Fable 3, now with impressions + the official GT Review!

[CeeKay]

msteelers, I know you can get that key because I did and opened the associated chest using it.

I opened the chest too, but I didn't realize the key was what was needed. I thought you just had to "lose" all your money to unlock the chest. Oh well, it's not a big deal. I just spent the majority of the game thinking that was a gold key, and thought that I ran into a bug. I guess the key is just there to tell you how much cash you need before you have a mountain.

will any gold key work?  I found one last night in the valley and figure I might as well use it since my treasury is about to take a hit from real estate buying.

[msteelers]

will any gold key work?  I found one last night in the valley and figure I might as well use it since my treasury is about to take a hit from real estate buying.

I don't think that chest is unlocked by a gold key. Gold key's open doors found throughout the world.

[CeeKay]

well, 10 hours in and I'm finally getting out of the valley.  I bought up all the real estate I could so far (I wond all of Mistdweller, the Camp and most of Brightwall), married Richard the Crate Carrier and stowed him and my daughter (nancy, or maria, or something with an 'a' in it) away in the Hunters Lodge, away from the public eye.  

I've been looking for gnomes, but since caves and other places are included in the gnome count given for a particular region there is a lot of area to cover.  thankfully they're mostly easy to find with 5.1 sound on the headphones.  I've also been looking for silver keys; most of the silver key chests have been 'meh' so far but the one I found in Brightwall was a OMG one.

I also decided to focus only on pie making for any upgrades on the R2R.  once I'm at the end of the road I'll go back and buy the others just to have unlocked everything.

the bandits in the valley have stepped things up a notch.  They now have mini-Sakers wandering around with them.

[CeeKay]

I like how my Hero's Hammer has morphed:  it has a falcon for the hammer's head now due to my love from villagers giving it a saintly appearance 

[CeeKay]

OK, I wish they had streamlined the rent/repair interface more and made it a list instead of having to click on each individual building.  Repair is already getting tedious and I only own all of Brightwall, Mourningwood, Merc Camp, Dweller Camp, most of Bowerstone Industrial/Old Bowerstone and portions of Bowerstone Market.

speaking of the MArket, it was cool to see them keep some semblance of the Market sqaure from Fable 2.  sure, there are a bunch of changes, but it still feels familiar when so much has changed in 50 years.

[Soulchilde]

Repair interface really sucks and needs to be refined.  Hell, let me set Jasper to having to maintain the task.

[CeeKay]

Repair interface really sucks and needs to be refined.  Hell, let me set Jasper to having to maintain the task.

I thought about that.  maybe have him pop-up every now and then saying 'x amount of gold needs to be spent for repairs' when buildings start falling under a certain threshhold.

I noticed there seem to be less Demon Doors this time around, or maybe I'm just missing them.  so far I've onyl found 3 and have been able to unlock 0 of them.

[Harkonis]

msteelers, I know you can get that key because I did and opened the associated chest using it.

I opened the chest too, but I didn't realize the key was what was needed. I thought you just had to "lose" all your money to unlock the chest. Oh well, it's not a big deal. I just spent the majority of the game thinking that was a gold key, and thought that I ran into a bug. I guess the key is just there to tell you how much cash you need before you have a mountain.

I think you might still be a bit confused.  You did grab the key when you went up there the very first time.  There just isn't any animation or sound effect when you grab it like there is with the others.  You just run up there, and then you have the key.  That chest is only unlocked with the key that you get from the top.

[Bullwinkle]

I like how my Hero's Hammer has morphed:  it has a falcon for the hammer's head now due to my love from villagers giving it a saintly appearance 

Are you talking about the STD you caught?

I saw that you've "loved" two villagers, and one of them gave you something nasty!

[CeeKay]

I like how my Hero's Hammer has morphed:  it has a falcon for the hammer's head now due to my love from villagers giving it a saintly appearance 

Are you talking about the STD you caught?

I saw that you've "loved" two villagers, and one of them gave you something nasty!

it was that whore Mary from the merc camp.  I bought my first building just to do it with her, and how does she repay me?

[CeeKay]

just ran into an old friend from Fable 2.....

Spoiler for Hiden:

I hope I get to plant a boot up Reavers backside after his whole manor business.

