Don't get me started on the BS fest that was FABLE. I appreciate a good
hack&slash myself, but not at the expense of a good RPG.

I knew what I was getting with Diablo II. It wasn't an RPG -- it was a
hack&slash with experience points.

Fable -- ignore the critics. Ignore the flashy advertisements.

The maps are extremely small. It takes 30 seconds to walk across one
just to reach another 30 sec loading screen. They have teleporters and
an instant "Free trip home" button, which is nice because reloading a
map RESPAWNS ALL THE ENEMIES.

The storyline is extremely linear, with a few minor nods to the useless
"morality" system. Mostly just affects appearance, and what you can do
in towns.

It's "dating" simulator is the most uninspired, uninteresting, and
ultimately inconsequential feature I've ever seen shoehorned into an
RPG. Speaking of Morals and the Dating simulator -- did you know it's
worse to get a divorce then it is to kill your wife? Nice math there,
PeteyM--who consulted on that design choice, OJ Simpson and Scott
Peterson?

Melee Weapons all pretty much act the same. Animations are pretty well
done, but you can't do anything during them so if you get attacked from
another direction, it's a pain to try and break out of your combo. The
ranged weapon is difficult to use since most enemies use a "run straight
at you then start swinging" sort of AI, so you can't try and pin them
down -- they'll gleefully run into your arrows and try to overwhelm you
with numbers. No self preservation for them, it's take one for the
team! You can switch to 1st person, to get a better shot off, but you
*can't move* in this mode and thus you're a sitting target for any magic
casting baddies that happen to be in the area.

And the magic system -- the lynchpin of any fantasy RPG -- *ages* you.
That's right, your 30-something Hero Adventurer will look like you're
collecting Social Security in no time thanks to some pretty stupid
calculations that factors how much magic you use into your appearance.
But don't worry, you can still marry the waitress at the bar. And
beating her is still optional.

Graphics are glitchy -- on closeups, I get constant polypops. Props,
toolbars, and other useless eyecandy constantly gets in the way of the
camera.

The controls feel like I'm playing NHL2000 -- it's not running, it's
*skating*. And when you get to perform a super attack, your run button
dissapears -- so if you've just finished off a baddie near you, and you
*really* want to get to that mage tossing fireballs in your direction,
well, you'll either mosey over to him real slow, or you'll be wasting
your Special Attack (and, for a moment, becoming a sitting duck) to
reactivate run.

And it's targeting system -- no IFF! If your in combat around friendlies
(which is often) when you try to reselect a new target you pick
whoever's nearer, friend or foe. Combine this with a button-mashing
fighting system, and you'll have killed the trader who's paying you to
take him from A->B ... Who's been going at a snails pace for about half
an hour, whining the whole time.

The only thing they got partially right was the trading system -- you
can buy from one trader, and sell to another, with a chance to profit
depending on the random value that trader will pay. You can get stat
bonuses which raise your chances to profit, but it's not much of a
difference. Big deal -- I've played more interesting trading simulators
on BBS Doors (Trade Wars 2002!)

All in all, I give Fable two out of five stars. Maybe worth a weekend
rental.

As for FFXI -- I just recently cancelled my subscription. I don't want
to turn anyone off the game -- among MMORPGs, it's one of the best.
It's got an immensely detailed environment, and the community is really
great. It's major flaws are the same that come with most MMOs -- level
grinding, repetitive quests, and group-based mission structure -- you
either get a few (6-20, depending on quest) friends to group up to help
you get the single uber-item that the quest drops, or you wait until
you're ten levels higher and said item is useless to you. With the
upcoming expansion pack, I didn't feel it was worth the extra investment
considering the few hours a week I had to play anyway.

In all, it's a great diversion from single-player RPGs, but doesn't
quite do enough to interest the casual player past the first few months.
Allowing you to change your class at any time is an amazing breakthrough
for MMO replayability, but it doesn't help when all your friends (who
have much more free time than you and have already leapfrogged you a
couple times) are all out doing higher-level quests while you're stuck
replaying last week's missions with a bunch of noobs and griefers. Find
a friend and synch your playtime and you'll have a great experience.
Fall behind though, and you'll be quickly replaced.
-----Original Message-----
From: Kyle West [barrick75--hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 12:54 PM
To: <Address Masked>
Subject: Re: Player ages and Country


i might've asked this already a long long time ago...... ;-) were you
ever
on Lower Lights BBS?

I grew up in SLC also... altho thanksfully I managed to get out about 7
years ago :-) now I live in Denver.

and to contribute in a not-so-age/country way.. has anyone played Fable
on
the xbox? I took a brief look at it and they keep touting that you have

morality (again, about 20 years after AR...) it looks really interesting

except i think it's kind of dumb how they spell out for you whether what
you
are doing is good or bad. Not quite worth buying an xbox for still.

And I am still loving Final Fantasy XI ;-) talk about eating away at
my
free time. I really don't think I'd stayed up til 5am playing games
without
realizing it *since* AR, except for a 3 week unemployed stint with
starcraft.

And for those of you holding off for World of Warcraft.. anyone heard
much
about it yet? I have talked to a couple beta-testers who also play FFXI
and
they say it's complete and utter crap. It sounds like it is designed
more
for the casual gamer than the insane addicts which are most MMORPG
players.


>From: "Dan Burget" <byock_--hotmail.com>
>Reply-To: alternatereality-From-barrick75-hotmail.com--alternaterealityarchive.com
>>Subject: Re: Player ages and Country
>Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2004 15:52:37 +0000
>
>I thought I was young when I played AR, but you have me beat! I am 31
>live
>in Salt Lake City, and have played AR since 1987(?). Atari games were
hard
>to come by then, so I got both the city and dungeon from a copy. I
later
>purchased both from a mail order. :) Played the City a little on the
Atari
>800, but the Dungeon had my interest far more. Passed the it, mapped
every
>square inch. took me 2 years, but I still have the map.
>
>As to the platforms, the City on the Amiga was the most impressive with
>sound and graphics. The PC version was not worth loading IMO. The city
was
>hard on the Atari 800, as no jobs, no guilds, we died fairly quickly.
The
>dungeon was best on the Atari. I load it every once in a while, just
for
>fun, and to listen to the music.
>
>Did anyone ever manage to join a guild on the City? I heard all sorts
>of
>rumors you had to go at certain times, but never managed to join one.
>
>Dan
>
>
>
>
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