That doesn't make any sense, Volourn. If you never rate a game 10, then your scale effectively just goes from 0-9, so a 9 is exactly equivalent a 10 in some idealized scale. That would be just as dumb as the mainstream game reviewers whose scales go from 6-10, so that their 8's really ought to be 5's.
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Review GameTap praises MotB - 7/10
- Thread starter Vault Dweller
- Start date
Volourn
Pretty Princess
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2003
- Messages
- 24,986
Nah. I 'd rate a game 10 if I thoguht it was *perfect*. i've rated games more than 9 (BG2, and FO2 are tops at 9.5). My scale goes to 10. I just doubt I'll ever play a agme deserving of a '10'. even my FO2 and BG2 ratings are probably higher than they should be because of my inherent biasness towards both games.
Anthony Davis
Blizzard Entertainment
Vault Dweller said:
In my (admittedly limited) experience, this last statement is a pretty accurate description of how publishers see game rankings.
Personally I think what hurt MotB reviews more than anything was the dreaded 'Expansion' word. I find it bitingly ironic that some games released these days that average 4 to 10 hours of gameplay, shorter than any expansion I've ever paid for, yet they are reviewed as full titles. While MotB, with 20 to 30 hours of gameplay, is given a lower starting point because it carries the 'Expansion' moniker.
However, I do think our review numbers are fair. The spirit eater mechanic doesn't appeal to everyone. The new camera system, while most feel it is improved, it is still far from perfect (and I know, I implemented it). Apparently a bug slipped through QA that can cause some players to have to reload a previous save game, that sucks bad, but I think it has been fixed in the next patch. These are all valid criticisms, though the last one was just blind, human luck because we do have a very good QA team.
That said, I am still very, very proud of MotB. Yesyesyesyes, you can say I am 'supposed to say that', but if I wasn't, I would just stay quiet.
On a side but related note, I thought Bioshock was great. I think I would have loved it MORE with RPG stuff, ala SS2, but it was still a very polished, well done shooter with fantastic art style, and a compelling story.
I also bought The Orange Box and found Portal to be the best 4 hours I've experienced playing a game in a long time. Original and superbly clever.
Texas Red
Whiner
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2006
- Messages
- 7,044
Too bad the word "expansion" didnt hurt such a pseudo-expansion as Knights of the Nine that has an overall score 84%. Yes, it is higher if youre wondering.
http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/936112.asp
http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/936112.asp
fastpunk
Arbiter
Anthony Davis said:
Well you should be. I'm not too far into the expansion but the improvements over the OC are obvious, even down to details like the loading screens for example. Congrats to the Obsidian team and keep doing quality games for as long as you feel motivated! :D
Well, being an expansion (which limits your audience to those who have NWN2 already, though some people might get NWN2 now that MotB is out) with lower development costs (I would assume) it needn't sell as much as a stand-alone game.
I most definetely hope MotB will sell enough to warrant more expansions for NWN2. Somehow I feel that the expansion format allows the creators to create a really focused experience, and mayhap take some interesting risks.
I mean, I find myself ranking MotB pretty high on my 'fav RPG list', and it's "only" an expansion.
And about the Spirit-Meter, I realize that such a mechanic may not be for everyone. And I would've liked it implemented differently. But I just can't shake the feeling that a lot of people who are completely against it just went on more or less a spirit-eating binge, got themselves into a potentially difficult situation and then refused to (gasp!) take the XP hit for Satiate. Then it's onwards to the forums, and "omg the meter is ruining the game!!11!!".
And I also don't get where this notion that RPGs should be all about ultimate freedom, smelling the flowers and never having a care in the world except when you choose to initiate the next plot related dialogue came from.
I most definetely hope MotB will sell enough to warrant more expansions for NWN2. Somehow I feel that the expansion format allows the creators to create a really focused experience, and mayhap take some interesting risks.
I mean, I find myself ranking MotB pretty high on my 'fav RPG list', and it's "only" an expansion.
And about the Spirit-Meter, I realize that such a mechanic may not be for everyone. And I would've liked it implemented differently. But I just can't shake the feeling that a lot of people who are completely against it just went on more or less a spirit-eating binge, got themselves into a potentially difficult situation and then refused to (gasp!) take the XP hit for Satiate. Then it's onwards to the forums, and "omg the meter is ruining the game!!11!!".
And I also don't get where this notion that RPGs should be all about ultimate freedom, smelling the flowers and never having a care in the world except when you choose to initiate the next plot related dialogue came from.
Edward_R_Murrow
Arcane
Not exactly. As much as I wasn't a fan of Neverwinter Nights 2, it was a hell of a lot better than over-hyped trash like Bioshock, Oblivion, and the ilk. If what the Codex says is true, and the combat is no longer repetitive and boring, there are some decent choice/consequence scenarios, bugs are fixed, and the writing has some flair, than I may consider a purchase, and that would mean it should most definitely deserve the "9.75/10 BEST GAEM EVAH!!!!" from the sycophants with no standards. Heck, the only thing in the way really of me making a purchase is that my experience with my friend's copy of Neverwinter Nights 2 was pretty poor and I don't want to sink the money into it, but unfortunately the expansion dealio forces price-tying. Ah well, there's always the wait a few months for a bundle type of thing.
Level scaling appealed to no-one but die-hard Bethesda apologists but that didn't stop anybody from praising it as the second coming. Sure, the alignment changes seem a little screwed, giving lawful good characters a free pass essentially, at least from what I've heard, but a patch can easily fix that.
