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mersil
Noble Knight
Joined: 23 Nov 2001
Posts: 214
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ITS obvious tha the Reviewer that WORKS for RPGDOT.Had a not so good time playing Dungeon seige , according to his review.
From the get go, it sounded like he had some gripe with Chris Taylor, Go figure,
anyways, for a site that is hosting a forum for the said game, its beyond me that RPGDOT, would allow less than a perfect review for this game,
I mean Be for real, What else games are OUT Right NOW, like, what the hell is this guy playing that he loves so much.
how can you say ,that any game that does a good job at keeping your attention to THe End cannot be FUN ???????
maybe this guy is just some DIE HARD baldurs gate fan or something. well go ahead back to that 2 year old game . maybe you find a game soon that youll be happy with.
FUN ? now lets all go to work, hmm , not, id rather play a Not fun game then go to work.  |
Tue Apr 23, 2002 3:24 am |
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Val
Risen From Ashes
Joined: 18 Feb 2002
Posts: 14724
Location: Utah, USA |
*sigh* Simple pleasures for simple minds. Face facts, you'll shelf this game when the next best thing comes along. Why? Because once you've won it, is there a reason to return to it besides the multiplayer? Nope. Hack n' slash is all well and good, but it doesn't make truely stellar games. I think Moriendor's review was more than fair.
_________________
Freeeeeeedom! Thank heavens it's summer!
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=Guardian, Moderator, UltimaDot Newshound=  |
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Tue Apr 23, 2002 3:49 am |
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Danicek
The Old One
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic |
I really love this game, but I also agree with this review. It is good and balanced review.
Story is obviously very week and therefor there is small motivation to continue (you want to see more nice places, more monsters, stronger weapons). It is OK, but there should be "story" motivation and it is missing.
Fun cathegory in review is simply subjective cathegory. If I should score that game, I give it 85% not 77% in fun cathegory. |
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Tue Apr 23, 2002 6:44 am |
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Moriendor
Black Ring Leader
Joined: 19 Jul 2001
Posts: 1306
Location: Germany |
quote:
Originally posted by mersil
ITS obvious tha the Reviewer that WORKS for RPGDOT.Had a not so good time playing Dungeon seige , according to his review.
Huh? 84% = "Had a not so good time"? To the contrary. I really enjoyed it for the most part. I'm not one of those reviewers who easily pulls a 90%+ rating out of his pocket. A game automatically gets an RPGDot gold award when it scores in between 85% and 90%. That award should be reserved for special games in my opinion. Is Dungeon Siege special? Surely not. The technical stuff is amazing. Super gfx, sound, and interface but gameplay is so linear and when I got to the swamps the combat started to become a tedious and repetitive chore rather than fun. Add to that, the complete absence of a motivating story and you know why I didn't want to give it an award. BTW, I was trying to stay as neutral as possible. My personal opinion of Dungeon Siege is less positive than what I've written in the review.
quote:
Originally posted by mersil
From the get go, it sounded like he had some gripe with Chris Taylor, Go figure,
Gripe with Chris Taylor? I don't even know the guy, nor have I played any of his previous games like Total Annihilation. Well, I think I played the demo but that must have been a long long time ago, and I really don't remember whether I liked it or not. No, you're not going to talk me into having a personal problem with Chris Taylor. No way  .
quote:
Originally posted by mersil
anyways, for a site that is hosting a forum for the said game, its beyond me that RPGDOT, would allow less than a perfect review for this game,
Rendelius (owner of RPGDot) is granting us editors total freedom in what we write and how we rate games. We do not rate games high or low, depending on whether we're hosting a forum for the game. We're also not afraid to tell a publisher or developer straight to his face that their game is crappy. There is noone here who "allows" review scores. RPGDot is a totally independent non-commercial RPG fansite run by fans for fans.
quote:
Originally posted by mersil
I mean Be for real, What else games are OUT Right NOW, like, what the hell is this guy playing that he loves so much.
Well, Jedi Knight II ain't too bad  . Seriously, when I review a game I try to focus on that game without comparing it to other games. However, I admit that Gothic left a pretty deep and lasting impression on me  .
quote:
Originally posted by mersil
how can you say ,that any game that does a good job at keeping your attention to THe End cannot be FUN ???????
Hmm..., 77% fun rating does not equal no fun IMHO. As I said above, I enjoyed the game quite a bit.
quote:
Originally posted by mersil
maybe this guy is just some DIE HARD baldurs gate fan or something. well go ahead back to that 2 year old game . maybe you find a game soon that youll be happy with.
