So, hello everyone.
As has been discussed on the Original cRPG Club Main Thread, Our inestimable leader Godzilla Blitz has retired while he's ahead, and I have agreed to take over while he heads off to Deified Status.
I am a very great believer in the maxim, "If it isn't broken, then don't fix it" and fully intend to carry on managing this club - and thread - as it has done so for the previous 4 years. That doesn't mean to say I'm not open to suggests from the membership of course - and anyone else who'd like to join - but I'm fairly sure a great part of the success of this thread as been down to how it's be run. If there are any suggestions or ideas then let me know and we can figure out what we all want to do.
What's This?
Have you started Baldur's Gate II six times and never made it past Level 4? Well, that's a bit unfortunate because we've played it now and you'll have to pick something else from your steam pile and try and give that a go instead. Mind you all is not lost, there is always the retirement home!
Regardless, if you like playing cRPGs, then this is the group for you! We are a group of GWJers playing Computer RPGs together for the fun of a shared experience. The main thought is that we all have some great RPGs that have been sitting in our backlogs for quite a while and never seem to get cleared off the pile. By picking an RPG that's been out for a while and getting a number of people to play it at the same time, there is more motivation to finish and the conversation about the gameplay makes the experience all the better.
What's currently going on?
We are playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance through until June 31st, 2025.
What types of games do we play?
1. Role-Playing Games that are at least a year old.
2. Games that are good, relatively inexpensive, and available.
3. Non-Japanese RPGs (there is already a GWJ Club for Japanese RPGs)
4. Computer Role-Playing Games, but console RPGs are not necessarily excluded.
How do we decide on games to play?
• We have four (ish) days of nominations and seconding, but we try to be a little flexible to account for things like the Steam Sale. To be included in the voting games must be nominated by one member and seconded by a different member. Each member is allowed one nomination, and may second any number of nominations. Games nominated must have had their western release at least one year before the nomination month and may not be a game the club has already played.
After the nomination round, we have two rounds of voting.
• First, we have a Pick 6 Round of voting. Each voter can vote for up to 6 games from the candidate pool, in any order of preference. This round lasts three days. The top six vote-getters get carried to the Ranked Voting Round. In the case of ties, we will always carry at least 5 games to the final round, but no more than 7 games. Ties will be broken in a way to send 5-7 games to the final round.
• Second, we use a Ranked Choice Voting system to select a winner from the final round candidates. Basically, you vote by listing the candidate games in order of your preference of play, with the top game on your list your top preference for play. You can rank as many candidate games as you like. (You do not have to rank all the games.) Once everyone has voted, we use Ranked Choice Voting to determine the winner, as shown in this one-minute video. Members can vote without having nominated anything! Vote for stuff you want to play.
If games are tied for first after the Ranked Choice round, we hold a 48-hour tiebreaker among the games tied for first. Members may vote for one or both games. If more than two games are tied for first after the Ranked Choice round, we'll use another round of Ranked Choice Voting among the tied games, so members list their games in order of preference.
How long do we have to play each game?
6 months. Last year (2024) we moved to a 6 monthly voting sechdule, but it was decided at the end of the year that this was taking a little too long between games. To that end, for 22025 we will be voting every 4 months. However I will keep the completion time for each game at 6 months as it feels the right about of time to get a game completed.
If you don't finish in six months, you can still finish and get level up credit by posting your progress in The CRPG Club Retirement Home, but it's likely to be pretty lonely in there. Definitely more fun to play with everyone while the game in place!
What are the guidelines on conversation spoilers?
For BIG spoilers, please use the spoiler tag. (No! I am your father!) Tactics, strategies, general story progression likely don't need them.
Can anyone join? How do I join?
All are most welcome! Post in this thread with "I'm interested" or something like that and BOOM, your lifetime membership is fully activated. In 3-6 weeks you will receive your secret handshake in the mail. Check for it daily.
How do I level up?
Start and finish a group game during the gameplay duration, go up a level! No penalties for not finishing. Highest level member gets to decide the year's secret handshake at the annual club convention that does not ever happen.
