"It's not dungeon keeper"

[cheez0r]

I keep repeatedly seeing this said in posts. Repeatedly. So I went and I watched the trailers I could find, checked kalypso and realmforge sites, and all that since everyone says marketing said it was a "Dungeon Keeper" spiritual successor.

You know what I found?

A plethora of forum posts on the official boards of the developers warning everyone it's not Dungeon Keeper. Imagine that! They've been honest this whole time!

So all of you whining about it, just stop. It wasn't claimed. It's a similar game in that you build a Dungeon, but it is definitely different. It's quirky. It's not for everyone even, but some of us do find it to be quite fun.

I'm just sick of the repeated posts claiming it should've been dungeon keeper. Realmforge / Kalypso have nothing to do with the original Dungeon Keeper or Bullfrog. I'm sure there'd even be licensing and legal issues with making a DK3 themselves. I'm sure everyone is sorry that you didn't get the DK3 you wanted, but this game didn't claim to be it.

Educate yourself better next time before making a purchase.

[ShadowOrigin]

Quite right, and what I've been repeating to people throughout these past two days on these very forums myself. These alleged Dungeon Keeper players apparently did not even check the store description for this game, nor did they take an in-depth look at the screenshots, along with everything you've mentioned. Had they simply read the product description alone, they should have easily been able to see that this product was not going to be similar to that series except in looks alone.

Perhaps I'm simply jaded, but I never let anything draw me in from looks alone at this point in my life, and looks are pretty much the only resemblance between these two series. Hopefully those players can get a refund so that they stop getting so worked up over this, or put some more time into the game to attempt to enjoy the qualities it does have.

[Mr_Eon]

"It's not Dungeon Keeper"?

"I know - but it's still not a very good game."

[failgo]

Whether they claimed it was like Dungeon Keeper or not doesn't matter. What matters is how they are presenting it and have presented it from the beginning. Christ they even mention "keeper" and other elements in the game.

Someone could put on Superman's outfit and run around saying "I'm not trying to look like superman! really!" all day and people will still say he looks like superman.

EDIT The game is still fine on its own accounts though, WHEN IT WORKS. But they are right, it sure ain't no Dungeon Keeper.

[Ceteef]

i miss Dungeon keeper, so i bought Dungeons, but it can't fulfill me, make me installed DK 2 to my windows 7 , but it didn't work, so sad!!

[Gordo the G]

"It's not Dungeon Keeper"?

"I know - but it's still not a very good game."

Yeah I think everyone knew it wasn't going to be Dungeon Keeper 3... I mean duh....

They just probably expected it to be a bit more than a tower defence game with Dugneon Keeper style graphics...

I mean theres unoriginal... and then there is just not trying....

I mean seriously have you guys seen the "Zombie King" in the cutscenes?

I've seen better graphics on a Sega Megadrive..

[skedaddler]

Knowing ahead of time that this was not DK3, but secretly hoping it still was, I went into it with anxious skepticism. After a few early frustrations caused by assuming DK dynamics that don't play well in Dungeons, I discovered that I really like this game.

I love that you allow heroes to fill their egos (souls) before you take them to slaughter. It took the micromanagement frustrations out of overlord control immediately when I realized I didn't need to chase down every hero.

Took me a while to realize the necessity of leveling my monsters and upgrading overlord skills. ALso using the placement of pentagrams with regard to dungeon design as a means of staggering heroes in my lair so I can battle only a couple of heroes at a time.

The prestige/soul dynamic is good, though a bit slow to take hold in the early game. I love that good placement of pentagram, prestige items and treasure makes for a path that heroes with pursue when exploring. Path placement makes the game so much fun.

Yeah, the humor often falls flat (why is Overlord's jester so much funnier than Dungeon's Mr. Sidekick?) and the Zombie Master dialogue does little to add to humor while simultaneously destroying immersion, but those elements present themselves somewhat rarely and don't ruin a game like this for me at all. Otherwise, the little bits of hero humor and occasional comments are welcome. Sorry, guys. Overall, you need a new writer.

I love DK. True, this ain't it. But fun! Now that I've released my preconceptions and have a feel for THIS game, I am enjoying it quite a lot. Thanks for a good game.

Skedaddler

[skelooth]

I knew this wasn't going to be DK3 and the game still sucked. Stop trying to defend this game.

