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Stopped around 8th level. Too mechanical a game, a sort of modern, 3D Rogue: friendly NPCs always standing in the same place, towns with less than one-tenth the buildings that could sustain one, endless, nameless battles of no importance, very linear beneath a slight veneer of randomness. Dull, dull, dull.

Just my opinion, of course.

fable wrote:Stopped around 8th level. Too mechanical a game, a sort of modern, 3D Rogue: friendly NPCs always standing in the same place, towns with less than one-tenth the buildings that could sustain one, endless, nameless battles of no importance, very linear beneath a slight veneer of randomness. Dull, dull, dull.

Just my opinion, of course.

It does get a *little* better.

Now what you should do is look for modules made by better builders that incorporate SOZ's conventions. Who knows? There might be something good out there by now.

I'm still trying to finish testing the party in SOZ I've been working on for a while now. It's a bit different game when you ignore most quests and stick to the main story-line. RADICALLY different as far as XP's go - to the point where you could easily get to the end-battle and then be nearly unable to finish the game (..depending on the difficulty setting).



So, which title did you prefer in my Review?

"Storm of Suck", or "where did my 30 bucks go?"

Scottg wrote:It does get a *little* better.

Now what you should do is look for modules made by better builders that incorporate SOZ's conventions. Who knows? There might be something good out there by now.

I'm still trying to finish testing the party in SOZ I've been working on for a while now. It's a bit different game when you ignore most quests and stick to the main story-line. RADICALLY different as far as XP's go - to the point where you could easily get to the end-battle and then be nearly unable to finish the game (..depending on the difficulty setting).



So, which title did you prefer in my Review?

"Storm of Suck", or "where did my 30 bucks go?"

Heh. I think I prefer, "I'll wave as the next Neverwinter Nights passes by." With DA:O coming, I have at least some hopes. And eventually, some year, AoD should be finished and ship, which promises to be a real roleplaying experience.

fable wrote:Heh. I think I prefer, "I'll wave as the next Neverwinter Nights passes by." With DA:O coming, I have at least some hopes. And eventually, some year, AoD should be finished and ship, which promises to be a real roleplaying experience.

..hey, what's AoD?

Scottg wrote:

..hey, what's AoD?

Age of Decadence. Per their description:

7 distinctive gameplay styles: from knight, serving a Noble House, to grifter, preying on greed and gullibility.

23 skills, ranging from Dagger and Critical Strike to Disguise and Persuasion to Crafting and Lore.

Action Point-based combat system, featuring a flexible set of standard attacks, special attacks such as whirlwind and impale, and aimed attacks at different body parts.

8 weapon types: daggers, swords, axes, hammers, spears, bows, crossbows, throwing weapons, each with individual traits.

Non-combat quest resolutions and a well-developed diplomatic path ( "The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy." )

Over 100 quests, taking you to 22 locations: towns, outposts, archeological digs, sealed places of Power, underground facilities, and temples.

Each situation has multiple ways of handling it, based on your skills, reputation, and connections. Each way has consequences that will affect someone or something.

Extensive dialogue trees, written with role-playing in mind. You can use many skills in dialogues, take actions like stealing or sneak-attacking, and play your character with personality as you see fit.

An interesting world with rich history and unclear future that your actions can shape into seven very different game endings.

Detailed crafting and alchemy systems: melt items and create new ones, balance your sword, play with Greek fire, increase your poison's potency, use corrosive acid on locks, and experiment with black powder.

Hundreds of items, ranging from weapons and armor to scrolls, tools, flasks, and pre-war relics.

3D world created with Torque Game Engine, featuring detailed locations and almost 200 unique animations.

I've read through several of the threads on roleplaying. It really is deep, with your actions affecting various individuals and factions, causing certain paths to open and others to close. Check out the forums for yourself.

Oh, and these two:

Each situation has multiple ways of handling it, based on your skills, reputation, and connections. Each way has consequences that will affect someone or something.

Extensive dialogue trees, written with role-playing in mind. You can use many skills in dialogues, take actions like stealing or sneak-attacking, and play your character with personality as you see fit.

They mean it. This isn't a case of "you can deal with this quest any way you want, but you'll fail unless you hammer away at 15 super-orcs for 3 hours!"

I know the feeling, I quit SoZ at level 9. I might go back to it one day, but at the moment I'm just playing the OC again. I do like NWN2 as its the kind of game I can happily just play for 30 mins to an hour every day or two to pass the time as I don't have the time to play games regularly at the moment, but as far as the kind of game that truly captivates my attention, I am also waiting for titles like Dragon Age and AoD.

Someone made the OC playable on the Same Overland Map from the Bioware forums.

Thanks for the up on AoD!

Looks very nice. Kind of a text plus 2D graphics (with perhaps a 3D drop down combat system).

Speaking of combat systems..

To this day, my favorite *real-time* RPG combat system is Dungeon Lords for melee and Morrowind for archery. My favorite turn-based combat system is Wizardry 8 followed by ToEE.

My overall favorite system (1st person perspective) is the original series of Thief. IF you haven't played those original Thief games before, I HIGHLY recommend them. They *are* linear and segmented, but they have an interesting story-line and can be a LOT of fun (especially when played in a dark room with surround sound). (..perhaps feeling a bit more like a modestly interactive book.)