Games people play...

[amhran_comhrac]

Slightly off topic, but I'm curious about what other games everyone loves, since I suspect there's a lot of overlap... (and because if we have one loved game in common this could be a good way to introduce each other to new games we might enjoy just as much.)

Inspired in part by twist_shimmy, since I was up until FIVE AM the other night mainlining her fantastic Oblivion fic.

Comments

[ashstoner_021]

I was an avid WoW player for roughly 5 years before I was just... done with it. I still miss my friends on there, but not enough to reinstall and all that.

I also just started playing RIFT, which is pretty interesting so far, but I'm playing it VERY casually, so as to not burn out on it like I did with WoW.

I am also a HUGE HUUUUGE Zelda geek, and have played every game there is. However I have a huge soft spot for 'Link to the Past' and 'Ocarina of Time'. 'Twilight Princess' is a close contender too, simply because I adore Midna.

[amhran_comhrac]

Oh man, I totally forgot about Zelda. I love me some Zelda... I've seriously contemplated a triforce tattoo at one point.

[amhran_comhrac]

Recently played games (like, last six months) for me are:
Baldur's Gate 2
Dragon Age (both)
Mass Effect 1 (working on a super-import for 3 since I've jumped from console to PC)
Fallout III and New Vegas
KOTOR 2 (restoration patch)
Silent Hill 2, 4, and that fucking nightmare of a Wii reboot (seriously, Silent Hill, we had something good. Something pure. Something defiled only when Pyramidhead wanted it to be defiled. Why'd you have to fuck it up by GIVING ME MOTION SICKNESS?)
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Assassins Creed 2
Prince of Persia forgotten sands
S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl
Bioshock 2
Witcher 2
The Thief games

Of those, I'd say that the most heavily played are the DA games, Oblivion, Baldur's Gate 2, Silent Hill 2, Thief, and Fallout III. I keep going back to those, and probably have played through all but DA2 at least a dozen times a piece (and I'm working on it with 2).
No shock, even for the non-RPG games on the list, they're all ones with a bunch of different ways to play it, and multiple outcomes based on your actions.

I'm a girl with a pattern, clearly.

And hey, since I'm curious... how many of us are PC vs console? I like console for some things- platformers like Prince of Persia and Assassins Creed, silent hill since it's just *better* on the big tv than my computer. But for RPGs I prefer the PC.
It seems like PC gamers are an unusually large chunk of the POT population, which is kind of neat. Usually it's 10 to 1 the console players outnumber us!

[ashstoner_021]

My husband has told me I'd probably like Oblivion, but I told him that I just don't have the TIME to get obsessed with another game right now lol. Between work, house crap, drawing, writing... I barely have time for the games I DO play! XD

Also, PC RPG'er here. What can I say, I'm addicted to mods!

[sinthe]

"Inspired in part by twist_shimmy, since I was up until FIVE AM the other night mainlining her fantastic Oblivion fic."

Oh, good, I'm not the only one who's done that.

I love Oblivion, Mass Effect, and the Sims games.

[bellaknoti]

actually... i'm not really a 'gamer' girl. i know that puts me in the minority, here.

i've owned and played all the versions and expansions of the sims, but i have settled down with my sims 2 game. 3 is fun to visit, but i wouldn't want to live there.

i've played fallout 3, and i own new vegas, but haven't cracked the plastic on it yet because i got distracted by dragon age; i never even managed to do all my dlc for it.

i played neverwinter nights, but then promptly abandoned it for a nwn server that really kicked ass and had way better story lines.

i think i've played every spyro the dragon game there is.

i love rock band; i like to sing. ^.^

i play some of the xbox arcade games, like maw, kingdom for keflings, and limbo.

i like civilization games like ceasar, afterlife, and pharaoh, and simple strategy games like roller coaster tycoon and lemmings.

i loved portal, and i want to play portal 2, but i don't know if i can take the frustration. >.<'

i beat dragon age only once, and that was as withiel tabris. finn never made it to the end of the game, kambriana barely made it out of ostagar, and lily never existed at all... though, i might make her. i never finished awakening. i never did leliana's song, witch hunt, darkspawn chronicles, or the golems of something-something, even though i downloaded them. i played the da2 demo, nearly got motion sickness, had many anger issues, and abandoned it.

as you can see, the rpg is not my main game-type, even though i love role play, because i prefer to play tabletop dnd. sometimes i wonder if i'm the only person here who hasn't been seduced by mass effect and/or oblivion. :)

[sinthe]

I really like the city-building and tycoon games, too. I'll still break out Zeus/Poseidon or Cleopatra once in awhile.

