Mastermind
Cognito Elite Material
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2010
- Messages
- 21,144
Only truly great CRPGs get sequels, and we all know who makes those.
Bioware, bethesda, etc.
Only truly great CRPGs get sequels, and we all know who makes those.
I'm on two minds about ...unorthodox builds like tank wizards.
It's sad that tank wizards are even seen as unorthodox. Too many games turn wizards into glass cannons, when in reality they should be able to fulfill all sorts of roles fueled by their magic. This was the case in the vastly superior BG2 where spells like stoneskin made wizards and sorcerers above average tanks. Wizards work best and are most fun to play as overpowered characters that pay for that power with increased complexity and limited resources.
Wizards in D&D have only one role: God. If you don't know what I am talking about you don't understand D&D.I'm on two minds about ...unorthodox builds like tank wizards.
It's sad that tank wizards are even seen as unorthodox. Too many games turn wizards into glass cannons, when in reality they should be able to fulfill all sorts of roles fueled by their magic. This was the case in the vastly superior BG2 where spells like stoneskin made wizards and sorcerers above average tanks. Wizards work best and are most fun to play as overpowered characters that pay for that power with increased complexity and limited resources.
I have to disagree.. here's what I think about Sawyer's approach as an indie game developer and psychology / sociology aficionado.
1) If he's like everyone else then that means he's to scared to be a trendsetter and is just a follower.
He's not fit to lead anything, especially the development of a creative & entertaining product such as a video game.
2) Genuinely creative people are trendsetters.
They make their own rules, experiment and push the boundaries of what is humanly possible.
Creativity means something new, something new means new information, and this ultimately means "adult neurogenesis" which has incredible benefits (health, longevity, happiness, etc) for you, the player.
They should be complimented - not anyone stuck in the comfort zone of mediocrity and boredom.
3) Another Sawyer's big problem is that he constantly tries to balance Singleplayer games.
They don't have to be balanced at all. Players should have fun in them above all else.
So what if they are uber godlings at the end of the game! They deserved it, it feels great and rewarding!
Multiplayer games, on the other hand, HAVE to be balanced.
4) Without criticism there is no progress. I criticize even myself and that's exactly why I'm trying to build more skills every day.
We're not just venting here regarding TTON, but are in some way trying to get InXile's attention and make them realize they can do better.
A lot better! I think with their recent announcements, we're seeing the magic finally unfolding.
I'm on two minds about ...unorthodox builds like tank wizards.
It's sad that tank wizards are even seen as unorthodox. Too many games turn wizards into glass cannons, when in reality they should be able to fulfill all sorts of roles fueled by their magic. This was the case in the vastly superior BG2 where spells like stoneskin made wizards and sorcerers above average tanks. Wizards work best and are most fun to play as overpowered characters that pay for that power with increased complexity and limited resources.
Too many games turn wizards into glass cannons, when in reality they should be able to fulfill all sorts of roles fueled by their magic.
Retard. What Sawyer did with PoE is dumbing down a plagiarize D&D system in order to neutralize any incentives to master the combat system, and catering to the lowest common denominator in order to prevent any form of frustration.
Anyone who is not living in the fucking moon will notice that Obsidian is a popamole studio releasing popamole isometric games..
Wrong. It feels retarded and boring to have all challenge removed at the end of the game. Ideally, the player should be challenged throughout the game.
Yes, but he still made wizard tanks possible. That is a testament to his design acumen.Instead he chose to flesh out every fucking class, made each one feel distinct in his game(despite he seems a magic-fag himself) and he's better off for it.
But is he like everyone else? He's way to concerned with history (arguable if this is truly reflected in his games) and spends way too much time on balance. Compared to game devs in general I'd say Sawyer is an odd bird.
Wrong. It feels retarded and boring to have all challenge removed at the end of the game. Ideally, the player should be challenged throughout the game.
Much of the cut stuff from Torment 2 was shit and lame to begin with (crafting) anyway. The "Toy" companion is the only specific thing I can think of that I am sad got removed from the game.
