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X_805
Village Dweller
Joined: 29 Dec 2002
Posts: 7
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I just wanted to start a new topic to state my opinion on the worlds of some RPGs.
Gothic: Original world and very realistic and gritty. Good overall. I'm looking forward to Gothic 2.
Arx Fatalis: Interesting ideas in there. Has a depressing undertone to it. I'm not sure if I like it or not. I'm thinking about buying the game.
The Elder Scrolls: Great backround lore on almost everything. I believe the gameplay lacks in this game though. The only reason being is because the company is probably to poor to make anything extravagant. Maybe TES 4 will be great five years from now. |
Sun Dec 29, 2002 11:17 am |
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Remus
Overgrown Cat
Joined: 03 Jul 2002
Posts: 1657
Location: Fish bowl |
Gaming worlds?, i think you are refering to a realms inside particular CRPGs, like the Forgotten Realms universe that been used in Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series, or the new Neverwinter Nights and Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor.
I think the the Forgotten Realms and The Elder Scrolls universe got deepest background lore, but comparison to Gothic or Arx Fatalis was unfair, for example The Elder Scrolls already established it lore about 10 years ago with Arena (1993).
And i don't see anything original about the reamls in Gothic or Arx Fatalis, it's still a medieval fantasy with all the Orcs and dragons. Sure, the stories in them are new.  |
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Mon Dec 30, 2002 5:17 am |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
If I understand correctly I think X_805 is referring to the world as you see it in game: a combination of both the background lore and the way this world is presented in-game. I'm basing that on his comment on the atmosphere in Gothic and Arx.
Of course, TES and Forgotten Realms do have a wealth of lore that would be difficult to match, but I do think both Gothic and Arx bring enough variation and in particular a certain atmosphere that does make them original. Gothic certainly does have a gritty reality and the dark, heavy atmosphere of Arx permeates the game and makes it a very different experience. They might be fantasy worlds, but they're not generic. |
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Mon Dec 30, 2002 6:46 am |
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MoonDragon
High Emperor
Joined: 25 May 2002
Posts: 1254
Location: Waterloo, Canada |
I find Forgotten Realms based games annoying, especially because of all the lore. It assumes you were a D&D fanatic for many years and builds upon that (or at least I felt like it at times). Lore that is usually presented through books and such, I generally find inconsequential and boring.
I think MW presented past lore very nicely. All those books for you to read and such, presented in a very nice way. It was refreshing after all the boring mounds of text found in D&D based games. It was very immersive. I find that MW had the best foundations for an RPG in terms of a world. It just lacked about everything else.
Gothic had no foundations, but it had everything else. Curiously enough, the designers managed to make a story that survived without having any foundations. They dropped you into an environment alien to both you and your avatar, so you both explored from scratch. Your avatar's past was irrelevant. As was anything your avatar may have known from before.
I didn't care much for NWN story or the world setting. It was.. umm.. shoddy. Only put together to be a satisfactory single player campaign. Not great.
Arx had a fairly good foundation. And it's explained in a pretty good fashion. I just find the game too pointless. For all the freedom to explore, I find it to be too linear, without giving you proper guidance to follow that linearity. By the time I found myself wondering what the heck am I supposed to do next, for the third time, I lost interest.
My favourite world was, without a doubt, Fallout. It had elements of all of the above. It had a unique world, full of its own lore (I loved finding holodisks and reading newsbits from the past). Your avatar was thrown into an unknown and alien environment, so their past didn't matter too much. Hell, your character didn't HAVE any past. It had a compelling story. A compelling goal for you to accomplish. Incredible freedom to explore.
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Mon Dec 30, 2002 4:02 pm |
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Remus
Overgrown Cat
Joined: 03 Jul 2002
Posts: 1657
Location: Fish bowl |
TES's lore that available in-game definitely presented in a very interesting ways, usually with suspense, unsuspected ending, sometime funny, sometime with wisdom, etc. I can say it's the best background lore i ever read from any other CRPGs. Forgotten Realms lore presented in NWN pretty much uninteresting & uninspiring... |
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Mon Dec 30, 2002 5:54 pm |
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Ammon777
Warrior for Heaven
Joined: 20 Apr 2002
Posts: 2011
Location: United States |
Maybe we should start a petition for the Morrowind team to join up with the Gothic team and make Morrowgoth! That would be great! |
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Mon Dec 30, 2002 6:30 pm |
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Hexy
High Emperor
Joined: 28 Jun 2002
Posts: 621
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I really don't understand how people enjoyed books in MW but not in BG. The BG series had a good and original plot, and the rpg setting is so familliar and basic. That's what I like about it the most; they didn't make the world so original, it's a classic fantasy world.
