| Original Message: RPG Preferences |
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I am in the middle of upgrading my PC to be able to play Oblivion. I have a Dell Dimension 8300 with 3ghz, 1.5 gig RAM, Gforce FX 5200 video card, and now a 410 W power supply. I had a 305 W power supply but it would not run a new video card. I am trying to decide between the Gforce 6800 (256 meg) and the Gforce 7800 (256 meg) cards (about 100USD difference but may allow my PC to run a lot longer with the newer games). I am also doing this to be able to play Heroes of Might and Magic V without any issues. Why did I add that? Well if you want to play the newer games with all the bells and whistles, you have to have the horsepower or you might as well not even try. They can be VERY frustrating to play without the power. I have all of the MM games and love the premise and even MM IX will play OK on my unupgraded machine. I have played Morrowind with both expansions and it was very frustration to have the ash or snow storm practically shut down my machine. When it wasn't snowing or ashing, the game ran OK. Once I set up the MM games on XP (took a while and I am a Computer Programmer by profession) they ran OK. I am replaying MM VI again (for the umptheenth time) while I wait on the new video card. Why? I like the MM premise of a party. My only complaint is that it is not a 6 character party. Yes, I played the older RPGs that had 6 members. I feel this limits playability. I like Morrowind, but it would have been better with a party. I also like First person. Third person makes me dizzy sometimes. I am unhappy with Oblivion having monsters that "level up" with the character. I want to know that you don't mess with a Dragon with level 1 characters unless you want a challenge! Actually I do this when I replay MM VI, VII, & VIII to get good items up front and not have to worry about money. Then I level up. I have played RPGs for the better part of 25 years and I have seen by share of good, bad, and mediocre RPGs. First don't make them too hard. If you want a more challenging game, you will find a way such as the members of TELP have done. Make the machine requirements so that someone with an older PC (not ancient) can play it without many issues. Multi person party. The more the merrier. You can always only pick one member like MM VIII. This allows for more versility. Monsters at different levels. No "leveling up" monsters. I am cringing at that idea in Oblivion. Leveling up is a personal preference. Both systems work OK. I even played one RPG where you had to beat two monsters at the level you were going to in an Arena before leveling up. Just allow some leveling up. Make the RPGs open ended. MM series and Elder Scrolls are good at this. Fable was not, even when I went through the credits and was allowed to continue to play. Lots of quests to keep the party busy. I know this is the developers nightmare, but it allows play after the main quest. This is some of my thoughts of a very diverse and complex genere. I like RPGs and appreciate when finding the gems. |
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