RPGCodex Review #1 - Hŵrpa Dwrp

[Elerond]

 

The titles I mentioned are definitely more old-school as in not aping a popular modern genre of the lowest common denominator (FPSs) as much as Fallout 3/ New Vegas does.

So there can't be an oldschool FPS?

 

 

If you can move your cross hair in non-horizontal directions then I refuse to acknowledge their old schoolness 

[FlintlockJazz]

 

Guten Tag!

 

Pardon me, but what exactly is the "RPGCodex" and how is their opinion anymore valid than than anyone else's? I'm from Germany and never heartd 'bout this message board before and just judging by some threads I skimmed, this is just another place for elitist basement-wierdos with obvious no life and some distasteful memes. So, why the fuzz?

 

I have to agree, never really knew anything about them until I backed PoE.  They seem to be just a rather vocal group that seems to think they get to speak for roleplayers in general while most roleplayers don't even know who they are.

[aluminiumtrioxid]

They seem to be just a rather vocal group that seems to think they get to speak for roleplayers in general while most roleplayers don't even know who they are.

 

 

That has to mean they're not real roleplayers, don'tchaknow?

[Eisenheinrich]

Oh god, that board is such a wierd place. Seriously, this is such an unappealing place, from design to user habits. And all that Self-reference, it's really like everybody has their heads up in their arses. 

[Ineth]

Some more quote mining from the review

 

What is even more disappointing is that Obsidian even included short text adventures into PoE that had crazy potential for adding content into the game, but there is only a single instance of one in the game that doesn’t feel half-arsed.

 

Wat. The scripted interactions add a lot of flavor.

 

Yes, they overuse Athletics checks compared to other stat checks, but that doesn't make them half-arsed or un-fun.
 

Nobody in the world of PoE gives a **** about anything. You can go on a rampage and slaughter people in broad daylight, kill a clan warlord and his retinue or genocide entire sects of druids in the middle of their city and nobody does even as much as blink. How did we go from Alpha Protocol to this?

 

This is kinda true. You can slaughter everyone in the inn in Dyrford (which is basically 70% of the town population), and how does the remaining population react? They now consider you to have a "Faintly Mixed" reputation, and that's it. Is that what "reactivity" means in RPGs in 2015?

 

If you tried that in Athkatla in BG2, you would be intercepted by wave after wave of guards and powerful mages sent to stop/punish you. And I never considered BG2 to be very good at reactivity - it's just what I would have expected to be used as a minimum standard for PoE development.

[b0rsuk]

 

Cipher is op at start

 

My working theory is that Ciphers are easier to play well than Druids & Wizards, and many people mistakenly think that means "more powerful" - especially at the beginning of the game when you haven't gotten the hang of how to play your particular Druid/Wizard build well yet.

 

 

 

Cipher has stuff like Eyestrike, which inflicts Blind AND Dazed, and is an area spell. Tenuous Grasp is Frightened AND confused. Level2 has a power that causes Stuck and Paralyzed. Fractured Volition causes Weakened AND Hobbled. Multiple negative effects with a single spell is something common among Cipher powers, and it isn't the only reason they are powerful. They have a wide variety of powers, and most of them are powerful even in isolation.  Rob Cipher of three or four best powers and I won't care, I will find something else because they're loaded with top tier abilities.

 

Ciphers are much like pre-charged Chanters. They can cast something like 2 good spells right at the start, and charging them isn't very hard, also there are many tricks assisting it, such as blunderbuss or attack speed buffs. Many of Cipher powers last long enough that you can keep them forever, for example Eyestrike on wurms or far away casters/rangers will completely ruin them.

 

I feel their charging/burst issues don't come up often enough to matter. In theory, wizards/priests/druids can open up with 4 or more spells, but that's inefficient and you will have to rest quickly. Ciphers are just effortless in comparison. Nuking enemies with lots of spells at once (something Ciphers can't really do) would be better if there were more glass cannon monsters in this game. There aren't too many - ogres, vithrack. In case of rough battles, I have some +4 focus per hit consumables.

 

I'd worry more that cipher powers tend to have tricky targeting and positioning them can be challenging. Wizards, druids simply get cones and balls. They are also rather limited in defenses they attack - they seem to focus on Will and Fortitude, and not too many damage types. Druids and Wizards have many Reflex targeting spells as well.

Edited April 22, 2015 by b0rsuk

[Ineth]

Somewhere at Obsidian’s HQ, a concerned designer called for an audience with his superior...

