[Poll] How do you play games w/ skill trees and non transparent mechanics ? Blind or spoiled?

[Excidium]

Dragon Age skills are hardly trees. It's just a linear progression from what I remember.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Yeah that was my point - that many of the feat lines are simply that. Lines. Which is why they resemble crap from Dragon Age.

However, whirlwind attack in particular requires a bunch of crap from different areas to get - I think to limit its power or something but it kind of sucks and gibbles your fighter to qualify for it. Off the top of my head, you needed int 13+, dex 13+, dodge, mobility, spring attack, combat expertise... maybe something else, I don't have the book in front of me. Anyway, various other feats just to be able to take whirlwind attack.

 

[LittleJoe]

Since I'm a larper, I usually go with the build that suits my personality and stick with that.

I'm not interested in what the internet says is the best build.

If I don't want to do alchemy or crafting or whatever, I won't do it.

If I don't want to play as an Orc, then I won't.

 

[oscar]

I usually go for a diplomat/warrior hybrid, picking up some 'soft' skills out of interest to see how the game reacts to them and if they open up new paths. But if the game has tough combat and I have a feeling that a skill might massively suck (description is pretty shaky/vague) I usually check it out. Skills like Latin, Outdoorsman or Faerie Lore might be completely useless or they might save your ass.

 

[DraQ]

Everything depends on game, its mechanics, how much does it need transparency, how much plot intrudes into mechanics (unique selective upgrades, mandatory skills or items) and so on.

For example if a game allows for immediate experimentation, has good feedback and a lot of logic in its mechanics, it doesn't really need transparency, because you either have good preconceptions of how it should behave or can test it fast and at little cost. Take Morrowind for example. Despite lacking transparency on a few aspects on its mechanics and even some outright wrong descriptions and tooltips this isn't a problem, because attributes behave in logical manner and pretty much everything about the mechanics can be tested fairly easily.

OTOH if game's mechanics is inconsistent mess, with little in common with how stuff can be expected to work, different progression curves for different skills, varying utility per point per level and so on, it's hard to not look up the information online. Take Divinity 2, for example - you don't know how skills progress, which skills are going to remain useful at low levels, which will require steady investment, what attributes are going to benefit your playstyle (int, may be surprisingly important for a warrior, for example), and so on. It's a complete and utter clusterfuck.