Dragons? Breed them out.

Lady Dragonfly · #1 (**permalink**) 04-10-2007, 07:54 PM

I don't like dragons. To be honest, I've never had. I lied to myself for many years, pretended that the dragons were cool and fun, but deep in my heart I knew they were not.

The dragons invade almost every game I play, they become larger and meaner, hell, they even hunt me in packs now. They are almost impossible to kill without reloading a hundred times, and the "victory" ain't worth the frustration and the pitiful treasure they drop.

I've never measured my gaming fun by the toughness of my pixilated foes, so the word "dragons" on the game box just makes me groan and roll my eyes.

Am I the only wimp here? Does anybody else have an anti-dragon attitude?
Don't you guys think the developers shouldn't so blatantly substitute the brain (however little it is) of the game with the brawn of the dragons (and other uber-challenging fiends)?

What is so exhilarating about fighting a hard-to-kill dragon anyway?

BGRocks · #2 (**permalink**) 04-10-2007, 09:00 PM

Well I don't dislike dragons like you do, I do agree that they have been overused. It gets to a point where there is nothing special to them, and you see them everywhere. I definitely think some RPGs should just not include them, but I think it's a case of developer competitiveness, 'I can make a cooler dragon than those guys over at that other studio.'

I carry similar beliefs that Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, and the like are overused too. I'd like to see a game where when you choose race, it's just another kind of human, each with subtle differences. A fantasy RPG set in our world is very rare, but I think they should do it more, could solve a lot of problems with generic peoples and monsters.

Tricky · #3 (**permalink**) 04-11-2007, 01:32 AM

I have the same thing with Mithril. Orcs, Dwarves and even Dragons I can handle, but finding a piece of Mithril armor or weaponry brutally rips apart my fantasy bubble. They could have named it any number of things, but it had to be so special they named it Mithril. Sadness.

DesR85 · #4 (**permalink**) 04-11-2007, 01:47 AM

I don't like dragons very much too but luckily, the RPGs I play do not have dragons in them, so I'm not really that irritated. What I do notice is that in almost every RPG (no matter what type), they always use the medieval fantasy setting. This setting is so overused up till the point that it really gets on your nerves.

As a result of this, I typically avoid any game that uses the medieval setting.

mr_sir · #5 (**permalink**) 04-11-2007, 05:19 AM

Personally I quite like dragons but do feel they are overused. A dragon in my view should be this insanely hard rare creature and you should never meet more than one in a game, and when you do then you really should not be expected to fight it unless you really have a serious death wish. Games like NWN made dragons far too common and easy to kill, as did Gothic 2 and Fable:TLC. To me, dragons should be like the one I met in IWD2, the first time I played that game I had to run away from it because it just wiped my party out in a flash - I had to use haste and just run to a portal to escape. To me, thats how dragons should be. Not some creature that can easily be taken out with magic missiles like in NWN

dragon wench · #6 (**permalink**) 04-11-2007, 10:06 AM

Well... it wouldn`t be D&D without dragons

But, like others here I do think they have become far too commonplace and simple to kill.
As Mr. Sir states, dragons should be legendary beasts instead of the hackneyed entitities they have become; upon encountering one the player should be utterly awed on one level and close to making brownies on another.

Aegis · #7 (**permalink**) 04-11-2007, 10:14 AM

You know, I am not to sure that the issue is that Dragons are too common/easy to kill. I think the flaw lies in the design of the game, and the nature of the characters. Frankly, I have been noticing an increase in power level of playable characters (items, spells, abilities) and a general decrease in the difficulty of the games, enemies and A.I.

For instance, if you were to look at the pen and paper version of DnD, dragons are still an incredibly formidable foe without the proper tools. Compare this to the CRPG variants, and we notice that in the dungeon which the massive beast lairs, there is often that very tool required to defeat said creature. A bit convenient, no?

So, I do not think Dragons are over used because of people's desire to seem them, quite the opposite. I think they are over used because game developers are giving the player too much power. A sure sign of poor DMing, in my opinion.

Lady Dragonfly · #8 (**permalink**) 04-11-2007, 07:42 PM

Hey, why are you all saying "the dragons are soooo easy to kill"??? Without reloading at least a few times??? They are not THAT easy, at least some of them aren't. True, there are wyrms that should have been called worms, but if they offer a good conversation, quests and such, that should make up for the relative wimpiness.

RPG Guy (sorta) · #9 (**permalink**) 04-11-2007, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Dragonfly

The dragons invade almost every game I play, they become larger and meaner, hell, they even hunt me in packs now. They are almost impossible to kill without reloading a hundred times, and the "victory" ain't worth the frustration and the pitiful treasure they drop.

2 points:

1. You can say the same thing about 'demons'. Everyone's got demons. Big demons, small demons, purple demons, demon princes, demon sandwiches...demons-daemONs-DEMONS!!!!! AAAARRRgRGgH!!!

2. As for demon, I mean dragon difficulty, games need tough buggers like this to test all those fancy new swords and armor you accumulate along the way. It's like "OK...let's see how tough I really am with all this new junk!"

I like dragons. Had enough demons for a lifetime though.

Assassin Reaper · #10 (**permalink**) 04-11-2007, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DesR85

I don't like dragons very much too but luckily, the RPGs I play do not have dragons in them, so I'm not really that irritated. What I do notice is that in almost every RPG (no matter what type), they always use the medieval fantasy setting. This setting is so overused up till the point that it really gets on your nerves.

As a result of this, I typically avoid any game that uses the medieval setting.

Now you have to understand that really that's the only interesting rpg except for some. Not saying that having an rpg in now time isn't gonna be fun. No but medieval is really the only thing. But I think in Fable 2 how it is more of a coloniol times. They wanted something unique (Guessing) so they made it where medieval times are just about to be vanquished. But also Mr. Sir I really didn't see any dragons in Fable. Then again in fable i saw none maybe in tlc it's different idk. But I do agree that dragons are way over used as Mr. sir said gothing is hectic because of the dragons. But can someone direct me to a fourm talking about assassin's creed?

dragon wench · #11 (**permalink**) 04-12-2007, 01:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Dragonfly

Hey, why are you all saying "the dragons are soooo easy to kill"??? Without reloading at least a few times??? They are not THAT easy, at least some of them aren't.

Depends on the game, I suppose. The games I've played that have dragons (even in my most favourite games), it's basically been a matter of figuring out a set of tactics, and they inevitably work on every dragon in the game. IMO, it should not be that way. It shouldn't be the case that a slew of lower resistance spells followed by a few volleys of magical missiles are almost always sure-fired ways to deal with dragons. And that is not even getting into the weapons specifically engineered to turn those wyrms into a robin's breakfast.

Granted, I really try to vary the approach, but it still gets a little too straightforward even so...