Jump to content
The Community Blog (An Invitation)

metiman

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    489

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by metiman

  1. metiman
    Who or what are you replying to?
  2. metiman
    Oh yeah. I forgot that Tim said that. Well that's one less thing to worry about at least.
  3. metiman
    Hmm. I suppose so. I wonder if they plan to implement something like that.
  4. metiman
    maybe I'm missing something, but how would this change the autopause feature at all? Well how would they decide when to engage pause without a 6 second or some x second long round or turn? It seems like they'd almost have to invent something that works the same as a round or turn in order to automatically engage pause in a fair manner for both your party and the enemy. All of that was handled automatically in the IE games.
  5. metiman
    Well they like cooldowns as a game mechanic. Apparently they're also not fond of rounds. This is about them making the game they want to make. I think they should alter the kickstarter summary to give a heads up on the more modern combat mechanics, but at least you know about it if you read the forums.
  6. metiman
    In addition to the cooldown problem I'm also concerned about the lack of rounds. This seems to push RTwP more towards true RT, but it also seems to make it less likely that an auto-pause feature will be implemented. Without autopause IE games would have lost a great deal of strategic feel. That feature was very important to my enjoyment of all of the IE games.
  7. metiman
    Do you think the Bioware developers would say that they don't want spell choice and preparation to be important? It has been a long time since I have played DA:O, and then it was only briefly, but I do remember spending way more time studying the manual (like maybe 4 hours) than I actually did playing it (1-2 hours). So I must have at least been under the impression that spell choice and preparation were important. I think I am going to have to play DA:O again soon just to be able to converse fluently in these threads. The casts per day mechanic is more specific, but that just seems to rule out a mana system. So it won't be exactly the same as DA:O if that's the case, but it still doesn't rule out an casting (or even melee) timer of some kind. Even an otherwise standard Vancian system can have delays implemented between spell castings. Apparently they are not going to be using rounds (a whole 'nother can of worms that), but they could quite easily use powerful spells and depower them through the use of long casting delays. Cast a fireball from your memorized spellbook then weight 240 seconds before being able to cast another spell. That sort of thing. That's the kind of mechanic that I hate and I have yet to see any reason to doubt Sawyer's intent to implement exactly that.
  8. metiman
    I find it amusing how you guys are reading so much into Sawyer's comments. Here is what he has not said: 1. That he dislikes the standard cooldowns everyone is familiar with from MMORPGs and Dragon Age and other modern cRPGs. Believing he is not planning to use them is nothing more than wishful thinking on your part. He never said he wasn't using them. 2. That he believes older combat systems are superior to new ones from most modern cRPGs like DA2, MMORPGs, Skyrim etc. What he has said: 1. That he does like cooldowns (by any definition) and would under no circumstances rule them out in any way. 2. He is disappointed with the standard Vancian system that BG2/IWD/PS:T used and would prefer something else. So he likes cooldowns and doesn't like standard Vancian. How does that rule out DA:O or WoW combat? Admittedly it doesn't prove 100% that he doesn't have in mind some novel, never-tried-before version of "cooldowns", but I think that is a less likely possibility than the use of a fully tested system used in other popular, modern games which millions of players seem to love. The only problem with such systems, aside from poor implementations, for those of us who object to them is the cooldowns themselves. I know some people object to mana pool systems, but I don't. I prefer Vancian, but I think Mana systems are fine.
  9. metiman
    Oh I see. So you were not even remotely sincere in your previous post. You have not the slightest clue what I want to say or what is in my head. Just because you don't care about principles or integrity doesn't mean that no one else does. Just because you don't think in terms of ideas does not mean that no one else does. This is neither a farewell thread nor any sort of announcement that I am not backing the project. I already announced that long ago.
  10. metiman
    I hope not. That was not my intent. I just wanted to say what I said. Nothing more.
  11. metiman
    Do you seriously want to know? Because if you do I will PM you the reasons. Or are you questioning my right to post in this forum since I am not going to be backing the project? It is always nice to say what you actually mean.
  12. metiman
    Daily Cooldown is not a cooldown at all. If you are attempting to trick Obsidian with pseudo-clever semantic arguments I don't think you will succeed. You may as well argue that cooldown = vancian system because you have to wait 8 hours between castings. I guarantee that is not what Feargus and Josh were talking about when they used the term "cooldowns". But optimists will be optimists.
  13. metiman
    While I don't agree with the direction this game is taking and I won't be backing the project and probably won't be playing the game, I have to respect Obsidian for an impressive display of artistic integrity. Obviously Sawyer and the rest of the design team genuinely believe that cooldowns and other more modern game mechanics are superior to the older systems. They have to know that this decision will alienate a significant number of players hoping for BG2/IWD (or at least PS:T) combat mechanics and yet they have still made the relevant announcements, albeit not 'officially', about these controversial combat design decisions. I won't lie. I am very disappointed. I was really looking forward to a game with the combat of BG2 (with maybe a little ToEE thrown in from Tim) and a story at the level of PS:T or at least MotB. Now at best it seems to be a game with the combat of a somewhat improved DA:O and hopefully still a compelling story from The Master storyteller, Chris Avellone. I am grateful that they at least revealed this before the end of the kickstarter after they had everyone's money, even those of us who so strongly disagree with the design decisions they've already made. What is important is that this is the kind of game that the designers want. That this is the kind of game that they would enjoy playing. This, folks, is what it looks like to have principles and to actually act on them as if they mattered. The alternative is some form of pandering for commercial/financial reasons. The whole point of this project (and many other kickstarter projects) is to free the creators from any sort of publisher-like commercial demands. Kickstarter frees them from any obligation other than making the