Randomization

[00Jack00]

I've gone back about five pages and haven't seen this. Has there been a poll or discussion of randomly seeding side quests so that subsequent play-throughs would feature different bits for players to discover? Or maybe random placement of some or all party-eligible NPCs?

[Sensuki]

No there hasn't because randomization is better in an ARPG game.

 

There's been a few threads about random encounters, but the developers have already stated that there will be very, very little randomization in the game.

[Infinitron]

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/61523-ask-anything-on-reddit-10am-pdt-1pm-et-today/page__st__60?do=findComment&comment=1241729

 

JESawyer: We will rely more on placed loot than randomized loot. The IWD games had a huge amount of unique items and most of those were hand-placed (e.g. Pale Justice). I like writing the unique histories of those items, anyway.

There might be a tiny amount of randomization, but that will likely happen at that the individual gear level. E.g. 5 bandits are placed on a map. When the map loads, each will randomly be given a pair of shortswords, a longsword and shield, or a bigass mace.

[True_Spike]

Because this works so well in Skyrim, right? Oh, no, wait, it does not.

[00Jack00]

Because this works so well in Skyrim, right? Oh, no, wait, it does not.

 

Hey, just askin'. No need to turn into Mr. Crankypants. And because randomization of such things hasn't been done to your satisfaction in the past doesn't mean Obsidian can't to it well.

[Hassat Hunter]

I rather have handmade sidequest rather than random... they generally do suck.

And having handcrafted sidequests lock or be unlocked based on randomness (as opposed to say, faction choices or things you did in the past in the story) doesn't strike me as the proper way to add replayability either.

 

So yeah, also a "no" from me...

[True_Spike]

Because this works so well in Skyrim, right? Oh, no, wait, it does not.

 

Hey, just askin'. No need to turn into Mr. Crankypants. And because randomization of such things hasn't been done to your satisfaction in the past doesn't mean Obsidian can't to it well.

 

I'm just making a point. There will never be a randomly generated anything that works better than the hand-made counterpart, at least not in gaming and not in the next decade or so. This game is supposed to pay homage to the RPGs of old - the quests are supposed to be of certain quality, not merely a filler that changes next to nothing.

Edited October 23, 2012 by True_Spike

[.Leif.]

I love random when it is placed in proper context. Dwarf Fortress's randomization is amazing! It's just in how naturally the random decision fits in the situation. I shouldn't find 2d10 GP in every Boar I kill.

[Mazhlekov]

Randomisation is great, when is placed properly, like random encounters. I like unpredictable posibilities of finding secret places in every next new start of the game. Also random generated maps in minor or side areas is very interesting solution. All this give us lot of pleasure in replaying the game!

[eselle28]

I'm not a fan. I suppose it's fine enough when looting Kobold #1 or Barrel #2, and I also don't mind there being some random chance of being attacked by bandits if I choose a foolish place to rest. But I don't want random quest placement, because I've never seen that accomplished without having to remove the context that make a quest interesting. Likewise, I think that companions should either all be hanging out at the same tavern for quick and easy party building, or alternately (and preferably) placed around the world in locations that make sense for their characters.

 

I do value replayability, but for me that comes more from different options that can be pursued the second time around and from having some scripted encounters hidden in odd, out of the way corners of the world.

[rjshae]

Bit of a repeat, but... I'd like to start a game with a random seed mask and have each random decision point have it's own random value, then determine the in-game result based on an XOR of the two values. That way a reload of a saved game produces consistent results, but a new game generates completely different results. The net effect would be to make a replay more unique.

[HansKrSG]

I love random when it is placed in proper context. Dwarf Fortress's randomization is amazing! It's just in how naturally the random decision fits in the situation. I shouldn't find 2d10 GP in every Boar I kill.

 

And if you do find gold on a boar, there better be a good story as to how a boar has gold on him