Jaded with games, looking for something unique

[Patmian212]

Hey guys,
I am gettin really bored with todays games. Warcraft 3, Railroad tycoons, Civilizations, Unreals, EVEN WoW.
WoW was ok but I find it REALLLLLY monotemous and leveling up loses excitment after a while. I am looking for something unique. I dont care if its really old but decent graphics are a plus. Basically I want a game with nice landscapes like myst, puzzles like myst(easier preferably), a nice captivating storyline and maybe some action and an imersive game world. Im thinking to myself I really wanna play myst but last time I tried I got SOOOOOO frustrated, it is just to hard and I hate the whole figure things out by yourself aspect of the game. Can anyone recommend me a game like this? Oh and no FPS. . . Halo has me covered there.

[stridey]

Hey guys,
I am gettin really bored with todays games. Warcraft 3, Railroad tycoons, Civilizations, Unreals, EVEN WoW.
WoW was ok but I find it REALLLLLY monotemous and leveling up loses excitment after a while. I am looking for something unique. I dont care if its really old but decent graphics are a plus. Basically I want a game with nice landscapes like myst, puzzles like myst(easier preferably), a nice captivating storyline and maybe some action and an imersive game world. Im thinking to myself I really wanna play myst but last time I tried I got SOOOOOO frustrated, it is just to hard and I hate the whole figure things out by yourself aspect of the game. Can anyone recommend me a game like this? Oh and no FPS. . . Halo has me covered there.

Journeyman Project 3 (http://presto.tommyyune.com/presto/journeyman3/mainindex.html). Kinda old now, but beautiful 360 degree graphics, Myst style puzzles (but a bit easier), and full of entertaining time travel. It's awesome.

[HiRez]

I never got to Journeyman Project 3, but JP2 was quite a lot of fun. If graphics aren't of paramount importance to you, you might download a text adventure engine and play some of the classics like Adventure, the Zork series, Planetfall, etc. Those are certainly immersive in their own way. Some of these you can even play right in a web browser (make sure you can save your game though).

[Coca-Cola]

Hearts of Iron 2 is pretty neat. If you like history and graphics don't matter.

[Jon'sLightBulbs]

text adventure engine ...immersive in their own way. .

Haha. Somehow I don't think a guy who's bored of world of warcraft - a hack and slash game using the latest 3d graphics effects - will be interested in a text box "adventure." Just a hunch though. :)

[Counterfit]

Wow, I never knew they made more Journeyman Project games. I've been playing the original in Classic all this time! :eek:

Awesome music too.

[Leareth]

hmm Myst V is pretty good for the eye candy but at times feels like an IQ test...
Avernum and Geneforge have pretty good story lines, graphics OK
KOTOR is fun with mods added
Neverwinter Nights is good too
Sacrifice is OK
Black and white is challenging for a while
Savage in pretty cool too.

[HiRez]

You might try Clan Lord (http://www.deltatao.com/clanlord/index.html):

http://www.deltatao.com/clanlord/images/screenshots/cl14_portals.gif

It's graphically primitive but rich in other ways and quite unlike any other game.

[GonzoRob]

You might try Clan Lord (http://www.deltatao.com/clanlord/index.html):
It's graphically primitive but rich in other ways and quite unlike any other game.

They charge for that !?!?

Seriously .. 80 bucks a year ... omg

[HiRez]

They charge for that !?!?

Seriously .. 80 bucks a year ... omgI know, I know, it looks ridiculous when you just look at a screenshot (or even if you just play it for 10 minutes), but as I said, there's a lot more to it than what you see on the surface. I've actually been playing it for 6 years now. It's a true roleplaying game (unlike WoW or EQ or Diablo II or most of the others that call themselves RPGs). In a simplistic analysis, it's a graphical MUD, but I know hundreds of people who've been playing it for 5+ years (and paying for it for most of that), how many games can you say that about? It commands a loyalty that few other games do.

