OT: Attention Fantasy RPG Fans

[Bullethead 12]

Found out the Strat Guide is 300 pages. Collectors hard cover Strat Guide is like 592. Insane.

 

The insane thing is that there's still a market for strategy guides. I just can't fathom that. If I was a book publisher, I'd have gotten out of that market about 10 years ago at the latest. By all logic, the internet should have destroyed the commercial viability of strategy guides no later than 2001.

 

Every game, no matter how obscure, has at least 1 fanboy crazy enough to build a wiki detailing its every aspect. When it's a major title like Skyrim, it'll have have half a dozen wikis and their webmasters will all try to scoop each other. And for each such fanboy, there are a about one dozen others who get their jollies out of contributing to such wikis. So these very few folks buy the strategy guides and almost overnight, the entire contents are available for free to every other potential customer. I thought this was the Internet Generation. Babies these days don't say "goo goo", they say "google". Thus, logially, for something like Skyrim, I'd expect to sell only 100 copies of the strategy guide at most, which won't cover the production costs or payments to Bethesda for all the secret info prior to release so I can have the book ready on the same day.

 

But somehow, logic is failing here and strategy guides continue to be part and parcel of the release of major titles. WTF? Seriously, do you all know anybody who buys them, who isn't a wiki webmaster fanboy? I sure don't.

 

[Hellshade 110]

Actually I buy them. I have kids and when I have to sit in the park while they play or in the waiting room at the doctors office, etc, I like to whip out the Strat Guides just I can have something to read that's interesting.

 

Brief "Behind the Scenes - Making of Skyrim" video that shows a few new scenes...including decapitations and Kill Cams. Yep. Can't wait.

 

http://www.bethblog.com/index.php/2011/11/01/behind-the-wall-the-making-of-skyrim-trailer/

Edited November 1, 2011 by Hellshade

[Bullethead 12]

Actually I buy them. I have kids and when I have to sit in the park while they play or in the waiting room at the doctors office, etc, I like to whip out the Strat Guides just I can have something to read that's interesting.

 

Ah, there's your trouble. By now you're supposed to have a tablet. OT1H, you can read all the free WW1 aviation PDFs that Lou keeps linking for us. OTOH, you can read game wikis for free. So after about 4 games, the tablet will have paid for itself in savings on strategy guides

[Wodin 0]

I loved fantasy books when I was a kid and D&D etc etc. I also enjoyed the Baldurs Gate games when they came out. However I don't know if it's age or the actaul games but no new fantasy games have peaked my interest at all. Oblivion I was bored after a few hours, same with the Witcher 2 once I went to the Dwarf place. Dragon Age 1 the same aswell.

 

Everything I've seen of Skyrim so far seems pretty much like all the others. I just don't get the massive hype and excitement over it. Same thing with the Star Wars MMO, to me it looks downright awful. I know graphics aren't everything but I'd never pay a subscription for a game anyway.

 

Sadly when a game hits both the Console and PC market you knwo it's mainly aimed at console players. Which in turn implies that the depth we used to get in our RPG games years ago has been wiped away for the no attention span generation.

 

I hope it hits everyones expectations though going by releases these days it is a fingers crossed one I think.

 

It seems the only game thats really lived upto the mark thats been released recently is the new Batman game. Which hits our trusty Rigs later this month.

Edited November 3, 2011 by Wodin

[Bullethead 12]

I loved fantasy books when I was a kid and D&D etc etc. I also enjoyed the Baldurs Gate games when they came out. However I don't know if it's age or the actaul games but no new fantasy games have peaked my interest at all. Oblivion I was bored after a few hours, same with the Witcher 2 once I went to the Dwarf place. Dragon Age 1 the same aswell.

 

I think your tastes have just changed. It happens to us all. I used to love FPS games from the original Doom. At that time, I had no use at all for the fantasy flavor like Heretic and Thief. But somewhere along the line, I completely reversed myself on this. Now I like the fantasy type and won't touch the gun type. I don't know why but that's the way I've been for the last dozen years or so.

 

Sadly when a game hits both the Console and PC market you knwo it's mainly aimed at console players. Which in turn implies that the depth we used to get in our RPG games years ago has been wiped away for the no attention span generation.

