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Getting bored...help!


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I'm running into the same problem with Geneforge 3 that I ran into in G2. I'm getting bored a little over halfway through the game. I'm playing a solo agent as many people here do, yet I find that most cannisters and equipment upgrades are for Shapers or Guardians. It seems like there is nothing to use the Enchanted Anvil's for to upgrade an Agent. I'd say over half of the cannisters are also for Shapers. The plot is almost exactly the same as it was in 1 and 2. I've played that game twice already and it's getting thin. I've also noticed that ingredients are almost always worth more than the finished product that gets created. I found someone who will train a rebel agent finally, but they want several thousand to train me because I'm already highly skilled in magic. If the cost of items made on an enchanted anvil were multiplied by a factor of 10 then there might be a reason for my agent to go to the bother of creating the items. As it is, I just collect all the junk and carry it from island to island when I leave. If I keep playing I may enchant all the acid protection stuff before tackling the Purification Plant.

 

Part of the problem is that I'm supporting the rebels but I don't really like them. As I play the story I feel that the shapers need to be knocked down a peg or two. The methods being used by Litalia and crew though seem over the top. I keep hoping a 3rd party will become available. One that is against the shapers but also against the methods being used by Litalia. Does this ever happen or are there only two factions in the whole game?

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Sorry, no 3rd option. In GF3, as in life, if you try to stay middle-of-the-road, you just get hit.

 

As for enchanting items, there are a few which you can use to make money -- I'm sure someone will post a link to the artifacts (or you can just do a search for recipes and you should find the right items). Some of them are best for shapers, some for guardians and some for the agent (though most are really more dependant upon your style of play rather than your character type).

 

As for the trainers, they are ALL expensive. You're not going to find the powerful spells coming cheap from any source -- except those you can get from canister use.

 

Oh, and for purification plant, most people run through it in combat mode to reduce the damage taken from the acid in the air.

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Thanks, Mok. I'll probably just stop playing Geneforge. I got my money's worth out of it. I'm not really interested enough in the plot to finish the game. I may start over again in a few months and play at a higher difficulty level. That may be the ticket to keeping the game challenging enough to get through the, to me, very familiar and kinda boring storyline. I'm hoping that Avernum 4 introduces stronger character choices for mid-to-late game players. If there was something along the lines of class promotions or prestige classes that might keep my interest level high enough to finish the game. I rarely finish one of Jeff's games but I always enjoy them smile

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I guess I am not the only one who got bored after the end of Dhonal's Island. Geneforge 3 is about to become the first game I've bought that I was too bored to finish. (There is only so much you can milk the same story until it becomes pointless.)

 

I don't feel like fighting through the rest of the game, since I already know how it will end (either join loyalists and kill evil drakons, destroying Geneforge yet again, or join rebels and kill head shaper yet again); I can't find a faction to join because my opinions are too pro-rebel to get any help from shapers, but joining canister-crazed maniacs that depopulate entire islands doesn't look very appealing. (I guess I am spoiled by previous games with their 4 sects.)

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Yes, yes, the first time I played through I was expecting more sects. I think, though, that this was done purposefully to make you choose. I loved the Awakened and there were several times when I thought I was going to meet them. If there is a G4, and the plot of this game sure seemed to indicate there would be, I hope they'll be back.

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Quote:
Originally written by Kibbles:
I'm very disappointed as well that you didn't have more choices. I didn't have the outlet for being emotionally involved with the characters. Either way, you were screwing creations over.
Not to mention the serviles and the innocent people trying to go about living their daily lives. The serviles don't seem to get much better treatment from the drakons than they do from the shapers -- but, they are free, more or less. And don't forget, either ending still has an entire continent in flames, in addition to the islands.
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Quote:
Originally written by Drakefyre:
I think the reason for that is that Jeff wants more "realistic" choices, where nobody can really win like they want to.
If I want realism, I turn on TV. smile

While it might be fun to play a bad guy sometimes, a game that gives you a choice between two unpleasant sides isn't nearly as appealing to most people as the classic "goodie saves the world".

