Dar

I promise this is the last gripe then I’m off to play something else, but before I go can I please request future Spiderweb games have a genuine way of ending or preventing dialogue with npc’s. Not only is the “face” not listening the “Hand” didn’t want to listen either. Clicking the combat button means “I’m going to stick a knife in your face” not “Please sit on the couch and tell me about your childhood”. When a ‘mysterious force’ prevented me from burying metal in Duke Gasbag’s head and forced me to let him have yet another babble another force made a brown stain appear on my wall in a coffee cup meets brick explosion. A way out of talk, talk, talk in future please.

are we still talking about the Duke or have we moved on to Tony Blair?

I think the problem with avadon resides in which way you are oriented to play this genre of game. I think avadon appeals mostly to people who like the maths grind of being a character accountant and enjoy doing pre-research of a game through demos and forums and then, with a priori knowledge of what’s to come, strategical constructing the stat build of a character to complete all challenges. There’s nothing wrong with approaching a game in this way but it is the antithesis of how I prefer to play. I like to roleplay. I never play demos, I never usually go to furums until after I’ve completed the main mission once. I don’t want to know in advance what the character wouldn’t know. I like to view the game world exclusively through the eyes of the character. I don’t make ability stat increase decisions from a players’ strategic perspective but from the narrative of events. E.g. if there’s been lots of journeying and damage taken then endurance goes up next, if a lot of riddles or mind oriented activity has just taken place then intelligence goes up next etc. In this game I was forced to pile everything into dexterity and endurance just to survive, and both classes of magic user got intelligence or there was utterly no point to their existence at all. (In fact the shaman class is completely pointless. A sorceress with healing / mind-cleaning scarabs is more use.) The early stages of the game are comparable to avernum in relation to party / npc challenge strengths with the exception that melee meat shields are hugely disadvantaged. However starting at Lady Antje and from there on the bar isn’t just lifted it’s put on a Russian rocket and taken to the international space station for the bosses compared to where you’re party is at. This is a sneaky ranged combat specialists game from day 1 and it never gets better for a sword swinger. That should of suited me down to the ground because I like to play ranger or ninja types, but I couldn’t develop the character or equipment because of shortage of side missions. If avadon started with a main character history of hating redbeard and everything he stood for then I could of played the game differently. As it stands you are a rookie recruit to the SS who wants to join the evil set up, (so at the very start I didn’t have a reason to like or identify even with my own character - not good). All of your companions are loathsome and all you want to do is slit their throats and be rid of them asap - no reason to give them stuff or develop them then. The only true role play logic of a character in your position is to play it by the employers’ book. See every side mission offer as an enemy attempt at subverting you (which they are) and refuse them. This means that you have exhausted the meagre health supplies of avadon and traders and not acquired much in the way of equipment when you are forced to confront the instant death bosses. Avadon punishes you for playing the main mission from the role play perspective of the character. You need to of made a player’s strategic decision before starting out to oppose redbeard and team up with the opposition and take every offer of employment to get anywhere in the game. My main reason for stopping play was not caring about the outcome. Avadon is the SS, the pact nations all deserve to die, the far lands are creeps, your companions should be in coffins and you have no reason to like yourself either. What reason is there to care what happens to any of them? Spiderweb have earned the right to expect me to look at a future game releases with some hope and releases of avernum are a must have but I’ll have nothing more to do with the Avadon series.

Fallout3, Oblivion, also liked Diablo, Baldurs Gate and the Avernums were all great. Eschalon is well worth looking at too. Sykrim looks like it will be fantastic and I’m going to tryout the Dragon Age’s on the Mac soon.

Thanks for all advice guys I got him in the end and had to endure one more feeble dialogue of him remembering childhood but it was way too hard. That was boring. : )

Loved all the Avernums, hate Avadon, given up on it during the end game in avadon castle. Never given up on a game at the last stage before, but this game just doesn't give you any incentive to keep taking the overly lethal punishment. Avadon is a game for big time masochists only. Avadon started ok'ish, but the characters didn't appeal. Game picked up in early stages but I felt much too railroaded. End game stages just suck. Duke Castor Oil's missus was way too hard to kill, I'm convinced there's a bug with the spirit wolf and it just doesn't spawn at all a lot of the time. Duke Talkyoutodeath and his fireplace demons was pure tedium to kill and then back to Avadon, on your own, all supplies gone from previous stages with no chance to restock, up against stupidly impossible odds. Only way to proceed a combination of hours of utterly boring load and reload and far too dependent on pure luck. This isn't gaming, it's tedium. The storyline logic is too deeply flawed to play in the true role playing sense from your character's perspective. Never had to use forums before to suss stages of a game. This one feels like the makers actually hate players and want to make the game a misery, weird. Spiderweb loses my automatic buy new game release default mode. I'm going to be very reluctant to buy anything else after this awful Avadon experience. : (

I don't want to let him go, I want to kill the double dealing creep but he's an invulnerable double dealing creep and I also want to see how the game ends so I'll have to bite on it and let him walk. does an opportunity to kill him come later?

Thanks, it didn't feel right as an ending. I think it must be character class choice. I'm trying with two shadowblades (both maxed out on dex) and the sorceress all level 28. These guys just don't stand a chance of surviving the initial onslaught. The Dukes dex must be well over 40 to always go first but why do all of his allies also have such high dex? only managed to throw one star at him but learned he's also immune to physical damage so I think avoiding him is the only solution.

is the duke the end of the game? are you supposed to view his overwhelming instant killer abilities as what happens to avadon? i.e. instant unavoidable death. he always attacks first, gets 8 attacks per round, as do his perpetually respawning demons and guards. i've tried 46 attempts at killing him and so far only one of my characters survived to take a turn at the end of round 1 on one occasion, then I discovered that resurrection doesn't work in the duke's room! i'm playing on normal - killer dungeon! - very boring and weird ending for the player???