Meh, another crappy TES game that'll be light on story, have a crummy leveling system, and feature a ridiculous amount of bugs, all from the same company which BUTCHERED the Fallout license. No thank you.
The demo for Dragon Age 2 honestly felt pretty bland and predictable... same cliche, overdramatized story, same right click mashing gameplay, same nonsensically over-healthed monsters. Skyrim looks like it will once again revolutionize the RPG genre. Here's hoping. :-P
heck even Dungeon Siege 2 (if you count that as an rpg) looks to be good. Gonna hurt my budget a bit but it's a welcome change over the past few years.
It's actually Dungeon Siege 3! I liked Dungeon Siege 1 and especially 2. Action RPGs with cookie cutter story can be just as fun depending on your mood. After working hard at uni on your essay/project/assignment, I wouldn't want to play a complicated game. I would be in the mood for a Diablo blow them all up style RPG.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
#$%^ graphics for crying out loud, I still play Atari-Commodore era video games, if I only had a pick of only Elder Scrolls and any Bioware game it would be Elder Scrolls that mainly cause Elder Scrolls games out last any game on the market out there plus being highly customizable by the community.
I rather play Bethesda- Elder scroll games with total freedom then linear DAO and very linear DA2(hold hand games of bioware) with insane console combat.
But ive played alot of DAO(DA2 wont polute my HD) not as much as Morrowind but still alot Oblivion not so much as Morrowind but still alot and its not a bad game but i just prefer rpgs with huge worlds and freedom to explore there wonders and secrets and beautifull worlds.
DAO is just to limited and lack of freedom to predictable and way to easy to realy enjoy.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009..... In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
While Bioware games are not sandbox, they most definitaly aren't linear.
Non-linear (very similar to what Bioware games are like):
That is what I consider 'Semi-Linear' as the story chunks are totally linear but are broken up so you can do them in different sequences. The sequences are somewhat linear as well as the story won't let you do anything that breaks with the main plot. A BioWare game is set up so you would have to do all four of the first teir boxes before it will let you do, or even go to the areas having to do with the second or third teir. In an Open World Sandbox you can go almost anywhere right from the get go. Not saying either way is better than the other mind you as they both have their merits... One allows for superior story telling while the other allows for superior player freedom.
While I'll agree BioWare games are definately not totally linear they are still 'semi-linear'.
My problem with DA being labeled as Linear is the fact that the story has branches and choices that can be made, its not like whatever you do the end result is the same, its actually different end results based off of the choices and actions that are made.
Meaning its not really on one "line" its much more "branches"
I'm like the only person I know who didn't like Oblivion. I just found the combat so incredibly boring. I hope it is better in Skyrim.
I wasn't keen on it myself, it had potential but getting close to the end of playign it i felt liek the world was closing in around me because it just seemed small overall (more of a personal feeling while playign than actual gameplay). TBH from what i've noticed between Oblivion and Morrowind is that they sacrificed gameplay/openness for graphics. it's a classic example of how things are going in the gaming world.
Lets try to argue for a better lexicon to describe the games we all know and love.
Linear: There is only one path through the adventure. Things must occur in order or you do not progress. Dungeon Seige. No replay value unless you just really like playing the same battle over and over.
Simplex: Every player must do essentially the same things, although the order in which they are done may very. Thus - although the players may have the illusion of freedom of choice at times, ultimately every player has a very similar experience. The OC. Very limited replay value.
Complex: There is more then one way to go through the module, although the end of the game will tend to be very similar. Characters of different alignments or who choose different goals may experience a very different game including totally different encounters and areas. Good replay value.
Multiplex: What the players do and where they go are entirely up to them. If there is a story behind the game, it is entirely player driven and its outcome depends entirely on what the players choose to do. If the players choose to totally ignore the designers story, they can make their own. PnP D&D gaming by a good DM who designs his own adventures. Unlimited replay value.