'Mr Sawyer, the players will try to rest for free all the time at the keep, especially once they build all them sweet buff buildings, what do we do?'

Josh Sawyer clasped his hands in deep thought and let out a quiet hum.

'Yes, certainly a problem, Mr Cain... But the solution is as simple as it is balanced. Put it behind four loading screens, Mr Cain. Let there be no fun in resting at the keep.'

'Your command is my wish, Mr Sawyer', Tim Cain nodded stoically and left the room to procure all the annoyances he could safely get away with, giggling in anticipation.

 

lol

[TheisEjsing]

I read the review, agreed with a few point, but was utterly disgusted by the lack of both balance, professionalism, and overall justification for it's existence. What a shame.

Edited April 22, 2015 by TheisEjsing

[Shadenuat]

The scripted interactions add a lot of flavor.

That's the point - that it is all they do. They never reach a complexity of a even a simpliest text adventure. There is no more depth in them than in main dialogue system, so what you get is just same options but with cool pictures.

 

Space Rangers, for example, implemented text quests into main gameplay where these scripted interactions did change what happened to you going from system to system - for example, getting jailed for breaking the law and escaping was done via a scripted interaction aka text adventure.

The recent Expeditions Conquistador made player engage in scripted interactions that were tied to game's main resource system and you could gain or lose stuff, search/use/lose quest items, pass multiple checks and could even permanently lose companions in them.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Shadenuat

[TheisEjsing]

Oh god, that board is such a wierd place. Seriously, this is such an unappealing place, from design to user habits. And all that Self-reference, it's really like everybody has their heads up in their arses. 

If OE had to make the game, so codexians would be pleased, it would sell like ****. The codex got no power, and they buy the games anyways, so it's fine just to ignore their overly entitled ranting. 

Edited April 22, 2015 by TheisEjsing

[FlintlockJazz]

 

They seem to be just a rather vocal group that seems to think they get to speak for roleplayers in general while most roleplayers don't even know who they are.

 

 

That has to mean they're not real roleplayers, don'tchaknow?

 

Well naturally!  Can only be a True Roleplayer if you hate most of it!

[Ineth]

The main storyline hardly even makes sense, especially when it comes to player motivation. Your character arrives in Dyrwood as a settler. But then he sees Guy McBaddie, has some glimpses of his past life’s memories and becomes a ‘watcher’, a sort of mystic that can look into people’s souls. Now, even though this ‘awakening’ as it is called has been most likely the effect of a soulstorm (aka Bîaŵacs that never have any significance ever again), your character somehow decides it’s the antagonist that’s behind everything, and so engages in a wild goose chase.

 

Kind of true. For the first two acts, I felt the biggest motivation for my character to do the things she did, was curiosity and eagerness to explore the world - not the supposed motivations that the story hamfistedly tries to impart.

 

I was actually more interested in finding out more about Eder's brother (i.e. companion sidequest) than finding out more about the Leaden Key (main quest).

 

Although I have to say, the sequence of events/cutscenes that start act 3 was really cool, and finally got me interested in the actual story.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Ineth

[Stun]

Yes, PoE has it's flaws, but none of them is completely broken or unfixable

Correct. But that's the thing. The vast majority of that reviewer's gripes with the game are things that are neither broken nor fixable. They are specific designs that are working precisely as the devs intended them. But the problem is that they're simply not fun, or to be more objective, they don't fit the reviewer's definition of fun.

 

For example, he complains about The engagement mechanic. But the engagement mechanic isn't broken. It's working as designed. So what is there to fix? Nothing. There's nothing to fix. It can only be changed or removed.... And that would go counter to the intended design.

 

If you go down the list of this reviewer's talking points you'll find that they're almost all about developer design decisions, and not really about "broken mechanics" or "things that need number tweaking".

Edited April 22, 2015 by Stun

[Grotesque]

Sometimes I don't know why the Codex bothers reviewing anything, as they seem to like about four games made in the late 20th Century.

 

 

Mask of the Betrayer was released in the 21th century.

Now go and read that review on the Codex, learn the traits that makes a game great and educate yourself before spewing moronic remarks just to extract yourself from facing the harsh reality regarding this game. 

 

 

 

 

Like the author of the review, I also had the same feeling while playing this perfect 10 game, "I must replay Baldur's Gate II. That game was good!"

How about that! Souls   Magic!

 

The writing to be tedious at some point? Spot on!

