Question before buying!

[nordlys]

I've played solo since DomPPP and keep returning. I love exploration and experiment far more than competition, and Dominions SP with its countless amount of units, spells and items is a heaven for that. MP with its obsession with efficiency demanding a production of whatever same 2 units with same 3 items are most cost-efficient for this or that nation is a waste of opportunity for me. Like using a Faberge egg to play soccer.

Of course, if overcoming a challenging opposition is your primary interest in gaming, you might be better suited for MP.

[BigDaddy]

I agree that MP can get monotonous. Novel approaches don't always pay off in MP (I'm tempted to say rarely pay off, but you can get some done early and mid-game I think). You can successfully use them SP.

[Bananadine]

Originally Posted by BigDaddy

I agree that MP can get monotonous. Novel approaches don't always pay off in MP (I'm tempted to say rarely pay off, but you can get some done early and mid-game I think). You can successfully use them SP.

One more perspective not yet voiced in this thread: I outgrew the single-player challenge explicitly offered by this game pretty early... but probably not before I'd gotten my $60's worth. I don't happen to be interested in inventing new challenges for myself in single-player Dominions 3 (although I've done that in other games in the past--Battleships Forever, for instance!) so I moved right on to the multiplayer mode.

And... in the multiplayer mode, I do nothing but fun exploration. Or "experimentation", as some might call it. Every few turns I invent some big new strategy for myself, in every multiplayer game I'm in. I've been doing this continually for years, and I still don't entirely know how to play the game. I haven't won a single multiplayer game yet, but I've given my opponents a good challenge, and I almost always have fun. I try to use magic items and spells I haven't used before. There are still dozens of spells whose effects I've never even seen! This game is all about invention and exploration, for me. I see others using strategies they seem to have copied from others. I don't read any guides, I make up my own plans, and as often as not, I win my fights. What happens if you forge and try to effectively use twenty of this rarely-used item? What happens if you pour heavy resources into repeated casting of this obscure spell? What happens if you cast these three powerful, battlefield-wide enchantments at the same time? It is possible to be a player who regularly asks these questions in multiplayer, and gets answers, and has fun doing it, and doesn't totally suck as a result.

In other war games, you usually have to know and practice the "right" way to do things in order to be competitive. In Dominions 3, there is so much complexity even at the most basic level of play that continuous exploration itself seems to be a fundamental part of the "right" way to play, and would be so even if all any player wanted was to win. If everybody was required to attend a full-time, four-year training program to familiarize them with all the basic spells and combinations of spells and so forth before they could enter the multiplayer league, then making up all your own strategies probably wouldn't be a winning... strategy. But I can tell you, the players I've encountered (including me) are not that good at this game. Maybe some players here are, but I think most are not even close. This isn't Starcraft and if you think you know the perfect "build order" for a situation then I would be glad to try to prove you wrong. In multiplayer Dominions 3, there is plenty of room for messing around in the service of victory!

[Knai]

One other. The AI is pretty stupid, and easy enough to take down, but it does take a while to get good. However, multiple people can play on the same computer on any schedule, which is where I play MP, and it is beautiful. I would probably buy it just for Single Player, because Multiplayer is a feasible possibility for the future in many cases. Plus, exploration of the spells and items and such is fun, as are self imposed SP challenges.

That said, there are better strategy games if you only do single player. Battle for Wesnoth for example, or DROD if you want microtactics.

[nordlys]

Originally Posted by Knai

That said, there are better strategy games if you only do single player. Battle for Wesnoth for example...

You can't be serious. Wesnoth is a cheap hack of game not even coming close to the 15-20 years old classics such as Master of Magic, Fantasy General, Crusade: Fight for Power or even Swords of Aragon (and I only mention turn-based, fantasy-themed ones). Other than being a poster boy for open source champions (most of whom somehow also happen to be anime fanboys), this game has as much value as it costs.

[Gandalf Parker]

Solo play also has a much greater range for changing the game. Where MP seeks balance so that the winner can be decided by their strategy and tactics, solo play thrills to extremes. Both the high and low ranges can explored. I suppose an example of that would be that the chaos games on my server still get regular play.

Edit: for those who havent tried them the chaos games tries to give every province completely randomly selected extra units with random equipment. You starting army might include a Horror commander leading dragons, but then the independent province next to you might include a monolith guarded by angels. There are also extra castles, 3 AIs that are allied with each other, and 2 special AIs representing the independents (BIG surprise to have the independents attack your province from next door with a mixture of independents units). NOT recommended for new players. Its an extreme and sometimes unplayably rough game for the jaded oldtimers.
http://www.Dom3Minions.com

[sector24]

I played SP for about 40 hours before I started to feel comfortable with the game's most complex aspects. It's a very high entertainment per dollar value even if you just play SP.

[Baalz]

Yeah, the thing about Dominions is it is so deep you can play many times without ever doing the same thing (particularly at the beginner level). There are an absurd number of nations who all (mostly) play noticably different...and you can even play the same nation several different ways and be competitive. SP is not gonna hold your interest too long if you're interested in MP...but if you're a SP guy Dom SP will give you more bang for the buck than any other SP game I know of.

[danm]

I play single player exclusively, and can still recommend the purchase.

I don't want a game I HAVE to tend to every night, and my attention span/memory just arn't up to games lasting weeks or months -- i'll get bored and start doing stupid stuff just to entertain myself which is not at all fair to the other players.

Single player has its well-documented limitations, but for a more casual gamer who just wants to kill an afternoon every now and then, the challenge level of single player is more than sufficient. By the time i've worked out my national summons, which troops are good for what, remembered all the critical artifacts, and got a couple of thugs kitted out and start to expose the weaknesses of the AI, i've spent more time on the game than i outght to have anyhoo.

This is one of those games i keep coming back to, and is certainly one of the best "$/hour" entertainment "investments" i've ever made.

Honestly, even if you are only interested in multiplayer, you will likely still spend more time in single player learning the ropes than you would on most other games total.

There are WAY worse ways to blow $60

[Ink]

I love KO and JK too and want them to make lots of markkas, euros, dollars or whatever.

but anyone who says that Dom 3 SP is good bang for bang is being deliberately exclusive and uncritical

not with FREE games like Dwarf Fortress or cheap ones like Mount and Blade around.

Just being honest. IMHO, if you are only going to play SP then dominions is a waste of money, or at least there are better ways to spend your money and time.