2007 Indie RPG of the Year

I loved all the games on this list, and I think they are all pretty deserving of accolades. But my nod went to Depths of Peril. It was the most innovative RPG this year, though I'm afraid it may be an underdog because of it. The dynamic world thing sucked me in more than any other RPG this year.

I agree - and good blog post. I suspected this would be the result before I started - and well done to Basilisk. I really oscillated before choosing Nethergate; Depths of Peril got a good chunk of my play time this year and it really is innovative but selling a game that is underpinned by hack'n'slashing to our crowd was always going to be...well, a tough sell. It's also a hard game to "get", so a chunk of those who saw it would still see it as a Diablo clone, because the covenant play just didn't sink in.

Likewise, while Nethergate and Geneforge will understandably induce a certain level of fatigue in our readers, I'm sure a good chunk just never tried them - or didn't get far past the graphics if they did. I maintain Jeff's content is excellent and being a remake is pretty irrelevant if you didn't play the original.

Still, you have to engage the folks and Basilisk did a fantastic job capturing their hearts.

I hesitate to call this a lesson that other indies should learn because the others might lose their other appeals if they followed the same path.

Anyway, regardless of the vote, the really good news is I filled a good chunk of my gaming time with nothing but quality indies - and there are still more to come. Good stuff.

Dhruin said:

I hesitate to call this a lesson that other indies should learn because the others might lose their other appeals if they followed the same path.

Click to expand...

Agreed. There is room in the market for everyone to make their version of an RPG. Vogel has perfected his art form and has thousands of faithful followers, me being one of them. Steven Peeler has made something very special with Depths and he is one hell of a nice guy to boot. It is such an honor to have Eschalon even mentioned in the same poll as the other three games, and I am flattered that so many people have enjoyed what we made.

There is some really cool stuff going on here in the studio and I am going to do my best to really win you over with the next game, Dhruin!

Dhruin said:

Likewise, while Nethergate and Geneforge will understandably induce a certain level of fatigue in our readers, I'm sure a good chunk just never tried them - or didn't get far past the graphics if they did. I maintain Jeff's content is excellent and being a remake is pretty irrelevant if you didn't play the original.

Click to expand...

I think alot of us have actually....its not so much the graphics we are fatigued on more so the system...the spell system hasn't changed since avernum 1 all through geneforge 4....they are all the same. No doubt he has content, but if its basically the same game extended(which putting a different storyline basically is.) How long until that loses its appeal. Not bad games by any means.

I also bought depths of peril and is a fun action rpg, no doubt also a good game.

Poorly phrased perhaps. I'm sure a lot have -- and I can appreciate that fatigue -- but I'm also pretty confident an even larger group have only dabbled because of the graphics. I see this even within our staff. My point is simply that the "they're all the same" argument (which has merit) only counts for the relatively small group who have played a lot of them. For those who haven't (and honestly, I can show you the threads on RPG Codex where every time a Vogel newsbit is posted several people ask "Are these things any good? I heard they were all the same." What difference does that make if you never even tried the demo.)

I've said this too many times. Enough.

@Thomas - you already won me over. Played it twice through and really enjoyed it. I have some quibbles, yeah, but the significance of your achievement in Eschalon isn't lost on me.

That's the thing -- while I have a preference, it's not an easy choice. It's a clash of titans this year. I'm very, very impressed. I haven't played Nethergate yet, but the other three have all been top-notch.

I played GF 1&2, but when I heard/read that 3&4 were basically more of the same, I didn't bother. I think the fact that BW plans to make major changes for E2, like a party IIRC will help sell even more down the track!!

Eschalon even mentioned in the same poll as the other three games, and I am flattered that so many people have enjoyed what we made.

Click to expand...

I can't help but wounder how much your forum posts affected the results, very clever to encourage people to vote at your forum hehe, On the other hand it is sure to bring visitors to RPGWatch, I just wounder what would happen if they did the same at spiderweb and depth of perils forums Would the results be completely different with all of their fanboys cooming here to vote?

If they played eschalon as well,,, it probably wouldn't. But I think many people who voted didn't try all the games.

The post I made on Basilisk's forums? You mean:

BasiliskWrangler said:

RPGWatch has an Indie RPG of the Year poll up. Eschalon: Book I is listed as well as several other excellent games. Do head over and cast a vote for your favorite Indie RPG.

Oh, and if you vote for Eschalon, I'll be your best friend. :wink:

Click to expand...

