Help my wife and me find a game we can play together

Settlers is a gateway drug FYI
I dunno. I'm pretty resistant to anything with a learning curve these days. And I did manage to quit WoW after playing for only 30 days.

I think my gaming ADD is the most effective shield against gaming addiction (or at least addiction to an individual game) ever designed.
 
I dunno. I'm pretty resistant to anything with a learning curve these days.

And here you go not wanting to finish Ocarina of Time, which has virtually no learning curve.

And I did manage to quit WoW after playing for only 30 days.

You quit? So we can stop nagging and making fun of you :(

I think my gaming ADD is the most effective shield against gaming addiction (or at least addiction to an individual game) ever designed.

I think most companies just design a half dozen baddies, generate random levels, slowly increase the number and difficultly and while they are at it hire the worst tabloid writer to come up with some type of story for it all.
 
Hmm. I of course will go on record saying playing WoW is a great thing to do with each other. And other MMOs don't seem to cut it. I'm keeping my eye on The Old Republic, but that's the only one I'd recommend. Unless you are the kind of double-lifed person who enjoys something like Eve, in which case I'd recommend it. I'd just caution you to not go all out with Eve until you know you'll like it after three months of play.

I'd agree with RiverTigress, IF you play together. WoW is, in my opinion, worlds better played with the love of your life than alone. I don't think I could go back to playing it solo.


In terms of other games, I know the older "Tales" games (Tales of Symphonia, for one) have multiplayer support. Do the new Wii ones do? When i played the Wii Symphonia titles, I was going solo.

I found Puzzle Quest (PC) to be crack. I literally stopped playing it because I foresaw my grades plummeting to the floor. It combined the better parts of bejeweled and of some sort of fantasy tactical games (and the worst part of bad dialogue, voice-acting, and story.) So I got rid of it. I may take it back up when I become a) retired or b) permanently disabled. I will probably enjoy it immensely.

I also enjoyed Audiosurf. It's a combination music/puzzle game, which analyzes sound files to build its levels, available on Steam.
 
Hmm. I of course will go on record saying playing WoW is a great thing to do with each other. And other MMOs don't seem to cut it.

I'd say that most MMOs in general suck in terms of playing with friends. Typically you don't level at the same speed, so invariably you get out of sync in terms of quests, etc.

PvP oriented games (like say TF2) allow for a somewhat easy entry (provided you don't spend 20 hours farming achievements for the unlockables) but will become dry quickly due to most servers typically only having players at peak hours and less forgiving mechanics than PvE games.

I sorta liked DDO, except for the caster classes. Basically you had a limited number of spells you could cast before needing to rest and the ranger needed to buy arrows for the bow. Meanwhile the melee classes could swing around all day without issue... Also level progression was slower then molasses.... Meh

Unless you are the kind of double-lifed person who enjoys something like Eve, in which case I'd recommend it. I'd just caution you to not go all out with Eve until you know you'll like it after three months of play.

Eve is pretty unforgiving. Unless you keep up with the patch notes you could loose a ship due to overnight mechanic changes. Also when I was playing the races were so unbalanced that if you screwed up in character creation you pretty much had no chance in PvP unless you spent a month or two learning the skills for a different race's ships.

I will say the most fun I had was ganking gold farmers in high security systems. Got a few mails in Chinese cursing me off ^^
 
I'd say that most MMOs in general suck in terms of playing with friends. Typically you don't level at the same speed, so invariably you get out of sync in terms of quests, etc. ....

That's arguable.

I believe husband and wife pairs generally have a more controlled grouping time than a common pair of friends do, they also (generally) have more invested in each other than a pair of friends do.

Also, once you hit the maximum level in an MMO you don't have to worry about out leveling each other.

I'd rather play an MMO with a friend versus a game like TF2 or L4D1 or 2 because you are usually dedicated to one server and are always able to know if they are on or not. There are also other people there who are more dedicated to that server than they would be on a TF2 or L4D server whom you can befriend. Bottom line - it is easier to get to know more people on a deeper level in MMOs than in games like TF2 and L4D(2).

Wow I got off topic.

Anyway. Since I got a new 500gb HD I will gladly try DDO with you all again. Just post your play times if you plan on playing.

Also - just throwing this out there... There are private servers for Dark Age of Camelot out there that do a rather good job of emulating the live version experience that have a very good community feel to them. I don't know if you all are into private servers due to personal beliefs/convictions but it is an option as well... and its DAOC... the best RVR available.
 
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I'm planning to download DDO soon, but I was wondering if anyone could provide insight on whether I should snag the Standard Resolution client or the High Resolution client.

My notebook's key specs are:
  • Core2 Duo T6400 @ 2.0GHz
  • ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650
  • 2GB RAM
  • Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Thoughts?
 
I used the High Res one a while back and it was weaksauce, I am pretty sure your notebook will handle it more than fine...unless there was an update to it recently...
 
I tried DDO a long time ago, so I can redownload and see where I left off in the game, but it really must not have impressed me at all, cuz I don't even remember the game.
 
Eve is pretty unforgiving. Unless you keep up with the patch notes you could loose a ship due to overnight mechanic changes. Also when I was playing the races were so unbalanced that if you screwed up in character creation you pretty much had no chance in PvP unless you spent a month or two learning the skills for a different race's ships.

