Whipporowill
Erudite
Tags: Troika Games; Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Here we go again. Nothing particularly exciting, but any news is good news - as usual. Here goes the questions for this week:
<br>
<blockquote>
<br>
<i>1. In one preview of the game, it was mentioned that "the amount of
<br>
experience you gain is dependant on the completion of missions, and not
<br>
actually how you complete them". Is this true? Some people feel this
<br>
detracts from replaying the game, as usually different kinds of rewards
<br>
stimulate different approaches, and other people believe that it's
<br>
unfair to reward characters by doing totally different things, albeit with
<br>
similar outcomes. Is this still actually implemented? If so, will this
<br>
happen in mission-based objectives only, or will it also spread into
<br>
would-be sidequests?</i>
<br>
<br>
This is still in the game. I feel different approaches to quests arise out
<br>
of the type of character you're playing, not necessarily the different
<br>
rewards you may get. This actually balnces the playing field so that there
<br>
isn't one type of character that's going to get the most points for any
<br>
given mission. For instance, in alot of games you get points for killing
<br>
things - well, this makes it a bit unfair for the stealth character, doesn't
<br>
it? And if we gave you points for a stealthy solution as well as killing,
<br>
then the best way to do each quest would be
<br>
to stealth around and then kill everyone after you got the points for the
<br>
"stealth solution". With even distribution of points across play styles, you
<br>
don't need to concern yourself with how best to maximize
<br>
your points, instead you can focus on roleplaying your character.
<br>
<br>
This applies for all quests, whether they are main story arc or side quests.
<br>
<br>
<i>2. How varied will quest solving be? From previous Troika games, specially
<br>
Arcanum, we've been given both the traditional statistical approach of
<br>
roleplaying for dialogue choices and outcomes, as well as a more interactive
<br>
environmental approach (using the interactive environment to one's
<br>
advantage). Will this kind of gameplay be featured in Bloodlines? Will if
<br>
feature an emergent gameplay approach such as titles like Deus Ex and
<br>
Invisible War, as in, laying out mission objectives, and letting theplayer
<br>
find what is best for him to play; or will there be a tighter array of
<br>
possibilities?</i>
<br>
<br>
Even though we've switched to a 3d, first person view, we still feelthis is
<br>
a true Troika style RPG. That means we give the player a wide variety of
<br>
ways to solve quests, from thieving to talking to outright
<br>
fighting. There's definitely a "find your character's best approach"feel to
<br>
Bloodlines, and it varies from quest to quest - some quests have much
<br>
tighter parameters, and some are completely wide open. This also can depend
<br>
on your character's clan, stat choices, etc. For instance, a fighting
<br>
machine Brujah may not see/be able to accomplish all the different ways to
<br>
solve a quest because of his lack of stealth or talking ability, but a
<br>
Brujah with his points more evenly distributed may have more options open to
<br>
him.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Maybe we should bother them with some really interesting questions? Anyone? Hello?
Here we go again. Nothing particularly exciting, but any news is good news - as usual. Here goes the questions for this week:
<br>
<blockquote>
<br>
<i>1. In one preview of the game, it was mentioned that "the amount of
<br>
experience you gain is dependant on the completion of missions, and not
<br>
actually how you complete them". Is this true? Some people feel this
<br>
detracts from replaying the game, as usually different kinds of rewards
<br>
stimulate different approaches, and other people believe that it's
<br>
unfair to reward characters by doing totally different things, albeit with
<br>
similar outcomes. Is this still actually implemented? If so, will this
<br>
happen in mission-based objectives only, or will it also spread into
<br>
would-be sidequests?</i>
<br>
<br>
This is still in the game. I feel different approaches to quests arise out
<br>
of the type of character you're playing, not necessarily the different
<br>
rewards you may get. This actually balnces the playing field so that there
<br>
isn't one type of character that's going to get the most points for any
<br>
given mission. For instance, in alot of games you get points for killing
<br>
things - well, this makes it a bit unfair for the stealth character, doesn't
<br>
it? And if we gave you points for a stealthy solution as well as killing,
<br>
then the best way to do each quest would be
<br>
to stealth around and then kill everyone after you got the points for the
<br>
"stealth solution". With even distribution of points across play styles, you
<br>
don't need to concern yourself with how best to maximize
<br>
your points, instead you can focus on roleplaying your character.
<br>
<br>
This applies for all quests, whether they are main story arc or side quests.
<br>
<br>
<i>2. How varied will quest solving be? From previous Troika games, specially
<br>
Arcanum, we've been given both the traditional statistical approach of
<br>
roleplaying for dialogue choices and outcomes, as well as a more interactive
<br>
environmental approach (using the interactive environment to one's
<br>
advantage). Will this kind of gameplay be featured in Bloodlines? Will if
<br>
feature an emergent gameplay approach such as titles like Deus Ex and
<br>
Invisible War, as in, laying out mission objectives, and letting theplayer
<br>
find what is best for him to play; or will there be a tighter array of
<br>
possibilities?</i>
<br>
<br>
Even though we've switched to a 3d, first person view, we still feelthis is
<br>
a true Troika style RPG. That means we give the player a wide variety of
<br>
ways to solve quests, from thieving to talking to outright
<br>
fighting. There's definitely a "find your character's best approach"feel to
<br>
Bloodlines, and it varies from quest to quest - some quests have much
<br>
tighter parameters, and some are completely wide open. This also can depend
<br>
on your character's clan, stat choices, etc. For instance, a fighting
<br>
machine Brujah may not see/be able to accomplish all the different ways to
<br>
solve a quest because of his lack of stealth or talking ability, but a
<br>
Brujah with his points more evenly distributed may have more options open to
<br>
him.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Maybe we should bother them with some really interesting questions? Anyone? Hello?
