It pulls you in and doesn't let you go... your most addictive game experiences...

[hem dazon 90]

Originally Posted by II J0SePh X II

I'm seriously addicted to VGs, If I'm not playing them, I'm talking about them on the Internet. I even find myself trying to steer conversations towards gaming when I'm talking to non-gamers. Family and friends are being neglected, social intercourse is dwindling away and I just cannot keep a goddamn appointment.

It's like The Matrix has come true, we immerse ourselves in fantastical worlds like the Capital Wasteland or Liberty City or wherever but take a step back and look at yourself and you're doing nothing except interacting with a machine that's sucking all the time out of your life.

Even though I've been an owner of many platforms since 1979, it's only in this gen that I've become addicted. Before it was throwaway entertainment - just interesting enough to last a couple of hours - nothing that stopped me going out and finding much more interesting things. All that changed in late 2007. I had a small plot of land where I'd grow veg and fruit, went for long trips out always visiting family and I loved birdwatching and nature in general. I found being in a bit of a bore and decided to upgrade the N64 to a 360 and later I got GTA4.

This might sound strage, but I was tending my little plot of land and I got this feeling that thing were going on in Liberty City, and I wasn't there to witness them! It just felt that way. Then I went and did a crazy thing by hooking the 360 up to XBL and suddenly LC was full of "real" people. Within a few months the plot of land was abandoned and so was bird watching. Looking thru my stats yesterday, I've put 650hrs into GTA TDM and I don't think I've played it in earnest for just under a year, I've been heavily into Race since that time and probably put the same amont of hours in. Then there's FO3 and ME2 + 1 - I've played ME2 9 times and racked up 512hrs since its release.

I'd really like to see gaming addiction recognised, but it's so tough to nail down, and then what to do? Some of these games are like crack.

Dude...

[St. Mellow]

Nice seeing people mentioning KOTOR I & II, they're my all-time favorite games after DX. Which makes the TOR situation even worse. I am extremely p*$$*d off at the idea of turning this amazing series into an insipid MMO. What's even worse is the fact that, as a direct consequence of this retarded decision, the chances of KOTOR III being produced fall drastically.

[Pinky_Powers]

Originally Posted by [tag]

Nice seeing people mentioning KOTOR I & II, they're my all-time favorite games after DX.

This exactly represents me as well. They are sooooo good. It's a great RPG set in my favorite universe.

However, I'm no longer mad at BioWare for The Old Republic. I was, but after reading up on it a year ago, my attitude has shifted. I'm no longer angry, but desperately afraid.

You see, I've never played an MMO; not a single one. They never seemed as refined in storytelling and characters as the best singleplayer games out there. But all this seems to be changing with The Old Republic. When words are spoken of this BioWare MMORPG, they tell of a potent story-driven experience and unique and engaging sidequests. They say it is not only the biggest game BioWare has ever worked on, but the biggest game ever made.

And so I am afraid. This could be the end of my life as I know it.

[Rindill the Red]

Originally Posted by [tag]

Nice seeing people mentioning KOTOR I & II, they're my all-time favorite games after DX. Which makes the TOR situation even worse. I am extremely p*$$*d off at the idea of turning this amazing series into an insipid MMO. What's even worse is the fact that, as a direct consequence of this retarded decision, the chances of KOTOR III being produced fall drastically.

There was basically no chance of Bioware producing another KOTOR game anyway. KOTOR 2 wasn't even made by Bioware, it was made by Obsidian Entertainment... bringing you buggy unfinished games that goddammit have great RPG elements.

Basically, Bioware moved on.

I honestly think it was all about money.

Neverwinter Nights -- D&D licensing rights

KOTOR -- Star Wars licensing rights

...to...

Dragon Age -- Bioware owned IP that can be cross-media (books, movies?, etc.)

Mass Effect -- Bioware owned IP that can be cross-media (books, movies?, etc.)

SWTOR -- WoW clone based on the biggest franchise in history to bring in even more moolah!

[Pinky_Powers]

Originally Posted by Rindill the Red

SWTOR -- WoW clone based on the biggest franchise in history to bring in even more moolah!

How is it a WoW clone?

[MrFoxter]

Originally Posted by Pinky_Powers

How is it a WoW clone?

I've read that basicaly it plays similar to WoW, if you played WoW that you would know where is what (similar HUD etc.), except that here won't be just quests, but whole stories and bunch of other new features...

EDIT: It is in PC Gamer UK September issue, page 36. You'll find it somewhere

[Pinky_Powers]

Originally Posted by MrFoxter

I've read that basicaly it plays similar to WoW, if you played WoW that you would know where is what (similar HUD etc.), except that here won't be just quests, but whole stories and bunch of other new features...

But without the grind gameplay. From what I've read, leveling-up your character is by far the smallest drive in the game.

