PC games.

[Invictus]

Anyone here still play games on the great and venerable personal computer, or has pretty much everyone switched over to those newfangled consoles? I ask because my friends and I have been playing fairly old network PC games over a VPN for the past couple weeks, and I'm enjoying it far more than I've recently enjoyed playing the 360. We were playing Freelancer, but we're taking a break and delving into some dungeons with Diablo tonight. Any suggestions for other games? Anyone interested in playing with us at some point?

[Troy Spiral (13)]

I'm pretty much a PC game purist. I WOULD play console games if I didn't have to buy the console and the games, but since I have a PC and access to 10s of thousands of games, and no longer am really all that into buying a console just so I can play my Zelda or Mario games or whatever, I just play PC stuff. The only use I have for consoles these days is DDR.

I've been trying to cut down and it sucks my life away, but I really do enjoy PC games. Especially RTS and RPGs. But I've got at least some interest in virtually every kind of PC game.

I've been trying to come up with some sort of online game that we (the DGN community) could all play. But everything I can think of turns into basically just a niche thing. There is an RPG game mod that can be built into the message board itself that I've thought about adding, along with little puzzle / action games that can keep track of daily/weekly high scores based on your account name and such. Have toyed with adding them for awhile now.

[pomba gira]

I've been trying to come up with some sort of online game that we (the DGN community) could all play. But everything I can think of turns into basically just a niche thing. There is an RPG game mod that can be built into the message board itself that I've thought about adding, along with little puzzle / action games that can keep track of daily/weekly high scores based on your account name and such. Have toyed with adding them for awhile now.

That would be groovy... I'm not at all into the RPGs & action stuff but I do love my puzzle & word games... recently been playing a lot of hidden object ones, too.

[Shade Everdark]

i just started Fallout 3 for the PC. Bethesda does some excellent work, and this one looks to be more of their same great product.

[DarkVampire]

I don't do consoles. Consoles are for kiddies. I'm a PC purist. I built my computers to play games on, not just surf the net or use Word.

By the way Fallout 3 kicks ass. Its my new crack addiction.

[Jacques Treatment]

If you're looking for something fun to play online, I recommend Kingdom of Loathing.

http://www.kingdomofloathing.com

It's simple, very silly, and the players can have a pretty good amount of interactivity. If you get on and decide to play, I'm there as (as if you couldn't guess) "Jacques Treatment."

If you are looking for pretty cool adventure games, Jeff Vogel (of the Scorched Earth Party) has created two pretty intricate worlds in his two series, "Avernum" and "Geneforge." Each has a very different feel to it, with Avernum more like your typical D&D adventure, with a four-character party, and Geneforge as a one-player RPG. Of course, with Geneforge, part of the fun is the fact that you can effectively *create* your own party, in the form of creatures that you are able to physically create from your own essence, as you need them. I'm just finishing Geneforge 5: Overthrow, myself. One of the more interesting things about the Geneforge series is how your character's words can change the way those around you behave, and your actions really determine many different winning conditions. Even little things, like whether you're tempted by special powers derived from augmentation cannisters, will determine which way certain endings will go. They have some pretty good-sized demo downloads available at

http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com

--J,

I wish they were paying me for this.

[Invictus]

I was a big KoL'er for a long time. Then forgot to log in for a while and got my character wiped. I had a guild and something like 10 oxy-core ascensions at that point too. I've played the first Geneforge and Avernum games, and enjoyed both immensely. I also played through a good chunk of his Exile series.

Anyone else have any off the beaten path game suggestions?

I myself would suggest the Gothic series of RPGs if you can deal with the control oddities. They were made for a pretty hardcore audience, so they're pretty rough on new players. System Shock 2 is great if you'd like to see where games like Deus Ex, and Bioshock drew their inspiration from. There are a slew of graphical enhancements, texture packs and balance mods for it, plus a way to run it in widescreen. It remains one of my favorite games ever, and the graphical updates are just icing on the cake. It'll probably be one of the next few LAN games for my little group.

[Jacques Treatment]

I was a big KoL'er for a long time. Then forgot to log in for a while and got my character wiped. I had a guild and something like 10 oxy-core ascensions at that point too. I've played the first Geneforge and Avernum games, and enjoyed both immensely. I also played through a good chunk of his Exile series.

