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| Choose wisely (and no, we are not saying what you should choose) |
Showing posts with label Weekly Poll. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weekly Poll. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 September 2019
Reader's Choice 1992
Only two games to go before the end of 1992! We continue with the tradition of letting our readers choose, what is the best game of the year.
Thursday, 30 May 2019
New Poll: Choose the Missed Classic of Gaming Year 1992
By TAG team
We are nearing the end of the year 1992, so it’s time to continue some traditions. When we reached the final games of 1991, our readers had a chance to choose the best of the Missed Classics we had completed thus far. Now, it’s time to choose the best of the Missed Classics completed after the previous poll. Just like last time, we’ll continue with a quick rundown of the candidates.
The poll of 1991 was won by Cinemaware’s It Came From The Desert. Since then, we’ve covered its sequel, Antheads: It Came From The Desert II. Will Cinemaware be able to win twice in a row?
We are nearing the end of the year 1992, so it’s time to continue some traditions. When we reached the final games of 1991, our readers had a chance to choose the best of the Missed Classics we had completed thus far. Now, it’s time to choose the best of the Missed Classics completed after the previous poll. Just like last time, we’ll continue with a quick rundown of the candidates.
The poll of 1991 was won by Cinemaware’s It Came From The Desert. Since then, we’ve covered its sequel, Antheads: It Came From The Desert II. Will Cinemaware be able to win twice in a row?
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| I'm all antsy for the excitement |
Monday, 15 August 2016
POLL: Reader's Choice 1991
It's that time again.
With only Ecoquest and Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective still to finish it's time to get ready for the annual TAG awards, and for you to vote for the best Adventure game of 1991!
Monday, 4 July 2016
New Poll: Choose the best Missed Classic of all times
By TAG team
We’ve had a poll for games in our main list, but never one for Missed Classics, so this time you’ll get to decide which of them you liked best. We’ve included only Missed Classics we have completed so far in the poll.
Since you might not remember all of the Missed Classics we have covered, here’s a quick rundown. Our very first Missed Classic was Mystery House, the first in Sierra’s Hi-Res Adventure -series. Other parts of that series covered on our blog have been Wizard and the Princess and Mission: Asteroid, and Joe Pranevich has promised we’ll see the rest of them on the blog some day. In addition, we’ve also reviewed Sierra’s only all-text adventure, Softporn.
We’ve had a poll for games in our main list, but never one for Missed Classics, so this time you’ll get to decide which of them you liked best. We’ve included only Missed Classics we have completed so far in the poll.
Since you might not remember all of the Missed Classics we have covered, here’s a quick rundown. Our very first Missed Classic was Mystery House, the first in Sierra’s Hi-Res Adventure -series. Other parts of that series covered on our blog have been Wizard and the Princess and Mission: Asteroid, and Joe Pranevich has promised we’ll see the rest of them on the blog some day. In addition, we’ve also reviewed Sierra’s only all-text adventure, Softporn.
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| Where it all began |
Wednesday, 16 March 2016
Poll results: Should we change our colours?
By TAG team
Poll results seem quite clear - majority of our respondents were satisfied with the black background. Thus, we won't be changing it.
Poll results seem quite clear - majority of our respondents were satisfied with the black background. Thus, we won't be changing it.
Monday, 29 February 2016
New Poll: Should we change our colours?
By TAG Team
A regular reader has asked us whether we could change our background colour to white, because apparently the black background of The Adventure Gamer has resulted in some queer looks from employers of the reader. As we did not feel we should do any major changes for the blog design just for the sake of one delinquent procrastinating at work, we decided to ask the opinion of all our readers: do you like the current colours of the blog or would you like to see them changed?
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| When the photographer was gone, Suzie quickly jumped from Java to adventure gaming |
A regular reader has asked us whether we could change our background colour to white, because apparently the black background of The Adventure Gamer has resulted in some queer looks from employers of the reader. As we did not feel we should do any major changes for the blog design just for the sake of one delinquent procrastinating at work, we decided to ask the opinion of all our readers: do you like the current colours of the blog or would you like to see them changed?
Thursday, 22 October 2015
Results of the Lurker Poll
by The TAG team
The Lurker poll ended a while ago, and it seems that most non-commenters just didn't feel they'd have anything to contribute to the discussion or then they just didn't want to go through all the fuss of creating an account, just to make a comment. We've now decided to solve the latter problem in an easy way and to continue accepting anonymous commenting in the future.
The Lurker poll ended a while ago, and it seems that most non-commenters just didn't feel they'd have anything to contribute to the discussion or then they just didn't want to go through all the fuss of creating an account, just to make a comment. We've now decided to solve the latter problem in an easy way and to continue accepting anonymous commenting in the future.
Monday, 21 September 2015
Hail all Lurkers at the Threshold!
By TAG team
We have noticed that the amount of readers of the blog has grown, but the amount of commenters not so much. Because we are always eager to have more friends of adventure games share their thoughts with the community and wish that every reader would feel welcome in our midst, we are interested to find out what are the reasons for readers remaining lurkers and whether we as a community could do something to make you feel more welcome.
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| No, this isn't about Lovecraft |
We have noticed that the amount of readers of the blog has grown, but the amount of commenters not so much. Because we are always eager to have more friends of adventure games share their thoughts with the community and wish that every reader would feel welcome in our midst, we are interested to find out what are the reasons for readers remaining lurkers and whether we as a community could do something to make you feel more welcome.
Wednesday, 11 March 2015
New Poll: Choose the best game of 1990!
We've only got two more games from 1990 to go, so it's time to prepare for the annual TAG awards! In last year's award ceremony an idea of a new Reader's Choice -award was thrown into the air and great affirming applause followed.
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| An enthusiastic reader cutting up his limbs just to get a vote |
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| And anyone voting for this game better have a resurrection card available |
Reader's Choice: pick the best game of 1990
Tuesday, 27 January 2015
New Poll: How many game posts should we schedule each week?
Since The Adventure Gamer became community-run in October, we've been playing two games at a time and posting one post a week on each game. We've also been slotting extra posts ('Missed Classics' and 'What's Your Story' posts mainly) between main game posts.