Now we can start to put Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Elder Scroll, and Fallout series intro these groups.
Comments
Meh, another crappy TES game that'll be light on story, have a crummy leveling system, and feature a ridiculous amount of bugs, all from the same company which BUTCHERED the Fallout license. No thank you.
The demo for Dragon Age 2 honestly felt pretty bland and predictable... same cliche, overdramatized story, same right click mashing gameplay, same nonsensically over-healthed monsters. Skyrim looks like it will once again revolutionize the RPG genre. Here's hoping. :-P
It's actually Dungeon Siege 3! I liked Dungeon Siege 1 and especially 2. Action RPGs with cookie cutter story can be just as fun depending on your mood. After working hard at uni on your essay/project/assignment, I wouldn't want to play a complicated game. I would be in the mood for a Diablo blow them all up style RPG.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
#$%^ graphics for crying out loud, I still play Atari-Commodore era video games, if I only had a pick of only Elder Scrolls and any Bioware game it would be Elder Scrolls that mainly cause Elder Scrolls games out last any game on the market out there plus being highly customizable by the community.
I rather play Bethesda- Elder scroll games with total freedom then linear DAO and very linear DA2(hold hand games of bioware) with insane console combat.
But ive played alot of DAO(DA2 wont polute my HD) not as much as Morrowind but still alot Oblivion not so much as Morrowind but still alot and its not a bad game but i just prefer rpgs with huge worlds and freedom to explore there wonders and secrets and beautifull worlds.
DAO is just to limited and lack of freedom to predictable and way to easy to realy enjoy.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009.....
In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
That is what I consider 'Semi-Linear' as the story chunks are totally linear but are broken up so you can do them in different sequences. The sequences are somewhat linear as well as the story won't let you do anything that breaks with the main plot. A BioWare game is set up so you would have to do all four of the first teir boxes before it will let you do, or even go to the areas having to do with the second or third teir. In an Open World Sandbox you can go almost anywhere right from the get go. Not saying either way is better than the other mind you as they both have their merits... One allows for superior story telling while the other allows for superior player freedom.
While I'll agree BioWare games are definately not totally linear they are still 'semi-linear'.
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
My problem with DA being labeled as Linear is the fact that the story has branches and choices that can be made, its not like whatever you do the end result is the same, its actually different end results based off of the choices and actions that are made.
Meaning its not really on one "line" its much more "branches"
I'm like the only person I know who didn't like Oblivion. I just found the combat so incredibly boring. I hope it is better in Skyrim.
I wasn't keen on it myself, it had potential but getting close to the end of playign it i felt liek the world was closing in around me because it just seemed small overall (more of a personal feeling while playign than actual gameplay). TBH from what i've noticed between Oblivion and Morrowind is that they sacrificed gameplay/openness for graphics. it's a classic example of how things are going in the gaming world.
Lets try to argue for a better lexicon to describe the games we all know and love.
Linear: There is only one path through the adventure. Things must occur in order or you do not progress. Dungeon Seige. No replay value unless you just really like playing the same battle over and over.
Simplex: Every player must do essentially the same things, although the order in which they are done may very. Thus - although the players may have the illusion of freedom of choice at times, ultimately every player has a very similar experience. The OC. Very limited replay value.
Complex: There is more then one way to go through the module, although the end of the game will tend to be very similar. Characters of different alignments or who choose different goals may experience a very different game including totally different encounters and areas. Good replay value.
Multiplex: What the players do and where they go are entirely up to them. If there is a story behind the game, it is entirely player driven and its outcome depends entirely on what the players choose to do. If the players choose to totally ignore the designers story, they can make their own. PnP D&D gaming by a good DM who designs his own adventures. Unlimited replay value.
Now we can start to put Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Elder Scroll, and Fallout series intro these groups.
Bioware: Interactive books, telling the same story each time but with different characters.
Bethesda: Living worlds containing one major plotline which usually takes a backseat to your own exploration of that world.