Some time within recent memory, I heard something about them stopping autodeletion recently, although for those of us who spent $10 at some point to get a Mr. Accessory, that's not a problem, anyway. As for Jeff's games, my favorites so far are Geneforge 2 and Avernum 3, if only for the variety of paths available. Geneforge 5 has a whole metric assload of factions--*and* playable character classes--and I'm looking forward to playing each. I'm not as fond of the new changes to combat and spellcasting, but the characterizations are pretty cool.

Anyone else have any off the beaten path game suggestions?

I myself would suggest the Gothic series of RPGs if you can deal with the control oddities. They were made for a pretty hardcore audience, so they're pretty rough on new players. System Shock 2 is great if you'd like to see where games like Deus Ex, and Bioshock drew their inspiration from. There are a slew of graphical enhancements, texture packs and balance mods for it, plus a way to run it in widescreen. It remains one of my favorite games ever, and the graphical updates are just icing on the cake. It'll probably be one of the next few LAN games for my little group.

I bought Gothic 3 for the PC, and despite having all the recommended hardware, the product would not run. When I e-mailed their support staff, they were rather rude, gave no real help, and the software never worked. To hell with them.

--J,

wielding his +4 support staff

[Constantin]

well after four years of resisting and almost 6 from all other forms of pc games that never end world of warcraft has sucked me in as you can see this is my first post in a month case in point but im 5 and a half lvls away from lvling out my first character then its time to farm gear for him and the other class im going to roll. but it does pass the time and its really fun but you better believe it when d3 comes to the shelves good bye world and the sun i will officially become a hermit well if i dont find a certain someone first i will become constantin the hermit. lol

[Troy Spiral (13)]

I don't do consoles. Consoles are for kiddies. I'm a PC purist. I built my computers to play games on, not just surf the net or use Word.

By the way Fallout 3 kicks ass. Its my new crack addiction.

I went and took a look at it. My now aging PC i think would run it too choppy (or have to set it on crap settings). Which I can't stand having to play games in wet-blanket mode. I might still give it a try, looks interesting.

If you're looking for something fun to play online, I recommend Kingdom of Loathing.

http://www.kingdomofloathing.com

It's simple, very silly, and the players can have a pretty good amount of interactivity. If you get on and decide to play, I'm there as (as if you couldn't guess) "Jacques Treatment."

If you are looking for pretty cool adventure games, Jeff Vogel (of the Scorched Earth Party) has created two pretty intricate worlds in his two series, "Avernum" and "Geneforge." Each has a very different feel to it, with Avernum more like your typical D&D adventure, with a four-character party, and Geneforge as a one-player RPG. Of course, with Geneforge, part of the fun is the fact that you can effectively *create* your own party, in the form of creatures that you are able to physically create from your own essence, as you need them. I'm just finishing Geneforge 5: Overthrow, myself. One of the more interesting things about the Geneforge series is how your character's words can change the way those around you behave, and your actions really determine many different winning conditions. Even little things, like whether you're tempted by special powers derived from augmentation cannisters, will determine which way certain endings will go. They have some pretty good-sized demo downloads available at

http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com

--J,

I wish they were paying me for this.

I was a big KoL'er for a long time. Then forgot to log in for a while and got my character wiped. I had a guild and something like 10 oxy-core ascensions at that point too. I've played the first Geneforge and Avernum games, and enjoyed both immensely. I also played through a good chunk of his Exile series.

Anyone else have any off the beaten path game suggestions?

I myself would suggest the Gothic series of RPGs if you can deal with the control oddities. They were made for a pretty hardcore audience, so they're pretty rough on new players. System Shock 2 is great if you'd like to see where games like Deus Ex, and Bioshock drew their inspiration from. There are a slew of graphical enhancements, texture packs and balance mods for it, plus a way to run it in widescreen. It remains one of my favorite games ever, and the graphical updates are just icing on the cake. It'll probably be one of the next few LAN games for my little group.

Never played Bioshock, despite the near-universal good reviews, just never got around to it. But SS2 and DE were good. I could suggest a crapton of obscure games, but I'm trying to avoid sucking other people into the 10th level of time-waste. lol.

