Games we play

OK, I'll come clean. The only reason I bought myself a new PC a couple of years ago was so that I could play Neverwinter Nights. The old PC was good enough for most other purposes, but I'd seen demos of NN, read glowing praise about it, and decided "Yes, that is the game for me!"

For the uninitiated, Neverwinter Nights was, at the time of its release, a cutting-edge role playing game based around the old warhorse that is Dungeons & Dragons. Its main story is of a plague that hits the city of Neverwinter, and of the sinister plot behind it. At its heart, it's a hack'n'slash adventure with some puzzles thrown in to keep one thinking.

And here's where the problems begin. Dear reader, I have not the temperament for this sort of game. I try, I really do. I got into RPGs by playing the Final Fantasy series under various emulators. They kept things nice and simple, and generally had excellent stories but, when it came down to it, combat was too random for my tastes, and there was too much aimless wandering.

So why did I think Neverwinter Nights would be different?

Well, visually, it's leaps and bounds ahead of all but the latest games in the Final Fantasy franchise. It also has online play, though I doubt I'll ever get round to using it. It also includes 1-click recommendations for levelling up, which takes all the confusion out for the role playing neophytes like me.

It all went horribly wrong for me when I realised (in very nearly my first battle) that the whole thing is still completely random. OK, not entirely random. It's based on your character's stats and virtual die-rolling... but, in my world, that's plenty random enough. Maybe if I'd ever figured out how these stats work, how best to manipulate them to create the character I really want to play, and why certain character classes are completely unable to use certain items of equipment (I mean, come on, how difficult is it really to get your head around wearing armour? Can it really affect a character's ability to cast spells?), I'd have a better appreciation of these games, and get more fun out of them... but, to be honest, I truly doubt even that.

It's not just the feeling of disconnection and lack of control in combat. It's the way the whole thing works, and the way certain tasks can only be accomplished in a certain way. It's the way it'll present you with a room full of levers which has you reaching for a walkthrough, only to reward you with something your character can't use anyway. It's the way you find yourself reading through the rest of the walkthrough, to see what's ahead... only for it to leave you thinking "Oh, hell, do I really have to go through all of that crap?!"

And that's why I stopped playing ages ago. I got tired of running through repetitive landscapes/dungeons, fighting off repetitive monsters in repetitive battles I wasn't even really fighting, facing lever puzzle after lever puzzle after bloody lever puzzle. What can I say? It got dull. The worst part was that I persevered and reached the climactic battle, only to find an important plot element had mysteriously vanished from my inventory several saves back. If that wasn't bad enough, the climactic battle was utterly unfair because my character fought mainly barehanded, and my sidekick fought with a large, 2-bladed sword. To kill the main villain, we had to kill the two enemies that were protecting her against blades and bludgeons... and my sidekick insisted on attacking the wrong thing, no matter what I did. Add to that, the fact that the main villain could stop time and still attack both of us, and it just became ridiculous.

The expansion packs - Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark - offered something more, but each had its own share of stupid situations and infuriating lever puzzles, so I quickly gave up on them too.

Over the last couple of weekends, though, I've tried getting back into them. I immediately discarded any notion of starting the main campaign from the beginning or, indeed, from any of my saved games. I never really got anywhere with Hordes of the Underdark, so I figured I'd start there.

Sadly, exactly the same problems presented themselves. Lever puzzles in just about every level. No sense of involvement in the battles (in fact, once the battle is joined, you can quite happily go and make yourself a cup of tea because, whether you're there or not, the outcome will most likely be the same). Sections that had me reaching for a walkthrough, only for me to realise I really didn't want to face the next part anyway.

I even went round looking for fan-made modules to try out. I downloaded one, found it reasonably diverting, but also a little disturbing (it borrowed heavily from Silent Hill and its like) and a touch unfair. I'm still considering downloading more, but part of me is already asking "What's the point?"

