RPGmasterBoo

What's "living" in Oblivion?

He probably means that NWN2 sucked until MotB was added. But again that's like an opinion. Yes. A great expansion for a thoroughly generic game. Exactly. I find DA's main campaign to be very similar, it just has the Bioware polish and better production values. That's why I said I don't have the feeling they'll do a MotB. It does make sense to make the expansion filler, but there's no reason to not to hope otherwise. Quiet, you. My last playthrough was ages ago.

Where's your optimism? That's more like something I'd say. You can be optimistic only with things which might end up surprising you. Since it's Bioware, being realistic is the way to go I know, I was just teasing her. If Awakening ends up being what MotB was for NWN2 there might be a chance for redemption. Somehow, I don't get that vibe though.

Where's your optimism? That's more like something I'd say.

Ahh... it all makes sense now. You are still butthurt over BIO's decision to turn the game into a cover-based shooter at which, obviously, you fail miserably. Hence your need to crank down difficulty to a point where you can play blindfolded. And then you come here to patronize about how this power and that tactic are superfluous. Really man, boasting online about your exploits on a single player game is really retarded. But to do so while you play on the easy(est) setting, is too much, even for you. "dumbdownedness", R00fles! You make it seem so easy, I'm envious. (bashing Volo)

And I completely missed the topic. Congratulations, me.

I like Avellone's work a lot. He does his own thing and infuses games with depth that almost doesn't belong in such an often trivial medium. I noticed many of these parallels and was wondering where it will lead. Because on one hand, while I like those ideas - their repetition can lead to the same sort of stagnation Bioware is in. Torment was a phenomenal game, but repeating the same motifs is perhaps counterproductive. I remember that deja vu feeling with the cast of KOTOR II, and to a lesser extent MotB. Still, the characters drove me to play the games through, even when the gameplay faltered. That's probably the greatest of Obsidian's faults, the inability to mesh gameplay into a fun package. Perhaps they should try making a full blown point and click adventure game. That would probably be mindblowing.

Of course the gameplay of NWN is so advanced and complex. Click on target. Wait. Click again. Aribeth, Nasher the others from the expansions, real deep characters in a real complex plot - a prime example of maturity.... If the Witcher sucks then NWN is irredeemable rubbish. Of course NWN is rubbish regardless, only saved by the fact that there is such a game as POR2 to be a contender for most meaningless 3D DnD game ever. Its not even opinion. Its established fact. If its come to the point that Hurlshot is complaining then I've nothing more to add.

I was referring to the totally generic backdrops to the main quest hubs and the extremely typical finale of the PC's journey, as you're well aware. Its is quite obvious from the summary that preceeded it. It doesn't even have to be BGII. Both Torment and The Witcher had more interesting locales and better thought out quest hubs. (I rarely praise Torment because its so much better than everything else I consider comparisons unnecessary.) Hell even MotB was better in that regard even with all of its flaws.

We differ on the definition of worth. I'm more of the sort that would say something is "worth" it only if its amongst the very best examples of its type. Thus as you might guess, the list of games that are "worth it" is very short indeed. I am quite sad for the time I spent when I was younger, playing dozens upon dozens of games that in retrospect - weren't worth my time. On the other hand, if I haven't I wouldn't know what a good game is would I? I did almost give up on DA though. Besides no one denies the addictive quality of Bioware's games (or is it my conditioning to that type of gameplay?) - the question is how you feel when its over. That's whats lacking, possibly the most irritating thing of all. There's no sense of accomplishment whatsoever, of an experience fresh and original. I don't play all that much anymore. When I do sit down to play new games, about twice a month - its mostly RPG's of the story driven variety, because that's the only genre I can stomach nowadays. Unfortunately that boils down to Bioware and the rare release from Obsidian. When you're reduced to Bioware or nothing for the type of gameplay you like - you don't have much choice. Of course anyone who thinks I'm less critical of say - Obsidian or CDProjekt RED is kidding themselves. I just respect that the former tries ambitious stuff in their games, (KOTORII, MotB) and that the latter has made one great game so far. If I don't actively criticize something that means its not worth mentioning it and that's much worse. No actually, unlike you I'm pretty straightforward with my opinions. You pose as objective and critical of Bioware, but when any other company's work is mentioned you bash it - because its not Bioware. Like you bashed the Witcher, despite it being at the very least three times a better game than NWN. You're a more die hard fan of Bioware than any other person on this forum, and you do practically nothing else other than replying to the posts where I criticize them. And while I am prone to excess, you never actually have anything meaningful to say, except jumbled up combinations of LOLZ, awesome, yes, no and unexplained opinions. I don't even see what purpose you find in all of it other than to irritate everyone else and raise your post count.