[skedaddler]

I knew this wasn't going to be DK3 and the game still sucked. Stop trying to defend this game.



Ummm, yeeeaah. I can like the game regardless of your feelings about ir. I don't have to TRY to defend it. I actually like it. You don't have to like it. I have no interest one way or another in convincing you. You're opinions don't mean anything to me.

[BlueTrin]

I keep repeatedly seeing this said in posts. Repeatedly. So I went and I watched the trailers I could find, checked kalypso and realmforge sites, and all that since everyone says marketing said it was a "Dungeon Keeper" spiritual successor.

You know what I found?

A plethora of forum posts on the official boards of the developers warning everyone it's not Dungeon Keeper. Imagine that! They've been honest this whole time!

So all of you whining about it, just stop. It wasn't claimed. It's a similar game in that you build a Dungeon, but it is definitely different. It's quirky. It's not for everyone even, but some of us do find it to be quite fun.

I'm just sick of the repeated posts claiming it should've been dungeon keeper. Realmforge / Kalypso have nothing to do with the original Dungeon Keeper or Bullfrog. I'm sure there'd even be licensing and legal issues with making a DK3 themselves. I'm sure everyone is sorry that you didn't get the DK3 you wanted, but this game didn't claim to be it.

Educate yourself better next time before making a purchase.

So it's ok to make false advertising if the forums says that all our advertising is lies ?

Sounds like you are a troll.

Now go enjoy the game if you like it ! If you like the game play it ... I didn't like it but will give a second try after reading the posts (not your post but the others)

[k_ton]

I keep repeatedly seeing this said in posts. Repeatedly. So I went and I watched the trailers I could find, checked kalypso and realmforge sites, and all that since everyone says marketing said it was a "Dungeon Keeper" spiritual successor.

You know what I found?

A plethora of forum posts on the official boards of the developers warning everyone it's not Dungeon Keeper. Imagine that! They've been honest this whole time!

So all of you whining about it, just stop. It wasn't claimed. It's a similar game in that you build a Dungeon, but it is definitely different. It's quirky. It's not for everyone even, but some of us do find it to be quite fun.

I'm just sick of the repeated posts claiming it should've been dungeon keeper. Realmforge / Kalypso have nothing to do with the original Dungeon Keeper or Bullfrog. I'm sure there'd even be licensing and legal issues with making a DK3 themselves. I'm sure everyone is sorry that you didn't get the DK3 you wanted, but this game didn't claim to be it.

Educate yourself better next time before making a purchase.

There's a big reason that so many posts pop up that are complaining that this game is not dungeon keeper. For this, the developers and people writing game articles are to blame. Pretty much every single screen shot advertised on the steam store, looks like it came straight from a prettier version of dungeon keeper. That intro cinematic alone looks EXACTLY like the intro cinematic to the first dungeon keeper, it's just ridiculous.

Now to my second point, I didn't even hear about this game, or much care about it until I heard in an article that claimed that dungeons was going to be a spiritual successor to dungeon keeper. Pretty sure the developers should have seriously emphasized that the game was not supposed to be dungeon keeper, in the least bit. But you know what? They didn't, so everyone started assuming based on articles and what they could see based on screen shots and the like, that it was in fact, going to be another dungeon keeperish game.

So if the developers really, honestly didn't want to release a game that people were going to confuse with dungeon keeper then they should have tried harder to emphasize that. Having terminology identical or similar to that of dungeon keeper as well as having a lot of those features makes it sound like it's trying to be dungeon keeper. Just look at all of those key features, the game does not scream "Hey guys, I'm pretty much not a dungeon keeper game here so don't buy me if you think that!". This is what I think happened, they were trying to sell a game in dungeon keeper clothing, trying to make a quick buck. However, games as they usually do, get leaked early people realized it WASN'T dungeon keeper so everyone started to get up in arms over it being bull♥♥♥♥. The developers then try and tell everyone in the game isn't supposed to be a dungeon keeper game at that point, which just screams bull♥♥♥♥. If they REALLY didn't want anyone to think it wasn't a dungeon keeper game, they should have used a better intro, screenshots that show off that the game isn't dungeon keeper, stop with the misleading features, use different terminology and have a demo. If people get to play a sample of your game, then they wont be annoyed when they realized they've been mislead this entire time.

