Re: Off topic: How are games failing you?
 

If you play the game normally.. just killing stuff while doing missions and not just maxing all non combat stats which is just unnatural then there is no problem. It might be annoying but that was your choice then. It's the same as playing dominions and herding gold, RP you are a greedy god.. not spending more than half your income on troops etc.. and then complain someone with 2x your army beats you. Something you just shouldn't RP :D

Re: Off topic: How are games failing you?
 

Yeah, if you want to RP a non-combatant you really do need to stick to indy games, as there's no way any decent size studio is going to encourage that. The beauty of Oblivion though is that you can completely ignore the main quest and do whatever the heck you want, with no penalty.

Re: Off topic: How are games failing you?
 

I want an RPG with zero grind.

Even the stars of the genre like Oblivion and Planescape or other DnD versions have people killing rats for power. It's lame.

I'd actually like an arcade-style game like Devil May Cry where someone's "level" is actually a reflection of a mastery of a strong tactics game. One of the reasons I like games like Dominions is that power comes only from skill.

And I never....ever...ever....eeeeeever.... want to kill a hundred orcs until I get a rare drop.

Re: Off topic: How are games failing you?
 

Thats one of the reasons I like GW. The level cap is pretty low and easily attainable, so the PvP and later PvE is a lot more "tactical". Its all about timing, having the right build, and coordinating your skills.

Re: Off topic: How are games failing you?
 

Well I disagree with it myself, it must be how we play games since others seem to have the same "problems" as you. I just walk around, talk to everyone, do every quest I get, walk there, kill every thing I encounter and then do the next thing.. in all games I usually reach level cap WAY before end of game and I never feel pressure to go grind since it's SP.. I'm THA MASTA anyway. I'm a looter though. I keep everything and stash anything that seems "special" though everyone who has the game can and probably has the same items :D

I think indie games where you can RP a non combatant and still win in a fantasy setting must have have some story I won't believe though :D

Re: Off topic: How are games failing you?
 

No, I did play the game normally. In all RPGs, I always hit a point where I gain enough confidence to just do some exploring. But I am -always- obsessive about picking up free things, and that very much includes herbs. The Sneak I did for fun, but Herbalism just happened, and there was no compelling reason at the time to not make the potions.

Oblivion was the only game I had ever played that penalized you for developing yourself in non-combat ways. In fact, if you just developed a couple of combat skills exclusively, you would have a FAR easier time in combat, than if you stack on Herb/Alch, for another -20- levels of difficulty. The potions just aren't strong enough to justify utilizing the depth of Alchemy that they provided (maybe if you were not an Herbalist, you buy all of your components? yeah, sounds like great fun).

All it does is force min-maxing, mindless grinding, and rushing the main quest. What is the point of all of that content, if exploring it makes your character unable to function in the world? It's just stupid design is what it is - there is NO justification for making the game harder for someone who develops their character.

Re: Off topic: How are games failing you?
 

Didn't really read thread that much so this is kinda off-topic, but I was really pleasantly surprised when I DLed Vampire: The Bloodlines- Masquerade. Graphics weren't really too great, but you can tell that they really tried to do as much as possible with what they had. Pretty decent storyline, and the devs make playing a vampire as fun as it should be. Anyways just figured I should mention it because really the only two games I play now are WoW and Dom3, but that game stuck out to me.

Also on a side note, alchemy in Oblivion and just Oblivion in general rocks my socks. I had a level 48 warrior-build with everything maxed cept for my speechcraft which I just used as a filler and I just couldn't ever die, even with minimal potion usage. It's actually what made me stop playing the game as my character just didn't ever die and it got boring. I kinda disagree with the poster above me because I think it's the challenge that developing your charactter brings that made the game so fun. I do have to say that I liked Elder Scrolls better than Oblivion though; there was just so much more diversity and a much better storyline.

Anyways, just my 2 cents

Felt kinda guilty about posting without even touching upon the OP's topic. FOr my ideal game, I'd take different aspects from some of our best games today. I'd take the brilliant city design of Grand Theft Auto 4 and apply it in a fantasy environment, creating a virtual world with the intricacies of GTA, but with the epic scope of the Morrowind Elder Scrolls game. I'd take the poor, but honest attempts at social functions of Fable 2/3 and polish them up so they're actually effective and throw that in there too. I'll have to say Elder Scrolls 3 had an awful combat system and Oblivion truly wasn't that much better even though I love Oblivion. I'd take maybe the easy to use combat interface of WoW and combine it with the intensity of Halo or maybe Call of Duty 4. Bring in the kind of epic storyline that made Mass Effect amazing and throw in a character creation system that isn't the run of the mill "Pick Class here" thing that you see everywhere else. Personally, I'd have your own actions in game determine your "class," but that's something that I'd just like to see, it'll probably never really happen. ANyways, I'm done now- I gotta wake up entirely too early to be posting randomly on these forums

Cadel.

Re: Off topic: How are games failing you?
 

Oblivion is best when you heavily MOD it

Re: Off topic: How are games failing you?
 

@ JimMorrison

That's why we need the comeback of the PCs party! :D Your Herbalist would have stayed in the rear making potions and soups and salads and whatever you can do with herbs, and the Warrior would have brought you to the end of the game smashing heads :p

Re: Off topic: How are games failing you?
 

Seriously! He was a damned fine cook, and a decent assassin. Just everything else levelled up to the point that he wet himself if he faced 2 opponents head on - even 1 without surprise got pretty dicey. 8 \

Oddly though, I wooped the arena quest. But, I did kite everything. >.> You kite outdoors, and look, it's another bear! One can kill me, so 2 must be more fun! :D