On Jan 13, 2004, at 12:31 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: [Snip]
Things I look for in an RPG:
- turn-based combat.
You aren't going to find many games that do turn-based combat these days. Temple of Elemental Evil is the only one that springs to mind and that has had poor reviews. Mostly you get 'phased' combat (think Fallout's Action Points) with the ability to pause at any time.
- combat-driven as opposed to story-driven (at least, I think I lean that way -- is Wasteland and Fallout combat-driven?)
- non-typical genre. I don't prefer the typical "medieval fantasy" setting but I'm not opposed to it either. I prefer post-apocolyptic/nuclear aftermath settings, or something unconventional like Arcanum's "steamworks and magic obscura" setting (the setting alone in Arcanum was 80% of why I loved the game). I've never tried Necromancer or Mines of Titan but they seem like settings I would enjoy.
You might check out Morrowind. Lots of possible combat, plus the setting isn't the typical generic pseudo medieval fantasy. The current game of the year edition includes both expansions.
- sound and graphics don't matter to me (they're a bonus if they're cleverly done, like in BT or Wasteland, but not mandatory). I'm a fan of clever sound, but I don't think it would be required in an RPG.
The graphics and sound are pretty good in Morrowind. You can even look up at the night sky and see the constellations mentioned in the character creation section (which gives you several different ways to create a character).
- Not reliant on another system or rule of play. For example, I don't think I'll ever play a Hobbit/LOTR game because I haven't read the books. Same goes for Star Wars because I'm not really that into it. Original AD&D I can handle because it's simple, but the new Rev 3 games scare me :).
3rd edition D&D shouldn't scare you. It is very simple and flexible. It is a relatively clean system that preserves the fun of the 1st edition. Then again, I thought the 2nd edition was a piece of shit. ;-) Also, one of the goals of the 3rd edition rewrite was to make the game easier to recreate in computer games.
- Finally, dumb-ass fictional LONG proper nouns drive me nuts and really turn me off. Text like "Making the ascension of Arrogath in the land of Blesmythson requires the blessing of Gorgonax the Blargnargian during the Time of Rhyne" in a game usually has me uninstall it within minutes. :-D
There are some long proper nouns, but I don't remember that many. Then again long names don't phase me so I tend not to notice them.
--
Edward Franks
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