New Mass Effect interview: Cap'n Shepard = Jack Bauer

[Volourn]

You'll never know.... until you try... you big lug.

 

[bylam]

Because high stats = useful in any situation, but terrain/time/random effects cannot be predicted. A simple example is bullding a powerful fighter. You choose a background that ups your strength stat and lowers your intelligence stat. Because you know that you are a fighter you know that you have little need for intelligence.

Useless stats = poor design. In Fallout or PST all stats were pretty useful.

Not sure why that is relevant. I'm not talking about useless stats, I'm talking about the difference between a background which adds/penalises stats (like your +100/-100 example) and a background that is based on unknown game factors. One can be chosen with a fair insight into how it will affect the game, the other is chosen without such foresight and thus is more meaningful to creating a character with a real personality.

Now apply that example to a strength bonus/penalty given/taken based on a forest environment. Until you play the game, you have no idea whether it is mostly forest or urban or mountains or somewhere in between. So the choice to make your character have a bonus/penalty when you have no idea when/where/how often that penalty will be applied is a role-playing choice/consequence rather than a uber gaming stat boost.

Poor design again. You are not choosing a gameplay style, you simply hope that your "desert fox" background comes with enough matching desert areas. It's like deciding to specialize in a specific weapon type in the IE games and hoping that you will be able to find such weapons in the game.

I hardly see how it is poor design to allow people to flesh out their character's past. If you choose "desert fox" with no real idea how much desert there is in the game are you really just hoping for lots of desert areas to help you win teh game? Or are you saying "this is how I want my character to be, come what may?" I say it is the latter.

Surely not if the "something" puts others off trying out the idea because it was attached to such a spectacular failure.

Spectacular failure? Do explain.

I'm not referring to TOEE commercial success or anything, I am referring to the way in which the viginettes were created. They were linear one solution situations that may as well have been cutscenes. They provided nothing significant in either story or choice and frankly, I can't even think of a poorer way to implement them. If Troika had wanted to show how badly viginettes could be done, they certainly acheived their goal.

See my NWN module "The Changers Mistake" for my own take on viginettes. It isn't a great module by any means, but it shows how effective viginettes can be in filling out a characters backstory.

 

[JoeDirt]

Well, that ain't no meteor.

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

I'd rather they dropped the RPG stuff (which, from what I see, seems to be lackluster anyway), and instead make it an Adventure game with an angry, belligerant SOB Commander Shepard; verbally and physically abusing and berating his squad and crew at every opportunity, grabbing their collars and yelling at their face every single conversation.

I'd play that.

Good party member: "Hey, Shepard, y'wanna stop in at SpaceDonalds for a-"
Captain Shepard: *Grabs collar* "I'M NOT HUNGRY GOD DAMNIT! YOU'LL EAT WHEN I TELL YOU TO EAT!"
Evil party member: EXTREME!

 

[Texas Red]

Playing "evil" in AE:

Woman: Welcome to our planet [insert generic futurish planet name with Roman numbers]! May I ask you the reason of your visit?

Cap'n Shepard: *hits the woman with his lazah rifle* STFU! TELL ME WHERE TEH ROBOZ R! GIVE ME UR MONEY 2!

Crew member: Sir, do you think it is wise to attract atte...

Cap'n Shepard: STFU! GIVE ME UR MONEY!

 

[[Jez]]

Isnt Commander Shepard from Stargate Atlantis?

 

[Stalagmite]

Volourn, I'm not coming on to you (I'm not gay), but you are by far my favorite Codex poster, go get 'em son!

 

[Volourn]

"Volourn, I'm not coming on to you (I'm not gay), but you are by far my favorite Codex poster, go get 'em son!"

Damn. This post is very sneaky. I cna't even tell if it's real or sarcasm. I'm usually better at doling so. Good job. :D


P.S. All the 'screaming Sheppard' posts are funny, btw, folks. Keep it up!

 

[Vault Dweller]

Because high stats = useful in any situation, but terrain/time/random effects cannot be predicted. A simple example is bullding a powerful fighter. You choose a background that ups your strength stat and lowers your intelligence stat. Because you know that you are a fighter you know that you have little need for intelligence.

Useless stats = poor design. In Fallout or PST all stats were pretty useful.

Not sure why that is relevant. I'm not talking about useless stats, I'm talking about the difference between a background which adds/penalises stats (like your +100/-100 example) and a background that is based on unknown game factors. One can be chosen with a fair insight into how it will affect the game, the other is chosen without such foresight and thus is more meaningful to creating a character with a real personality.

Any game where you can dismiss a few stats because you know that they will not affect your gameplay is poorly designed. All stats should be useful, and disregarding a stat and making a 6CHA fighter should be penalized. Thus, making stat choices should be as meaningful as choosing a background.