However, what was the worst part for me was the disconnect between character's and player's experience of the game. The character was supposed to be surprized by many things that were expected by the player. (yes, canisters, saw that, yes, rebelling serviles, saw that, yes drakons, saw that, ...) This highlighted even further the fact that the game had the same story as the previous one, simply putting in new characters and place names.

For Gf 4, I hope Jeff is going to come up with a completely new story, whose main character already knows about canisters, geneforge and rebelling serviles. And by completely new, I mean something that doesn't fit the standard pattern of: Apprentice is attacked; he encounters unfamiliar magic and servile ideas; he joins/fights the rebels and goes on missions until he destroys/uses/helps rebels use the Geneforge.
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Back in the days of G2, I wished for Jeff to get a new main plot aswell. Cut the canisters, no Geneforge, things like that. I was disappointed when my wishes did not come to life for G3, and I broguht this up on the forum. They gave me the same answer that I will give you:

 

Jeff probably can't afford to go off the walsl with new ideas, and blow a working plot that might either ge grand and new or (more likely) fail horribly and be denounced by his fan-base. He has bills to pay, afterall. I don't doubt that Jeff sacrifises his artistic vision to go for something more "safe" when it comes to buyers.

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I just stopped playing one day in the middle of the game.

 

G3 is lacking something. Can't completely put my finger on what though. It saddens me. This is the first Spiderweb game that I have not been totally spellbound with for months and months, or even a year or longer.

 

And then one day, I thought about what I loved about the very first Spiderweb game I played. Exile III. From a MacUser Shareware CD-ROM. I played the demo till I drove my self nuts. I ordered the game. I played it. I ordered the other Exile games, got the hint books, the whole package. And played them a long, long, long time ago on my ancient Centris 610.

 

What I miss is choice. All the spells, the open ended classes, the real sense of role playing. Avernum is all fine and good... But it's only 4 folk, limited spells, etc etc etc.

 

Geneforge was a novel idea. I loved the game. It was different. I fell in love with Vlish. And when it first came out, people kept talking about how Shapers ruled and how cool the Guardian was... And how much the Agent SUCKED. Which simply wasn't true. What the game lacked in choices and open ended character development, it made up for with philosophical questions and such.

 

G2 was a rehash, and I think I started noticing it then. G3 had some engine tweaks, and then once I pushed those to their extremes, the game fell flat.

 

I really, really miss Exile type games. More spells. More choices. A LARGER party.

 

Oh, and I loved Nethergate simply because it was so darn different. Two games in one!

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Exile III rocked. It has been a few years since I last played it, but I don't remember anything wrong with it. A plethora of spells, massive map, exciting, vibrant, mysterious story, everything a great game really needs. This is probably the wrong forum to adulate E3, but I can't help it. I don't think G3 was that bad, and it would have been even better if I hadn't gotten sick half way through and forced myself to finish it. I got E3 the same way you did, Delicious Vlish, except for Windows, and I milked the demo for everything it was worth, again and again. It was the first shareware game I ever ordered, and I will not forget it.

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Quote:
Originally written by Contra:
Back in the days of G2, I wished for Jeff to get a new main plot aswell. Cut the canisters, no Geneforge, things like that. I was disappointed when my wishes did not come to life for G3, and I broguht this up on the forum. They gave me the same answer that I will give you:

Jeff probably can't afford to go off the walsl with new ideas, and blow a working plot that might either ge grand and new or (more likely) fail horribly and be denounced by his fan-base. He has bills to pay, afterall. I don't doubt that Jeff sacrifises his artistic vision to go for something more "safe" when it comes to buyers.
And this will be Jeff's doom. frown

The main point of Spidweb games was that they were fun experiments and not just carbon copies of the same successful template. In one of very old interviews posted on SW webpage Jeff had said that he doesn't do any marketing research, but instead makes games he wants to make. This is the attitude that made his games so successful and it looks like he is losing it.

