sicarius

Look again. I never mentioned Tolkein - I mentioned the faux-Tolkein protruded product that passes for 'fantasy' nowadays. It's this that most games try to emulate.

Ah. So levelling allows you to have a more interesting character, one that feels more like the protagonists of the Tolkein-lite fantasies these games almost always emulate. So, why not start with interesting characters, and have the rest of the game consist of imaginative and challenging encounters, both social and combative, as well as a rewarding and suitably complex storyline?

There isn't one. Yes, your character's capabilities increase - at the same level that your opponent's capabilites do. The oft-cited analogy of a treadmill is accurate. Lots of levelling is simsply lots of running in place. Then again, levelling has been passe in real gaming systems for more than 15 years, the lurching undead carcass of d20 aside. The best PnP gaming I've ever been a part of has had little to no increase in the player's skillls. Characters start of as competant, heroic individuals and spend all of their time, you know, roleplaying and enjoying the story. Roleplaying games, not levelling games. It's perfectly understandable that earlier computer RPG designers used D&D-based systems - it's what was around then. It's simply awful that we still have to deal with I-don't-want-to-think-how-many-years after Wizardry. Hit points? Classes? Ugh. I'd like to think that, someday, someone is going to brave and actually try something different. It'll never happen. The sub-genre of PC RPGs is too ill.

Ooooooo, can I play? Fallout = Torment > Fallout 2 > BG2 > Ultima VII > Ultima VI > Bloodlines > Arcanum > Curse of the Azure Bonds > BG ... Progressquest > NWN

I imagine things like this are very difficult for people living in other countries. Unlike the other 99% of the time you buy games, here are the cards are out on the table. You know what you are supporting, and how: Imperial American and its military wing. The thing is, in the 21st century, cultural imperialism is far more dangerous than any sort of militaristic action. Every day, every one of you non-US nationals reading this consume bits and pieces of the American Dream and, while doing so, absorb some of the memes implanted therein. "US Marines FPS IV: We're Gonna Kick More Ass" isn't the danger to your disparate ways of life. "Sims 2" is. It's just sneakier about it. In a way, I think only the fundamentalist Islamic factions in the Mid-East have clued in on this. They realize it's a war of metanarratives. They just don't know how to fight it, nor do they have the cultural graft, and so they plant bombs, which just ain't gonna work. So relax. Play the game if you want to - it isn't any worse than any other bit of American entertainment you consume. Hell, it might be better. Also, please note that there isn't any overt reactionary lesson in the above. I think it's possible to argue that the world needs at least one empire to function, and that the American Empire is a bit more pleasant than most of the alternatives would be. Let's just hope the next empire in line (hellllo, China) is the same.