What issue did you run into in Drakensang?

I'm pretty much the same way. If I encounter a bug that means I have to replay sections of a game, I usually shut it down for a while. It's one of the reasons I really don't like games that only offer save points and not manual saves.

For DRakensang, I am in Hammerberg, and need to get Farfara's Rapier for the quest. I get the quest, talk to F. go beat up the thugs, he says he gives me the rapier, but it never appears, I don't get any more quest updates other than 'talk to thief: I have talked to Soorman's thugs', even if I cheat and add the rapier to my character, I can't give it to Farfara. Since this is a quest that is required to get the vote of Rumpo, which in turn is required to proceed in the main quest, I can't go further, and no one else has seemed to run into this.

Sadly, all my saves are in Hammerberg (even the autosave) so I can't start from a previous save before I even got there to see if I did something that broke the quest (I remember I did talk to the thugs before I even got any of the hammerberg quests except the very first one, but believe I was just told to go away) So, I either have to hope that someone on the steam forums has heard of the this bug (not likely) or replay the entire game, which means waiting.

I do that exact thing (shut down a game if I have to replay). Sadly I also forget to save often as I get to into the games themselves to remember I have to, so I often don't have recent saves (one of my biggest failings with these games)

I had that happen in Neverwinter Nights, got all the other bugs worked out (think most of them are related to having the second expansion pack installed, didn't install that, and most of the other bugs I noticed disappeared) but then ran into a bug where if you did something before you talked to someone else, you got hit with this bug (it was like you examined a statue before you got the quest that deals with the statues or something like that. Since the statue in question was right at the beginning of the area and it was interactive, I examined it, then couldn't complete that quest, which naturally is needed to proceed)

Had to google this one, as I'd forgotten it. Have you tried stealing the rapier back from the thugs? From what I googled, it seems that's the way to resolve this. Perhaps it's one of those quests where if you don't do it exactly right, it won't resolve. So maybe beating them up is what's causing the bug.

I have tried pickpocketing them, but the guy doesn't have the rapier, I tried it both after beating them up, starting from the autosave and doing it before beating them up, etc.. I think if there is a bug, it was either introduced when I installed the game, or something I did prior to getting the quest. (which I can't remember anything I would have done except maybe talk to both the thugs and Farfara before getting the quest) When I restart it, I will just go straight up and pickpocket them without even bothering to talk to them (someone said they did this at the beginning and when they got the quest they could just hand the rapier off to F) Maybe I will also remember to make saves before I go to any new place (ironically I did this for Drakensang The Dark Eye, before I left any area I made a save so I could go back to it and finish up any quests that failed due to my not realizing they were from that particular area)

Hopefully that will work. The thug in question is named Windapple, I think. So make sure you pick pocket him.

I used to get so immersed that I forgot to make saves regularly as well. Then an especially egregious mistake on my part that lost me several hours of game time in a game I was loving finally made me get to a point where I remember to regularly save (both quick saves and manual saves).

Yeah, I just have to wait a bit because I am starting from the beginning (and I was doing the expansion as well alongside the main quest).

Yeah, I *really* need to get better about it. You would think I would have learned by now with all the games I have played, but for some reason, I can never remember. That is why I love games with autosave features (sadly in this case, I was doing other quests and one of them had an autosave point in it). Saves me so much headache.

Ore mining exists in Gothic 2, but yes, in Gothic 1 it's indeed apparently just for trolling the player.
Personally I'd advise you not to spend too many training points (or whatever they're called) on secondary skills like hunting, pickpocketing, lockpick etc., it would be better if you leveled up your 1-hand combat skill and strength. Given how important combat in this game is, you need to advance your fighting skills to minimize chances of getting stuck.

Yeah, besides the hunting skills, I first upgraded these (in this order):

+5 power
+5 dexterity
1-hand weapons (level 1)
bow (level 1)

I just got the free power +5 upgrade from Horatio in the New Camp, and now I am saving up skill points (20) to either 1-hand weapons or bow (level 2). I'll look into pickpocketing etc. sometime later.

I recall the hunting skills took only 1 skill point for each, so it isn't like I had to waste a lot of skill points on them either, and now I get extra money for most killed monsters. Leveling up fighting skill points seem to take 10 or 20 points.

