When asked what the game was about and how to win my answer was and is still:
1. Your first objective is to stay alive (but in some rare case you may have to die to save others)
2. Roleplay your character, you can be anyone, hero or villain, it's free, it's a fun experience
3. Grow old/rich/powerful but only the best will make a name for themselves (e.g. I played Mirgalen for a decade in various AD&D campaign. He made it to ranger lvl 14 and died once killed by a spectre to allow his friends to escape). Most characters never made it to level 3, in fact most never survived their first dungeon.
Do you realize that many people think otherwise? And that people make modules based on preferences which are different from yours? If someone likes tons of high powered magic items and makes a module which has those, does that mean someone who likes low magic modules should rate their module as terrible simply because it's high magic? Or should you judge the module based on its own merits?
For example, rogueknight333 said the following about Siege of the Heavens (emphasis mine):
"This was my favorite of the submissions, despite the fact that it does some things that in theory I strongly disapprove of. Magical Master has altered some of the normal rules, provided special equipment carefully designed with a thought to play balance, and in general crafted a version of NWN much more console-gamish (or perhaps I should say MMOish, since he mentions being a WoW player) than the standard sort of NWN game. My own approach tends to be more old-school D&Dish, where combat challenge can often be as much a matter of strategically managing resources over a series of encounters as it is about the difficulty of any single enemy, and so I would normally regard some of the things he does, like providing basically unlimited healing and rest, as anathema.
However, I have to admit that these things actually work within the context of the very different style of gameplay he has fashioned, and he has managed to present me with something I encounter all too rarely in NWN modules: combat that has some real tactical depth and is a serious challenge. For that I am prepared to forgive him a multitude of offenses."
Do you disagree with the concept of what rogueknight333 is saying? That even if you normally prefer low magic, for example, you might recognize that a high magic module is done well?
One thing I would add to that because it has been removed form the game is that power must be earned not given or purchased. It means no free xp/lvl, no magic items purchase (as specified in the DMG). Would you be happy to find a ring +1 on a dead bandit when you just purchased a ring +3 at a nearby store? Now what if you just found the only ring of invisibility available within miles?
So you're saying that any module that has magic items available for purchase is bad because you don't think you should be able to buy magical items?
In the case of the bandit, I'd be fine with it because I could sell it for gold. In fact, I'd find it very odd if a random bandit had a better magical ring than I did! I'm an adventurer, he's a random bandit, why would we expect him to have better magical gear?
No. He's not "just" a troll. He's "just" WILDLY self-centered. He has no tolerance for anything that deviates from his personal tastes. This seems to be more than just a personal foible or quirk. His inability to appreciate different tastes seems almost pathological rather than just stubbornness.
Yeah, that's the general impression I'm getting. It's like he can't realize people might have different preferences and assumes anything that doesn't fit his personal preferences is bad.
Just be aware that he tends to write very long posts and reviews full of elaborately and meticulously crafted opinions and ideas but despite his passion and eloquence the vast majority of them have little or no value to anyone who doesn't share his exact vision of what NWN should be
It makes me glad he hasn't played Siege of the Heavens. So far it has a 9.75 rating and that's from the initial release which has been improved on. But it features level 40 only with auto leveling and the only items available are technically store bought. Plus it has an item strip. And many people will likely die a lot because it demands you execute fights correctly (and dying has no real penalty).
So he would probably rate it a 1.
I love you dude. but you need to lighten up on the folks who prefer different gaming styles be it monty haul or monty python. When you don't like something just because it doesn't suit your personal tastes all you do by harping on it is create unnecessary friction in an altogether too small and intimate community. There's nothing wrong with leaving it at, "Just not my cup of tea".
I liked the post itself (in more ways than one!) but I just wanted to requote this to emphasize it.
I mean, I personally like challenging combat. But I have still absolutely loved modules with little to no combat that had a good story (a lot of stuff by Stefan Gagne, for example). And keeping in mind the intent of the module is absolutely vital to judging it. A story mod should be judged on its story. A combat mod should be judged on its combat. Etc. Saying "the HeX coda" sucks because the combat is stupidly easy would be incredibly unfair -- and it's one of my favorite modules DESPITE the fact the combat is stupidly easy.
