Vault Dweller
Commissar, Red Star Studio
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2003
- Messages
- 28,044
No arguing here.
I think the main problem with AoD, and this example is rather telling, is that you approach these things from narrative realism perspective rather than from gameplay perspective. If I'm not misinterpreting your explanation (didn't play that path myself), the player is given the choice whether to buy new equipment before his first battle - i.e. at a point when he can't know whether his starting equipment is any good. Now right after that battle is over he can assess the quality of his equipment and make an informed decision whether he needs better things before starting another battle - but he can't buy it because narrative reasons. Granted, the second quest is optional and you can forgo it - buy why? Because at an earlier and completely unrelated point you made a decision that you didn't have enough information to make? It may make narrative sense, but it doesn't make any gameplay sense.Here is how the quest works. You start the game at the inn, the innkeeper tells you to go guard one of the guests, you can say sure or you can say I need to buy some weapons first. Then you go back, tell the innkeeper you're ready and go upstairs. After the guest is killed (that's one outcome you can't change but that's the intro basically), the innkeeper offers you to an optional quest. At this point you aren't offered another option to go and buy weapons because now it's the middle of the night and because you (the player) just did 5 min ago and nothing has changed.
What's wrong with it being in the green space? Aside from the fact that in the perfect world it would have been in blue one.But when are we going to talk about the fact that Heroine's Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok is in the green space?
I think the main problem with AoD, and this example is rather telling, is that you approach these things from narrative realism perspective rather than from gameplay perspective. If I'm not misinterpreting your explanation (didn't play that path myself), the player is given the choice whether to buy new equipment before his first battle - i.e. at a point when he can't know whether his starting equipment is any good. Now right after that battle is over he can assess the quality of his equipment and make an informed decision whether he needs better things before starting another battle - but he can't buy it because narrative reasons. Granted, the second quest is optional and you can forgo it - buy why? Because at an earlier and completely unrelated point you made a decision that you didn't have enough information to make? It may make narrative sense, but it doesn't make any gameplay sense.
Which basically means that the best way to go about "playing" AoD is to click at random. But where's the game in that?If you didn’t try all the choices, and made all the mistakes, you don’t know everything the game has to offer.
But if you can't make informed decisions, you can't strategize. It all boils down to guesswork and larping. There's no challenge to that, just trial and error.the game world holds new challenges and problems they couldn’t anticipate
Not sure if this has already been addressed, but C&C doesn't have to just be in a dialog/story manner. Your character/party build can be C&C as well (you make the CHOICE of what character/party build to use, and, if the design is good (and in Wiz 1's case, it is), you will face the CONSEQUENCES of those choices, so C&C). This is mechanical C&C, my friend.No C&C...
Actually, the way it works is this. You have 2 options:I think the main problem with AoD, and this example is rather telling, is that you approach these things from narrative realism perspective rather than from gameplay perspective. If I'm not misinterpreting your explanation (didn't play that path myself), the player is given the choice whether to buy new equipment before his first battle - i.e. at a point when he can't know whether his starting equipment is any good. Now right after that battle is over he can assess the quality of his equipment and make an informed decision whether he needs better things before starting another battle - but he can't buy it because narrative reasons. Granted, the second quest is optional and you can forgo it - buy why? Because at an earlier and completely unrelated point you made a decision that you didn't have enough information to make? It may make narrative sense, but it doesn't make any gameplay sense.Here is how the quest works. You start the game at the inn, the innkeeper tells you to go guard one of the guests, you can say sure or you can say I need to buy some weapons first. Then you go back, tell the innkeeper you're ready and go upstairs. After the guest is killed (that's one outcome you can't change but that's the intro basically), the innkeeper offers you to an optional quest. At this point you aren't offered another option to go and buy weapons because now it's the middle of the night and because you (the player) just did 5 min ago and nothing has changed.
