Fable is an excellent example of a RPG with more effort put into gameplay over length. It lasted 10 hours to the dedicated gamer, with maybe 20 hours longer for the extras. I replayed it once with a different alignment, which still totals to half the length of a final fantasy game. The difference is that it was a good, solid game... and returns well.
On the other end of the RPG spectrum, there's Morrowind. I've racked up more hours on this game than any final fantasy game I've played (and that's saying something). Leveling is all skill based, so it doesn't matter if you're making small woodland animals explode or bribing NPCs. The gameplay has an open-ended feel much like a MMORPG, but actually has a good plot. You might want to replay this game to fully appreciate it's design.
I was disappointed to read that the top 10 list of sci-fi authors in a recent post neglected to include one of the Grand Masters of Science Fiction, Robert A. Heinlein. He was the author of such books as The Puppet Masters, Time Enough For Love (a personal favorite), his irreverent Job: A Comedy of Justice, and Starship Troopers. Most of Heinlein's works dealt with social models, interspersed with science. In Farnham's Freehold, the main characters are thrown into the future through a rip in the time-space continuum when their bomb shelter is at ground zero, stranding them alone, as the only survivors of their race. In Job, Heinlein looks at the gods themselves in a story of one man who is tested (hence, Job), and eventually sees the apocalypse and the resurrection, though neither is as he expected. Aside from interesting social examination, Heinlein's works are interesting, irreverent, and original.
I don't see why it's a problem. Seagate hard drives have done nothing but die on me over the years. It would do more damage to Western Digital to have a Seagate employee imo...
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Fable is an excellent example of a RPG with more effort put into gameplay over length. It lasted 10 hours to the dedicated gamer, with maybe 20 hours longer for the extras. I replayed it once with a different alignment, which still totals to half the length of a final fantasy game. The difference is that it was a good, solid game... and returns well.
On the other end of the RPG spectrum, there's Morrowind. I've racked up more hours on this game than any final fantasy game I've played (and that's saying something). Leveling is all skill based, so it doesn't matter if you're making small woodland animals explode or bribing NPCs. The gameplay has an open-ended feel much like a MMORPG, but actually has a good plot. You might want to replay this game to fully appreciate it's design.
I was disappointed to read that the top 10 list of sci-fi authors in a recent post neglected to include one of the Grand Masters of Science Fiction, Robert A. Heinlein. He was the author of such books as The Puppet Masters, Time Enough For Love (a personal favorite), his irreverent Job: A Comedy of Justice, and Starship Troopers. Most of Heinlein's works dealt with social models, interspersed with science. In Farnham's Freehold, the main characters are thrown into the future through a rip in the time-space continuum when their bomb shelter is at ground zero, stranding them alone, as the only survivors of their race. In Job, Heinlein looks at the gods themselves in a story of one man who is tested (hence, Job), and eventually sees the apocalypse and the resurrection, though neither is as he expected. Aside from interesting social examination, Heinlein's works are interesting, irreverent, and original.
Adds a whole new meaning to "Blue Screen of Death".
I don't see why it's a problem. Seagate hard drives have done nothing but die on me over the years. It would do more damage to Western Digital to have a Seagate employee imo...