Although I greatly enjoy playing adventure games and the occasional strategy game (Civilization IV being one of my favorites), the genre I always find myself returning to is the computer role-playing game. My fixation with the genre began at the tender age of 12 (or maybe 13), when I started playing the Bard’s Tale series on the Commodore 64. If you remember, the first Bard’s Tale is extremely difficult starting out. Fortunately, the cracked copy we had still had a saved game from whoever copied it, so I was able to play with high-level characters and thus get a better feel for what the game had to offer. However, it wasn’t really until I got Pool of Radiance (the original SSI “gold box” game) that I really fell in love with the genre.

I ended up buying not only the game, but also the hint guide, and even the novelization! I was obsessed. Pool of Radiance is a fairly involved game for a youngster, but I was determined to beat it. Even with the hint book, the game takes plenty of patience and strategy to complete. Never before had a game enthralled me to such a high degree. I would literally wake up in the morning, begin playing, take small breaks for meals, and continue playing until the sun was coming up (thank God, this was during summer!) When I finished PoR, I immediately begged and pleaded for Curse of the Azure Bonds, the next entry in the series–and the hint guide, and the novel.

My enthusiasm only began to wane with the third game, Secret of the Silver Blades. That game had some rather lengthy and boring segments that lulled me away for while. Eventually, though, I finished it and then moved on to the Krynn games and later the Savage Frontier. At some point during all this, I read the Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends, and soon took Raistlin Majere as my role model. (Yeah, I know, twisted!) All along the way, I became more interested in paper-based RPGs, and bought AD&D books like the Dungeon Master’s handbook, Player’s Guide, Monsters Compendium, and so on. One of my worst memories in college was coming home to the dorm one night and discovering all my AD&D books had been stolen. Alas. I never had the funds to replace them!

When I got my first IBM-compatible PC, the first RPGs I played were the Might and Magic games. I started with the sixth game, The Mandate of Heaven, mostly because the cover art was reminiscent of the gold box games (probably intentionally so!). At first I didn’t care for the first-person interface, and did feel this was series was roughly polished at times, but I nevertheless managed to get immersed in the series, playing all the way through to the eighth game. At that point, the games were just feeling like shoddy, sloppy money-grabs rather than anything worth investing so much time and money in.

For the longest time, I was reluctant to play Baldur’s Gate. Why? Well, I didn’t like the idea of playing only a single character after so much CRPG experience building and playing parties. The idea of creating only a single character seemed stifling and limiting. Indeed, the one Gold Box game I never played was “Hillsfar,” which was an early attempt at something like Baldur’s Gate. So, I avoided Baldur’s Gate and went for Icewind Dale. Unfortunately, that game isn’t the best, really, and even though I played it through, I found the game rather dull and plodding at times. Icewind Dale II turned out to be much more fun, and at that point I was finally willing to try Bioware’s second Baldur’s Gate game.

I really loved Baldur’s Gate II. It’s a tremendous game with wheelbarrows full of personality and character. In a word, it’s Fun, with a capital F. Even though I couldn’t create my own party, I could at least control who was in the party, and that helped a bit. After I finished II, I went back to play the first game, and found it was also quite enjoyable (though I still prefer the second!)

What then? Well, I bought Neverwinter Nights when it came out and played through the original campaign. Unfortunately, that campaign isn’t perhaps the most interesting, mostly because it feels so small. The difficulty level defaults to what I consider too easy, so I was able to rumble through the game without really thinking too much about it. After I finished it, I sold it through Amazon and got Dungeon Siege, which I considered a better game at the time.

Anyway, a few months ago I noticed that I could get two copies of Neverwinter Nights Diamond for only $20, so a thought occurred to me: Would this game be more fun to play on a LAN with my dearly beloved as a companion? I wasn’t sure, and I also wasn’t sure she’d like the game, but for $20 I was willing to take the chance. The Diamond version comes with the original game plus two expansions, Shadows of Undrentide (sucks) and Hordes of the Underdark (still playing), so it felt like a solid investment.