I've looked at the KoL website a few times but never tried it. The website just seemed to half-assed to me. I know its trying to be funny though. The class descriptions were cracking me up. I don't mind "simple" graphics (or no graphics) at all. Now, u dang bad-influence brats, I might have to check it out. I had kicked the gaming habit at least for this week, I thought! *peeks*

well after four years of resisting and almost 6 from all other forms of pc games that never end world of warcraft has sucked me in as you can see this is my first post in a month case in point but im 5 and a half lvls away from lvling out my first character then its time to farm gear for him and the other class im going to roll. but it does pass the time and its really fun but you better believe it when d3 comes to the shelves good bye world and the sun i will officially become a hermit well if i dont find a certain someone first i will become constantin the hermit. lol

Eeks. RUUUN man RUUUUN! I started out about 20 years ago playing MMO's before they were called MMO's (text based muds at the time) and have spent at least a year playing many of them, WoW as well. I usually end up running a dang guild, raiding like its a job, and goodbye any other sort of free time. Really trying to avoid the never-ending type games.

Despite that, I was toying with playing WoW (or Tibia an obscure, crap graphics MMO with scary death penalties.) again. Just say no! heh.

[Jacques Treatment]

I've looked at the KoL website a few times but never tried it. The website just seemed to half-assed to me. I know its trying to be funny though. The class descriptions were cracking me up. I don't mind "simple" graphics (or no graphics) at all. Now, u dang bad-influence brats, I might have to check it out. I had kicked the gaming habit at least for this week, I thought! *peeks*

The goodness behind KoL is no the graphics, but the fact that there is a ton of narrative structure in terms of what you do and how you do it; someone wielding a Knollish Autoplunger is described differently from someone using it for a Lunging Thrust-Smack, and is completely different from someone wielding a didgeridooka (Yes, these are all things that happen in KoL.). Each area has its own "feel," whether it's the Haiku Dungeon or the Orc Chasm. It's the next silly joke that drives you onward (and upward... or downward, in some cases) to unlock more areas. Hell, there are even some achievements which require *some* modicum of socialness in terms of developing a clan... if only to find your way through the sewers to the dreaded Hobopolis. For a game as unassuming as this one seems, it's got a surprisingly huge Wiki... and we all know how to use it.

Rowr.

--J,

keeping his wiki in his pants

[Invictus]

Just created a new KoL account. Well, there goes my life.

[Jacques Treatment]

Just created a new KoL account. Well, there goes my life.

What's your KoL name? I'll send you something. Meanwhile, be sure to visit the Toot Oriole.

--J,

you and your familiar Toto, too

[Invictus]

What's your KoL name? I'll send you something. Meanwhile, be sure to visit the Toot Oriole.

--J,

you and your familiar Toto, too

FredgarReturns is my new name. I'm playing a Seal Clubber. The last time I played was back before NS13, and wow things have changed.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

I made a KoL account but only played it for about 45 minutes (accordian theif) poked around the forums and listened to one of the podcasts. Was really hard to get into, just too basic (again I have no problem with basic, this is just extreme). I've played similar games, (Adventure Quest, Dragon Fable etc) but with a ton more polish. I'll give it another try at some point though I'm sure.

[Riku Namako]

one word: Ragnarok

VoidRO is the server I play on, pretty decent compared to the tens of thousands of servers out there. Lots of fun, relatively easy to play, and will suck up a lot of your free time.

It is a high rate server, meaning you'd lvl up and gain item drops quicker than the official one. For most people, this is a bit of a blessing, considering that a lot of people want a casual rpg they can play to kill time when they aren't doing much, and don't wanna get left behind by the more hardcore players.

RateMyServer Is the best place to find a full database and info (minus storyline spoilers) on everything you may want to know about the game.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

you'd lvl up and gain item drops quicker than the official one. For most people, this is a bit of a blessing, considering that a lot of people want a casual rpg they can play to kill time when they aren't doing much, and don't wanna get left behind by the more hardcore players.

How does that work exactly? If everyone is playing with the same server-rules, the more hardcore players are just going to be that much father ahead, whatever the spawn/drop rates are. The more time you put in the more "stuff" you get, just how it works. No way around that that I can think of. *ponders*

In addtion to the one Riku mentions if your looking for a more "simple" (but not as simple as say, KoL mentioned above) anime-ish type game there is Maple Story. (Second most popular MMO in the world after WoW... just that its heavily played internationally, not so much in the US, thus the reason you may not have heard of it)

[Jacques Treatment]

I made a KoL account but only played it for about 45 minutes (accordian theif) poked around the forums and listened to one of the podcasts. Was really hard to get into, just too basic (again I have no problem with basic, this is just extreme). I've played similar games, (Adventure Quest, Dragon Fable etc) but with a ton more polish. I'll give it another try at some point though I'm sure.

