When making a RPG, one common flaw is that the developers never seem to play the game. This is attested to by the awful methods of transportation in some RPG's on the market today. I'll give examples of good/bad games, then examples of good/bad systems. Good Games- Oblivion: Quick travel and mounts, though the mounts are more just annoying, as well as potential level-up speed increases. Morrowind: Level-up speed increases, freeform traveling (Flight from Seyda Neen to Balmora, now depar...

Kichirou Ken Shadowrun 3 Character Sheet (I play fast and loose with the rules to make this guy, using BeCKS and a whole lotta karma. He's VERY high level. And, I will guarantee, cybered/bio'd beyond all sanity/legality). BIO-INFO Current Name Kichirou Ken Street Name Smoke Real Name Kichirou Ken Creator  Erathoniel Archetype Street Samurai Vitals Race Human (changeling) Height 6'4" cm Sex Male Weight 160 kg Eyes Black Hair Black...

    I am announcing the VGCW (read the title, I hate typing it out). It's new, but its goal is to provide user-generated reviews of games and mods for games. Anyone may join, and have their own user page. I will provide hosting for mods up to 100 MB (1 GB if I really feel like it), and mods 1 MB or less may be hosted on the wiki. I hope to see you there. If you don't join, you can at least read my classifications of games.

    Here's a list of ways to stop piracy, but not purchases. Go DRM-Free: DRM will be cracked, but pirates often steal solely due to DRM, or wouldn't purchase anyways. Make a Club: If people buy a magazine subscription when they buy the game, at no added charge, they will enjoy it more. Do not restrict play for those not in the club, though, but make special content available only to club members. (plug-ins, not multiplayer, should be the incentive) Fan Policing: Have fan...

    Now, I'm in the Mythos beta, and this is all I will say about it: It's awesome. It's like the Korean grindfest games, but it doesn't get boring as quickly and has a lot of content. Also, it's got a major drive to level up. I'll be playing it a lot.     However, I find that I've been spending a lot of my time on games, and not much doing everything else. For instance, I did maybe 8 hours of work in a day, I spent 8 playing Mythos or EV Nova (bought it yesterda...

    Don't Shoot the Fish    Now, I've got a question for ESRB (the darn games raters). Why is itthat for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune there is gratuitous bloodshed ofhuman life, but the fish cannot be killed? Why? Because you said itwould affect the rating. Is a totally realistic game M just because youcan kill anything that walks, or due to its actual content? Why is itthat anything goes so long as it's not so "insensitive", but a T gamecan have a body count of 10,0...

    Central publishing for games is one of the scourges of the consumer market. When a major publisher, like EA releases a game that recieves critical review, but sells poorly, they cancel the series because they are a major corporation and they have huge upkeep costs and demand huge profits. When an indie game sells poorly, but recieves great reviews, the franchise of games will often continue, which results in a continuation of a franchise into a wonderful series of masterpieces...

Today I'm gonna write a review of The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. It's an awesome game, really, with well over 25 hours (wonder why I didn't post yesterday) of small-time sub-plot scrabbling around as far as I've gotten. No "xp" system either, like Morrowind, so it plays realistically versus most other RPG's. Its graphics are great (360 version), and it plays quickly and smoothly. Also, it has good challenges (optional and not), which allow the player to play on any difficulty and still be rewar...

    Technically Abandonware is a legal grey area, but how is it morally? I view it to be a helpful promotional tool for future products.     Shadowrun (for Genesis) is the game that introduced me to the Shadowrun series. I'd buy a sourcebook if I had the cash lying around, could find it, and would actually use it, and I frequent the novels and fanfic of it. I'd even buy the 360/PC Shadowrun if it weren't M$ crap (Still not buying their games often since MechAssau...

    My opinion on banning video games is: "Why?".     Sure, certain games should be banned *coughmanhunt2cough*, but not all games deserve this fate. Instead of banning video games, why not accurately enforce rating restrictions and piracy prevention laws on the games?     Why should violent games be banned when more violent movies and books are being made? It's not like I'm trained for a rampage by playing eight hours of Tom Clancy games a day...

    Beyond Good and Evil is an awesome game for multiple consoles (you can get it for PC on GameTap). Basically it's a science-fiction recent Zelda-esque adventure game that was a commercial flop but a commercial success.     It's graphics, though cartoony, are artistic and stylized. The game is plenty deep, indeed, it can be crushingly deep. The only recommendation I have for a player is to save often, as one can get stuck where they just want to go back to wher...

    Jack The Fugitive is a side-scrolling shooter set in a futuristic dystopian post-apocalyptic world, where everything is dying but Corper cities, basically fortresses where one is forced to conformity.     All in all, the graphics and music are of good quality, the gameplay is engaging, but, the best part of the entire game is the storyline. It's not the most unique, but it's well written, features a romance (within marriage), comedy, and all-around action. It...

    You all know, if you've read my stuff before, that I have big ideals on what I want in a game. Not many games make it past me. You can now read onward, or die trying. Or do something else, I won't stop you.     First, the ultimate game would have to play in multiple styles. It must be at least playable from FPS and/or TPS perspectives, with one other perspective, such as an RTS or Hack and Slash style. This would allow fans of more genres to play the game, an...