Your lack of Leliana love is disturbing. Leliana's fractured personality scares me. Elitist. Too bad you went into the DA experience already disliking it for not being able to topple BG2 from the pedestal you've put that game on. Kept you from enjoying the game for what it was, which was a pretty fun fantasy-based CRPG. Ah well, like you said, you didn't buy it. Indeed, thank you. I wouldn't know if it was going to be able to top it, until I tried it did I? It was advertised as a dark and gritty spiritual successor to BG, yadayadayada, so blame it on Bioware's marketing. If they said it was going to be Neverwinter Nights 3 I'd have been lenient. Oh it was fun! Apart from the unavoidable and frustrating parts, which amounted to about a third of the game overall - thereby making certain that I'd never replay it again. Its a good game. But its not for me, in the same way NWN2 wasn't for me.

Disclaimer: this is not a BGII superiority rant, this is an attempt to curb Volurn's lunacy Volourn is a specific creature in his benefit of selective sight. -For instance, while we would all agree that Dragon Age has fine writing, he ignores that its mostly wasted on a trivial plot. -Again, same for the C&C's - abundant and with real impact but carrying as much emotional weight as the plot will allow. To those who don't but the plot that means - little. -Yet again, the origins were a good idea and offer a certain amount of replay value, while on the other hand its arguable how significant they are overall, or how much impact they truly have on the storyline. I admit, I wouldn't know having only completed the game with one. -Aaaand again, truly the characters in DA have depth. But, so what? Bioware's characters mostly have the same "sort" of depth and the novelty has worn off long ago. Minsc may not be deep, but we'll see which of DA's NPC's, if any, will be considered one of the most popular in the history of gaming. The characters have to be memorable. That can be through everything from wackiness (like Minsc) to depth (like Morte). If they aren't memorable - they fail. To DA's credit it has a few memorable characters, but the entire cast is far from the Seven Samurai. -Finally on freshness: yes, the Forgotten Realms are stale. But lets see: In BGII your PC goes sails from an immense, sprawling city to an isolated island prison searching for his sister, ending up in a maze used to test the sanity of wizards. After he escapes the party attempts to sail away and is captured and brought to an underwater city in turmoil. From there he makes his way to the underdark, amongst other things infiltrating a drow stronghold and helping a silver dragon. Upon success, he helps out an elven city under siege all the while following and confronting one of video gaming's best villains, and finally settles the matter in a final confrontation. In Hell. That's the short version without optional content. In DA, the PC visits the elves in their forests, solves their issues, the dwarves in their "halls of stone", solves theirs as well, the mages in their tower (need I say what he does there?) and the knights in their medieval castle (again, rectifying everyone's general incompetence). After that he goes all out in a final battle against the orcs and kills a *gasp* dragon. To DA's credit its not as bad as it sounds, there are a lot of fine twists in it. Conclusion: freshness depends on ideas, not on IPs.

Sweeet

Finished DA. The entire endgame is an intentional cakewalk. The darkspawn, previously tough as nails turn into a one shot one kill affair, and you plow through them to get at the Archdemon which turns out to be cakewalk as well. Bah. The ending cinematic sucks (I died), though the epilogue makes up for it. Final thoughts: The story while holding zero surprises and devoid of any unexpected twists is nevertheless a good example of its type. Someone who always wanted to play a game version of LotR (as seen in the movies, not the book) would probably have a nerdgasm with DA. Intentionally or not, it shares a lot with NWN2 which it beats in general polish and scope, but not by a lot. Remarkable similarities also exist with Mass Effect 2, which is essentially the same tale in a tighter package. Regardless, the game much like the rest of Bioware's stuff post ToB - rides a cliche to death. No matter how well its done it will still remain a cliche and it will be interesting to see for how long will Bioware repackage the same thing over and over again before the bubble bursts. As for the characters I found Sten and Morrigan to be consistent in their personalities and interesting. Alistair had his moments as well. The rest are unremarkable. The gameplay and its advantages and flaws have been discussed to death already, no need to repeat those. Inevitable comparisons with ME2 as the other recent Bioware product don't really lead anywhere. Mass Effect 2 is a tighter package and more fun to play. Dragon Age can be tedious as hell, but it has significantly more depth. It boils down to individual taste, or rather if you like your tale with "elves" or "asari", swords or guns. Obviously ME2 is more for the low IQ console crowd but that aside, its all more or less - the same. What of the inevitable (and long winded) BGII comparisons? As much as I'd like to say Dragon Age has done it, it simply hasn't. The world is neither as fresh or expansive, the characters (barring the two mentioned above) aren't as colorful, the story is much like its main villain - forgettable fodder. You've been to these places, you've done all this stuff before - there's nothing to wonder at, nothing to stoke your imagination. Dragon Age is the product of a decade long, practically set in stone - specific way of developing game and it shows. What it attempts to do well, it does well - but it doesn't attempt anything beyond that. Its the equivalent of a Mc Donalds cheeseburger, a quick fix to deceive your stomach that you've eaten something substantial. The only virtue of Bioware's way of developing role playing games is that they have a steady level of quality, unlike the rest of the industry which for the most part releases trash and calls it progress. Particularly World of Warcraft, which judging by its influence on DA may be the new low standard that could even kill the "hardcore" RPG, or at least change it beyond recognition. (all my accusations of DA being stock fantasy pale in comparison to my positive hatred of WoW and Blizzard) I had the good luck of being able to loan the game. I have no desire to own it, which says a lot how I feel about it.