I post news of Eschalon anytime I see it mentioned around the web, and I encouraged people to vote for their favorite game. The last line was just me being funny. Besides, 90% of my visitors are RPGWatch regulars anyways, so it's unlikely my post caused the poll to be skewed by a flood of outsiders.

Anyways, thank you for your vote, GothicGothicness.

Basilisk has been here many times before the poll, so I don't entirely think it's fair to say that he posted on his forums just to influence the outcome of the poll.

@Basilisk I am of the same opinion with Dhruin. Your game was great and a tremendous achievement, but I did like Nethergate just a tad bit more. That doesn't mean I didn't buy your game or the other. I bought both, so it is a win win for me. Running out of those stupid arrows before the patch was a pain though But thanks to you and creating those patches at light speed, you fixed that problem.

skavenhorde said:

Basilisk has been here many times before the poll, so I don't entirely think it's fair to say that he posted on his forums just to influence the outcome of the poll.

Click to expand...

Plus, so what if he did? I certainly would had I poured my heart and soul into something for over two years with no income from it. I'd promote it any way I could short of breaking the law, and might even consider that, if I thought it would pay off in sales.

P.S. Voted for E:B1, of course. Sucked me in way more than the others did (never played Nether or GF, but have played Avernum and am assuming that the only major difference is the story & setting rather than the atmospherics and mechanics). In fact, way more than almost any game I've played over the last couple of years. Struck a perfect balance for me in character development flexibility, combat difficulty, tactical options, story & action, economy of dialogue, questing & exploration, and pacing & spacing of gameplay treats/surprises. Short version: hit my sweetspot.

Voted for Eschalon. I haven't played a game that enthusiastically for a long time.
Between work and kids and personal projects, genuinely free time is harder to come by than ever before, so it's a testament to the game that I managed to finish it.

Also it would have been difficult for me to vote for the others, as I haven't played Geneforge 4, am only part way into the Nethergate demo (Dhruin is right - 'tis good!), and have played little of Depths of Peril.

I wouldn't worry about forum posts to support a game - fan mobilisation is common and par for the course. These things are just for fun; the result shouldn't be taken too seriously. Just wait until we do the next one, which will potentially see hordes of Polish Witcher fans throwing themselves at our battlements.

Besides, it's always nice to see a developer engage and foster their community.

Re: the "fanboi vote" syndrome--noticed today that you now have to be registered at Voodoo Extreme to vote in their polls, specifically their GoTY poll (which includes The Witcher) after lots of posts there said the vote for RPG of the year( won by thousands of votes by TW) was unfair (and/or hacked) due to being promoted on the Witcher site and other, non-usual Voodoo Extremer type places... (This was the poll that left out MotB and had such contenders as Mass Effect and Stalker, as well as various MMO's all up together, btw)---So the 'storming the battlements' remark may be true--however, plenty of non-Polish posters here will be around to help lift the ladders and ward off the pots of burning oil.

The way to solve this problem is to not let people vote in polls that have started before they registered. Don't know if vBulletin forums have such an option, though.

No such option, sorry. Excluding unregistered folks from voting, yes. But once they registered, they can vote in any poll... unless it temped out.

Eschalon, it was quick, but I loved every minute of it. With some of Vogel's games I find myself rushing to the end because I can't take the sound of another door opening, or the walking sound of the npc's across the map.
Plus, in a sense, they all do follow a similar roadmap design wise, try playing avernum 1 - 3 without a break, just try

Anyway, congrats to BW on making such a wonderful game.

How dare Basilisk cheat and tell his community about this poll. I'm just offended. I'm kidding of course. We usually try to keep our fans aware of things like this also.

Depths of Peril isn't even close to beating out Eschalon in the poll, but I appreciate everyone that voted for us. I mentioned this on my blog, but I'll repeat myself. It's very nice for us indies to get some attention here and there, so a poll like this is pretty cool. Not that this is anything new for RPG Watch.

Eschalon did have a slight advantage with a release date closest to the poll.

I'm curious if "our contestants" are seeing a boost in traffic/sales. There'd be no good way to pinpoint a cause for a bump if there was one, but it would be nice if Spiderweb, Basilisk, and Soldak could see an actual benefit from our discussion.

I just had a brilliant idea: Tom, Steven and Jeff ought to form a limited partnership for the purpose of developing one, single cRPG together! Think of the possibilities...