OT: What other games are people playing??

[KroolDeath]

Hey all,

While Dom2 is on the top of my list forgames that I play (and I'll add the newb title to this since it must take forever to master), I was kind of wondering what other games people are playing in these forums.

I, myself, while I prefer strategy, also engage in quite a bit of FPS. Used to RPG, but its been years since I messed with that.

All that being said, here is my current game list:

- Dominions II
- Medieval: Total War
- Planetside (MMOGFPS)
- Battlefield: Vietnam
- Doom3

Having a wife and kids here (and thus limited time although even as we speak my wife is playing GameCube), Dom2 has proved itself to be very exciting and convenient because the built in "PBEM" factor and the fact that there are others with like mind who enjoy this type of game style. I used to play PBM with two-week turnaround times so this is all the better.

Krool

[Cainehill]

Hmm. 90% Dom2 and Diablo 2; a little Anacreon and Angbands.

I keep meaning to get back to an RPG - Diablo sates my appetite for meaningless, mindless slaughter and accumulation of treasures (Hardcore only, so the treasures actually mean something), and Dom2 my crafty, strategic powermongering side, which rates right up there with such legends as Bobcat Goldthwaite. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

I keep looking at what new has come out, looking for a new fix (hard to get back into the older ones I've had a few years - not that they're not great games, but starting over from scratch from reinstalling or trying to remember what the heck I was doing in some of the larger console games isn't fun).

[Gandalf Parker]

Im spending alot of time playing Space Empires IV. Its another game here at Shrapnelgames.com which Im enjoying for alot of the same reasons as Dom2. Its PbEM, large play, room to develop your own strategy/tactics, great for solo and multiplayer, and Im sure it will take me 10 times as long to get tired of it as it would take for any other game of equal price.

[Lex]

Dom2 (very addictive)
Freelancer (very addictive, but I still can't take the thought of having to start over when playing with the Online community (it takes at least 30-40 hours of semi-monotonous work to get to decent level), so I might stop playing it, plus I'm spending too much time with Dom2 to really commit to another community)
Minesweeper/Hexic/Bejeweled on MSN Messenger (best distraction from real work)
and Farcry is sitting next to my monitor reminding me that the minute I have 20 hours free, I should install it

[DeathDaemon]

Doom3 - good scary stuff (but then again gotta love the nice video card and 5.1 surround sound)

Planetside - MMOFPS but with a community - I'm in SMF outfit on west coast. FPS are kinda boring - I've done the whole Counterstrike type games, but a MM game with 200+ guys attacking a base is a neat feeling.

Moonbase Commander - fun turn based strategy thats different than your typical RTS

Railroad Tycoon 3 - good economic game with nifty graphics and gotta love trains... little buggy and difficult though

[KroolDeath]

Planetside - MMOFPS but with a community - I'm in SMF outfit on west coast. FPS are kinda boring - I've done the whole Counterstrike type games, but a MM game with 200+ guys attacking a base is a neat feeling.



SMF has been around for awhile, well met. I'm with TRG, proud member of the Terran Republic. Been there since beta, but I've taken my breaks here and there. Heck, we've probably fought each other.

Yea, my mixture of enjoying both FPS and TBS is an odd sort...FPS for pure action and intensity, TBS for the thinking, and intensity.

Krool

[Curwen]

Gandalf Parker said:

Im spending alot of time playing Space Empires IV. Its another game here at Shrapnelgames.com which Im enjoying for alot of the same reasons as Dom2. Its PbEM, large play, room to develop your own strategy/tactics, great for solo and multiplayer, and Im sure it will take me 10 times as long to get tired of it as it would take for any other game of equal price.


I still have Space Empires on my hard drive. It's just such an incredible game for all the reasons that you mentioned! It also has such a great ability to be modded easily like Dom2.

[PvK]

I'm currently playing:

Dominions II
Space Empires IV Gold
Blades of Avernum
Dungeon Crawl

PvK

[quantum_mechani]

Dominions II
Morrowind
Spider Web Software Games

[Aku]

Planetside(can't wait for the mechs to come out this month)

I have been playing Planetside since exclusive beta. I like how its a MMO game but since its FPS it is based upon your own player skill not the skill of your character. I hate how all the MMORPG's are all about who can make the game a full time job to level up the fastest. But Planetside is a lot of fun it is basically just a FPS on a persistant world with infantry, land vehicles, and aircraft. Oh its a sci-fi theme so not for the realistic fps lovers.

Counter Strike Source

I find it fun. I just dislike the fact that the aiming is horrible in the game because the bullets are only kind of accurate if you are standing still. Maybe thats how guns are in real life but its sad to see bullets not hit where your reticule is even when you are testing against a wall lol.

I tried the open beta for Tribes Vengeance the other day. Its just ok. Basically you just jump jet around and ski on downslopes and there really aren't any accurate guns.

[Aku]

Lex isn't freelancer a space flight game made by microsoft some years ago?

Oh and in planetside im on the east coast(emerald) server.

I was disappointed in Doom 3. I just didn't find it scary.

[The Panther]

Dominions 2
Syberia 1 & 2

I guess I am so hooked on Dominions that I have not played much of anything else for months now. Just occasionally working through Syberia.

Now, if I could find a way to get paid without having to go to work, then I could play some other games...

[Lex]

Aku said:
Lex isn't freelancer a space flight game made by microsoft some years ago?

Oh and in planetside im on the east coast(emerald) server.