Well, Troy, while it may be "basic" on the surface, the game does get more complicated, the deeper you go, and the various options that "tune" the experience start to matter more as you get involved. At level 1, there are some minor, optional puzzles that you can solve; by level 2, you've got ones that unlock certain areas. By level 11 and 12, though, you the levels are *much* more puzzle-based, and there are a *lot* of different ways to tune certain areas of game-play. Admittedly, a lot of the puzzle content is optional, like figuring out meatsmithing and meatpasting recipes that give you better weapons and gear, or cooking recipes and mixing cocktails that improve how you quickly you can progress. If I were making such a game (and I might, if I ever get the free time), I would probably have more *mandatory* puzzles at earlier areas. Unfortunately, in KoL, a character's Guild doesn't matter as much as it should until level 3 or 4, when the various skills can really help you through the game. Accordion Thief skills can be some of the trickiest to wield until you properly suss out the combat system, and figuring out the best way to proceed is part of the fun. Me, I just like all the jokes and puns littering the landscape.... and the Haiku Dungeon is brilliant.

--J,

minding his meat

[Riku Namako]

How does that work exactly? If everyone is playing with the same server-rules, the more hardcore players are just going to be that much father ahead, whatever the spawn/drop rates are. The more time you put in the more "stuff" you get, just how it works. No way around that that I can think of. *ponders*

The concept behind what I was saying is that, for example, say you were playing on an official server where the rates for exp/job exp/drop rates are 1/1/1, you'd get left behind in a heart beat by someone who played nonestop all the time. the thing is that with this high rate (as well as a lot of others) you don't have to put in as much time to get ahead. While yeah, its true that more hardcore players who play more often will have more stuff than you, you won't have to do as much work to catch up to everyone else in terms of lvling and item hunting because most items drop fairly easily. lvling does cap in this, and its not very hard to hit maximum in a short amount of time. items and equipment are easy to obtain most of the time, and if you don't have the patience, you can always ask someone for some assistance, most people are willing to help. Hence, being able to keep up with the other players.

[Invictus]

I just picked up Space Empires V today. It's an absurdly complex 4X space strategy game. Hopefully said absurd complexity will keep me interested for a while.

[candyman]

I have been playing Americas Army recently...it is pretty good for a game that the Army developed and it is free online so whatever. The only thing that sucks is that you need high rank to play most servers so there are very few that you can play...however, to get a higher rank you need to play servers that rank and the ones that let new people play don't rank. So no I am searching for a few good men and women to play a server with me with a willingness to play the game right...can't seem to find them...only retards that break rank and formation to go rambo.

[Invictus]

Just reinstalled Painkiller: Gold Edition. I love this game. ZOMGMETAL soundtrack, bizarre level design, obscene amounts of enemies, multi-story tall bosses. Awesome weapons. Giant stake launcher, check. Shuriken firing lightning gun, check. Combination Blender/Weedwacker/chainsaw from hell, double check. Best game in the world when you've had a bad day.

[Reaper]

I am still a hardcore Quake 2 online gamer on the PC. Was thinking about buying Fear 2 for the PC as well since I have the first one on PC. I have already gone through a harddrive for both my PS3 and 360 and lost all gaming info on it. That is what sucks most on these consoles these days. Hell, I am keeping an old TV around so I can continue to play my Nintendo. But by far, the PC is my biggest gaming center. Damn, just remember that I bought Resident Evil 5 a couple of weeks ago and still haven't opened it. lol

[angry_darkness]

I still play quake 3 and half life on my old pc's , sometimes I get some friends over and we drink beer and play half life together.

[Soulrev]

I'm pretty much a PC game purist. I WOULD play console games if I didn't have to buy the console and the games, but since I have a PC and access to 10s of thousands of games, and no longer am really all that into buying a console just so I can play my Zelda or Mario games or whatever, I just play PC stuff. The only use I have for consoles these days is DDR.

I've been trying to cut down and it sucks my life away, but I really do enjoy PC games. Especially RTS and RPGs. But I've got at least some interest in virtually every kind of PC game.

I've been trying to come up with some sort of online game that we (the DGN community) could all play. But everything I can think of turns into basically just a niche thing. There is an RPG game mod that can be built into the message board itself that I've thought about adding, along with little puzzle / action games that can keep track of daily/weekly high scores based on your account name and such. Have toyed with adding them for awhile now.

OnLive. Your answer to console games and the PC.