The lead designer of this game was also the lead designer of the Baulder's Gate games and the first KotOR. He didn't just work on them, he was singularly responsible for the direction they want in.

The main writer of this game was lead writer for KotOR and ME1&2.

It's a story centric game where choice matters, even more so than in KotOR.

Each of the 8 classes has it's own, 100% separate story that is larger and more customizable than KotOR.
Not to mention, Lightsaber characters (Sith and Jedi) play and handle completely different than a Smuggler, who takes cover and kills with a baster. And a Soldier class, uses a blaster, but doesn't behave like a Smuggler at all. And so on and so forth.

World Quests are shared between classes, but dialog changes, characters react differently, and the general perspective of the quest adapts to your character and Class.

Multiplayer dialog. Meaning, when you are in-Group and you engage an NPC in dialog, all the players in your group will be able to make their own dialog decisions, as though it were a singleplayer RPG that each of them were playing. The NPC reacts to all of you as a group, and as an individual.

Here's what the Lead Designer has to say about The Old Republic vs. World of Warcraft.
"The fact that when you get into the game, the characters feel like real characters. They have their own voices and cinematic animations. When you're talking to them it's like your in a movie and a TV show. It's not like you're just reading text or doing FedEx quests. You're actually on an epic Star Wars quest, with real characters and I can't stress how different that makes the game feel. It feels like you're playing a modern-day BioWare RPG... except Online with thousands of other players and much more vast than anything you could possibly imagine."

And also, let's not forget... customizable, upgradable spaceships!!!

This is as different from WoW as you can get and still have to be an MMORPG.

[Pretentious Old Man.]

If I ever were to go on an MMO, it would be EVE. No doubt. But it would suck up my life.

[Pinky_Powers]

Originally Posted by Pretentious Old Man.

If I ever were to go on an MMO, it would be EVE. No doubt. But it would suck up my life.

Yeah, I know a few people who swear by it. But they swear from the lifeless husk of their formers selves.

[luminar]

I'm on my third playthrough of alpha protocol and am very impressed. Sure it has issue's but it's strengths far outweigth its weaknesses. There are so many way's the story can go based on choices and decisions and even gameplay. This is the only game thats done this so well aside from deus ex that I'm aware of.

Then theres Morrowind. Ohhh boy... (Sigh) I've literally bought and traded in this game around 20 or more times, no kidding! Of course deus ex is on the list. One more... hmmm... Well random but I thoroughly enjoyed bully and would love to see a sequel.

[Decho]

Going on games which I've just played and played, these are the ones:

Mass Effect 1&2 - Finished them and instantly started again, and then again after that, and then again after that...

Halo 3 - I have approximately 1600 hours in-game on Halo 3, and considering how often I've played Team Lobbies it is probably a lot more than that overall. I expect Reach to soak up an equal scary portion of my time.

Dawn of War (apart from Soulstorm) - Played so much skirmish on that game...

Time Splitters Future Perfect - Loads of offline play versus bots

Star Wars: Battlefront II - As TS:FP

Fallout and Fallout 3 (didn't really get on with Fallout 2 as much for some reason) - Played both to death, though with Fallout 3 normally stopped a playthrough about level 12, as it is so much better at lower levels with crappy equipment.

[Cronstintein]

The original civilization had me hooked very effectively. A very deep and interesting game.
Game I'm currently yearning to play is nhl 11 HUT mode since playing the demo. Very addictive! The action of a hockey game plus strategy and number boosting elements of an rpg with card collecting.

WoW takes the cake as the most addictive game ever imho, even though it's not really my cup of tea.

[Pinky_Powers]

I've played Arkham Asylum four times through so far. Mass Effect three times. ME2 only once, but I'm now on my second time with all the new and major DLC. KotOR three times. KotOR 2, twice. I spend a lot of time in Bioshock as well. I really like that game, despite it's flaws. Logged over 160 hours in Oblivion, but never beat it, cause I hated the monotonous Oblivion Gates. Splinter Cell series many times through...

But I've never really been addicted to video games. For instance, my favorite game of all time, Deus Ex, I've only actually played through... something like six times... maybe seven. And that's ten years worth of owning it. I've never played any game as often as I have that, but no reasonable mind could call that addictive behavior.

[Cronstintein]

Ah, love the combat in that latest batman entry. Looking forward to the next one. My best combo was taking out all 20 of joker's goons in party hats w/o getting hit once.

From your list, Pinky, it looks like you're more into story based games. Which by their nature are harder to get drawn into for super long periods of time because the story must eventually end.

[Rindill the Red]

Originally Posted by Pretentious Old Man.

If I ever were to go on an MMO, it would be EVE. No doubt. But it would suck up my life.

I've never liked MMO's, the world is too static (even if you play your own storyline, the world doesn't change because of it); completely ruins immersion for me... and the grinding... oh the grinding is so boring.