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| With multiple reviewers we've been able to continue writing posts at a rate that would have a single person collapse with exhaustion |
Now, we're asking you, our readers, what you think of our schedule and whether we should change it. Our reviewers are dedicated and working faster than expected so we've been considering increasing our posting schedule. The options we were thinking of appear on the poll in the left hand side of The Adventure Gamer's web site. Vote now! Or read further for more information.
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| That's right, a new pole! [This pun was brought to you as a tribute to Spellcasting 101] |
To put it simply, we're looking at doing either 2 or 3 main games at a time (we currently do 2) and 2 or 3 main game posts a week (we currently do 2).
Note that if we do 3 game posts a week we'll get through the game list quicker, but have less room for extra posts (one a week) while with 2 regular posts a week we've had either one or two extra posts in a typical week. This assumes we continue with out current maximum of 4 posts per week.
No matter what the result, we'll keep things flexible and adjust the planned schedule if it seems like a fun idea, as we did when playing The Scoop Holiday Marathon (TM).
If you don't like any of the options or have any other suggestions let us know here in the comments.
Note that if we do 3 game posts a week we'll get through the game list quicker, but have less room for extra posts (one a week) while with 2 regular posts a week we've had either one or two extra posts in a typical week. This assumes we continue with out current maximum of 4 posts per week.
No matter what the result, we'll keep things flexible and adjust the planned schedule if it seems like a fun idea, as we did when playing The Scoop Holiday Marathon (TM).
If you don't like any of the options or have any other suggestions let us know here in the comments.
Disclaimer: The Adventure Gamer takes no responsibility for not being able to keep up with our intended schedule due to...
...alien invasion...
...ghost pirate kidnapping...
...or any other reason...
Sunday, 20 May 2012
Weekly Poll Discussion
First things first...I’ve finished King’s Quest IV! I’ll save any feelings and thoughts I have about the game for my Won! and Final Rating posts, which I’ll get to shortly enough. In the meantime, let’s look at what rating the readers are predicting I’ll give the game.
Above 60 8 Votes (19%)
Between 55 and 59 20 Votes (47%)
Between 50 and 54 13 Votes (30%)
Below 50 1 Vote (2%)
Chumazik – 52
Larry P. – 53
Lars-Erik – 54
Nicolaj – 55
Killias2 – 56
JosephCurwen – 57
Ilmari – 58
Klaoth – 59
Canageek – 60
16k – 61
Andy_Panthro – 62
Fenrus – 63
This week I’d like to discuss Companion Assist points on The Adventure Gamer. I’ve had numerous ideas about how to put them to use and how readers can earn them, but I wanted to run an idea past you to see what you think. I will also be releasing an official Companion Assist page in the coming days which will describe all the ways points can be earned and used. Currently readers can earn points by assisting me when I get stuck in one of the games on the list, by helping me with some of the technological aspects of playing retro games, and by making suggestions for how to make the blog better. Some other ways to earn points have naturally arisen, and given what I’m about to suggest below, I think it’s pertinent that I make it clear how points can be earned.
Right, onto my suggestion! One of the things I’m aiming to do in future is make it harder for games to be added to the list. It’s not that I don’t want you guys to have any say in the matter (I do). It’s just that the way it is now, whenever any game goes to a vote, it always ends up with a positive result. I highly doubt the readership will ever vote for a game not to be played (it seems you actually enjoy torturing me anyway, so the worse a game is, the more you want me to play it), which will result in the list growing exponentially as the years go on. I can see myself getting bogged down in little known and little cared about games and possibly burn out if I don’t tighten the criteria. To avoid this, I intend to make the readers sacrifice Companion Assist points to make me play games that I otherwise wouldn’t.
For anyone unsure as to how I currently decide on which games to play, this is the criteria I’ve been using (you can see it in action here):
Automatically Added: For a game to automatically go on the play list, it must clearly be a graphic adventure game, it must have over 20 votes on Moby Games, and it must be on the Wikipedia List of Notable Graphic Adventure Games list.
Borderline: If a game has at least one positive result using the above criteria, but not all three, it will go to a vote.
Automatically Disregarded: If a game has no positives, it will be skipped.
Taking the above into consideration, what do you think of the following suggestions for how to handle games that are not automatically added?
Suggestion 1: For borderline games, individual readers can sacrifice 50 of their Companion Assist points to get it added to the list.
Suggestion 2: For borderline games, readers can pool 100 Companion Assist points to get it added to the list.
Suggestion 3: For disregarded games, readers can pool 200 Companion Assist points to get it added to the list.
I’m not going to put it to a poll because there are a hundred different ways someone could see it. You might like the suggestions in general, but not the amount of points I’ve specified for each. You might like the idea of sacrificing points for borderline games, but not for disregarded ones. You might not like any of the suggestions and prefer to go to a vote for each individual borderline game.
At some point in the next week or so we’ll discuss what games I’m going to play from the year 1989, so the results of this discussion could come into play pretty quickly. As usual, I’d love to hear any thoughts or suggestions any of you might have to make this blog more interesting and interactive for you guys. I pass the microphone to the floor...
Above 60 8 Votes (19%)
Between 55 and 59 20 Votes (47%)
Between 50 and 54 13 Votes (30%)
Below 50 1 Vote (2%)
So nearly half of the voters expect the game to finish up somewhere around the mark Leisure Suit Larry hit, the current Sierra leader. Only one expects the rating to be below 50, so there’s obviously a fair amount of respect out there for this addition to the King’s Quest series. More interestingly, I gave the readers the chance to make their own specific predictions, with whoever gets it right gaining themselves 10 Companion Assist points. Given the response, I’m going to make this a regular feature, but in future people will be able to choose the same rating as other voters. The first person to choose the correct rating (or closest to it) will get 10 points, the second gets 9, and so on. Here are the voters’ predictions for King’s Quest IV.
Chumazik – 52
Larry P. – 53
Lars-Erik – 54
Nicolaj – 55
Killias2 – 56
JosephCurwen – 57
Ilmari – 58
Klaoth – 59
Canageek – 60
16k – 61
Andy_Panthro – 62
Fenrus – 63
Rosella realised how valuable Companion Assist points could become!
