Well, since I last posted:
1. Irene only managed to get my characters up to about Level 12. Partly, this is because she thought better of her all-Buffy-all-the-time plan (she only watched through Season 3), and partly it's because I forgot to show her how to periodically go and level up the characters. So I'm in no better shape than when I left except I have some extra characters in case I lose any more.
2. What I thought would be a leisurely trip full of plenty of time to play games turned into my busiest week in months.
3. It turns out there's no good way to allow donations to Irene's Avon Walk account without ruining our anonymity.
Still, she did her best and deserves some help if I can find a way around #3. More on dnd soon.
Still, she did her best and deserves some help if I can find a way around #3. More on dnd soon.
P.S. In between my postings, you might want to check out The Adventure Gamer. Its author, The Trickster, is a frequent commenter here. He's doing essentially what I'm doing, but for adventure games. I find his postings very well written, and he even has a GIMLET-style rating system. We're going to overlap on a few games eventually, and it'll be fun to see his take from an AG perspective.
for #3
ReplyDeleteHave you looked at chipin?
http://blog.chipin.com/
It would work, but I want people who donate to be able to get a receipt from the charity. There's one way that involves using her walker number, but people would have to send physical checks. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteChipin does give you a receipt, although I don't know how useful it is for tax write offs if that's what you're worried about.
DeleteWhat about PayPal? I had a donations type of thing on an old blog, and all I had to reveal was an email address.
ReplyDeleteSame problem. I'm sure you all trust me, but I'd rather the donors got an official receipt from Avon. They'd need it for the tax write-off, too. Maybe I'll just offer both options. Thanks for the ideas!
ReplyDelete"he even has a GIMLET-style rating system."
ReplyDeleteCalled PISSED. :-)
It sounds like you are not enjoying Wizardry 5. Time to move on?
ReplyDeleteAnd perhaps skip Bard's Tale 3? As I mentioned somewhere else only the Apple version og that game seems to be bug free.
BTW, seems Blogspot have changed something lately. I can read the main page, but individual pages turn blank, unless I turn off JacaScript or use AdBlock plus to diable this script: http://www.blogblog.com/dynamicviews/acacef8b5f7a566b/js/comments.js
It's not just your blog; I noticed the same thing on another Blogspot blog. I do use an older version of Mozilla that is not the resources draining piece of bloatware that the current version is, though.
Gang aft aglee
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVNCZTFx65A
Ah well. Have you put in the 6 hours yet? I doubt that most of us will think badly of you if you move on.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to The Adventure Gamer, I actually had thought of such a blog for either adventure or strategy games - but I know myself, and I don't have that kind of discipline to finish so many.
In fact, I haven't gotten too far into Bard's Tale (still!), I got distracted by 2 NES games, Dragon Warrior 3 and 4.
I don't know if I should just wait until you pick up the next game and play along with that one.
Wizardry 5 sounds like a nightmare. I tried to play the SNES version of it a few years ago on an emulator and got to level 3-ish where you encounter the stomping NPC but lost interest. Too much grinding, not enough fun.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for the Adventure Gamer tip. Any frequent commenter wanna start blogging another genre? ;-)
ReplyDeleteCaron, don't tempt me, I have too many other things on my to-do list. But there are only 247 DOS Racing & Driving games according to Mobygames ;-)
ReplyDeleteSeriously - Flight, Racing/Driving, Simulation, and Strategy all look very interesting to me.
Thank you very much for the mention and the link! My traffic and followers have both spiked dramatically since you posted. As I mentioned in my opening post, your blog is the inspiration and the benchmark to which I aspire. I'm only five games through my lengthy list but loving the experience so far.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure many fans of RPGs also enjoy adventure games and as you say, there is some crossover that should make for very interesting comparison. I assume even Quest For Glory will be on your list!
I hope you get some more time soon to devote to getting through Wizardry V (and perhaps that Wizard Wars walkthrough you seem determined to complete) and moving on. As for me, I'm off to play Space Quest. :)
Caron: I just started following along, but I do plan on doing the same with console RPGs (started once and lost interest when I saw the quality of my streaming). I have less time and a less understanding wife though, so I can't promise the same speed of posting. Reading through Mr. Addict's blog has infused me with more energy to get it going again.
ReplyDeleteZenic, I just started reading your blog. Keep going, and ask your wife what you can do for her to give you some "bowling time with the guys" (or just spontaneously doing stuff might be better. I have no idea of your situation, but I know I would like to read on your topic, too).
ReplyDeleteCA: Sorry things didn't work out with Irene and the charity.
Thanks for the tip on The Adventure Gamer. I'll definitely be following that one, too.
ReplyDeleteOh, and feel free to skip Wizardry V. Honestly, how you've made it as far as you have in that game, I can't imagine. From reading your posts, it sounds like one big grind.
You truly are an addict. You want to finish this game so badly that you stamp down both your own rules and your wife.
ReplyDeleteWhat you did was cheating, plain and simple. You used a way to pump up your characters without doing it yourself which falsifies your gaming experience.
But what really hurts is seeing how you handled it. Since you didn't have the courage to cheat straight and honestly (just backing up your characters would have been so simple), you had to draw in someone else instead, investing a lot into making your wife torture herself with repetitive, brainless work.
Instead of sharing the greatness of classic crpgs your goal seems to be making her hate them.
There are so many great classic crpgs waiting but you prefer spending eternities with repetitive work instead.
I fear your blog will die this year, still stuck at grinding, the last bit of enthusiasm faded.
Yeah, please Addict, jump over Wizardry 5. It doesn't worth it. These primitive game mechanics can truly harm the human body! There are so many great games are there waiting for you!!!
