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[AmstradHero]

AlanC9 wrote...

AmstradHero wrote...
.....but even if you go back to the AD&D system as implemented in the Infinity Engine games, there was customisation there due to the limitations. None of this simple, martial and exotic weapon proficiency business. Sure, it was a little bit of an annoying limitation at times, but it made you want to add that fighter with axe proficiency to your party to use that really powerful magical axe to your party, even though you didn't like the character very much.

You're serious? You'd let item finds dictate party membership, rather than have party membership dictate which items you sold and which ones you kept?

When I had 6 party members in BG, occasionally I had temporary party swaps (particularly early on) because I wasn't sure who was the most effective person in my party. After all, I had a lot of choice, and if I'm picking between a few objectionable characters, I'm going to pick the ones that help me survive.
I exaggerated for effect, but the fact that my sword and shield warrior can just pick up an axe and wield it with just as much ease, while being great from a playability perspective, is bad in terms of customisation.

virumor wrote...

AmstradHero wrote...
The fact that you were pretty much abandoned and left with zero direction at the start of [Morrowind] is a big drawback, and just lots of "ease of use" aspects make the game more frustrating than it should have been.

How are you left with zero direction? You immediately receive orders to get to one Caius Cosades in Balmora, and there's a silt strider right outside the town. Alternatively, it's also possible to get a scrap of paper from a scout with detailed directions of how to get to Balmora on foot. In any case, it's way better than following a quest compass like in Oblivion.

1. You're almost broke, so getting to Balmora via a silt strider was too expensive for my tastes. And you were lucky not to die if you went there on foot.
2. I was more talking about once you reach Caius. He effectively tells you "sorry, you're useless right now, go level up and come back to me."

Fast travel, a journal that wasn't utterly horrible and the quest compass were some of the things that made Oblivion more accessible and much more fun. You might argue it "dumbed down" the experience, but having been forced to catch repeated public transport, run everywhere, or use very limited teleportation ability made Morrowind highly tedious at points.  And let's not forget the "cross the entire island without talking to anyone" quest. Bethesda were practically rubbing your face in it there.

Modifié par AmstradHero, 03 juillet 2010 - 03:24 .

[Giantevilhead]

AmstradHero wrote...

OnlyShallow89 wrote...
Das Schwarze Auge, the ruleset and setting Drakensang uses, has been
around 26 years. It's as old as many of those RPG clichés, if not older. 
Plus it's not like Dragon Age is immune to the "cliché complex", is
it? Demons, Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Magic, "European"-esque setting,
Dragons,
Oh-God-The-World-Is-Ending-And-One-Person-With-Conveniently-"Equal"-Friends?

Just because a world has a backlog of lore doesn't mean it can get away with cliches in a modern game. I'd pan a D&D game if it were cliche ridden too. We're judging the game, not the setting. Now, I won't argue that DAO has cliches, however, some of the "cliches" you've mentioned aren't actually cliches. Humans are a cliche? Geez, almost every game is cliche then. Heck, BioWare ever put their own spin on elves and dwarves to make them different from the standard mould.  Elves aren't the ancient race with mystical powers... they're second class citizens conquered by humans. And dwarves have an incredibly rigid caste system that is steeped in so much tradition that it's practically killing their society.  Those aren't cliches.

I'm not arguing that Dragon Age doesn't have cliches. It does. They're just not what you've mentioned. Again, it's my point that the flaws that exist in Dragon Age exist in other games just as much if not more so.

But Bioware's own "spin" isn't really that original either. The elves in Eberron used to be slaves and the Dwarves in Dragonlance have a similarly strict caste system. Also, non-humans being the oppressed minorities is a major theme in the Witcher.

Bioware tried something new with Jade Empire but that didn't turn out as well as they thought so I guess they went right back to doing what's safe.

[soteria]

Using the above reasoning, nothing is ever original. Heck, that may even be true, but it's not exactly a useful observation. The races in DA differ from the norm, and, more critically, from D&D, which makes them feel different. That's the important thing.

[Sigma Tauri]

AmstradHero wrote...

1. You're almost broke, so getting to Balmora via a silt strider was too expensive for my tastes. And you were lucky not to die if you went there on foot.

A silt strider from Seyda Neen to Balmora was 15 gp. Even then, there are quests in Seyda Neen you can do that'll land you 500 gp before you even reach Balmora.

2. I was more talking about once you reach Caius. He effectively tells you "sorry, you're useless right now, go level up and come back to me."

Fast travel, a journal that wasn't utterly horrible and the quest compass were some of the things that made Oblivion more accessible and much more fun. You might argue it "dumbed down" the experience, but having been forced to catch repeated public transport, run everywhere, or use very limited teleportation ability made Morrowind highly tedious at points.  And let's not forget the "cross the entire island without talking to anyone" quest. Bethesda were practically rubbing your face in it there.

However, I'm with you on the whole direction thing. It was a personal accomplishment for me to like Morrowind, since I realize how well made the world is. But, it was a mess of a game, and all the fixes you mentioned is the reason why  I liked Oblivion as a game.