[CeeKay]

well I've come acrossed the second of two Fable series staples.  I'll spoiler them and not go into detail on when you encounter them in Fable 3 but if you've played the first two games they won't be a surprise:

Spoiler for Hiden:

first was the arena combat segment.  you had the two arena's in Fable 1 & 2, and this one was a bit different in setup but the same gameplay wise.

second is the time jump.  it was serving time in a prison the first game, slave labor in the Spire for the second.  I'm not sure how long the jump is this time since I just got the warning that it was coming up, but it's there.

I really miss the expression wheel from Fable 2; it's baffling why they didn't keep it or not give you a way top choose what expressions you can use.  everytime I interact with someone it seems like my first choice is 'dance', usually folowed by 'tickle'.

[MaxSteele]

I have yet to have a co-op game work.

Every time I go to join a co-op session, I either get a network error or a timeout attempting to join a game.  There's nothing wrong with my network settings.

Anyone else have an issue?

[Gratch]

I've hit the final third of the game, and I'm not too crazy about it.  Mainly because:

Spoiler for Hiden:

The game basically only gives you two choices:

1.  Destroy your land and/or alienate all your citizens.
2.  Wipe out your population.

Every "good" choice is ridiculously expensive, and every "evil" choice is ridiculously profitable.  Also, without any idea of what issues are coming up, there's no way to plan with any sort of strategy.  It basically just tuns into a total guessing game of "which random evil choices do I pick".

There's also no consistency in the choices.  For example, I chose not to rebuild Old Bowerstone after the battle, which caused me to lose all the homes I was renting out.  However, when I chose to restore Aurora, I wasn't able to rent out any of the new homes or businesses that were in that city.  

Unless you've cheated (i.e. plug in a controller and let the game pile up gold), it doesn't seem like there's really any way to win without either killing everyone or becoming a giant asshole.  Maybe that's what they were shooting for, but after playing the Shining White Knight for 12 hours, I don't get terribly excited about those choices.  That said, I'm only about halfway through the final act, so maybe things change towards the end and you get a few "good" choices that don't completely rape your treasury.  Doubt it though...

[Caine]

I've hit the final third of the game, and I'm not too crazy about it.  Mainly because:

Spoiler for Hiden:

The game basically only gives you two choices:

1.  Destroy your land and/or alienate all your citizens.
2.  Wipe out your population.

Every "good" choice is ridiculously expensive, and every "evil" choice is ridiculously profitable.  Also, without any idea of what issues are coming up, there's no way to plan with any sort of strategy.  It basically just tuns into a total guessing game of "which random evil choices do I pick".

There's also no consistency in the choices.  For example, I chose not to rebuild Old Bowerstone after the battle, which caused me to lose all the homes I was renting out.  However, when I chose to restore Aurora, I wasn't able to rent out any of the new homes or businesses that were in that city.  

Unless you've cheated (i.e. plug in a controller and let the game pile up gold), it doesn't seem like there's really any way to win without either killing everyone or becoming a giant asshole.  Maybe that's what they were shooting for, but after playing the Shining White Knight for 12 hours, I don't get terribly excited about those choices.  That said, I'm only about halfway through the final act, so maybe things change towards the end and you get a few "good" choices that don't completely rape your treasury.  Doubt it though...

see, that actually makes me feel better to read that as it's basically the polar opposite of what the article above said, where he complains that there were no hard choices in that phase.  it also makes it more likely that he sat there with his xbox on while he went to work. 

[msteelers]

I've hit the final third of the game, and I'm not too crazy about it.  Mainly because:

Spoiler for Hiden:

The game basically only gives you two choices:

1.  Destroy your land and/or alienate all your citizens.
2.  Wipe out your population.

Every "good" choice is ridiculously expensive, and every "evil" choice is ridiculously profitable.  Also, without any idea of what issues are coming up, there's no way to plan with any sort of strategy.  It basically just tuns into a total guessing game of "which random evil choices do I pick".

There's also no consistency in the choices.  For example, I chose not to rebuild Old Bowerstone after the battle, which caused me to lose all the homes I was renting out.  However, when I chose to restore Aurora, I wasn't able to rent out any of the new homes or businesses that were in that city.  

