Curious- Do you play with Qualifiers on or off?

[Labadal]

I have thome on but I'm playing a goody two shoes most of the time so I know which option to choose either way.

[KirsiF]

I turned them off right from the beginning. It's interesting to see how the reputations evolve.

[Starwars]

I hide the options I don't qualify for but have the rest of the stuff on.

 

Will probably turn those off as well on the next playthrough.

 

Big thumbs up for providing the option.

[Odd Hermit]

I played with them off until I played a Paladin PC. There are so many where the difference between a favorable one for your order and a neutral response is negligible.

[aenemic]

I have them off, along with personality traits. I don't want to metagame but simply decide on a character and go with it. I pick the conversation options that feel relevant for that character.

[Slapstick87]

Off for replayability and the feeling of "new discoveries" for my upcoming 2nd playthrough. I'll probably turn it on when I get far enough into the nr. of playthroughs I plan to have on this marvel of a game.

[Kal Adan]

I play with them off - I don't want to pick choices by being suggested what kind of responses by stats unlocked for me.

[Mk1]

On.

 

The writing in PoE is good, but without the qualifiers, there would still be times when I wouldn't be sure whether a reply is supposed to be Stoic or Rational, or realize that picking the option that makes you sound like a sarcastic prick is what PoE categorizes as "Clever."

 

Similarly, I like to see the unavailable conversation options, for a couple of reasons: Primarily because it serves as a kind of "Heads up, this is not just flavor text, the writers probably thought of multiple ways for you to deal with this, better pay attention!" signpost - again, something that is not always apparent when all you have to go on is text.

 

Though also because it gives me a hint that (for example) it IS worthwhile to raise my characters's Resolve of 13 with items and rest bonuses, because I'm seeing a lot of checks of 14-16. Which I don't even see as metagaming, really - if my character has Resolve 13 and just barely fails to persuade someone who needed a 14, that's simply being able to read a social situation. But the game doesn't let you try and have dialogue reflecting how badly you failed, so this is the next best thing.

 

Short version, I don't think of them as metagaming, but as providing information that you *should* have but a CRPG of this type is not capable of delivering.

[Yenkaz]

On - For replayability!

 

I want to know, for example, if I want to make a headstrong second character, should I have 16 or 18 resolve, would I still be able to pick some decent int responses with 14, what skills to invest in to make the conversation completely different the next time. I like knowing that a conversation might have turned out different if my character had possessed greater gonads or better knowledge of poisonous fungi.

 

Besides, I agree with MK1, they can be read as the character thinking "I could snatch that gem right from his hands.. if only I was a little faster. I know I'll fail" or "That story seems dubious, but I don't really know myself (low lore), so better not question it, less I sound like a fool".. And it helps to read the intent of the words you're choosing, avoiding the vagueness that text dialogue can cause.

Edited April 10, 2015 by Yenkaz

[NoxNoctum]

I play with them on. I'd rather play with them off since it feels less gamey- and more immersive, but there are many instances where I can't tell what the tone of the reply is, so I can't really tell how it's coming across to the NPC. (i.e. sarcasm etc.)

 

That said I only pick choices based on what I feel/roleplaying. In past RPGs I would pick all one sided for the trait I was going for but found myself enjoying the dialogue a lot when I went based on gut/instict instead.

 

EDIT: My bad, I thought this was the option that characterized each response (stoic, passionate etc.). I have the one that shows blocked out dialogue options off. Too gamey.

Edited April 10, 2015 by NoxNoctum

[Dray Truoc]

Interesting to see how everyone approaches it.  Off for me.  Started playing on expert mode.  Like some others, I'm just playing the way it feels my character would respond.

[NathanH]

Interesting to see how everyone approaches it.  Off for me.  Started playing on expert mode.  Like some others, I'm just playing the way it feels my character would respond.

So, a lot of people reply with this sort of thought. Are people of this opinion worried that the way that it feels your character would respond is then interpreted by the game to create some sort of almost objective measurement of their personality, with real in-game consequences? Presumably you also have an idea about how your character should score on the various personality scores, and it may be that "how it feels your character would respond" is tagged by this system in a way you disagree with, with in-game consequences. How do you all feel about this?