No, I'm not. I actually disliked all games based on the Infinity engine (BG, IwD, PS:T etc.). But as I said, I'm having serious difficulties to get rid of the positive memories related to playing Gothic . Oh, and there is a game around the corner that might let us all forget about Dungeon Siege rather quickly. Talking about Morrowind, of course. |
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Tue Apr 23, 2002 9:00 am |
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Danicek
The Old One
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic |
I still think that FUN caregory is subjective and can hardly be something else. Someone needs quick battles and nothing more, someone needs long discussions and non-linearity, same thing that is for first person simply boring is for second equal to FUN.
Yes I think that FUN is most important of whole thing, so I agree that it participate on result with 45%.
BTW I think that Moriendor is a little bit bigger friend of action, fps etc. games that most of us here (not including me of course ). |
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Tue Apr 23, 2002 9:10 am |
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Moriendor
Black Ring Leader
Joined: 19 Jul 2001
Posts: 1306
Location: Germany |
Yes, I actually like all good games. Doesn't matter what genre they are from. The only genres I don't touch are adventure games (classic ones like Monkey Island), jump'n'run, and beat 'em up's. Just don't like those but aside from that I enjoy a large variety of games from FPS to hardcore RPG's . |
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Tue Apr 23, 2002 9:48 am |
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Llama
High Emperor
Joined: 11 Oct 2001
Posts: 509
Location: Earth |
quote:
Because once you've won it, is there a reason to return to it besides the multiplayer?
Hell yes. Once you've beaten the game and had all you can of the basic game then you can do other things and come back when the Ultima 5,6,7 and 9 remakes come out. That alone is worth the purchase price of DS.
In a few years time, DS will still be one popular game because of its MODs. |
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Tue Apr 23, 2002 12:04 pm |
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Danicek
The Old One
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic |
Yes Moriendor - Mods was one think you didnt mention in your review.
It is important because GPG offers very open platform for mods. DS itself has many possiblities but doesnt use them. DS has them only to allow mods of various games with other "world, npc, inventory" interactivity to be moded.
I read several articles about huge possibilities of scripting and modying. And there is ofcourse editor that is not curently avalaible but that seems to be very complex.
P. S.: I maybe didnt mention it in previous post. I think your review is very good, balanced, with good information quality and nearly highest possible objektivity. (I do not want to say that your review is bad with my posts here) |
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Tue Apr 23, 2002 1:26 pm |
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Moriendor
Black Ring Leader
Joined: 19 Jul 2001
Posts: 1306
Location: Germany |
Oh, I did mention the editor somewhere in the last paragraph (conclusion and fun rating) but it didn't influence the rating.
First of all, the editor has not been released yet so we can't say anything about its general quality. I have also yet to see an editor that keeps its promise and is easy to deal with. From past experiences with all kinds of games, one would have to acknowledge that it is vrtually impossible to build really good mods without a background in programming, scripting and computer arts.
It also remains to be seen how many of the announced mods are really going to be released. Lots of mod teams with ambitious plans have given up in the past, and -in general- there is very few high quality mods for any game on the market (except for several excellent Half Life and Q3A mods).
It is going to take a lot of time until we see the first major mods for Dungeon Siege, and I'm afraid that Val is right in saying that people will have moved on to other games by then.
For the reasons above, the editor had no influence on the rating. The game was tested "as is", i.e. in its current state w/o taking future promises into account. Elsewise, we would never have to mention bugs in a review as the developers always promise to patch their games. |
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Tue Apr 23, 2002 2:47 pm |
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Danicek
The Old One
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic |
Very well, it seems you are right . |
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Tue Apr 23, 2002 3:19 pm |
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ChinaCat
Village Dweller
Joined: 25 Apr 2002
Posts: 5
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Moriendor:
I actually thought you gave an excellent review, and the last paragraph of it concluded things rather well, and quite accurately. That said, I do have a few bones to pick with you.
The area of your review which received the lowest marks, was in its Game Play, ie: Fun Factor. This area is quite subjective, so I don't mind us having a different opinion at all, but what I do mind is what is obviously unintentional misinformation, or lack of providing relevant information to say it in a nicer way.
quote:
Fighting is kept rather passive in Dungeon Siege and does not require you to do much but clicking on an enemy once. Your characters will also automatically attack all nearby monsters. You are more of a passive watcher and don't really need to do anything except for keeping an eye on the health and mana bars.
Interestingly, you note the 9 optional attack settings when addressing the behavior of ones party, but fail to point out how that can dramatically effect the involvement, or lack of, between the players character and the game world.