the impressive array of choices before me was always reduced to 1 because of my build
Oh, you got the wrong impression. Reloading and not making the same mistake next time is no problem. In fact, that is exactly what I did and at first I didnt hold any grudges. It wasn't until similar situations started happening over and over later down the playthrough that I became annoyed. The game shoe horns you into situations you couldn't predict. Anyway, I am not gonna repeat myself. Like I said, I think I made my points very clear and defending this shit design with condenscending: "Games don't have to set you up so you're borderline-guaranteed success on your first try" are a mark of dishonesty or elitist douchebaggery. In either case you can now go eat a dick and go fuck yourself.the impressive array of choices before me was always reduced to 1 because of my build
This isn't true.
Mareus
That was a long way to go for yet another "The first fight is too hard" statement, well done. It's okay to fail occasionally in games, just alter your approach and give it another go. Games don't have to set you up so you're borderline-guaranteed success on your first try.
But if you can't make informed decisions, you can't strategize. It all boils down to guesswork and larping. There's no challenge to that, just trial and error. Oh, I can totally see how this kind of "gameplay" would be a revelation to a certain demographic - the one that's incapable of any intellectual effort but likes to imagine they're some chosen elite.Funniest thing, I don't even hate AoD. I'm frustrated by it. It has the bones of a great adventure game that I'd really like to play. But these bones crumble under too much branching and "take no prisoners" approach.
On a separate note, I don't know why Mankind Divided wasn't more liked?
First, it should be expected that only certain kinds of builds have access to certain points. You shouldn’t be able to invade the palace with any build just because you want to explore. If you are used to do this in other games, that’s your problem.
Second, these complaints don’t affected the main game in any way since you are able to finish your main quests without problems – unless, of course, you spread your skill points too thin like a newbie.
Third, most of these complaints are arbitrary because the gated locations are accessible to different builds. Instead, what really happens is this. The player spent all his general skill points on combat skills or one skill. He can’t explore some site. Frustration hits, time to go to the internet to bitch about the game. You will find people on the Codex complaining that is impossible to reach the center of the abyss, when the reality is that you have lots of different ways to get there. I listed them here. You can check. And the same thing holds for the other sites. You prove to players with all the information that what they are saying cannot be the case, but they ignore the information, because they don't want skill checks, they want traditional design. Players talk out of their hats because they are not used to this kind of thing. It’s a childish behavior because the game allows you to explore, make mistakes and try different things. You can explain and list one thousand ways to infiltrate the place and they will keep moaning. Is pure arrogance.
Fourth, the game allows you to make plenty of mistakes and move forward. If you don’t notice this is because you are too afraid or traumatized by failures. Let me give you one of the many examples in Teron. If you try to critical strike Esbenus, but fail, they will throw you on the ground and hit you. You will lose permanently 2 or 3 HPs, but you also receive a bonus in your dodge skill. I don’t know about you, but at this point in the game a free bonus in dodge is a huge advantage. In fact, is always an advantage, and that’s why I always choose to fail in this in order to receive this benefit. I can guarantee you that most players that fail in this skill check moaned about bad gameplay without even bother to read the description of the game event. There are plenty of similar interesting “fuck ups” that allow the player to move forward.
Fifth, I don’t know if make any sense to say that informed decisions would prevent you all kinds of death and dangers, but I do know that AoD telegraphs a lot of the dangers to players. Players are blind to this because they are used to common cRPG tropes and prejudices. The game practically telegraphs you the risks you take by helping an unknown damsel in distress in an obscure street or an excuse deal with a strange fellow (*coug* Miltiades *cough). It’s obvious that they are trouble. What most players do? They go ahead clicking to explore and die in all kinds of indignant ways, and then start complaining about gameplay. Now, ask yourself. The game is designed to punish you for making stupid decisions based on generic cRPG tropes. Players fall in these traps. This is not bad design because it’s working exactly as intended. If I try to explain to some dude that can’t beat Miltiades toughs that he is not supposed to if he is not strong enough and that he have the option to turn around and run, he will feel insulted. I wonder where he got this mistaken idea that he is supposed to know in advance all the dangers without thinking, beat all the fights with a crappy build and never run away because that is what cowards do. Probably from generic borderline popamole traditional design.
