Tyranny Pre-Release Thread

[Roguey]

Still undefeated though, since she says she'll only remove the mask when beaten.

 

[Sannom]

It's not badly written, but I find it annoying that he keeps writing about armies and soldiers and everyone is a woman. It would be fine to have strong women in fantasy but at least make them sorceresses, witches, assassins that use their wit and charme to kill targets, but soldiers and fighters rely on their strenght and phisicality and women are just inferior to men in those regards.

The lady in the latest story was beaten by a man, so I doubt she was chosen for a management position because she's the very best at fighting.

Also, an evil overlord should care only about the end result, which is to conquer the land (and therefore having the best possible fighters in his armies), not about giving equal rights and opportunities where it makes no sense.

Equal rights and opportunities for everyone means that he gets to pick the very best out of an even bigger pool if the standards are the same across the board. So it makes sense to include everyone in that pool.

 

[Rev]

Equal rights and opportunities for everyone means that he gets to pick the very best out of an even bigger pool if the standards are the same across the board. So it makes sense to include everyone in that pool.

Yes, except that women are weaker and therefore require more time to train and overcome their physical limitations. There's a reason why armies are composed primarily by men, you know.
Also, it's a world ruled by an evil overlord, not a democracy. If Kyros needed to conscript some soldiers he would simply go to a village/city and take the strongest persons (--> usually men), it's not like he would go around asking what are their preferences and if there are strong women that want to subverte the cliches. He can give women other positions of power if he cares, without weakening his own armies.

 

[hknt]

Just because he's evil doesn't mean he's pragmatic. Actually why do people always associate evil with pragmatism anyway, freaking weird. You can interpret those polices as part of the "evil" angle - his regime is so corrupt it stopped caring for efficiency and it visibly weakens them from the inside.

 

[jmt]

I think the only way to make total gender equality feel genuine in war is a fantasy world where circumstances make physical strength irrelevant (e.g. Harry Potter). Lately it seems like most games just make half the soldiers women as if that's the norm in their world, but then the scene with the three drunk soldiers cornering you happens and, against the odds, they're all male! It's completely disingenuous. They're not making a statement about gender equality, they're fudging some things to avoid addressing it at all.

 

[Telengard]

A better question is - in current times, when rpgs are just wish-fulfillment power-fantasy, why would a company ever choose to specifically exclude a large demographic (and all of their money) by making exclusionary design choices. After all, the only flip side to that choice is potential backlash from the uber semi-historical fantasy nerds mad at how women are being portrayed, and the extent of the backlash will just be endless complaining on online forums. And that's all. They'll still buy the game, because it's fantasy, so the company will still get their money. And thus the question becomes: why would a company make a choice to remove the potentiality for getting even more money, with the trade-off from earning less money being just some bonus nerd street cred.

Sure, in the olden days, when rpgs were closer to war games, rpg design was built on different principles. From the bottom up, and these things were considered important. For instance, strength was primarily used for carrying capacity, and the strength tables would be modeled after such shockingly obtuse and weird choices as gender-based weightlifter tables. In modern wish-fulfillment stories, though, why would a company deny a woman their wish-fulfillment of being more powerful than all the men of the world, or a man their wish-fulfillment of playing a powerful woman and pretending that their real-life selves are all of the men being dominated? Because, after all, those two groups's dollars aren't any greener than the uber fantasy nerds'.

This isn't even a 21st century credo. "Why would anyone ever intrude reality in a fantasy rpg?" That was the credo of the 90s, and it is still the credo today. And that very credo casually resulted in the dumping of such things as weightlifter-table inspired design. Because of course it would.

 

[Infinitron]

http://pr311jm731.mapyourshow.com/6_0/exhibitor/exhibitor-details.cfm?ExhID=par2944

Paradox Interactive is a leading global publisher of strategy games for PC. The world-renowned strategy catalog stretches back to 1999, and the company holds a particularly strong presence in the United States and Europe.

• Role-Playing > Mac
• Role-Playing > PC/Windows

Hmmm.

 

[LESS T_T]

Also Paradox will presenting at this year's E3 PC Gaming Show. (They revealed The White March at the last year's show.)