 

I see things differently because I'm in the gaming industry. The bottom line is, the PC as we came to know it over the last 20 years is obsolete and on its way out. I believe it will no longer exist be the end of this decade. It's incredibly extravagant and wasteful compared to modern alternatives. I think us old codgers only keep buying them out of habit and snobbery. We think consoles are beneath us because 20 years ago, when we were young adults, we saw consoles as kiddie toys and have maintained this opinion despite the march of progress since, and the growing up of the kids of 20 years ago.

 

For some years now, the future has already been upon us. The mundane computing functions like using this forum, running a business, etc., don't require much more horsepower than they did 20 years ago, and that horsepower can now fit inside something the size of a pack of smokes. The vast amount of horsepower possible today, however, is only needed for gaming, and even that doens't need much of a package. So the natural process has been to split these functions up between specialized machines. This is both cheaper overall and much more convenient to use on both fronts and is why, for some years past, consoles have been by far the biggest market for games. These days, they're practically the only market. Have you been in a Best Buy or Game Stop lately? They have only a very few PC titles, shoved back in a corner behind aisles and aisles of console titles.

 

So as I see it, it's a miracle there are ANY releases for PC at all these days. That's the industry just throwing us old dogs a bone. It won't last much longer. I just ordered a new PC last week and I wouldn't be surprised at all if it ends up being the last one I ever buy. By the time I'd normally be looking to replace it, there could well be no more new PC games available to need a new PC.

 

Now, as to your claim of lack of depth in FRPGs lately... I think that's a subjective matter. Some folks think it means lots of stuff to do, others mean some long, involved storyline with lots of character development. These 2 are usually mutually exclusive. Personally, I prefer the former to the latter.

[Flyby PC 23]

Doesn't take fancy graphics to guarantee a good game.

 

Many Moons ago I liked UFO - Enemy Unknown. By todays standards, you'd laugh / cringe at the graphics, but it was still fun to play long after many other slicker looking games came out. And all of it packed into 4Mb!!! Could never decide if I liked the Psionic weapon to kidnap the bad guys and make them blow themselves up, or the programmeable rocket launcher you could plan where the route it would follow and divert around corners and blow things up big style. Ah, they don't make them like they used to...

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

My Favourite game of that era...the maddeningly addictive 'Lemmings'

[Bullethead 12]

Many Moons ago I liked UFO - Enemy Unknown. By todays standards, you'd laugh / cringe at the graphics, but it was still fun to play long after many other slicker looking games came out.

 

Ah yes, I love that game. I still play it and have recently gotten my nephew hooked on it. You can get it on Steam for like $4 and it'll run on today's hardware

[Von Paulus 8]

@Flyby PC

Xenonauts, promises to be a good successor to UFO - Enemy Unknown:

http://www.xenonauts.com/

Everyone which is fan of the original should keep an eye in this indie project.

 

Edited November 3, 2011 by Von Paulus

[Ratatat 0]

Anyone play Silent Storm?

 

I bought the Gold edition a few years ago ( comes with the add-on Silent Storm Sentinels ). Great game. Perhaps the best of the X-Com" clone" games to come out. It's set in 1943. The ability to destroy the entire environment is a blast and very impressive for it's time. Heck, it's still impressive now!

 

Ratatat

[Hellshade 110]

Speaking of classic games, Bethesda is allowing anyone who wants to download the full version of the 1996 classic Elder Scrolls II : Daggerfall directly from their website. Alot of folks say it was the best of the series in terms of being a huge, open world. Now is your chance to play it all for free. I do believe you'll need DOSBox to run it.

 

http://www.elderscrolls.com/daggerfall/

[Hellshade 110]

Looks like they just posted a 'Sounds of Skyrim' trailer showing how they came up with and produced the musical score and the 70+ voice actors they employed to do around 110 roles in the game. Max von Sydow, Linda Carter and some others are some of the more famous ones.

It's truly amazing the amount of work that goes into each aspect of a game.

 

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/11/03/take-a-look-behind-the-scenes-at-the-sounds-of-skyrim.aspx

 

Hellshade

[Ratatat 0]

Hey! No fair hijacking your hijacked thread Hellshade!

 

I haven't been one for fantasy type games since my early teenage years. This, however, is one impressive looking game. Thanks for all the links and research Hellshade. It is now on my list of games to watch very closely.

 

So...uh... anyone play Silent Storm?