kind of game that they would want to play and of course one that at least somewhat resembles the kind of game they promised in the kickstarter. Actually, I might argue that they should change the description slightly to reflect the more modern, updated combat system very unlike the ones used in the examples given in the kickstarter description. It is unfortunate (for me) that I do not share their taste in cRPG combat, but how can I complain about their rare display of integrity? I believe that artistic integrity is one of the most important features missing from our modern world of commercialism. People should be creating art that they personally feel is great. Great by their own standards. Not by anyone else's. Crowdfunding has made this sort of thing possible, and I applaud it even if I will not personally be benefiting from this particular project. I'm sure it will make DA:O fans who still like a good story very happy indeed, but that still is not the point. The point is that it will make the team themselves happy and proud of what they have created. Well Josh says that he is never actually proud of his games, but hopefully everyone else on the team can be.
  14. metiman
    The fuss is about the fact that not everyone likes the combat in Dragon Age and MMORPGs and that is very likely what we are going to get. No one has ever implemented cooldown based combat that didn't suck. I don't think Obsidian is going to be the first. Oh, and when Sawyer and Feargus talk about "cooldowns" they mean the same thing that everyone else means when they use the term. They don't mean some brand new weird definition. They mean the sort of game timers that are so prevalent in WoW and DA2. Has anyone from Obsidian gone on record saying they didn't want their combat to be anything like Dragon Age?
  15. metiman
    Add a tier at 2.6 million that includes a fully viable 100% cooldown free combat option. Seems like that might be a bit more important than player houses or crafting. I'd also like to say that anyone who does not at least support the option of cooldown free combat has some kind of agenda. At the very least exposing those timer variables should be trivial. Almost no programming time is necessary for that. Just have the game read the timing variables from a text file at startup. There are probably even simpler options. I'll still be disappointed that cooldowns are being used as one of the main combat dynamics, but at least I might still be able to play the game. Hell, even the spirit recharge cooldown in MotB ruins the game for me and that's not even a combat cooldown. Some people just hate the mechanic. Is that really so hard to grasp?
  16. metiman
    I don't see anything wrong with the basic idea of prejudices for adding a bit of flavor to the setting/culture. People are ridiculously oversensitive.
  17. metiman
    All Bethesda games have had this mechanic, right? I haven't played Oblivion or Skyrim. So I'm just guessing there but I think Arena, Daggerfall, and Morrowind had this sort of thing. I'm not sure how I feel about that mechanic. I didn't use it much in those games because it seemed to somehow make spells less interesting when it was just choosing a list of effects and damage.
  18. metiman
    It's fine if it's done tastefully.
  19. metiman
    I'd be happy to accomodate you if you had some more specific suggestions, but it looks like my chances to edit the poll have expired. [bTW, let me say again that the omission of modern/SciFi settings (FO, VtM, KOTOR) was intentional due to the somewhat different style of combat and the limited number of slots.]
  20. metiman
    All of this only assumes boring humans. You could just as easily focus on a species where the females are dominant and even stronger. There are plenty of such species even on earth. Isn't Chimpanzee society female dominated?
  21. metiman
    They are lumped together because one was the direct sequel to the other and both were made by the same developer. BG2 was made by an entirely separate developer (Bioware) from IWD1/2 and PS:T (Black Isle) and I believe the game play is quite distinct as well. I have played BG2 (like a million times), IWD, IWD2, and PS:T, With a few more slots I could have at least separated PS:T from IWD1 and 2 which seem to resemble each other more than PS:T. I've played Arx Fatalis (like a million times), and UW1 and 2 many many times. Arx Fatalis was written as a tribute to UW1 and UW2 and the gameplay was quite similar IMHO. It was intended as a substitute for the highly anticipated UW3 that never arrived.
  22. metiman
    Yes and some people loved IWD2 combat and thought PS:T combat was boring. I had to make some compromises including leaving out SciFi or modern choices (KOTOR, Fallout, VtM) as well as other significant modern games like Witcher. I really would have liked to include Witcher 1 and 2 as an option. It's strange that people are so insulted by having DA:O even in the same category as DA2. One is the direct sequel to the other after all. It wasn't intended as an insult. I figured there must be some people who preferred DA2 combat or maybe who just haven't played DA:O, but have played DA2. No need to leave them out just because DA:O people are insulted by the sequel. If absolutely no one likes DA2 it won't affect the numbers anyway.
  23. metiman
    You could also limit human female characters to a strength of 16 out of 18 or something like that. I already do that myself for role play purposes. Anything else just doesn't seem realistic to me.
  24. metiman
    Asking how cooldowns can be used responsibly is like asking how nuclear weapons can be used responsibly. But since they seem to be in the game their impact could be mitigated by: 1. Making cooldowns 100% optional. Include an option in the setup menu or an .ini file to simply disable all of them. Even if it makes mages overpowered it might at least make the game playable for those of us who won't get anywhere near cooldowns or other MMOG mechanics. 2. Making the cooldown timers adjustable down to 0 seconds. Just allow access to these timer variables. 3. Including at least some classes that are not cooldown based. If at least fighters, for instance, don't use cooldown mechanics I could just solo a fighter. 4. Code them in such a way that makes it very easy for modders to remove them or replace them with other mechanics. Ideally this could be done even if a mod kit is not released. In other words even if you aren't willing to do all of the work necessary you could at least do the groundwork for someone else to come in and finish. 5. Include a difficulty setting that completely removes combat or just include an easy to set God mode. That way those of us who don't like cooldowns can at least experience the story. Although some if it may not make a lot of sense without the combat.
  25. metiman
    Sorry. I wanted to add NWN1, but I didn't have enough choices. I wanted to exclude SciFi settings from the choices due to not enough choices but also because that sort of firearm or energy weapon combat is pretty distinct from that of older fantasy settings. If there were 20 choices I would have included 20.
×
×
  • Create New...