I tried EVE but didn't like it, because to really feel like your doing something in the universe it would take way too much time.

[TrickyVein]

^^ Then GTFO.

Methinks that if said individual finds himself obsessively thinking about a game, drawing art for it, and engaging in other activities related to finding out more about its universe pretty much all of the time, than said individual may be said to be addicted if not at least preoccupied with a game.

After I finished my first play-through of ME, I spent days going through the online wiki (and then I started a new game immediately thereafter).

I s'pose one may also choose (perhaps more perfunctorily) to define one's addiction by how long one engages in above said habits. I haven't played ME since July, but I'm still playing FO3 after 3 years. I'd like to get into ME again, as well as purchase ME2. But there's this huge, gigantic thing called a university education (and corresponding tuition) that keeps getting in the way.

Frak you, world. I want my escapism.

[Pinky_Powers]

Originally Posted by Cronstintein

From your list, Pinky, it looks like you're more into story based games. Which by their nature are harder to get drawn into for super long periods of time because the story must eventually end.

It is true. I tend to desire the story aspects, even if they're sidequests and merely talking to interesting characters. It's one of the reasons I'm so excited over Human Revolution. There promises to be lots of that. I only hope the quality of the characters you interact with will be decent.

[TrickyVein]

The "GTFO" was for Powers's Pink hide, BTW.

I'm just saying, because I think I'm special and that other people care about what I have to say, that story games as well are primarily what "draw me in," and that yes, the ending is always bitter-sweet for me. Always has been. I get very much involved with a character/role playing and then it ends, and even if it's on a high note, I become depressed.

[Pinky_Powers]

^... I had a feeling it might've been aimed at me.

[MrFoxter]

Originally Posted by Pretentious Old Man.

If I ever were to go on an MMO, it would be EVE. No doubt. But it would suck up my life.

My words. If I just imagine how many hours I would waste improving my spaceship, I'd better write my own game instead.

[TrickyVein]

Originally Posted by MrFoxter

Just be aware not to miss any of white bricks. Saves a lot of troubles. Also, try to pick up 3 apples from the tree in the backyard behind that room with TNT. After third apple, I truly ROFL'ed around for a while

Believe you me, never, never again will I do that (picking those apples).

[pringlepower]

Originally Posted by Rindill the Red

There was basically no chance of Bioware producing another KOTOR game anyway. KOTOR 2 wasn't even made by Bioware, it was made by Obsidian Entertainment... bringing you buggy unfinished games that goddammit have great RPG elements.

Basically, Bioware moved on.
...to...

Dragon Age -- Bioware owned IP that can be cross-media (books, movies?, etc.)

Mass Effect -- Bioware owned IP that can be cross-media (books, movies?, etc.)

SWTOR -- WoW clone based on the biggest franchise in history to bring in even more moolah!

Money's great and all, and yes they're making a killing off ME and DA, but you can't completely blame them. If you're an experienced studio that has spent your entire history making games based on other peoples' work, there's nothing wrong with wanting to go out and make your own universes and backstories, and do something completely new (keeping licensing rights for $$$ is nice too).

[RandomJunkie]

Morrowind was a hume time sucker for me.

While I absolutely hated the ending, I did play a lot to Fallout 3.

No one mentionned it. I'm a huge Shenmue fan.

Pretty much anything made by Bioware.

I might re-do Bloodlines soon as Malkavian. That game had some really, really great moments.

Of course Half-Life 1 and 2.

I did 6 full seasons of Grand Prix 2 (with practice sessions, qualifications, race). I spent a lot of time on other racing games (Project Gotham Racing, Grid, Forza Motorsport etc...)

I bought every NHL from 93-06, then I stopped because I got tired of it.

The only MMO that really, really got me playing a lot is World War II Online. It recreates the Blitzkrieg in one huge map, which includes Belgium, Northern France, parts of Netherlands, Germany and England. The really cool part is that a lot of serious players are ex-army guys who take this thing really seriously, and are very good at it.

I'm still playing SubSpace (Continuum), a free mmo that was released in the mid-90s. It's a 2 dimensional space combat game.


As of right now I'm playing.....Deus Ex Invisible War :P

[JackShandy]

I'm finding myself pulled deeper and deeper into these ridiculously complicated, deep strategy games. Yesterday, Armageddon Empires. Today, Acedemagia. Tomorrow... Dwarf Fortress? I don't know if I could ever be THAT hardcore.

[Fluffis]

I'm a complete sucker for those kinds of games that start out "simple" and then pull you into large and elaborate plots and conspiracies. Broken Sword, The Longest Journey, Deus Ex... That kind of thing. Counting their respective sequels, there is no telling How much time I've sunk into those.

I also got suckered into WoW. Several hundreds of hours wasted. Got out of that, though.