What games are you playing now?

@Ammon, thanks for the explanation, and I'm very happy you took my comment in the spirit it was intended. Do take care of yourself. For the social thing, perhaps places like this one might work better than MMO's?
With the social thing, thats exactly what I'm thinking too. I will try a couple months and play single-player games and talk about them here. That way I can have my gaming fix AND social fix at same time without it being in an MMO. :D
 
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@Ammon: If you are "unstable", as you write it, why don't you additionally try to calm yourself down ?

Okay, playing games takes some of the "pressure" away, but I believe that a calmed-down mind is mere stable, imho.

I'm saying this out of my experience with my usual winter-depressions, which had struck me recently again with full force. I didn't remember being so "unstable" for several years, seriously.

But what made me "stable" again was simply walking, several Kilometres, and reading a good book.

I know myself already to some point, and i know that gaming would rather make me upset or "unstable", in this case.

Please take this as an advice from someone who has had quite great depressions in the 90s, and knows some bits (although not too much in a medical sense) about Psychology - I only know what I have learned, and I am the Sum of my own Experiences.
 
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Well, I'm giving Arcanum yet another stab! Trying out magic this time. For the steampunk setting I far prefer technology, but tech in Arcanum just isn't all that rewarding I've found. Magic seems to have more interesting applications.
So I've got a half-elf thief/mage sort of character at level 5 and already I'm torn on where to spend character points, trying to decide if I should build up my main skills and stats more before investing in magic, or do I spread out a bit over time?
Damn you Arcanum!
 
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Never been able to play Arcanum. I always try to go tech, and end up being thrashed constantly by random encounters til I quit. Saving it for when I'm 60, if I make it there.

I'm actually playing a nice calm little village sim game here at work Ive heard much about called Virtual Villagers. I set them up, and there they go, all day while I'm here at work. We'll see how it works out, I like it so far
 
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Never been able to play Arcanum. I always try to go tech, and end up being thrashed constantly by random encounters til I quit. Saving it for when I'm 60, if I make it there.

Tech is theoretically interesting, but ultimately it only seems to be useful for combat and some thieving situations. Whenever I've gone the tech route I end up making stuff just because I can, stuff that has little practical application withing the confines of the game. Magic seems a bit more open in application.

I'm actually playing a nice calm little village sim game here at work Ive heard much about called Virtual Villagers. I set them up, and there they go, all day while I'm here at work. We'll see how it works out, I like it so far

Well that looks kinda fun. Will give that a go.
 
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Well, I'm giving Arcanum yet another stab! Trying out magic this time. For the steampunk setting I far prefer technology, but tech in Arcanum just isn't all that rewarding I've found. Magic seems to have more interesting applications.
So I've got a half-elf thief/mage sort of character at level 5 and already I'm torn on where to spend character points, trying to decide if I should build up my main skills and stats more before investing in magic, or do I spread out a bit over time?
Damn you Arcanum!

What skills are you planning to take? And what spells? If you're going for a pure mage I suggest getting harm as your first spell (and prehaps a few other first level spells in spellschools you're planning on investing in later on, to boost your magic amplitude). It's a nice main attack for a mage character. Other than that I remember I allways went for Disintegration asap (because it's so incredibly soft to be able to kill anything with one spell (just watch out so you don't lose any loot). Especially really tough earth elementals that hurts your weapons...), and I allso used to go for five ranks in persuation (allways, no matter what character I was playing...).

And I agree, a tech character was allways the thing that looked most interesting, but tech isn't that effective. There was this tesla rod (the level 4 electrical recipie IIRC) you could make from a staff (18 gold IIRC) and some kind of component (that cost around 60-80 gold) that you'd sell for 1800 gold that was pretty sweet though (for economical reasons, who made a tech-melee character? (Well, I did... Then again, I tried pretty much everything :lol:))... I allways had a dream to combind an elephant rifle with the level 7 tesla rod, which I never managed to pull off (never got that far with a tech character). :(

I'm not sure I used the right terms here, since I haven't played Arcanum for a while, but I hope you understood what I meant. :)

Übereil
 
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What skills are you planning to take? And what spells? If you're going for a pure mage I suggest getting harm as your first spell (and prehaps a few other first level spells in spellschools you're planning on investing in later on, to boost your magic amplitude). It's a nice main attack for a mage character. Other than that I remember I allways went for Disintegration asap (because it's so incredibly soft to be able to kill anything with one spell (just watch out so you don't lose any loot). Especially really tough earth elementals that hurts your weapons...), and I allso used to go for five ranks in persuation (allways, no matter what character I was playing...).

