Editorial 2011: The Year in Review

[Infinitron]

Gold Box fans: BG1 >= BG2
BIS fans: BG2 >> BG1

What if I think they're both really boring and bland, only BG2 is less boring and bland? Definitely more of a Gold Box fan than a BIS fan, yet I couldn't stand BG1.

I've never been impressed by the "blandness" argument. I guess I'm not a settingfag. Though to be honest, I was introduced to Baldur's Gate at a time in my life when I had comparatively little exposure to traditional fantasy settings and zero exposure to the Forgotten Realms.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Good God and Jesus Christ Denton in the heavan, please no. The only thing you'll get is a GD- like hellhole where sad, autistic people post why being the GM is a really sad business, or what they did with their awesome grimdark characters after rolling critical success 10 times in a row. Mixed with usual codexian attitude. And propably also with exhausting discussions how every single one PnP system sucks.
Better leave it for some other place.

I don't see your point. What could possibly be wrong with that?

In other news, I forgot to mention the high quality Let's Plays that the deranged lunatics of this site churns out. Quality entertainment! A salute to these brave men and women!
Bonus: The Best thread ever is also the best thread ever. It causes me great pain. And it is a good pain.

I seriously am in awe at the people who make convoluted stories, photoshops and emoticons along with the game. I started one but dropped it very early on because I thought I could never offer the kind of meta humor people seemed to be after.

Also I don't understand why it's so popular. Every time I want to read, I just get scared of being exposed to spoilers.

 

[Sceptic]

What if I think they're both really boring and bland, only BG2 is less boring and bland? Definitely more of a Gold Box fan than a BIS fan, yet I couldn't stand BG1.

And what if they think they're both good for what they are and enjoy them for different reasons?

Also, if anything BG2 should be far more appealing to GB fans due to better encounter design, and locations actually having interesting stuff in them.

I've never been impressed by the "blandness" argument. I guess I'm not a settingfag.

My problem with BG1's blandness has less to do with the setting (though the Sword Coast is as bland as it can get) and more to do with the lack of anything interesting to find. I mean, there are all these forst-type areas to wade through, N to S, or E to W... and nothing to see in them, no unique encounter, no elaborate quest to start, no intersting item to find, not even nice architecture to look at... I enjoyed BG1 for what it was, but while the world was big it was far too empty. Kinda reminds me of Faery Tale Adventure in this respect. Or like trying to go through Daggerfall without fast travel.

 

[Corvinus]

Also I don't understand why it's so popular. Every time I want to read, I just get scared of being exposed to spoilers.

Well, I suppose the "trick" might be to read LP's of games you will never play (example of one of mine: Fallout 3), but I get your point, I think. The many games of today offer a lot of in the humour department (terrible "dark & edgy" writing, for instance) and watching someone else painfully playing through that rubbish is something I can enjoy. :D

 

[DwarvenFood]

A fine article, this.
I read the Codex a lot more than I post, and I like the site. Reasons include:
Where else can you find a majority who are openly critical to the so-called role-playing games of today?
Where else can you read excellent and humorous reviews of said games?
Where else can you read (and view) hilarious crazy shit without it being censored by squeamish moderators?
Where else can you post your opinions of matters, even if you are retarded beyond belief?

No, really. I like the site, general discussion included, but if there is something I think the site lacks, it is a dedicated section to tabletop rpgs where people can post their campagins/chronicles/adventures and so on. Crpgs may be nice and shiny, but the best rpg is the tabletop one.

We have now: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?forums/the-gazebo.58/

 

[GarfunkeL]

I mean, there are all these forst-type areas to wade through, N to S, or E to W... and nothing to see in them, no unique encounter, no elaborate quest to start, no intersting item to find, not even nice architecture to look at... I enjoyed BG1 for what it was, but while the world was big it was far too empty. Kinda reminds me of Faery Tale Adventure in this respect. Or like trying to go through Daggerfall without fast travel.

WAT.

There is something special to encounter in each area. Most areas have more than one special encounter. In addition, you have the random encounters. It's GOOD that not every inch of every map is covered with SPESHUAL!1! things, so there's at least a little perspective. Fuck, you want games to be like Dragon Age? With tiny maps filled to the brim so that no player might ever even consider being "bored", creating a world that's completely nonsensical.

Before you start to whine back at me, refresh your memory:
http://www.forgottenwars.com/bg1/megamap.htm

 

[Infinitron]

Also, if anything BG2 should be far more appealing to GB fans due to better encounter design, and locations actually having interesting stuff in them.

I say GB fans have a slight preference for BG1 because of its similarity to GB games in terms of plot and overall design, and lack of certain modern tropes (gameplay that takes place mainly in towns, focus on dialogs, etc)

 

[jagged-jimmy]

Discussion moves toward BG1 or 2? Someone was gang-raped.

 

[Melcar]

In my opinion that is what was missing from BG. Imoen getting gang raped by Gibberlings .

 

[Kz3r0]

Fun fact, rape and rapture have the same etymology.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Discussion moves toward BG1 or 2? Someone was gang-raped.

It's a vicious circle. If it starts out about RPGs, it ends in rape. If it starts in rape, it ends in discussion about RPGs.

 

[Tolknaz]

Bravo. An article, that the Codex deserves. Cynical, self-referential and misguided (if well-meaning), but sadly trying too hard to be witty. But, since every poster on Codex forums is trying to do the same, it kind of fits. Howl with the wolves and all that. Personally i'm rather tired of that style to be honest.

