Rya.Reisender

I can see how Avernum plays differently from Geneforge, but Avadon is actually pretty close! How encounters work and the fast map travelling is straight taken from Geneforge. The Might & Magic VI - VIII trilogy is kind of sci-fi exploration, despite you not actually seeing many sci-fi elements (they are hiding, but they are there!). But saying it has a deep story is kind of a stretch. Thinking of good story + sci-fi, I'd probably rather go for JRPGs like the Star Ocean series. Or Phantasy Star (the old ones for Genesis or their remakes). In fact thinking about it, Phantasy Star 1 actually fits best to the requirements despite the story still not being as deep as the one of Spiderweb games unless you put the whole timeline together. It has turn-based combat, an expansive world (well, multiple planets and often the order you have to play through them is optional) and has a sci-fi setting. You could go for the remake that was recently translated to English by a fan (http://www.pscave.com/psg1/download/). Of course I mean best except for Fallout 1&2 which had been suggested already.

In Geneforge there isn't really good or bad. From each factions viewpoint they are the good ones. Also I'm usually as good as possible in games, unless being evil is actually fun. I really had fun being evil in Soul Nomad And The World Eaters. Because you can be so evil that even the demons are scared of you.

Avernum Escape from the Pit is definately the best game to start with, especially according to your criteria. Please be aware that Avernum Escape from the Pit is actually Avernum 1 remade. It's not a 7th game. The stories actually connect between each part of a series, that's why I usually recommend starting out with the first. Escape from the Pit is nice because it's modern and still is the very beginning of the Avernum story. After Avernum I'd probably go for either Nethergate or Geneforge series (but I personally didn't like the Geneforge series too much), because those are a huge change to Avernum and help to keep it interesting (playing Avadon directly after Avernum feels boring and "Have seen it all"-like).

Humble Bundle shows that the game was updated yesterday. I wonder what was changed. Were some balance improvements applied?

Wow, the first time I've seen Jeff talking!

I only like sweet snacks. Salty I only eat for dinner.

I don't think towns are necessary to tell a great story at all. In theory Jeff could make use of his amazing writing styles even in a world that didn't have any. No towns doesn't mean no dialogues after all, it just means no spot with a lot of dialogues focused on one spot. Okay but if you say you enjoy the games most by using a guide, doesn't that mean it's a flaw within the game itself?

As stated in the opening post, I love the feeling of exploration and adventure and both are pretty amazing in Spiderweb games. Also I'm not really looking for game suggestions, you can be sure that I've played basically all of them already. I really just wanted to express that feeling that everytime I reach a town I feel bad (and maybe see if anyone else understands that feeling).

Dunno, I never really liked towns except for the old Mega Drive (Genesis) RPGs (Phantasy Star I-IV, Wonder Boy In Monster World, etc.) I grew up with, because they have a very minimalistic way of writing dialogue (one that converts as much information as possible in as few lines as possible). I'd really like to see this brought back. Or just complete removal of towns (why not imagine a world that doesn't have towns? RPGs don't have to represent the real world). Dungeon crawlers (not randomized ones but those with a real story and exploration and stuff) do pretty well converting a story without much text but with a lot of exploration.

I think generally in these kinds of games when a region seems too hard it's often better to just ignore it and come back later than wasting all your resources.

I wanted to express something that I've felt quite for a while and it is especially strong in Spiderweb games: I hate towns in RPGs. I like all the others aspects of RPGs. Exploring the world, exploring all the dungeons, feeling of adventure, the strategical combat, the feeling that you are doing something meaningful. But whenever I reach the next town I feel like quitting the game. The reason for that is: Towns have NPCs, lots of them. Reaching a town basically means you won't have any adventure or dungeon exploration or combat the next 30 minutes. No, instead you feel forced to talk with every NPC in town. You might miss something if you don't after all! You want to go throw all the possible dialogue options too so that means not just talking to each NPC once and he tells you 1-2 lines and then you're done. No, you're busy several minutes clicking through different dialogues. It's so much text, so much reading, oh god no. But I can't just drop it, the other aspects of an RPG are so much fun that I go through all this torture and pain every time I reach a town. But slowly I really started to hate towns. Why do towns even exist. Why can't they just all burn down, leaving only one NPC left alive. Die towns, die!!! It's not that I have something against story or dialogues in general. If I met that one NPC in a hut in a forest, I actually enjoy talking with him. I'm curious how he ended up there and what he is doing there and if he needs any help. This works well because it's only one NPC and I'm done with him in 3 minutes and then can continue exploring said forest. But in towns there are so many talkative NPCs at once and it completely destroys the balance that I need to be happy. Even if there is a surprise evil rat in the cellar attack, it doesn't really balance it out, it's just too long without much adventure and exploration. So... now I said it.