[Rocksaurus]

I'm curious what you mean by true role playing game...? I've been playing StarCraft for over 5 years and Diablo II I play off and on, so graphics don't really matter to me. Tell me more about clanlord :)

[HiRez]

I'm curious what you mean by true role playing game...? I've been playing StarCraft for over 5 years and Diablo II I play off and on, so graphics don't really matter to me. Tell me more about clanlord :)Well basically it means that the focus is on the social aspects rather than "winning" the game. Generally, you "play the role of" a character rather than yourself, although many people's characters are very similar to their real personalities, and the level of roleplaying varies. It also feels much more like a real community than most other online games do, where you can really get to know people rather than just grouping occasionally to complete a quest. This is one area where Clan Lord's overhead 2D graphics are actually an advantage over 3D games. Using chat bubbles (which Clan Lord had long before WoW existed), you can quite easily follow a conversation of a dozen or more people, all while seeing where they are at any time (very useful in large battles), something difficult to do by looking at a scrolling text log and a front-ahead-only view as you find in 3D games.

The community is relatively small compared to other games (there is only one server for the entire world), but this means you can often interact directly with GMs, and occasionally influence the game world permanantly, and this makes it a much more personal game. In most games, you compete a quest, kill a boss or whatever, and a few minutes later everything resets, as if you had never been there at all. There is zero chance to actually influence the world, and this can cause a sense of detachment. In Clan Lord, players can leave their mark on the world: play a song that they wrote on an instrument at a wedding, have a cave they discovered named after them, be known as the player who saved the town the day the <insert monster name here> attacked, help negotiate a truce with a pirate, be the spiffiest dresser, be the only one in the lands who can absorb lightning from 20 Orga Warlocks, or be known as the biggest lecher in the lands, it's up to you.

Some examples of things found in Clan lord are: an in-game trial system where players can try a group of their peers, a museum where player artwork is displayed, an interesting training system that allows for a very wide variety of character specialization despite there being only 3 classes, Pathfinding skill that lets you find hidden passages and shortcuts, a mechanism where you "share" your experience with up to five other players (this also makes it easier for healers to heal you), a robust macro system, write your own songs as a bard and play them for people in the game on a variety of instruments, a large world to explore, and a lot of really cool people.

As for the combat portion of the game, well it might appear pretty primitive in that you can only face one of 8 directions and you "swing" at things simply by bumping into them. However, the tactics involved can be complex. For fighters, there is the concept of "balance", where the more you swing, the more off-balance you get, making you more likely to get hit yourself. Healers can heal by touching, draining their mana (called "spirit") all at once for a fast heal or slowly and continuously, or, with training, at a distance. Mystics can "boost" (buff) other players, as well as perform more arcane functions. The most interesting thing about Clan Lord combat is in the group dynamics though, and how the classes interact with one another. Clan Lord is a cooperative game. It is meant for you to cooperate to vanquish foes. You can hunt solo if you want, but I've been in groups of anything from two to 200 (and in my experience you feel much more active and useful in large groups than in, for example, a raid group in WoW) and groups are by far the most fun.

Anyway, there is a page about What Is Clan Lord (http://www.deltatao.com/clanlord/about.html); The Sentinel (http://vagilemind.com/clanlord/index.php), which is the primary message board for the game where you can get a good sense of the community (although there are other websites as well), including direct contact with the game designers and game masters; a site where you can watch movies (http://www.red-quill.org/vault/) (Clan Lord client application required), and the demo (http://www.deltatao.com/clanlord/demo.html).

This game is not for everyone. Graphics whores need not apply. The game can be hard to figure out for a newbie, and it can be frustrating at times. But if you're looking for a unique experience and you are open to trying something different than the norm, check it out. Most people drop it in 5 minutes, but the ones who stay are generally rewarded. And no, I have no stake in the game myself, I'm just a player!

[Rocksaurus]

that sounds really, really cool. If I download the demo will I be able to play with everyone else for free for a bit to try it out?

[barneygumble]

Playboy mansion, i heard the scenery is truly magnificant:D