Llyranor

NICE MODERATING JOB EVERYONE

Wrong game. That's BG3.

Well, Nines was.

Does it matter, or should the main quest be completely linear by default because it makes for better storytelling?

Ultimately, the problem with 'have item, proceed with story' design is that it is COMPLETELY linear. Lazy boring design.

Enter The Matrix sold something like 2.5 million. Was it a good game? How does one objectively label a game good or not? Popularity, stability?

Does an idiot who throws away HK's parts away 'just because' deserve to be able to build him again?

Only because Starcraft Ghost isn't out yet!

Meh, lazy linear design.

Making the werewolf invincible for all intents and purposes was a pretty weak crutch for imposing their awesome design on the player, though.

Here's the thing. Idiot-proofing and holding hands removes consequence from your actions. Want to get rid of that ring? No can do, the devs don't want you to break the game!!! It *sounds* like the logical thing to do from their part, and yet, it really removes free will from the player. On the other hand, what would be the alternative? YOU WANT CONSEQUENCE? YOU CAN'T HANDLE CONSEQUENCE! BAM, game-stopping. You threw away that ring, moron, now you can't play anymore. BWAHAHAHAHHA. Is that consequence? Bad design, what? The problem there is that the consequence is applied on the player, not the PC. THAT's bad. Not idiot-proofing the game doesn't mean murdering your idiot players. It means giving the proper consequence for your actions. Your character did something stupid, then s/he pays the price. The CHARACTER does, not the player. If dorkface #23242 wants the ring later on in the story, and you don't have it, he's not going to like you, which may lead to a more difficult path in the storyline. Your character was stupid, s/he pays the price. The player, on the other hand, isn't directly penalized. Instead, s/he gets exposed to a different gameplay experience BASED ON PROPER CONSEQUENCES FOR HIS/HER ACTIONS.

Evolution would be not relying on completely random objects to move the plot forward.

Now, why would a game NOT PLAGUED BY BAD DESIGN *require* you to have a random metal block with you?

Why should you be able to open that chest at all costs? Isn't that the point of inventory management? The player prioritizes what s/he keeps. If s/he decides a key she found in said dungeon is useless and throws it away, boo freaking hoo. As alanschu says, though, asinine design LOL. Just because you don't reward stupidity doesn't mean you have completely random design.

See, bugs and bad design aren't mutually exclusive. If you need to have an item at one point and can't continue without it, if you 'lost' it, oops. "Game-stopping". You can't continue with the game, is it a bug? You could argue that, if only for accusing the game of not being idiot-proof. Is not providing proper idiot-proofing bug-worthy? Perhaps. Is it bad design? If you made it so that you could only accomplish it one way if you wanted to proceed, and that there was the possibility of 'failure', perhaps having alternative paths would have been nice, no? Bad design? What about bug? What about both, or neither? You could correct the 'bug', but the design could still be bad in that there's only one way to proceed. Of course, now it's idiot-proofed. Win-win, or lose-lose? Or neither?

Neither. That would be a STUPID MOVE OF THE PLAYER. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Check and mate, or bug? Is it really the devs' job to make sure their players aren't complete morons? Now, even cooler would have been if doing so would have triggered another branch in the story, where you eventually find out someone picked it up, and you have to hunt it down or something.

It's because you're secretly in love, but don't want to admit it

If you threw away the Amulet of Kings, then later on tried to continue the main story but forgot which orifice you stuck it in, is it a bug? Would it even be bad design?

Bad design can in some cases = game-stopping design. You can call it a bug or idiotic design if that'll feed your ego, but the bloody point is that it needs to be fixed.

Does it bloody matter? Both need to be fixed, lol

WTF <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You go, girl!

Our speling ones not so much

Also, how much RAM do you have?

Now THAT would be a nice surprise.

Erm, what did you think of DQ7, then?