This week I’d like to discuss Companion Assist points on The Adventure Gamer. I’ve had numerous ideas about how to put them to use and how readers can earn them, but I wanted to run an idea past you to see what you think. I will also be releasing an official Companion Assist page in the coming days which will describe all the ways points can be earned and used. Currently readers can earn points by assisting me when I get stuck in one of the games on the list, by helping me with some of the technological aspects of playing retro games, and by making suggestions for how to make the blog better. Some other ways to earn points have naturally arisen, and given what I’m about to suggest below, I think it’s pertinent that I make it clear how points can be earned.
Right, onto my suggestion! One of the things I’m aiming to do in future is make it harder for games to be added to the list. It’s not that I don’t want you guys to have any say in the matter (I do). It’s just that the way it is now, whenever any game goes to a vote, it always ends up with a positive result. I highly doubt the readership will ever vote for a game not to be played (it seems you actually enjoy torturing me anyway, so the worse a game is, the more you want me to play it), which will result in the list growing exponentially as the years go on. I can see myself getting bogged down in little known and little cared about games and possibly burn out if I don’t tighten the criteria. To avoid this, I intend to make the readers sacrifice Companion Assist points to make me play games that I otherwise wouldn’t.
For anyone unsure as to how I currently decide on which games to play, this is the criteria I’ve been using (you can see it in action here):
Automatically Added: For a game to automatically go on the play list, it must clearly be a graphic adventure game, it must have over 20 votes on Moby Games, and it must be on the Wikipedia List of Notable Graphic Adventure Games list.
Borderline: If a game has at least one positive result using the above criteria, but not all three, it will go to a vote.
Automatically Disregarded: If a game has no positives, it will be skipped.
Taking the above into consideration, what do you think of the following suggestions for how to handle games that are not automatically added?
Suggestion 1: For borderline games, individual readers can sacrifice 50 of their Companion Assist points to get it added to the list.
Suggestion 2: For borderline games, readers can pool 100 Companion Assist points to get it added to the list.
Suggestion 3: For disregarded games, readers can pool 200 Companion Assist points to get it added to the list.
I’m not going to put it to a poll because there are a hundred different ways someone could see it. You might like the suggestions in general, but not the amount of points I’ve specified for each. You might like the idea of sacrificing points for borderline games, but not for disregarded ones. You might not like any of the suggestions and prefer to go to a vote for each individual borderline game.
At some point in the next week or so we’ll discuss what games I’m going to play from the year 1989, so the results of this discussion could come into play pretty quickly. As usual, I’d love to hear any thoughts or suggestions any of you might have to make this blog more interesting and interactive for you guys. I pass the microphone to the floor...
Sunday, 13 May 2012
Weekly Poll Discussion
I’m afraid I’m struggling to find much time to play this weekend, let alone post about it. It turns out that mother’s day is a much more complicated affair now that I’m married with a child. All of a sudden there are three mums to spoil, and playing video games isn’t very conducive with that notion. I have made a start with King’s Quest IV (I’ve got about 25 points out of 230), but don’t feel quite ready to comment. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow I’ll have something to say.
In the meantime, I’m a day late for a weekly poll! Last week I was sussing out how many of the readers considered themselves to be total geeks (like me) and it turns out quite a lot of you consider yourself to be one and are proud of it. The question was “What type of geek are you (if any)?” In my opinion, there’s never been a better time to be a geek! The internet makes so much available to us in digital form including old TV shows, comics, video games and well...everything! It also gives us geeks the opportunity to build communities of like-minded people so we don’t have to feel ashamed of what we enjoy. Anyway, let’s look at the results...
I'm a total geek and proud of it! 29 Votes (42%)
I'm a bit of a geek, but only sometimes 24 Votes (34%)
I'm a total geek, but prefer to remain in the closet 10 Votes (14%)
I don't consider myself a geek. I just like video games. 6 Votes (8%)
This week I’m going to trial something that may or may not be ongoing. I thought it would be interesting to get you guys to vote on what rating you think I’ll give to the game I’m currently playing. I realise that the majority of you may not have played the game and so the amount of votes that come in might be quite low, but since this is one of the more popular games of this time period, I thought it would be worth giving it a go with this one. I’m also going to give 10 points to the first person to guess the exact score (or closest to it) that I’m going to award it, but be aware that any guesses need to be made in the comments section of this post prior to my second gameplay post (so two posts from here). Good luck and in case you’re wondering, I have an idea of how these points might become useful in future, which I’ll reveal shortly.
In the meantime, I’m a day late for a weekly poll! Last week I was sussing out how many of the readers considered themselves to be total geeks (like me) and it turns out quite a lot of you consider yourself to be one and are proud of it. The question was “What type of geek are you (if any)?” In my opinion, there’s never been a better time to be a geek! The internet makes so much available to us in digital form including old TV shows, comics, video games and well...everything! It also gives us geeks the opportunity to build communities of like-minded people so we don’t have to feel ashamed of what we enjoy. Anyway, let’s look at the results...
I'm a total geek and proud of it! 29 Votes (42%)
I'm a bit of a geek, but only sometimes 24 Votes (34%)
I'm a total geek, but prefer to remain in the closet 10 Votes (14%)
I don't consider myself a geek. I just like video games. 6 Votes (8%)
Geeky and proud of it!
This week I’m going to trial something that may or may not be ongoing. I thought it would be interesting to get you guys to vote on what rating you think I’ll give to the game I’m currently playing. I realise that the majority of you may not have played the game and so the amount of votes that come in might be quite low, but since this is one of the more popular games of this time period, I thought it would be worth giving it a go with this one. I’m also going to give 10 points to the first person to guess the exact score (or closest to it) that I’m going to award it, but be aware that any guesses need to be made in the comments section of this post prior to my second gameplay post (so two posts from here). Good luck and in case you’re wondering, I have an idea of how these points might become useful in future, which I’ll reveal shortly.
Try not to offend Rosella!
