Carey Martell The RPG Fanatic

When I watched your Arcuz review I can't help but feel a connection to the latest Ys titles (Napishtim, Felghana, and Seven). As for the MMOs I guess I'll check them out someday. I'm just glad you're starting to do informative reviews again instead of doing another rant.

burn in hell, Vancian magic!

Out of curiousity, there are two MMORPGs i'd like your opinion on: Vindictus and Champions Online (the latter especially, since you're a veteran of City of Heroes)

What's wrong with Vancian magic? It's strategic and stuff. Just because it seems rather unsuitable for CRPGs... yeah. Anyway. I also got an Ys vibe off what I saw of Arcuz.

I did like these reviews. Informative, interesting and not overly long. Though, are you sure that almost every D&D based game since 1991 is an action RPG?

@Priest
My issues with Vancian spellcasting are numerous, but one of the easier ones is the fact that I'm not playing "Dying Earth the RPG". D&D may have been inspired by the works of Tolken, Moorcock, Vance, Howard, etc. but its become more and more about itself (as opposed to the things that inspired it) as time passed.

Secondly, I don't like the way its executed in D&D, and shed no tear when Unearthed Arcana, slayers d20, and a few other games killed it.

I think the only two videogames i've played that used it in a way I didn't mind was Chrono Cross and FF8

I'm trying very hard not to comment on FFVIII's magic system. At least D&D did try and make their magic system make some sense. I think the upside of the Vancian system is that it makes casting a little more strategic and it's one way to have magic feel a little less commonplace.

Magic has really been stripped of its magic over the years. A mage is warping the very fundamental forces of the universe and it's become as mystical as ordering off a fast food menu. Partly it's just that CRPGs can't handle the coolest magic and partly it's a result of streamlining and simplifying games. Simplifying is good and was much needed in the genre, but sometimes I think it's gone a bit far. Look at WoW where every class effectively does magic and thus magic amounts to slightly different stats to stack.

And I didn't mean to write this much so I'll get off the soapbox now.

There's no doubt it can be strategic, but I don't think its the only way, "there's more than one way to skin a cat", pardon the cliche. Personally, all I ask is a connection between fluff and crunch that feels appropriate, and Vancian hasn't met the burden I set. (the fact that D&D's been screwing the fighters for decades doesn't help either)

But then again, i'm just a monk

Never played D&D or any of those other table-top games. But what is this "vancian" system and how do video game rpgs incorporate it? FF8....you didn't use magic, you equiped it. XD

@Indurago: Vancian magic systems are when a spell is "used up" when you cast the spell, requiring the spell to be relearned in order to use it again.

The system was first used in Dungeons and Dragons and existed in all editions up to 4th edition.

"Vancian magic" is named for Jack Vance, author of the 'Dying Earth' novels, as the way magic worked in his stories inspired Gygax when he created D&D's magic system.

I suppose it is worth pointing out that FF 8's Junction System was just one of the game's subsystems. In FF 8 you needed to "Draw" spells from enemies to stockpile the magic, as every casting of the magic consumed it. So if you want to cast Fire 99 times, you needed to stockpile 99 copies of Fire, as every cast of Fire depletes your stock by 1.