[aenemic]

I play with them on. I'd rather play with them off since it feels less gamey- and more immersive, but there are many instances where I can't tell what the tone of the reply is, so I can't really tell how it's coming across to the NPC. (i.e. sarcasm etc.)

I think that can be part of the fun though. In real life you can never be sure that what you say comes across as intended, and you can never known what kind of reputation you build for yourself through your actions. Everyone has a different way of perceiving things.

Edited April 10, 2015 by aenemic

[Hexo]

Expert mode, feels more immersive. Thumbs up for having this option

[ApesAmongUs]

Too many experiences in Bioware games where I picked an option that seemed like what I wanted to say and then turned out to be my character being sarcastic (or abusive or whatever) when that isn't what I want.  Anything that gives me more information as to what my character is going to say and how it will be interpreted by the game is better than guessing and playing mind reader with with the devs.  More information as to what is going on behind the scenes is always preferable given how the game already has such limited means to communicate anything that is subtle.

[Varana]

Also, it makes up for a lot of non-verbal information.

"Yes, let's do that. [stoic]",

"Yes, let's do that! [Passionate]", or

"Yes, let's do that... [Clever]"

are completely different responses.

 

The dialogue system with pre-formulated answers often tends to take over my character. "I'm pretty sure my character wouldn't say anything like that" is not that rare. "How would my character react?" sometimes is a question that leads nowhere, because how they would react isn't in the responses.

The disposition information gives me another level of playing with dialogue here. I can safely assume that my character wouldn't use those exact words, but I'm sure they would react passionately about the issue, so I choose the passionate answer.

 

The restriction to certain dialogue lines is also why the argument "you wouldn't know how they reacted in reality" doesn't really apply (or not always). There are quite a few lines in the game where I sit and think "oookay... I wouldn't have guessed that that is meant to be 'benevolent', but if they think so..." In reality, I'd have the choice to answer differently. In a computer game, I don't have that choice. I have very limited information about the NPC, even if it's the first time we talk to them. PoE sometimes shines in that regard when it describes the NPC's look and manners in detail and doesn't just rely on dialogue alone, but nevertheless, information is restricted in contrast to RL situations, just as much as my possibilities of expression are restricted. The Disposition information is, I think a quite decent compromise to deal with that problem.

[archangel979]

I play with em all off - qualifiers for those options I have, options I don't have, and reputations of options. I like just - choosing whichever option seems in character at the time.

 

My PC has like... 1 of every disposition now. But that's fine. ;P

This is same how I play. And I did notice I got many different dispositions as a result although I tried to be a good guy as much as possible. If I could see what my results would be mechanically I would either be pissed off because devs and I don't see these situations the same or change what I first wanted to choose to one that gave me a more beneficial mechanical benefit.

[eLPuSHeR]

I think I have them ON, but It feels that OFF should be the way to go. I will check later.

[Mk1]

 

I play with them on. I'd rather play with them off since it feels less gamey- and more immersive, but there are many instances where I can't tell what the tone of the reply is, so I can't really tell how it's coming across to the NPC. (i.e. sarcasm etc.)

I think that can be part of the fun though. In real life you can never be sure that what you say comes across as intended, and you can never known what kind of reputation you build for yourself through your actions. Everyone has a different way of perceiving things.

 

That's fair enough, but I still want to know exactly what my character *thinks* he's doing and make an informed decision.

 

To use a pen and paper RPG example: 

 

I want my character to jump a 20' wide pit. I know what my base odds of doing that are, but if there's anything obvious that would make it harder or easier (there are wet leaves scattered around the edges, the air above the pit is filled with thick dusty cobwebs, there's only 12" of space to land in on the other side, etc.) then it's the duty of the person running the game to tell me all this before I roll the dice.

 

On the other hand, he does not need to tell me (if my character doesn't have the perception to notice) that right on the other side of the pit, there's a well-hidden tripwire that releases a spike-studded log swinging on a rope, or that the tiny spiders I didn't notice in the webs are venomous.

 

In PoE,  I want to clearly know that my character believes he's trying to sound Benevolent - but I don't expect every NPC to react positively to him just because he means well.