Unless you've cheated (i.e. plug in a controller and let the game pile up gold), it doesn't seem like there's really any way to win without either killing everyone or becoming a giant asshole.  Maybe that's what they were shooting for, but after playing the Shining White Knight for 12 hours, I don't get terribly excited about those choices.  That said, I'm only about halfway through the final act, so maybe things change towards the end and you get a few "good" choices that don't completely rape your treasury.  Doubt it though...

see, that actually makes me feel better to read that as it's basically the polar opposite of what the article above said, where he complains that there were no hard choices in that phase.  it also makes it more likely that he sat there with his xbox on while he went to work. 

I never left my xbox on for extended periods of time while I wasn't playing, and I experienced nothing like what Gratch was referring to.

[Destructor]

I've hit the final third of the game, and I'm not too crazy about it.  Mainly because:

Spoiler for Hiden:

The game basically only gives you two choices:

1.  Destroy your land and/or alienate all your citizens.
2.  Wipe out your population.

Every "good" choice is ridiculously expensive, and every "evil" choice is ridiculously profitable.  Also, without any idea of what issues are coming up, there's no way to plan with any sort of strategy.  It basically just tuns into a total guessing game of "which random evil choices do I pick".

There's also no consistency in the choices.  For example, I chose not to rebuild Old Bowerstone after the battle, which caused me to lose all the homes I was renting out.  However, when I chose to restore Aurora, I wasn't able to rent out any of the new homes or businesses that were in that city.  

Unless you've cheated (i.e. plug in a controller and let the game pile up gold), it doesn't seem like there's really any way to win without either killing everyone or becoming a giant asshole.  Maybe that's what they were shooting for, but after playing the Shining White Knight for 12 hours, I don't get terribly excited about those choices.  That said, I'm only about halfway through the final act, so maybe things change towards the end and you get a few "good" choices that don't completely rape your treasury.  Doubt it though...

see, that actually makes me feel better to read that as it's basically the polar opposite of what the article above said, where he complains that there were no hard choices in that phase.  it also makes it more likely that he sat there with his xbox on while he went to work. 

I never left my xbox on for extended periods of time while I wasn't playing, and I experienced nothing like what Gratch was referring to.

The issue is that if you do go

Spoiler for Hiden:

on a giant housing and business buying spree early on

it is entirely possible to not have an issue with the end of the game, simply because of what you did. It's just a question how early you start and how well you explore every nook and cranny the game has to offer.

[msteelers]

The issue is that if you do go

Spoiler for Hiden:

on a giant housing and business buying spree early on

it is entirely possible to not have an issue with the end of the game, simply because of what you did. It's just a question how early you start and how well you explore every nook and cranny the game has to offer.

That's exactly what I did.

[CeeKay]

Ok, The Game quest was pretty neat  

Prett much as soon as I have enough gold it gets spent on properties, so I'm in good shape moneywise. Granted I spend the first five minutes of a game session repairing all the residences.  I also don't buy up houses through the mini map- I walk around, buy them then loot explore them for chests, keys and gnomes.  That way I know what has been explored, and if I don't own it it's unexplored.

I just found a new cave in Millsfield that I hadn't seen before. Once inside the dog points to a treasure but there's  nothing there, I'm hoping it's on the other side of the wall as I can tell there must be another entrance somewhere.

[Gratch]

I've hit the final third of the game, and I'm not too crazy about it.  Mainly because:

Spoiler for Hiden:

The game basically only gives you two choices:

1.  Destroy your land and/or alienate all your citizens.
2.  Wipe out your population.

Every "good" choice is ridiculously expensive, and every "evil" choice is ridiculously profitable.  Also, without any idea of what issues are coming up, there's no way to plan with any sort of strategy.  It basically just tuns into a total guessing game of "which random evil choices do I pick".

There's also no consistency in the choices.  For example, I chose not to rebuild Old Bowerstone after the battle, which caused me to lose all the homes I was renting out.  However, when I chose to restore Aurora, I wasn't able to rent out any of the new homes or businesses that were in that city.  

Unless you've cheated (i.e. plug in a controller and let the game pile up gold), it doesn't seem like there's really any way to win without either killing everyone or becoming a giant asshole.  Maybe that's what they were shooting for, but after playing the Shining White Knight for 12 hours, I don't get terribly excited about those choices.  That said, I'm only about halfway through the final act, so maybe things change towards the end and you get a few "good" choices that don't completely rape your treasury.  Doubt it though...

see, that actually makes me feel better to read that as it's basically the polar opposite of what the article above said, where he complains that there were no hard choices in that phase.  it also makes it more likely that he sat there with his xbox on while he went to work.  