Game History
2025
Kingdom Come: Deliverance ~1st Jan 2025 - 31st June, 2025
2024
Cyberpunk 2077 - 1st July 2024 - 31st Dec 2024
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - 30th Dec 2023 - 30th June 2024
2023
Roadwarden Oct 1st (more or less) - March 31st, 2024
Wildermyth July 1st - Dec 31st, 2023
Kenshi April 1st - Sept 30th, 2023
Legend of Grimrock January 1st - Jun 30th 2023
2022
Vampyr (Oct 1st (give or take) - March 31st, 2023)
Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark (July 1st - December 31st, 2022)
Baldur's Gate 2 (April 1 - September 30, 2022)
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (January 1 - June 30, 2022)
2021
Torment: Tides of Numenera (October 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022)
The Outer Worlds (July 1, 2021 - December 31, 2021)
Disco Elysium (April 1, 2021 - September 30, 2021)
Tyranny (January 1, 2021 - June 30, 2021)
2020
Banner Saga (October 1, 2020 - March 31, 2020)
Wasteland 2 (July 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020)
Divinity Original Sin 2 (4/1 - 9/30) (31 starters, 11 finishers, 35.5% completion)
The Witcher 3 (1/1 - 6/30) (42 starters, 14 finishers, 33.3% completion)
2019
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (10/1 - 3/31/20) (13 starters, 9 finishers, 69.2% completion)
Baldur's Gate (7/1 - 12/31) (26 starters, 15 finishers, 57.7% completion)
Arcanum (4/1 - 9/30) (27 starters, 8 finishers, 29.6% completion)
Dragon Age: Origins (1/1 - 6/30) (29 starters, 13 finishers, 44.8% completion)
2018
Divinity: Original Sin 1 (10/1-3/31/19) (27 starters, 11 finishers, 40.7% completion)
Jade Empire (7/1-12/31) (35 starters, 17 finishers, 48.6% completion)
Pillars of Eternity (4/1 - 9/30) (42 starters, 20 finishers, 47.6% completion)
Shadowrun: Dragonfall DC (1/20 - 6/30) (35 starters, 19 finishers, 55.9% completion)
Game Key
01 - Dragonfall
02 - Pillars of Eternity
03 - Jade Empire
04 - Divinity: Original Sin
05 - Dragon Age: Origins
06 - Arcanum
07 - Baldur's Gate
08 - Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
09 - The Witcher 3
10 - Divinity Original Sin 2
11 - Wasteland 2
12 - Banner Saga
13 - Tyranny
14 - Disco Elysium
15 - The Outer Worlds
16 - Torment: Tides of Numenera
17 - Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
18 - Baldur's Gate 2
19 - Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark
20 - Vampyr
21 - Legend of Grimock
22 - Kenshi
23 - Wildermyth
24 - Roadwarden
25 - Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
26 - Cyberpunk 2077
27 - Kingdom Come: Deliverance
* = Retirement Home Completion
Level 18 Membership
Alien Love Gardener - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21, 24, 25
Level 17 Membership
Redherring - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 13, 15, 17, 21, 18*
Sorbicol - 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 14, 17, 19, 18*, 21, 23, 26
Level 16 Membership
Math - 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 1*, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 24
Level 15 Membership
ubrakto - 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23
*Legion* - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 7, 9, 12, 11*, 21, 22, 23, 18*
Level 14 Members
gewy - 2, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26
Level 13 Members
Level 12 Members
Level 11 Members
Level 10 Members
Godzilla Blitz - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 11, 14, 13
Level 9 Members
Clumber - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 25
Level 8 Members
pyxistyx - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10*
merphle - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 21
Sundown - 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 23
Level 7 Members
Shadout - 2, 5, 7, 8, 14, 24, 26
brokenclavicle - 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 19, 26
Level 6 Members
benign1 - 1, 3, 7, 2*, 12*, 14
Level 5 Members
imbiginjapan - 2, 3, 4, 7, 9
AUs_TBirD - 3, 8, 12, 22, 26
Level 4 Members
beanman101283 - 1, 7, 13, 14
LastSurprise - 2, 12, 14, 19
Level 3 Members
Skraut - 1, 2, 3
tundra - 1, 5, 6
RnRClown - 1, 4, 7
fuzzyslug - 1, 3, 9
Cronox - 2, 3, 9
Stele - 19, 22, 23
Level 2 Members
steinkrug - 1, 2
Hardek - 1, 2
SillyRabbit - 1, 2
jdzappa - 2, 12
deceivious1 - 11, 12
strangederby - 10, 13
WizKid - 7, 17
SpaceDog - 1, 20
kstress71 - 20, 21
Level 1 Members
JohnKillo - 1
WellAdjusted - 1
Feegle - 1
Freyja - 3
Eleima - 3
Toddland - 2
MathGoddess - 2
Dwango - 3
funkasaurus_rex - 5
Lakerboy32 - 5
kuddles - 5
tboon - 7
JLS - 9
Stengah - 9
Zoso1701 - 10
polypusher - 10
Mario_Alba - 10
Mr GT Chris - 12
bfgp - 13
malor - 13
GioClark - 13
billt721 - 13
Timespike - 14
Agathos - 14
prodiginy - 17
hbi2k - 19
Malkroth - 19
Farscry - 22
Mr Bismarck - 26
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