I was disappointed in Doom 3. I just didn't find it scary.



yeah, that's Freelancer. They had big ambitions for it during development, but ended up toning things down alot. But its still a great game. The immersiveness is insane, and the universe is just HUGE (when you finish the SP, you've actually only traveled through less then a third of the game universe.) I don't normally play space sims, but this one was the exception. It also had an excellent trading system (so you can really play the entire game as a trader, or you can play the entire game as a mercenary or as a pirate (which is alot of fun).. or, if you've got the time, you can change your ways at anytime (but it'll take time for the factions to believe you're not gonna raid their cargo or whatever) The Online community added quite a bit, and expanded the universe tremendously. If it wasn't for Dom2, I'd probably be flying through space right now on my way to deliver a large shipment of cargo.

[Lex]

The Panther said:
Dominions 2
Syberia 1 & 2




Syberia 2 is out?? Cool.. I played the first one.. although I can't remember the ending.. I can never remember the ending of things unless they're really memorable. In fact, the only game ending that I think about on a regular basis is that of Planescape! And its been almost 5 years since I've played it.

[KroolDeath]

OK, here's a strange question. I see some games I've never heard of, I guess being mainly a mainstream gamer (and luckily finding dom2 because cGw magazine gave it a great write up).

Is there any turn based games out there that are open ended, that go on and on? I ask this question as a former PBM'r who used to play Monster Island (open ended), Legends (open ended) amongst others. The only open ended games that I am aware of is like EverQuest, which I have no interest in.

Krool

[Ed Kolis]

The Sim City games aren't exactly turn-based, but you can control the flow of time and they are VERY open-ended!

[The Panther]

Lex said:

The Panther said:
Dominions 2
Syberia 1 & 2




Syberia 2 is out?? Cool.. I played the first one.. although I can't remember the ending.. I can never remember the ending of things unless they're really memorable. In fact, the only game ending that I think about on a regular basis is that of Planescape! And its been almost 5 years since I've played it.



Well, Syberia 1 ended in the middle of the game, which is probably why you don't remember. It was a pure marketing tool to split the game up into two parts and get twice as much money. Though I suppose it might have cost some sales from the reviews bLasting them for doing exactly that.

I picked them both up Last month in the bargain bin and wound up paying a normal game price for the set. I don't really feel cheated because of that!

[nakomus]

I’ve been playing Orbiter (http://www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/~martins/orbit/orbit.html) a free (closed source) realistic physics space flight simulator lately.

It is kind of relaxing to not be playing against anything, even the A.I.

[magnate]

My list is distressingly similar to Cainehill's - Dom2, Diablo2, (S)Angband. I even have Anacreon (is there a newer Version?? Mine is ancient).

I've just got SEIV and think it's great. Spending most of my time on that at the moment.

I have Far Cry installed for a very occasional FPS fix.

I have Warlords Battlecry III installed in case I fancy some RTS. I've also just installed Kohan (Ahriman's Gift) but haven't played it yet. Ditto Patrician III, which someone gave me to see if I like.

So many games, so little time.

CC

[Boron]

KroolDeath said:
OK, here's a strange question. I see some games I've never heard of, I guess being mainly a mainstream gamer (and luckily finding dom2 because cGw magazine gave it a great write up).

Is there any turn based games out there that are open ended, that go on and on? I ask this question as a former PBM'r who used to play Monster Island (open ended), Legends (open ended) amongst others. The only open ended games that I am aware of is like EverQuest, which I have no interest in.

Krool



i am not sure what you exactly mean with open ended but the civilization series is kinda open ended .
Paradox games are very open ended too they all have "no-timelimit" patches so the game really only ends after you conquered the whole world .

[Boron]

At the moment i play mostly Dominions 2 .
I played a long time lots of Diablo 2 and Counterstrike but after about a year i got bored by them .
Diablo 2 mainly because the cheating started to suck too much and CS because i couldn't see Dust , Aztec , Dust 2 etc. anymore http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

I enjoy Steel Panthers WaW still a lot and play it occasionally again even now after 2 years , almost the same with Steel Panthers MBT .

The Paradox Games Eu2 , Victoria and HoI i still play too they are just great http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Finally i bought now some cheap not really old games which i enjoy too :
Civ 3 with Conquests
Disciples 2
Etherlords

And some oldies which are now available for free like Great battles of Alexander or Vantage Master http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Alneyan]

I tend not to play the same game for too long (moodiness and all), so I am playing more than a few games at the same time. Don't ask.

- Space Empires IV: The game I have been playing for the longest time (more or less one year; though Daggerfall would also qualify there).
- Zork: Grand Inquisitor and Omikron: I will finish them. Yes, I will. Hopefully.
- Discworld Noir (only at the beginning of Act II, but I love it already)
- One or two Interactive Fictions here and there.
- A game of Freespace 2 from time to time (fan-made campaigns mostly)
- Ambush in Sector 9 for my arcade needs. The official site for this one is down at the moment of the writing (it is a freeware).

[calmon]

Magic the Gathering Online and Medieval (in which i wish a better ai)

[Stormbinder]

Heh.

I have started playing again Titans of Steel Last week, trying new veterna-level compaigns.


I don't think a lot of people played or even heard about this game. All I can say about it - it is the Dominion 2 of turnbased sci-fi strategy. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif



The depth of this game is amazing, but ne aware that the learning curve is steep as an Everest. Dom2 learining curve is kindergarden compared to that one. ;( UI in partuclar seem very convulted in first, until you really dig how the gaem work. Than you start thinking of its UI as a brilliant. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif


The main obstacle to learn is that it is neither turnbased not realtime game, belonging instead to unique subgenre. It is neither "I Go You Go", or "We Go" (lime in Combat Missions) system. It created new subgenre of turn based games by itself.

Everything is happening in the same time BUT it is happening in time-segemrts (seconds). It feels like turnbased game but not quite, and because everything is happenign at the same time - shooting, movement, etc, it takes some time to get used to the idea, since it play very doffent from other turn based games.


