magisterrex Retro Game of the Week: Planescape: Torment (1998)

There are few words that can describe the wonder that is Planescape: Torment.  A few that come to mind: amazing, deep, glorious, immersive.  This game is worth every accolade sent its way and more.

Planescape: Torment 1998 RPG Classic

Released by Interplay in 1998, Planescape: Torment was developed by Black Isle Studios, the RPG masters who also worked on Icewind Dale, Fallout, and Baldur’s Gate.  The game is set in the Planescape universe, part of the Dungeons & Dragons setting.  You are in the City of Sigil, the center of the universe – a place where any creature from any place in the multiverse can visit, as long as they do not disrupt the eternal rule of the Lady of Pain.  The game mechanics follow the 2^nd Edition rules set, so no Feats or other munchkin bells & whistles.

The graphics are in 2D isolinear, a standard for RPGs of the late 1990’s.  Though not as detailed when compared to today’s near photorealistic graphics, the characters and backgrounds are still quite detailed, and do not distract from enjoyable gameplay.  The music sounds a bit other-worldly, which is par for the course for a game set in the Outer Planes of the D&D cosmos.  Unlike some games, where the music is either repetitive or annoyingly out-of-place,  the music in Planescape: Torment does what it’s supposed to do: add atmosphere to the gameplay and stay in the background.  By the way, the sound effects and spoken dialogue are spectacular, too.

Waking up in the Mortuary!

You begin the game waking up from a marble slab in the middle of the mortuary.  You don’t know who you are.  You don’t know anyone you meet.  You’re covered with scars that seem too numerous to be received in just one lifetime, which is to be expected, as it seems you have a curious immortality: although you can die, you cannot stay dead.   This isn’t a standard RPG; your goal isn’t to find a treasure or defeat an ultimate villain.  All you need to do is to discover exactly who you are, and why is it that you suffer so.  As you progress through the game, you will gain new insights to who you’ve been, the friends and enemies you’ve made, and the feats you’ve accomplished.

Character generation in Planescape: Torment

Since your memory is gone, you choose what class you want to level up in as you gain experience, and you are not limited to that class each time you reach the next experience plateau.  More importantly, experience is rewarded for more than just combat.  How you speak to NPCs can result in a bonanza of experience points, as can completing tasks.  The choices you face in every encounter can adjust your alignment depending on what approach you take.  In short, everything about Planescape: Torment is open-ended, the hallmark of an excellent RPG.

As you gain experience, you also gain ability points.  Which attributes you put those points towards makes a difference in how the game progresses.  New dialogue options might open up for you.  Certain NPCs may treat you differently.  Quests might have different parameters.  Your choices impact how the game plays!

Chatting with the locals in Avernus.

I cannot remember a game that I have enjoyed more than Planescape: Torment.  In fact, it became my favorite game I ever played back when it was released, and no game since has been able to knock it from that position.  The only weakness I can think of for this game is that eventually it ends.  If Black Isle made another Planescape game I would buy it in a heartbeat.  If you haven’t played Planescape: Torment, you’ve missed out on something BIG.  Get yourself a copy. STAT!!

The Best Classic Board Games – Nightmare (1991)

A game that’s a little more recent than some of the others I’ve reviewed in this blog, but that still qualifies as a classic board game, is Nightmare: The VHS Game.  This game struck a real chord when an unknown Australian company called “A Couple of Cowboys” released it in 1991, and the franchise is still going strong today with multiple sequels.  It was released as “Atmosfear” in some markets to avoid confusion with a similarly named game called “Knightmare” (shades of the Sierra Online/Milton Bradley HeroQuest / Hero Quest dispute!), but most North Americans know it as “Nightmare.”

The 1991 Nightmare VHS Game

This is a horror-themed game, and a Halloween favorite.  The Gatekeeper, a pallid looking character, challenges the players to survive his game.  Each player takes the persona of one of his Harbinger thralls: Baron Samedi (zombie), Anne de Chantraine (witch), Helin (poltergeist), Gevaudan (werewolf), Khufu (mummy), and Baroness Elizabeth Bathory (vampire), and wander the game board in a search for six missing keys that will help them escape the Gatekeeper’s clutches.

Prior to starting the game, players have to write down their greatest fear on the back of one of the reusable Nightmare cards, and on a little slip of paper which is put into the well of fears.  (Usually when I receive one of these games to sell there are common fears listed, like spiders or heights, but every so often some goofball writes something like, “Lucy’s stinky feet” as their greatest fear.  You’d be surprised how often similar phrases pop up.  But I digress…).  Once a player has all their keys, they make their way to the center of the game board and draw from the Well.  If they draw the paper with their own fear written on it, they have conquered their greatest fear, defeated the Gatekeeper, and won the game.

