I play DAoC on a role-playing server (Percival). The differences are:
Your character name has to be appropriate to the setting. Funny names, names that contain a phrase, names taken from characters from pop culture, all are not allowed. People can and do report names that don’t fit in.
You cannot speak Out Of Character unless it is in private messages, guild chat, or group chat - and only then after you have gotten permission from the people you are talking about.
Lots of people violate these rules, but for the most part people obey them, and I see some really excellent role-playing on that server. There is a female dwarven smith I buy most of my gear from who speaks in dialect at all times, it’s really charming.
You want a great looking game that isn’t fun to play at all? Give Nocturne a try. Beautiful graphics, decent story, but wretched controls, impossible puzzles and no enjoyment whatsoever. I’ve never heard of anyone getting through this game without a walkthrough. Oh, and the walkthrough is over 100 pages long. You want to know what it’s like to have a nervous breakdown out of frustration? Play this piece of crap.
After this, I bought Rogue Squadron. Now THAT’S a fun game, although it’s a tad easy. But a joy to play.
Shylock should avoid Ceasar 3 and the like because of the SC3000 similarities. I like SC3000 but found Cesar 3 boring. Civ 3 is most definately a great time-killer. I’ve been up until almost 5am with that one, which is something I used to do with every new game. Civ 3 is only the second game in the past 15 years that got me to stay up all night. You should also look into Age of Empires 2, which is sort of like Civ 3 on a smaller scale.
Wait a minute…nope, I don’t see Nethack anywhere. You can’t make a list of great computer games without including Nethack. It’s the canonical dungeon crawl–this game was addictive before the advent (NPI) of graphics. What other hack’n’slash game lets you play a tourist, armed with a camera and a Yendorian Express card?
Ancient Domains of Mystery is the best of the Rogue-like games in my humble opinion. 10 races, 20 classes, an overworld map and static dungeons in addition to the large random ones, and an actual plot make it better than NetHack in my opinion.
As for RPG, here’s another vote for Fallout 2 (never played the first one).
You won’t find in this game the great graphics of say, Baldur’s Gate, but I can’t find of another RPG which gives the same feeling of freedom for the creation of your character, his behavior, dialogs, etc…(Arcanum, made by the same people, but not the same company, and in a medieval setting, should fit the bill, but it has been postponed so many times that I lost track of it and don’t even now if it has been released yet).
Concerning Empire’s building game, I would certainly recommand Europa Universalis in which you’re the head of an european state from the date of the discovery of the new world to the end of the XVIII° century. Much more realistic than any other games in this category, with the diplomatic aspect beeing strongly emphasized. But having an interest in history is somewhat required to truly enjoy the game.
Europa Universalis II, which includes the possibility of playing any country you like (say the Chineses, the Aztecs, the principalty of Novgorod) as opposed to only some european countries, along with some other features and an expanded time frame, should have been released today or yesterday in North-America.
Like another poster, I’m quite fond of Master of Orion II, too.
Of course, the “Lords of Might and Magic” series is always a classic. Certainly excellent games, though not in my absolute favorite list (not the same that “Might and Magic”, which are RPGs taking place in the same world)
Fallout 2 is a very good RPG. Arcanum is a lot like it but in a fantasy/steampunk setting with several races and a lot more character creation options. I think, in it’s own way, it’s at least as good as Fallout 2. It DOES have a very different feel, though. If you are really into RPGs get both.
Arcanum can be very easy with certain skill choices, however. I made an Elven Necromancer with the ‘Sold Your Soul’ background (adds magical aptitude at the expense of alignment and reaction) and at 5th level I was able to wipe out everything I was supposed to fight before it got close to me (almost always with one cast), and with a bit of effort was able to kill level 30 NPCs. It was still fun though, and you can avoid that lack of challenge by simply choosing different skills for your character.
I’ve played a lot of games in my time, but none grabbed me like Half Life - good story, great atmosphere, nice little puzzles and kick ass weapons. Opposing force was a great expansion pack as well. I understand there’s a third expansion pack out in which you play as a guard - anyone played that one? They’ve also updated the game in the latest versions to take advantage of the better graphics capabilities of new machines. So there’s my vote. Half Life is the best game I’ve ever played.
50+ posts and no one has mentioned Starcraft and the expansion Brood War?! What kind of gamers are you!? Starcraft = gaming perfection. Well, Starcraft and TIE Fighter.
Another fun game you can get is Sam and Max Hit the Road…it probably won’t work correctly on your computer (the voices don’t play), but if you can get it working, it’s a hoot. Great, fun game.