Saturday, 5 May 2012
Weekly Poll Discussion
Well, I guess it’s not surprising that 84% of voters in the latest poll came across to The Adventure Gamer from The CRPG Addict. I had pretty much no traffic before he mentioned my blog and there was a massive spike once he did. I’m really happy that so many of you have become regulars here and I look forward to putting up the same poll in twelve months time to see whether the ratio has shifted. It would be great if I could see evidence that I’d come out from Chet’s shadow and earned some attention all on my own. Until then, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.
I clicked a link on The CRPG Addict blog 62 Votes (84%)
I Googled something and found myself here 5 Votes (6%)
I clicked a link on a different game related site 4 Votes (5%)
Someone recommended it to me 2 Votes (2%)
This week’s poll is a bit of deep one! A friend of mine and I were recently discussing how geeky we are, and in the process admitted to each other hobbies that we’ve up until now kept secret. I gave him a link to this site while he informed me that his boys’ weekends away were in fact LARP events. It got me thinking about how uncool it is to enjoy comics, video games, live action role playing events and well, anything to do with science fiction and fantasy. I think there’s a bit of change with the more recent generations where being a geek is actually becoming cool (Scott Pilgrim should attest to that), but in my generation it certainly wasn’t (and still isn’t). I wanted to ask you guys which category of geek, if any, you would place yourself in.
I clicked a link on The CRPG Addict blog 62 Votes (84%)
I Googled something and found myself here 5 Votes (6%)
I clicked a link on a different game related site 4 Votes (5%)
Someone recommended it to me 2 Votes (2%)
Unfortunately Chet's output has been minimal of late but it sure beats none at all.
This week’s poll is a bit of deep one! A friend of mine and I were recently discussing how geeky we are, and in the process admitted to each other hobbies that we’ve up until now kept secret. I gave him a link to this site while he informed me that his boys’ weekends away were in fact LARP events. It got me thinking about how uncool it is to enjoy comics, video games, live action role playing events and well, anything to do with science fiction and fantasy. I think there’s a bit of change with the more recent generations where being a geek is actually becoming cool (Scott Pilgrim should attest to that), but in my generation it certainly wasn’t (and still isn’t). I wanted to ask you guys which category of geek, if any, you would place yourself in.
It's more likely that only geeks have the software and know how to make marketing material like this
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Weekly Poll Discussion
Another week flies by and another poll reaches its conclusion. Last week’s question was “Which of the following (if any) do you think is the best genre series on TV right now?” and while it appears a fair percentage of you don’t watch any of the series I selected, there was a very clear winner in the end.
Game of Thrones Votes 23 Votes (32%)
I don't watch any of these shows 20 Votes (28%)
Doctor Who 9 Votes (12%)
The Walking Dead 7 Votes (9%)
Fringe 6 Votes (8%)
Misfits 3 Votes (4%)
American Horror Story 2 Votes (2%)
Supernatural 1 Vote (1%)
Eureka 0 Votes (0%)
The Vampire Diaries 0 Votes (0%)
I’m very pleased to see that a lot of you agree that Game of Thrones is awesome. I think HBO have done an amazing job of bringing George Martin’s complex world to the screen and really hope they see it all the way to its conclusion (which George hasn’t even written yet mind you). My other personal favourite from the list is The Walking Dead, but I can understand how that might not be to everyone's tastes. You're either a zombie fan or you're not! The most striking thing for me in the results is how well Doctor Who did, so I’ve made a commitment to myself to give that show a proper go, despite my reservations.
This week’s question is a simple one. How did you first come across The Adventure Gamer blog? I wonder just how many of you came across from The CRPG Addict?
Game of Thrones Votes 23 Votes (32%)
I don't watch any of these shows 20 Votes (28%)
Doctor Who 9 Votes (12%)
The Walking Dead 7 Votes (9%)
Fringe 6 Votes (8%)
Misfits 3 Votes (4%)
American Horror Story 2 Votes (2%)
Supernatural 1 Vote (1%)
Eureka 0 Votes (0%)
The Vampire Diaries 0 Votes (0%)
Damn good books and TV series!
I’m very pleased to see that a lot of you agree that Game of Thrones is awesome. I think HBO have done an amazing job of bringing George Martin’s complex world to the screen and really hope they see it all the way to its conclusion (which George hasn’t even written yet mind you). My other personal favourite from the list is The Walking Dead, but I can understand how that might not be to everyone's tastes. You're either a zombie fan or you're not! The most striking thing for me in the results is how well Doctor Who did, so I’ve made a commitment to myself to give that show a proper go, despite my reservations.
This week’s question is a simple one. How did you first come across The Adventure Gamer blog? I wonder just how many of you came across from The CRPG Addict?
Saturday, 21 April 2012
Weekly Poll Discussion
Last week’s poll was the first one that actually went the way I expected it to. The question was “Do you actually still play old adventure games or do you just like reading about them?” It seemed most likely that fans of old adventure games would still have an interest in new adventure games, and it also seemed likely that readers of this blog would play adventure games in some form. Therefore option two was pretty much always going to win. What I couldn’t predict was which of the other options would come in second place, and the result shows that my uncertainty was well founded.
Yes, but I also like to play modern adventure games too. 42 Votes (56%)
Yes, the old classics are the only ones worth playing! 11 Votes (14%)
No, I prefer to play more modern games and read about the old ones for nostalgia. 11 Votes (14%)
I don’t play adventure games at all. I just like reading about them. 11 Votes (14%)
I despise adventure games and your stupid blog too! 0 Votes (0%)
Of course the thing I’m most happy about is that no-one chose option 5. :)
This week’s poll covers a topic I’m interested in at present. I currently love two genre TV series in a way I haven’t in years, so I thought I’d find out what you guys like to watch. Obviously I can’t possibly cover every series out there, so please comment on any other recommendations. Just to clarify, this poll only covers shows that could be considered fantasy, horror or sci-fi, and only shows that are currently still running.
On a totally separate note, last night the amount of page views for The Adventure Gamer blog passed 50000! While this is not a monumentally impressive amount of hits, it’s a lot more than I expected when I set out to blog my way through adventure games at the end of last year. To celebrate this milestone, I thought I would share some stats from the site, some of which are fairly predictable, while others are not so and even somewhat humorous.