IWD1's combat is more simplistic than Pillars. Just because it is easier to gimp yourself doesn't make it harder. The best games force you to work with all resources available, except for consumables, which should ideally serve as a "Hail Mary" for difficult fights.
The term 'popamole' once meant games like Skyrim and Fallout 4 with little to no challenge, but now means any game that said Codexer doesn't like.
The IE games also have suboptimal options; the difference is that you praise the IE games for doing so while shit on PoE for doing so. Josh Sawyer might want to make everything ultra-balanced, but he didn;t singlehandedly make PoE.It’s not more simplistic than PoE. It has less stuff. Just because you added a bunch of useless skills to create the appearance of a complex cRPG, doesn’t make it more interesting or rewarding.
As many PoE fans will attest, there are builds that are completely OP, and builds that are kind of shitty; there just aren't builds that are total shit. What you do is copy and paste your IE build into PoE, which results in a mediocre experience because it is built for IE games' high points, not PoE's; and because you know enough from IE games to make a good build, but refuse to look at the unique aspects of the PoEThe other thing you are ignoring in your criticism is that just as you can gimp yourself by making the wrong choices, you can also excel by making an excellent build. In PoE system, you can’t fuck it up because the character building is bland and holds your hand. There is no point in looking for an optimal build when the reward is so small. And I'm not even considering the mess that the combat system in PoE is.
No; since they do not have the exact same kind of character building, so idiots like you put it down.The term popamole once meant games that had no genuine character building, and shooters like Skyrim and Fallout 4 were easier to identify because they were triple-A games. Now you have a bunch of shallow isometric games that have the looks of previous classics, but none of its depth.
In Josh's design any build may be viable, but that doesn't mean every build is optimal. The difference between viable and optimal is something he discusses in the video I linked.
A game requires a failure state.
As many PoE fans will attest, there are builds that are completely OP, and builds that are kind of shitty; there just aren't builds that are total shit. What you do is copy and paste your IE build into PoE, which results in a mediocre experience because it is built for IE games' high points, not PoE's; and because you know enough from IE games to make a good build, but refuse to look at the unique aspects of the PoE.
In Josh's design any build may be viable, but that doesn't mean every build is optimal. The difference between viable and optimal is something he discusses in the video I linked.
A game requires a failure state.
I want to beat a game, not just optimally beat a game.
If there is no potential for a garbage character then why bother making any decisions at all, other than to larp an archetype.
I would like to see hard-counters reemerge in PoE2, but instead of concentrating them in the casters it would be interesting to spread these effects among the classes.
His games are always somewhat dull to play.. it's like he was born to do advanced Excel work but instead ended up doing something completely opposite in his life.
Either that or he has a really weird sense of fun.. like 2 variables being close in their values, eg. balanced.
What you're saying is funny, because that's EXACTLY what the "mainstream" thinks of CRPGs, and everything associated with them - including this very site, and everyone on it. So the words you are using to insult him should really be considered a compliment, because he's just like everyone else here - just to a greater extreme than most. What he does may be "boring", but it is necessary, so that his game doesn't end up with pointless junk mechanics. You can tell he really cares about the quality of his work, because he goes out of his way and does things like his FNV mod without even being paid to do it. How many other developers can you think of that would do something like that? It obviously isn't just about the money to him, and I don't think he gets paid a lot anyway, tbh.
It's sad that tank wizards are even seen as unorthodox. Too many games turn wizards into glass cannons, when in reality they should be able to fulfill all sorts of roles fueled by their magic. This was the case in the vastly superior BG2 where spells like stoneskin made wizards and sorcerers above average tanks. Wizards work best and are most fun to play as overpowered characters that pay for that power with increased complexity and limited resources.
Yeah, sure, but if we are following this logic, then at one point we have to ask ourselves what the point of the classes is, when it's clear that we are talking about a classless system. Wizards and Sorcerers were simply grotesquely overpowered in BG2, that's why they could do virtually everything.