So what makes this game so fun?

[Wolftrap]

As a FPS and RPG gamer, this game would normally not appeal to me. But I cruise many forums and this game ALWAYS seems to come up! I've played games kind of like this (and I've read the features, etc.) and they fell flat on their face as far as interest. But many people tell me to try it because it's "so fun."

Okay, so I'm downloading the demo right now, but what is it about this game - that's NOT listed as an obvious feature - that makes it fun for YOU?

[coobe]

As a RPG gamer, this game should interest you a lot!

The RPG Aspects like equipping your heroes are most fun to me, along with the use of magic

[duke_commando]

For me its the tactics in multiplayer. The variety of magic and units makes it a blast trying to figure out how to defeat your opponent; theres just so much stuff to try.
I got bored with sp pretty quick though, because the AI is kinda weak.

[AdmiralZhao]

Initially, the fun is in all the delightful matchups that occur. For example:

An elite band of mindflayers vs a horde of monkeys with sticks.

An army of Aztec were-jaguars backed up by Hobbit-crossbowmen, facing off against an equal army of Nordic werewolves and spell-casting garden-gnomes

A castle siege that is going poorly for the attackers, until their mages cast flight on a group of magically tamed lions, sending them over the walls and into the enemy's archer formations. RAWR!

As you can see, a lot of the enjoyment of the game comes from having an active imagination.

It is also neat that the player has an actual representation in the game. This is great for trash-talk and for telling stories. Again, maybe this is just my active imagination, but it is fun when you manage to blind your opponent's Cyclops pretender, or when your oppponent's Manticore is trapped in a castle, catches a disease from lack of food, and then has its stinger fall off.

[Sombre]

For me it's modding. There are bucketloads of mod nations now which you can add to the game with relatively little hassle, as well as balance mods, spell mods, graphical mods etc.

I personally spend more time modding than playing and find it hugely rewarding. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. I've made,.. eh,.. let me count,.. Vaettiheim, Ulm Reborn, Jomon Broken, Arga Dis, Tharoon, Skaven, Ogre Kingdoms, Avernum/Exile,.. I might have missed one but that's 8 mod nations right there. I'm also involved in a bunch of other modding projects, and yet I don't do much modding for other games - I have no natural talent as an artist or coder or anything, it's just that Dom3 is so easy to mod for.

[Edi]

One of the big attractions for me is also the thematics. Dominions 3 isn't just another cookie-cutter collection of elves, dwarves, orcs and dragons. The replay value, depth and also the stories you can piece together from everything in the game.

[Wolftrap]

Yes, there are so many things to do - I'm totally lost on the demo, but I'll get the hang of it...but from reading these, there's always the three or four "things" from your experience of the game that make it fun.

[Yrkoon]

The difference between the nations is second to none, and that means the replayability is unlimited. Many games claim that, but in fairness Dominions is the only game I know that delivers. And I have been playing games for 15 years.

You can play one game as a nation of indian deities worshiped by sentient apes, or one eyed giants that have emerged for the underground, or humanoids sprung from lava, or a nation of undead that spreads its curse and so on. Of course there is human nations as well.

Each nation has its own feel, its own capacities that other nations don't have. And even if you play with the same nation twice, you will have a completely different game depending on the god you choose and how it affects the land - your can emphasize magic, or regular troops, or sacred soldiers with god-given abilities.

You also have a huge variety of random sites that can change the course of your strategy. And magic is huge : many schools (evocation, enchantment, alteration) means you can go for really different paths (a bit like the elder scrolls series you surely know, as rpg gamer). And each schools is split in different path (fire, air, nature, human sacrifice ...) with each nations having access to its own selection of paths.

[Meglobob]

Where to start?

I have been playing this game nearly a year and it still holds my attention.

Its like peeling a onion theres always some new strategy to discover, a new hero description to read, new nations to play (thanks to the patches and modders), a new map to try.

There are 60+ nations (I have honestly lost count) in just the basic game. Alot are very different from each another and even the same nation can be played many ways.

You also have an excellent MP community and the game is pretty easy to play with your friends locally via a server, so you can play from the comfort of your own home and laugh about it when you meet up in the pub.

Replayability, depth, bags of strategy and large roleplaying elements. Illwinter a team of just 2 men put the bigger software houses to shame.

[Edratman]

I've been playing computer games ab ova, and the only game that I played as much as this is Civ 1. The reasons I like the game are:

1. Each nation is not a cookie cutter copy of the every other faction.
2. The game is an almost perfect paper/rock/scissors game in that no matter what strategy you use, there is a counter strategy that tops it.
3. Largest and best army does not guarantee battle success.
4. Infinite variety in choices.
5. You are constantly balancing your expenditures in guns/butter decisions that have serious and major impact on the game.
6.Pretender setup is a game in itself, with total impact on the game itself.
7. Strategy changes not only with with nation chosen but neighboring nations also.
8. The variety in units abilities is enormous.
9. You really do not have access to all units.
10. Not everything that happens is good or beneficial. Even resource searching may find a downside.
11. There seems to be no end to the surprises hidden in the game.
12. The developers (KO & JK) have promised to send everyone who says nice things about the game a tall, buxom 25 year old Swedish beauty without any inhibitions.

The only negative comment I hav about the game is the micromanagement required. On large maps, you can spend 20 to 30 minutes performing your turn.