Just how Easy will Easy be?

[jtav]

I'm, well, I don't want to say a casual gamer, but I play for the story and companion interaction. I'm not very good at tactical combat, but I can get through BG and PS:T on Easy with a bit of patience. I play because I can't get hours of interactive narrative from a book or movie and I miss the depth and maturity of some of those older titles. I like being able to shape my character. But some of the comments here give me a vibe of "hardcore gamers only." If I set the game to Easy, am I going to be more or less okay?

[Shadenuat]

I'm not very good at tactical combat, but I can get through [...] PS:T on Easy with a bit of patience.

 

Killed me.

 

...but, to answer your question - in one of the updates I believe it have been said, that you will be able to get through the game even without some, or any, party members. So your easy would't probably be less easy than regular Infinity Easy.

[evdk]

Well it takes a bit of patience to die, revive and travel back to the fight repeatedly.

[Tuco Benedicto]

Nothing personal, and of course you are completely entitled to your opinion, but I must admit that every time I read someone ready to dismiss game mechanics and balance using the "I play for the story" argument, I cringe a little bit.

[Immoral]

I hope it's the hardest form of "easy"; even that level of difficulty has a wide range of difficulties depending on who you ask.

[novander]

Nothing personal, and of course you are completely entitled to your opinion, but I must admit that every time I read someone ready to dismiss game mechanics and balance using the "I play for the story" argument, I cringe a little bit.

I often go into games thinking I want the tactical challenge, hearing about the clever ways they've balanced difficulty to test players but as soon as I hit that first really difficult fight - not a boss fight, that's a fair challenge I'll do that a few times, I'm talking about that pack of bandits that should be a walkover - I'm turning down all the settings to get to the next piece of story. I can totally see the fun in doing the same battle fifty times until you've found a cunning strategy, but that is not for me.

[nikolokolus]

I'm sure easy will be easy enough for most that play that way, but the real trick will be hitting that sweet spot for 'normal' difficulty.

Edited September 26, 2012 by nikolokolus

[Althernai]

I'm, well, I don't want to say a casual gamer, but I play for the story and companion interaction. I'm not very good at tactical combat, but I can get through BG and PS:T on Easy with a bit of patience. I play because I can't get hours of interactive narrative from a book or movie and I miss the depth and maturity of some of those older titles. I like being able to shape my character. But some of the comments here give me a vibe of "hardcore gamers only." If I set the game to Easy, am I going to be more or less okay?

The forums always have more hardcore gamers than the general population. I would be extremely surprised if this game was harder on Easy than the Infinity Engine games -- if you managed to get through the Baldur's Gate series and Planescape: Torment, you'll almost certainly be fine.

[Grimlorn]

I'm, well, I don't want to say a casual gamer, but I play for the story and companion interaction. I'm not very good at tactical combat, but I can get through BG and PS:T on Easy with a bit of patience. I play because I can't get hours of interactive narrative from a book or movie and I miss the depth and maturity of some of those older titles. I like being able to shape my character. But some of the comments here give me a vibe of "hardcore gamers only." If I set the game to Easy, am I going to be more or less okay?

I'm all for a casual difficulty as long as it has a description that humiliates the player for selecting it.

 

Something like:

 

This difficulty is for the player who is terrible at RPGs. They build terrible characters. They can't tactically plan their battles no matter how long the game is paused before combat has begun. They kill their party quite frequently with friendly fire. This is a safe haven from that difficulty. Here friendly fire is turned off and the game is so easy you can auto-attack to victory.

[Althernai]

I'm all for a casual difficulty as long as it has a description that humiliates the player for selecting it.

No need to be mean about it. There are a lot of people who are much less into combat than they are into the story. I have absolutely nothing against making the Easy mode as easy as necessary for such people to be content with it, particularly since we now know we'll get the harder modes.

[nikolokolus]

All I ask is that the devs name 'easy mode' 'Candy Land mode' so people are properly shamed for taking the easy way out

[Piccolo]

If by easy mode, you mean default... I would like to think it's not too easy with lots of hand-holding features. A lot of gamers simply don't like playing around with difficulty settings and view default as the optimal or intended form of the game, so I think it's important to find the right balance and not use expert mode as an excuse to make default too easy-going or casual.

 

If there's actually going to be an easy mode below the default difficulty setting then that's a bit different. They can make the experience nice and easy without any detriment to the players who just go with default.

[Caerdon]

I hope there'll be a very wide range of difficulty levels. The easiest setting should really be easy, but even the 'normal' should provide a hefty challenge.

 

I'm all for a casual difficulty as long as it has a description that humiliates the player for selecting it.

 

Something like:

 

This difficulty is for the player who is terrible at RPGs. They build terrible characters. They can't tactically plan their battles no matter how long the game is paused before combat has begun. They kill their party quite frequently with friendly fire. This is a safe haven from that difficulty. Here friendly fire is turned off and the game is so easy you can auto-attack to victory.

 

This is just amazingly childish.

[Luckmann]

Too easy.

