Right guys, I've left IWD2 in mid chapter 6, I will not be finishing it as I've really not enjoyed it (too linear).
I've gone back to M&M 6, will play that and then M&M 7. I reckon these are the best RPGs ever. Any thoughts?.

ps anyone want to buy IWD2?.

Remembered playing a few of the earlier M&M games and realy enjoyed them,I'd be interested in how you like 6&7.

Good choice. MM6 & 7 are among the best. IWD is a tedious bore.

Migh and magic 6 and 7 are indeed good games. A bit more hack and slash then role playing but very good. MM6 is a very hard game. I remember cursing the developers when i was in castle Darkmoor. MM7 is more balanced imo. The game that gave me the best mix of both worlds was Fallout. The only thing about Fallout is that it isn't a fantasy game so if that's your style then don't play it otherwise i would suggest you go out and search for it. They have released a bundle package with both Fallout's (1 and 2) for a very low price. Well worth it imo.

Yeah, I liked Fallout a lot, I can't play it now though as I played it when my ex wasn't well. We split up and now it reminds me of her and visits to the hospital etc. sob.

I've never played any of the M&M series But my sister and brother-in-law sent me both 6 & 7 for Christmas. They had been given the games as a gift a few months back and just didn't understand RPG type games so they sent them to me with all the manuals and both Prima's strategy Guides so as soon as I finish playing Arx Fatalis and then The expansion to Morrowind I'll load up M&M 6 and check it out. If its as good as I've heard about here at IW I will be set until sometime in spring this year with RPG's coming out of my ears. Life is good!

Just got might and Magic IX, so far it's looking quite promising. Will update you all as I get further into it.

you play mm9? so how do you feel about the starting intro movie?

The intro?, well I had to laugh, you can (almost) see what they're trying to do with it but it is ridiculous. A torch going along a wall of 5 year olds paintings.

I bought MM9 soon as it came out and thought it very dissappointing, mainly because of my very high expectations.

Imho the Might and Magic games 6-8 are the best. Obviously they could be improved just as all other games. But they have a depth of interlocking plot/detail/structure which is more consistent than in any other game I have played. Everywhere there is tension, the possibility to do things better or faster.

MM6-8 had a quite sophisticated alchemy system, ....gone in 9; a coherent and progressively more powerful magic system...changed and flat in 9; and most of all they had spells which actually operated in a 3D world. Its no good having beautiful 3D graphics if the world they inhabit is almost totally two dimensional.

It was also very frustrating to find absolutely nothing in all the draws and cupboards, and a paucity of "interesting" wells. Half the excitement of an RPG is searching for treasure and other advantages in or behind such places.

In 6-8 with Rock Blast you had a spell which could be bounced off a cave or castle ceiling or wall to hit an enemy below or around a corner. Using Meteor Shower you could take the high ground and then attack much stronger monsters from relative safety. In MM6 I took out the Minators in Kreigspire on the Saturday and Sunday of the first game-week using these spells and the +30 level well. If you know the game you can guess the other spell I used. And all of this was just so I could speed up promotions by getting hold of all the horseshoes. My finishing score was 1030000 (on my fourth effort) and I've never enjoyed any game as much. It was a challenge with very few frustrations. MM9 was interesting, good to look at, but so much less than I expected.

I have just finished Wizardry 8 where, in the Rift, I faced a bridge full of Rapax which was about ten feet above me and about 30 feet away. The game locked me into cobat mode but, just like the Rapax, I could do nothing other than retreat.

I mention this because Wizardry 8 reminds me of MM9 in that they both present you with a large and interesting looking "world" which upon examination turns out to consist only of many long roads surrounded by extensive mountain ranges which cannot be climbed or crossed or used in any way. The developers might as well have covered these "features" in the "Mist of War". Or maybe not because that is one of my pet hates.

Sorry for rambling. Thanks for listening.

I must say I disagree about M&M9, sure it has some annoyances, like West being North on the maps in towns, what the hell is that all about?. ID monster being seemingly useless, some missing spells and not much "padding" like arcomage, reputation, paper dolls, openable cupboards etc but I really love the game.
I've been up til 4am the last 3 nights, yawn!.
I like how you choose your chatracters path from fighter or initiate to any of loads of other classes, I like the spell system how duration and power is determined by your ability in each spell skill.
I like the spell effects, I love the music. Sure it could've been better if they'd had more time and money to finish it, but it is a great game. Incidentally, with the patch installed I've had not one single problem with it.

As for Wizardry 8, don't get me started, that game "Sucked Ass" to borrow from Eric Cartman. It had the most awful combat system I've ever used, 20 minute battles with a bunch of garden weeds, how dreary. In the end it was "run away, run away" as soon as anything vaguely hostile appeared. "Ironweed one moves, wiggle, wiggle, ironweed 12 moves (10 minutes later) wiggle, wiggle"
Also it had too much of a Sci Fi feel, I like my RPGs medieval. Avoid!.