• Out of those 50000 views, well over 1000 of them have been referred from Chet’s CRPG Addict blog. The Adventure Gamer was formed in response to his awesome efforts and I think it’s great that so much of my own community share that origin.
• The most popular search keywords (other than variations of the site name itself) that have resulted in a visit to The Adventure Gamer are “The Black Cauldron” (30 times), “Roberta Williams Sierra” (27 times), “Below the Root” (11 times), “Gender Identity Disorder” (8 times), “how do tie fighters land?” (6 times) and “Roberta Williams Naked” (6 times). It's actually a little concerning that people are coming across my site when looking for information on gender identity disorder, just because I wrote about Bill / Rebecca Heineman in my introduction to Tass Time in Tonetown. I’m sure Ken Williams would be stoked to know that people are still trying to see his wife naked after all these years. As for the tie fighter question, well it seems only fair that we try to get to the bottom of that one for whichever poor reader(s) came to The Adventure Gamer looking for the answer to one of life’s more important questions. I believe Tie Fighters can land on planetary surfaces, but generally they are entered through a hatch in the roof of the cockpit, so they usually dock within larger ships, attached to docking racks that allow entrance from above. Perhaps another reader can explain how landing might otherwise be performed?
• The top five countries to visit the site are: United States (19580), Australia (4488), United Kingdom (3390), Finland (3305) and Canada (2550). I wonder how many of those 2550 views are by our resident scientist Canageek?
• While Windows still has a hold on the general operating system (it’s used by around 70% of readers), things are not so rosy for Microsoft’s browser. Internet Explorer was used for only 12% of The Adventure Gamer views, with Firefox leading the way (40%), followed by Chrome (19%) and Safari (13%). A sign of the times!
• Finally, the most popular games so far from a number of hits point of view are Leisure Suit Larry, Maniac Mansion and Below the Root, although I assume the latter is due to it being the first game I played through rather than being of particular interest to readers.
Thanks for everyone’s support so far in keeping this blog alive. I think I’d still write it even if there were only a few readers, but the fact we have a little community building here is something I’m extremely happy about. I hope we can build on it and that one day I’ll be marking milestones every 500000 views rather than 50000. Now, back to Captain Blood...
Yes, but I also like to play modern adventure games too. 42 Votes (56%)
Yes, the old classics are the only ones worth playing! 11 Votes (14%)
No, I prefer to play more modern games and read about the old ones for nostalgia. 11 Votes (14%)
I don’t play adventure games at all. I just like reading about them. 11 Votes (14%)
I despise adventure games and your stupid blog too! 0 Votes (0%)
Of course the thing I’m most happy about is that no-one chose option 5. :)
This week’s poll covers a topic I’m interested in at present. I currently love two genre TV series in a way I haven’t in years, so I thought I’d find out what you guys like to watch. Obviously I can’t possibly cover every series out there, so please comment on any other recommendations. Just to clarify, this poll only covers shows that could be considered fantasy, horror or sci-fi, and only shows that are currently still running.
The first person to guess the two shows I’m obsessive about gets 10 points. (How well do you think you know me?)
On a totally separate note, last night the amount of page views for The Adventure Gamer blog passed 50000! While this is not a monumentally impressive amount of hits, it’s a lot more than I expected when I set out to blog my way through adventure games at the end of last year. To celebrate this milestone, I thought I would share some stats from the site, some of which are fairly predictable, while others are not so and even somewhat humorous.
• Out of those 50000 views, well over 1000 of them have been referred from Chet’s CRPG Addict blog. The Adventure Gamer was formed in response to his awesome efforts and I think it’s great that so much of my own community share that origin.
• The most popular search keywords (other than variations of the site name itself) that have resulted in a visit to The Adventure Gamer are “The Black Cauldron” (30 times), “Roberta Williams Sierra” (27 times), “Below the Root” (11 times), “Gender Identity Disorder” (8 times), “how do tie fighters land?” (6 times) and “Roberta Williams Naked” (6 times). It's actually a little concerning that people are coming across my site when looking for information on gender identity disorder, just because I wrote about Bill / Rebecca Heineman in my introduction to Tass Time in Tonetown. I’m sure Ken Williams would be stoked to know that people are still trying to see his wife naked after all these years. As for the tie fighter question, well it seems only fair that we try to get to the bottom of that one for whichever poor reader(s) came to The Adventure Gamer looking for the answer to one of life’s more important questions. I believe Tie Fighters can land on planetary surfaces, but generally they are entered through a hatch in the roof of the cockpit, so they usually dock within larger ships, attached to docking racks that allow entrance from above. Perhaps another reader can explain how landing might otherwise be performed?
How many millions have pondered the landing capabilities of the imperial tie fighter.
• The top five countries to visit the site are: United States (19580), Australia (4488), United Kingdom (3390), Finland (3305) and Canada (2550). I wonder how many of those 2550 views are by our resident scientist Canageek?
• While Windows still has a hold on the general operating system (it’s used by around 70% of readers), things are not so rosy for Microsoft’s browser. Internet Explorer was used for only 12% of The Adventure Gamer views, with Firefox leading the way (40%), followed by Chrome (19%) and Safari (13%). A sign of the times!
• Finally, the most popular games so far from a number of hits point of view are Leisure Suit Larry, Maniac Mansion and Below the Root, although I assume the latter is due to it being the first game I played through rather than being of particular interest to readers.
The little underdog just keeps on winning!
Thanks for everyone’s support so far in keeping this blog alive. I think I’d still write it even if there were only a few readers, but the fact we have a little community building here is something I’m extremely happy about. I hope we can build on it and that one day I’ll be marking milestones every 500000 views rather than 50000. Now, back to Captain Blood...