Now apply that example to a strength bonus/penalty given/taken based on a forest environment. Until you play the game, you have no idea whether it is mostly forest or urban or mountains or somewhere in between. So the choice to make your character have a bonus/penalty when you have no idea when/where/how often that penalty will be applied is a role-playing choice/consequence rather than a uber gaming stat boost.

Poor design again. You are not choosing a gameplay style, you simply hope that your "desert fox" background comes with enough matching desert areas. It's like deciding to specialize in a specific weapon type in the IE games and hoping that you will be able to find such weapons in the game.

I hardly see how it is poor design to allow people to flesh out their character's past. If you choose "desert fox" with no real idea how much desert there is in the game are you really just hoping for lots of desert areas to help you win teh game? Or are you saying "this is how I want my character to be, come what may?" I say it is the latter.

Not win the game, obviously, but gain some advantages/disadvantages in certain areas if you want to put it in specific gameplay-related terms. Adding a background that doesn't affect anything in the game (i.e. choosing "desert fox" in a game completely devoid of deserts) is fanfiction. So, yes, if the game offers 3 backgrounds: forest ranger, city boy, and underground rat, I'd fully expect to see these three meaningful areas in the game with all the advantages/disadvantages and not just hope that the game may contain a 2-minute walk in a forest. In other words, I think that background should be as predictable (in general ways) as stats and skills.

If Troika had wanted to show how badly viginettes could be done, they certainly acheived their goal.

I disagree, but opinions are subjective by definition.

See my NWN module "The Changers Mistake" for my own take on viginettes. It isn't a great module by any means, but it shows how effective viginettes can be in filling out a characters backstory.

I uninstalled NWN long time ago. Care to explain your ideas?

 

[bylam]

Any game where you can dismiss a few stats because you know that they will not affect your gameplay is poorly designed. All stats should be useful, and disregarding a stat and making a 6CHA fighter should be penalized. Thus, making stat choices should be as meaningful as choosing a background.

Agreed. But it isn't what I was getting at. My original point was that being able to choose a background (whether it affects stats, situations e.t.c) is still a step in the right direction for Bioware.

Not win the game, obviously, but gain some advantages/disadvantages in certain areas if you want to put it in specific gameplay-related terms. Adding a background that doesn't affect anything in the game (i.e. choosing "desert fox" in a game completely devoid of deserts) is fanfiction. So, yes, if the game offers 3 backgrounds: forest ranger, city boy, and underground rat, I'd fully expect to see these three meaningful areas in the game with all the advantages/disadvantages and not just hope that the game may contain a 2-minute walk in a forest. In other words, I think that background should be as predictable (in general ways) as stats and skills.

Stat based backgrounds are predictable because stats *always* have the same effect. A high str means you always hit harder in DnD rules, for example.
But a "forest ranger" background might make your character a hard-arse in the forest and a wimp in the city. Then it will influence *how you play* because when you are in the city, your char will not survive if you try to fight through every situation. In other words, this type of background encourages actively seeking alternatives in a given situation in the game, whereas stat-only backgrounds will encourage playing a single style throughout the game in its entirety.
Again, it is pure speculation as to what type of char backgrounds Bioware will have anyway.

See my NWN module "The Changers Mistake" for my own take on viginettes. It isn't a great module by any means, but it shows how effective viginettes can be in filling out a characters backstory.

I uninstalled NWN long time ago. Care to explain your ideas?

Sure. Obviously limited by the DnD ruleset, I created a module which begins with a choice presented to the player in a dream. The choice was based on race/class and alignment. The choice was presented along the lines of "If the guild of (class) was at war with your people (race) with whom would you side?". When the player chose, they would awaken in their bed in their chosen area.
Essentially then, the module contains a different starting area for Gnomes, Elves, Halfilings, Dwarves, Half-Orcs, Fighters, Bards, Monks, Sorcerers, Wizards, Paladins, Rangers, Rogues, Clerics, Barbarians and a special starting area for evil alignments.
Each area had it's own story and quests and each area ended with a hook that led to a common main quest. Many of the stories overlapped so that playing through the module with different character types would provide greater insight into the overall storyline.
I wrote the module as an alternative to the NWN prelude, which was incredibly boring after the second play through. It has bugs and issues, but I think it is a better example of class/race/alignment based viginettes than TOEE.

 

[Kingston]

Sheppard reminds me of the guard in the Shawshank Redemption: "You eat when I SAY YOU EAT! You piss when I SAY YOU PISS AND YOU SHIT WHEN I SAY YOU SHIT! YOU GOT THAT YOU FUCKING COCKSUCKER?!"

Also Sheppard appeals to all races! He ain't black, he ain't white, he ain't yellow! Racial equality ftw!