If you want history etc. in BG you only need to talk to people/read books. If you were already familiar to FR, it was just a bonus.
Fallout had a good and original setting etc. but lacked in other things, which made it pretty boring.
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Like some bold seer in a trance;
Seeing all his own mischance |
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Tue Dec 31, 2002 10:27 am |
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shai_aus
Village Leader
Joined: 18 Aug 2002
Posts: 97
Location: Australia |
quote:
Originally posted by Hexy
Fallout had a good and original setting etc. but lacked in other things, which made it pretty boring.
Erm, you could be a bit more specific on the 'other things' part.
But yeah, I agree on the point about the books in BG2 and Morrowind. I mean, a book being pretty wont make it any less boring, in my opinion. The books are there for people that want to know more about the world they're in. It's not like you have to read them or anything.
The Planescape world is probably the most imaginative and original one for me. I couldn't stop gawking at all of the fantastic creatures and structures. |
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Tue Dec 31, 2002 11:29 am |
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X_805
Village Dweller
Joined: 29 Dec 2002
Posts: 7
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Another thing I would like to say is What Morrowind lacks is what Gothic gave. And what Gothic lacked was what Morrowind gave. I hope you all understand me on this point.  If someone could possibly combine all the good points of both those RPGs, I think that would be the almost perfect RPG.
One more point I have about RPGs is I don't want an RPG to be a life simulator like the Sims where you can make friends, get married, have children, etc. You do need some of those aspects in an RPG, just they need not to be implemented too heavily. |
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Tue Dec 31, 2002 7:31 pm |
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Hexy
High Emperor
Joined: 28 Jun 2002
Posts: 621
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quote:
Originally posted by shai_aus
quote:
Originally posted by Hexy
Fallout had a good and original setting etc. but lacked in other things, which made it pretty boring.
Erm, you could be a bit more specific on the 'other things' part.
Bad combat system for one.
Almost forgot, Everquest has the best rpg-world IMO. It's full of all kinds of creatures and beasts, has much diversity (you have about 13 races to choose from), tons of lore and it's an extremely big world(even without the various planes etc.)
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Like some bold seer in a trance;
Seeing all his own mischance |
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Wed Jan 01, 2003 1:43 pm |
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shai_aus
Village Leader
Joined: 18 Aug 2002
Posts: 97
Location: Australia |
Yeah, I admit that some things in Fallout's combat system were a little screwy. Some things, like initiative, seemed to have little to no effect on the order of turns. Many weapon skills were pretty useless, too. And my companions kept getting themselves killed.
But still a great game. The first Fallout had one of the best endings I've seen in a game. I look forward to Fallout 3. |
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Wed Jan 01, 2003 1:50 pm |
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Remus
Overgrown Cat
Joined: 03 Jul 2002
Posts: 1657
Location: Fish bowl |
quote:
Originally posted by Hexy
I really don't understand how people enjoyed books in MW but not in BG....
I actually like all the books in BG, but that was several years ago. MW definitely has very detail history and culture about the game world itself, which surely enhanced the game storyline background and some social immersion.
quote:
Originally posted by X_805
Another thing I would like to say is What Morrowind lacks is what Gothic gave. And what Gothic lacked was what Morrowind gave. I hope you all understand me on this point.....
I surely understand, and actually i heard a lot about this - MW + Gothic = perfect CRPGs. Well, unfortunately that isn't reality. MW already need 4-5 years just to complete by Bethesda, if they want to incorporate all the plus points in Gothic, they would need another 2-3 years, not to mention the incompatibility that will be encountered when adding, because MW's game engine is form freeform exploration/open ended gameplays vs Gothic's engine realistic NPCs behavior, etc. And the developers need financial income, they can't take so long to develop a game, especially when approaching 4-5 year time frame in development. |
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Wed Jan 01, 2003 1:51 pm |
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