The Arcanum Poll

[yipsl]

no I don't like beer. I had some vodka though. Spazmo you know why I picked sci-fi? Some people masturbate to fantasy maybe that's why it exists?

How old were you when Star Wars came out? I was 19 and I pined for Leia. When I was 10, I had a crush on Penny from "Lost in Space". When I was 21, I finally got to see "Barbarella" and wished that Commie Jane would try out my pleasure machine.

Now that I'm almost 50, I'm over all that, and happily married, so I watch comedy and fantasy anime fansubs. I gave hentai a try a few years ago and laughed so hard I couldn't watch anymore. Real females provide crushes. CGI and 2D art females are beautiful to watch, but don't provide the material for fantasy.

As for women with Romance novels, well, the fantasy romance genre works because they're novels. All novels involve a more personal use of the imagination not found with movies, television or games.

 

[Solomon Doone]

Considering magic is absolutely nuclear in Arcanum (I mean, defeat my flying ball of disintegrating death if you have less than 18 constitution) I'd have to choose magic.

Got a locked door? Choose unlocking cantrip. Party looking a bit slow? Tempus Fugit. Enemy bothering you a bit too much? Disintegrate. Can't be bothered to walk from Blackroot to Qintarra? Teleport.

It's all there, and it's all incredibly powerful - technology can be just as good, but requires more finesse and less brute force I'll-destroy-you-in-2-seconds type powers.

 

[kingcomrade]

Location: Central Texas

You're one of those faggots from Austin, aren't you?

 

[Saxon1974]

I like both, however generally like Magic stuff better because we don't have it in the real world.

 

[Nicolai]

Now that I'm almost 50, I'm over all that, and happily married, so I watch comedy and fantasy anime fansubs.

 

[DOS-fanboy]

I vote guns.

Fallout, Wasteland, Phantasy Star...I have always said that a bad RPG can be made bearable by giving me the ability to deposit hot lead (Or laser/plasma fire) on my enemies. I've never been the swords & Sorcery type of guy, but I don't mind it. I just prefer a good old fashioned shotgun to a broadsword.

To give you an idea how strong of a passion I have for "Guns in RPGs", you should note that I have spent over 250 hours playing Phantasy star Universe, and actually spent a month playing "Restricted Area" simply because they gave me that "hot lead" option.

...and I still play the Genesis version of shadowrun on an emulator. Which isn't a bad RPG, actually. Sadly, it's more of an RPG then the last two Elder Scrolls games.

 

[yipsl]

Location: Central Texas

You're one of those faggots from Austin, aren't you?

I'm not from here, I've just been stuck here for 27 years. I still consider myself as being from the East Coast, though I really love northern California and would retire there if I can afford it.

As for the first part. Girls are way too cool. I've preferred them since I got a crush on Penny from Lost in Space.

Animated females do nothing for me as a serious turn on, but I still love those old fashioned Frank Frazetta pulp art.

Note to Zenimax lawyers: Fantasy for me is riding around on a horse while watching nubile unclad females in the wilderness.

http://frankfrazetta.org/images/frank_f ... eofsin.jpg

My condolences to the devs at Bethesda Softworks who no longer can present fantasy as it was meant to be.

king, if you want to talk gay, you should talk about the lawyers at Zenimax who gave the thumbs up on torture mods at the Oblivion forums but who won't permit a link to an old fashioned Daggerfall nymph.

http://www.uesp.net/dagger/monsters/mnymph.jpg

The things people who don't play games, but who invest in games do to ruin the industry is legion. It happens with every company that gets bought up by publishers or media conglomerates. Games 15 years ago might have been virtually developed from garages and had lousy graphics, but they were made as labors of love; with and without teen age fantasy as the case may be.

I vote guns.

...and I still play the Genesis version of shadowrun on an emulator. Which isn't a bad RPG, actually. Sadly, it's more of an RPG then the last two Elder Scrolls games.

My wife's old Genesis is in the closet. I wonder if it works? I tried Shadowrun the PnP years and years ago, but didn't like it as much as MERP and Rolemaster. Heck, I didn't like it as vanilla first edition AD&D.

I guess the thing is that I like fiction that mixes magic and technology, Arcanum is the only game I've played part way through that mixes the two. Usually, I find there are too many guns in the real world and not enough magic.

Then again, if we lived in a magica universe, we'd have crazies flinging fireballs at people they think diss them instead of crazies with Glocks.

 

[The_Nameless_Prick]

So far, not a big Arcanum fan. I think the setting, music, and sound effects really suck. Good sense of freedom, though, and easy to get into.

 

[JarlFrank]

I vote guns.

Fallout, Wasteland, Phantasy Star...I have always said that a bad RPG can be made bearable by giving me the ability to deposit hot lead (Or laser/plasma fire) on my enemies.

I've read that as "hot load" instead of "hot lead" whcih made it a lot more hilarious.

Anyways, I also loved the technology of Arcanum more than the magic. Blasting a bullet into this mage's face is unbeatable. I've never played any RPG which offered me to use old flintrock pistols, revolvers and all kinds of fantasy 19th century style guns, especially the stuff you found in Vendigroth.