Frankly I never was a fan of mechwarrior-types univerce, giant robots, etc. But the game hooked even me, and hooked me good. It has strong RPG elements in addition to very deep strategy, the cusotimization level of both giant robots and thier "jockeys" (drivers) is amazing, and the AI is extremely smart and totally brutal (without cheating!)


Basicly if you like turnbased hardcore strategy(even if you don't care about mechwarriors, like I don't), you have to try that game. The commercial Version called "Titans of Steel:The Warring Suns", it is enchanced Version of freeware game, with several compaigns. Make sure to download all the patches, the user guides/tables from the forum. And kiss your social life good bye for week or two - that game is addictive as hell. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif



Regards,
Stormbinder

[Karacan]

If you see Hetzer, tell him I miss him. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Titans Of Steel is unfortunately not as complex as it looks, but good fun anyway. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif The Mechdesigning itself is very well done, and nearly limitless. Though if you gain half a year experience (or play once against the real pros), you find that there are only a few choices how to sensibly configure your Titans, and then its still down to terribly randomness, especially if both sides have newbie jockeys...


Things I still play: King Of Dragonpass (every now and then), Morrowind (one of my main characters has an extensive library, and I like to read those books http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif), Diablo 2 (though I much prefer the atmosphere and story of Diablo 1, but my girlfriend only wants to play D2...) and System Shock 2 in a multiplayer campaign. I consider getting Warlords IV, despite the bad critics and despite the terrible user interface I've seen in the demo (for the sake of gods, you can't deactivate a group in a city, so that when you cycle to your next unmoved unit, it will always pop up... hope that gets fixed in a patch, blech...), because I loved Warlords III dearly and can't get it running under WinXP... *sigh*

[Vynd]

I am also playing Medeival: Total War and Angband. Let's hear it for rogue-like games!

[Cainehill]

magnate said:
My list is distressingly similar to Cainehill's - Dom2, Diablo2, (S)Angband. I even have Anacreon (is there a newer Version?? Mine is ancient).




Yep - after being dead for, mmm, about a decade, Anacreon is in production once more. The latest Version was put out on 17 August this year, and can be found here : Anacreon Website (http://www.neurohack.com/anacreon/) .

It now runs under Windows and has graphics, instead of the text based interface.

[Aku]

Magic the Gathering was a great card game until Wizards of the Coast ruined it. I quit when they bought it and started making it like Pokemon by changing the rules, throwing foil cards in, and made it that you had to have a certain deck type to win and being a good player didn't matter anymore. I even tried going back to it a year later and EVERYBODY had the same exact deck and I asked why and they said it is the only good deck you can make right now. Oh and it happened to be with the most expensive cards also. Wizards of the Coast did the same thing with AD&D. I am still a 2nd edition player.

[Lex]

hehe, i actually went to a few local Magic tournaments. never won though. What I remember from those days is you had to have a "millstone" deck (make your opponent run out of cards) and "moxy" deck (achieve the ultimate by winning on the first turn by having the rarest cards all in the same hand on the first turn). there where others, but those two where the only ones that really stuck to memory

Edit: I of course always played a fire deck.. favorite card of all time: the Shivan Dragon. totaly sucks in the game, was only worth $16 at the time, but the artwork for Magic cards where really cool!!

[condors]

championship manager
nhl eastside hockey manager
front office football
Sick as a parot

(i like my sports text sims)

I still fire up medieval total war sometimes on the weekend when i have a good amount of time

still play dom2 as well (its a much needed change from my normal gaming)

[Arryn]

Lex said:
What I remember from those days is you had to have a "millstone" deck (make your opponent run out of cards) and "moxy" deck (achieve the ultimate by winning on the first turn by having the rarest cards all in the same hand on the first turn). there where others, but those two where the only ones that really stuck to memory

Millstones were easily countered by several different strategies. Speaking of countering, there were/are purpose-designed "counter" decks (blue, can be frustrating to play against), and "protection" decks / white weeny-creature decks (my favorite), colorless (all-artifact) decks, and the list goes on and on (and on and on ...). MtG, the game that gave us the memorable term "fork you". http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif

[Borg]

PC Games I enjoy very much :

Dom2
Civ3 conquests
Heroes of Might and Magic4

[Ed Kolis]

I've got to be the only person around here who enjoys Unreal Tournament 2004, aren't I? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif (Though I haven't played any Internet games yet - I hear the kiddies out there (what are kiddies doing playing this game anyway http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif) are pretty awful when it comes to manners http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif... I need to find more people I *know* who have this game... LAN games aren't quite as trash-talk filled as Internet games, are they?)

Oh yes, there is Angband and all its variants (current Favorites: Oangband and ToME)... ADOM is cool too but I haven't played it in a while...

You say there's a new Version of Anacreon? Wow, I'll have to check that out! I loved that game's varied stellar manipulations and constructions! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif Even if you couldn't design your own ships... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif I wonder if it supports PBEM or any other form of Online play?

Hmm, someone mentioned text-based sports sims... I'm going to pull a Gandalf Parker here and suggest that he check out Shrapnel's very own Coliseum game http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif Never played it myself (not even the demo) but it might be worth checking out http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[JaydedOne]

Aku said:
Magic the Gathering was a great card game until Wizards of the Coast ruined it. I quit when they bought it and started making it like Pokemon by changing the rules, throwing foil cards in, and made it that you had to have a certain deck type to win and being a good player didn't matter anymore. I even tried going back to it a year later and EVERYBODY had the same exact deck and I asked why and they said it is the only good deck you can make right now. Oh and it happened to be with the most expensive cards also. Wizards of the Coast did the same thing with AD&D. I am still a 2nd edition player.



