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Caerdon

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Everything posted by Caerdon

  1. Caerdon
    You know, that's actually the first really good reason to have Vancian spellcasting that I've heard. If you love metagaming, that's the system you should use. My opinion, obviously, is different. Metagaming is diametrically opposed to what role-playing is all about. I find you choice of words curious: "in a video game". Do you think metagaming is not okay in PnP then?
  2. Caerdon
    That's a nice thought, but I've never heard of such 'good developers'. I don't know of a game where you can get consistent, useful and specific information about the opponents you're going to face. It'd be great if P:E would be one, but I highly doubt it. Who cares about goblins? Tavern gossips are never goint to tell you that there will be a barbarian wielding an Axe of Entanglement, an archer with poisoned +1 arrows and 50% magic resistance and a mage that will cast simulacrums and summon basilisks. You know, things that you'll actually want to know. But the only way to know is to meet them in battle. You can run into this encounter with your spellbook tailored for things you might encounter on the road. Or you can actually be prepared for this very battle. The difference is staggering, and only Vancian spellcasters have this kind of imbalance built into them. Any restrictions on resting with a Vancian spellcasting system just makes metagaming even more useful, because not wasting a single spell slots becomes all the more important. Resting is not the problem. Reloading is only a part of the problem. The real problem is Vancian spellcasting.
  3. Caerdon
    It rewards metagaming and reloading. And how on earth does it foster versatility, when each day you're forced to pick the spells you're not going to use that day? Because the way to approach the system is to pick a balanced set of spells that should carry you over the course of several encounters, and use them judiciously. Not trying to have your wizard casting spells at the same speed your fighter is swinging his sword. If you didn't use the spells that day, it's because you chose the wrong spells, and you should be adjusting your strategy. Yes, it really is because I chose the wrong spells. I did that because there's no way to make an informed decision. I guessed wrong. Of course I know to memorize fire spells when moving in a troll-infested area. But trolls are never the problem. The really tough opponent always surprises you. I may still be able to handle him with my 'balanced set of spells', but if I knew about this enemy in advance - a former playthrough, for example - I could prepare my spellbook specifically for this very encounter, and it would be easy as pie. You see? Vancian spellcasting rewards metagaming. In PnP there's no reload, there are no walkthroughs and it's your first time through the campaing. That's why Vancian casting actually works in PnP. It's made for PnP. But it just collapses in CRPGs. I have never advocated a cooldown-based spellcasting system. And yes, realoading always leads to metagaming. But with Vancian spellcasting we're increasing it by an order of magnitude.
  4. Caerdon
    It rewards metagaming and reloading. And how on earth does it foster versatility, when each day you're forced to pick the spells you're not going to use that day?
  5. Caerdon
    At least there'll be no great confusion on with sword, shield, armor, ring, cloak, boots and helmet you should be using.
  6. Caerdon
    We can always hope the game will feature a museum running an exhibition of 29 epic items behind an unbreakable, adamantium-reinforced glass.
  7. Caerdon
    Evil bdsm-enthusiast goth elves? Oh yes, baby! And emos, too!
  8. Caerdon
    I'd rather have something original instead of goth elves.
  9. Caerdon
    I'm hoping Obsidian will pull off some kind of twist yet, but I've prepared myself not to be disappointed if that doesn't happen. Generally I prefer either something really fantastical and different (like PS:T) or something very low-key, down-to-earh, with only subtle indications of fantasy here and there, and preferably without elves, dwarves, orcs, vampires, minotaurs or anything we see all the time.
  10. Caerdon
    Knowing what your'e about to face does not equal metagaming. After all, if I'm going into the trolls lair, it's not metagaming to prepare fire spells. I absolutely agree. But without metagaming you don't often know what you're about to face, especially when it comes to the really tough battles - even if you try to keep your eyes open and pry for information. Honestly, were you prepared for Kangaxx or Twisted Rune the first time? Did you reload, fix your spellbook and go back? Did it make a difference? (My answers: no, yes and yes.) Of course, if you've already finished the game, you'll know exactly what you're going to face and you'll know exactly what to memorize. And D&D spellcasters - aside from sorcerers - will benefit from that vastly more than any other class. But what's wrong with fixing the spellbook that way?If you face a well designed enemy learnining the lesson the hard way can be fun too(if it's an intresting enemy it should be fun enough to study it and learn about its weaknesses even without winning thus the gameover should be pretty easy to swallow). With most classes knowing your enemy in advance doesn't really matter too much, but with wizards the difference is huge. That leads to one of two things: either Tough Opponent X is so easy that when you're prepared for generic things and still manage to beat it, it would be a cakewalk with metagaming knowledge; or X is so tough that when you know it, are specifically prepared your spellbook for it and still just barely manage to beat it, you wouldn't had a chance against it without metagaming knowledge. Is that good game design? Not in my opinion. YMMV.
  11. Caerdon
    It's usually a bad thing when class synergy has to be specifically programmed in. I vehemently disliked DA:O's explicit aggro system. It felt like I'm mind-cotrolling my opponents.
  12. Caerdon
    You attach meaning to 'DLC' that it doesn't have. Downloadable expansion is DLC. Downloadable leprechaun portrait for Imoen is DLC. Yes, I prefer the former, too, and maybe I should've been more specific about that. I don't really like boxes. They're nice and all, but I have little enough shelf space as it is. I threw away all my expansion boxes from the good old days a long time ago.
