Arcanum Arcanum is, by far, one of the worst *games* I've ever played... emphasis on "game" and not "RPG"

[kwanzabot]

i thought it was fine and not just for the rpg aspect, more the half the criticism you posted can be placed on nearly every rpg lol


i replayed arcanum last year for the first time in like 5-6 years and it was still aite, the amount of personal freedom you get in that game makes up for any flaws for me

some things obviously were kind of shit, universal gun ammo,some balance issues, combat was kinda shit, couple other interface issues but i didn't find it that big of a deal considering there's alot of other rpg's that are either just as bad or worse people praise like the IE games or morrowind even though IE combat is prolly a bit better then arcanums



also anyone who bitches about the dungeon crawls there's literally like 3 in the game lol
black mountain clan takes like an hour tops unless you have cerebral palsy
wheel clan can be bypassed
vendigroth takes like 30 minutes


big fuckin deal lol, i don't like dungeon crawls either but fuck be you have to be retarded to bitch about the BMC when it literally takes the length of a game of thrones episode to complete

 

[Sjukob]

So , there was a discussion that Skyrim dumbing dows was alright . Now we have a discussion about Arcanum being a bad game , not bad RPG . We should start a discussion on how Planescape is inferior to The Withcer 3 as a novel , not as RPG , and how cutting down the amount of available branches in dialogues is alright , since it eleminates the confusion and makes things easier to understand .

 

[Sigourn]

You show your stuff to the merchant, you point at this and that item with your finger/cursor, he agree to buy it or not.
Seems like Arcanum tried to be too realistic in this aspect...

Why do people automatically think "realistic" = "good"? Fallout 1 wasn't realistic at all in its carry weight, the game was casual as fuck in that aspect. You could carry like three miniguns at the same time on your person.

Selling items was too tedious. A filter (like the one in Baldur's Gate) implied that you asked the person bartering with you "what would you be willing to buy from me?", and it was great. Hell, if we go by "realistic", if I have 100 items and only 1 the vendor is willing to buy from me, you bet he will say "stop. I only want that sword" instead of wasting my time and his.

Arcanum's inventory is worse than in JRPGs? What?
Arcanum's inventory is one of nicest inventories made in RPGs, and it does have a sort button.

Also, AFAIK when you hover over placket on the house with adress, the place automatically gets checked on your map.

Arcanum's "sort" button is actually an "arrange" button. There's a difference: a sort button places items depending on what those items are. So I would get all my restore fatigue potions together, all my restore health potions together, etc. Arcanum's arrange button would be good if it sorted the items as well. As it is, all my shit gets mixed up for no real reason. It makes no sense that, if I have an inventory full of items that are only one slot big, my things get randomly placed in my inventory instead of sticking the similar items close to another.

The addresses on the map work, but then again, it would be far more comfortable to see the streets' names on the map at the same time.

Nuff said. Lucas9 is complete and utmost dumbfuck.

I'm frankly amazed how some people actually think this stuff is okay for a game. It's not about making the game easier, it's about making the game less tedious. "Tedious" is in no way related to "difficulty", unless the menues drop my health for each second I spend in them.

In other words, what I mean is that I find the game almost unplayable today, and no doubt I would have found it almost unplayable back then, the difference being I had many, many less games to play back when it was released.

 

[valcik]

A filter (like the one in Baldur's Gate) implied that you asked the person bartering with you "what would you be willing to buy from me?", and it was great.

I think this has been covered by shop names, i.e. shop named „Magic Weapons” is pretty much self-explanatory. Plus, you can find some merchants who would buy everything from you. The guy in Tarant docks for instance, he'd buy literally anything - enchanted or cursed magic items, any technology, junk, you name it.

 

[Fowyr]

I'm frankly amazed how some people actually think this stuff is okay for a game. It's not about making the game easier, it's about making the game less tedious.

And remove my micromanagement? Preposterous!

No filter for selling items. Having your inventory cluttered with stuff and looking for that one single item that the vendor *may* want to buy is ridiculous. Jesus Christ, why not darken the items he won't buy so I don't have to hover over every single item?

Yup, it's really hard to hover your mouse over possible sellable items.

Stupid companions that can't even flee a battle on command. Thanks Virgil, I'm pretty sure you can take on that enemy on your own, but I WANT TO LEAVE.

