What is with these crappy Video Games?

[wlmartin]

I think, if I had to be honest, NWN1 was the last half decent D&D based Video Game released.

It followed such greats as IWD 1 & 2, BG 1 & 2

I thought NWN1 was going to be a new dimension in gaming since it essentialy was open source MMO but sadly there were never enough decent Servers running to get a good game and the concept died on its arse.

NWN2 came along but the camera and movement controls were so flacid I just uninstalled it before finishing the tutorial level.

Then you have Daggerdale, Demon Stone and a few others that are basically beat-em-ups with a bit of D&D Flavor.

Am I the only one crying out for something DECENT in an offline RPG?
Oblivion is getting a new chapter coming out soon so i will jump on that.

We know that it can be done. If you take DDO and make it an offline game, you get what we are talking about. Fluid controls, indepth story lines and a working do-able engine.

It doesn't have to be in 4e, a 3.5e offline game would be fine...

I however am sadly aware that the VG world has to cater for the XBox players out there and if it requires more than 6 buttons, it is not worth playing it seems.

Bioware don't seem to be in the loop anymore, it seems that Atari are the ones releasing D&D games now - perhaps that needs to change too!

I would start a petition but it wouldn't do any good - they never do. All I can do is hope that whatever bile is released by Atari or another publisher soon is an actual RPG - one with class and substance.

 

[MerricB]

Sadly, one of the first things Hasbro did when they got the D&D license was to sell the computer game license to someone else. And thus, a very long time between good D&D computer games.

 

[Matt James]

The D&D-branded video games have always been licensed out since the beginning (SSI). None of them have been developed in house at TSR or WotC.

 

[wlmartin]

Sadly, one of the first things Hasbro did when they got the D&D license was to sell the computer game license to someone else. And thus, a very long time between good D&D computer games.

Indeed!

I just don't get the mentality of it all. If you want to make a game that uses D20 mechanics and is similar to D&D (even if you have to buy the rights to use those mechanics and rebadge them) then do it... The second you put D&D on a title, it needs to appeal to D&Ders.

Just because people that have an XBOX play D&D doesnt mean that people who play D&D have an XBOX. If a D&D player is given the choice of playing a D&D game that is pap or a non-D&D game (like Oblivion for example) that plays well, they won't go to the D&D brand just for the sake of it.

I think Hasbro is trying to market D&D in its own way like it belongs to them. They really don't understand that the brand, it's core concepts, its history belong to the fans - Sure, we don't make a million £££ every time a crappy D&D title gets released and if we did we might have a different view on things but whoever is behind these backwards D&D titles needs to appreciate that there is a real demand for a decent D&D in-depth RPG game and until you make one these crappy beat-em-up versions just aint gonna cut it.

/rant

 

[Zaran]

I would love to see a turn-based module type DnD game with today's graphics using 4e rules. I'd even be happy with just Essentials classes!

 

[wlmartin]

I would be fine if it wasn't even 4e. I would play a 3rd or 3.5 game.

I recently dug out Baldur's Gate and BG II.
I gave up on it a bit too quickly because the resolution has to be very low for it to work and it just looked wrong... I may dig it back out and change my mind again... Don't know yet.

It doesn't have to be fancy graphics for me, just something that works ...

Unfortunately all the money to be had nowadays (due to Piracy and the proliferation of online games) is in the MMO. Even good ol' Bob Salvatore is spearheading an MMO in the near future.

The money isn't in the £35 you get paid for selling a single game but the £60 a year you get from subscriptions!

 

[DracoSuave]

When Bioware was doing it and developing it through an arrangement with Atari, it was working out great.

Then Bioware and Atari cut ties, and D&D games stopped being made to that level of quality.

Ever play D&D Tactics? Don't.

 

[Ryujin]

Haven't touched a D&D 'video game' since "Pool of Radiance"

 

[wlmartin]

Haven't touched a D&D 'video game' since "Pool of Radiance"

POR was probably the first 3rd (or was it 3.5) game ... I think it came before Temple of Elemental Evil and I remember because it was hard to get used to all the Feats and stuff.

To tell you the truth, POR was probably one of my fav's...

MMmmm I saw someone online selling an old copy of it - cheap, might buy it and remind myself what fun it was

 

[Ryujin]

POR was probably the first 3rd (or was it 3.5) game ... I think it came before Temple of Elemental Evil and I remember because it was hard to get used to all the Feats and stuff.

To tell you the truth, POR was probably one of my fav's...

MMmmm I saw someone online selling an old copy of it - cheap, might buy it and remind myself what fun it was

I'm pretty sure that I still have my copy at home (come to think of it, I think that I also had "Curse of the Azure Bonds"), but I doubt that the old 1.2 Meg, 5-1/4" floppies are still readable.