If I spend $49.99 on this game....

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally posted by olaf73:
The documentation is the game's biggest shortcoming.

Well luckily you are here. We have mostly decided that the documentation is best done by us Users anyway. Feel sorry for the people who cant find their way here.

But I might mention that after you read here awhile you might realize that good documentation for this game would be a set of encyclopedias.

[Fyron]

We have mostly decided that the documentation is best done by us Users anyway.

That is a rather lazy cop-out.

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:

quote:

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We have mostly decided that the documentation is best done by us Users anyway.

That is a rather lazy cop-out.

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Lazy? Lazy for who? For us? I think most of us enjoy filling in the blanks. I was just offering it as an alternative, not an excuse.

If you mean lazy for the developers then you are jumping to conclusions. For one thing they are a couple of guys with jobs and families outside of creating this game. For another thing they have programmed a great game and I can tell you from experience that programmers make ROTTEN documentors. Even they admit that the docs and tutorial are sparse.

One of the things I like about this game. They are here discussing the game with us and actively patch in things we suggest.

[Zapmeister]

But I might mention that after you read here awhile you might realize that good documentation for this game would be a set of encyclopedias.

Perhaps, but I'd be more than satisfied with a list of all the formulae relevant to the economy and combat, and words like "some" and "many" replaced by actual numbers or formulae.

It's not an encyclopedia of information, but all that's needed to obviate all that tedious not-fun testing ...

[apoger]

>But I might mention that after you read here awhile you might realize that good documentation for this game would be a set of encyclopedias.

While there is validity to that, it's no excuse to produce the sad documentation they did. They could have easily dumped the spells and items which are easily viewed in-game, and instead put in some serious game discussion.

The games complexity is greatly aggravated by the lack of good documentation.

[Lord Hammer]

Yeah, but that's a good thing in this case. A game whose vastness can't be covered in a 134 pages . Some of the fun is learning on your own but it can be frustrating at the start...BUT...it's so darn fun you'll forget about everything else...EVERYTHING .

[Gandalf Parker]

Pros and Cons. No answer will please everyone. Personally I hate manuals full of formulas. Finding neat little useful tactics on my own is something I enjoy. Im not saying the docs couldnt be better. Even the devs agree with that. But putting all the formulas and factors into the docs is a different decision that would have to be made.

[ January 09, 2004, 03:23: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]