I never left my xbox on for extended periods of time while I wasn't playing, and I experienced nothing like what Gratch was referring to.

The issue is that if you do go

Spoiler for Hiden:

on a giant housing and business buying spree early on

it is entirely possible to not have an issue with the end of the game, simply because of what you did. It's just a question how early you start and how well you explore every nook and cranny the game has to offer.

I spent every penny I received buying real-estate and businesses, and owned everything possible long before the final third started.  I also did every single quest available, except for the ones that were obviously evil.  I suppose I could have spent time simply grinding out money by running around wasting time, but that option wasn't very appealing.

Out of curiosity, how much gold did you guys have amassed before the final act?  I was at around

Spoiler for Hiden:

2.5 million

[CeeKay]

Out of curiosity, how much gold did you guys have amassed before the final act?  I was at around

Spoiler for Hiden:

2.5 million

I'm almost at that and I haven't made a certain trip yet.

[Gratch]

Just beat Fable III at about 17 hours.  I ended up with the same opinion as the previous 2 games:  a fairly fun game, but not as good as it could have been.  I really disliked the final act, and the end boss was ridiculously easy to defeat.  Turns out that

Spoiler for Hiden:

donating my entire personal savings to the treasury didn't make much of a difference.  I ended up with a royal treasury of around 3.5 million, and the only indication that half my kingdom was killed was a short throwaway line about "many of your people have suffered".  Meh.

I'd give it a B grade.  Don't feel any urge to replay it, so it's up in the trading forum if anyone wants it.

[CeeKay]

the end boss was ridiculously easy to defeat. 

The end bosses have always been odd in the series.  Fable 1's Jack of Spades was really easy to defeat, and Fable 2 didn't really have one for the main bad guy.

[msteelers]

Out of curiosity, how much gold did you guys have amassed before the final act?  I was at around

Spoiler for Hiden:

2.5 million

Spoiler for Hiden:

Somewhere between $5 and $6 million. Whatever the amount is that allows you to get the key in the treasury. I then donated everything into the kingdom's treasury. At the end of the game, after choosing all of the good (expensive) options, I still had $7.5 million in the kingdom's treasury and some more in my own personal account.

I did a lot of exploring in the game, which is unusual for me. There's something about the Fable games that makes me want to explore everything to make sure I'm not missing anything. Meanwhile games like Fallout I tend to just focus on doing quests, and could care less about just going out and exploring. Still, I think I was around 20 hours when I finished the main campaign.

[Gratch]

Out of curiosity, how much gold did you guys have amassed before the final act?  I was at around

Spoiler for Hiden:

2.5 million

Spoiler for Hiden:

Somewhere between $5 and $6 million. Whatever the amount is that allows you to get the key in the treasury. I then donated everything into the kingdom's treasury. At the end of the game, after choosing all of the good (expensive) options, I still had $7.5 million in the kingdom's treasury and some more in my own personal account.

I did a lot of exploring in the game, which is unusual for me. There's something about the Fable games that makes me want to explore everything to make sure I'm not missing anything. Meanwhile games like Fallout I tend to just focus on doing quests, and could care less about just going out and exploring. Still, I think I was around 20 hours when I finished the main campaign.

The problem I have with exploring in Fable III is that there really is no benefit to it.  Sure, you might find a couple more dig spots or hidden chests, but I never received anything of significance from either.  It's not like exploring will cause you to stumble across hidden towns, quests, or NPCs...you just end up wandering for wandering's sake.  Some people probably dig that, but I find it a massive waste of time.

[msteelers]

The problem I have with exploring in Fable III is that there really is no benefit to it.  Sure, you might find a couple more dig spots or hidden chests, but I never received anything of significance from either.  It's not like exploring will cause you to stumble across hidden towns, quests, or NPCs...you just end up wandering for wandering's sake.  Some people probably dig that, but I find it a massive waste of time.

Well, that's not completely true. While there usually isn't any immediate payoff to exploring, you tend to find more silver and gold keys, which can lead to some pretty good treasure. There also is one "hidden" town that I found.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I forget the name of it. It's shown on the map but the quests never take you there. It's on the coast, and there are a lot of little islands to swim out to and explore. There was also a blue switch that looked identical to the switches you had to hit with your melee weapon back in the first dungeon, but I couldn't get close enough to activate the switch.