Well, the good news is that we did have fun sloughing through the first game. It became pretty obvious to me at an early stage, though, that Elizabeth wasn’t nearly as “into” the game as I was, and didn’t care to play with the kind of intensity and, er, “What the heck? It’s 4 AM already!!??” state of oblivion I tended to find myself in during these games. She’d play just to make me happy, I guess, but I kept catching myself wishing I had a younger brother on hand! (One of my brothers is just as obsessed with this kind of thing as I am). I guess there’s just a certain type of person who enjoys CRPGs, but I’m not sure what that factor (or factors) may be.

At any rate, playing the game on a LAN opened up a new dimension for the otherwise placid campaign. Although you can recruit henchmen of all different classes to accompany your character, their severely limited AI keeps them from being very useful (or enjoyable to have along). Usually, they merely become liabilities that you spend more time protecting and rescuing than anything else. A fellow human can be a major asset. Fortunately, for the first campaign, Elizabeth chose a paladin, which turned out to be a great beginner class because of the relative simplicity of combat, advancement, and abilities. In the NWN campaign, the fighter is actually a bit more complex, since good fighters will have to make very long-term plans about their character development–specializing in a weapon, choosing appropriate feats, etc. In other words, it’s pretty easy to screw up a fighter pretty badly and end up with a virtually unplayable character.

Unfortunately, she picked a bard for the Shadows campaign, and that proved to be much more frustrating. The bard is probably one of the most complex characters to get right, and she discovered very quickly that her new character was extremely vulnerable in combat (and not very helpful otherwise). This undoubtedly led to great frustration, but, thankfully, the expansions offer a prestige class called “Red Dragon Disciple” that has helped make a difference in the Hordes campaign.

Anyway, the reason I wanted to post something about NWN and LAN was to offer some advice for other guys who might be thinking of bringing their “CRPG virgin” family or friends into the game. My primary advice would be to strongly discourage them from choosing to play one of the more complex characters, such as a mage, bard, cleric, or thief. It’d undoubtedly be easier for them to begin with a paladin or barbarian, or perhaps a ranger or sorcerer (though you’ll end up explaining a lot). Rangers would be great for many women because of the emphasis on caring for animals (they get to summon an “animal companion”). Furthermore, the game seems to favor paladins, and there are no shortage of great items for the class. Plus, the powerful lay-on hands and turn undead features will prove a great asset. Probably the best aspect is that all you really need to do to play a paladin is click on the bad guys and keep an eye on your HP. This is infinitely more intuitive than the constant mode-switching you need to effectively play a fighter, to say nothing of magic strategy. Thieves and bards seem like difficult characters to play even for experienced gamers. They’re pathetic in combat, and their special skills don’t come as handy as you’d think. The few times I’ve tried playing a thief, I always multi-classed as a fighter, just to make the character more playable.

I suppose it’d be an impossible dream to find a whole party of folks (say, three?) who’d be willing to sit down on a regular basis at a LAN and play through these games as a group. I suppose at this point, the obvious solution is the internet, and perhaps a MMORPG like World of Warcraft. Perhaps. But I can’t help but think that playing with a perfect stranger, who I’ll more than likely never meet, would be as fun as playing with people I know (particularly family). I suppose I would be an ideal candidate for a game like WoW, since I love CRPGs and spent hundreds of hours in college sloughing through MUDs. However, I still cringe when I see the sort of “role playing” so many players on those systems engage in (i.e., straying far from character, cheating, and just being a punk). I also appreciate a good story in a CPRG, and the idea of doing random quests and playing a game with no ending doesn’t seem to satisfy. Yes, I know there is a “social dimension” here that’s supposedly more fulfilling than a good narrative, but I’m not sold on it yet.

However, I’d love to hear from folks who have a similar background to mine in CRPGs and who have made the transition into the MMORPG games (whether it be Everquest, WoW, or whatever). Was it a “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” kind of thing? Be sure to let me know!