Enough Already!!!!! (Semi-rant on Modern Gaming.)

[Hillslayer]

It's now running on three or more weeks since the US release of NWN2 with 2 patches for the main game and more for the updater and leaving the game not only missing many functional nice touches but also failing to effectively run servers that house some of NWN's most vocal and ferocious supporters... the PWs. Three weeks in and still things crash randomly upon zoning into large areas whenever there is a large group of people on the server (typically over 20 or 25). This is in addition to the utter lack of a DM client... which in turn makes it much harder to drive unique and interactive live content. That said, as bad as NWN2 is it's simply the worst of the popular... a signpost of how the industry is progressing as a whole for game development.

Years ago small and large developers alike had no trouble setting realistic development goals and making sure thier product was well tested... leaving only minor patching for odd issues or the occasional hack. As time has moved on the large development companies have essentially eaten or driven off the competition leaving a few giants who began to excel in marketting rather then product. Of those people that read this that have played games prior to this occurance... games typically of 2000 or earlier... most if not all I would assume would say gaming was "better" back then. While not as pretty as modern games or with nearly so many "cool" spells/skills/weapons/ect these games typically worked when they were shipped and ones that did not got huge amounts of bad press. Now, however, games shipping and needing an immediate patch to even complete the game are the norm rather then the exception. I can load up my original versions of Red Alert or The Journeyman Project and play them until the end unless I run into a compatability issue which _I_ as the player should have resolved upon installing into a newer OS. This is not so for a good amount of the big name games anymore.

I would also go so far as to say that the plot of games has been run rather thin. While admittedly writing for a multiple path story arc is hard it's not so bad as that you need to dumb the story itself down to nothing. In past games there have been wonderful story arcs with twists that leave you thinking about them years later. A few of these games, especially older text based ones, also had multiple story arcs... whereas some modern games, including NWN2, have gone simply back to a single arc with the most minor variations depending on the choices you make.

To me I'm finding such things more and more painful. I'm having serious trouble playing Dasaria, especially considering the following it has gathered, due to the fact that I'll crash and someone will take my spot unless I'm fast. These crashes occur with extreme frequency and I'm always left wondering if it might not be better to go spend a little time playing Baldur's Gate, Civilization 2, or any of the old C&C games? I enjoy the people here though I seem to be outlevelled again and again by the connections my character makes in game... that doesn't phase me too much though. It's just the simple fact that I can look back to a point and say: "See look, Rama doesn't have these problems. Even Fallout worked out better and that had a very open sense of gameplay (though, admittedly, not nearly as much as some boast)." Sometimes I seriously wish we could go back to Pong and start over. Get back to the golden age of gaming where things were made to simply be fun first and sell second.

Anyways, I could keep going on but as you play on remember some of the old titles that were addictively fun, that worked, that had plotlines and character interactions that weren't stereotypical... those games which cast shadows in which others tread reaching for a perfection they shall never acheive while under a profit first motive. I've found a little game, Dwarf Fortress, in active development. It works well and, once I'd gotten the feel for it, was the first game I've enjoyed without any real reservations for a long long time... perhaps even years. This game is done up in ASCII characters and has no mouse support. Remember games like that and all the old classics of the past... those that set a standard that few modern games will ever come close to being able to acheive.

-A disgruntled gamer (Saros Hillslayer)

[Grayle]

It's hard to be patient.

Everyone is frustrated. Imagine Dasaria's staff, and how much work they have put into this project. They expected to deliver a gameworld to match a (hopefully) quality game...one that matched the years-long tradition Dasaria's PW has already established with a loyal community. Instead they got a buggy, unfinished game with amazing potential. We just have to wait for that potential to be made fully usable.

It's SO frustrating, and I hear you man, but even though Pong never crashed. It's Pong.

Be patient. Walk the dog. Clean the kitchen. Play another game for a while. Hell, I played Company of Heroes tonight. I'm trying to figure out how to change the names so the Nazis can be the Varanites.

Things will improve.

[LoFang]

Hell, I played Company of Heroes tonight. I'm trying to figure out how to change the names so the Nazis can be the Varanites.

Next time Varana! your Panzers can't protect you forever!

[Dusty]

The problem is that Obsidian's devs think it takes a day to do each script, so they just make second rate ones instead to save on time.

[superpoweredchimp]

These crashes occur with extreme frequency and I'm always left wondering if it might not be better to go spend a little time playing Baldur's Gate, Civilization 2, or any of the old C&C games?

Civilization 2?! I can think of two games better than that one: Civ 3 and Civ 4.

[Redleafe]

Classics all the way.

I have to agree here with Grayle, patience is the key here. Don't stop enjoying those classics you love in the meantime, just don't give up on this place just yet either.