[CeeKay]

The problem I have with exploring in Fable III is that there really is no benefit to it.  Sure, you might find a couple more dig spots or hidden chests, but I never received anything of significance from either.  It's not like exploring will cause you to stumble across hidden towns, quests, or NPCs...you just end up wandering for wandering's sake.  Some people probably dig that, but I find it a massive waste of time.

Well, that's not completely true. While there usually isn't any immediate payoff to exploring, you tend to find more silver and gold keys, which can lead to some pretty good treasure. There also is one "hidden" town that I found.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I forget the name of it. It's shown on the map but the quests never take you there. It's on the coast, and there are a lot of little islands to swim out to and explore. There was also a blue switch that looked identical to the switches you had to hit with your melee weapon back in the first dungeon, but I couldn't get close enough to activate the switch.

That place was called

Spoiler for Hiden:

Driftwood. I can't figure out how to get to that switch either,  there was another section that had a broken bridge in there, I'm thinking that if you go back later on after helping them clear out the Hobbes they may have worked on settling the islands.

[CeeKay]

is it bad that, during the revolution, the only thing I was really worried about was

Spoiler for Hiden:

my property values?

[CeeKay]

I finally became Queen of Albion last night (shut up Purge) and noticed something interesting about the first day:

Spoiler for Hiden:

the countdown doesn't seem to start until you've completed all of your day one audiences.  I've been running around doing quests and raking in income while the 'days left' is still at 365 days.  Also, why can't I have Reaver's head on a pike outside my castle?

I'm going to need to make a lot of friends to get level 5 in all the skills and get all the spells before the end.  from what I've seen I'm asuming the gnome quest cannot be completed until after I win the game unless something changes.

[dangerballs]

The problem I have with exploring in Fable III is that there really is no benefit to it.  Sure, you might find a couple more dig spots or hidden chests, but I never received anything of significance from either.  It's not like exploring will cause you to stumble across hidden towns, quests, or NPCs...you just end up wandering for wandering's sake.  Some people probably dig that, but I find it a massive waste of time.

Well, that's not completely true. While there usually isn't any immediate payoff to exploring, you tend to find more silver and gold keys, which can lead to some pretty good treasure. There also is one "hidden" town that I found.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I forget the name of it. It's shown on the map but the quests never take you there. It's on the coast, and there are a lot of little islands to swim out to and explore. There was also a blue switch that looked identical to the switches you had to hit with your melee weapon back in the first dungeon, but I couldn't get close enough to activate the switch.

That place was called

Spoiler for Hiden:

Driftwood. I can't figure out how to get to that switch either,  there was another section that had a broken bridge in there, I'm thinking that if you go back later on after helping them clear out the Hobbes they may have worked on settling the islands.

Spoiler for Hiden:

That would be correct.  But you'll also need to do all three quests involving Driftwood to finish the entire switch sequence.  One you might miss is the one that starts in the bar in Bowerstone Market.

[msteelers]

Spoiler for Hiden:

That would be correct.  But you'll also need to do all three quests involving Driftwood to finish the entire switch sequence.  One you might miss is the one that starts in the bar in Bowerstone Market.

How did I miss these quests?

[CeeKay]

Spoiler for Hiden:

That would be correct.  But you'll also need to do all three quests involving Driftwood to finish the entire switch sequence.  One you might miss is the one that starts in the bar in Bowerstone Market.

How did I miss these quests?

they pop up in the Y screen when you're looking at the map.  I don't think the last two show up until after the revolution.

Spoiler for where to find them:

quest 1 is clearing out the hobbes, which you've already done since you found the switch.
quest 2 is in Driftwood after they set up the village.  I don't think that happens until you're going overseas.
quest 3 is in Bowestone Market, but it's out of the way in the Tavern.  the only reason I found it was the Quest list.

[msteelers]

Spoiler for Hiden:

That would be correct.  But you'll also need to do all three quests involving Driftwood to finish the entire switch sequence.  One you might miss is the one that starts in the bar in Bowerstone Market.

How did I miss these quests?

they pop up in the Y screen when you're looking at the map.  I don't think the last two show up until after the revolution.