Guns >> Magic

 

[Texas Red]

The combat in Arcanum would be vastly better if the attacks would have a reaction like in Fallout .

 

[Jasede]

So far, not a big Arcanum fan. I think the setting, music, and sound effects really suck. Good sense of freedom, though, and easy to get into.

I think the setting, music, and sound effects really suck.

setting, music, and sound effects really suck.

Suicide booth is the only answer. Seriously...

Do you have no taste whatsoever? This is supposed to suck?

 

[Mayday]

Guys... what is it about elves that makes dev put them into every fantasy game? Hell, if I was given to make one, I'd put them in too, and I don't even know why!!
I could do away with making a game with humans being the only intelligent race, but what's original about it?

 

[Jasede]

Tolkien, Mayday, Tolkien.

 

[JarlFrank]

Thanks for the link, Jasede, it made my day just again.
You are responsible for addicting me to the splendour of Arcanum's excruciatingly beautiful music again.

Just after I spent the last hour listening to Torment's Soundtrack...

 

[Texas Red]

Guys... what is it about elves that makes dev put them into every fantasy game? Hell, if I was given to make one, I'd put them in too, and I don't even know why!!
I could do away with making a game with humans being the only intelligent race, but what's original about it?

At least the elves are not a dominant race in most of the game settings. Although the huge kingdoms of man and their power is usually because of what makes humans inferior to the elves .

But yeah... a stereotyped elven society could never work. They never have any conflicts, no conflics etc. and they live for a thousand years. This would result in stagnation and any other human-like with progress would genocide their oh-so-superior asses.

Isaac Asimov had a story about humans and a race of completely united vegatarian aliens. Despite the initial fear of humans towards the unity(their worlds were all scattared and in constant wars with each other) and their huge numbers(they have no wars) they still won because constant struggle brings advancement and improvement. The aliens did not have any military technology because they did not have a chance of deleping it due to no conflicts.

 

[The_Nameless_Prick]

So far, not a big Arcanum fan. I think the setting, music, and sound effects really suck. Good sense of freedom, though, and easy to get into.

I think the setting, music, and sound effects really suck.

setting, music, and sound effects really suck.

Suicide booth is the only answer. Seriously...

Do you have no taste whatsoever? This is supposed to suck?

I am sorry my furry friend, that violinny music in Arcanum doesn't tickle my fancy. I really like Fallout's soundtrack and Planescape: Torments soundtrack though.

 

[JarlFrank]

Isaac Asimov had a story about humans and a race of completely united vegatarian aliens. Despite the initial fear of humans towards the unity(their worlds were all scattared and in constant wars with each other) and their huge numbers(they have no wars) they still won because constant struggle brings advancement and improvement. The aliens did not have any military technology because they did not have a chance of deleping it due to no conflicts.

I always knew vegetarians were loosers.

And I always knew that the right reaction on meeting aliens who say "We come in peace, my friends!" would be to put our superior weapon technology to good use.

 

[Timur]

Definitely a charismatic half-elven gunslinger with miracle operation.

 

[Texas Red]

So far, not a big Arcanum fan. I think the setting, music, and sound effects really suck. Good sense of freedom, though, and easy to get into.

I think the setting, music, and sound effects really suck.

setting, music, and sound effects really suck.

Suicide booth is the only answer. Seriously...

Do you have no taste whatsoever? This is supposed to suck?

I am sorry my furry friend, that violinny music in Arcanum doesn't tickle my fancy. I really like Fallout's soundtrack and Planescape: Torments soundtrack though.

You probably listen only to gangsta rap, no?

 

[The_Nameless_Prick]

TWD, you trully are a stupid motherfucker. Read my post again, carefully, and you shall find the answer to that question.

Good luck.

 

[Nicolai]

You're lucky this is the internet

 

[Texas Red]

Prick, you only want to get the Codex cool creds by saying you like the music from PS:T.

 

[yipsl]

But yeah... a stereotyped elven society could never work. They never have any conflicts, no conflics etc. and they live for a thousand years. This would result in stagnation and any other human-like with progress would genocide their oh-so-superior asses.

Which Asimov story had the vegetarians competing with humans? If I were to design a game with an elven society that wasn't Tolkien high fantasy, I'd base it upon the elves in Poul Anderson's "The Broken Sword". I have got to get the new complete release. I think I read the truncated version in the early Seventies.

Anyways, these aren't majestic elves. They are dark, they are not evil (like the trolls) but they aren't good and they have conflict with both men and trolls. Get a copy if you can.

http://www.sfsite.com/12a/br141.htm

Here's another review by Michael Moorcock and please note that we might not have seen Elric of Melnibone without the honesty about elves in "The Broken Sword".

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/stor ... 44,00.html

Forget orcs as the enemies in a fantasy game, I'd love to see Anderson's traditional take on fairy as the source where the elves are the bad guys and the humans must be heroic just to survive.