I will say the most fun I had was ganking gold farmers in high security systems. Got a few mails in Chinese cursing me off ^^

Saying Eve is unforgiving is probably the understatement of the year. Nowdays it's not so much keeping up with patch notes (unless you've hit T2/T3 stuff) or character creation (races are pretty decent now), but the playerbase has no give whatsoever for the new players, and anyone getting into that game needs to have a friend or an established corp to guide them (if anyone wants to learn the ropes, I'd be glad to help...). As for ganking miners in high sec, that never gets old and people have turned it into an actual event... The aptly named Hulkageddon.
Eve is probably the only MMO I ever have and probably ever will not recommend for most people. It really does take a special person to have the persistence and patience to actually learn to play, even though the rewards for doing so are arguably the greatest of any game.

More on the topic at hand, I would try the HD version first, and if for some reason the computer can't handle it, go for the standard. I think in DDO you get the most out of the game working with a group. When I played solo, I always had to use either Paladin or Cleric just because that's the only way to survive early on. If you've got a team, then the ranged classes seem to become more viable...
 
Having a pair of fuzzy D20s hanging from my rear-view mirror, I've been looking for an excuse to try DDO ever since free content was announced. I've tried the game a bit before and one of the things I like is that it has more of a "co-op dungeon crawler" feel to it than large-scale battle.

I will add, though, that I doubt I'll have much time for playing an MMO unless my wife was playing as well, but it's worth a shot.
 
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In my efforts to build a list of games with co-op gameplay to sample, I'd like to narrow it down a bit. I'm going to post a few "Game 1 v. Game 2" choices below and would appreciate if people familiar with both or all titles in a group could recommend the best game to start with.
  • Neverwinter Nights v. Neverwinter Nights 2
  • Baldur's Gate v. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
  • Champtions of Norrath v. Champions: Return to Arms
For the PC games, it might be worth mentioning that my wife and I both run Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

NWN: The second one is definitely prettier and more "cinematic", so to speak, but there is a ton of content (paid and community) out for both, for sure. Both have a pretty good story with lots of choices to be made. I agree with the "flip a coin" sentiment, although I'd lean towards #2.

Baldur's Gate v. BG2 - Both classics, both running on the exact same engine with the same setup. I know there was a combo pack that I bought a long time ago that came with both and also Icewind Dale (also same engine/etc). Really since they're all the "same", I think you might as well start with #1. If you have fun with that, there's a lot of fun on those disks.

Champions - Same case here...same engine for both games, and you can import your toons from the first into the second. I'd also add that the Baldur's Gate games for the console are hack'n'slash, and are also built in this same engine...although Champions definitely has a few improvements. Any of these would be good choices that you could buy on the cheap.

One last note: Not sure how, but I totally forgot about Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. Hack'n'slash with a good bit of exploring built in, and worth playing for the sound bites from Mr. Micky Mouse hands alone.
"RED KNIGHT NEEDS FOOD BADLY!"
 
Resurrecting this thread in hopes of finding a co-op action RPG with gamepad support I can play with my wife.

Possible platforms: PC, PlayStation 3 (including PlayStation Network), PS2, PS1, Dreamcast, Wii, Gamecube, and Nintendo DS.

Already played: Soma Bringer. (LOVED IT.)

Already tried: Champions of Norrath, Dungeon Siege III. Both are okay, but disappointing after the awesomeness that is Soma Bringer.

Already dismissed: Diablo 3 (occult themes), Torchlight II (no gamepad controls), and Baldur's Gate I & II (click-to-move controls).

EDIT: Bonus points for any co-op action RPG that does NOT use a fantasy setting.

EDIT#2: And I've already signed up for the Secrets of Grindea beta test. :D Very much looking forward to that game's release.
 
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May I ask a question related to this thread here? I want to share my gaming with my other half too, but probably am even more restricted in what my better half plays. I may be coming into some money and am thinking of buying a Wii for the exercise programs it has. Are there non shooting, coop programs that can be played with restricted movement in them?
 
May I ask a question related to this thread here? I want to share my gaming with my other half too, but probably am even more restricted in what my better half plays. I may be coming into some money and am thinking of buying a Wii for the exercise programs it has. Are there non shooting, coop programs that can be played with restricted movement in them?
If you have a Balance Board, there's a mini-game in Raving Rabbids TV Party where you can steer with your butt.

No, seriously.

As for the Wii: Boom Blox is simple fun and very accessible to non-gamers, but I don't recall if there's a co-op mode. (My wife and I always play Versus and she usually kicks my rear.) Then of course there's always Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort for mini-games and Wii Fit Plus for exercise.

There are probably several other great non-violent co-op games for the Wii, but it's Monday morning and my brain is still booting up. If I remember any others, I'll post again.
 
What about NEStalgia? It's good for a few weeks of fun, but it isn't exactly an "actuon" RPG. More like a JRPG.
I'd heard of it, but haven't played it yet. I'll take another look at it.

I can't believe no one has mentioned Trine 2.
I have a copy, but if Trine 2 is anything like Trine 1, I'm going to prefer keyboard/mouse controls to gamepad controls and that makes for an awkward co-op setup. The emphasis on platforming may also deter my wife as she's not a fan of platformers (which saddens me, since I really enjoyed New Super Mario Bros. Wii).
 
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