 

[Chinese Jetpilot]

I'm bored with nothing to do, so here's the essence of Cap'n...err, Commander Shepard Part Deux:

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/9273 ... vea2mx.jpg

 

[Texas Red]

Those are teh funnyage! Post more!

Although look at that bloom and shadown! One side of the clothing can blind you while other is more dark than the dark side of the moon! Next generation indeed.

 

[Kingston]

VGCats handles the issue pretty well:

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c247/ ... 901014.jpg

Ew cramped text.

 

[Jasede]

VGCats

You have just become gay for reading that. That's okay. Here, enjoy.

 

[Azarkon]

Well, it's more customization than I initially expected out of Mass Effect, so that could only be a ... good ... thing.

Add some meaningful choices into the fray and I might even give it a go, assuming I buy a Xbox360 instead of a Wii.

 

[Chinese Jetpilot]

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9214/rack9de.jpg [Potentially NSFW]

 

[FrancoTAU]

CJ is making a run at becoming to Mass Effect what Chefe was to Oblivion. Not a a bad start so far....

 

[Surgey]

More Shepard yelling pix tbh. I lol'ed.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to this game. Say what you will, but it's still not Todd Howard.

Also, I don't see the problem with what he said. He said your character would feel special, not that he'd be the savior of the universe. I know you could gather that, but I don't think that's what he meant.

Besides, I'm sure you'd enjoy a game where every dungeon and house has been looted already and every monster has been killed because you're not the only adventurer. How's this for an awesome story:

Hero: "I'm off to stop the evil prince from waging war on the outer continents! I would like to purchase some rations for the road!"
Barkeep: "Uh... what prince?"
Hero: "Um. You know. The Dark princ-"
Barkeep: "You mean the one those group of adventurers already killed?"
Hero: "What?"
Barkeep: "Yeah. Adventurers passed through here like 10 weeks ago. They were way cooler than you."
Hero: "Why am I playing this game?"

 

[JoKa]

More Shepard yelling pix tbh. I lol'ed.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to this game. Say what you will, but it's still not Todd Howard.

Also, I don't see the problem with what he said. He said your character would feel special, not that he'd be the savior of the universe. I know you could gather that, but I don't think that's what he meant.

Besides, I'm sure you'd enjoy a game where every dungeon and house has been looted already and every monster has been killed because you're not the only adventurer. How's this for an awesome story:

Hero: "I'm off to stop the evil prince from waging war on the outer continents! I would like to purchase some rations for the road!"
Barkeep: "Uh... what prince?"
Hero: "Um. You know. The Dark princ-"
Barkeep: "You mean the one those group of adventurers already killed?"
Hero: "What?"
Barkeep: "Yeah. Adventurers passed through here like 10 weeks ago. They were way cooler than you."
Hero: "Why am I playing this game?"

actually, that would be quite cool and original...

 

[sabishii]

Besides, I'm sure you'd enjoy a game where every dungeon and house has been looted already and every monster has been killed because you're not the only adventurer. How's this for an awesome story:

Hero: "I'm off to stop the evil prince from waging war on the outer continents! I would like to purchase some rations for the road!"
Barkeep: "Uh... what prince?"
Hero: "Um. You know. The Dark princ-"
Barkeep: "You mean the one those group of adventurers already killed?"
Hero: "What?"
Barkeep: "Yeah. Adventurers passed through here like 10 weeks ago. They were way cooler than you."
Hero: "Why am I playing this game?"

Right, I'm sure that in a world filled with treasures in undiscovered dungeons and evil sorcerers in high-reaching towers, it makes so much sense that you're the ONLY one who decides to go out and get that treasure and slay those wizards. Either that or thousands of adventurers have gone before you (and will after you) but only you will succeed because you're the Chosen One.

Edit: And yes, that would be a good story, actually.

But here's a story that you may like:
Barkeep: "Hail, traveler. Welcome to the largest city in the nation."
Hero: "Hail, barkeep. Any rumors of late?"
Barkeep: "Actually, there's a dark prince living in a generic cave not far from here."
Hero: "ORLY. How long has he been terrorizing the area?"
Barkeep: "Oh my, we've been a-feared of him for many ages."
Hero: "What?! That long? How come he hasn't been taken care of yet?"
Barkeep: "I don't understand what you mean."
Hero: "Well, if it's been that long, then surely there have been others like me who have been by, especially in a city as large as this."
Barkeep: "Nowai! You're the chosen one! There are no other adventurers besides you and even if there were, they would surely fail because they are not Chosen."

 

[TheGreatGodPan]

I'd like it if someone could beat you to the punch in saving the day, but you could kill them before anyone else found out and then take the credit.

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

VGCats

You have just become gay for reading that. That's okay. Here, enjoy.

sneep

I remember EVERY SINGLE ONE of those lines.