickly (to give them a sense of achievement), but don't then present them with 500000 different skills/stats/upgrades etc to choose from. Keep it simple and then expand the depth of the game the more they progress. Introduce NPCs early and let them build up a long-standing relationship with the player. But also, don't forget that they player wants to see some action - if they've been running round the castle talking to NPCs, picking up quests and the odd item for 20mins+, that's maybe too long - let them get out there into some kind of really basic combat. I've seen some games overplay the storyline at the beginning of the game - yet at that point, the player hasn't really built up a strong sense of association with their character. Learning about their past is something best dealt with throughout the game, not at the start.