Spoiler for where to find them:

quest 1 is clearing out the hobbes, which you've already done since you found the switch.
quest 2 is in Driftwood after they set up the village.  I don't think that happens until you're going overseas.
quest 3 is in Bowestone Market, but it's out of the way in the Tavern.  the only reason I found it was the Quest list.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I didn't do any of the quests. I just found the town and started exploring. When does Quest 1 become available? I did every quest that popped up on my list, unless they asked me to go kill someone. At least prior to the Revolution. I thought I would have more time to do quests, but it jumped to the end game quicker than I was expecting.

[CeeKay]

Spoiler for Hiden:

That would be correct.  But you'll also need to do all three quests involving Driftwood to finish the entire switch sequence.  One you might miss is the one that starts in the bar in Bowerstone Market.

How did I miss these quests?

they pop up in the Y screen when you're looking at the map.  I don't think the last two show up until after the revolution.

Spoiler for where to find them:

quest 1 is clearing out the hobbes, which you've already done since you found the switch.
quest 2 is in Driftwood after they set up the village.  I don't think that happens until you're going overseas.
quest 3 is in Bowestone Market, but it's out of the way in the Tavern.  the only reason I found it was the Quest list.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I didn't do any of the quests. I just found the town and started exploring. When does Quest 1 become available? I did every quest that popped up on my list, unless they asked me to go kill someone. At least prior to the Revolution. I thought I would have more time to do quests, but it jumped to the end game quicker than I was expecting.

Spoiler for Hiden:

If I remember right it didn't pop up until after you got the bridge to the gypsy camp fixed (which was the only way to get to Driftwood unless I missed something).  when you first find Driftwood there should be a guy standing on the beach near the wagons who asks for your help.  I think the quest was titled 'Pest Control'.

[Fez]

I'm taking my time with the game so far.  Is there any benefit to going randomly into others' worlds?  Are there items I can find in shops in those worlds that I can't find in my own?

[Destructor]

I'm taking my time with the game so far.  Is there any benefit to going randomly into others' worlds?  Are there items I can find in shops in those worlds that I can't find in my own?

Sorta, yes. There's...48 (I think) Legendary Weapons in the game, and you'll only find about 10 per playthrough if you don't head out exploring.

[Travis]

When should I start buying property?  I just reached Bowerstone and won over the people.  I don't want to miss out too early since I don't accumulate gold when the game's off.  Yet I don't want to over complicate things too early either.

[CeeKay]

I'm taking my time with the game so far.  Is there any benefit to going randomly into others' worlds?  Are there items I can find in shops in those worlds that I can't find in my own?

Sorta, yes. There's...48 (I think) Legendary Weapons in the game, and you'll only find about 10 per playthrough if you don't head out exploring.

from some Fable 3 fan site:

You won’t be able to get your sticky mitts on a single Legendary Weapon until you have got your ranged and melee weapons to level 5 on the Road To Rule. There are a MASSIVE 51 Legendary weapons available in Fable 3 and 26 of these can be nabbed by going solo through the game and are always available in the same places regardless of how many time you play the game. 12 of these are in treasure chests, 12 are in shops and the remaining 2 are rewards for completing quests. The other 25 are randomly generated which means you’ll need to start a new game to find them all or you can trade with other players. Alternatively, visit shops in someone else’s kingdom via XBOX LIVE (you’ll need Gold membership for this). Here is a list of all 51 Legendary Weapons, including the Limited Edition one, as well as the locations of the 26 weapons that are not randomly generated.

[dangerballs]

When should I start buying property?  I just reached Bowerstone and won over the people.  I don't want to miss out too early since I don't accumulate gold when the game's off.  Yet I don't want to over complicate things too early either.

I would start buying businesses the moment you can get the pack from the road to rule.  Houses tend to be a huge pain with the current ultra-crappy repair interface.

[CeeKay]

When should I start buying property?  I just reached Bowerstone and won over the people.  I don't want to miss out too early since I don't accumulate gold when the game's off.  Yet I don't want to over complicate things too early either.

I would start buying businesses the moment you can get the pack from the road to rule.  Houses tend to be a huge pain with the current ultra-crappy repair interface.

yeah, I spend the first 5 minutes of a game session just repairing the houses.  so far that's the only minus in the game for me.