In regards to skills, I'm going the persuasive thief route, so Persuade, Pick Pocket, Prowl, Backstab, Dodge, Melee and Throwing (ideally the character will focus on small concealable weapons). Spell-wise I'm looking at the Conveyance, Mental and Temporal spell schools.
The character concept is basically a rogue who uses his skills and magical affinity to give himself advantages and control.
So basically at the moment I'm trying to figure out which direction to start in. Go for the magic first, or the natural abilities? With the former I get some neat tricks that are occasionally useful but fun, while the latter is more pragmatic and logically effective but not particularly interesting.

And I agree, a tech character was allways the thing that looked most interesting, but tech isn't that effective. There was this tesla rod (the level 4 electrical recipie IIRC) you could make from a staff (18 gold IIRC) and some kind of component (that cost around 60-80 gold) that you'd sell for 1800 gold that was pretty sweet though (for economical reasons, who made a tech-melee character? (Well, I did... Then again, I tried pretty much everything :lol:))... I allways had a dream to combind an elephant rifle with the level 7 tesla rod, which I never managed to pull off (never got that far with a tech character). :(

I'm not sure I used the right terms here, since I haven't played Arcanum for a while, but I hope you understood what I meant. :)

Übereil

Yep, I follow you. The game is full of money-gaining exploits ripe for abuse, but money in RPGs is never a concern, as you always end up with enough no matter what you do, really.
Tech is colourful, and were this a full-fledged pnp or mp RPG I'd be going tech all the way, but in terms of the confines of Arcanum, magic seems to offer more diversity of use and application.

The whole character point per level advancement scheme doesn't work for me, I like systems that give a more general advancement per level, as you're not sacrificing being able to do one thing in favour of another. The Fallout SPECIAL system and so forth was far more elegant than what Troika cobbled together for Arcanum.
 
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In regards to skills, I'm going the persuasive thief route, so Persuade, Pick Pocket, Prowl, Backstab, Dodge, Melee and Throwing (ideally the character will focus on small concealable weapons). Spell-wise I'm looking at the Conveyance, Mental and Temporal spell schools.
The character concept is basically a rogue who uses his skills and magical affinity to give himself advantages and control.
So basically at the moment I'm trying to figure out which direction to start in. Go for the magic first, or the natural abilities? With the former I get some neat tricks that are occasionally useful but fun, while the latter is more pragmatic and logically effective but not particularly interesting.

Well, that'll be difficult (but doable I think...), considering that prowling is based on PERCEPTION!!! (Why Trokia, why? :'() Meaning, if you want five levels in sneak you'll have to invest ten points into perception (unless you've managed to find some mod that changes the skill to be dexteritybased (which would make an awfull lot of sence IMO)). It IS possible if you sacrifize persuation (I tried a roughe, but my fifteen points into charisma/persuation allways ruined it) but hard. It will take some planning.

Isn't there a spell that boosts your dexterity? IIRC you could boost yourself with that and then invest new skillpoints into dexbased skills as if that was your normal dex. That could be a sollution (you'd have problems maintaining high dex though if you relied on the spell).

Apart from that I'd split between thiefskills and magic, favoring thiefskills slightly more (IE, go for the two or three level spells in your chosen schools together with a handy level 1 spell here and there (like the dexterity spell)). You certanly ought to get the lockpick spell, since you can't go for "true" lockpicking, since that's a tech skill. Remember that the lockpickspell works better the more magic afinitive (is that the right spell? It's got to do with the tech/magic meter) you are.

Oh, and a buying tip: A mages staff (or whatever it's called). It's a staff that has an inbuilt 50 faigue points to use for spells (plus a few spells IIRC, who doesn't replentish), which replentishes unless I remember it wrong (maybe if you repair it, or something like that). I'm not saying you ought to make this your main weapon, just that you should pull it up if you need to do some kind of spellcasting in non-combat situations (buffing/lockpicking/teleporting out of combat etc).

Übereil
 
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Spent a couple hrs in the Witcher wrapping up loose ends and discovering alchemy. Was kind bummed when I realized that the potions skill didnt allow me to also make oils, I had everything set to make some necrophage oil.