1991 Nightmare VHS Game Contents

The VHS tape keeps a running count of the time remaining in the contest, and the Gatekeeper shows up from time to time to both taunt and further challenge the players.  It’s played up, of course, as benefits a tribute to the “B” horror movie genre that this game truly is.  The actor, Wenanty Nosul, knows his job and does it well, providing just the right amount of creepy overacting to make his appearances on the screen memorable.

There have been several sequels to Nightmare: The VHS Game.  We’ve been treated to Nightmare II (starring Baron Samedi), Nightmare III (starring Anne de Chantraine), Nightmare IV (starring Elizabeth Bathory), Atmosfear: The Harbingers, Atmosfear: The Soul Rangers, and Atmosfear: The Gatekeeper, just to name a few.  Each one follows a similar game structure (although Atmosfear: The Soul Rangers features new characters, as The Gatekeeper has been imprisoned by a bizarre skeleton dentist named Dr. Mastiff, and all the Harbingers banished from his realm.  No really, I’m not making this up!).

Nightmare: The VHS Game is suggested for ages 12 and up. Although the box states that anywhere from 2 to 6 players can play the game, to make it a memorable gaming experience, at least four players should be sitting at the gaming table.  It’s a perfect game to pull out of the gaming closet for a Halloween party – just don’t write anything about stinky feet as your entry into the Well of Fears!

Hey buddy, could you spare me $770.10?

On September 29th, I reported on a seller who lost $770.10 on eBay.  Here is a link to the original blog post: How would you like to lose $770.10 on eBay?

Tell me again how much you lost?

The story came to the attention of Jim Griffith (Griff), the Seller Advocate at eBay, and he asked for the details.  I passed on his contact information to the young seller, who promptly forwarded all the information to Griff.  It certainly looked as though eBay was going to make this story have a happy ending, albeit a very belated one.

Alas, over a week has passed and Griff has not bothered to respond to our young seller.  Not a simple, “received it, thanks” or a “wow, that buyer should have at least bought you dinner before doing that to you,” or even a “so sad, too bad” email.  Nothing. Nada. Zip.

I find your lack of WIN, disturbing.

I know, it’s only been a week.  But buyers who get shafted get their money back within minutes of complaining of a potential ripoff.  A newbie seller like the one who lost $770.10 should not be treated any differently.  This should be a feel good story, not another, “well, you know how risky eBay is” story.

Come on, Griff.  Tell John Donahoe to pull out his wallet.  After all, it’s only walking around money to him!

I pluck the idea out of the air, like this!

magisterrex Retro Game of the Week: Star Wars: TIE Fighter (1994)

Serve the Emperor! Join the Imperial Navy and save the Galaxy!

The back cover blurb of one of 1994’s best PC games began with these words, and what an amazing game it was.  Star Wars TIE Fighter was the sequel to the amazing Star Wars: X-Wing Space Combat Simulator, and it gave players the chance to play for the other team:  The Empire.

1994's Star Wars TIE Fighter

I loved the setup to this game: the Rebellion are called “terrorists” and a threat to peace and order in the galaxy.  But the game isn’t just about taking on the Rebellion; your rookie Imperial Pilot is tasked with wiping out pirates, ferreting out corruption in the Imperial Navy, and disposing of other criminal elements.  In all, there are around 50 missions you get to embark on.

Not only could you play fly various missions for your commanding officer, you could also choose to enter into a secret service for the Emperor.  A shadowy member of the Emperor’s Inner Circle gives the player further objectives to fulfill.  These optional briefings add more information to what’s going on in the game as they reveal more and more of the plot.  You don’t need to complete them to finish the game, but they’re fun!

While John Williams’ original soundtrack plays in the background, the player gets to fly a variety of space craft, which include: TIE fighters, TIE bombers, TIE Interceptors, TIE Advanced, TIE Defender (awesome!), and assault gunboats.  Personages you interact with include Emperor Palpatine, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Admiral Zaarin, and, of course, Darth Vader.  If you complete the game and save the Emperor you can expect a closing ceremony reminiscent of the one at the end of the original Star Wars movie, except this time it’s all in the Imperial motif.

Lord Vader expresses his displeasure.