[Tuco Benedicto]

This is an RPG, the story should always come first. If you want challenge then you should choose the challenge. If you don't then you should choose easy. But choose for yourself without mocking other players.

No, this is first and foremost a game, and story never comes first in a game, not compared to game mechanics, balance, user interface, overall fun and so on.

Of course, in RPGs, like in graphic adventures, story is far more relevant than in other genres and can add a lot to the experience, but it still is "additional value", it shouldn't ever be the core purpose of the experience.

Edited September 26, 2012 by Tuco Benedicto

[DRevan]

Fluff > crunch.

 

/thread

[ogrezilla]

I'm, well, I don't want to say a casual gamer, but I play for the story and companion interaction.

 

Sounds more like you're looking for a book. Or a movie. Have you considered these options? Because you're kind of suggesting a pretty anti-gaming game.

except you can't control the conversations in most books or movies. so no, this is quite different. He also said he enjoys creating and advancing the characters. There is a lot to enjoy in a game like this aside from the combat. If they can implement three versions of harder modes, they can implement an easy mode. And it will never once interfere with yours or my enjoyment of the game.

Edited September 26, 2012 by ogrezilla

[ogrezilla]

This is an RPG, the story should always come first. If you want challenge then you should choose the challenge. If you don't then you should choose easy. But choose for yourself without mocking other players.

No, this is first and foremost a game, and story never comes first in a game, not compared to game mechanics, balance, user interface, overall fun and so on.

Of course, in RPGs, like in graphic adventures, story is far more relevant than in other genres and can add a lot to the experience, but it still is "additional value", it shouldn't ever be the core purpose of the experience.

interacting with the story is a major part of most IE games. as is character creation and progression. those are all part of the game mechanics you speak of.

[DRevan]

No, this is first and foremost a game, and story never comes first in a game, not compared to game mechanics, balance, user interface, overall fun and so on.

Of course, in RPGs, like in graphic adventures, story is far more relevant than in other genres and can add a lot to the experience, but it still is "additional value", it shouldn't ever be the core purpose of the experience.

 

If you want a soulless monster-slaying-item-grinding game there are plenty of MMORPGs out there. Suit yourself.

[TwinkieGorilla]

There is a lot to enjoy in a game like this aside from the combat.

 

Like romances amirite?

[LadyCrimson]

All I ask is that the devs name 'easy mode' 'Candy Land mode' so people are properly shamed for taking the easy way out

Hey, I like Candyland. And it's not that easy living here, either. Those color-swirl lollipop men can be very onery. And you don't know what difficult is until you've been hugged by a giant sugar taffy bear. Hard? Try getting all of that taffy out of your hair afterwards...now that's hard.

 

...difficulty modes exist because different playstyles and gaming desires exist. There should be no shame associated with any of them.

[ogrezilla]

There is a lot to enjoy in a game like this aside from the combat.

 

Like romances amirite?

right. like romances. or any other character interactions and conversations that will likely make up the majority of the game.

[Tuco Benedicto]

interacting with the story is a major part of most IE games. as is character creation and progression. those are all part of the game mechanics you speak of.

Yeah, but it's the interactivity part, with choices and consequences and the world reacting to your input, that makes it worthy and "gamey", not the story itself, which as I said when good it's mostly added flavor (and when it's bad detracted one).

I would pick the most solid RPG in terms of mechanics with the ****tiest story over a poor game tied to the most impressive story ever told in a game.

 

If I want quality narrative above everything else, videogames definitely aren't where I look for it.

 

 

If you want a soulless monster-slaying-item-grinding game there are plenty of MMORPGs out there. Suit yourself.

Strawman argument at its finest. Who ever spoke about monster-slaying? And how are MMOs supposed to be a good replacement for a single player RPG?

Seems to me you don't even know what you are talking about.

Edited September 26, 2012 by Tuco Benedicto

[ogrezilla]

interacting with the story is a major part of most IE games. as is character creation and progression. those are all part of the game mechanics you speak of.

Yeah, but it's the interactivity part, with choices and consequences and the world reacting to your input, that makes it worthy and "gamey", not the story itself, which as I said when good it's mostly added flavor (and when it's bad detracted one).

I would pick the most solid RPG in terms of mechanics with the ****tiest story over a poor game tied to the most impressive story ever told in a game.

 

If I want quality narrative above everything else, videogames definitely aren't where I look for it.

 

I have a feeling you are not in the majority on this site then.

 

either way, I would classify interacting with the story as part of the story. But now we're arguing semantics.

Edited September 26, 2012 by ogrezilla

[Dorateen]

I think a good question would be, how accessible do the developers envision this game?

 

And I think that's a fairly touchy subject at this moment. Afterall, they are in the middle of fundraising. They do not want to frighten off potential backers, or present an air of "this game is not for you".

 

The old school cRPG had a steep learning curve, and this was not isolated to just combat. I hope this project will retain some level of difficulty even for players starting out in the hobby.

Edited September 26, 2012 by Dorateen