[magnolia]

I play a lot more J-RPGs than I do W-RPGs. My favorites are... *deep breath*

Wild ARMS (1 and 5), Lunar (Silver Star Story and Eternal Blue), Legend of Legaia (just the first one), the Legend of Dragoon, Final Fantasy (IX, X, and Tactics), and Legend of Mana.

I also like survival horror titles like Silent Hill, Clock Tower, and Haunting Ground. :D

[miri1984]

I too, have come out of the JRPG closet... :D

[drakontion]

Apart from Dragon Age and Dragon Age 2... let's see.

Neverwinter Nights (1, not 2, also online but not for aaaaages when I used to DM a server)
Oblivion
Morrowind
KotOR
KotOR 2
Sims 2 (no longer play Sims 1)
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2
The Witcher (hanging out for The Witcher 2 only 7 more days eeeeee!!!!)

Used to play Shaiya, Perfect Worlds, Silk Roads online, but not any more.

That's about all at the moment.

[aithne]

oooh, let's see. Oblivion, definitely, and I'm looking forward to Skyrim. Jade Empire, Mass Effect 2 (I have 1 on the PC now, I need to play it), Sims 2 (sort of...I like building crazy-ass houses), Limbo, Maw (Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!), Assassin's Creed 1 and 2 (never finished either of them, but hey), anything by Tale of Tales (I especially liked Fatale and The Path), a crazy JRPG called Eternal Sonata, Fable...there are more, but I'd have to peruse the game shelf downstairs.

My only online game is, believe it or not, a virtual horse game called Equine Ranch. Where I have given most of my horses Dragon Age-related names. :)

[sinthe]

SKYRIM YAY!!!!!!!

I never made it very far in Assassin's Creed. That game pissed me off. AC2 is awesome, though. I mean, c'mon... Ezio.

[rhiyah]

I've been playing video games single the first Pong knock off game out ... like 1979. Scary. I was only three... my dad bought it for my sisters though they didn't like it and eventually I started playing it with him. So I guess my dad is the one who turned me into a game grrl.

I'm mostly PC though I will occasionally play my husband's Xbox 360.

Most recent game crack for me has been

Dragon Age (all)
Fallout 3
Rift

My favorite games, the ones I've enjoyed the most over the years:

Asherons Call (mmorpg)
Dark Age of Camelot (mmorpg - met the hub though that)
WoW
Wizardry (all though 4 Tales of the Dark Savant is my fav)
Warlords 3
Heroes of Might and Magic 3
Warcraft
Starcraft

I'm a super geek... I know. LOL

Do you know the difference between a geek and a nerd?

Geeks have social skills.

[tmcgeesdca]

I'm not feeling World of Warcraft anymore either. Much to my guild's dismay since I run their main healer. Oh well! It's my boyfriend's guild, so there is a lot of pressure for me to log in. I am just so freaking sick of the same cycle, over and over and over again. Level, gear up, wipe a million times getting through the new dungeons, patch releases new dungeons. Regear and try the new ones, wiping a million times until it's on farm awaiting the next patch or expansion. Rinse and repeat for 6 years, no thanks...

Favorite games...
KotOR (Original)
DOA (duh)
Jade Empire
Witcher (original, don't have 2)

Others, not faves, but I enjoyed them...
Oblivion
KotOR 2
ME2
DA2
The Harry Potter xbox games (old XBox, it's really a lot of fun)
Star Wars, Republic Commando (fun, squad style shooter)
Fear (FPS, very freaking scary)
Half Life 2 (eh, it's ok, graphics are pretty cool, lots of crap popping out to scare you all the time)
Fable (but only played the 2nd one, not happy with only being able to be a male PC)
Assassins Creed 2 (but I have never gotten very far because I suck at climbing stuff)
Tiger Woods Golf (I freaking loved it, PC version, but never play it anymore)

I am very much a PC gamer, but I do have my old XBox and I bought some stuff cheap when it was going away. I will never buy another console. Well, maybe a Wii because that fitness stuff is pretty cool. Screen loading is a pain enough on a PC, on a console, it's murder. I remember playing Oblivion on a friend's XBox and then getting it for myself for PC. I couldn't believe the difference in loading times.

[duowolf]

I love so many games but the main ones are:
Resident Evil series
Silent Hill series
FEAR series
Project Zero series
Oblivion and Morrowind
KOTOR 1 & 2
Wild ARMS 1-5
Final Fantasy 7,8,10,10-2 and 12
Suikoden 1-5
Last Remnent
Star Ocean 2 & 3
Yakuza series

and tons of others.