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Weekly Poll Discussion
While there were a few surprises in the results for last week’s poll, the winner was not at all surprising to me. In fact, I actually created the poll to see whether my fondness for April Ryan was the norm or an anomaly. The question was “who is the best playable female character in adventure game history” and here are the results:
April Ryan (The Longest Journey Series) 14 Votes (25%)
Laura Bow (Laura Bow Series) 7 Votes (12%)
Nicole Collard (Broken Sword Series) 7 Votes (12%)
Sophia Hapgood (Indiana Jones) 7 Votes (12%)
Laverne (Day of the Tentacle) 6 Votes (11%)
Kate Walker (Syberia Series) 4 Votes (7%)
Princess Rosella (King’s Quest Series) 4 Votes (7%)
Zoë Castillo (The Longest Journey Series) 4 Votes (7%)
Nancy Drew (Nancy Drew Series) 1 Vote (1%)
It’s not at all surprising that the winner comes from a more modern series of games, especially given the improvement in graphics and the increased quality of voice recording that has entered the genre over the years. April Ryan is a very special character for me as it was The Longest Journey (and its sequel Dreamfall) that reintroduced me to adventure games a few years back. I found the voice of April (by American Sarah Hamilton) to be really captivating and lovely, and the story she took part in truly fantastic. I remember really wanting to find out who the voice actor was and to see whether they’d done any other games, which is not something I’ve ever considered doing before (well, apart from Shodan, but that’s not an adventure game).
What’s intriguing for me is the amount of votes given to Laura Bow, who hasn’t graced monitors (well, not in any new games) since 1992. The series (which is made up of The Colonel’s Bequest and The Dagger of Amon Ra) just keeps popping up in recent discussions and I’m really looking forward to playing it. Kate Walker is also an interesting character to me. There’s so much to like about her, and the Syberia games are excellent, but I just didn’t like the voice they used for her. It was pompous and humourless, which stopped from really warming to her.
It’s time for another poll. This week’s question is “Do you actually still play old adventure games or do you just like reading about them?” I know a few of you definitely play them, but I wonder what the ratio is. Only one way to find out...
April Ryan (The Longest Journey Series) 14 Votes (25%)
Laura Bow (Laura Bow Series) 7 Votes (12%)
Nicole Collard (Broken Sword Series) 7 Votes (12%)
Sophia Hapgood (Indiana Jones) 7 Votes (12%)
Laverne (Day of the Tentacle) 6 Votes (11%)
Kate Walker (Syberia Series) 4 Votes (7%)
Princess Rosella (King’s Quest Series) 4 Votes (7%)
Zoë Castillo (The Longest Journey Series) 4 Votes (7%)
Nancy Drew (Nancy Drew Series) 1 Vote (1%)
April Ryan - No journey would be too long
It’s not at all surprising that the winner comes from a more modern series of games, especially given the improvement in graphics and the increased quality of voice recording that has entered the genre over the years. April Ryan is a very special character for me as it was The Longest Journey (and its sequel Dreamfall) that reintroduced me to adventure games a few years back. I found the voice of April (by American Sarah Hamilton) to be really captivating and lovely, and the story she took part in truly fantastic. I remember really wanting to find out who the voice actor was and to see whether they’d done any other games, which is not something I’ve ever considered doing before (well, apart from Shodan, but that’s not an adventure game).
Sarah Hamilton - Gave April the innocence, the charm, and the strength she needed
What’s intriguing for me is the amount of votes given to Laura Bow, who hasn’t graced monitors (well, not in any new games) since 1992. The series (which is made up of The Colonel’s Bequest and The Dagger of Amon Ra) just keeps popping up in recent discussions and I’m really looking forward to playing it. Kate Walker is also an interesting character to me. There’s so much to like about her, and the Syberia games are excellent, but I just didn’t like the voice they used for her. It was pompous and humourless, which stopped from really warming to her.
Laura Bow - Hang on a second...she looks like Sarah Hamilton!
It’s time for another poll. This week’s question is “Do you actually still play old adventure games or do you just like reading about them?” I know a few of you definitely play them, but I wonder what the ratio is. Only one way to find out...
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Weekly Poll Discussion
Thanks to everyone that voted in last week’s poll and particularly those who commented. The question was “would you prefer more or less detail in Adventure Gamer posts?” and the results are as follows:
The more detail the better! I don’t care if every post is a novel! 27 votes (39%)
I think there’s a balance that’s detailed enough without going on and on and on... 33 votes (48%)
I’d prefer short summaries that get to the point. I’m busy you know! 1 vote (1%)
Stop asking questions and just play the bloody games already! 7 votes (10%)
It’s nice to see that only one person out there doesn’t like detail, particularly as my tendency is to go overboard in that direction. I’m afraid that this might not be the blog for that particular reader. While I didn’t purposely make my posts on Shadowgate the most detailed I’ve written so far (the game demands a lot of explanation and I needed a lot of help), it did coincide with the poll quite well. Since 88% of voters like detailed posts to some extent, I’ll continue on in the fashion I have been. I’ll try to keep myself in check, but don’t be afraid to tell me if you think I’m crapping on too much.
There were a few requests that came out of the poll. One was for more screenshots, which I will happily implement, starting with Space Quest II. Another request was to announce spoilers. I’m not really sure how I could manage this one. After all, the majority of what I post is about my struggles to find solutions to problems, and then eventually how I solved them. I know that some readers intend to play the games themselves and some, such as Charles, like to play through them at the same time. I want to encourage this and I really enjoy knowing that others out there are going through the same experience as I am almost simultaneously, but if I avoid giving away spoilers, I don’t think this blog would be very interesting. I tend not to mention actual solutions in the introductory journals to each post, so if I make an effort to avoid doing so in future and merely describe the “story” elements, would that help those of you that want to know where I’m up to without ruining the experience for others?
