hopfrog16

I just played a bit of Legends of Aranna a while ago. Input involves clicking them into position with a potion button click here and there. I wouldn't call that a lot of input. The only fight that gave me any sort of challenge, which is to say very little, was the dragon fight against Scorch in the first game. The last seck boss was a joke. I think I cast about 5-10 healing wind spells total. I honestly think that was one of the easiest final boss battles played in a game... ever. Dungeon Siege 3 has given me more enjoyment and challenge in small mob fights than any battle has in the classic Siege games so far. Honestly can't take anyone seriously who thinks that the combat system in DS 3 is 'streamlined' or 'dumbed down' in comparison to the first game (still haven't played 2 yet). At the end of the day I could only handle DS1 in 30 minute to hour long bursts before I just couldn't stand the game any more and HAD to do/play something else. DS3 had me glued to the TV for hours on end however and had an ending that left me satisfied, unlike the lame text epilogue of 1. I will give the haters one thing, the game should not have been called Dungeon Siege. Fans of the mundane originals aren't going to find the same mundane elements in the sequel. Meh, I don't mean to sound hostile, but I've been playing the originals wondering what in the heck people were so attached to. The engine is stellar, especially for the time. I would have loved to have seen sequels to D&D infinity engine games developed on it with actual stories and the decent D&D rules. Huh... I thought the last boss on Legends of Aranna was the weather guy (Shadow Master or something?). Overall, I liked Legends of Aranna's campaign much better than the original campaign. That said, however, none of them were the best single player experience I ever had. To be honest, the only reason I would play single player in DS1 would be to start off a new character to export into multiplayer (since single player had better loot than multiplayer in that game, especially the expansion). DS3 definitely has DS1-2 beat in single player I feel (except when including player made siegelets... great modding community), but the opposite is just as true for multiplayer (even if DS3 didn't have the camera issues). Unfortunately, DS1's multiplayer ship has long since sailed with the removal of their hosted servers (people still try to organize multiplayer matches, but it really isn't the same). I think the combat system in DS3 is awesome, and I would like to see it in a sequel. =) To be honest, though, I think the streamlining people are referring to is in the game mechanics/feature list... If DS4 had the ARPG combat, and the advanced story of DS3, but with a deeper leveling system, better loot, player customization, persistent characters, Newgame+, and of course a much improved multiplayer... I feel it would be one of the best titles of the year. =)

It's been the mantra of humanity in all things for countless ages. Heh... It's the truth. =)

Dunno, according to one testimony, in a multiplayer game, you can perfectly have only one guy play, let the other characters follow him with no input from the players, and the characters will do every thing by themselves, including attacking and leveling up. If that's not the epitome of 'playing itself', I don't know what is. You can do that in Dungeon Siege III...hell...just have the second player enter the inventory screen and the AI literally plays your character for you including attacking and using skills. The reality is if you are playing DS1 & DS2, it requires lots of input from the player. Fact. Well... In multiplayer (on DS1), it depends. If you played a melee character, yes you could set them on follow and watch them kill everything. With casters or archers, you could do this as well, but it would be ill advised since it would get you killed often (without player input). That's one reason I enjoyed playing a caster in that game. More challenging, more than 100 spells at my finger tips, and different ways to play the same class (thanks to the wide selection of spells, heh). I had one nature/combat mage that focused in curses (no offensive spells, not even the orb... had to use the healing orb) and it was an odd, challenging, and effective way to play. As for DS2, no, it doesn't play itself. Even though I liked DS1 better overall, and DS1 had a much better multiplayer community, I did enjoy the multiplayer style in DS2 more. I could play as an effective pure support character if I wanted to, and that's the role I enjoy playing the most in any game (you can thank EQ before it sucked for that... looooved the Shaman). =) Not to mention being able to take your own party members/pets from single player into a multiplayer match = win. =)

I wish I shared your love of various genres. Other than the exceptions like Resident Evil or Call of Duty, I tend to stick with RPGs. And other than Skyrim, I've got nothing to look forward to this entire winter. What about War in the North? If you liked this game, you would love that one. =P

Meh... Those are all good games, but none of them are couch co-op ARPGs like DS3. =P

Actually... DS2 had a much more complex leveling system than many people realize, since cross classing was possible (and I utilized this often). It didn't have the most complex system I've ever played by any means, but I feel it was much more complex than DS3 hands down.

Most people play it because they are bored and they've made loads of friends via WoW. The social aspect kept me hooked for years even when I found the game really annoying and boring. That's exactly what kept me playing for the past 3 years. The first 3 it was Vanilla WoW which was new, unique, and very challenging. I loved it. It just became like a second job, getting texts at work telling me I was needed for tanking etc... SW:TOR will still have Tank/Healer/DPS but apparently it's all based on a hybrid system so nobody is stuck doing one thing forever. That's kinda cool. Tera looks neat with its political system and its gorgeous. But none of them interest me as they're all based on the same mold being used since Everquest. Fallout MMO and Warhammer 40k Online would be the 2 to get me back into MMO's, even if they're the same cookie cutter mold although I hope for new innovations by then. Given Obsidian's work on the previous Fallout games and New Vegas, I hope they're at least brought in to some capacity to work on the Fallout MMO. Vigil is doing 40k the MMO (the Darksiders guys) and I couldn't be happier, Darksiders was a great game in my opinion. Fedex quests lol. Yeah hear ya there. Definitely got tired of the "go here, kill this, bring me 10 livers" quests. They really didn't start they're good quest stride until Lich King. I just can't ever bring myself back to play WoW, its like quitting drugs. I've played several MMOs and honestly I dislike them. I played EverQuest, I had two "maxed out" characters (Necro, Shaman), EverQuest 2 (short time, it was bland), and a Star Wars Galaxies which was fun as hell but narrow and not enough of a player base. The one and only thing I hate about MMOs... Stupid Trolling Numbskulls. And every MMO has them and they ruin the fun every time for me. Really?... Everquest had a great community... I never ran into many **** in that game until much later (after sony had gotten it's mitts on it). I have noticed, though, that as time has progressed game communities have been getting worse and worse (especially on WoW). I hope that since the newest MMO that I'm watching, The Secret World, is designed for a more adult audience, that it will have a more mature community... We'll see, though.

Actually I think WoW was funner when it first came out, but I lost interest with each consecutive expansion they've released. I can see how people would like the game... It's just not for me, though.

Since when are FedEx quests a sign of perfection? FedEx quests, kill x number of mobs and the endless grinding for better gear. Can't say about other MMO's since I haven't played any, but I wouldn't call WoW perfect. WoW doesn't have to be perfect... It has countless subscribers, and no other MMO even comes close to the amount of money it's made. I think the game is boring as hell, so I guess that makes me weird, heh. =P

Where's all this Space Siege love coming from? I've never played it, but as far as I understand it's pretty universally hated. =P

Different and unique? How's this... Every myth and legend you've heard is true... Secret societies have made themselves known, and are vying for power... Oh by the way, this game is being released for consoles and PC, and it doesn't seem as though it was dumbed down at all. This will be a day 1 purchase for me, but I have a feeling it won't be released until the end of the Mayan calendar (2012, of course).

Hmmm... I doubt any kind of DLC will be released like that for this game, but I have to admit that it would be pretty damn awesome if it was, heh.

I agree. I love the way things look and run on this engine. =)

Oh, the irony. =P

Damn... If this game gets a decent modding community, I might be tempted to buy it for the PC. That was my favorite thing about the first game. =O