Was already addressed.

Poor journal system sparce on details. For the most part, Morrowind had it right.
- Useless map for the most part, especially in Tarant. Would be far better if the map would show you exactly which streets had which name instead of having to hover every single sign to see where the fuck where you.

Memory and paper.

- You can't even ask NPCs where the different stores are, or whether certain stores exist or not, so you have to wander like a moron checking every building in the town to see if somebody will repair you equipment or buy/sell certain things.

Play Daggerfall, then.

- Lack of item descriptions. "Muh immersion", fuck you, even remedies tell you what they do, it's right there on the box.

Lol whut? Game clearly described weapons and most of items. For consumables - just fucking save game, use it and see what it does!

In other words, what I mean is that I find the game almost unplayable today, and no doubt I would have found it almost unplayable back then, the difference being I had many, many less games to play back when it was released.

Another case in point. You can count good RPG after Arcanum on the fingers of two hands and one of these hands would be full with Vogel's games.

 

[Sigourn]

Yup, it's really hard to hover your mouse over possible sellable items.

Literally "muh game is perfect". Same as all your other addresses. Sometimes I wonder why Arcanum even has a journal at all, given we should write down stuff ourselves and metagame to see the effects of items.

 

[Fowyr]

Literally "muh game is perfect".

Nope. Wrong crowd. I'm combatfag.

Same as all your other addresses. Sometimes I wonder why Arcanum even has a journal at all, given we should write down stuff ourselves and metagame to see the effects of items.

Yes, you could. Just play Magic Candle and many other fine games. Some of them are better than Arcanum, sometimes with Fallouts combined. Wiz7, for example.

Your whining makes you no different than Oblivion crowd with their dumbed down turds.

 

[Sigourn]

Your whining makes you no different than Oblivion crowd with their dumbed down turds.

Careful with those nostalgia glasses, friend.

 

[Serus]

Arcanum is good for telling what kind of RPG player you are:
- "Inventory and pathfidning are shit, combat is unbalanced, 2/10"
or
- "The world is huge and original, the quests are varied, the story and writing are very good, 8/10"

i.e. you're an rpg player or an adventure gamer

Or perhaps a combatfag vs storyfag/immersionfag.

 

[hell bovine]

I'm frankly amazed how some people actually think this stuff is okay for a game. It's not about making the game easier, it's about making the game less tedious. "Tedious" is in no way related to "difficulty", unless the menues drop my health for each second I spend in them.

In other words, what I mean is that I find the game almost unplayable today, and no doubt I would have found it almost unplayable back then, the difference being I had many, many less games to play back when it was released.

That's because some people don't obsess abut inventories that much in a roleplaying game.

Arcanum is good for telling what kind of RPG player you are:
- "Inventory and pathfidning are shit, combat is unbalanced, 2/10"
or
- "The world is huge and original, the quests are varied, the story and writing are very good, 8/10"

i.e. you're an rpg player or an adventure gamer

Or perhaps a combatfag vs storyfag/immersionfag.

I'd disagree. I actually prefer cRPGs with good combat, but I am willing to overlook weak combat if the other aspects, such as story, world building, character creation etc. are good enough to keep me interested. E.g. I loved what they did with the "you're the chosen one" trope in Arcanum.

 

[Fowyr]

Careful with those nostalgia glasses, friend.

Nostalgia glasses? My CRPG vision is sharp! I regularly re-play most of good games. Last six months I finished fourth walkthrough of Legacy, third of M&M2 and sixth (or fifth, can't remember) of F2.

 

[Sigourn]

That's because some people don't obsess abut inventories that much in a roleplaying game.

Again, my complaints are not directed at Arcanum's roleplaying, but the game itself. And I need to enjoy the game to like it, and the UI, inventory and other issues make it very difficult.

 

[hell bovine]

That's because some people don't obsess abut inventories that much in a roleplaying game.

Again, my complaints are not directed at Arcanum's roleplaying, but the game itself. And I need to enjoy the game to like it, and the UI, inventory and other issues make it very difficult.

Doesn't mean it's like this for every player. You are the one that made generalized statements like "Arcanum, like in a lot of classic RPGs, forces you into the inventory and interface managing quite often. And it's an awful mess." or "It has so many annoying things that I can't imagine anyone EVER saying "Remember Arcanum? That was a great game!"".