E2 was my first intro to the series with its new races, a unique underground world, etc.
E3 had a huge world to explore while it was crambling around you and you were rushing against the clock to solve the big mystery.
Nethergate gave unique opportunity to see actions of your party from both sides. (I especially liked the part where your Celt party was chasing the people who were your Roman party, but barely missed them. smile )
Avernum had same story as Exile, but had a new engine.
Geneforge had a novel idea of making your own travelling companions. It also had an engrossing atmosphere of exploring a new world with its moral dilemmas.
Avernum 3 was just a dumbed-down version of E3.
Geneforge 2 was a sequel to Gf 1, with enough differnces to make it worthwhile to play through a couple of times.

However, there was nothing principally new in Geneforge 2. And Gf3 is just a copy of Gf2.

Is this happening because Jeff is too worried about feeding his family to take risks he used to take with his games? Or is he simply running out of good ideas?
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Jeff could have changed GF3's plot enough to make it interesting. New creations would have been a good start, or maybe elaborating on the Sholai (or playing as one).

 

He didn't have to use Drakons again; in GF1 the Sholai discovered the power of the Geneforge, and some of them survived and left the island. I would have much rather battled the Sholai than Drakons.

 

I didn't like either faction, and it was an identical Taker vs. Shaper plot. I got bored half way through Dhonal's Island because I realized there was no big surprise coming; the best thing about the end of GF3 was seeing the snow.

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I have to admit, GF3 isn't one of the best games Spiderweb has produced. Far from it. But it might be worth noting that maybe Jeff planned all of this.

 

Instead of making GF1, and then thinking, "hey this is good, lets do more", it might be that he sat down, wrote a huge story and then split it into chunks. If that is the case, then GF4 will continue the story. After all, there is now a war. This probably isn't what happened, but look at Star Wars. That was planned as a huge story, and Episodes 1 + 2 really sucked. Maybe GF is about to get much better?

 

That said, I think Jeff should have at least tried to implement some new creations/spells. The fact is that during all of Ghaldring's time in the wilderness, "perfecting his skills", he didn't create so much as one new creature. And the Shapers, with their many research labs, haven't either.

 

If GF4 comes out, we should at least give it a try. GF3 isn't everybody's cup of tea, but to be fair, neither was Exile or Avernum.

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EEEPS!!

 

I wish I hadn't read this thread! I am fairly new to the Geneforge games, tinkering with the demo of G1 on RealArcade, "purchasing" G2 with my game pass and outright buying G3 from Spiderweb.

 

I have looked so long for RPGs that are more to the style of Phantasy Star, Kings Quest and Lands of Lore. I really enjoyed those games more so than some of the so-called RPGs out there now.

 

My boredom with the game mostly comes from having to restart several times due to computer problems (hard drive burning, video card crashing) and the occassional, "Now where did I drop those items because I was encumbered" memory lapse!

 

I made it as far as Gull Island and had to restart because of one of those memory lapses. I did find Gull Island rather difficult (I had not used any canisters up to that point) and found Alwan and Drako to be rather weak to battle the rogues.

 

I am also confused about the "special" items and enchanting things. Not always a good idea to enchant things early on. That acid dripping sword rocks.. although now I've located a more powerful sword and wish I could enchant it!!

 

I think Jeff has some great ideas, but needs a little expansion on story lines and endings. As in most other RPGs, you fight your way through battling orcs, or rogues or whatever, but the story line needs tweaking. In one of the Phantasy Star games, you could have multiple endings depending on the characters you chose near the end of the game. That was pretty awesome.

 

But overall, I am happy happy that I found a RPGs that suit me. (on to Blades of Avernum next!) laugh

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Don't worry NanaBanana, Jeff's games are very fun when you're new to them. For most of us though, the games are all starting to feel like, "been there, done that". I've played every game that Jeff has made and registered most of them. Sequels are what seems to be killing my interest. I'd rather see completely different storylines even if Jeff uses the same graphics over and over. Geneforge was really cool the first game, kinda old by the second, and monotonous in this game. It also hurts that you have the same spells, classes, etc in each game. I was hoping for real stealth choices this time, but they don't really exist. Does anyone else miss secret doors? I love those!

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Is Jeff really planning on making a GF4 or BoGF? I probably wouldn't mind or care for it, but I'd have to agree with a lot of the posts around here stating that Jeff should focus on making new games instead of sequels to them, unless the sequels are something fresh and innovative.

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