Time for another poll! By the way, I do struggle to come up with these sometimes, so if anyone has any ideas for future polls, I’m all eyes. This week’s will be a little more fun after last week’s serious topic. Who is the best playable female character in adventure game history? Choices are:
April Ryan (The Longest Journey Series)
Kate Walker (Syberia Series)
Laura Bow (Laura Bow Series)
Laverne (Day of the Tentacle)
Nancy Drew (Nancy Drew Series)
Nicole Collard (Broken Sword Series)
Princess Rosella (King's Quest Series)
Sophia Hapgood (Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis)
Victoria McPherson (Still Life Series)
Zoë Castillo (The Longest Journey Series)
Think I forgot someone? I’m sure you’ll tell me about it. ;)
The more detail the better! I don’t care if every post is a novel! 27 votes (39%)
I think there’s a balance that’s detailed enough without going on and on and on... 33 votes (48%)
I’d prefer short summaries that get to the point. I’m busy you know! 1 vote (1%)
Stop asking questions and just play the bloody games already! 7 votes (10%)
It’s nice to see that only one person out there doesn’t like detail, particularly as my tendency is to go overboard in that direction. I’m afraid that this might not be the blog for that particular reader. While I didn’t purposely make my posts on Shadowgate the most detailed I’ve written so far (the game demands a lot of explanation and I needed a lot of help), it did coincide with the poll quite well. Since 88% of voters like detailed posts to some extent, I’ll continue on in the fashion I have been. I’ll try to keep myself in check, but don’t be afraid to tell me if you think I’m crapping on too much.
Here's my Space Quest II review for that one reader that doesn't like detail.
There were a few requests that came out of the poll. One was for more screenshots, which I will happily implement, starting with Space Quest II. Another request was to announce spoilers. I’m not really sure how I could manage this one. After all, the majority of what I post is about my struggles to find solutions to problems, and then eventually how I solved them. I know that some readers intend to play the games themselves and some, such as Charles, like to play through them at the same time. I want to encourage this and I really enjoy knowing that others out there are going through the same experience as I am almost simultaneously, but if I avoid giving away spoilers, I don’t think this blog would be very interesting. I tend not to mention actual solutions in the introductory journals to each post, so if I make an effort to avoid doing so in future and merely describe the “story” elements, would that help those of you that want to know where I’m up to without ruining the experience for others?
Time for another poll! By the way, I do struggle to come up with these sometimes, so if anyone has any ideas for future polls, I’m all eyes. This week’s will be a little more fun after last week’s serious topic. Who is the best playable female character in adventure game history? Choices are:
April Ryan (The Longest Journey Series)
Kate Walker (Syberia Series)
Laura Bow (Laura Bow Series)
Laverne (Day of the Tentacle)
Nancy Drew (Nancy Drew Series)
Nicole Collard (Broken Sword Series)
Princess Rosella (King's Quest Series)
Sophia Hapgood (Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis)
Victoria McPherson (Still Life Series)
Zoë Castillo (The Longest Journey Series)
Think I forgot someone? I’m sure you’ll tell me about it. ;)
Friday, 30 March 2012
Weekly Poll Discussion
Last week’s poll really split opinion and once again didn’t end up at all the way I expected it to. It just goes to show that you should never assume you know how people think and feel, especially when you’ve never physically met any of them (something the Internet brings about very regularly). The question was “which movie series would you like to see made into an adventure game?” and the results, in ranked order, are below:
Harry Potter 9 votes (19%)
Planet of the Apes 8 votes (17%)
Star Wars 7 votes (14%)
Lord of the Rings 6 votes (12%)
Toy Story 6 votes (12%)
The Godfather 5 votes (10%)
Pirates of the Caribbean 3 votes (6%)
The Chronicles of Narnia 1 vote (2%)
X-Men 1 vote (2%)
I kind of assumed that it would be a battle between Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, and while they were both very much in the running, it was Harry Potter that took the title. My first thought was that perhaps the readers of The Adventure Gamer are younger than I thought, but after realising that’s not really relevant (I’m a fan of the series after all and I’m 34), I came to the conclusion that the Harry Potter series would actually lend itself to the adventure genre extremely well indeed. It has its fair share of action, but the majority of the storyline is driven along by mystery, which the heroes work through using logic and investigatory techniques rather than brute force or physical prowess. I can very easily imagine a Day of the Tentacle style game where the player needs to use all three characters’ talents to progress. The world that J.K. Rowling created would give a developer endless gadgets, spells, characters and lore to pull from too!
Harry Potter 9 votes (19%)
Planet of the Apes 8 votes (17%)
Star Wars 7 votes (14%)
Lord of the Rings 6 votes (12%)
Toy Story 6 votes (12%)
The Godfather 5 votes (10%)
Pirates of the Caribbean 3 votes (6%)
The Chronicles of Narnia 1 vote (2%)
X-Men 1 vote (2%)
I kind of assumed that it would be a battle between Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, and while they were both very much in the running, it was Harry Potter that took the title. My first thought was that perhaps the readers of The Adventure Gamer are younger than I thought, but after realising that’s not really relevant (I’m a fan of the series after all and I’m 34), I came to the conclusion that the Harry Potter series would actually lend itself to the adventure genre extremely well indeed. It has its fair share of action, but the majority of the storyline is driven along by mystery, which the heroes work through using logic and investigatory techniques rather than brute force or physical prowess. I can very easily imagine a Day of the Tentacle style game where the player needs to use all three characters’ talents to progress. The world that J.K. Rowling created would give a developer endless gadgets, spells, characters and lore to pull from too!
Interestingly, a lot of the Harry Potter games look like adventures but are labelled action. Has anyone played one?
What was even more surprising though was Planet of the Apes coming in second. It was the last series I added to the list and I wondered whether anyone would choose it, but eight people clearly think it could work. As for me, well I’m just a sucker for anything Lord of the Rings related, and I’d love the chance to play an adventure game in Middle Earth, even if it was just to experience the environments and characters brought to life in that format. One can dream!
If you haven't seen Rise of the Planet of the Apes yet, I highly recommend it!
This week’s question is less fun I’m afraid, but it’s something I wanted to ask you all to make sure I’ve got a good feel for what you want The Adventure Gamer to be like into the future. I started thinking about it after my Shadowgate – Demon of the Fall post, which was very long and detailed. I pretty much described everything that happened during my ninety minute session along with all the thought processes I went through on the way. This is in stark contrast to how my early posts were which didn’t go into much detail at all, and were much more focussed on game mechanics than puzzles and story. So...what do you guys enjoy? Long and detailed, short and to the point, or somewhere in between? I’d love to hear any feedback anyone might have in the comments of this post too (or sent to my email).
Hopefully I’ll have the next Shadowgate post up tomorrow. I haven’t had much time to play in the last couple of days.