Still playing Virtual Villagers at work, it's a trippy game because it keeps going even after you turn the game off. I just keep it running all day as Im working last couple days. When you turn it back on after being away, the game catches up for the amount of time that youve been gone, and develops your village accordingly. If you dont have basic needs firmly met (farming, namely), you'll come back to a bunch of skeletons!

I like the game, it's like a peaceful rts. You build your little village, then once the ball gets rolling and you have farmers, scientists, healers, etc. you (and them) go about solving the 16 mysteries of the island. So instead of building to take them to war, it's to complete a series of puzzles and watch them evolve as a little society.
 
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You get a skill for oils, Sammy. It's just a little farther along the skill tree--you may have to raise your INT. (You probably knew all that. )

I like the sound of Virtual Villagers--I pretty much burned out on rts after Frozen Throne, but I don't mind it in the kind of context you're describing, more of a builder with puzzle elements than a rushing combat nightmare. Looks like another demo to add to the list.

My copy of PuzzleQuest finally arrived, so I'm exploring that--a lot more to do in the full version than the demo and it's keeping me up past my bedtime as expected. :)
 
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Well, that'll be difficult (but doable I think...), considering that prowling is based on PERCEPTION!!! (Why Trokia, why? :'() Meaning, if you want five levels in sneak you'll have to invest ten points into perception (unless you've managed to find some mod that changes the skill to be dexteritybased (which would make an awfull lot of sence IMO)). It IS possible if you sacrifize persuation (I tried a roughe, but my fifteen points into charisma/persuation allways ruined it) but hard. It will take some planning.

I think the Perception use for Prowling was just a balancing mechanism, since Dexterity is so ridiculously over-used. It forces thieves to spread their points a bit more.
I suspect I've probably over-extended myself as is usual in this game. I should probably pick one spell school only, since I need so many points to go round elsewhere.
Sacrificing Persuasion is something I'm loathe to do, since I really like the dialogue element of the game.

Isn't there a spell that boosts your dexterity? IIRC you could boost yourself with that and then invest new skillpoints into dexbased skills as if that was your normal dex. That could be a sollution (you'd have problems maintaining high dex though if you relied on the spell).

Agility Of Fire, the first level Fire college spell. It's probably a must for a magic thief I suppose. Do boosted stats count towards the minimum level needed for skills? If so that's a bit cheesy.

Apart from that I'd split between thiefskills and magic, favoring thiefskills slightly more (IE, go for the two or three level spells in your chosen schools together with a handy level 1 spell here and there (like the dexterity spell)). You certanly ought to get the lockpick spell, since you can't go for "true" lockpicking, since that's a tech skill. Remember that the lockpickspell works better the more magic afinitive (is that the right spell? It's got to do with the tech/magic meter) you are.

Yeah, I've got Unlocking Cantrip. The downside to that is that it makes noise while real lockpicking is silent. I was thinking of doing away with Prowl and going for Invisibility instead, but I've learned that you cannot Backstab from Invisibility. probably because you still make noise while Invisible while Prowl is both hiding and moving silently. I believe Backstab is possible if you cast Stun on an enemy, but of course that's save dependent. High Prowl is far more reliable overall, I believe.
 
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Well, you will get 62 skillpoints all in all. If you started with a "normal" 8 in all character you'll need to invest 30 points to be able to get all thiefskills and spells. That leaves you with 32 points for spells and skills. Say 15 of those goes to melee, sneak and backstab, and it leaves you with 17 points for spells. Or 2, if you max out persuation... So yeah, you're spread out really thin as it is.

About prowling: the fact that it's perceptionbased might (and probably was) be for balancing, but it doesn't make any real sence (you don't have to be agile to sneak, all you need is to be able to see well... Eh?), and it makes the createing of a sneaking character (no matter the kind) allmost impossible.

And IIRC backstabbing only requires that you're standing behind your enemy.

Übereil
 
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My copy of PuzzleQuest finally arrived, so I'm exploring that--a lot more to do in the full version than the demo and it's keeping me up past my bedtime as expected. :)
It just gets worse and worse, too. When the critters get 200+hp, a battle takes "just a bit" longer, so that "one more battle before bedtime" decision involves a larger investment of time. Pretty soon, it's 4am and your eyes are crossed.
 
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Well, you will get 62 skillpoints all in all. If you started with a "normal" 8 in all character you'll need to invest 30 points to be able to get all thiefskills and spells. That leaves you with 32 points for spells and skills. Say 15 of those goes to melee, sneak and backstab, and it leaves you with 17 points for spells. Or 2, if you max out persuation... So yeah, you're spread out really thin as it is.

