Caed Nua/Od Nua suggestion for 1.05

[Achilles]

I'd like to suggest that a duration be added to the Eastern Barbican. Maybe only 1 day (since the materials are readily available. Maybe it's only an option for harder difficulties. Either way, it's seems a bit odd that its instantly available.

[gkathellar]

I'd like to suggest that a duration be added to the Eastern Barbican. Maybe only 1 day (since the materials are readily available. Maybe it's only an option for harder difficulties. Either way, it's seems a bit odd that its instantly available.

 

The idea is that you sit there for a couple of days because you can't move on until it's done.

 

But it would be irritating to make you actually wait out the days, so time instantly advances.

[Achilles]

Yeah, I can think of a few maps that you would then be motivated to explore while you're waiting, so...

[gkathellar]

But you may have already explored all of those maps.

[Achilles]

There are 15 of them. I seriously doubt anyone is going to blow through them in less than a game-day

[gkathellar]

But until the Eastern Barbican is repaired, you can't get to any of the ones past Caed Nua. Which is why you have to wait in the first place.

[Achilles]

I'm referring to the 15 below the keep

[Rosveen]

Fun > realism, every time. I explored all maps west of Caed Nua before reaching it, I'd have nothing to do but repeatedly rest 8 hours until the barbican is repaired. Oh wait, but I can't rest in Caed Nua, there's no inn yet, and I don't have enough camping supplies on Hard to rest 3 times. I'll have to move to another map and back to pass the time. It's not a problem, of course, but... what's the point? Does going through additional loading screens somehow make the barbican construction more immersive?

 

I'm referring to the 15 below the keep

I probably can't do much there, but it depends on my level of course. Unlike my first playthrough when I explored everything, so going down would have been an option, this time I want to grab all companions as soon as I can and then start questing - so I don't want to go down Od Nua and even if I did, I'm going to get creamed at level 3. Edited April 16, 2015 by Rosveen

[Achilles]

The first floor is spiders. The second floor is xaurips. Seriously guys.

[gkathellar]

The first floor is spiders. The second floor is xaurips. Seriously guys.

 

Oh no, you lost 24 hours in a game with no time limits.

[Tigranes]

Why would you force players to spend a day or two exploring Od Nua when you can let them go to Defiance Bay or do it anyway?

[gkathellar]

BECAUSE REALISM

[Sabin Stargem]

Sounds like a makework feature.  Do not want.

[Achilles]

I don't think I recommended forcing anyone to do anything.

 

It's a little weird that everything else takes days, but yet that particular upgrade is completed in the time it takes you to step outside.

 

I don't think this would be any more difficult than the rest dialog option in Raedric's Keep: Option 1 - opt to wait (the screen fades to black, your party gets a free rest, game day advances by 1) or Option 2 - opt to explore (you then have a game day to clear to begin clearing od nua, head back to Gilded Vale for supplies, etc). 

[Phoynix]

Compromise.

 

It takes 1 week in game, clicking build it forwards the game time ahead 1 week its completed and your Team has rested.

[Sabin Stargem]

When dealing with realism, there are four things to consider:

 

1 - Is it fun?

2 - Does it offer interesting options?

3 - Would it be worth the effort to implement?

4 - Are there other "realism" features that are more worthwhile?

 

For me, it is safe to say that this doesn't bring much to the table.

[Luckmann]

It's something that annoys the hell out of me too, especially since this is a pretty bad solution to a problem that shouldn't even exist. It's basically a band-aid. I wouldn't mind it at all, it's better than nothing, but I'd prefer it if it was explained in some fashion.

 

I discussed it at some length here:

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/76725-patch-notes-104-discussion-thread/?p=1649690

 

 

Since I didn't bother checking the 1.0.3 notes too severly, what questionable changes would that be?

Ignoring the whole memorial debacle and the perpetually offended, the most questionable changes were probably;

• The change to Slicken to be single-hit, like a damage-less prone-making short-range fireball, instead of a Hazard AoE. Yes, it needed to be nerfed, but that one change completely changes the nature of the spell.
• The nerf to Chill Fog, making it FF AoE instead of Foe AoE, without anything to compensate. Me, personally, do not mind the actual change, since it never made any sense to begin with, but I would've liked to see it get a bigger radius or do more damage to compensate and keep it relevant. Wizards are already suffering in the whole AoE department compared to Druids, which weren't touched at all.
• The change to CNPC Attributes due to widespread acknowledgement that the previous distribution on most of them was objectively terrible. All that was did was acknowledge that the current Attribute system has some pronounced issues; but instead of fixing those issues, they compromised the character concepts. Like, what?

Biggest ones I can think of right now. It was discussed extensively in the concerned threads. The 1.03 patch was fairly big, while 1.04 appears fairly small. At least the preliminary notes.

 

 

Eastern Barbican finishes instantly, but Western Barbican takes days. Wat.

Do you want to continue the main plot?

 

Sorry, you need to rest 6 times before you can do so. Maybe try running 3 circles around your unlocked maps?

 

(Why would you possible complain about that???)

 

That's beside the point. If it's something you need to do to continue the plot, they should've reconsidered it and instead opened up the route through some other means, even if it would just be "The Steward influenced the Stronghold and the path now lies open".

 

My complaint is specifically that the Eastern Barbican is repaired instantly and without explanation. I would have been fine with even a "The Eastern Barbican is closed and overgrown, it will take 8 hours to clear" and then a quick timeskip. Anything, really. The current implementation is jarring and it's integration into the main quest is clumsy.

 

Another one of those little loading screens with a little story, like the one that the game starts with, maybe; "You exit Caed Nua, and take a deep breath, wondering if

was truly driven mad by

 

bla bla bla bla bla after clearing the eastern barbican, you continue your journey, your goal is set; the city of defiance, the capital of the Free Palatinate, the centre of a bloody revolution - Defiance Bay...".

 

Just..

 

Anything.

 

 

Sometimes you just need to keep things gamey rather than senseful for gameplay purposes.

 

As I said, there's no free resting point at the keep at that point, it's a halt in the gameplay, they wanted to introduce the keep mechanics...

 

I don't see it as any problem thusly not costing time while the others do...

And you say 'Anything' but when it's pointed out there is something you wave it away. So clearly more needs to be there for you then something...

But that's just it - you don't need to keep it gamey rather than sensible. You could've just come up with a more sensible solution, it doesn't mean that you use the current system and just tack on a few days of building time like for the Western Barbican (to stick to the original example). I gave several possible solutions, none of which would require you to have a "free resting point at the keep at that point" or would cause "a halt in the gameplay".

 

And you didn't point anything out; you just said that the resources were there. But nothing I have said have even hinted at that being questioned. Nothing. I wave it away because it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with anything I said. Ever. There is nothing to explain this sudden automagical restoration of the Eastern Barbican at all, when everything else takes days. Whether you have the resources or not is utterly immaterial.

 

If you have problems maintaining the suspension of disbelief and the verisimilitude of the scenario due to gameplay purposes, you should consider reworking the scenario so that it satisfies both points, such as the solutions I proposed - or any of the countless other possible solutions. Anything else is just jarring and clumsy, and feels out of place.

 

The Stronghold is littered with issues like this, but the specific example of the Eastern Barbican suddenly and inexplicably repairing itself from less than one hour to the next, is probably the most obvious one.

 

The most obvious one, and unfortunately sets the standard for most of the Stronghold, imo.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Luckmann