alanschu

Who is Ferret? The Ferret!?!? As his title indicates, he is a Lead Designer. The game? Neverwinter Nights 2. Be nice to the Ferret, or he'll authorize a sidequest where we torment an NPC named Jorian. I've heard he can be vengeful like this :D

I'm not a genius about this stuff, but I believe instances are more stable because there are a lot less variables. You only have 5 people in a smaller area. A lot more can go wrong when you have 100 people in the same zone, particularly if you have combat going on. DDO avoids all that. It does lead to nicely scripted instances, though. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm not so sure either. It could be just the opposite, as it's not like the server really has any less information to deal with. You could argue that it might have more, as in a non-instanced world there is one instance of a particular beast, but in an instanced world you need to create as many iterations of that creature as there are instances. Though I'd be surprised if the creatures treated 100 PCs any differently than just 5. THere is certainly a lot more going on in the entire zone....though is it better to have 100 things happening in one zone, or 1 thing happening in 100 different zones (keep in mind that this 1 thing doesn't necessarily have to be the same thing....in each zone you could have 1 thing happening, and have each activity correspond to one of the 100 in the larger zone)?

I have no problems waiting personally. I'm very flexible and will do whatever most people want.

You're in advertising now? I thought you were in High School? In any case, if Lucasarts wanted to do something about it, they probably already would have. Furthermore, unless the mod team is taking credit for the work of the copyrighted material, what exactly could Lucasarts sue them for? And what would Lucasarts gain from said lawsuit?

My PnP AD&D experiences were less than fun.

The lack of proof against does not mean it cannot be done. It's like most science. Proving something to be true is pretty uninteresting. All it takes is one example otherwise to discount 2342532 proofs that it was true.

Minimal Zelda. I played through Link to the Past, but I don't know if I actually beat it or not. I played Ocarina of Time, but that was after.

So? You weren't talking about Bioware. And this is about Obsidian making the game so it's all irrelevant anyways

The sample size isn't 2. You said Obsidian cannot make a balanced SW RPG. Obsidian only made one SW RPG.

Hahaha, one counterexample disproves everything. You're gold Lancer. The RPGs that I played prior to Baldur's Gate were: Ultima VI, VII, Serpent Isle, Eye of the Beholder 1, 2, 3. Pools of Radiance Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures, Dungeon Hack (heh), Actually, pretty much all the Gold Box games. I'm not sure what you're trying prove anyways. I knew that a lower AC was better in the AD&D world long before playing Baldur's Gate. The only JRPG I had significantly played was FF7. Yes previous experience affects things, but apparently because you (allegedly) had to explain to someone that a higher AC value meant better, clearly it's no longer intuitive. How many popular rulesets have lower AC = better AC, and how many have higher AC = better AC? And I didn't say I never played AD&D PnP, I just didn't play it much....usually because it was always a gong show with the people I played it with.

I would, if you wouldn't ignore/overlook posts. And if it is so irrelevant, you shouldn't have added in your 2 cents to begin with. So, how exactly does a sample size of ONE prove anything? (hint: it doesn't).

Why would instances be more stable?

Because they aren't making Fallout 3 they lack the ability to create a Fallout 3 that is balanced? And no, don't go saying "of course not, because they cannot release a Fallout 3" because you know that's not the point. We're talking whether or not they'd have the talent and ability to do so, not the opportunity.

THat's because Crime is perceived as a bad thing. The association is still the same. When they want to lessen crime, the decrease the crime value, not increase it. I'm stuck on THAC0 and the other basic rules, because they are indeed the basic rules. A player can't even really participate in any game without you explaining what THAC0 is. I don't think it's more intuitive because it is inherently necessary. Nor do I find it intuitive because I have played games were higher AC is better in the past. I think it's intuitive because someone with zero familiarity with the rules can look at two AC values, and state which one is better without much thought at all (which is what intuitiveness is). It's not a chicken and egg experience. It's taking a look at the affordances set in a society. If people recognize that an increase in a value is an increase in that attribute, then they will apply this rule more universally. There's no way you can honestly expect to take a random group of people with no D&D experience and have any significant portion (or I suspect any period) instantly associate a lower AC value as being a better AC without additional reasoning. Once the person starts thinking and putting the pieces together, even without help, we're outside the realm of intuition. Speeding tickets are bad, and people want less bad things. The association is still the same. We want to decrease how much speeding tickets affect us, so we decrease the number of speeding tickets. In the AD&D world, we'd want to increase the number of speeding tickets. Good luck trying to convince me that people see AC as being a bad thing.

Except something like that cannot be falsified. A sample size of one is less than reflective anyways.

Take a group of people that have never seen D&D before. Tell them that their "attack rating" is 10. Then increase that value by 5. Ask them, did your attack rating improve?

Lancer, you seem stuck on AoO. Yes AoO is messed up and stupid....but IMO it's not something really required to play the game with the ruleset. Again, show me a society where improving a value is naturally associated with a decrease in that value. I think people aren't really sure what the word intuitive means.

"You must Gather your Party before venturing forth." Though it was very dumb that Torment let you warp your whole party around.

Well, in a game like WoW it's unlikely that you'll ever play with much more than 5 other people anyways.....unless you get to the endgame and start doing the big raid groups.

Is your disc damaged?

I suppose. Though Arena Net doesn't provide it for free out of the goodness of their hearts. Their plan is to release many, many expansions and make their money that way, rather than through a subscription fee.

Carth only existed if you picked lightside Revan in KOTOR 2. Otherwise he was dead. They allowed Bastila to die, because it was quite an exceptional situation for her to die. With Carth, he's always gone if you go Darkside Revan. With Bastila, MAYBE she's gone if you go Lightside Revan.

I loved the Death Star run. I cranked up my speed as fast as possible to make it more intense. I remember thinking I had to avoid stuff too, until I realized that there were parts that were literally impossible to get through without doing it.

Though I wouldn't say that WoW is "light" on the action. D&D Online is definitely not for someone that wants a hardcore following of the ruleset though. I'm not sure why that'd be an issue for price.....