(no subject)
Firstly, I recently discovered PS238. It had been highly recommended to me several times in the past and I finally got around to reading it. It's a superhero comedy comic book that's being brought onto the Internet, one page at a time. I enjoy it very much and highly recommend it to you.
Secondly, I've been a bit busy for the last month or two. Working a lot of overtime. If you emailed me and I didn't get back to you, it's because I pretty much didn't get back to anybody. I'm taking a break from my game search for a bit. I still have about five reviews to write and post.
I know the tone of things has been a bit negative lately. I fail to mention most games' good points. I'm trying to find the right game for me. This is why they aren't it. If you enjoy the game, I hope you continue to enjoy it, and aren't waiting for my validation. Also, I enjoy listening to myself complain.
I've been thinking more about what I want in games. Like an automatic camera. I like the option of adjusting it manually, but when I turn I want the camera to turn with me. I want the camera behind and above me about 98% of the time when I play, so why do I have to move it myself every time I turn? It's 2009. Computers should be able to do this on their own.
Noob Island is a fairly clever idea. I had overlooked how clever it was because it seemed completely obvious to me. I keep finding games that don't give you much any tutorial or instruction. I want a quick walkthrough of the controls, what classes there are, and such. I want to have stuff to do at least until I hit level 10.
A lot of games dump you in the hub city. There's the NPC for that level 50 quest standing by the gate asking if you have any copper marbles. You, being new, don't realize that they're only dropped by greatly huge dragons who can kill you as a free action, so you're trying to figure out if you have any, and where you get them. There's 30 mostly-identical NPCs standing around, so finding the five that you actually need is hard, and making the game hard isn't condusive to keeping me as a player. Give me a small area with five NPCs, free healing, and nothing that can kill me in one hit until I decide to leave Noob Island.
I want a tutorial that explains things concisely and as I need them. If there's a green bar in the upper right that I'm not going to use until I hit level 15, don't even show it to me when I'm on noob island. I want to be able to pull up a cheat sheet that tells me what an enchantment does and how it's different from an inspiration, especially if one is difficult to obtain and/or permanent. Maybe I wasn't paying much attention the the tutorial. I do that sometimes. And don't just show me the tutorial again. If I didn't sit through it the first time, I probably won't sit through it the second time.
One of the design principals of Final Battle Adventure Online is that you don't have to make decisions before they're relevant, and that very few decisions are immediately permanent. (Gender is, for instance, because it doesn't affect gameplay, and because you should know which one you want to play as). Don't make me start out the game and decide if I want a bonus to magical defence or physical attack before I do anything else. I don't know if, say, there are only three enemies that use magical attack, or that you can buy attack boosters at any shop in town.
If I'm an archer, I want to start out shooting things with arrows. If I'm a cleric, I want to start out healing things. Don't make me spend the first four hours hitting rats with a stick, as if I'm some kind of incompetent fighter.
Anyhow, that's what I'm looking for in a game. I'll let you know when I find it.
Secondly, I've been a bit busy for the last month or two. Working a lot of overtime. If you emailed me and I didn't get back to you, it's because I pretty much didn't get back to anybody. I'm taking a break from my game search for a bit. I still have about five reviews to write and post.
I know the tone of things has been a bit negative lately. I fail to mention most games' good points. I'm trying to find the right game for me. This is why they aren't it. If you enjoy the game, I hope you continue to enjoy it, and aren't waiting for my validation. Also, I enjoy listening to myself complain.
I've been thinking more about what I want in games. Like an automatic camera. I like the option of adjusting it manually, but when I turn I want the camera to turn with me. I want the camera behind and above me about 98% of the time when I play, so why do I have to move it myself every time I turn? It's 2009. Computers should be able to do this on their own.
Noob Island is a fairly clever idea. I had overlooked how clever it was because it seemed completely obvious to me. I keep finding games that don't give you much any tutorial or instruction. I want a quick walkthrough of the controls, what classes there are, and such. I want to have stuff to do at least until I hit level 10.
A lot of games dump you in the hub city. There's the NPC for that level 50 quest standing by the gate asking if you have any copper marbles. You, being new, don't realize that they're only dropped by greatly huge dragons who can kill you as a free action, so you're trying to figure out if you have any, and where you get them. There's 30 mostly-identical NPCs standing around, so finding the five that you actually need is hard, and making the game hard isn't condusive to keeping me as a player. Give me a small area with five NPCs, free healing, and nothing that can kill me in one hit until I decide to leave Noob Island.
I want a tutorial that explains things concisely and as I need them. If there's a green bar in the upper right that I'm not going to use until I hit level 15, don't even show it to me when I'm on noob island. I want to be able to pull up a cheat sheet that tells me what an enchantment does and how it's different from an inspiration, especially if one is difficult to obtain and/or permanent. Maybe I wasn't paying much attention the the tutorial. I do that sometimes. And don't just show me the tutorial again. If I didn't sit through it the first time, I probably won't sit through it the second time.
One of the design principals of Final Battle Adventure Online is that you don't have to make decisions before they're relevant, and that very few decisions are immediately permanent. (Gender is, for instance, because it doesn't affect gameplay, and because you should know which one you want to play as). Don't make me start out the game and decide if I want a bonus to magical defence or physical attack before I do anything else. I don't know if, say, there are only three enemies that use magical attack, or that you can buy attack boosters at any shop in town.
If I'm an archer, I want to start out shooting things with arrows. If I'm a cleric, I want to start out healing things. Don't make me spend the first four hours hitting rats with a stick, as if I'm some kind of incompetent fighter.
Anyhow, that's what I'm looking for in a game. I'll let you know when I find it.