It's a crying shame but, as I said at the beginning, I just don't have the temperament for these games. I keep trying, and they keep annoying me. Baldur's Gate 2 suffered exactly the same fate, as did Arcanum (which I really wanted to like, being a fantasy 'steam punk' RPG, and I love the idea of high-tech steam machinery). The only game that didn't suffer too much was Diablo 2 which is, let's face it, an Action RPG rather than a true RPG. But even in that, though you appear to be involved in the combat, you're really not involved to the degree you might think.

And the reason all this is bothering me so much is that I've seen Neverwinter Nights 2 sitting around in the shops. Part of me wants it... but I'd need to buy a new PC (or, at least, free up a huge amount of hard disk space, or buy an external drive) to play it anyway... and I'd end up playing it for a few weeks, and then casting it into a drawer because it's just not my kind of game.

I like adventure games, games driven by story... I used to love the point-and-click adventures, but they're just not cool anymore. Give me a game that looks like Neverwinter Nights, but plays like the old style adventures (though preferably without the silly mazes), and I might just be happy. Throw in some action-oriented combat, and so much the better.

Then again, knowing how easily I get bored with these things, there probably isn't much point.

In other news, my health is improving, and I shall be returning to work tomorrow. My left ear feels better (though strangely a little numb), my right seems OK, and my left eye appears to have calmed down dramatically, but I'm still coughing intermittently. If I survive tomorrow (my press day!), I'll be fine.

Miserable weekend, and then...

So I'm still unwell.

Had the day off work today and, chances are, tomorrow too. My cold has developed into an ear infection which, unlike last time, is not content with being resident in one ear only. Oh, no. I have an ear infection in both ears.

Managed to get an appointment with my doctor at 10 this morning. When I spoke to the receptionist, she said it was possible I could be seen today "but not until later". I was happy with that, so when she said 10 o'clock, I was rather taken aback. It was already 9.20.

Still, it gave me time to come home and make myself a cup of tea... though I didn't have time to drink much because I made it very hot, and it hadn't quite cooled down before I had to leave again.

The appointment itself took, at most, ten minutes, and I was prescribed the longest list of medicines I've ever had: An antibiotic (1 week's supply), a decongestant (1 month's supply) and ear drops. She also took a swab of the worst affected ear, "in case the antibiotic doesn't work, and we have to look for alternatives" - basically, getting ahead of the game. I also have an appointment for next week, which suggests this sucker is worse than I thought.

OK, sure, I've had crippling headaches during the day, which I've had to try to sleep through, so perhaps I should have guessed it was worse than the last one. And there's that bloodshot eye, too... that's a sign.

The problem is I don't like going to the doctor. The one I used to see made me feel like a hypochondriac, but I get on much better with the one I saw today. She occasionally jokes around (her main thing is how people clean their ears. In her opinion, one should use nothing smaller than one's elbow to clean one's ears), and doesn't look down her nose at anyone. The one I used to see was also my grandmother's GP, and I'm told he preferred to talk about his holidays, rather that discuss her reasons for being in his office.

Anyway. My head is better at the moment, but it's too early to tell how well the medication is going. I hate having a cold.

Had a curious conversation with one of the pharmacists at the chemist I went to for my prescription. Originally from Leeds, he was in the grubby little burg I call home during the mid 70s, and remembers it as being very similar, on the whole. Transport was unreliable even back then, but folks were more tolerant of it, apparently. He also observed that, while he used to be able to clear out cold remedies during the summer, and allergy meds during the winter, now he has to keep a shelf of each all year round. He blamed the overall quality of life in London, and the push towards making it (unnecessarily, in his opinion and mine) a 24 hour city. Leeds, he reckoned, was much better.

His assistant recognised me - or, more accurately, my relation to my mother and grandmother - by my surname. That kind of thing always impresses me... We're a small sort of place - more than a village, less than a town - but still quite impersonal in general. Having a pharmacist, or anyone in any shop, for that matter, who knows who you are gives one a sense of being part of a community, even if only in a small way.

Important note

Following on from the last post, it struck me today that 'the funny watercooler scene' really shouldn't become a common sort of occurrence.

That office is already too much like a bad sit-com. Adding another level of similarity can only be a Bad Thing.

Thank you, and goodnight. You've been a wonderful audience. ;)