[caltastic]

OMG Project Zero <333333333

It seems like PZ/FF is the niche-est game fandom there is, and I nerd out about that stuff like no tomorrow. MY THOUGHTS ON CREEPY SHINTO RITUALS, LET ME SHOW YOU THEM.

[miri1984]

Right! I've been meaning to reply to this all day. It's interesting how many others share my love of... *cough* JRPGs. I'm TOTALLY NOT ASHAMED.

So my favourite games are:

JRPG-dom
The Shadow Hearts Series
Kingdom Hearts I & II (I KNOW)
Final Fantasies VII to XII (I didn't get the latest one because that was post DA:O and... well I haven't really played anything since!)
Star Ocean

Strategy:
The TOTAL WAR series - these rock. Especially Rome Total War. I just love me my hooting generals.

Western RPGS:
This game... don't know if you've heard of it... Dragon Age?
MORROWIND
Oblivion (Morrowind was better IMO)
Baldurs Gate I (STILL haven't played II)

Others:
The Sims
Portal
EVIL GENIUS (this is heaps of fun)

Soooo. The only game I ever wrote fanfic for was Dragon age though. Don't see me doing it for any other games, although I was SOO tempted to write Balthier fanfic when FFXII came out... THAT VOICE.

[magnolia]

Oh god yes, that voice. *_*

[darkrose]

Currently Installed:

Dragon Age (Origins, Awakening, 2)
City of Heroes/Villains
The Sims 3
Civilization V
Plants vs. Zombies
Bejeweled 3
Zuma
Bookworm Adventures

Old Favorites:

Baldur's Gate I & II
Neverwinter Nights
Aion
Guild Wars
Final Fantasy VII & VIII
Civilization (1-3; I skipped 4)
Alpha Centauri
The Sims (1-2)
Sid Meier's Pirates
Sim City 2000
Sim Earth
Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?
NetHack

I've also been doing some form of PnP gaming for the past 15 years or so. Started with Shadowrun: Second Edition, then White Wolf: The Angsting, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Edition D&D. I'm currently in the sixth year of a D&D campaign via AIM and Player Genie; the players are in California, North Carolina, and Florida.

[andorin]

I have no idea how you folks manage to play through all these games. Meself I get stuck in one game at a time, and for five years that was WoW before my nice brother-in-law introduced me to Dragon Age.

If I look closely at my gaming I can identify three reasons to play; the social stuff and in-game collaboration, role-playing and adventure. If you count in this fanfic community DA gives me all three, so that's nice.

Games I have played and enjoyed (from age 7 and onwards) are:

Space Invaders (the original)
Super Mario
Zelda (I can't remember which one, it was in the early nineties when my neighbors got a Nintendo)
various racing games (most lately Mario Kart with the kiddies)
Myst and Riven
Guitar Hero
WoW
Dragon Age

I'm also quite fond of board games (especially tactical ones like Settlers and Diplomacy), old fashioned role playing and live role playing.

[lina]

My favourite game full stop is The Longest Journey, followed closely by its sequel, Dreamfall. I've played TLJ at least once a year since learning of it, followed by Dreamfall in the years since its release. I enjoy adventure games generally, and I'll play just about any adventure game that I come across (Fahrenheit was a decent and somewhat recent one; I've not yet had the time to play Amnesia, but I've heard that it's decent as well), and generally will give visual novels a chance, despite the decent ones being rare (Hotel Dusk is amongst the better of those translated into English). And then there're the obvious light western RPGs -- DA, Mass Effect, Fable. I'll play JRPGs now and then as my partner likes them, but the only one that I've played in the past few years and didn't dislike was the FF:Crystal Chronicles GameCube game.

Civilizations has long been my go-to time waster, but I'm not too happy with Civ V. I like some of the changes -- the resources, the fighting, the city states -- but I sorely miss the religions of Civ IV.

I also like playing rhythm games at the arcade, especially Dance Dance Revolution and Taiko no Tatsujin. I usually go for rhythm games on hand-helds as well, like Taiko no Tatsujin and Patapon for DS and PSP. I may at times be found singing the patapons' songs to myself as I walk about. (^^; (o/~ pon pon pata po~n papara papaa~ o/~)

and I have a somewhat guilty love for GTA San Andreas, as horrid as that series can be. It's well done and hilarious, and I like taking over turf. (^^;

oh and I might also enjoy scouring the shops for Japanese pr0n games to play with my friends or partner and mock mercilessly; they're awful but zomg hilarious

raraa rararararaa raa raa ra katamari damashii~

[lina]

oh! And Katamari. I can't play it because it makes me ill, but I love singing along with the songs and randomly glancing at it -- it is adorable. I wish that my father were the King of All Cosmos. (ToT)

[scarylady]

I have installed DA:O & DA2 (of course), Witcher, Assassins Creed (1, 2 & Brotherhood). Mass Effect 1 & 2, Half-Life 2 and Torchlight for when I want to turn my brain off.

