clippedwolf

Previously I said my bit on what I thought of hearths, but I held off on repairing. Honestly, it makes me uncomfortable. I think the idea of it comes from the idea of being "realistic". But realistically blades could be handed down for generations. What would degenerate to the point that it wouldn't last the few years that might be the span of the game? Bow strings? Crossbow or firearm components? Boots? Any trained warrior should know how to care for his weapons and armor. A whetstone, oil, and rag aren't heavy and shouldn't necessarily be present for the player to look at. Crafting weapons and armor seems like it could be fun. A master crafter might be able to make blades better balanced (faster), hold an edge better (more damage), or make nicer pommels (prestige: alters NPC reactions [if you have a jewel encrusted pommel with gold inlays you have money and/or power]). However, arbitrary blade-degradation-to-be-fixed-with-a-few-clicks-on the-next-trip-to-town on the alter of "realism" is not fun or have a basis in reality.

If a hearth is just a camp fire, why shouldn't you be able to create one anywhere in the wilderness at anytime you make camp? To not allow this is an arbitrary limitation.

Shin Megami Tensei. JRPG. What people post on youtube is the amusing stuff, not the dramatic moments, if you bother to check. Don't know why I bother, your tone suggests you are quite wedded to your fixed-mindset and your preference, any post opposing your view only entrenches it.

Alright, you favor the interactive book approach. To say that the portrait approach can't have nuance is ignorant or perhaps simply close minded. The downside to expression portraits is that for every nuanced expression you have to make a new portrait, and each new expression needs to "read".

Before asking if a resting mechanic is "realistic", ask if it is fun.

I know in Skyrim the protagonist is mostly an empty shell for you to fill. When I learned you could marry in the game I spent a bit trying to figure out who he would marry, it made the empty shell more of a character to role-play. Having just completed the Companion quest line Aela was the most likely candidate, plus she wore war paint (cool points!) and as a follower her archery skills complimented my play style. Then the "marriage" AI took over and her character was gutted, the voice set was different. This person who was cool with you turning into a werewolf and butchering civilians in the woods at night was turned into a shallow and sickeningly sweet house maid. It was just horrible. Better not to have had it than half-ass it.

Is the question now, is it realistic to earn someone's love by buying them lots of shiny things? Bluntly, yes. Mind you, buying lots of crap may not make up for being a boring a-hole, but it helps show that you care. Hell, in a real relationship gifts are expected on anniversaries, holidays and birthdays.

In theater, the actors and director's fret over an emotion "reading" well to the crowd. Books can give the audience direct access to thoughts and motives. In film the script and the cast's acting are what gives the audience the motivation and emotions of the characters. Video games are a newer story telling medium, where do they fall in. Is PE, when it comes to dialogue and story, more interactive book or a theater stage? The OP seems to be a fan of the Sin Megami Tensei: Persona series (JRPG's with actual role-play, branching paths, multiple endings), and while I think the kawaii angle is a bit overplayed in this thread, I agree that using a similar approach to telling the story in PE could benefit the story telling if a theater approach was being taken. I don't think that a few pics do the system justice. Play Persona 4 on the PS Vita or PS2 (if you can find it), or find game play on Youtube and mute the video.

That seems like a slightly more developed version of the common"friendship" path, where the person wants your opinion and takes all your advice.

This... and no Jennifer Hale, thank you (overuse syndrome). I wonder what it would cost to hire Christopher Lee as the story narrator? What about Gilbert Gottfired, another famous voice? He's done voice acting before, and, who knows, he might work for cheap.

People have different interest than me? Dammit! Dude, be chill and laugh along.

The first guns had poor accuracy, but they could punch through heavy armor. Know what else could do that? Crossbows. Crossbows were more reliable, bows had more range. If you have the first generation of guns in the game I would expect that canons would also be in PE somewhere as well, but I digress. The guns I would expect to see in PE would be muzzle loaded: blunderbusses and matchlock pistols and rifles.

You need to account for the fact that people expect romance is going to be in the game, wether they like it or not. So they may still vote in the hope that at least it will offer some nuances other than classic romance. Have you heard of confirmation bias? I meant to say "there may be a lot of people wanting sexy-time romance in PE but the people who don't want it are louder hence they seem to care more." I'm saying seem because that necessarily isn't the case, however it may be exactly the case. That is my observation. My vote was for Romance, because I have had fun with those in the past. However, some have been awkward and absurd, and not fun. Keeping an open mind, and keeping faith that whatever the decision the developers make we, the players, will get some interesting characters.

Despite the anti-romance tone of the thread, the poll says differently. I find this curious. There is a quieter majority.

So, I've been playing SWTOR a bit lately. There are two quests that really bothered me in how the writers decided what was good and evil. Spoilers ahead. One of them is a quest where a group of Republic soldiers go AWOL. The lightside choice is to let them sneak away from the fighting and not report it; the darkside choice is to tell them it is not fair to let someone else die for your place. The second is in the sith warrior's story, on of the lighside choices is to not murder someone because "I follow the light". Instead you force a Jedi to break his own moral code and murder them for you. The darkside choice is to murder them with your own blade, sparing the Jedi the moral dilemma. Perhaps this is an inherent flaw with a two value "good" and "evil", however morally judging something as good or evil is human and shouldn't be discarded. There could be conflict in personal morals and ethics. One of the coolest villains in a game had to destroy a large bit of land, killing all of its inhabitants, in order to safeguard the future of the rest of the world in a far off but inevitable armageddon The heroes protect their friends and families when they defeat him, but in the end did they doom other people's futures? It is fun, however, to have the moral issue boiled down to simplicity. "Should I kick the puppy, or not kick the puppy?" Sometimes that way of playing is just pure, simple fun. It's late and I'm probably rambling, but there it is...