The Sharmat
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Posts posted by The Sharmat
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I agree that part of a game being mature is simply not blushing and steering clear of hot button issues that would realistically come up in the setting as designed. But some concessions are inevitably going to be made for gameplay. I doubt a developer would be able to ship a game where women start with the old '-4 strength' stat penalty trope, even if it is sort of realistic. It limits player options, which is inherently A Bad Thing in a game.
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And if there are more races, they should at least be original and interesting. The "Catman" and "Lizzardman" races in the Elder Scrolls series, for example, are just so lame and unorignal.
If you mean as a basic concept as a 'hyphen-man', I agree. But if you read their backstory (which really should come up more in games rather than just being decorative fluff) those two races are actually quite interesting. The 'catmen' were cocaine dealers and the drug was a huge part of their religion, and the 'lizardmen' were actually plants. Again, just because you use these as a starting point doesn't mean that you have to take the whole pile of associated concepts that have been attached to the race in post Tolkien fantasy.
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Guys, TVtropes did not invent the concept of the trope.
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Why aren't traditional dwarves all about spear-and-shield phalanxes to control their tight corridors?
Actually, I think if your society is subterranean, that the first weapon you'd invent would be the military pick.
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I've loved this in every game it's featured in, even when it's not actually that long a quest chain and the choices are largely illusory. See: The Raven Rock colony in Bloodmoon.
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Fireballs and healing potions are unrealistic too.
This always comes up in discussions of realism and it's an argument that annoys me every time.
Yes, it's a fantasy setting. No, it's not possible in the real world. That doesn't mean it can't be internally consistent with the world as it's built. When we're discussing realism in fantasy, we mean realistic and consistent behavior given the differences between our world and theres. You can't just say "well magic fireballs don't exist in real life so if I want the world to rain cakes I can." At least you can't if you want people to take the setting seriously. To bring back the eternal bikini armor discussion: If it's genuinely meant to protect the wearer, then it's unrealistic that women would get the same protection from their skin exposing outfits than men in full plate. If the men are wearing the same thing and the protection from the armor is not from coverage but some magical effect projected from it, then it makes sense within the framework of this fictional set of physical rules.
I'm not against titillation. Just keep it appropriate to the setting and context. You want attractive women in bikinis? Go to a beach. A battlefield isn't the place for it.
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Count me in for wanting a skill/talent based system rather than a class based one. Though I realize it's much harder to balance.
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If it doesn't include any zombies then I will be really happy. It is though, lets face it.
What if zombies were a playable race for your character?
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No platform expansion please.
I thought the devs were pretty clear about this already? I mean, that part of the only reason this is possible is that they're focusing on a single platform. Designing around multiple platforms adds a ton of cost and restricts a developer's options in terms of what features can be implemented.
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they were dysfunctional, but far more appealing than the obvious, brute force approach of many new games
I didn't say dysfunctional was bad. I love drama. Which is something relationships in video games seem to avoid at all costs. Odd, given that its a medium very much based around conflict.
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I really hope you guys choose to excercise your creativity to its fullest and create a world wholly your own. Though, if you must, using the standard high fantasy as a starting point doesn't have to result in a paint by numbers setting. See: Morrowind. It had elves and orcs and dwarves, but without being told they were elves and orcs and dwarves you wouldn't have known it. They were so far from the starting point of their archetypes as to be unrecognizable, unless you knew to look.
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despite the fact that they decided not to use voice acting, I'd love to see it if it goes oiver 2.2 mil
I'd actually be in favor of one stretch goal to be "expanded voice acting". Whatever that would mean. Good voice acting can add a lot to the plot, though with the sort of game Obsidian seems to be going for here, I agree that having it all voiced would be very impractical. Especially on a limited budget. The hybrid Baldur's Gate/Planescape style is best I think. Though i'd like a BIT more spoken than in Planescape, ideally.
Still, it doesn't top my list of important features by any means.
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I don't know about you guys, but in every Elder Scrolls game I've roleplayed as a serial killer that leaves a copy of "The Lusty Argonian Maid" at the scene of every crime. If Obsidian doesn't support this roleplaying choice, then I cannot in good conscience endorse their products.
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Subtle romances?
like Visas Marr in Kotor 2?
Her life for yours? She says that regardless of romance status. She's got a lot of Stockholm syndrome. She was supposed to be that way. Although really, all the 'romances' in KOTOR2 were hideously dysfunctional.
Fall From Grace from Torment was fairly subtle. Ironic, given she was a succubus.