 

 

Ratatat

[Hellshade 110]

Article on Skyrims complete menu overhaul. They used Apple's interface as inspiration for getting maximum use out of menus while still keeping it elegant and streamlined.

 

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim/b/xbox360/archive/2011/01/28/skyrim-menu-system-overhaul.aspx

 

Hellshade

[Shiloh 12]

I haven't really played too many of these types of games but this one looks simply amazing. I think I'll give it a shot at some point. Apple has some of the most intuitive menus - nice move to emulate. And if I were on the Elder Scrolls team I would hire Hellshade to do my marketing.

[Hellshade 110]

And if I were on the Elder Scrolls team I would hire Hellshade to do my marketing.

 

That would be a very bad choice. Because once 11.11.11 hits I'm going to have almost no interaction with the outside world for at least 5 days (vacation time specifically to game!) except perhaps to order the occassional pizza. After that, we'll see. I doubt I'll even be able to tear myself away long enough to write up a proper review here for any other RPG fans. But really that won't be necessary anyways. Pretty much anyone who's a fantasy RPG fan is aware of it anyway.

 

Skyrim, for me personally, will be the 'holy grail' of fantasy RPG gaming that I have been waiting my whole life for. I'm quite sure there will be bugs and I'm fine with that. Every game has them and the larger and more open the world is, the harder it is to find them all. But between official patches and a huge modding community for the Elder Scrolls series, I have a strong belief all will be made well soon enough. Besides, this time they have a 'bug finding' program that they apparently run overnight every night where it run through various quests and tries a bunch of crazy stuff and gives them a log in the morning that tells them what broke. I think Skyrim could possibly have less bugs in it than the previous ES series releases have had even though there's an "order of magnitude more content" in Skyrim - according to Todd Howard.

 

And yes, my wife knows she's about to become a Skyrim widow for at least a few days. She's okay with that. She's still happy with her Color Nook for reading books.

 

Hellshade

[Von Paulus 8]

For those who are missing a real dungeon crawler like the old Dungeon Master, take a look at this indie project, that is expected to be release in the end of the year.

 

First day buy for me:

 

 

http://www.grimrock.net/

[Hellshade 110]

Whoot! I remember Dungeon Master for the Amiga. It was awesome! Thanks for sharing this indie clone, VP. I'll keep an eye out for it. Sure brings back memories.

 

 

Hellshade

[Von Paulus 8]

Whoot! I remember Dungeon Master for the Amiga. It was awesome! Thanks for sharing this indie clone, VP. I'll keep an eye out for it. Sure brings back memories.

 

 

Hellshade

I've already checked my graph paper's provision.

 

Edit: At least in terms of art, it's outstanding.

 

Edited November 4, 2011 by Von Paulus

[Hasse Wind 46]

Yeah, that looks slightly better than old Dungeon Master.

[Hellshade 110]

That looks excellent, actually. Sometimes little indies are just what's needed.

 

In other news, Skyrim has officially gone gold today. 3 years of hard work finally finished (for now). Soon enough will come patching and DLC. Congrats to the Bethesda team.

 

http://www.bethblog.com/index.php/2011/11/04/golden-mead-for-a-golden-game/

 

Hellshade

[itifonhom 6]

I am also aware that I will be blown away from Skyrim, so I try to finish any job undone this last week, because next Friday I will depart for Skyrim and there's no coming back anytime soon. I'll try to say goodbye to everybody, maybe send the a photo of me too. I already make a list of supplies I have to buy, tons if cola and snacks, pizzas, schocolates etc and of course remember to cut the telephone and the door bell wires! Hyped? YES!

[Shiloh 12]

That would be a very bad choice. Because once 11.11.11 hits I'm going to have almost no interaction with the outside world for at least 5 days (vacation time specifically to game!) except perhaps to order the occassional pizza. After that, we'll see.

Hellshade

 

Vacation time to game - now that's dedication!

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

And if I were on the Elder Scrolls team I would hire Hellshade to do my marketing.

 

hahahaha....Amen to that!...You cannot knock our resident gamer's enthusiasm!...we love you Hellshade!!

[Hellshade 110]

A tiny sampling of the faces you can create for your character in Skyrim. I'm going to lose an hour just making a face. /sigh

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FiC6yrVetE&feature=related

 

Hellshade