However, if this game does ♥♥♥♥ty in sales I'm sure they are going to blame it on piracy and not that they themselves messed up. So honestly, people shouldn't defend companies that try and pull a fast one like what we see here.

[sfade]

A dungeon game that pays homage to another game of similar subject that was the inspiration for the developers (who loved said game themselves). The dungeons actually resemble dungeons in other dungeon games, and get this... they have goblins and monsters and a dungeon lord and heart.

OMG THE HORROR!

This is like people buying a Swiss Replica Rolex from the manufacturer and going on a massive tirade that it wasn't an actual Rolex - when the product is clearly defined as not being such. It's utterly and entirely idiotic. If you don't spend a minimum of effort to find out what you are buying when it is fully and very clearly disclosed to the would be consumer, you fully deserve your own disappointment!

[Valdorganos]

What's very strange in the story, I mean strange not unusual, is that "it's not dungeon keeper 3" is posted as the ultimate negative critic of the game. That implicitly means they can't play another game than Dungeon Keeper xth.

A bit more subtle in negative comments is to highlight what's different with dungeon keeper and by doing to mean that all differences are a flaw. Again that sort of argument means those people can play only Dungeon Keeper.

But quote that DK2 had been a real commercial failure, so did it was really a so marvelous game? I know number of sells don't have links with the game quality, but up to be a failure is a different point.

The last point is how people are totally unable to go over their expectation (sometimes it's just their dream of a game) and lost all objectivity when their expectation isn't fulfilled. It's human behavior but stick to that is quite simplistic.

[Sonris89]

I tried the demo and almost fell asleep in the first mission.

Its not dungeon keeper, but maybe it should have tried to have been. The tower defense format it took is just slow and dull.

[moradus]

I played Dungeons for 8 hours and half that time was spent thinking "I want to give this game a chance."

Out of curiosity, I started reading the forums. "Is anyone else as bored with Dungeons as I am?" Then I see everyone is talking about Dungeon Keeper. I think to myself, "Do I have that?"

Turns out I did. I picked up DK2 at some game sale years ago, only to find out that it wouldn't run on my machine at the time. Having spent $5 on it, I moved on without much thought.

I tried to install it on my very new machine. It worked on Windows 7! Dungeon Keeper 2 for the first time!

Playing DK2 for a couple of hours, it is extremely clear to me why people are complaining about Dungeons. DK2 has had me smiling since the moment I picked up a goblin and dropped him on his ♥♥♥. The gameplay makes sense, it's fun, and the graphics aren't even that bad considering it was released in 1999.

So I bought Dungeons and end up playing DK2. If you will excuse me, I think the Mistress is looking for me....

[targetbsp]

I knew this wasn't going to be DK3 and the game still sucked. Stop trying to defend this game.

For the record... you don't represent the collective tastes of all mankind. Thanks anyway though.

[BlueTrin]

A dungeon game that pays homage to another game of similar subject that was the inspiration for the developers (who loved said game themselves). The dungeons actually resemble dungeons in other dungeon games, and get this... they have goblins and monsters and a dungeon lord and heart.

OMG THE HORROR!

This is like people buying a Swiss Replica Rolex from the manufacturer and going on a massive tirade that it wasn't an actual Rolex - when the product is clearly defined as not being such. It's utterly and entirely idiotic. If you don't spend a minimum of effort to find out what you are buying when it is fully and very clearly disclosed to the would be consumer, you fully deserve your own disappointment!

No this is like someone trying to advertise it is a Rolex and blalantly trying to lie, then when you open the box you have a warning telling you that it is not a Rolex.

[Gordo the G]

This is like people buying a Swiss Replica Rolex from the manufacturer and going on a massive tirade that it wasn't an actual Rolex

Yes I agree... buying this game is like buying a cheap rolex...

It might look like a Rolex on the outside but the fact that it stops working after few hours lets you know immediately that it is just a cheaply made replica that can barely compare to the genuine product.

The only difference being that people don't usaully buy replica rolexes for the same price in which they would buy a geniune one.

[sfade]

No this is like someone trying to advertise it is a Rolex and blalantly trying to lie, then when you open the box you have a warning telling you that it is not a Rolex.

If you are too apathetic to read about what you are buying, and all of it was available out there well before you 'opened the box', then stupid happens.