 

[Infinitron]

Hearts of Iron 4 has been released. It looks like Tyranny is Paradox's next major release, so we should start seeing more of it now. Hopefully they'll even have something before E3.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Gameplay footage pls

 

[Infinitron]

Confirmed:

 

[LESS T_T]

A new dev diary, and Heins also confirms they're going to E3: https://blog.tyrannygame.com/2016/06/08/dev-diary-4-archons/

Dev Diary #4 – Archons

Tunon the Adjudicator, Archon of Justice


In our last dev update, I introduced you to the role of Fatebinder and Tunon the Adjudicator – one of the Archons you’ll encounter in Tyranny. Today I want to talk about the Archons, and introduce you to more of these incredibly powerful characters.

Archons are women and men who possess incredible powers. They are more than just skilled fighters or mages. Each Archon has unique abilities that set them above the rest of humanity. Pox, the third Archon of Ruin under Kyros’ rule, can wither the limbs of her enemies with a glance and spread plague with a touch. Cairn, Archon of Stone, is a giant of a man with skin the hue and strength of granite, able to shatter the earth with a thought.

No one knows how Archons gain their strength. Some Archons were born to power and privilege. Others were beggars in the street before their powers manifested. The only common thread among Archons is that they serve Kyros. Or they die.

Few Archons have appeared in the latter decades of the Overlord’s rule. If one believes the legends of the time before Kyros, new Archons arose every few decades. These new Archons, called exarchs, would challenge the current Archon of their powers for dominance. The most famous of these legends tells of a young exarch challenging the Sun Queen, Archon of Fire. Their battle lasted for days and created the Scar, a miles-wide swath of destruction that persists to this day, centuries later.

Dozens of Archons currently bow to Kyros’ will. Below is more information on some you will meet while playing Tyranny.


Archon of War

Graven Ashe, Archon of War


Graven Ashe is the Archon of War and general of the Disfavored, one of Kyros’ elite armies. Before serving Kyros, Graven Ashe fought against the Overlord in defense of his homeland. It was during this desperate defense that Ashe’s powers as an exarch began to manifest. His soldiers would rise from the battlefield, healed of all but the most lethal wounds.

These abilities allowed his army to resist the Overlord’s invasion for longer than any other since the early days of Kyros’ conquest. They also brought him to the attention of Blood Ruin, then Archon of War and leader of Kyros’ invading soldiers.

The final battle between Graven Ashe and Blood Ruin was the greatest of the Age. Though Ashe ultimately emerged triumphant – claiming the mantle of Archon of War – he and his army were weakened by the battle and Ashe was captured by other Archons loyal to Kyros.

Graven Ashe was dragged before Kyros. No one knows what the Overlord said, or did, to the rebellious general. But from that day forward, Graven Ashe served Kyros loyally as the new Archon of War.


Archon of Secrets

The Voices of Nerat, Archon of Secrets


Few in the Empire speak of the Voices of Nerat for only the foolish wish to draw the eye of Kyros’ Spymaster and torturer. Over hundreds of years of service to the Overlord, his blood-soaked hands have crushed rebellions and condemned countless traitors.

Many questions surround the most enigmatic of Archons. Only Kyros and the eldest Archons remember the Voices’ origin, and they do not speak of it. Is Nerat the name of a person? A place? Or something else entirely? What powers does he possess, and what face lies behind his ornate bronze mask? The answers to these questions may grant power over the Archon. Or they may be merely a series of false trails, mysteries engendered by the Archon to distract his enemies.

Beyond all of the questions, a few facts are known. The Voices serves Kyros with a fanatic’s devotion. Even the slightest hint of treason is enough to draw his wrath. Many believe this is the reason that the Voices despises Graven Ashe with such intensity; he refuses to forgive even though the Overlord accepted Ashe’s surrender.

In recent years the Voices of Nerat has formed his own army under Kyros rule. Forsaking the whispers of his spies and the sanguine gloom of his torture chambers, the Archon of Secrets now marches to war as leader of the Scarlet Chorus. Less an army than a howling mob, the Chorus is like a swarm of bladed locusts that ravages the land – and people – they march over. The only rein on their wildness is their Archon’s brutal nature.


