Closed minded? Not at all.

As I said, we all like different things - there's nothing wrong with that :)

I'm not really the type to think negatively of such differences. I'm just curious about how people operate - and so I think this kind of thing is interesting.

I don't know if any of you have noticed - but I tend to start a lot of threads with open questions - and that's primarily because I enjoy hearing how people function.

In fact, to me, the more we're different - the more we can learn.

Yes, it's great that you like starting threads, often with interesting topics. I'm never sure if they're just ways for you to confirm previously intended biases or not though.

Take this one, for example: "early loves form our future preferences more so than anything else". Sure, it sounds like something that is a theory, but what does it actually break down to? It suggests that young people are blank slates who will like anything? No, because if someone likes something when they are young then they probably also find things they don't like, this would be their natural personality, which, obviously, wouldn't change with age.

Take me & IWD, for example. Sure it was probably the first cRPG I completed, but was it the first cRPG I tried? No. When IWD came out I had the choice of that, Morrowind and Wizardry 8, for example, all three being completely different interpretations of RPGs. I found that I liked IWD the most. 20 years later am I going to buy the single character open world aRPG, the first person dungeoneering blobber, or the isometric party-based tactical movement game? Why would my tastes have changed? Why was it that 'first love' happened?

So what I'm saying here is that you seem to be implying that 'first love' is something maleable & that we then get closed minded as a result of wanting our 'first love', where as I think the reality is that we have preferences to begin with, that our minds are already closed from point zero.

It's not just cRPGs I prefer to be isometric either. Pretty much every game I've really enjoyed over the years has been isometric, regardless of genre. Or at least some kind of distance view of the player character.

Perhaps you're so blessed with the ability to enjoy everything (which I possibly doubt) that its more of a case of not being able to understand why everyone can't enjoy everything. But then you do note in that post how we all enjoy different things, so I don't think thats it. I think you've probably just overthought a specific idea and tried to fit facts to it rather than taken the facts and then tried to apply a theory?

Well, maybe that - or you're somehow incapable of not taking it personally when people aren't exactly like you - who knows :)

The world is full of unknowns!

I have a hard time finishing games only once, so I don't replay games once I've finished them.
That said, I did start up BG on my iPad a long time ago, so there is at least one game I played through completely once and started it again at a later time :)

Yeah, I have no idea where this angle comes from. What have I taken personally in this extremely brief exchange of posts?

We are just discussing a theory that you yourself brought up for discussion are we not? If I've missed something you'll have to spell it out to me otherwise I have no idea how to respond.

I don't regularly finish games - but Drakensang 2 and Startrail are the RPGs I replayed most.

You can see most of those things without getting to the game end screen. I've done pretty much every possible content in BG2 except the Bard stronghold and a pure evil playthrough (but I did the golden patalons and the wish spell hidden quests), yet only finished the game 3 times (and that exclude TOB because I haven't played it yet).

@azarhal Not sure if I get that. What do you mean by "see those things"?

I mean, yes, some of the stronghold quests are in areas that you can visit anyways. But you still won't "see" the related story lines and you will not see some areas at all. (e.g., the stuff visited via the mage stronghold? If I remember that correctly).

Severance: Blade of Darkness - lost count how many times I replayed that piece of art, last was just few months ago!
Games, which I played more than two times:
Gothic 1&2
Corsairs
Mass Effect 1
Baldurs Gate

I replay games because of atmosphere and mood they awoke in me. I love to relive those feelings again time from time.

It does require restarting multiple times to see/experience/do all the content/options because some are mutually exclusive like the strongholds, but it doesn't require finishing the game because 90% of BG2 can be completed before you start chapter 4 (of 7 chapters).

Though Darth said it doesn't count (see his OP) I'll beg his pardon here and say that my most finished game is Diablo 1. Three times, one for each class.
I also finished Diablo 2, Fallout 1 & 2 (twice each) and, as Zloth said, if the new X-COM counts, I did X-COM 2 twice (first time base-game only, second time with all DLCs that were relased prior to War of the Chosen).

:rolleyes: Seriously? A perfectly harmless thread like this and you start suspecting ulterior motives!?