Heh. As a former WotC employee, I might be considered biased. However, the facts are the facts.

Wizards of the Coast never "bought" Magic: the Gathering. They invented/developed it long before they ever got around to developing Pokemon. As a Magic player from the beginning, it's always been a fact that the Rare/Expensive cards tended to be the game-breakers, although I'd argue that they've moved away from that element rather than towards it in recent years.

Oh, and to stay relatively on-topic, what I'm playing right now is Dom2, HoMMIV (which I'm rapidly giving up on), Madden 2005, and awaiting with horrid anticipation the US release of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.

[Aku]

Well yeah the bs stuff in the beginning of magic like channel and a black lotus and a fireball you die first round stuff got Banned etc from tournaments.

I think Magic was perfect when the deck minimum was 60 cards not when it used to be 40.

Maybe Magic is balanced again I have no clue. I basically lost track of it when it did the 6th edition classic.

[Pickles]

Well if you include computer games (of which Dom2 is the only one just now)
I am playing Bloodbowl, various D20 roleplaying games, Shadowfist, Call of Chtulhu CCG.
I also regularly play Alien vs Predator2 Warcraft III and Rise of Nations but am in hiatus.

Looking forward to the 40k RTS, Call of Chtulhu (though it sounds too "consoley", Vampire Bloodlines & GTA San Andreas.

Pickles

[Stormbinder]

Karacan said:

Diablo 2 (though I much prefer the atmosphere and story of Diablo 1, but my girlfriend only wants to play D2...)





Diablo 1 had a story?!? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/eek.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[bleach168]

Right now, I am a fantasy baseball freak. Also play some City of Heroes on the side.

As for Magic, constructed was always limited to 2-3 top tier decks. The best way to play was booster draft.

[Aku]

I liked Diablo 1, but never got into Diablo 2. Not sure why. I was probably occupied with other games.

The Vampire Bloodlines...is that the one based on the paper and dice game Vampire Masquerade? If so I downloaded a gameplay video of the developers playing through parts of the game showing it off. If its the same game it may be an interesting rpg to play.

[Arryn]

Aku said:
but never got into Diablo 2

It's never too late to get addicted!


Aku said:
The Vampire Bloodlines...is that the one based on the paper and dice game Vampire Masquerade? If so I downloaded a gameplay video of the developers playing through parts of the game showing it off. If its the same game it may be an interesting rpg to play.

Based upon, yes. The rules have had to be modified to accomodate computer play, and the average (lack of) attention span of most of today's gamers. (Sorry, pet peeve of mine. Dumbing down game rules to make them more "streamlined" or "exciting".)


Aku said:
If so I downloaded a gameplay video of the developers playing through parts of the game showing it off. If its the same game it may be an interesting rpg to play.

The 5-part video (teaser) was nice. The game itself is (currently) scheduled for release the Last week of October. Assuming it isn't delayed yet again. And two months after that is the scheduled release of KoTOR 2 ...

[Aku]

yeah arryn that 5 part video was the exact same one i downloaded

Another interesting game is the expansion Jump to Lightspeed for Star Wars Galaxies BUT that is if they dont mess it up. They claim it will be like the old x-wing and tie fighter games and you use your actual skill not character skill for it but I want to see it first. It could land up being a horrible expansion and buggy as hell like how Alien Invasion was just now for Anarchy Online.

[Arryn]

Aku said:
Another interesting game is the expansion Jump to Lightspeed for Star Wars Galaxies BUT that is if they dont mess it up.

Having been one of the original closed-beta testers for SWG on through the release and for several months thereafter, Sony left a very bad taste in my mouth. They will mess it up. Bank on it. They've messed everything up 'til now so I don't see them suddenly "getting it" and doing something smart. SWG had a great deal of promise (kinda like the now-defunct E&B, but with even greater potential) and has realized hardly any of what was promised. I could even live with all the broken promises and outright lies if they would have just left the damn game alone and quit "fixing" things that weren't borked, and "rebalancing" the game into a dull tedium of impotence.


Aku said:
Anarchy Online

Which has to be the most aptly-named game of all time. (Somehow, I just don't see too many people paying to play games called "Unlimited Tedium" or "Not Tested 2" or "You've Been Punk'd, Again!".)

[Lepakko]

Dominions 2
Dungeon crawl
Age of wonders games
total war games
Horizons
Ultima Online

and little
diablo 2
UT2004

[PrinzMegaherz]

Dom 2
Chaos League (Blood Ball without GW License)
Doom 3

and waiting for Final Fantasy 11's europe release.

Magic was very fun when I played it regularly at school. It was basicaly everything about outsmarting your fellow players by finding new ways to defeat their decks.

Oh, and that shivan dragon really looks great

[mmalficia]

grin now this is a fun topic :>

Allo' all btw. games list

dominions demo (trying to make up my mind yet)
SEIV
mechwarrior 4 mercs, league play
TOS Warring suns
ID2 edge of chaos, (by far the best "thinking mans" space combat sim out there IMO)
aow2,doom3(waiting for HL2 unpatiently) and my creative max outlet modding for morrowind and expansions. (dropped my eq addiction a year ago :>
ZangbandTK
empire of the fading suns hyperion edition (i so wish someone somewere would make a modern sequel to this (think SEIV but when you conqure the planets you actualy gota move troops build units cities ect ect . and toss in religious fanatical tyrany))
Alpha centari alien crossfire (sids civ in space my favorite game of his )
and looking into MGTPLAY at the moment(free magic Online so i can play with my younger bro whos off at school )



anywho thats my list 'sal
Mmal

[Alneyan]

Lepakko said:
Ultima Online




I know I am too curious, but... Do you play UO on the official shards (OSI) or on private servers? I know I definitively spent too much time playing UO in the past, though that was on private shards.

