back story

i've always been a big fan of fantasy rpg games.

diablo rocked my world and i can't forget the many nights spent hooking up via modem with a friend of mine, battling through dungeons all night in an effort to zap that diablo guy and slam into the harder levels. it was a great atmosphere in that game, particularly the first few levels, and it is one reason why my msn to this day rumbles out "aaah, fresh meat!" whenever anyone comes online. brilliant stuff.

these days, however, the two games which make life worth living are neverwinter nights and oblivion. you have to adore them. the feel of both games is just right. nwn for if you like it d&d style - dungeony and scripted. oblivion if you prefer character development and awe-inspiring customization of play. my, i can never decide and find i switch between the two.

which is why i think i've put all my hopes onto ddo. i'm not overly impressed with the actual gameplay, and the quests can be artlessly generic, but it's got that feel that tried to mingle oblivion and nwn - albeit unsuccessfully.

see, i think the true key to playability isn't a scripted style or necessarily an abundance of quests. more just an ability to focus on your character and its interaction with those around it - whether that be world or other players is entirely up to the player. such to the point that i'm not, technically, a fan of single play games, yet if find my alltime favourite is a single player game. the fact that i've spent so many hours drifting through oblivion (and morrowind) is testament to the absolute genius of the game.

i mean, you can't find yourself bored. you can't feel pushed into a role and forced to be the good guy even though you seem to have an evil option in your character sheet. it's wide open to almost creating your own life inside the game and if it were turned into a mmporpg, i think you'll find it would kill off all other pretenders to the genre.