Fuck it, you know, I finally figured it out, my entire problem with the requiem/OOO/FCOM styled overhauls, there's no median, either you coast through something not even trying, or you are stomped in the head, dragged down the street, and given a tattoo that says bitch from a man called Bubba.
What I want is a world where bandits and such are just as weak as you, you die in about one hit, yes, but so do they. Then you start getting stronger, you join a faction, you get a training, equipment, etc, and you get to be better than those rabble, you start going out and fighting, not vampires, but maybe orcs and more skilled people like forsworn. Eventually having blooded yourself on them, you move on to being able to fight off bears, and packs of wolves. And it's a logical sense of progression, there's no level 40 Frost creatures that I have to console kill because they are completely illogical right out side of the city inbetween it and a vital mill. The bandits may have stronger variants, but that would make them easier to recognize, things like pieces of faction armor, steel weapons.
Walking around in requiem doesn't give me a sense of wonder or even a sense of fear, it gives me a sense of WHAT THE FUCK. Because generally if it's a threat it falls into 2 catagories, dead before it sees you, or strong enough to roflpwn you. AND YOU HAVE NO WAY OF TELLING WHAT IS WHAT. I mean beyond the obvious, if it glows run. I'm talking, I find plain clothes treasure hunters on an island, wearing clothes, like civilian clothes. Shoot one, it takes about a quarter of his health off, they sprint at me, come in, kill me with one hit. It's like they are following a different set of rules that assumes I'm blind, deaf, dumb, infirm, incontinent and retarded. I mean, even if you go and assume that this is meant to ape the RPG styles of Baldurs Gate, icewind dale, etc. Yes things could one shot you there, but it was a function based on the dice, not a constant, die, die, die. I'm playing smartly, I'm attacking from a distance, I'm doing things with a plan. I'm trying to adapt to each situation. But not being able to kill things that logically I should be able to, with plans that should work. Makes me pissed. These are bandits, they aren't disciplined soldiers, they are poor underfed people, living in cold ass ruins, wearing ill maintained armor, they should be roughly equivelent to a starting PC. Not to someone 10-20 levels higher, and if they are, make some indication of that. Fortifications, traps, a gate, a small civilian population, maybe a small garden or farm. Not just people slumming it in ruins.
So in summation, Requiem sucks not because of its difficulty, but because its balance makes no sense, even in regards to the fantasy roleplaying games it alleges to base itself on.