Yeah, I think I'll have to narrow my spell choices down significantly or decide whether I want to be more skill based or magic based. Though it strikes me that to use any magic at all means I may as well go all out to get the Aptitude up to make the spells most effective.

About prowling: the fact that it's perceptionbased might (and probably was) be for balancing, but it doesn't make any real sence (you don't have to be agile to sneak, all you need is to be able to see well... Eh?), and it makes the createing of a sneaking character (no matter the kind) allmost impossible.

The rationale likely is that you need to be acutely aware of your physical position, movement and placement in order to sneak. So you'd be paying attention to staying in shadows, to watching where your feet go, watching out for any noise-causing obstructions and so on. All perceptive elements, really. I agree though that it means a perceptive but clumsy Half Ogre can be a master Prowler however, while a dextrous but myopic Halfling would be a bull in a porcelain shop.

A sneaky mage seems to be a huge character point burn, since Perception is only useful for Prowl, and those points could be better spent in Will Power. I think I'll dump Prowl and go for Invisibility, and use Stun for Backstabbing (that combo works).

And IIRC backstabbing only requires that you're standing behind your enemy.

The modifiers differ based on the target's awareness of you. Simply behind doubles damage but if the target is oblivious to you the damage multiplier is higher, and if the target is unaware your Backstab bypasses armour.
 
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A sneaky mage seems to be a huge character point burn, since Perception is only useful for Prowl, and those points could be better spent in Will Power. I think I'll dump Prowl and go for Invisibility, and use Stun for Backstabbing (that combo works).

Sounds like a good choice. Another 15 spells will mean a boost of your magic Aptitude by 75 if I'm not mistaken, and then you'll be up to 100 and all your spells will be pretty strong (not to mention all your equipment...).

As for extra spells, I recomend getting Disintegration. It might not be a very fun spell, but when you're in the middle of nowhere and you're up vs a strong earth elemental who destroys your weapon you're going to thank me.

Übereil
 
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Disintegrate does look hugely useful, but it's not quite in keeping with my character concept.
I think I'll probably go through Temporal and Phantasm, with a couple of Conveyance and Mental spells. But we'll see I suppose.
 
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It just gets worse and worse, too. When the critters get 200+hp, a battle takes "just a bit" longer, so that "one more battle before bedtime" decision involves a larger investment of time. Pretty soon, it's 4am and your eyes are crossed.

Some late fall chores have been holding me back from true addiction level, but now that all the daffodils are planted and the roses put to bed for the coming ice storm,(o joy) I'm ready to get serious. My usual problem is starting too many different characters, so I'm still replaying the same parts of the game that the demo presented and that's a bit wearing, but I should hit breakthrough on that in the next day or two. :)
 
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I can't begin to recount everything I've been playing ... but here is some from the last month ... and I'll bold what is still in play.

PC Shooters: Soldier of Fortune Payback, Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Clive Barker's Jericho, Alpha Prime, Timeshift, Blacksite: Area 51, FEAR Perseus Mandate, Painkiller Overdose, Orange Box, Shadowgrounds Survivor

PC RPG: Avencast, The Witcher, Hellgate: London, Escape from Paradise City,

PC MMO: Guild Wars: Eye of the North, Tabula Rasa

PC Strategy: Supreme Commander expansion, Company of Heroes expansion, Empire Earth III

PC Adventure & 'Other': The Bee Movie Game, Nancy Drew Legend of the Crystal Skull, Agatha Christie Evil Under the Sun, Next Life

Mac RPG: Avernum 5, Eschalon Book 1

PSP: Sega Rally Revo, Silent Hill Origins, Medal of Honor Heroes 2, Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, Final Fantasy Tactics, Warhammer 40k Squad Command, SOCOM Tactical Strike, Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles,

DS: Cooking Mama 2, Dementium the Ward, Call of Duty 4, Zelda Phantom Hourglass, Nancy Drew DS, LEGO Star Wars Complete Saga, Panzer Tactics, Front Mission, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Naruto Path of Ninja, Rhythm & Notes, Orcs & Elves
 
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Very much looking forward to your thoughts on HG:L, Mike. You will be sharing, yes?
 
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Everything there is getting at least a GamerDad review, some others are contracted for other sites ... but I will likely do at least a couple for here :)
 
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