So players hate the subversion of poorly thinking tropes because they are prejudiced. They will dismiss all the amazing things the game offers, from the believable characters to the hundreds of interesting scenarios, because they feel personally insulted and overwhelmed. You may complain but others feel rejoice in the fact that someone is finally abandoning the hundredth copy of generic FedEx quest design and making more believable quests. You feel frustrated by gated content while others will feel challenged and will feel rewarded from beating that dam skill check. Do you this is not challenge? Yes, it is, because it takes a kind of person with perseverance and obstinacy to achieve the right build. Do you think this is not rewarding? Not, it is, because you know that most people won’t access that particular content. The other day I find a new death screen that was hilarious. That's awesome because after hundreds of hours there are hidden details I didn't know. That's good stuff. The game is so rich in details and you guys dismissing the game based “I don’t want to reload” dogmatic thinking.
This is where we differ.
Dialogue choices and skill checks are actual gameplay. The C&C is the game.
"But no! It's in the interface! Using the interface can't be gameplay, it's just a tool to control the game!" lol
Its funny because its true.you have a game that mostly plays itself out
I kinda wonder what's your definition of a sandbox RPG. Is Fallout 1 a sandbox?Let's say some developers get together and say let's make an RPG and make tons of money. What a great idea! What kind of RPG? A sandbox RPG with awesome graphics! Why should Bethesda make all the money?
Is it a design discussion? It's not. The sandbox thing merely indicates a general direction at best, a personal preference (I like sandbox games!) or a business decision (I like money!). It's the design phase that fleshes it out: the character system, combat, magic, quest design, travel system, inventory, dialogue, etc. Until this phase is done, you have no design at all because sandbox can be done in many different ways. Tell me you understand this.
That's why you rated Shadowrun remake 5? Took some serious intellectual effort to finish the game, right? Okay.Oh, I can totally see how this kind of "gameplay" would be a revelation to a certain demographic - the one that's incapable of any intellectual effort but likes to imagine they're some chosen elite.
On a separate note, I don't know why Mankind Divided wasn't more liked?
The game is the closest thing to VTM: B since VTM: B.
It wasn't more liked because people will shit on anything but don't feel like buying or playing it.
It's reputation will grow over time.
Read a few pages back, dimwit, some people already counted the votes excluding Poles. Guess what the result was.What are the results if we only count Poles as 3/5 a person?
Hmmm there's 70 pages of sperg comments your asking me to go through so I'm just going to have to go with my gut here. They fucked it up didn't they? God damn Polacks.Read a few pages back, dimwit, some people already counted the votes excluding Poles. Guess what the result was.
Exclude yourself, faggot.Hmmm there's 70 pages of sperg comments your asking me to go through so I'm just going to have to go with my gut here. They fucked it up didn't they? God damn Polacks.Read a few pages back, dimwit, some people already counted the votes excluding Poles. Guess what the result was.
Of course if for some reason I'm wrong, have we also considered excluding polish Americans? Perhaps anyone that's had any kielbasa lately as well for good measure.
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That is Rocket Science!If you are a merchant, you should invest in persuasion, streetwise, trading, etc. If you are an assassin, you should invest in stealth, alchemy (poison), critical strike. If you are a mercenary, you should be a good fighter
Exclude yourself, faggot.Hmmm there's 70 pages of sperg comments your asking me to go through so I'm just going to have to go with my gut here. They fucked it up didn't they? God damn Polacks.Read a few pages back, dimwit, some people already counted the votes excluding Poles. Guess what the result was.
Of course if for some reason I'm wrong, have we also considered excluding polish Americans? Perhaps anyone that's had any kielbasa lately as well for good measure.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Lol tapatalk, pathetic