A true hero Boo: *squeak* Minsc: Boo says "WHAT?"

I know but you don't even get a decent "FY woman" response, it was a prime moment for a Renegade quicktime event - say choking her or something.

Yeah, the weather saves a lot. I wouldn't say no to better textures though. Does your posts go through some jungle of filters before they appear here or what? Atleast here and in the DA topic your post just appeared out of nowhere, like 45 min later you actually posted them? My account is in mod status because of raising hell on the way off topic subforum:lol:

Keep your back against a wall to prevent that grapple attack. Failing that run after it when it runs past you. Most of all learn to spot it before it spots you. Avoid.

They shouldn't have employed me as a Gray Warden in the first place, its a thankless, underpaid job and leads to frustration. Nah I just did it to cut the story short, knowing that being capture would lead to an inevitable jailbrake quest. As for the rest, I finished Landsmeet and executed Loghain. I thought he would make some sense at the end but no, all the crap he pulled is some sort of well intentioned nationalism? Right, whatever. Even the landsmeet degenerated into carnage. The game is so meaninglessly violent, everyone just prefers to die rather than to make sense. Didn't get to kill that b!tch Anora unfortunately.

The appearance of the game depends heavily on the time of day and weather effects. Sometimes its depressing and ugly, sometimes its wonderful.

First Zevran betrays me (well he was going to run himself right into a fireball anyway), then there's the completely ludicrous scene with queen Anora (sets me up to be killed and then asks for my support?????). What the hell is this?? I slaughtered those guys instead of going to jail but come on... that's gotta be the most insane plot twist ever. Meeting her in Arl Eamons estate later and the things she said... that was a the epitome of a WTF moment. Btw between that and the estate there was an insanely difficult bandit battle that I cheesed my way out of...

Finally someone who feels the same way. Atleast you just loaned the game, I paid 50

I just focus on one golem at a time and throw everything I have at it. They were easy but Branka was a pain in the ass until she was the only one left.

Triss in Witcher 2. Drool jaguars, drool!

I'm surprised you hate the combat in DA:O. That it was combat intensive was never a secret. For me, most missions don't really seem too combat-heavy... btw, when you describe the deepstalker matriarch, isn't that in Shayle's personal quest? I don't recall such an area in the main quest thaigs. The Deep Trench bridge was meant to be a very difficult battle, but with the magic of blizzard or SoC, not really a problem, true. Now for the end battles. This is merely to prepare you so you don't do something unhelpful to your innocent computer out of shock and rage... but be afraid. Be very afraid. My advice? Don't pull in allies so you can spam your SoC without slaughtering friendlies to make the misery manageable. I have no problems with the combat-heavy tactics in the rest of the game; I rather enjoy them. But I think I can say without exaggeration that you will not find many people who did not actively dispise the final battles. Fortunately, it is only a couple of hours out of an immense, and for me most enjoyable, game. I don't hate it. The system is fine, but there is too much of it crammed in inbetween non combat gameplay. Either something's wrong with my playing style or the micro is simply too repetetive. With my party of Sten + Oghren + Wynne every battle looks like this: Sten + Oghren (or Alistair, doesn't matter much) = spam their abilities (since they have the same ones), critical strike on frozen/stunned enemies Wynne = Heal + Mass Heal + Petrify + Stonefist + occasiona Revival Me = if SoC isn't feasible then > Petrify, Cone of Cold, Lightning, + other, non-storm type direct damage elemental magic That's really the only strategy I can play with these characters, their abilities being what they are. It doesn't matter if I'm fighting mobs or a boss battle, the tactics don't chage, just the target does. First ten times around,its fine but slowly it becomes a burden. You have to micro the fighers+ control the camera + click on my spells every 5 seconds, click on Wynnes spells every 5 seconds, potions every thirty seconds etc. In the entire 6 hour long deep roads there are exactly five, 3-4 minute conversations, Ruck, Hespith, Branka, Cairdin and that Legion soldier. The occasional quest that pops up is often just a matter of picking something up as you go along. Overall, like I said - the comgat itself is good but the ratio of combat to everything else is 9:1 The deepstalker matriarch is just a random mob in an empty area, where for every cm you move another batch of deepstalkers spawn, until the matriarch itself spawns. She isn't all that hard. If I played the game in 2 hour chunks instead of five hour marathons it might have been less nerve wracking.