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Old 10-24-2000, 11:22 AM   #1
dvicci
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It hasn't been long enough since the last word from HPI to assume the worst, but I just wanted to throw my $0.02 in here (I hope this isn't in bad form to post here - I debated for a while, but decided that it can't hurt to let the publishers know my thoughts in a place where they can easily be bantered back and forth).

[Originally posted on HPI message boards]

W&W is, perhaps, one of the most engaging games I've played in years... since the days of Bard's Tale, Wizardry, and Ultima III - X. GOOD JOB, and my hands are repeatedly together to you guys on this. If 18 hours in the last two days is any testimonial (much to the chagrin of my girlfriend), then you've made a winner. It's so blissfully nostalgic to those games of old it almost hurts.

But like many others out there, I've had some problems. The infamous crash-to-desktop-during-loads, toad villagers stuck in Toad Village tunnels, inconsistent quest completion problems (two barbarians could become samurai, but the Samurai Spirit just wouldn't appear for the third; I guess a second ninja is just as good), and the gold duplication "feature" (I MEANT to go to 1.5 million... but HONEST, that extra 1.5 mil was an accident! ) have all had their place in my experience with this game. However, given some of the posts I've read here and elsewhere, I've been lucky... a homebuilt PC with nothing but high quality parts and little in the way of extra application-in-the-background-cruft is probably my secret. Nothing so far has stopped the game completely, and nothing has been corrupted beyond repair, or at all from what I can tell.

Do I think there should be a patch? OF COURSE! Just b/c this game is deliciously "Old School" in game play, doesn't mean it should adhere to old school, pre-internet patch and update standards. Like any other piece of software released to the public market, there WILL be issues that slid past the Q/A process. That's what patches are for... to fix the bugs that only a full public release can find. This doesn't reflect badly on HPI, or Activision, it's just par for the course. What will reflect well or poorly is how HPI and Activision respond to the customer. There are plenty of bugs out there, in more or less organized lists, so there's no shortage of things to reply to.

HPI has responded, and really looks to be sincere. Activision, however, from what I can tell has not responded (PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong) and needs to. Even Origin at least responded to the hoards of dissatisfied Ultima IX players.

I REALLY REALLY enjoy this game. As I'm playing it, I'm thinking "THIS is what Ultima IX SHOULD have looked like." As I said, for me it's been totally engaging, but there are some problems that I think should be addressed, and I sincerely hope they are (just allow us to keep our saved games, please!).

HPI and Activision could both stand to make or break some extremely loyal customers with this game, and merely by responding they increase their chances for positive association immensely.

HPI, thanks again for the responses, and good luck. Activision, if you're listening, consider future sales and customers when you think about supporting or abandoning this game. I, for one (and I think I can safely speak for many of us who purchased this game), will remember.
 
Old 10-24-2000, 11:54 AM   #2
Scronan
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Amen brother, amen.

I know that I for one was really supporting this game at first and I do like it a lot (being the old school fart that I am), but the bugs have caused me to become a little frusterated. A patch is very much needed, if not for us whining players, but to save the reputations of both Activision and HPI. I know all about programming and making games, but this is a PROFESSIONAL title that we shell out big bucks for. No one is perfect, but flaws such as the ones in this game need to be adressed.

I am never one to cheat on games, which surprised me on this title. I discovered the gold cheat, which could be done so many ways, like buying and selling arrows, I looked at it as a time thing. I knew exactly how I wanted my party to be, changing classes a lot like I did in Wiz 7, but in that game, you could change FOR FREE.

I like the guilds and stuff, but I dislike how everything in the game revolves around the all mighty gold piece (kind of like real life I guess). I'm sure hoping someday that some RPG will come out with little or NO MONEY. I'm sure there are some out there, Stonekeep comes to mind, though its not like a typical old school RPG. I think the guild entry should have been earned by quest completion, and it all could be the same, just earned through helping NPC's.

I mean, lets face it, a bag full of gold in this game makes your characters get powerful really fast. You can bless weapons and train in guilds to your hearts content, which does make the game a lot easier. I saw it as a way to save time stocking up on gold forever, since I'm no longer a teenager with the time to play that I had in my youth.

As far as that goes, I have played the game on my own, without looking at spoilers for any quests ahead of me in the game. Thats the only area where I have not "cheated".

I chose not to over abuse the lamp, or the toughen spell thing. The extra gold was all I needed. Unfortunately, I had to use the guild cheat as with the quest bugs I got really frusterated after so much hard work, and my characters could not all get credit, since I just found items like the Band of Boars, not knowing of the quest and then only the character holding it got credit.

So, I do like this game, but the many bugs were too tempting for me, alas the Dark Side hath consumed my soul...but as far as that goes, this is just a game....so I've better things to do anyway.

Scronan
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Old 10-24-2000, 03:02 PM   #3
dvicci
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I'll give you that, gold in this game, even more so than others I've played, really does dictate how powerful you can become. I hadn't thought about it before your post, but I think you're right on with that point. W/o putting it in those words, or thinking about it in those terms, I did actually use the double-the-gold-in-the-inn cheat, and with shameless abandon. Most times when I cheat, I find myself becoming completely bored with the game immediately, and just quit. Every now and again (Vampire: Redemption), I'll start over and decide not to cheat, and play through it all, actually enjoying it as it was meant to be enjoyed. This time, I find that by not having to worry about gold at all, I'm actually really enjoying it more than I think I would have otherwise. Do I consider this a drawback to the game... I don't honestly know. I'm having too much fun to worry about it.

Like I said, 18 hours this past weekend... if not more, now that I actually think about it.

I'm with you regarding the quests, though. I don't have a pure record, but I've done 95+% of the clue digging, and searching on my own. Not having gold to worry about frees me up to actually think about the rest of the stuff going on.

Still... a patch is definitely needed. It would/could do a world of good for everything from in-game consistency issues to game stability problems to interface roughness. Everything I've read indicates that D.W. Bradley is wanting to address these (and I imagine, given his personal investment, that he really truly is), and is just hitting the wall of the Activision Machine, resources, and time in trying to.

If you're reading this, Mr. Bradley, I, for one, am truly impressed by the work you and your team did (even if, or perhaps b/c it did take a long time, several companies and two title changes), and am pulling for you and yours to be able to do what you need to finish what you started.
 
 


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