Do you want Alpha Protocol 2?

[meeps]

anyone who played it does, no?

[melkathi]

anyone who played it does, no?

 

I would be more specific and say: anyone who finished it (at least once)

[persseas]

 

Regarding the game (A protocol) sadly I had paid attention
to the really unfair and second-rate critics of the time it was out. When we
had the chance with my wife to see the game we were amazed, the game is
FANTASTIC!

Fa-nta-stic!!!

I guess reviewers (not all but some) are either , Narcisists out of this world
or sold out, not just in the pear review of the academic environment but…everywhere

[Hassat Hunter]

Pretty much.

 

You can easily see it. No one bashed Fallout 3 for being buggy. But it happens for FN:V.

Interesting detail; It's 80% the same freaking bugs due to that horrid engine...

 

Should speak for itself, no?

 

EDIT:

Bashed, not based. Stupid typo's...

Edited February 14, 2013 by Hassat Hunter

[melkathi]

Pretty much.

 

You can easily see it. No one based Fallout 3 for being buggy. But it happens for FN:V.

Interesting detail; It's 80% the same freaking bugs due to that horrid engine...

 

Should speak for itself, no?

 

Pretty much this. Then again it's the same bugs that were in Oblivion and before that in Morrowind. Bethesda is very protective of its bugs and is very keen to see nothing bad happening to them

[Darkpriest]

Buggers...

[Arionis]

I've only recently bought it, and only just completed my first playthrough, (Hard, Rookie, Ask Questions First, Shoot Later). I love this game. Hell yes I want more. Maybe some more customization, even voice, ala Saints Row 2 or 3, and have it a new character, with a code name you could choose for prerecorded dialogue, working under Thornton or even unaffiliated. But, yes, I want more. 8D

[marelooke]

Now, first and foremost, one person's fun is not another. Such is the way of things. So bummer, marelooke, that you didn't enjoy it. I can certainly see how if you didn't enjoy it/get used to it, it would make enjoying the story much much more difficult, if not impossible.

 

For my own two cents, just speaking of my experience, I thought I would hate the timed dialogues, and I ended up loving them. I normally in dialogue heavy RPs do sit and agonize over my choices, trying to pick the "Best answer" whether from a mechanical perspective (what will earn me the most influence/get me the most XP, etc.) or a roleplaying perspective. I like usually to read and read and think about my options. At first the timed dialogues seemed like a horror--how could I know what to say, what if it was wrong, what if I wasn't roleplaying.

 

Then I realized -- there really was no wrong answer. Yes, certain answers might gain or lose influence with someone, or otherwise take a new path down the plot I didn't want/expect. But then I realized that losing influence had its own advantages as gaining it and simply opened different avenues; the avenues themselves were different ways of playing, but they didn't make me bigger/better/faster/stronger, they didn't make me lose out on something --- or if I seemed to lose out on something immediately, I still gained in the long run. (Often pissing off one person pleased another and vice versa, and so on.) Or at the very least, the story that resulted that was very interesting.

 

Also, once I realized Mike was going to be more or less a jerk no matter what you said (or to quote Yahtzee Croshaw, the "ponciest ponce who ever ponced past a poncing parlor"), I didn't worry too much about making the wrong roleplaying choice. Mike has a distinct personality of his own, it's just about what sides you bring out in him.

 

I also find that the moments you did need to stop and think a minute, they did give you a little more time. And I did find that once I got used to the system, I got better and better at making snap decisions and getting the result I desired most anyway.

 

That the game also tends to default your answer based on past choices -- i.e., if your last answer was professional, the selected option to the next question will default to professional -- makes it easier. You can be guaranteed consistency at least (which has its own perks) -- if you're not sure what to pick, going with the "personality" you've been picking for the most part is always a fine defaul.

 

Now there are rare moments you could feel like you screwed up -- usually in a few yes/no or arrest/kill scenarios where you accidentally pick one rather than the other. I noticed most of those they give you a little more time to decide, however. There was only one time when the choice was "go/stay" where it was really nebulous as to which answer matched the thing I wanted to say because of the way the dialogue was worded and I picked the "wrong" thing--but I just went with it and I still accomplished everything I wanted to.

 

Even with the system's occasional flaws, I still ultimately felt freed by the situation rather than constrained, which is what I thought I would. It shifted me to a different way of thinking that does indeed mesh with the fast paced feel of the game that helps immeasurably with immersion. So I am very glad that I personally gave it a chance, and I'd like to see a similar system show up again in games with a similar feel. If anything, I'd want any obvious mechanics further removed from the player's view -- don't tell me if I gain/lose influence, just note it in the software silently and let me keep playing. Anything that keeps me from feeling there's a right or wrong answer improves my feeling like I can truly play as I want. Maybe show me when I've earned a perk for a certain kind of behavior, but that's it.

 

I wonder if there'd be a way to make timed dialogues optional, but I don't know if that would really truly help to please both sides.

 

Your reply has inspired me to give the game another shot, keeping the above in mind does give an interesting take on Thornton and how to play him. I at least might finish the game someday, which is nice because I really liked the concept.