[Gandalf Parker]

Alneyan said:
I know I am too curious, but... Do you play UO on the official shards (OSI) or on private servers? I know I definitively spent too much time playing UO in the past, though that was on private shards.



Ive been REAL tempted to get back into UO. Its the only Online world I really liked. But I played it at the wrong time. Not early enough for the best parts, and not late enough for private shards. From what I hear, everything I loved about it is still there and everything I didnt like is fixed by having access to private shards.

I was even debating that it might be a good thing to do with all this ISP equipment Ive got rotting in my garage. Do a nice little local shard.

[Aku]

I played Ultima Online for 4 years but quit because the game was turning to crap. UO was a badass game but as time went on it became drummed down so much. I am told now that you can bless an item for 100gp and it stays blessed until you die. I saw UO turning like the other mmorpgs so I quit and the community was degrading into children. Has it changed at all in the past few years?

[Truper]

mmalficia said:
empire of the fading suns hyperion edition (i so wish someone somewere would make a modern sequel to this (think SEIV but when you conqure the planets you actualy gota move troops build units cities ect ect . and toss in religious fanatical tyrany)



Have you been playing Hyperion MP? I was a big fan until Matt came out with the Version that increased all the movement allowances to what I thought were absurd levels. I stopped playing it at that point. I'd be interested to know if you're playing that Version, and if so, how much you enjoy it.

[Alneyan]

Hmm, that would be an idea Gandalf. A UO server for Dominions players? Or even a UO server based on Dominions? "Thou shalst be smited by my hammer of righteousness!" would probably be a nice way of introducing an Energy Vortex/Energy Bolt. Or perhaps not.

I heard such reports from the official shards Aku (for example, there is the hour where you can gain skills more quickly; what purpose does it serve? If you want high skills, you should be ready to spend a lot of time on it; if you don't like leveling, it won't change much for you), but private shards are quite different from OSI. How different mostly depends on the shard in question: some are closer to a free-for-all setting (sometimes with much higher skills when creating a character), others are only interesting if you intend to roleplay, a few are plainly elitist, and so on.

At least, that was how it used to be back in the days when I played UO, but since the updates of the official servers had no impact on the private shards, they should have remained unaffected by the official changes. On the other hand, it is more than likely than the player base has dwindled in the past years; it happened for the French shards at any rate.

[magnate]

Do those of you who play MtG Online use the free MTGplay or the nasty WotC Online thing (where you have to buy virtual cards!!)?

I've installed MtGplay and it looks fabulous but I can't find anyone to play with - I find doing it with totally anonymous strangers not very satisfying, 'cos you can't discuss it with them afterwards ....

Just checking out the new Anacreon now - TVM Cainehill!!

CC

[Aikamun]

Like these threads every once in a while. Have decided to leave MMORPG's behind. They have a community but minimal gameplay. Returning to strategy games. My Favorites are:

Dominions 2
Space Empires 4

Downloaded Titans of Steel, Anacreon 2, and the Chaos League Demo. Believe it or not, I am an old Blood Bowl fan. Threw out complete sets of Advanced Squad Leader, Starfleet Battles, and Car Wars but kept all of my Blood Bowl stuff. Shocked to see this game returning to computer.

I will weed these five games down to three so as to receive more enjoyment from the best.

Thanks again for the thread and info,
Aikamun

Editted: Instead of Anacreon 2, evaluating the Hyperion Mod for Emperor of the Fading Suns.

[KroolDeath]

This has been an interesting thread indeed. There is quite a mixture of gamers playing Dom2, which is a good thing. We've seen pure stragetists, folks who like multiple genres, etc. Its even given me some insight on some other games I might like to try that aren't necessarily mainstream so many, like me, may not have heard of them.

Keep em coming folks!

Krool

[Arryn]

Aikamun said:
Have decided to leave MMORPG's behind. They have a community but minimal gameplay.

That's one of my big gripes against them. Do any of them have any sort of real persistent universe in which a player's (or guild's) actions actually matter? Where there's a real, threaded storyline whose flow you can actually affect, instead of the typical scripted "events" developers occasionally throw in, which the game companies have confused with the concept of "content"?

[Aku]

I wish a mmorpg like that actually came out but comon I bet years will pass before one like that comes out.

[mmalficia]

Truper said:

Have you been playing Hyperion MP? I was a big fan until Matt came out with the Version that increased all the movement allowances to what I thought were absurd levels. I stopped playing it at that point. I'd be interested to know if you're playing that Version, and if so, how much you enjoy it.



grin well hes up to a gamma release of the curent Version MP's are toned down for the most part still a few "fast" units left in the later epochs (new for gamma to help the ai compensate theres 3 files that change reserch and production values for the ai players early,mid,late game .. that and certain transports now cost massive amounts but generate a limited amount of income .) MP is good but i mainly play on my laptop solo as games tend to drag out over weeks at a time :> all in all think the old engine is pushed as far as it can go .. hence my wish for a new Version ..

i still play a bit of SPWAW too but theres just to much of a learning curve to even atempt to not embarase the hell out of myself in mp against most of the diehards that play ..


far as MTGplay im just looking into it to keep tabs with my bro not about to pay to buy decks got better things to spend my cash on. i spent some time in the irc chat getting to know a few folks thou and was a mixed experience.

Mmal

[magnate]

That's the whole point about MtGplay - you don't have to pay anything. You download all 11000 cards and make decks and play with them. It's only the official WotC Version ("Magic Online") which requires you to buy virtual cards. Bloody scammers.