There was an expansion disk pack released for TIE Fighter called Defender of the Empire, which added a few more missions, but didn’t do much in advancing the storyline.  A second expansion pack called Enemies of the Empire was originally planned for an independent release, but ended up as an added bonus to the CD-ROM release of TIE Fighter, called – appropriately enough – Star Wars TIE Fighter Collector’s CD-ROM.  The CD version includes Defender of the Empire, and offers around 100 missions to fly.  This is retro gaming at its finest, so if you never played TIE Fighter, it’s time to suit up and restore order to the galaxy – your Emperor commands it!

Just in time for Christmas: eBay’s Top Rated Seller Filter

By now, most eBay sellers have heard about the new Top Rated Seller program, and if they haven’t – geez where ya’ been, under a rock?

This little badge is what the hoopla is all about!

Essentially eBay is seeking to improve the buyer experience on their site by showcasing sellers that meet certain criteria that they feel are all integral factors to determining if a seller is “top-rated” or “if you’re not top-rated, then you know what you are.”  How they implement this “improvement” is to add a new search filter which limits a buyer’s search to only those items available from sellers with the TRS designation.  (With an acronym like that, gamers have got to be wondering if someone in the seller experience team is an oldschool Tandy Color Computer user.  I keep expecting to read about the TRS-80.)   For example, a search for “Sony PlayStation 3 System” yields 1251 hits using the standard search.  Clicking on the TRS filter brings only 300 hits.  That’s a pretty vast difference.  It’s more noticable with items that have less sellers selling them.  For instance, “Six Million Dollar Man Action Figure” gets 59 hits on a standard search, but only 7 hits with the TRS filter activated.  Uh oh.

Of course, there are few Top Rated Sellers in comparison to everyone else, which means that the buyer’s search will be severely limited.  In fact it’s quite possible that should they choose to activate the TRS filter, buyers will not find “IT” on eBay at all.  The real kicker is that unless you close your browser and/or delete your cookies, that pesky filter sticks around for the rest of your searching experience.  That’s right: Hello TRS, bye-bye everybody else.

Hey, where did everybody go?

I know that John Donahoe likes disruptive management, and wants eBay to reinvent itself continuously, but, honestly, did anyone actually think this one through?  It hasn’t been that long since Griff was “crying” over the amount of listings shown in the Stores in Search (SiS) program.  Remember that?  When sellers everywhere were reporting sudden increases in sales because their exposure had increased.  Obviously buyers were able to find what they wanted.  Well, maybe not the stupid ones, which leads us to what eBay did next: remove SiS and throttle back search results.  What a brilliant idea that was.  The outcry was tremendous, and many people left the eBay venue for other platforms.  Amazon would not be the force it is today (and Bonanzle wouldn’t even exist) had eBay not pulled this stupendous gaffe out of their hat.  Had they not messed with their search engine, I’ve no doubt at all that eBay would be the overwhelmingly dominate force in the Internet sales market, rather than just a major player.

You’d think that after such a debacle the power-that-be in San Jose would have learned their lesson.  No one likes to see a drop in their net worth like the entire corporate team saw in the wake of the SiS removal.  But, Mr. Donahoe doesn’t like lessons from the past.  He’s a visionary, and visionaries look only to the future.  So away with all this gloomy Guss talk of SiS, plummeting shares, and seller exoduses.  Bring on the dancing girls singing about how it’s really all the fault of bad sellers.   La-la-la, I can’t hear you!

At eBay, we see, hear, and speak no evil - sellers excluded.

So here we go again.  Someone comes up with a half-baked idea in San Jose, and thousands of sellers pay the price for it until someone gathers up enough hard data to show that maybe that wasn’t such a good plan after all.  This is getting old, people.   How many times does one company need to repeat the same mistake before it finds itself looking ahead at its competitors, rather than seeing them in the rearview mirror?

The way I see it, this new initiative will have one of three results:

1. Buyers will not find what they’re looking for and will find it on another site. eBay will quietly remove the filter and explain away the loss of revenue as the fault of anything but the filter.
2. Buyers will still buy, but only from top rated sellers. Other sellers will have to look elsewhere to sell their wares. Eventually someone in eBay will notice the decline of available inventory online, and, again, the filter will quietly be removed. See #1 for the reason eBay will give for its sudden removal.
3. Buyers will ignore the filter altogether, and this will end up being another eBay tempest in a teacup.  With all things eBay, you never know.

What’s a busy holiday season without a fundamental eBay policy shift, right?   I don’t know why, but this video just seemed appropriate – enjoy!