By all means though, continue to blame someone else for your own blunder in buying a game which featured gameplay styles you don't find appealing. After all that's acceptable in these days of no personal accountability and responsibility.

Didn't investigate a game you purchased and predictably it didn't match your preconcieved expectations... of course it must be all their fault! Those no good evil doers duping the practically unconscious!

[Backslider.r2]

Regardless of their claims, the game is exactly like DK in many, many ways. From the silly-named regions to the recycling of the DK slogan "It's Good to be Bad"

So, despite themselves, people WILL make the comparison. Because it's impossible not to. Because it's almost identical. See how this works? And then people get disappointed, because they took the time to clone the appearance, but not the time to make it good.

Even if they warn people it's not DK, people WANT it to be, and they'll believe it, because....wait for it....it looks exactly like DK. You can say that elephant isn't an elephant, and I'll remember that, but as an elephant is the only thing I can compare it to, I'm going to compare it to an elephant. It's sort of how the human brain works.

So, enjoy the game or don't. But the company knew what it was getting into; they cashed in on the DK fanbase intentionally or otherwise, and they get to deal with that 10 year old DK game making Dungeons look like the mediocre yawnfest it is, and the subsequent negative feedback it brings. They can defend themselves, or not.

So, all the Chris Crockers can go back to defending Brittany, because no one is going to leave Dungeons alone.

[A Ghost]

Their honesty isn't the issue here.

The issue is how it was received. If most people who bought the game (everyone I've talked to hasn't even heard of it) did it because they thought it was going to be like Dungeon Keeper, maybe Realmforge should have done something more than made posts about it in their forum.

Whoever was in charge of marketing this should probably get the axe. This could have been easily avoided.

[BlueTrin]

If you are too apathetic to read about what you are buying, and all of it was available out there well before you 'opened the box', then stupid happens.

By all means though, continue to blame someone else for your own blunder in buying a game which featured gameplay styles you don't find appealing. After all that's acceptable in these days of no personal accountability and responsibility.

Didn't investigate a game you purchased and predictably it didn't match your preconcieved expectations... of course it must be all their fault! Those no good evil doers duping the practically unconscious!

I did not buy any of this, because I saw that the guys who made this game made as well MudTV and did not support it properly.

So either you should stop trolling or learn to read because you look like you are trying to teach a lesson. So can you either excuse yourself of these false accusations or reply to the posts once you learn to articulate an argument and address the issue instead of repeating the useless accusations because you cannot make a point without attacking other people and being pathetic ?

My only point is that their marketing was almost lying.

Their honesty isn't the issue here.

The issue is how it was received. If most people who bought the game (everyone I've talked to hasn't even heard of it) did it because they thought it was going to be like Dungeon Keeper, maybe they should have done something more than made posts about it in their forum.

Whoever was in charge of marketing this should probably get the axe. This could have been easily avoided.

Well said.

[NanostrikeX]

I played Dungeons for 8 hours and half that time was spent thinking "I want to give this game a chance."

Out of curiosity, I started reading the forums. "Is anyone else as bored with Dungeons as I am?" Then I see everyone is talking about Dungeon Keeper. I think to myself, "Do I have that?"

Turns out I did. I picked up DK2 at some game sale years ago, only to find out that it wouldn't run on my machine at the time. Having spent $5 on it, I moved on without much thought.

I tried to install it on my very new machine. It worked on Windows 7! Dungeon Keeper 2 for the first time!

Playing DK2 for a couple of hours, it is extremely clear to me why people are complaining about Dungeons. DK2 has had me smiling since the moment I picked up a goblin and dropped him on his ♥♥♥. The gameplay makes sense, it's fun, and the graphics aren't even that bad considering it was released in 1999.

So I bought Dungeons and end up playing DK2. If you will excuse me, I think the Mistress is looking for me....

Dungeons is TERRIBLE compared to Dungeon Keeper. Like everyone says, it's tower-defense. I really liked raising my first Black Knight to Level 10 and using HIM as my avatar, leading charges of minions into hero lairs.

And that's what really got me about this game. You can almost NEVER go offensive. Always catoring to the heroes. Always defending. I hated that more than anything else.

[zee_germans]

Despite it being tagged as spirtual succesor to dungeon keeper (it was in the trailer) it is still quite a fun game. I like tower defense and the campaign is fun so I find it worth the money.