Point is, you fellow at Obsidian have plenty of talent, and if what I've heard is true (which due to the aggregate opinions around here seems likely), you're on the right track. Don't be afraid to be different and make sure you stay that way. Embrace the uniqueness in your games; IE the choices and consequences, thought as a requirement, and the like and push it forward. Make a mainstream game for once that eclipses Arcanum and Fallout in terms of choices and consequences; make for combat that is tricky and might require a lot of reloads; include "real" death for NPCs; make more non-cliched stories with far more non-linearity.
Above all , please don't be like the rest of the industry and make derivative monster killing and loot grabbing treadmills that bait the character onwards with "moar story". That would just be a shameful waste of you talent. Prove the naysayers and skeptics (of which I might be considered one) wrong, and fight the marketing trends.
Well.....that was long-winded.....
Helton
Arcane
Lumpy said:
[Spoilers - but only related to your question]
I didn't go devouring a whole lot, but the big advantage I know of was "spirit essences" for enchanting. Normal enemies dropped normal spirit essences if you finished them with devour. Bigger creatures dropped unique ones but usually (always?) through a dialogue option. The unique essences had some pretty damn decent effects.
For undead spirits, though, "Eternal Rest" worked just as well with none of the negative consequences.
I haven't tried it myself, but I read somewhere that if you have very high craving (don't know if the spirit-energy is related also), you get some special abilities. I thought I read somewhere that you get a Sanctuary effect among other things, but I can't for the life of me find where I read this or if it's true.
Also, semi-related is if you play an evil playthrough you will likely learn a few different directly related to the spirit-meter than if you go the good route.
Also, semi-related is if you play an evil playthrough you will likely learn a few different directly related to the spirit-meter than if you go the good route.
Zomg
Arbiter
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2005
- Messages
- 6,984
There are different soul-eating related feat progressions for eaters vs. suppressors also.
I wish the cunts that complain about it had bitched half as much about the instant consequence-free resting in the OC, which is far, far worse than soul hunger at its most annoying.
I wish the cunts that complain about it had bitched half as much about the instant consequence-free resting in the OC, which is far, far worse than soul hunger at its most annoying.
Helton
Arcane
Zomg said:
I don't know about all that. You could opt out of resting, and while that isn't a full pardon it certainly makes it less of a problem than a feature which severely favors certain allignments and severely hinders others. And the wrong allignments at that.
Deleted member 7219
Guest
I don't want to sound pretentious but am I the only one here who really liked NWN2?
Futile Rhetoric
Arcane
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2006
- Messages
- 3,608
You're being rather silly cupcake, why would you dwell on the negatives when there are so many positives to consider?Volourn said:
Anthony Davis
Blizzard Entertainment
HanoverF said:
Yeah, I admit it, hahaha. I didn't design it, but I like the direction we were going in.
My personal experience with the camera was that we were caught in a conflict with what people had in NWN1 and therefore expected, VERSUS how far cameras and camera controls in video games had progressed since NWN1 was released.
The original camera controls for the boxed, unpatched version on NWN2 were virtually IDENTICAL to NWN1 and yet many seemed to hate them, even the community members, who ironically claimed to love the camera controls in NWN1. Many people claimed the controls were different, but remember, I have the code and I know the truth :wink:.
For the MotB expansion, and the community patch (can't remember which one off the top of my head), we decided to streamline the camera down to 2 distinct modes Character Mode, and Strategy Mode. Strategy Mode being the more flexible one with the most distinct options.
Like I said, I think this was the right direction, but maybe we could have taken it even further and streamlined it even more.
Shannow
Waster of Time
No, NWN2OC was the first game (in that kind of genre) in a long time that I enjoyed and that left me with a feeling of satisfaction. Although there is a lot to criticize about it...Matt7895 said:
I don't think it's really possible to make a game deserving a 10, either. I suppose you could make some sort of 2D puzzle game that'd be worth 10/10 within it's genre.
Even the slightest flaw should knock a game down from a 10 to a 9. 10 is ne plus ultra. No one can seriously say that nothing could be done that would improve Oblivion, Halo 3 or Orange Box.
Orange Box is a bit tricky, as it's a package and not a single game. If someone who hasn't bought nor played Half-Life 2, etc, got his/her grubby hands on the Orange Box, it'd be a real treat for that amount of money. I'd say it's definately worth a 9, as a package.
Then again, I suppose it all comes down to what criteria you judge a game by. If you just judge by Fun vs Cost of Product, I suppose a lot of games would get 10/10.
EDIT: Anthony: Yeah! I never had any problems with the camera in NWN 2, because I used it exactly like I had in NWN 1. Perhaps it felt slower for some people because NWN 2 has more demanding graphics (i.e slower FPS, etc) than NWN 1?
Even the slightest flaw should knock a game down from a 10 to a 9. 10 is ne plus ultra. No one can seriously say that nothing could be done that would improve Oblivion, Halo 3 or Orange Box.
Orange Box is a bit tricky, as it's a package and not a single game. If someone who hasn't bought nor played Half-Life 2, etc, got his/her grubby hands on the Orange Box, it'd be a real treat for that amount of money. I'd say it's definately worth a 9, as a package.
Then again, I suppose it all comes down to what criteria you judge a game by. If you just judge by Fun vs Cost of Product, I suppose a lot of games would get 10/10.
EDIT: Anthony: Yeah! I never had any problems with the camera in NWN 2, because I used it exactly like I had in NWN 1. Perhaps it felt slower for some people because NWN 2 has more demanding graphics (i.e slower FPS, etc) than NWN 1?
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