I like bow because it sometimes allows me to kill enemies that are still too hard to kill in melee. Like the first wolves that I killed, I went standing on top of a boulder and shot at the pack of wolves from there, without getting a scratch. However, some enemies are still too hard for me with a bow, e.g. the orc dogs (and probably orcs themselves) don't seem to take any damage from my arrows, either I keep missing them even from closer range, or arrows just don't work on their armor/skin.

I still need to figure out how to use magic. I have acquired some sort of magic scrolls or something, but I am unsure if they are for one time use, or if they give you the ability to cast those spells repeatedly. If they are just for one-time use, I guess I rather sell them for extra ore.

Bow supposedly isn't viable in Gothic 1 for the whole game (it's very powerful in Gothic 2 however)...at least that's what I read, I went with melee weapons on my playthrough.
I didn't use much magic when I played Gothic, but iirc the scrolls are for a single use only. To become a mage you need to join a faction (iirc the mages in the old or the new camp), then you'll get runes which you can equip for permanent spell use.

That's half-correct... Bow is fine during the game, but the final boss battle assumes that you're either a sword-man or a magician...

Oh ok. I think I read in some FAQ or such that bows (and crossbows?) are very useful at least before you have good ranged magic spells. At least that gave me an impression that it makes lots of sense to invest on bows until you get good at magic.

I am still in chapter 1 and my character is level 6, I am just hunting for experience points and ore by doing subquests and killing as many monsters as I can find. At least at this point the bow skill allows me to kill many kinds of monsters and beasts that I just wouldn't be able to handle with melee combat, simply because many times I can find some elevated place which the enemies can't reach, and I can kill them all from there with the bow.

For instance, I just killed three or four snappers (looks like a small Tyrannosaurus Rex). They killed me instantly when I tried to fight them with my Digger's Discipline sword (wearing "Digger's Trousers" for armor), but using the Rider's Bow I could kill them all from above. Both my Strength and Dexterity are currently at 20 points.

For now I can kill Molerats, Scavengers and Fireflies with a sword, but that's it. Anything else kills me almost instantly in melee combat, but for many others bow still works (with that trick of not getting hit myself).

MY new computer showed up all fucked up from shipping so I'm stuck with my current one for what might be several weeks more.

Does anyone know of any good low end racing games on Steam? Think I might also hit up some older RPGs here. Nothing too intense of complicated, just engrossing enough to keep me occupied and my mind off my disappointment of opening that package last night.

My copy of Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle (PS4) finally arrived,so ill be playing that till the star game of the month shows up :)

Haven't had much time to play this week, so I've been occasionally doing a mission in GTA: Vice City, and playing some random Atari games.

Fast Eddie is a 2600 platforming game. You have to grab at least 9 objects (e.g., hearts) on each level while jumping over bad guys and climbing up and down ladders. Once you get the 9, a key appears over the head over the boss on the top level and you have to jump and grab it. It's quite simple but sort of oddly compelling and it is indeed pretty fast-moving. Wouldn't say it's one of the best 2600 games, but eh, I've played much worse, too.

Necromancer is an Atari computer classic designed by Bill Williams. It's the kind of game that seems very cryptic at first, but starts making sense after you read the manual and start playing. You control a wizard who's battling a necromancer and to do that you have to grow an army of trees (ents?) to use against him. It's divided into three phases and 11 total levels. First level, you plant seeds that grow into your trees and you have to protect them from ogres that can kill the saplings and spiders that can poison fully grown trees. The next five levels, you're in a series of crypts full of spider eggs and you want to move your trees over each crypt so they can break the lid open with their roots and crush the eggs before they hatch. The more eggs you kill, the fewer spiders you face on the final five levels, which are the necromancer's graveyard. You have to run around picking up gravestones while fending off spiders and the necromancer himself.

Each stage demands that you recognize and prioritize various threats and modify your tactics accordingly, and then of course you have to successfully act, which is really tough because the game gets really frantic (faster than Fast Eddie) and there are elements of randomness, such as the trees growing at different rates, and the deliberately slippery controls that can trip you up. There's a constant tension between wanting to do enough to benefit yourself on the next stage and wanting to just move on. So it's a deceptively nuanced game.

Going to give Deponia a try tonight. I picked up the first three in a recent sale:

https://www.gog.com/game/deponia