Sleeping Dragon

A good point, certainly. I never said the lack of plot was a bad thing, though. I, for one, like the plot in Risk.

Interesting that you say that. For me, the first two had no plot, literally. They had static worlds where nothing happened until you started killing off factions one by one. They had plot like the game of Risk has plot. Geneforge 3 was the first in the series to actually have a plot, and I didn't think it was done half bad. This also made it significantly different from the first two, so I'm not sure what Dikiyoba is talking about either.

I wouldn't know. I don't live in the U.K.

Sorry, I meant the "most" crucial. In actuality, none of Jeff's games are absolutely crucial to understanding the others. He has specifically made it a point that his games are this way: you need play none of the previous to enjoy the latter ones. I just thought if you have to play one, Geneforge 3 would be it. But please do feel free to play in any order you wish.

Originally Posted By: mMessenger mMangler Okay, maybe, but that doesn't make them collectively not so bad, that makes the state of world leadership abominable. This is so true. Americans often forget how medieval the standard of life is for people across the rest of the globe. My Ukrainian parents remind me of this all too often.

As of now, it appears I will be unavailable tonight. Good luck, everyone!

I still must disagree on all points. In Geneforge 3, you were fighting against a Shaper Lord, complete with a General and an army. It was real war, quarantined island or not, while the previous two games were a secluded (and static) conflict. I felt like I was doing things throughout that game, with my accomplishment on each island bringing my side closer to victory (unlike the previous games, where you could accomplish almost nothing until towards the end, after you had met all the factions). Yes, the plot was more linear, but that allowed it to be more dynamic and that is what made Geneforge 3 unique and different at the time. It actually made it a bit like Avernum 2, which is a favorite. I also think that, for a game where characters are so important, the fact that it showed the development of so many major characters is not such a small thing as you make it out to be. I also really disagree on the necessary for plot point. Geneforge 1 and 2 had entirely contained plots, while 3-5 are continuations of each other. Not much is accomplished in 4, and 5 is simply a conclusion of the war started in 3. Starting the game with 4 or 5 places you in the middle of a war that's been going on for years, so I maintain that 3 is the most necessary for appreciation of the story arc. Finally, the dynamic change I was referring to. With Hodge, the change was obvious, as it was mostly physical, you couldn't miss it. He went from being a proud teacher at a shaping school, to a creepy, falling apart, broken man hiding in a mansion later in the game. As for Litalia, I really liked the fact that she met with you at multiple points in the game. If you kept refusing to ally with her, she became more and more disappointed with each meeting. You also became stronger each meeting, and so she had less and less power over you. Changes and development like this just aren't seen in any other Spiderweb game. I, for one, thought they were of note. I'm sorry you disagree.

Originally Posted By: Do what thou wilt The major complaint about G3 was really that there was nothing new about it. It felt like a tired rehashing of the same old plot. Yes, Alwan and Greta turned out to be important people, but they weren't important at any point in G3 -- G3 is the one game which you could skip entirely without missing out on ANY of the overarching Geneforge saga story. Forgive me, Slarty, but I must disagree on these points. The plot was actually new at the time, while the plots for the previous two games the ones that were identical. 3 involved the beginning of an actual Rebellion in Shaper lands. 1 and 2 both involved lands that were cut off from the larger shaper forces and thus your effect on the plot was more meaningless. The third game showed Alwan and Greta evolving, making it necessary for you to appreciate their later characters. Think about it, if you had not seen them evolve in the previous game, they would have appeared as generic-cookie cutter identities for their respective factions, wouldn't they? And it is the first two games, in fact, that can be missed, as the events from them are all gone over in the later games, while in order to understand how the rebellion gained it's foothold in the first place, one must play 3, otherwise your just suddenly thrust into a war that is already halfway over. Also yes, Diki got what I meant by static. But I did mean it as unchanging, Dantius. In the first two games, the characters all stay in place, doing nothing, waiting for you to pick one of them to join and kill the rest. The third one, however, was Jeff's first real success at dynamic characters. Litalia and Hodge moved around, they did stuff, they fought you, conversed with you, and above all they changed dramatically from beginning to end. It was a real treat to watch that story unfold as island after island fell. It really is something Jeff hasn't been able to replicate as well in other games. The one thing I do agree with you on though is the boats. That and the lack of more than two factions are the only real flaws to Geneforge 3, though. It was a fine game.

Originally Posted By: Lord Grey Putin's not all bad, but not much good either. Doesn't Putin have journalists who disagree with him whacked? That kind of thing is going to put just about any leader who does it towards the top of the 'bad' list.

