The most replayable game of all time.

Dear Fellow Arcanum Fans,

A long time ago, I was addicted to Baldur's Gate, but really I was addicted to Candlekeep. I would make a character, play it for a minute and then start again... for ever. My older brother and I would play on the old xbox and at any possible opportunity I would vote to start again, again. Starting again forever was my motto.

I explain this as one part perfectionism and one part Taoism, where the very small changes at the beginning make all the difference. Oh, and two parts obsessive compulsive disorder. Anyway, Candlekeep was forgotten when I got Arcanum. So many characters to create. So many different plotlines to follow. So many options for character points. *Drool* I went from 'Candlekeep Forever' to 'Crash Site Forever' overnight.

Now, so far this is merely evidence for my own disorders, but, around 2007, I discovered a gaming magazine with a retrospect of Arcanum, voted by readers as the most replayable game of all time. It described the OCD and near-nervous breakdowns of the Troika crew as they programmed possibilities above and beyond the call of Sierra. Eg, "Did it really matter what happened if the player found the BMC mines before talking to Bates? We thought so."

Since then I feel vindicated, if not by the replayability of the game, then at least by the evidence that I was not alone in my obsessive addiction. I have played through to Kergan hundreds of times over the last decade, and I have started again thousands and thousands of times. Even accounting for the several times I had to buy new copies of the game, I have definitely gotten my money's worth. Cheaper by the hour than a Chinese prostitute.

Anyways, I've been meaning to share this story with the few people on earth who may empathise for some time now, and figured I'd make an effort for my ONE THOUSANDTH POST. Wheeee!

Crash Site Forever!

 

There should be a similarly replayable RPG starting in a strawberry field.

Allow me to be the first to congratulate you on joining the master race, ytzk.

 

Only if all the strawberries are, individually, pickable.

 

I actually didn't beat the game until three years after i had purchased it. I kept having better ideas for a character, or a different way to roleplay through the game. Still one of my favorite games to sit down for an afternoon and create a dozen different characters and play till Quintarra. Baldur's gate I & II, Icewind Dale I & II were also among my favorite games to restart without finishing. :???:

 

Congratulations on your promotion!

At six, I was infatuated with Dungeon Keeper, but I would have been eight or nine when I started playing the first Baldur's Gate game, and I had the exact same obsession with Candlekeep as you did. This was mainly because it was the only place where I couldn't really be killed by playing a useless class such as the bard. This habit moved onto Icewind Dale as well, and playing a tourist in Easthaven was an enjoyable enough experience for me.

I comparison, I personally found the Crash Site in Arcanum to be quite tedious, but that was because I was keen on reaching the Void after watching my brother finish the game. Kind of spoiled the climax for me. Nevertheless, I'd pick a fight with a bludgeoner over an ailing wolf any time in spite of the odds.

The only games I play nowadays are Creatures and The Sims, but I do revisit Arcanum on the rare occasion. I need to get with the times.

 

I've owned the game for about 6 years now and, for this very reason, have never finished it.

 

What is it with people not finishing the game?! There should be a special club formed for people who haven't with Philes as its chairman. I'd say once you get to Quintarra the game really picks up from there so if you manage that then you're bound to complete the game.

 

I owned the game for years without ever having gotten as far as Quintarra.

I think I got stuck in the BMC mines and put Arcanum down for a while.

 

Because BMC for first playthrough is just big asspain.
Honestly, I also wanted to RAGEQUIT, but endured somehow.

 

If it's any consolation, Arcanum isn't the first game I've had this problem with.

On the positive side, every time I get it up my ass to restart this game I get a little further. Last time I think I completed the main questline at the Wheel Clan before I stopped playing. Previous attempts had not gotten that far. Maybe next time I'll get to Qintarra!

 

Now let's play multiplayer... Arcanum M4. :thumbup:

 

Now lets post 'bout random mods in an Arcanum replay value thread. :thumbup:

 

That's the very same singleplayer module, ported to multiplayer.

 

Really? We can play through the main plotline in mutiplayer? That would be very cool!

In all my years I've never played multiplayer once.

Spoiler

I tend to stop at Qintarra because the high-level dungeon crawling suddenly changes gears to low-level running around and talking. Especially if you get there quickly as a teleporting mage, because you can't use the subway in tarant.

 

Oh yeah, but some of the dialogs are in Russian language, so you have to translate it, or just click through it. There is unofficial translation for older version, not sure if it works with the newer versions, but it's still worth to try.

They promised to make an official translation one day, but I wouldn't count on that.