[Valdorganos]

Despite it being tagged as spirtual succesor to dungeon keeper (it was in the trailer) it is still quite a fun game. I like tower defense and the campaign is fun so I find it worth the money.

Well it's perhaps not DK, but it's also not at all TD. I think it's much more a sim, not "The Sim" like, but a sim. This is a sim certainly quite close to sims like Theme Park but there are huge differences:

The theme is much more fun for me, ie Dungeons, Heroes, Monsters, and a childish and stupid (on purpose) light gore humor that makes me smile (and deactivate well the objectively insane base of evil).
It's not as much an AA game than have been the xth sequels of the better known sims of this genre, so it has probably less features in term of numbers and perhaps a less sophisticated sim level.
The dungeons RPG sim element are merged with a sort of simplified Diablo like element through the control of the Dungeon Lord and the management of his leveling and skills plus attributes, and even a bit of inventory.
Unlike in many Sims and I think including Theme Park, the game has thematic levels and a campaign design. Some Sims like Tropico used the thematics maps too but I don't remember those with a real campaign. But usually I don't like sims, Tropico 1 was an exception and Dungeons is another (well I wish it didn't crash that often).

[Pvt.Groen]

I love this game. Being a huge fun of dungeon keeper and them hospital type games this is a perfect hybrid.

They should have promoted it as theme dungeons or something. Because your running a dungeon. Managing dungeons is what you do, and the game does that perfectly.

People are just upset because they had the illusion its dungeon keeper. And if your not into the whole theme tycoon sort of games then sure i can understand that you dont like the game.

Personally, one of the most satisfying games i have played in ages.

[Pvt.Groen]

Their honesty isn't the issue here.

The issue is how it was received. If most people who bought the game (everyone I've talked to hasn't even heard of it) did it because they thought it was going to be like Dungeon Keeper, maybe Realmforge should have done something more than made posts about it in their forum.

Whoever was in charge of marketing this should probably get the axe. This could have been easily avoided.

Agreed. Good game, but marketing created an illusion of something entirely different. Big mistake. Kind of like advertising a chicken flavored pizza, only to find out its pork marinated in chicken flavored sauce.

[atreyon]

After spending an hour trying to start the game it seems now to be running ok.
Yes Im one of those fools who hoped for a similar game as to DK and yes I am dissapointed but no I dont intend to send a mailbomb anywhere...

I have to say though I havent spend more then a few min in the game expecting me to know how to play it and when I didnt I got a bit angry and havent really played it anymore.

Am I stupid? cause I dont bloody understand what to do! even the tutorials is kind of meh... place stuff on the walls. Placed stuff on the wall... complete! ok hm...

What I basically want to know... as Im to lazy to find out myself by putting a few hours into the game itself... Is there a point? if Im an avid DK lover is there any point in my even spending time to acctually read the tooltips and learning how to play it or will I only get depressed?

The reason I ask this very odd question and leaving me open to verbal internet abuse of being a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ is cause I cant find any good posts explaining the soul of this game.

Ok go abuse away!

[Saxster]

They should have built a game that not only looked like Dungeon Keeper but played like it, too.

Someone just mod the damn game to be what we want, then I will not be so annoyed at dropping $40 for something that was clearly falsely advertised.

Don't give me this crap about demos and forum postings by the game devs either. I work for a living. I don't always have time to investigate every game I purchase and this one was clearly intended to create spontaneous buying. I go by what is advertised and this certainly was intended to lure veteran DK players, that's what it's done and now that's who the Dungeons designers have ticked off.

Reap what you sow.

So, this is what I get for trying to support smaller design companies? I hope not often the case.

[BlueTrin]

I seriously cant tell if these people are jobless, students, working for Realmforge...
But it seems that for them it is ok to mislead people if you tell somewhere else that you are lying in some other forum ...
They still have the same misleading trailer on steam ... Even the logo looks like dungeon 3 ...

I am glad I did a bit of research but why don't you just admit that it was poor marketing ?

[Mr_Eon]

Despite it being tagged as spirtual succesor to dungeon keeper (it was in the trailer...

Oh, this IS actually a good point, because it clearly isn't and wasn't intended to be the spiritual successor to Dungeon Keeper. It is, in fact, a parody of Dungeon Keeper - and it's never smart to parody a game that's better than your own... :)

So, yes, misleading marketing.