[Stormbinder]

Aikamun said:
Like these threads every once in a while. Have decided to leave MMORPG's behind. They have a community but minimal gameplay. Returning to strategy games. My Favorites are:

Dominions 2
Space Empires 4

Downloaded Titans of Steel, Anacreon 2, and the Chaos League Demo. Believe it or not, I am an old Blood Bowl fan. Threw out complete sets of Advanced Squad Leader, Starfleet Battles, and Car Wars but kept all of my Blood Bowl stuff. Shocked to see this game returning to computer.

I will weed these five games down to three so as to receive more enjoyment from the best.

Thanks again for the thread and info,
Aikamun



I think you can only download old "Titans of Steel" the freeware Version, wich lacks tons of new pathes/improvements/weapons and most of all lacks compaigns. You need to get "Titans of Steel: Warring Suns " (which is commercial sequel) to get the full enjoyment of this game. (unless of course you meant that you got the comercial Version from the warez site http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif )

[deccan]

magnate said:
That's the whole point about MtGplay - you don't have to pay anything. You download all 11000 cards and make decks and play with them. It's only the official WotC Version ("Magic Online") which requires you to buy virtual cards. Bloody scammers.



I'm curious:

1) Does the software enforce the rules?
2) Is it legal?

I used to play MtG a lot back at college, but I stopped around Homelands. I never had any lotuses or moxes, but I still have an unlimited Timetwister, and a bunch of dual land cards.

I agree that sealed deck is probably the most fun way of playing it, unless you find someone who's willing to forgo "power gaming" and play theme decks. Some of the most fun games I've had include playing an Ice Age deck against a Fallen Empires deck.

The absolutely coolest deck I've ever seen was a Lich deck.

[Boron]

mmalficia said:
i still play a bit of SPWAW too but theres just to much of a learning curve to even atempt to not embarase the hell out of myself in mp against most of the diehards that play ..




I play it mainly in Sp in self designed battles because i love the tank simulation there http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I don't play it in mp because of similiar reasons . I don't know how big the battles are there but i guess with lots of units and so it isn't fun anymore when i have to manage 500 units .
Tanks aren't cost effective there probably in mp cause PaK/Anti-tank infantry is much cheaper but in close combat they kill tanks with ease .
I personally like tank battles there but find the infantry management too cumbersome http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I once was tempted to start a mpgame of SPwaw but when i read a bit on the board first and saw a recent discussion where ppl said that they like to use flak guns / tanks as a multipurpose weapon because they are so costeffective i thought i don't want to play this way .

[Mark the Merciful]

Arryn said:
That's one of my big gripes against them. Do any of them have any sort of real persistent universe in which a player's (or guild's) actions actually matter? Where there's a real, threaded storyline whose flow you can actually affect, instead of the typical scripted "events" developers occasionally throw in, which the game companies have confused with the concept of "content"?



EVE-Online?

It's early days with EVE for me, and I can't devote as much time to it as the fanatics, but I have a clear impression that the game has a player-driven politics and a player-driven economy. For example, there seems to be a major war (or series of wars) between player-run alliances going on at the moment. The result is that ship and equipment prices have been rising for everyone over the Last month because demand is increasing (all those players needing to replace blown-up ships), while supply of raw materials for ship-building is decreasing (because miners are finding it too unsafe to get much mining done in the war zones).

Or, as another example, I've just been reading a series of Posts amongst arguing factions within a particular alliance, complaining that they're close to civil war. The military are saying that they're unable to fund their operations properly unless the miners pay some kind of tax on all their workings; the extremists amongst them are demanding that all the miners be kicked out of alliance space. The miners are complaining that the military aren't providing decent protection against pirates (player pirates, that is) or opposing alliances; and that it's not worth their while paying more tax until the military service improves.

The only problem really is that a lot of this isn't very well documented, so you mostly don't get to read about it in nicely packaged, polished story form. But there are attempts at both a player-run news service, and player produced propoganda videos, which are often a lot of fun.

The game developers also drop in a lot of their own story content, but it just feels artificial when overlaid on top of the rest of it.

Mark

[Cainehill]

Arryn said:

Aikamun said:
Have decided to leave MMORPG's behind. They have a community but minimal gameplay.

That's one of my big gripes against them. Do any of them have any sort of real persistent universe in which a player's (or guild's) actions actually matter? Where there's a real, threaded storyline whose flow you can actually affect, instead of the typical scripted "events" developers occasionally throw in, which the game companies have confused with the concept of "content"?



Well, there was one called Legends of Future Past - it was text only, similar to a MUD or to Gemstone III, but it was _awesome_. Wonderful game world, with critters that worshipped evil gods (they'd say nasty things to you, their grunts would guard their shamans), different kinds of magic, psionics, crafting long before it became popular, different realms and dimensions....

And guilds that mattered - one was the wardens / lawkeepers, there was a rangers guild, there was several evil orders whose members were exiled from the main towns, players could work and become vampires / werewolves (who were anathema to the wolfling race).

Great ongoing and short term quests; the world felt like it had an ongoing history, and the quest / story related battles and events you were in did in fact matter.

*sigh* It went down sometime between 95 and 99, a damn shame. I spent half a year trying to track down at least the source code / databases, thinking maybe I could purchase and run the game, but no joy.

[Schmoe]

I'm currently playing DOM2 on the computer and D&D3.5 with friends about once every month or so. That's about all I have time for, really. I have Neverwinter Nights on my harddrive, but I'm waiting to get a better graphics card so that it's not so mind-numbingly slow.

I used to play a *lot* of computer games. Old Favorites included ADOM, NetHack, HOMM3, Wizardy 7, Age of Wonders, Civ and Alpha Centauri, Quake II, and on and on ...

[Gandalf Parker]

Arryn said:

Aikamun said:
Have decided to leave MMORPG's behind. They have a community but minimal gameplay.