P.S. Check out this awesome road map: http://www.mediafire.com/?ty5969n9hty9xck

 

I just always go prepared to the BMC with a flow specktrometer, either that or I wear Dread Armour to soak up all the durability damage from the traps - both of those things help getting through it quickly. There's little good loot it the living quarters section of the mines anyway so that can be skipped entirely depending on the character (I think there's the mental inhibitor schematic with the power axe but I forget), and just getting scrolls of sense hidden off corpses in areas you must go through is enough to turn a good profit from the mines. Healing spells help, if you're really low on health you can just wait until your fatigue returns and then heal back up. Also if you felt like training up beforehand invisibility makes the mines no trouble at all. Lastly always use the scroll of exiting found on a dead halfling/gnome when you get to Gudmund - there's no sense running back through the mines again and I've never noticed being able to use the scroll being affected by technological aptitude at all. The mines should only take 10-15 minutes if you know what you're doing.

I realise no one asked for this advice but as people were saying that the BMC was a major inhibitor to furthering progress with the game I thought I'd share. The bit of Arcanum I've developed a great distaste for is The Dredge - dungeon crawls when set in an actual dungeon always seem more tedious and The Dredge is also even more of a maze than the BMC for me. I think I'll give Arcanum another try during my Easter break; I've still yet to make my temporal using gunslinging gnome who has a copy of every gun in the game and can make any gun without using tech manuals. Also I need to try some of the evil endings I've yet to experience, like that if you kill Khergan with the Bane of Kree wielding Kryggird's Falchion.

 

If you really want to fly through the dungeons, maximum prowling (even without training) plus invisibility means you can ghost through in quick turn-based combat. One hand on the scroll-screen buttons and one hand on the mouse and you can make it through the BMC in about three minutes flat.

Body of Air is best in this mode, as you gain 10 AP and you can never accidently attack anyone as you fly past, plus, you can take a hit from any trap with minimum damage and zero damage to equipment. This is also the mage's mass-transit system when plodding through cities.

Another important time-saving device is persuasion. You can jump in and out of the Isle of Despair, bounce off the Wheel Clan (with 10+ IN) and bypass the catacombs beneath Caladon, earning XP as you go.

 

Double post edited for integrity

 

To get through the BMC just run to Ashbury and get the dog, use minor healing on him as he takes down everything. He does insane game breaking damage that even golems can't resist, and his 'weapon' suffers no damage from striking them.

I logged in with the express purpose of posting my list of ways to play I just made this morning. Going to start a thread with it as first topic, but it's relevant here also so here it is:

barbarian rampage - barbarian fighter character wearing barbarian clothes/dread armor who never talks to people and just kills everyone on sight

mind control takeover - evil genius who takes over the world by using the mind control device to control everyone

evil doer - evil necromancer who uses others as he must but betrays everyone. kill important npcs and raise them using conjure spirit necromancy, to enable quest dialogue.

politician - intelligent charismatic beatuiful persuasive, uses diplomacy to get through the game

priest/healer/buffer - magic user who buffs party members and heals only, never fights the enemy himself. Ressurrect spell to revive fallen comrades!

charming lass - charismatic beautiful persuasive girl who uses looks to get through the game and avoids all conflict. possibly low intelligence. charm spell!

lone wolf theif - backstabbing high dex average strength neutral/evil character. steals whatever you can, cheat whoever you can

gang leader - intelligent, charismatic, persuasive, technical backstabber/theif who uses tech instead of magic. guns at range, daggers in melee. lot of followers.

little people - only gnomes, dwarves, etc.

ranger/druid - summoning and elemental using character who is all about nature and animals and possibly no use of metal items. dog companion, bodokan lizardman companion

merchant adventurer - weak gnome uses guns, intelligent, persuasive, high haggle! ogre party member bodyguards, possibly other body guards.

archaeologist/safari english style adventure explorer - human using guns and swords, medium armor and below, with similar companions exploring for archaeology and exploration.

vampire - necromantic evil elf or human. Only dark armors (studded leather or dark robes). Possibly only hand to hand, maybe backstabbing with swords. Possibly active only at night.

powerful wizard - robe and staff/dagger only. intelligent, willpower, magic proficient, bad combat skills.

soldier - average tanky fighter wandering the world with a sense of duty but allegiance to few

knight/crusader - noble tank fighter with a personal code of honor. only good party members.

elven archer - noble/dark elf archer (possibly female) using only bows.

arsonist - explosives expert using only bombs in combat

machinist - intelligent tech user who creates his mechanical companions to fight for him

trapper - tech user fights using only traps.