Not sure if FO4 and Skyrim count but I have thousands of hours in both and have played through the main quest lies in each many times.

For more linear style games it would be BG1,2; NWN1,2; and DAO. All of them 4-5 times completely, often with DLC. BG1 and 2 probably closer to 10 or more. It was my first real exposure to a quality computer based RPG with companions.

I think I have finished pretty much every crpg game I have ever played and there are a few favorites that I come back to every so often. I've finished the entire Pools radiance -> Hillsfar -> Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret of the silver blades and pools of darkness series 3 times. The krynn games I've finished twice but I have played champion and death knights easily 4-5 times at least. However the game/s I have played the most is Ultima VII and Ultima VII part 2. I play them every 3-4 years and they never get old.

Edit: Now that I think about it Hillsfar might be the one I have completed the most, because it can be finished so quickly and one playthrough I took all 6 of my pools of radiance characters through it.

It's all part of my evil genius masterplan :)

I'm going to take over the Watch by fitting you all into my rushed pet theories - whether you like it or not!

MUHAHAHAH ;)

Well, if we're going to count games like Diablo - then I actually stand a chance at matching purple :)

How about counting Molten Core in WoW?

In that case, I have completion about once a week for 1.5 years. This is playing the same level and handful of boss fights for around 1800 hours.

But that's nothing, I have a friend with more than 5000 hours in Civilization 5 :)

I've done this without the Hillsfar part. I replayed Curse of the Azure Bonds a few times but I don't think I finished Secret of the Silver Blades or Pools.

Champions is one of my great tragedies because I didn't back up my original disks and one got corrupted. :(

But I played DKoK 4 or 5 times for sure. That's my favourite childhood RPG with Curse a close second. Did you win Daves Challenge in the NW corner of the map AFTER you beat Lord Soth?! =)

That is not a difficult question to answer. Gothic 2 for me. Not sure how many times, but I just never seem to get tired of that game. It is just pure magic for me. I've done plenty of gothic 1 playthroughs as well. Gothic 3 I've replayed a lot, but I've actually finished it only 3 times (once with each god).

Also kotor 1, baldur's gate 1 & 2 and Dragon age orgins come to mind as rpg which I've replayed a lot and finished them too. Nod to severance the blade of darkness too! Great fantasy action romp. Not really a rpg, but since It was mentioned here, I thought it would be ok to mention.

Morrowind and Skyrim are some of my favourite games all times and I've spent hundreds of hours in TES universe. That being said, likely I've finished the main quest in those games only twice, so I'm not sure it counts here. :)

Oblivion plus addons (4x)

I played and completed several others three times:

Lands of Lore I
Land of Lore II
Lands of Lore III
System Shock
Daggerfall
Battlespire
Morrowind plus addons
Skyrim plus addons
Jade Empire
Gothic I

And there are tons of cRPGs I played and completed twice:

Planescape: Torment
System Shock II
Deus Ex
Gothic II
ME I
ME II
DA:O
DA2
KotOR
KotOR II
Arx Fatalis
Sudeki

and many more.

Then there were those games I started but couldn't finish because they just didn't keep me interested:

Dungeon Master II
Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate II
Neverwinter Nights
Dungeon Siege

and a few others.

Lol no, not seriously in the respect you're likely imagining here after the "well that escalated quickly" post, just seriously in that Dart's making a game isn't he, hence "are the threads conscious or subconscious ways to get a handle on what people are likely to like/buy if Dart makes a game & who are Dart's market", lol. One of the threads is "please provide me with inspiration [help me make my game]" after all. It's a shame GothicGodess isn't around as much, she'd probably have loads of great tips on trying to be a new small-time dev.

You'll notice a lot of his threads recently have been kinda midlife crisis material, "passage of time", "finding time to game", "happiest decade", "missing dead dev companies", and in one of them he was saying how he's in his 40s & doesn't feel like he's achieved anything yet. So the idea of making a game is likely a big deal to him, so it likely is inspiring the various threads as his mind constantly swirls around ideas "what shall I make, what shall I make, what do I want to make, what do people like, what did I use to like" etc etc.

So, yeah, the phrase "ulterior motives" without a smilie face attached is a bit over dramatic, lol.