Re: What difficultly level do you play one?

On 7/9/2024 9:27 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Mon, 8 Jul 2024 21:46:05 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
 

Strange really as when I look back at say Dungeon Master part of the fun
was getting the graph paper out and making a map. Possibly games have
swung too much they other way were it can feel like you're playing
follow the quest marker. Another one I don't like is kneel behind a wall
to recover health or the ability to 'long rest' in the middle of a dungeon.

 YMMV.
 Even back-in-the-day I disliked the 'make your own map' requirement of
a lot of adventure and role-playing games. Especially since it
promoted stupidly labyrinthine (and unrealistic) dungeon design whose
sole purpose was to artificially lengthen the game rather than provide
a fun experience.
 When games like "Ultima Underworld" or "Might & Magic III" started
adding automap as a standard feature, I rejoiced. All of a sudden
dungeon crawls could be FUN rather than tedious step-by-step grind
where you had to carefully mark out every step. I could focus on the
ambience and environment rather than have to jump away every step to
scribble some marks on a piece of paper.
 (In fairness, nowadays I've got a pretty good sense of direction and
usually can figure out my way through most dungeons -old school or
not- without resorting to maps. I'm pretty sure my years playing
Wizardry and Bards Quest and the like are to thank for that skill ;-)
 With that out of the way, I've kept many of my older hand-drawn maps
from that era and have a certain nostalgic appreciation towards them.
But I'm not going to ever bother doing anything so insane again. If
your game's labyrinths are so complex that mapping is required? That's
a game I'm probably not playing. (you're probably the sort of
developer that thinks teleport traps and spinners are fun too.)

Or you just look up the maps on the internet for those games.
Yes I mapped out by hand PoR, Bard's Tale etc. but I can't be assed to do that ever again.  Tedious.
I can't say anyone ever maps playing D&D anymore either, for quite a long time.  I did have one very confusing module I ran where the players did finally bother to do it in 3.5, but it was still tedious and they didn't like it, and neither really did I.
--
-Justisaur
  ø-ø
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