 

I'm not sure how making the timed dialogues optional would be an issue for anyone though: make the defaults the way the game was intended to be played by the devs and let people that dislike it turn it off. It's a single player game after all, who cares how others enjoy playing it?

 

 

Pretty much.

 

You can easily see it. No one based Fallout 3 for being buggy. But it happens for FN:V.

Interesting detail; It's 80% the same freaking bugs due to that horrid engine...

 

Should speak for itself, no?

 

Pretty much this. Then again it's the same bugs that were in Oblivion and before that in Morrowind. Bethesda is very protective of its bugs and is very keen to see nothing bad happening to them

 

To be fair though I actually almost finished Fallout 3 before it got patched while I had to shelve NV for a few weeks before it was playable (in the literal sense, it would crash after ~10min, consistently) and I wasn't exactly alone. While this evidence is anecdotal at best I do think more people had more major trouble with NV early on (right now they're pretty much the same bug-wise and in fact a few of my F3 pet-peeves have been solved in NV). And let's be honest, neither Obsidian nor Bethesda have a reputation for bug-free games, having one work with tech built by the other was expected to be...interesting...at least

 

As to journalists slamming Obsdian harder than Bethesda, well, they write what they're paid to write... Suffice to say that I consider most "major" review sites to have even less credibility then a politician in an election year.

[melkathi]

Well, hope you do give the game another chance. It is a very itneresting experience once you get past its failings.

[Falcon084]

I think the game is fantastic! With a new generation and millions of fans around the world we need an AP2! 

[extliquani]

I was honestly impressed with Alpha Protocol, and I bought it tenatively after absolutely hating what Obsidian did with Neverwinter 2.  I'd really like to see a sequel.  Also on a side note, I only bought Alpha Protocol because Obsidian really stepped it up with the expansions for NWN2.  Good work guys!

[Tertius]

It's a shame, that AP wasn't so well received by most of the game magazines. After all it's still a good game wich i like to play from time to time. A second game of this type would be very nice!

[Plutone00]

AP was very underrated. I considder it one of  the best non-linear cinematic games. it belongs with the likes of KotOR and Deus EX.

 

I definitely want another spy-themed non-linear game even if it's not AP2.

[melkathi]

If I win the lottery I'll buy the IP, then we'll have a kickstarter

[AlsoNoBody]

my issue was the game was due to local corruption. I like the idea of the game but hte pc controls have issues; the rpg portion (cut scene and such) are great.

Edited January 24, 2014 by AlsoNoBody

[Bryy]

I'm sure they looked at reviews as well.

Metacritic score below 70 is simply unacceptable for a new IP.

I don't understand why people ever used Metacritic as any form of gauge.

[melkathi]

I don't understand why people ever used Metacritic as any form of gauge.

 

 

Same reason people watch the youtube channels of random gamers to find out what they are supposed to think about games. *shrug*

[NanoPaladin]

I, for one, would love to see a KS campaign for a AP 2.

[Starbeast]

Now is a good time for a sequel to come out, with everything that's been going on past couple years. AP2 would have plenty of material to comment on or poke some fun at. Plus there's even more interesting, cool, & wacky tech to work with. Robo Cows + Heck, something needs to happen.

Sega. They seem to be trying something new with Creative Assembly, if that works out for them maybe they'd consider more AP. Can't be more risky than an Alien game right after CM, right?

[Hassat Hunter]

KS couldn't fund AP2, not even taking into account having to pay to use the AP license or get the AP license from SEGA.

 

I suppose a KS to acquire the IP could work, but then they still need a publisher to actually make AP2. And with the (unreasonable) bad press AP got, few if any would be willing.

[Aoyagi]

We could, however, apply crowd pressure to Sega to release the IP from their filthy hands (assuming Obsidian is still at least somehow interested in it).

 

*goes to prepare torches and pitchforks*

[Bryy]

KS couldn't fund AP2, not even taking into account having to pay to use the AP license or get the AP license from SEGA.

 

I suppose a KS to acquire the IP could work, but then they still need a publisher to actually make AP2. And with the (unreasonable) bad press AP got, few if any would be willing.

I would love to, but this is really just another instance of "we can use Kickstarter to fund Firefly Season 2".

[SirBlackjack]

Why do you have to buy the AP IP? Just create a new universe to set it in. AP was kinda generic.

[Zoraptor]

KS couldn't fund AP2, not even taking into account having to pay to use the AP license or get the AP license from SEGA.

It certainly couldn't fund an AP2 in the same fashion as the original AP. Full VO, high detail graphics and the other AAA trappings would have to go and it would have to be a roughly PoE scale game. I think that could still work well though, since I don't think that most people who enjoyed AP enjoyed it for those AAA trappings- so long as they were honest about what changes were being made.

 

Having said that, very very unlikely to happen.

 

Personally, I'd be happy with a spiritual successor building on the things AP did well, it's certainly a more realistic prospect.

[Hassat Hunter]

Supposed best to hope for would be

http://www.logicartists.com/logicartists/news1.html

then... should fill our needs hopefully