Saturday, 24 March 2012
Weekly Poll Discussion
Another week flies by and another poll has run its course. Last week’s question was “What’s your favourite classic Sierra adventure series?” and as expected there were a lot of votes and a fair bit of discussion. As I commented earlier, I purposely left the Gabriel Knight series off the list as that didn’t start until the nineties, but the Laura Bow series was unfortunately an oversight. Apology’s to anyone who would have liked to vote for that series although I think I can safely assume it wouldn’t have topped the list. Here are the results in ranked order:
Quest For Glory (Hero’s Quest) 31 (39%)
Leisure Suit Larry 16 (20%)
Space Quest 12 (15%)
King’s Quest 11 (14%)
Manhunter 4 (5%)
Police Quest 4 (5%)
I have to say that I’m a little surprised by the result, as I thought Space Quest might have done better and that Leisure Suit Larry might not have scored so well (that little underdog never fails to score!). That being said, I’m stoked to see Quest For Glory topping the poll as that’s my personal favourite and a series I’m very much looking forward to playing through again. Given how much I enjoyed Police Quest, the fact that it came in equal last really shows how solid the Sierra adventure games are overall. Once I get through the majority of them, it will be interesting to average out the scores of each series and see how they compare, although King’s Quest is certainly disadvantaged by being the first to launch the technology.
Time for another question and I’ve given this one quite a bit of consideration. Looking through games lists, it’s obvious that certain movie franchises transition very well into various video game genres, and many developers have tried to tap into existing fanbases over the years with varied success. When it comes to adventure games, the most notable movie series to make the transition are Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Sherlock Holmes and Star Trek, but others such as Jurassic Park, Batman and James Bond have been attempted as well. This week’s question is "Which movie series would you like to see made into an adventure game?” Your choice might be due to which would transition the best, or perhaps just which one you’d love to see, it’s totally up to you.
I’ve chosen some of the bigger movie franchises out there, all of which have been made into video games, but none of which have been made into adventure games. I've also tried to have a good mix of settings too, such as sci-fi, fantasy, gangster etc. Before anyone says it, I know there were adventure games based on Lord of the Rings back in the day, but they were interactive fiction rather than graphic adventure games. I’ve also taken the liberty of not including The Matrix because let’s face it, that would be shit! Feel free to raise any you others in the comments that you think would be great.
Quest For Glory (Hero’s Quest) 31 (39%)
Leisure Suit Larry 16 (20%)
Space Quest 12 (15%)
King’s Quest 11 (14%)
Manhunter 4 (5%)
Police Quest 4 (5%)
The glory just keeps on coming it seems!
I have to say that I’m a little surprised by the result, as I thought Space Quest might have done better and that Leisure Suit Larry might not have scored so well (that little underdog never fails to score!). That being said, I’m stoked to see Quest For Glory topping the poll as that’s my personal favourite and a series I’m very much looking forward to playing through again. Given how much I enjoyed Police Quest, the fact that it came in equal last really shows how solid the Sierra adventure games are overall. Once I get through the majority of them, it will be interesting to average out the scores of each series and see how they compare, although King’s Quest is certainly disadvantaged by being the first to launch the technology.
Time for another question and I’ve given this one quite a bit of consideration. Looking through games lists, it’s obvious that certain movie franchises transition very well into various video game genres, and many developers have tried to tap into existing fanbases over the years with varied success. When it comes to adventure games, the most notable movie series to make the transition are Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Sherlock Holmes and Star Trek, but others such as Jurassic Park, Batman and James Bond have been attempted as well. This week’s question is "Which movie series would you like to see made into an adventure game?” Your choice might be due to which would transition the best, or perhaps just which one you’d love to see, it’s totally up to you.
Friday, 16 March 2012
Weekly Poll Discussion
Rather unsurprisingly, last week’s question (should Psycho be added to the list of 1988 games The Adventure Gamer will play?) has ended up with a positive outcome. The results of the poll are below:
Yes, it’s a really great game that shouldn’t be ignored! 3 Votes (6%)
Yes, it’s the little known games I enjoy reading about most. 33 votes (66%)
No, for the love of God, don’t play that terrible excuse for a game! 6 votes (12%)
No, I’d rather The Trickster not waste his time on little known games. 8 votes (16%)
I’d love to know who chose option 1 and whether they’ve actually played the game (anyone want to own up to it?). Regardless, that’s 36 positives to 14 negatives, which is pretty comprehensive. I’ll be playing Psycho!
This week’s poll is going to be a little more fun and will have no ramifications on the blog. I previously had a poll asking which setting people enjoyed the most in their adventure games, but that particular poll turned out to be fundamentally flawed. This time I’m going to be a little more specific and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you find it challenging to commit to an answer.
What’s your favourite classic Sierra adventure series? Keep in mind that the question is about the full series', not one particular game in each.
It seems a fitting question, given that I’m playing through Police Quest right now. I know which series I’d personally like to see come out on top (can you guess?), but I’ll be very interested to see what everyone else thinks.
Yes, it’s a really great game that shouldn’t be ignored! 3 Votes (6%)
Yes, it’s the little known games I enjoy reading about most. 33 votes (66%)
No, for the love of God, don’t play that terrible excuse for a game! 6 votes (12%)
No, I’d rather The Trickster not waste his time on little known games. 8 votes (16%)
I’d love to know who chose option 1 and whether they’ve actually played the game (anyone want to own up to it?). Regardless, that’s 36 positives to 14 negatives, which is pretty comprehensive. I’ll be playing Psycho!
Can anyone tell me which scene in Hitchcock's Psycho had a ghost in it?
This week’s poll is going to be a little more fun and will have no ramifications on the blog. I previously had a poll asking which setting people enjoyed the most in their adventure games, but that particular poll turned out to be fundamentally flawed. This time I’m going to be a little more specific and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you find it challenging to commit to an answer.
What’s your favourite classic Sierra adventure series? Keep in mind that the question is about the full series', not one particular game in each.
It seems a fitting question, given that I’m playing through Police Quest right now. I know which series I’d personally like to see come out on top (can you guess?), but I’ll be very interested to see what everyone else thinks.
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