  13. Caerdon
    Knowing what your'e about to face does not equal metagaming. After all, if I'm going into the trolls lair, it's not metagaming to prepare fire spells. I absolutely agree. But without metagaming you don't often know what you're about to face, especially when it comes to the really tough battles - even if you try to keep your eyes open and pry for information. Honestly, were you prepared for Kangaxx or Twisted Rune the first time? Did you reload, fix your spellbook and go back? Did it make a difference? (My answers: no, yes and yes.) Of course, if you've already finished the game, you'll know exactly what you're going to face and you'll know exactly what to memorize. And D&D spellcasters - aside from sorcerers - will benefit from that vastly more than any other class.
  14. Caerdon
    I really like your ideas - except for that final memorization part. It's certainly true that having to pick your spells in advance adds a certain strategic/tactical element to the game, but while you're picking your daily spells, at the same time you're throwing away all the other tactics you could be using during that day.
  15. Caerdon
    You can prepare any way you want... that's the beauty of it.You cna use multi-purpose spells. Specilzed spells. Mix of spells. Of cours,e you can say "reload and adjust spells" ... Yes it can be done. But you can also reload if you battle tactics suck. Does that make battle tactics untactical? Furthermore, if resitng is made difficult/impossible in may places, then you'd have to load a far older save game. Yes, you can fill your spellbook with a great variety of spells so you can be prepared for anything, but anyone who knows what they're about to face, won't do that. Spellbook customized for that particular encounter is just so much more powerful. Metagaming wins, every time. Restricting resting won't really fix the problem. In fact, it just makes metagaming even more beneficial, as you really don't have any spell slots to waste. Besides, there shouldn't be any arbirtrary restrictions, anyway. (Just monsters lurking in the night, maybe?) Of course, metagaming may not bother everyone, but it's a bad thing in my book and something the game really shouldn't reward. Yeah, I'm leaning more and more towards fatigue of some sort.
  16. Caerdon
    Downloadable expansion is DLC.
  17. Caerdon
    Honestly, I'd rather wait a year longer than deal with DLC stuff. It'd be great if they could make the game perfect on release. But it's not going to happen. At some point they will have to release the game or they'll run out of funds. Release will bring in more funds. What's wrong with using those funds to create more content? I prefer to have faith in them. I'm sure they are capable of delivering an excellent game within reasonable time. And I dislike the very notion of DLC because it always has that feel of a) rushed release (exactly what we want to avoid); b) withheld content; c) desire to rip off players. Just to be clear: I'm not worried at all and I do have faith in Obsidian. However, the nature of the project may not allow huge delays, and it's precisely because of my faith and trust in the dev team that I have no irrational fear of DLC. DLC is not inherently evil, it's the companies that abuse the system.
  18. Caerdon
    I'd quote you on that third point of yours but it seems you copyrighted it.
  19. Caerdon
    Honestly, I'd rather wait a year longer than deal with DLC stuff. It'd be great if they could make the game perfect on release. But it's not going to happen. At some point they will have to release the game or they'll run out of funds. Release will bring in more funds. What's wrong with using those funds to create more content?
  20. Caerdon
    If the release date gets delayed, the costs will also rise, and considering how the game is funded, that might be a problem. The best option, in my opinion, is to make sure the game is robust and bug-free and all the essential content is in when the release date comes. After release it's DLC time.
  21. Caerdon
    I don't think Vancian spellcasting is that tactical at all. I just made a little post about it in another thread before this one got divinely resurrected. As for spell progression: I like to learn individual spells, but they should all scale with your level or 'spellpower'. A spell shouldn't have any innate power, it's your power that you're channeling. I don't like divine spells for the simple reason that I prefer a game without any deities whatsoever. But different 'schools' or ways of using magic: why not.
  22. Caerdon
    Let the flames ignite: I loved the spaceship / party camp system in those games by the developer the name of which I dare not speak aloud in here. OP: I also love your idea of giving NPCs something else to do than joining the excursions.
  23. Caerdon
    I don't understand this seemingly common idea that this 'Vancian casting' - spellcasting based on memorization - is somehow more tactical that other types of spellcasting. Let's be honest here: memorization rewards metagaming and reloading. It encourages you to prepare for a very specific encounter instead of being able to adjust to changing conditions of the battlefield, which is what tactical thinking is really about, in my opinion. I'd like some kind of combination of fatigue (with increasing reduced performance), recharging mana and maybe cooldowns for some of the more impressive spells of mass destruction. Or something completely different, whatever the devs have in mind. And if you really wan't that 'tactical' advantage of having your favourite spells memorized in advance, maybe that could be a specific skill: being able to prepare X number of spells for quicker casting, reduced mana consumption, shorter cooldowns or something similar - but that advantage should at least come with the price of not being able to spend those skill points on something else. I have faith in the developers in this matter, though.
  24. Caerdon
    Sounds great, but making that work would take a crazy amount of resources just for one class.
  25. Caerdon
    I think in most games you just progress way too fast, i.e. leveling up simply has too much effect. I doesn't make sense that in a couple of weeks you can grow from an average farmer's boy into a legendary warrior able to challenge gods. Same thing applies for items. For example, in Witcher 2, an ordinary steel long sword deals 8-11 damage, while Caerne, one of the best weapons, deals 50-58 damage and gives you regeneration, 4% chance for instant kills and extends the duration of blade oils. Compare this to vanilla BG1, where an ordinary long sword deals 1-8 damage while Varscona, probably the best weapon in the game, deals 4-11. Yes, it's gratifying when you gain a level, improve your skills and gain better equipment, but it shouldn't be too excessive.
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