Archon of Shadows

Bleden Mark, Archon of Shadows


The eyes of Bleden Mark watch from every shadow. He is Kyros’ executioner, tasked with ending the lives of those Kyros deems dangerous. There is no army that marches behind Bleden Mark, no city hails him as ruler, and no great monument that boasts his name. While the other Archons surround themselves with human trappings, Bleden Mark is cloaked solely in shadow.

Though Bleden Mark owes allegiance to Kyros, the Archon of Shadows is often used to carry out Tunon’s judgments. Those whom Tunon finds unworthy, or guilty of breaking the law, will die. It does not matter how many soldiers or mages a guilty woman surrounds herself with – who can protect themselves from their own shadow?

Hopefully you enjoyed this glimpse at some of the most powerful figures in Kyros’ Empire. An Archon can be your greatest ally – or your deadliest enemy.

Next week we’ll be at E3 in Los Angeles. We’ll start talking a lot more about gameplay systems and combat after that!

~Brian Heins, Game Director

 

[Infinitron]

That's unexpected - the Archons aren't just a title bestowed by Kyros but an independent phenomenon in their own right. Yet they have "portfolios".

 

[Sannom]

Does each Archon of the same portfolio have the same power, I wonder? Or is the title of the Archon just passed on to the exarch who managed to kill him?

 

[Kem0sabe]

It's obvious that archon is just a title trust upon an incredibly powerful demi human, mutant or mage.

Those that aren't archon are exarcs until they challenge and archon and kill it, then being granted it's mantle upon swearing allegiance to kyros.

My bet for the story is that kyros is preparing for a cataclysm of some kind, and he is recruiting every powerful meta human he can, selecting the most powerful ones, training armies. Once a rebellious meta human is captured, he is made to see a vision of the future cataclysm, and then chooses to help kyros defend the land against it.

Obsidian really is scrapping the bottom of the barrel in terms of world design.

 

[Sannom]

Those that aren't archon are exarcs until they challenge and archon and kill it, then being granted it's mantle upon swearing allegiance to kyros.

No, they mention that Graven Ashe became Archon of War when he defeated the previous one and before he was sent before Kyros. Also the story about the Sun Queen is said to be set before the Overlord's time.

 

[Infinitron]

We can now identify four of the five characters from the Tyranny logo:

We still don't know who the woman with the plume/cowl thing is.

 

[Popiel]

Looks like before Kyros world was in state of constant, eternal war between mortals with semi divine powers. In other words, on straight path to self-destruction. All hail Kyros, who saved the world from these greedy, powerful idiots.

 

[Abu Antar]

I see some negativity in here like usual but what I have read so far seems decent.

 

[stony3k]

We can now identify four of the five characters from the Tyranny logo:

We still don't know who the woman with the plume/cowl thing is.

I'm betting that woman is Kyros

 

[Sizzle]

We can now identify four of the five characters from the Tyranny logo:

We still don't know who the woman with the plume/cowl thing is.

The Sun Queen, perhaps? It isn't clear whether she won or lost (just that she was challenged and her fight with the contender made the Scar), but her headdress certainly looks like it could be sun/fireish.

 

[Prime Junta]

There are echoes of the Ascended from Malazan there IMO, except that these Ascended work fully in the here-and-now.

Anyone taking any bets on at which point PC will start manifesting his Exarch powers?

 

[Sizzle]

There are echoes of the Ascended from Malazan there IMO, except that these Ascended work fully in the here-and-now.

Anyone taking any bets on at which point PC will start manifesting his Exarch powers?

At least one of the endings will obviously be you becoming an Archon.

Another leading a rebellion against Kyros, maybe? Judging from the way they've been setting him up, it's probably too soon in the series to deal with directly (if at all).

 

[Popiel]

Judging from the way they've been setting him up, it's probably too soon in the series to deal with directly (if at all).

Too soon in the series? Isn't Tyranny a one-shot?

 

[Sizzle]

Judging from the way they've been setting him up, it's probably too soon in the series to deal with directly (if at all).

Too soon in the series? Isn't Tyranny a one-shot?

Could very well be, haven't seen that specified anywhere.

But even so - they could easily make another if this one proves profitable.