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why do you have to see all the content within a single session? locking content means worthwhile c&c and therefore higher replayability.
You misunderstand me. If a character ends up hating you, that's fine. Choices, consequences. I don't think you should see the same content you would see if they loved you. What I object to is that making characters hate you often ends up in a net loss of total content. You didn't take an alternate path. You just hit a dead end. Don't lock content without replacing it with different content, if that's at all possible.
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All's fine and good as long as it's internally consistent and well written. If it's a gritty, low fantasy world don't expect me to buy giant pauldrons or bikini armor. But don't go too far the other way and hesitate to have any female characters that are feminine or care about being perceived as attractive. Obviously, many women don't care about those things. But portraying all women as traditionally "masculine" isn't escaping sexism. And don't let it make you afraid to portray sexism in setting for fear that portrayal will be conflated with endorsement.
EDIT: Oh, and if you're going for realism: even if the armor covers everything, breast bulges have no place outside of ceremonial armor. They're utterly unnecessary for comfort (the plate is going to be quite far from the character's torso inevitably due to necessary padding) and actually would tend to guide blows to potentially lethal areas rather than deflect them.
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I realize this is a game balance thing, but the classic warrior/mage/rogue triad annoys me to no end. Why can't a mage wear armor? yes yes, somatic spell components and all. Just go without gauntlets and have flexible bracers. And why do game developers think archery requires no strength? The draw st rength for an English longbow was something like 110 pounds as I recall. Try doing that over and over again for hours.
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I disagree about the influence system. What good is a game based on player choice if your choices have no consequences? That said, I also don't like that traditionally getting low/negative influence with a character in games with such systems ends up just locking you out of content. It should add new, different content instead. Betrayals, arguments, drama, etc.
I'd ditch an arbitrary binary morality system entirely though. Just actions and consequences, no magic good/evil meter. Especially when it influences gameplay and affects what choices are available to you.
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The typical videogame romance has turned a lot of people off the concept entirely. I think this is a shame, since romance and sexuality are a very fundamental part of human psychology and are virtually omnipresent themes. A heavily story and character driven game without it would seem sort of strange to me. But it's totally understandable why some people are put off. In the past, romance sub plots have been...uneven, at best. (Sorry Bioware)
Not every character should be romanceable. A romance should only occur if it actually adds to the story or character arc, not for the sake of having a romance option. And it should occur as naturally as possible. NPCs shouldn't fall in love with you because you did their major side quest and complimented them/agreed with them in every dialogue that was utterly isolated from the rest of the narrative. A character shouldn't be able to romance an NPC simply because that NPC is their favorite among the romance options. Base it on chemistry, and make it emerge from gameplay. Consistently make a certain sort of decision or consistently choose a certain sort of dialogue, and people will be interested or turned off accordingly. As if they had their own personalities and opinions or something. And as the OP says: SEX IS NOT THE APOTHEOSIS OF A RELATIONSHIP. It's an important step...but far from the most important one. Tons of stuff happens after that.
I'd like to see the PC get shot down in attempts to start a relationship. IMO in most (if not all) games with romance options, the PC gets whatever the PC wants with the NPC.
This happened in KOTOR 2 if you had a male Exile and tried to get with Mira. Can't remember the exact dialogue but it amounted to "Oh...heh, sorry. You're not my type. Also you're kind of...old." I rather liked it.
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I'm pretty thrilled to see the rate at which this is moving. Since getting home a couple hours ago and seeing this announcement it's gained about 120k. I know these guys can make something to wash the taste of Mass Effect from my mouth.
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Context sensitive party size would be nice. I hate going into a massive final battle only to find that I'm only allowed to bring two NPCs with me. (I'm talking about you, every game made after the year 2000) It's so arbitrary and gamey. But I'd also like to see situations where you simply weren't allowed to bring six people with you to shake things up and lead to different tactical situations.
Please include women with shirts on.
in Pillars of Eternity: General Discussion (NO SPOILERS)
Posted
Particularly tragic as this was a step backward for the series. In the first Mass Effect game male and female armor were visually the same, and outside the Asari women were treated far better than in almost any other video games I can think of. Then Mass Effect 2 comes along and they're all in stiletto heels. It doesn't just take you out of the setting, it damages characters that are used in that way. Miranda (whose ass the camera insisted on tracking at all times) was actually an interesting character, but it's damn hard to take her seriously when the game is pulling stuff like that. I imagine a lot of people skipped backstory for these characters because of it.