That's one of my big gripes against them. Do any of them have any sort of real persistent universe in which a player's (or guild's) actions actually matter? Where there's a real, threaded storyline whose flow you can actually affect, instead of the typical scripted "events" developers occasionally throw in, which the game companies have confused with the concept of "content"?



I think that SWG (Star Wars Galaxies) is the closest Ive seen to making that work. Im definetly interested in seeing what the next effort along those lines brings up.

[Aku]

SWG is horribly bad because the whole game is about level grinding. The expansion though may be interesting but they will probably mess it up.

[bleach168]

Arryn said:
That's one of my big gripes against them. Do any of them have any sort of real persistent universe in which a player's (or guild's) actions actually matter? Where there's a real, threaded storyline whose flow you can actually affect, instead of the typical scripted "events" developers occasionally throw in, which the game companies have confused with the concept of "content"?




That's how mmorpgs work. Unless it's a game where there is heavy pvp and politics like AC:1 Darktide, Shadowbane, or Eve Online, you're not going to be a factor in the storyline. Remember, you're one of hundreds of thousands of players so it's not likely any one single person will affect the storyline. There are reasons why the content makers don't even want you to affect the storyline.

[Arryn]

Bleach,

There were millions of people in the Rebellion (Star Wars) and while few individuals made a difference, collectively they did. In MMORPGs, even the sum total of all the members on a shard don't matter. It's not important to me that my own actions matter, but it's a pointless game if nothing that anyone does, even collectively in the thousands, matters.


Aku,

Having been in SWG from beta onwards, I can agree 100%. SWG is (IMO) the best MMORPG I've seen yet and it sucks. What that says about other MMOs I'll leave to your imagination.

[Aku]

My friend and I tried out SWG a few months ago and he played throughout the beta and said the beta was more fun than it is now lol and during the whole time of the beta he was telling me how horrible it was lol.

I am really disappointed in all the mmorpgs that are out. They are all about level grinding and so many are completely unbalanced.

[Lex]

Eve Online looks pretty cool! I'm almost interested in getting it now. Except for the time commitment which I don't have, it sounds like it would be alot of fun to be part of.

[Arryn]

Yes, Aku, the beta of SWG was actually fun. The released game wasn't/isn't. In beta, a couple of highly-skilled Teras Kasi martial artists (or a single one with the help of some marksmen) could actually take down some huge lizard things (I forget what they're called, they're about the size of Krayt Dragons but found on an out-of-the-way volcanic planet). In release, you can't even make it to their stomping grounds without being torn apart, much less actually face the beasts with anything short of a stormtrooper legion. This isn't so much a matter of the devs upping the toughness of the game's critters, which they did (and I don't have a problem with), but of their nerfing the hell out of the combat classes to the point where starting characters get their asses kicked by rabbits (I kid you not). I won't even get into what they did to artisans.

[KroolDeath]

I just went and checked the Eve Online website and it does look pretty cool. I thought it was a busy but I guess not (Maybe that was Earth & Beyond that I was thinking of).

hmmm...

Krool

[Arryn]

Wasn't E&B supposed to go poof this month?

[KroolDeath]

Yea, I think it was E&B, but for some reason I had it in my mind that it was Eve. Actually, I'm still looking over Eve and it looks damn cool. Of course, I could be really wrong here. But it seems much more player driven than any other MMO game.

Krool

[Aku]

Yeah E&B is suppose to be poof this month or has gone poof already.

And yeah in SWG starting characters get owned by rabbits...its sad.

D&D Online I want to keep an eye on. They said you can play it like you do your paper and dice sessions. Now that is really cool because its hard to find people to play with that live nearby. Too bad the game is coming out in late 2005. I hope it actually turns out good and can be an mmorpg you can play once a week and still feel you did something. All the current mmorpgs out are horrible time sinks and hours can pass and you feel you accomplished nothing.

[Aikamun]

Since the subject changed to Eve Online (my Last MMOG ever), I will tell you why I quit:

1. Bugs. I played a little over a month and encountered a huge quantity of bugs personally. Also, monitored the help channel and heard of tons of other bugs. I do not believe Eve has enough paid Subscribers to adequately support the game.

2. Lag. Like all these games, lag kills. Eve has it in over-abundance.

3. Experience System. You gain skill points per each unit of time. At the end of one month playing you will have a little under one million skillpoints. Some players already have 20 million skillpoints. You can NEVER catch up, no matter how long you play each day. This puts you at a severe disadvantage in any player vs player fights. I estimate you are at a 5% to 25% handicap at the minimum.

5. Mining. Mining is the key to Eve's economy. If you have the minerals, you can make most of the gear and ships in Eve. Mining became the most boring grind I have experienced in an MMOG, which made running missions my only source of income. Some people don't get bored from mining and power to them.

6. Uber Guilds. Like all MMOs, Eve has its uber guilds. These are the largest and most established corporations. They do not recruit newbies. Personally, I am not interested in leaving friends and the corporation behind who had helped me to that point.

7. War can be declared by one corp against any other corp to avoid retaliation by the police. This mechanism is used by larger corporations and player killers to take you out wherever and whenever they please. Another advantage of being in an uber corporation.

8. Etc., etc. The list could continue indefinitely.

One of my characters had developed a persistent display bug at the end. CCP was telling me my screen should be showing various things which was not the case. This was the final nail in the coffin for Eve.

But, this is just my opinion. You might love Eve.