It is ironic, that one of the nicest features of the game (9 attack settings), allowing one to choose options to allow the play to be consistant with ones style, is either not examined in depth, or simply ignored completely by just about every review I've read. By making various changes to these settings from the defaults, you most certainly cannot just "watch, not do anything, and simply drink health & mana potions" as you suggest.
Try changing these settings so that your character will do "nothing" unless you tell him/her to, and while your at it, increase the difficulty to "hard". I can assure you, gameplay will not be passive any longer.
On another point, the fact that when you do click on a monster to fight, means you continue fighting unless you tell your character to do otherwise is what many wanted. The constant click-fest when fighting monsters in diablo 1 was hated and caused more then one person carpal tunnel syndrom. On this particular game mechanic, it's sort of odd. Your damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
One last comment, if I may.
quote:
I played some short ZoneMatches on Microsoft's Zone servers, and had quite a lot of fun in there. Unfortunately, all character data is stored on your local hard drive so I'm afraid it will be just a matter of time until Dungeon Siege is overrun by cheaters.
I also find the Multiplayer to be a ton of fun, and actually more fun then single player, which is why I probably don't really care about the thin story line. What I didn't feel was fair, was how you ended this paragraph. For example, you could of added.. "That said, ZoneMatch does provide a very functional friends list, which will make finding, and creating multiplayer games with your preferred gamers, an easy task".
Of course, we both know, that even on "closed servers", like Battlenet, hacking and cheating exist as well. Given that, a mention of the friends list and how to avoid cheaters, would have been appropriate. Note: When right clicking on a friend in ones friends list, you can see what game they are in, among other options, making joining those games easier then first having to meet up before creation.
Although it appears I enjoy playing the game more then you did, I do feel the spirit of your review was right on the money. Just a few points mentioned above would of helped provide a more accurate perspective IMHO.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for your review.
ChinaCat |
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Thu Apr 25, 2002 6:17 am |
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Moriendor
Black Ring Leader
Joined: 19 Jul 2001
Posts: 1306
Location: Germany |
Hi ChinaCat,
thanks for the kind words .
You're right. I forgot to mention a lot more than what you pointed out. Next time, I'm supposed to do a review for RPGDot, I will definitely write down notes even of the most simple things. Noticed that I haven't mentioned the seamless game world even once?
Anyway, just because I forgot about writing those things down doesn't mean it influenced the review score in any way. I was always seeing "the whole picture" when I wrote the review .
Regarding the AI settings, well, I played around with them but (except for some special situations) I settled for the option that grants the party the highest degree of freedom. The other settings didn't seem to work well for me. Groups of enemies in Dungeon Siege very often consist of a couple of baddies with ranged weapons and some melee fighters. If you haven't opted for the highest party autonomous behavior, it's quite likely that your melee specialists won't attack enemy rangers because they are too far away.
Another reason I didn't elaborate on the AI settings was that I didn't want to put any spoilers into the review. At first, I found the AI settings a very cool feature and I wanted everyone to make the same experience. And yet another reason was that the review had already gotten quite lengthy so I just had to leave some stuff out .
Multiplayer: Right. Could have mentioned that. Anyhow, since Dungeon Siege clearly is a single player RPG with a modular multiplayer option sitting on top of it, I didn't want to talk too much about multiplayer. We also don't have a separate multiplayer rating here at RPGDot. That's why I kept it short. I wanted to focus on the single player part of the game and on sticking to our rating system to explain why the game scored a certain percentage in one of the categories. But you're still right. I should have tested multiplayer a little more because it does in a way fit into the "Fun" category. Will keep that in mind for the Dungeon Siege II review . |
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Fri Apr 26, 2002 12:13 am |
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Ammon777
Warrior for Heaven
Joined: 20 Apr 2002
Posts: 2011
Location: United States |
i have played this game up to the swamps, and i would have given it an even lower score than Mor... i totally agree with the editor for this site and i trust their judgement better than anyone on this freakin web because they judge the game Dungeon Seige and other games about the same as i would myself. I have been playing these games since the original Pool of Radiance (alot longer than many of you out there) and i know what i am talking about. but i am kinda partial since i visit RPGDot like 10 times a day for the last year and a half hehe... However, if RPGDot doesnt give Morrowind around 90% to 96% then i will withdraw my statements and hire hitmen and stuff, j\k. |
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Fri Apr 26, 2002 12:29 am |
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sauron38
Rara Avis
Joined: 14 Jan 2002
Posts: 4396
Location: Winnipeg's Sanctum Sanctorum |
Care to hire a high-mage assassin?
_________________
Make good choices. |
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Fri Apr 26, 2002 1:55 am |
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