Oh god, please no. I hate games with rotatable camera. It's so annoying~

I always create my own rulesets based on how the game is played. I agree that if you play online, everything is slow (especially if everybody is online at a different time, meaning only one post per day) and D&D isn't really suited for such play at all. Requires much faster-paced rulesets that for example allow to queue combat commands. Not to mention that I prefer rulesets you can learn in 1-2 hours. =3

I can only agree with: There should be more and updated versions of Spiderweb games at Gamersgate.

I always call pets Edward. So... Edward!

Why did you google shaper?

Not really suited for RPGs, but you can get Multimedia Fusion 2 for basically free today via Humble Bundle: https://www.humblebundle.com/weekly (only for the next 24 hours!) It usually costs quite a lot, so it's a good deal. I personally prefer OHRRPGCE but I guess that does neither have a graphics library nor a very high limit on items (I think you can create 255 different ones?). There is a free version of RPG Maker Ace I think. Edit: Actually you can create games like Avernum with MMF2. For example this game was made with it: http://store.steampowered.com/app/252210

If they conquer the world all your belongings will go to them anyway.

If you were new to the series I'd recommend Avernum Escape From The Pit as game to start because it's simply the best and introduces you into the story of Avernum. But as you apparently already played Exile 1-3 you might also just want to continue with the story with Avernum 4?

Steam gives 75% discounts regularly for all kinds of games and no developer ever puts a warning on their website like "you can get it cheaper on Steam". If anything they will put a normal "You can also get it on Steam" message.

Back then you could still touch the games, though!

The trick about MMOs is to play them for the path rather than playing for the goal. Don't enjoy the path? Don't play them.

I'd actually say it's the opposite. Humble Bundle is great for advertising. People like me who never in their life had paid $15/$20 for such a game now got it via the Humble Bundle. Several might not have liked the games at all, but even if only 10% of the people got addicted to them, it's very likely they'd pay the full price for all the upcoming games. Humble Bundle is often used by companies to advertise. That's why you often see games there that are soon to get a sequel. Companies wouldn't do that if they'd actually make loss in the long run. Still, I personally find $15 and $20 quite expensive for such a game already, especially considering that most graphics are recycled and the games don't even have music. I think buying from the website here directly is already a "Support Spiderweb Software" price. People who want to support the company buy here, others wait for special deals on digital game shop websites. Also $10 is quite expensive in mobile device terms too. Already anything above $5 is rare to see. SquareEnix kinda broke the taboo by putting their games for $15 on there and damn was there a huge flame war because of the price.

I was never really a fan of WRPGs, only played JRPGs for a long time. One day a friend suggested me Avernum (I listed some features I'd like to see in games, but I don't remember which ones exactly anymore). I checked it and the graphics didn't really appeal to me at all and $20 for an indie game seemed way overpriced for me (I was used to them not costing more than $5), so I didn't buy it. When the Spiderweb Humble Bundle came, I thought hard about it. The too expensive reason was no longer there so it's just the question if a WRPG is something for me and if I could get used to the graphics. It was pretty much a last minute decision, I paid a bit above average and got the bundle. Then I played Avernum EftP. It took me a bit to get used to it (I almost wanted to quit already), but once I got this amazing sense of immersion and freedom, I really started to get addicted.

Is it "soliciting" even when I'm not involved into the project and have no personal interest in promoting it at all? I just mentioned it because people were talking about a game with FPS graphics and turn-based combat. Oh well, in this case I just mention it by name: Deathfire: Ruins of Nevermore