Here you go: Arcanum was a great game!

 

[Sigourn]

Doesn't mean it's like this for every player. You are the one that made generalized statements like "Arcanum, like in a lot of classic RPGs, forces you into the inventory and interface managing quite often. And it's an awful mess." or "It has so many annoying things that I can't imagine anyone EVER saying "Remember Arcanum? That was a great game!"".

I said that to illustrate what I think of this game. Just because I say "I can't imagine anyone actually thinking Fallout 4 is a good RPG" doesn't mean there aren't people who think it is a great RPG. Likewise, I can't imagine anyone actually thinking I speak for everyone when I say the things I say... yet evidently some people take things literally.

 

[Lilura]

And I need to enjoy the game to like it, and the UI, inventory and other issues make it very difficult.

You have awful taste in UIs.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Arcanum is good for telling what kind of RPG player you are:
- "Inventory and pathfidning are shit, combat is unbalanced, 2/10"
or
- "The world is huge and original, the quests are varied, the story and writing are very good, 8/10"

i.e. you're an rpg player or an adventure gamer

Or perhaps a combatfag vs storyfag/immersionfag.

or perhaps an rpg player vs non-rpg player

 

[Sigourn]

And I need to enjoy the game to like it, and the UI, inventory and other issues make it very difficult.

You have awful taste in UIs.

Nah, my priorities are functionality > aesthetic. Arcanum has an aesthetically pleasing interface (the only good thing I can say about it), but with awful functionality. Thing is some people don't want to accept it could be much better and think it is perfect as it is.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Arcanum is good for telling what kind of RPG player you are:
- "Inventory and pathfidning are shit, combat is unbalanced, 2/10"
or
- "The world is huge and original, the quests are varied, the story and writing are very good, 8/10"

i.e. you're an rpg player or an adventure gamer

Or perhaps a combatfag vs storyfag/immersionfag.

or perhaps an rpg player vs non-rpg player

If you are an RPG player who refuses to play a game because its combat is unbalanced or its UI is shit, then you shouldn't play any RPGs, hence you are... not an RPG player.

So I take it you are in agreement with me, that Arcanum is a good game.

 

[Bruma Hobo]

Arcanum is good for telling what kind of RPG player you are:
- "Inventory and pathfidning are shit, combat is unbalanced, 2/10"
or
- "The world is huge and original, the quests are varied, the story and writing are very good, 8/10"
- "Character customization is awesome and the world tries its best to react to it, nice magic/technology reputation system, and I love to scavenge trash bins and find crafting components, 9/10"

There, ugraded.

 

[Kuurth]

Lucas9 is, by far, one of the worst *posters* I've ever read... emphasis on "phaggot" and "retarded"

 

[Ninjerk]

Quality thread.

 

[Jaesun]

Quality thread.

It is pathetically boring to be honest...

 

[thesoup]

Arcanum is good for telling what kind of RPG player you are:
- "Inventory and pathfidning are shit, combat is unbalanced, 2/10"
or
- "The world is huge and original, the quests are varied, the story and writing are very good, 8/10"

i.e. you're an rpg player or an adventure gamer

Or perhaps a combatfag vs storyfag/immersionfag.

or perhaps an rpg player vs non-rpg player

If you are an RPG player who refuses to play a game because its combat is unbalanced or its UI is shit, then you shouldn't play any RPGs, hence you are... not an RPG player.

So I take it you are in agreement with me, that Arcanum is a good game.

"If you refuse to play a game that is completely useless and broken save the one gimmick it has, then you are not a fan of X genre."

It's like calling someone a faggot because he won't have sex with a fat woman who hasn't showered or shaved in weeks and months.

So , there was a discussion that Skyrim dumbing dows was alright . Now we have a discussion about Arcanum being a bad game , not bad RPG . We should start a discussion on how Planescape is inferior to The Withcer 3 as a novel , not as RPG , and how cutting down the amount of available branches in dialogues is alright , since it eleminates the confusion and makes things easier to understand .

Literally what? How is this relevant to any of it?

Fanboys, fanboys never change.

 

[Ninjerk]

Quality thread.

It is pathetically boring to be honest...

Incorrect usage of parrot and you know it

 

[Jaesun]

The parrot is more interesting than this entire thread...