ReplyDeletelol @ cure888. I'd be tempted to think 'twas Mr. Addict's wife posting tongue-in-cheek, but I'm not sure a CRPG acolyte on hire for some brain-dead work would know to identify the task as "grinding." Instead I'll just assume it's someone who's used to injecting opinions into obscure Wikipedia discussions, too. : P
ReplyDeleteSo I genuinely don't know whether cure888 is being sarcastic or not. I love the internet. Also, I vote you skip Wizardry V as well.
ReplyDeleteCRPG Man, I really get a kick out of your ongoing reports of your adventures with old role playing games. But after reading the last 2 entries, I'm sensing that imminent danger may lie ahead for your RPG adventures and accompanying online journal (not to mention your relationship). I don't mean to get too personal, but since you make public the trials and tribulations of your gaming habit and how it affects your life... and because I don't want to see this blog come to an unhappy end... I feel kinda obligated to say something:
ReplyDeleteTwisting your wife's arm to "level grind" a party of characters in a game from the 80's, right on the heels of recovering from several days of out-of-control gaming, is a major sign that you are in trouble. Personally, I would never dream of asking my girlfriend to spend even 10 minutes doing monotonous work for a videogame. The fact that you used your "nuclear option" (as you worded it) to convince your wife to do something so trivial and unrewarding should be setting off serious alarm bells in your head. What are you going to do when you need a real favor? She must have enormous patience to have tolerated the one-two punch of first your week-long Skyrim binge and then your request for gaming chores which followed it. If you continue down this road, pretty soon some kind of blow up may happen which could cause you to give up RPGs for good.
All that aside, any RPG that forces you to waste hours of your life on monotonous "leveling up" to make up for a lack of game balance is probably not worth playing. If I were you I'd just erase Wizardry V from the harddrive and get on with life.
-Johann
I like how people take it upon themselves to turn someone's blog about CRPGs into Life Advice Corner where they can preach their particular brand of advice to people.
ReplyDeleteI think CRPG man does not need to complete most of these games especially the older ones, especially ones with tons of meaningless grinding and which has no fun. And you can discuss these primitive games if they are CRPG or CT(Computer Torture).
ReplyDeleteHis task is enormous already. I fear that at a point Mr. Addict will be get bored before coming to newer and fun games.
So my vote will be to pass Wizardy 5 and all repetitive games. For most games 6 hours is more than enough! We want you to complete your objective and give us a CRPG history book but without you getting bored or hurting your life.
Thank you for all your efforts until this time and good luck from now on! We will support you no matter if you quit or continue!
iLhan's post is extremely reasonable, which is completely contrary to the nature of being an addict.
ReplyDeleteI've only just recently started my triple Elder Scrolls playthrough blog, have to say, it's a lot more difficult than I expected. Props to the CRPG Addict and The Trickster for their dedication. I haven't given up on mine, but I may have to change a few things.
ReplyDeleteYeah, skip it. Or hack some characters or something. Less time on WizV = more RPGs = more fun had by you = more interesting blog for us.
ReplyDeleteInstead of skipping Wiz 5, just back up characters and restore only in the cases when an entire party gets wiped out or when a character cannot be resurrected. Doing these two things will remove the worst grind elements. I know this is a change from "the rules", but it isn't as bad as rebooting after every non-ideal battle result.
ReplyDeleteThere are later games (including some modern ones) that are designed with the expectation that the player will save and restore. Accept it. (For example, I'd never play MM6 iron man.)
Now I'm not looking forward to getting to this game. I wonder how the console ports differ. It'll probably be at least 2 years 'til I get to this point, but the first one on NES should be within the year. Looking forward to an update from you.
ReplyDeleteHope you're doing well and just busy rather than losing motivation. It seems you're close to breaking into 1989, you have plenty of other games, and I suggest moving on if you haven't already. You can always come back right?
Banshee makes a valid point regarding the save/restore process. While it was taboo (or completely impossible) in the early days, at some point it became expected. If I were modifying your rules, I would allow restores in the case of complete party wipes. Not because you require it, but rather because it will facilitate the ongoing feasibility of the blog (and perhaps your sanity).
ReplyDeleteI played all the Wizardries, and completed most of them. I used whatever methods I could to eliminate having to restart the game with a new party, or even having to add new party members.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I played the earliest games on my Apple II, I would flip open the floppy drive door if my party got wiped out, preventing the game from writing the status to the disk.
Women cant be trusted..
ReplyDeleteYes i think it is a design error. You can design it is a design decision but i think a very bad design decision and it makes it an error.
ReplyDeleteGames are made for fun and there is no need to start over and do the same things over and over for no fun.
I think(maybe a little late but) it is time for a change in the plans.
This may not be a good time to announce my own blog, an idea I've been toying with for a while after reading this one, but I'm going to do it anyway. If anyone wants to check it out, you can find it at: http://dmrealm.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteAs also an RPG addict myself I'm so sad about this news. I saw the news about your blog in rpgwatch and decided to visit. To be honest I first thought you mad. But I have become a silent follower of your posts. I began to play RPGs at the mid 1990s and your posts actually urged me to play old classics like Pool of Radiance, Might&Magic 1-2 and Ultima 4-5. I actually printed them on papers to read before sleep (I don't like reading at computer screen) and it would be a great encyclopaedia for RPGamers out there, and I hope it still will be. But I understand you deeply, I also have a job, and a wife and a kid. We all have a life to pursue, whether we like it or not. I hope you solve your financial and personal issues in a short time and we can see your new posts here. Anyway thanks for your great efforts.
ReplyDelete