D&D and Computer Games, through the ages

[Jhaelen]

Well, I played text adventures well before I started playing rpgs.

I still think that text-based MUDs capture the essence of roleplaying games better than any MMORPG to date does.

I also still enjoy playing similar to Rogue (basically the precursor of Diablo) from time to time. They're certainly addictive in a way that few modern games manage.

 

[Woas]

Well, I played text adventures well before I started playing rpgs.

I still think that text-based MUDs capture the essence of roleplaying games better than any MMORPG to date does..

Oh that's right. I did play an online text adventure game called DragonRealms pretty extensively which shaped a lot of my primordial-gaming. And I agree whole heartedly with the second thought. That game was awesome and way better than anything around today.

 

[ferratus]

I played the "arbitrarily rub all objects with everything else" bundle of frustration that was the King's Quest games (but secretly loved it). There is a reason though that that style of adventure game died out.

I loved the SSI Dark Sun game a lot, and I liked attempted to build my own "Unlimited Adventures" dungeon, but got bored and couldn't be bothered to finish it.

Didn't get a chance to play Balder's Gate and Planescape:Torment, but I played a lot of Neverwinter Nights 1 scenerios. The intro adventure stunk, but I'll always remember my wizard being out of spells, out of potions, out of scrolls with a dead companion facing off against the Sarrukh lich. It was especially fun because she also was out of all her spells. So essentially the whole campaign culminated in two exhausted wizards having a knife fight, which I won because my dagger was the more enchanted. Liked Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark though.

Played NWN 2 with a half-orc rogue/duelist. I figured I'd get enough magic to make him a viable character, and I did. The game made my new computer scream in agony though, and crashed all the damn time. It got more stable by the time Mask of the Betrayer came out, but by then the love was gone.

I tried playing world of warcraft a couple of times, but while exploring is lots of fun, grinding and fetching sucks. I'm told that to enjoy it you have to get a guild, but the idea of stacking bonuses with other players through hotkeys to run the same instance over and over again so everyone can get the cool magic item makes me queasy. I'd rather have dinner with someone from the Teeside Yesteryear Motor Club.

Played through Knights of the Old Republic I and Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Not as good as everyone said, though Bastila was smoking hot.

The future? I am getting interested in Star Wars: The Old Republic despite myself, but I never want to play a game that involves pointing and clicking as its primary mechanic again.

 

[Hussar]

Oh man, dredging through the dusty attic of my brain for those old games.

Temple of Apshai comes to mind.

While totally not a D&D related game, M.U.L.E was a huge hit with me and mine. Played the crap out of it. Did get me more interested in other aspects of gaming besides killing.

Did the Kings Quest thing. Wow, pixelbitching at its best.

Ultima held my interest for some time as well. I always loved the cool stuff that came in the box with the game.

 

[Wycen]

I can't remember what my first adventure computer game was. I remember Ultima III specifically, on the Commodore 64, but I had an Atari before that and friends had some of the variant systems. It may have been a game on an Apple in the school library when I was in middle school. Or it could have been Pitfall, which is sort of adventury. I remember getting frustrated with Zork and only ever tried one other text adventure, on the Commodore 64, which left me just as annoyed.

 

[Vorput]

For me it was the Champions of Krynn series. It got me hooked on D&D, and within a few months a friend and I were running a game (He DMed, I played 4 characters at once... heh).

That would have been... 1996 or thereabouts...

Following that, I played the Eye of the Beholder series, Menzoberranzan, eventually Balder's Gate, and probably a few others I'm forgetting.

And of course the whole slew of console RPGs. None of them ever came close to the fun of a pen and pencil D&D game with friends though

Vorp

Edit: This was my 1000th post!! Woo hoo!

 

[DreadPirateMurphy]

My first RPG book purchase was actually the old Traveller hardcover from GDW. That motivated me to buy the 1st edition AD&D hardcovers.

I used to have an Atari 2600, but oddly enough didn't own Adventure. I think Raiders of the Lost Ark was the most RPGish game I owned -- and was also a real pain to finish, though I did, finally. Eventually, I got an Apple II+, and started playing Bard's Tale III and Ultima VII (which was amazing for the day).

After college and greater financial solvency, I played whatever came out -- Might and Magic, Elder Scrolls, and all of the Baldur's Gate family -- I, II, both Icewind Dales, Planescape (awesome). Neverwinter Nights was a bit meh, but the second was more enjoyable for me.

Almost forgot -- Wasteland and every entry in the Fallout series (even Tactics). I think I burned a good 3-4 months playing through Fallout 3 repeatedly. I'm replaying Baldur's Gate with the BGII engine while I wait for Fallout New Vegas.

 

[keterys]

I'm replaying Baldur's Gate with the BGII engine

Do what now? How? Link? I've actually been thinking about breaking out this venerable series since I never did finish it...

 

[Sunderstone]

Do what now? How? Link? I've actually been thinking about breaking out this venerable series since I never did finish it...

Pocket Plane Group - Bending Baldur's Gate 2 and the Infinity Engine

 

[Woas]

The funny thing is, I cannot stand games like Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate or any of the recent esque games like Elderscrolls and whatnot. I like organic stories... that's why I'm fond of games like Sim City and the like, where I build the story and can look back at the different districts and neighborhoods of the city I am building and see the history of the city I made and the decisions made when the time called for them. Videogame RPGs are a little to strict story-line wise for me.