Quote:
Originally Posted by Katsunami
Maybe the fact that a friend of mine recommended LotR to me as my first fantasy book was actually bad. I liked it a lot (except for the Bombadil part, which I'm debating if I should skip it or not because it feels like padding), and now I measure all fantasy I read to this standard. Most falls short. If a book (even if it's not fantasy) doesn't measure up to the scope of LotR, I tend to finish it and then forget it and be left with a 'meeh' feeling.
Maybe I'm reading too many short books. Maybe I should read something really long, like the 10 Malazan books, a thousand pages each, some more Clavell of whom I've not read everything, or maybe even break my own rule and start Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire though the series is not finished yet.
Same with computer games. In the beginning of my gaming days (1994-1998), I played point-and-clilck adventures and city builders. Then, the same guy how recommended Lord of the Rings, also recommended Baldur's Gate. Played it. Switched to RPG's. Played the other games in the series, BG2, Icewind Dale I and II, Planescape: Torment, and all it's expansions. Then Neverwinter Nights I and II.
It got to the point where I started to hit space bar to pause the game even outside of the Bioware RPG's. Now it's gone so far that I actually can't get into any other game but an RPG that measures up to the likes of Baldur's Gate I and II (and Torment) on story and gameplay mechanics.
The only two exceptions I've encountered through the years are Return to Castle Wolfenstein, War for Cybertron, and Fall of Cybertron. Those are excellent shoorters; and I'm not a shooter person. Because of this, I have had Gog.com clean out my library (as in, take games out), and I even wiped the backup copies from my hard drive, even though I paid for those games. (Fortunately, most of them only cost pennies.)
Maybe I'm just old and stuck already.
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My first big RPG was Bard's Tale on the Apple II. Still would love this game or something similar on the iPad. There is a Bard's Tale on the iPad, but it has nothing to do with the original game, as far as I can tell. Most RPG are either quick twitch or you have to remember a series of complex movements to cast a spell/special move (I call this the play station/xbox phenomenon). Bard's Tale was more like a true D&D game on the computer.