Historically, too many years playing Wow (I'm free of it now), Oblivion, NWN, Unreal Tournament, Serious Sam...

... and the one I started from, that I can't believe none of you have mentioned... DIABLO!!

Oh, and I haven't owned a console since my Commodore 64.

[jannifer]

Diablo was one of the first commercial RPGs I played. I can't remember if it was the first, but it was one of them.

[caltastic]

My list of favorite games is very, very dating. XD

My very favorite game of all time is the Dig, which is an absolutely brilliant LucasArts pointclick adventure from the early 90s. I have residual fondness for most of the Sierra and LucasArts catalog from that generation, but I love the Dig most and best of all things.

My favorite strategy game is Warcraft 2, which is why I still raid in WoW.

The only fandom in which I personally write fic is Prince of Persia, which I still love more than almost anything. I still think Two Thrones was written just for me. <333

I love most of the Bioware catalog: Baldur's Gate(s), Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age, KOTOR(s), DA:O, Mass Effect(s).

I am fond of survival horror as a group activity rather than solo play (because I'm a coward): Silent Hill (2 is my favorite; 2 is almost everyone's favorite), Project Zero/Fatal Frame (I actually love 3 best, though I recognize that 2 is the better game), Resident Evil (2 is my favorite here, too, and I am old and grumpy about it and haaaaaate all of the newer ones).

[jessicajones]

Wow, I remember the Dig! I was a huge Sierra fan, Quest For Glory is still one of my favorite series of all time.

And I love Prince of Persia. A large part of my love of Finn is that he has That Voice.

[lemontwisted]

Ah, WoW, why can't I quit you? Aside from a couple occasions where I took a few months off, I've been playing since open beta. My /played makes me weep.

In between raid nights, I'm replaying Mass Effect and getting all kinds of psyched for ME3 (even though it's still almost a year away *cry*).

Before that was Portal 2, which I absolutely loved. I'm currently waiting for the hubby to install it so we can try co-op.

I've spent countless hours exploring the world of Oblivion... and never finished the main quest. Why oh why do they put all those enticing little icons on my radar? OMG RUINS I MUST EXPLORE THEM. And I'm very much looking forward to Skyrim... those screenshot are hot, and it's timed perfectly to keep me busy in those last few months before ME3 is due.

Apart from that, it's probably fair to say that DA:O sits at the top of my favorite games list. At least once a week I load it up just to do a couple quests, and visit with my favorite characters. I enjoyed DA2, loved the faster combat, but just didn't get as attached to my party.

Some favorites that I haven't seen mentioned so far:

The Legacy of Kain series (Blood Omen 1 and 2, Soul Reaver 1 and 2, Defiance), particularly Defiance. As a side note, Simon Templeman as Kain was my first voice crush, and I'm actually surprised this didn't carry over into Loghain. (If he'd shouted Vae Victus at the Landsmeet though, things might have turned out a bit differently. :))

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. As far as I know, this only came out for the Gamecube, but it was amazing, particularly if you're a fan of Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.

Speaking of the Cthulhu Mythos, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth was pretty good too... at least in the beginning. There was a real sense of tension and paranoia until about mid-game, but then it seemed to devolve into just another FPS with a particularly punishing death rate. Still, the first half was totally worth playing.

Animal Crossing and Viva Pinata. I'm not really sure what it is about living in a village of anthropomorphic animals and picking fruit to pay off my mortgage (Animal Crossing) or designing and raising a garden full of colorful, animate pinatas (Viva Pinata) that's so appealing, but goddamn if I didn't spend a truly ridiculous amount of time doing both.

(Christ, am I still typing? Okay, just one last thing...)

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. Before DA:O, these were my top two favorite games ever. I can't really explain them... they are completely different, mechanics-wise and story-wise, from any other games I've ever played. I don't think there is a single line of voiced dialog in either game, but they remain totally compelling, absolutely stunning, and completely heartbreaking nevertheless. They were both Playstation 2 titles, but Sony is conveniently re-releasing both at the end of this year, re-mastered for the PS3, and I can't recommend them highly enough.

