Gamespot review and #1 game

[ceremony]

Originally posted by PvK:

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Originally posted by HJ:

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Rankings based on information requests on GameSpot

In other words, it's the number of clicks it recevied in the past day.

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More deep and useful information from the pop media...

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I don't think it's supposed to be profound - it is an interesting statistic, though, as far as I'm concerned. For one thing, it shows that the number of Dominions fans reading the review is large enough to make it the most-visited strategy game article on the site for a day or two. That's good news for the game!

[ January 24, 2004, 17:29: Message edited by: ceremony ]

[Targa]

Wisdom originally spoken by Saber Cherry:

You know the big problem? He listed the learning curve as "About 1 hour". That, if nothing else, should discredit his entire article - he's off by a factor of 100, at least... not to imply that you could learn Dominions in 100 hours, but at least you'd get a feel for what's a good idea, and what not to do in that timeframe.

LOL! LMAO! So, so true.... I hope to excel at this game before I grow old and die...

[ceremony]

Originally posted by Saber Cherry:
You know the big problem? He listed the learning curve as "About 1 hour". That, if nothing else, should discredit his entire article - he's off by a factor of 100, at least... not to imply that you could learn Dominions in 100 hours, but at least you'd get a feel for what's a good idea, and what not to do in that timeframe.

The "learning curve" refers solely to the interface, and learning how to use it, as well as basic mechanics such as how fortresses use resources, etc. It does not refer in any way to learning advanced strategies.

[Saber Cherry]

Originally posted by ceremony:
The "learning curve" refers solely to the interface, and learning how to use it, as well as basic mechanics such as how fortresses use resources, etc. It does not refer in any way to learning advanced strategies.

Well, maybe so, but... 1 hour? Teaching my friend to play Dominions II took me a couple weeks... after which, he asked, "How do you keep troops from starving if you need to take a low-resource province?" hmmm. I mean, it was hard not to laugh, but regardless, Dominions II play mechanics are not learnable in an hour. Chess is, Dominions II is not. And I'm not talking about strategy, just play mechanics, like "What is this 'search for magic sites' command, why would I want to use it, and when is it effective? Should I do it in my capitol? And raise taxes to 200% also? What do blood slaves do - should I gather some?" And so forth.

[bruinb77]

I generally will discount Gamespot on reviews about turn based games. Depending on the reviewer, the reviews are not consistent on what makes a good turn based game. Too much emphasis on "dated graphics" or "micromanagement". For turn based games, that's relatively common, even among the greatest ones.

[diamondspider]

I found out about Dominions 2 on Gamespot and, after playing the demo for 20 hours and loving it, still agree that the review was reasonable.

Why? Because to the vast majority of people, graphics, slick user interfaces, and a lack of complexity will be their preference.

Any diehard TBS gamer who reads that review and hears about the free demo will give it a look and love it.

The typical GS user who loves to ROXXOR UR SOXORS in counterstrike would hate this game and they make up GS's primary readership.

What they said about the graphics and interface are true: they are far below even something like Disciples II.

On the other hand, what they said about micromanagement being too much was totally off-base. ALL TBS games have a ton of micromanagement. They all are, at heart, management games.

All that being said, what shines about Dominions, and what makes it one of the best TBS games in history, is hard to quantify. The thought and care put into the game and the flexibity and depth that come into playing it are simply amazing.

The guy did say that more games should have the depth of Dominions II, and in that regard, he is certainly correct

[ January 26, 2004, 01:31: Message edited by: diamondspider ]

[HJ]

Originally posted by diamondspider:
What they said about the graphics and interface are true: they are far below even something like Disciples II.

IMHO, Disciples II had by far the best graphic of all fantasy TBS games, so it's not a fair comparison.

[PvK]

Originally posted by diamondspider:
...
The typical GS user who loves to ROXXOR UR SOXORS in counterstrike would hate this game and they make up GS's primary readership.
...

Is there a high-level ritual spell we can research to enlighten all those people, or make them go away?

On the other hand, what they said about micromanagement being too much was totally off-base. ALL TBS games have a ton of micromanagement. They all are, at heart, management games.

All that being said, what shines about Dominions, and what makes it one of the best TBS games in history, is hard to quantify. The thought and care put into the game and the flexibity and depth that come into playing it are simply amazing.

The guy did say that more games should have the depth of Dominions II, and in that regard, he is certainly correct

Yep yep yep!

PvK

[diamondspider]

Originally posted by HJ:

IMHO, Disciples II had by far the best graphic of all fantasy TBS games, so it's not a fair comparison.

I'd say that Medieval: Total War is the best TBS in terms of graphics and interface.

I chose Disciples II as a comparison since it seems to more closely match the interface design and graphic goals of D2 and also has that "niche" feel that Total War managed to overcome with polish and high budget graphics. It also has a real time mode and this takes it slightly out of the pure TBS Category.

We have to face the fact that the typical user would still find D2 to be a bit of a nightmare as far as interface also. It is perfectly adequate if one is willing to put the time into learning how to use it, but it is far from easy.

What sets D2 apart from other TBSs is depth, flexibility, and a philosophical sensitivity and subtle treatment of the fantasy genre that will be lost on the average gamer.

In short, while the game design is AAA, the computer implementation is still in the B realm.

[ January 26, 2004, 10:34: Message edited by: diamondspider ]