Llyranor

I remember playing this a while ago (the shareware, anyway), and combat was loads of fun. Mounted combat done right In any case, I've heard you can raise armies and have castle sieges. That certainly sounds cool. Combat aside, how's the rest of the game? In terms of exploration, questing and so on. I haven't heard anything about story/writing, so I'll assume that's not the draw of the game. I'm trying to figure whether the rest of the game is enough to shell out some money for it.

What the crap are you babbling about? That's disgusting.

Looks like you need a hug. :hugglecuddle:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Also, to add on that, what I'm primarily interested in is what would make Gothic exploration, for example, more interesting than TES exploration. Reviews and such haven't been so helpful, since TES gets as good if not better reviews, anyway. I'm just wondering how much my initial impression of the G1 demo are actually applicable to the games as a whole. And I'm downloading the G2 demo right now. It better be good, or the cat gets it.

It's funny because you're dead.

Grrrr...

Hmm, how would you guys compare the Gothic series to this? I've just realized I haven't actually played through that series (aside from the G1 demo a few years back, which left me very impressed - yet I never got around to play it or its sequel). From what I recall, there was significant emphasis on exploration and on fleshing out the world. And, no offense to Bethesda or the radiant AI, I remember being much more impressed with how Piranha Bytes managed to breathe life into the world than I've been with Oblivion in that same respect - from the demo, anyway. The Old Camp felt pretty lively, not... robotic? What little of the story/NPCs/quests I was exposed to also showed more personality. It made sense within the context of the world, and there seemed to be more choices within the storyline (such as the eventual opportunity to join different factions, which would actually be a significant decision). Mind you, I wasn't repelled by the interface or combat back then, so those wouldn't be an issue. What about exploration/story/NPCs/quests/world?

It was a typo. He meant edible.

That's all irrelevant if Ep3 isn't coming out before that date :ph34r:

Given Valve's record, that'd be 2010.

That's what I intended to do as well, but it made no narrative sense. The point of going to Kvatch was to fetch said person to safey, and going dungeon crawling to open the gates of the castle while he's in the church (or in toll) just felt wrong, especially since none of the guards there even acknowledged his presence. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that you're supposed to not talk to him until you're done with the castle quest. But damn, you'd think that after hyping up the narrative around the guy they'd expect you to search for him first as opposed to trying to retake the city, especially since he was standing right there in the chapel. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The linear nature of the main plot really hurt the game in that sequence. Arriving at Kvatch, there's a big freaking gate, some survivors have gathered at the church, one of whom might be the one you seek. Bam, instant opportunity to make significant decisions. Do I risk the portal, helping out the city in the long run, but potentially delaying the retrieval of my primary target? Do I drop everything else and just focus on ensuring my target's safety? Oh. The gate blocks the only way into the city! I have to turn it off before I can do anything else! Joy. Rollercoaster ride

Also, Judge Hades, I suppose you are new to CRPGs. One CRPG I recommend you play is named Fallout. I warn that it was released in 1997, so you might not enjoy the graphics, but I assure you that you will like it if you give it a proper chance. This game features a context-sensitive vertical drop-down menu. It's very functional and convenient. Try it, you'll have lots of fun!

Are you even being quoted? 10k fists, meet reading comprehension. Reading comprehension, meet 10k fists.

Good points, and good idea!

That was great! Please share more of your ideas with us!

Exactly, which is why I didn't bring up Lionheart.

I think you are forgetting that Pool of Radiance II is part of the last decade. <_<

I hope you got some action, if you know what I mean. *wink wink*

You're right, 'out of place' is probably the more accurate term. In any case, I'm not arguing exclusively for tighter focus of the game/story (well, I am, but that doesn't apply to TES particularly), since that would entail a significant divergence of the series. In *this* context, though, there is plenty of room to adapt better integration of the storyline into the TES design philosophy, without compromising exploration and so on. If anything, I would hope that Beth learns from Oblivion for its next title, and strives to improve its storytelling/presentation (again, *within* the context of the series), instead of trying to cater to two seemingly opposing priorities and forcing an all-too-obvious dichotomy.

Hahahaha, Lucasarts trying to be relevant again. Nice try.

Like Dhrin says, given the context of the game design, the main storyline ends up in a pretty awkward position and feels rather inappropriate. Would I have enjoyed a storyline that actually integrated exploration and made more sense within that context? Highly likely. There's a certain difference in motivational plausibility between a someone looking for menial jobs to do for a living and someone who does them despite being tasked to save the world. Just because the latter is more 'epic' doesn't make it a better story intrinsically. You can pretty well adapt the first scenario into something compelling both in the story sense and in the world/gameplay/roleplaying sense.

Irrelevant argument. There is a difference between actual interactive storytelling and simple emulation of other mediums. If gamers are satisfied with just the latter, or with generally subpar storytelling, then there will be no progression. That's fine too, if you don't agree there'll lots of room for improvement in the field.

Bias? Perhaps. Sidequests are pretty much an accepted norm in the CRPG industry, but that doesn't make me like them. All that investment infused into making a better main storyline would have made a more satisfying product for me. If the main storyline suffers because of diverging prioritization, then so be it. Was Firkraag different? I enjoyed how performing the quest was linked with the rapid acquisition of gold in order to further the story. Proper motivation. If, of course, you cared for the story. I'm not that big a fan of BG2, but I appreciated how the sidequests could make sense within the context of the story - to an extent. Too bad I didn't like BG2's story that much. Yet, I have some relatively fond memories of how the sidequests/world related to the story. A rather effective means of nonlinear storytelling, sort of how the search for the waterchip brought about a natural sense of exploration. I don't agree completely with some of those games' design, but they were in many ways a step up from the norm. How about in PST? My memorable moments in that games are virtually all related to the story/characters. The sidequests were, for the most part, grossly irrelevant. Some would argue that they helped define TNO's personality in terms of roleplaying, but I didn't see it adding much to storytelling. Would I have liked it more if those resources were devoted to increasing breadth and depth of the main storyline? Where does Oblivion fit in all this? The main storyline in many ways was disappointing. It was an obvious improvement over Morrowind, and effort was observed. How much effort, though, is the question. I couldn't help but feel that they didn't really spend that many resources into making a particularly memorable storyline. Sure, it was an enjoyable excursion, but I'm not going to care a few months from now. Add to that a world/sidequests that can be perceived as detached from said storyline, and I couldn't help but feel disappointed. How much importance *did* Bethie invest into the main storyline, other than hiring big name voice-actors? But then, I guess, that was never really the goal of TES series. Too bad. Some people like to explore the world and create their own motivations outside of the storyline, stalk NPCs, murder and eat them, and that's fine too.

More news. If you check on NWN2news, there's a new preview from an interview with Feargus with tons of cool info. French, with available translation. Good stuff.

This is why I keep telling people they should be eating cow placentas and nothing but. Fries, meh. Amateurs.