[magnolia]

Omg, I forgot to mention Ico and SotC. They're so good! *_*

[imnottrent]

Red Dead Redemption (console)
Fallout 3 & New Vegas
Fable 1, 2, and 3 (console)
Silent Hill Series (console)
WoW (over it now)
Rift (love it)
EQ1 & 2 (over it now)
Aion (so over it)
Sims 2 & 3
DA:O
DA2
The Witcher (should replay with the many patches that have been done)
The Thief Series
Baulders Gate Series
NWN Series
Morrowwind
Oblivion
FF7 - 10 (console)
FF Tatics (console)

and others i can't recall right now.

i mostly like PC games, because i can mod them, but a good console game will suck me in as well.

[jannifer]

I actually started gaming with shareware games back when computers ran on some form of DOS and an 80386 processor was fast. I regged (registered) some of those games, too.

Over the years, though, I've enjoyed the following:

Baldur's Gate (borrowed from my sister)
Baldur's Gate 2 (bought for my niece, but is now mine)
Diablo, Diablo II and Lord of Destruction (aforementioned niece and sister lost my LoD disk)
Morrowind
Oblivion (although it stopped playing with my old video card after I updated the driver and I didn't figure out the problem until it was too late to roll back the driver)
DA:O and Awakening (I'm still on the fence about whether or not I'll get DAII. Once I start with a series, I like staying with it to see what the newer incarnations add.)
Neverwinter Nights

I sometimes play assorted "pinball" freebie games like Color Cubes (Tetris knockoff) or Amazon Adventure (marble matching). "Pinball" games are the ones where you don't really have to think, just react. And I sometimes play certain simple, freebie puzzle games.

I'm looking forward to Skyrim, but I hope BethSoft supports it better than they did Oblivion. BethSoft issued the last patch for Oblivion when the game had been out less than six months. Now, Blizzard knows how to support a game. You can get an updated version (upgraded for the newer operating systems) of their Diablo Warchest.

[rhiyah]

Do you remember when you needed to make a boot disc for every game? That used to make me so insane.

I remember also trial and error settings for sound cards, when my card wasn't in the list. >.

[jessicajones]

Oblivion is my second favoritest. I also really love Zelda, my favorites being Twilight Princess and Majora's Mask (that one does not get enough love)

Also, does anyone remember Quest for Glory? Quest for Glory V was my proto-Dragon Age, it had a lot of angst and humor and it was the first game I ever played with romances.

[zute]

I played WoW for a long time, burnt out completely on MMO's and never plan to play another one. DA:O helped me break away from WoW.

I'm happy for this thread. I need to play some new games.

[sierralie]

Oh, gosh. This can't be a complete list, because I'd be typing all afternoon. I'm just going to skip almost everything prior to 5 or 10 years ago, cause I can't even remember what I was playing then. =/

I still raid in WoW, despite the utterly uninspired T11 raid content.
I play LOTRO and love it, but I play by myself cause no one else I know plays. Boo. (Technically one of my toons is in a kinship, but I'm.. uh.. well, I'm not very good at making interweb friends lately, so I never talk to anyone there either.)
I tried Aion, loved the scenery but hate PVP, and forgot to cancel my account.. oops.

DA-everything, of course.
I've just gotten into ME2 and bought ME1 to go along with it.
Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim-to-come

Every Final Fantasy through X-2, including the old Game Boy versions. Tactics, too. (I think I just dated myself.)

Baldur's Gate 1/2, NWN 1/2.
Planescape:Torment

Diablo 1, 2, and the just-announced-as-Q3-2011 Diablo 3.

[stormyseasons]

Dragon Age, all of it
Dwarf Fortress
Mass Effect 1
Caesar III, Pharaoh/Cleopatra, Zeus
Sims 3
Civilisation 5, and a clone of an offshoot, FreeCol
Warcraft
Starcraft

Apparently I teeter between the RPGs and the ones that involve building *something* a lot.

[visser]

I play WoW and DA. pretty much it. =X

been playing wow since 2005. Been a raider since the end of BC. Was in two top guilds in BC and Wrath. Almost killed Illidan. Got my ironbound proto when it was hard. Got Astral Walker on my healer when it was damn near impossible. Killed Kael'thas and Archi. Killed Arthas when he was hard to kill. Almost got my frost wyrm. Was hated by people, and had my glory days.

I don't play wow seriously anymore- raiding burnt me out. I now just roleplay and do archaeology/achievements.

My other games were table tops.

Demon the Fallen, Vampire the Masquerade. (FUCK REQUIEM. FUCK IT WITH A FORK) World of Darkness, and Werewolf the Apocalypse.