While playing I literally became oversaturated with the souls subject popping at every ****in corner and literally nearly fell to sleep while doing some dungeon because everything was a borefest as how overpowered I was.

Edited April 22, 2015 by LadyCrimson
Let's not insult others like that please.

[Namutree]

 

Sometimes I don't know why the Codex bothers reviewing anything, as they seem to like about four games made in the late 20th Century.

 

 

Mask of the Betrayer was released in the 21th century you piece of ****.

Now go and read that review on the Codex, learn the traits that makes a game great and educate yourself before spewing moronic remarks just to extract yourself from facing the harsh reality regarding this game. 

Calm down.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Namutree

[Loki_N81]

Give Roxor a dumb**** Tag already, he surely deserves it...

[archangel979]

The review reveals all the problems that I have been noticing in my 100+ hour play on Hard (not done yet) but they have not be bothering me as much as the reviewer. I would still like them all to be improved.

[gkathellar]

 

Sometimes I don't know why the Codex bothers reviewing anything, as they seem to like about four games made in the late 20th Century.

 

Mask of the Betrayer was released in the 21th century you piece of ****.

Now go and read that review on the Codex, learn the traits that makes a game great and educate yourself before spewing moronic remarks just to extract yourself from facing the harsh reality regarding this game.

 

ITP: "What? You disagree with me? Obviously you must be ignorant slime! Revise your opinion, now! I command it!"

[Stun]

will leave the rest, but we thought that were funny... 'cause nobody who had ever played pnp d&d, or most any d&d crpg game, ever would have been stymied by bg2 trolls... which, btw, were in iwd (a black isle game) first outta the ie games.

 

unforeseeable immunities or defenses is jackarse stoopid. HA! Good Fun!

The example Luckman gave was NOT about unforeseeable immunities or defences. Was it, Gromnir. It was about Trolls. Specifically, trolls in the IE games...who won't die unless you use the fire and acid equipment that those games flood you with in the beginning of the very same dungeon/area where you encounter them.. BG2 even takes it a step further, throwing NPCs and load screens in your face who's only in-game purpose is to bark out instructions, like: "Make sure you use fire or acid on those trolls, or they'll get up again, Player!" Edited April 22, 2015 by Stun

[Shadenuat]

Well IWD forgot to add loading screen with "Don't forget to buff your party before fight, Player!", and look what happened.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Okay, I now have a quest I can't complete. And it will stay in my journal through to the end of the game.

 

 

 

I finished Act 2 and then went back to Od Nua and got the last component of the Blade of the Endless Paths.

 

Now that I have all the components I can't forge the blade. As I can't get to Dunstan in First Fires to forge the blade.

 

Because the entire map of Defiance Bay is now closed off.

 

 

 

GG Obsidian.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Okay, I now have a quest I can't complete. And it will stay in my journal through to the end of the game.

 

 

 

I finished Act 2 and then went back to Od Nua and got the last component of the Blade of the Endless Paths.

 

Now that I have all the components I can't forge the blade. As I can't get to Dunstan in First Fires to forge the blade.

 

Because the entire map of Defiance Bay is now closed off.

 

 

 

GG Obsidian.

 

It opened back up for me when I reached twin elms

 

[Ineth]

 

Okay, I now have a quest I can't complete. And it will stay in my journal through to the end of the game.

 

 

 

I finished Act 2 and then went back to Od Nua and got the last component of the Blade of the Endless Paths.

 

Now that I have all the components I can't forge the blade. As I can't get to Dunstan in First Fires to forge the blade.

 

Because the entire map of Defiance Bay is now closed off.

 

 

 

GG Obsidian.

 

It opened back up for me when I reached twin elms

 

 

Yep. And even if that wasn't the case, it would be a rather petty thing to complain about.

Not being able to complete a sidequest because you already moved on with the main story line and can't get back, is pretty normal in RPGs.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Thanks KP. Seriously, why couldn't that NPC be outside of Defiance Bay on the bridge map with a makeshift smithy? I know for any future playthroughs, I'll get the components and see Dunstan before finishing Act 2.

[b0rsuk]

Okay, I now have a quest I can't complete. And it will stay in my journal through to the end of the game.

 

 

 

I finished Act 2 and then went back to Od Nua and got the last component of the Blade of the Endless Paths.

 

Now that I have all the components I can't forge the blade. As I can't get to Dunstan in First Fires to forge the blade.

 

Because the entire map of Defiance Bay is now closed off.

 

 

 

GG Obsidian.

 

 

You are wrong.