Aikamun

[Lex]

Hmmm.. I've been reading alot of reviews on Eve, as well as their site, and the more I read, the more I'm interested. The "problem" with Corps is also the main attraction of Eve. It means there's alot of activity that's player driven. As for the Skills system, I was under the impression that they did it that way to level the playing field for people who couldn't spend every minute of the day killing monsters. This way, reguardless of how much time you can commit to being Online, you'll still level up at the same pace as everyone else. Sure it means if you joined the game a year after others, you'll be pretty far behind, but since the real power is with Guilds, it's seems less important to have an insanely high level character, and more practical to be friends with the right people (kinda reminding me of real life a bit). On their site, they say there's over 2000 player Guilds/Corporations (compared to 140 NPC Corps). Sure it might be lonely at first, but the community is definitly there! (their site posted that Last monday they had 11,200 people Online.. that might not be the 100,000+ Ultima Online would get, but isn't that pretty good anyways?)

But then, that's my impression from the basic reading I've done. I still haven't played the game yet.

[Aku]

Anyone know anything about Guild Wars? This game may be interesting.

http://www.guildwars.com/

There is the link. Tell me what you think.

[KroolDeath]

Hmmm.. I've been reading alot of reviews on Eve, as well as their site, and the more I read, the more I'm interested. The "problem" with Corps is also the main attraction of Eve. It means there's alot of activity that's player driven.



Lex, thats the same line of thinking that interested me, its not story-driven but driven by the players, up to and including the economic model.

I am still looking into this game of course. I'm going to cruise around their website some more. Looking at the interstellar map, it appears there is plenty of room for growth without having to join one of the existing corporations.

Krool

[Lex]

I've got a long list of games I *MUST* play. So the time commitment of Eve is a bit worrisome. But nevertheless I'm pretty sure later in the week when work eases up, I'll sign up and spend several days reading every rule/story/forum/guide and really check it out for real

Edit: how cool would it be to start a Corp called Dominions (although in a space setting, it'll get confused with the Dominion from DS9)

[magnate]

deccan said:

magnate said:
That's the whole point about MtGplay - you don't have to pay anything. You download all 11000 cards and make decks and play with them. It's only the official WotC Version ("Magic Online") which requires you to buy virtual cards. Bloody scammers.



I'm curious:

1) Does the software enforce the rules?


No. It just steps through the turn sequence and moves the cards for you (and keeps count of damage, I presume). Stuff like disallowing illegal targets it doesn't do. I guess that would make for some interesting debates.


deccan said:
2) Is it legal?


As far as I know they've not been sued or challenged. It doesn't use any of WotC's code (it was written from scratch), it just uses the same card artwork. Since you can d/l the card art for free from WotC's own site (at least until Scourge) I don't see a problem. They may have some issues with the newest sets though, since WotC don't provide them as encyclopaedia updates (I think they have stopped supporting the encyclopaedia in order to push people towards MtGOL).


deccan said:
I agree that sealed deck is probably the most fun way of playing it, unless you find someone who's willing to forgo "power gaming" and play theme decks. Some of the most fun games I've had include playing an Ice Age deck against a Fallen Empires deck.

The absolutely coolest deck I've ever seen was a Lich deck.



Coolest deck I've seen is a Stasis deck. If you're prepared to use the less common formats (1.5 et al.) it can be a lot of fun without sealed deck. Just restrict the powerful cards to 1 each (making a lot of them undesirable) and ban a load of the others. Or, as you say, use the block restricted formats - I love Ice Age!

CC

[deccan]

magnate said:
No. It just steps through the turn sequence and moves the cards for you (and keeps count of damage, I presume). Stuff like disallowing illegal targets it doesn't do. I guess that would make for some interesting debates.




Thanks for the replies, I thought nobody noticed my questions. And yeah, I bet there'd be major debates, especially if someone tries to do something weird that depends heavily on the order that effects resolve.

By the way, Lich is the enchantment that makes the caster lose all life when it enters play. Now that has got to be way weirder than stasis. Apologies if you already knew that. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Mark the Merciful]

Lex said:
I've got a long list of games I *MUST* play. So the time commitment of Eve is a bit worrisome. But nevertheless I'm pretty sure later in the week when work eases up, I'll sign up and spend several days reading every rule/story/forum/guide and really check it out for real




I was, and am, impressed by the same things. (I've been watching and laughing at the game news over the Last few days about a big series of races sponsored by one of the NPC Empires. To make them exciting, the races are partly run through low security space, and some of the naughtier player residents have decided to object and blockade certain systems. So most of the race participants are now being blown away before they can finish!)

The trouble is that all the single-player stuff - mining, agent missions or NPC pirate-hunting - is just as dull and grindy as it seems to be in most MMORPGs (not that I'm an expert). Trading might be more fun and rewarding, because you're playing in a more-or-less genuine market; but I haven't tried that yet. Hopefully it'll get more interesting once I'm fully integrated into Corporation actiivities, and my Corp moves closer to player-run space. The issue there is finding the right one.

Anyway, it's all very intriguing. I'm just still not decided whether it will be rewarding in the long term.

[Lex]

Freelancer is a single-player only game, that is almost EXACTLY like Eve. And I loved Freelancer. Although the tactical combat was really well done in Freelancer, and seems to be boring in Eve. But I spent literally hours just watching my ship courrier supplies from neighbouring systems for profit. It gets boring after a while, but that's only cos nothing ever changed. In Eve, everything changes week to week. I think by the time you got bored in Eve, you'd be advanced enough to become part of a Corporation, which would then open up a whole new set of activities and interests.

[rabelais]

Playing some Posband and some CoH.

I love the REALLY slow dom 2 game I'm in, it's strategically dicey, but I have time to DO OTHER THINGS!!!

WooHoo!

Rabe the Newbie Scrapper on Liberty

I read the post about the uber(in-game)scam some guy pulled in eve. (search BoingBoing)

If you can grift it, that's pretty real http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[KroolDeath]

Mark,

So are you saying oyu've begun playing Eve, or is this just from reading the web page?

Krool