Originally Posted By: Oblique Spheroidal —Alorael, who is absolutely sure the same can't be said for Spiderweb. Aw, I disagree. I think this forum is a bastion of peace in an otherwise terrifying and unforgiving internet. It gets my Sleeping Dragon Peace Prize.

One of the key rules to any RP is to not do anything overpowered, and the main rule why this is in place is so that everyone can have fun. If you think his attacks against you are overpowered, Hypno, he should respect your judgement thus. I personally don't think he needs mass invisibility. That spell should be reserved for infiltration, not for cloaking a whole army and attacking, thus making your army practically invincible. Spddin has an army of Shapers, he should be able to find other ways to win battles without overpowered moves like that.

Wait... Geneforge 3 is the least popular Geneforge game? How did I not know this? And why is this so? It was the least static of all five games. The only down side really was the boats, which were a minor annoyance at best. Also it has only a couple endings, but the same goes for Geneforge 4, which people really liked. Huh. Assuming you played the others, Shaper Master, it's basically like Geneforge 4, but with multiple endings. More static than Geneforge 3, if that's what your are looking for, but overall an excellent game and a fine conclusion to the series.

Please refrain from derailing this topic. It's not a normal talk about anything topic, it has a specific purpose. Let's try to keep it RP related. Thanks.

Hey, when I said that, I was referring most to the characters. Deep characters. Ones that moved around and did stuff. Some tried to convince you to join them over and over, others slowly went crazy before your eyes. That game was the best for us players looking for things like that, was it not? It was really great. By Geneforge 5, most of the characters have settled into their roles and picked their sides, it's more about you in that game.

It's really one of the best in the series. It's got a deep plot like Geneforge 3 and 4, but more ending choices like back in Geneforge 1 and 2. It's like all the best parts of the old games with less of the worst parts (no Geneforge 3 style boats). The world is a bit more static than it was in Geneforge 3 and 4, but it's engine is smoother and nicer, mostly because each new game tends to be better than the last in this respect for Spiderweb games in general, but still. So yeah, if you liked anything about the other Geneforge games, get this one. If for nothing else, then at least to witness the exciting conclusion. Unless you're considering buying this game as your first Spiderweb purchase, in which case, that's fine too, but I personally prefer playing series' from the beginning. Your call, though, it is an amazing game either way.

Looks new to me. Are you looking at his link in the post right before yours. Looks good, Dantius.

Speaking of quotes, some official in the administration the other day said something along the lines of: "Better to be thrown accolades than shoes." Made me smile.

Yay, Diki! I'm surprised you're still so far down on the top posters list. During my time here, at least, you've been probably the most prolific poster that I can think of, aside from occasional bursts from newer members now and again. That might be completely statistically inaccurate, though, in which case that simply means your posts have been the most memorable. Congrats!

Aliens will probably be smart enough to know that the environment of our planet might be hostile to them (they did travel through space, after all, they're no dummies). So they would probably wear environment suits that kept a sterile, airtight, and pleasant atmosphere for them inside, like we do when we travel through space (or they might even grow such suits, like on the new Day the Earth Stood Still movie). I still think our biggest worry would be them accidentally killing us simply trying to communicate. Tragic biological incompatibilities, like Thuryl said. Maybe they'd communicate with pheromones, and the pheromones would make us hallucinate violently and go insane.

With aliens, anything is possible. They might be a civilization that doesn't know the meaning of war and violence (like intelligent mobile plants), but then when they go to use their psychic powers to enter peace negotiations with us (while at the same time imparting all the secrets of the universe just because in their culture they think it's expected of them), all our brains simultaneously explode. Conclusion: It is silly to prepare.

Actually, Salmon, the line you quoted seems to imply the opposite of what you thought it did. The implication is that people should drive to help others and make the driving experience overall more efficient and pleasant.

Oh, w-dueck, thanks for redirecting the Confederacy article to the United Provinces one for me. I had no idea how to do that, now I do.

I'm new to wikis too, so what I did was copy and pasted from the 'edit' section of somebody else article into my own and then filled the information for my faction in place of theirs. If you like the format, feel free to use mine to do exactly that. And yeah, I should have made the region lines thinner. They are actually thinner, a little bit, but, well, I'm pretty inexperienced in paint applications as well, it seems.

Whew, I spent some time working on my faction's Wiki Entry. In case my government or the way the provinces are organized was confusing, this should makes things nice and clear. It even has a neat map of my lands now for detailed visual aid!

I can't decide whether my latest post was clever or terribly cheesy. I had my America's Founding class on the brain when I wrote it. Oh, well. Looking forward to meeting the Eyes, at least. Edit: Also, to whomever has the map editing capabilities: I have Drypeak, Illya, and now the Forsaken Lands. I've also renamed my faction... again... to the United Provinces of Terrestia.