In the future you should stick to banhammer rather than writeups. Or maybe threaten to ban the right people, who would then proceed to write a bit more amusing writeups than this.

 

[Konjad]

Yeah, the threat of banning works pretty well on the 'dex.

 

[Rivmusique]

Bravo. An article, that the Codex deserves. Cynical, self-referential and misguided (if well-meaning), but sadly trying too hard to be witty. But, since every poster on Codex forums is trying to do the same, it kind of fits. Howl with the wolves and all that. Personally i'm rather tired of that style to be honest.

In the future you should stick to banhammer rather than writeups. Or maybe threaten to ban the right people, who would then proceed to write a bit more amusing writeups than this.

Practically round.

 

[laclongquan]

Yeah, the threat of banning works pretty well on the 'dex.

Witness the huge number of fisting Multi Headed Cow got during his month.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Bravo. An article, that the Codex deserves. Cynical, self-referential and misguided (if well-meaning), but sadly trying too hard to be witty. But, since every poster on Codex forums is trying to do the same, it kind of fits. Howl with the wolves and all that. Personally i'm rather tired of that style to be honest.

In the future you should stick to banhammer rather than writeups. Or maybe threaten to ban the right people, who would then proceed to write a bit more amusing writeups than this.

Bravo. A worthy Codexian response to an article. Cynical and full of pretentiousness (though well-meaning), as if the poster knows best but sadly trying too hard to be important. But, since every poster on the Codex tries too hard, it fits. Complain about the decline and humour and all that. Personally I'm rather tired of that style to be honest.

In the future you should stick to lurking rather than responses. Or maybe point out who "the right people" are that should be banned. The report feature should be right up your ally, you could use it and actually achieve something.

Yeah, reply was too obvious to resist.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Hey, DU! What do you think of posters like me? I've mostly posted in /gd/ for last few years, because i don't really play any new games therefore i have nothing to say about them, but i have grown fond of this community and this is basically the only internet forum i participate, so i just can't get off the needle. I still post on game related issues, like in various JA2 or Wizardry8 threads that are of course one in between, but that because i'm mostly replaying old classics now days.
So, is it ok, to continue posting in /gd/SCIENCE!/library/teh new politicking/religion subfora, while being mostly ambivalent to game related issues? I hope i'm not a mental one. I just you guises too much and freedom of speech rox.

 

[mbpopolano24]

Hey, DU! What do you think of posters like me? I've mostly posted in /gd/ for last few years, because i don't really play any new games therefore i have nothing to say about them, but i have grown fond of this community and this is basically the only internet forum i participate, so i just can't get off the needle. I still post on game related issues, like in various JA2 or Wizardry8 threads that are of course one in between, but that because i'm mostly replaying old classics now days.
So, is it ok, to continue posting in /gd/SCIENCE!/library/teh new politicking/religion subfora, while being mostly ambivalent to game related issues? I hope i'm not a mental one. I just you guises too much and freedom of speech rox.

Not trying to be rude or cynical or witty or anything else (being this the Codex, I'd better to start with it), just curious: why do you not play any new games? Being a long time gamer and having experienced several times a 'dry spell' (pan intended) of interest for games, I've always wondered if one day I would quit...

Oh, and yes, pretty much any generalization sucks, and it is funny to see how people who complain about them respond with others (as most Codexians do.... blink blink, see what I am doing here???)

 

[Gnidrologist]

mbpopolano24
I'm just not able to give a fuck. Especially because most games now days mostly rely on flashy graphixx and awsum cut scenes. I like the minimalism of JA2 and haven't seen anything alike from modern games.

 

[Ion Prothon II]

mbpopolano24
I like the minimalism of JA2 and haven't seen anything alike from modern games.

JA2 wasn't minimalistic at all. It didn't look like an iShit.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Minimalistic in terms of presentation.

 

[Angthoron]

Discussion moves toward BG1 or 2? Someone was gang-raped.

It's a vicious circle. If it starts out about RPGs, it ends in rape. If it starts in rape, it ends in discussion about RPGs.

It has all the letters for it therefore each time an RPG discussion spawns, it's practically asking for it.

 

[mbpopolano24]

So, will any of you who are not interested in new games play or be interested in some of the Kickstarter projects promising old-school RPGs?

 

[mbpopolano24]

Let me tell you why I follow the Codex, craziness aside: I love a site that is against the RPG mainstream trend (what you call the ‘Decline’, I believe). I usually lurk around game sites to get information about games (new and old), but I am pissed off when even ‘moderate’ sites (like RPGWatch) express a consensus versus the epic level of Skyrim or Mass Retarded Effect. It is not because I love to hate these games, it is just that I played (some) of them and found them very boring. So I come here, endure the craziness of (some) people, and find a place on Earth where I don’t feel like an old ‘tard. So, if I had to cast my vote (which I am sure nobody care about), I’d say keep the Codex as it is and let’s hope for the best.

 

[Angthoron]

So, will any of you who are not interested in new games play or be interested in some of the Kickstarter projects promising old-school RPGs?

Yes, provided they'll turn out oldschool. I've chipped in for some projects with potential.

 

[eric__s]

I don't know anything about Black Cat, but the front page of an RPG site is not the place to post about her brutal rape and subsequent coma.