tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post5229277573251769992..comments2024-03-29T02:34:55.592-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: The Kingdom of Syree: AcceptanceCRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-60749075983514415302019-06-04T22:16:10.136-04:002019-06-04T22:16:10.136-04:00So I’m religious myself, so I don’t mind if a game...So I’m religious myself, so I don’t mind if a game is informed by religious ideas, but I think it has to be done well. Having a spell cause you to die and be reborn fits that, for me. Subtle, interesting. But breaking the fourth wall to call on the player to read the Bible, particularly when such calls are so strongly associated with preaching, does not. <br /><br />You can use real world religious ideas to add fascinating depth to a game, causing thoughtful introspection long after the game is over. Both our friend CRPGAddict and myself were strongly influenced by the Virtues of Ultima, for instance, which presented ideals of conduct in a way that invited contemplation by the player as much as the character. Ultima, at least in that era, did this well.<br /><br /><br />Syree was not doing badly in this area, themes were handled with some subtlety, but the 4th wall breaking John quote was an unexpected cudgel. Ryan Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18063361293476758622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-20665294201772662952019-06-04T00:03:37.690-04:002019-06-04T00:03:37.690-04:00Larian is a Belgian studio and I don't believe...Larian is a Belgian studio and I don't believe has any former Baldur's Gate folks on-board -- Chris Avellone has done some consulting for them but I think that's about the only link to the old Bioware/Black Isle lineage. You might be thinking of Beamdog, who's done the enhanced editions of the old IE games -- they do have a few Bioware vets on staff.tetrapodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04736532124472617151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-47848209370744883832019-06-03T14:26:21.882-04:002019-06-03T14:26:21.882-04:00The spell that kills the character is used to ente...The spell that kills the character is used to enter the "Valley of Haunts." There may be some connection there with dying and being born again (John 3:3), although since another character tells you more explicitly what you need to do (and where to do it), sending the player to the Bible isn't strictly necessary. CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-10741832830975748392019-06-02T18:37:16.431-04:002019-06-02T18:37:16.431-04:00The biggest difference I recall about BG vs Diablo...The biggest difference I recall about BG vs Diablo is BG was like an epic RPG tale, and diablo was like an arcade game with some rpg elements.<br /><br />I still remember a party-member betrayal from BG... And memorable characters. Story, characters, strong story. <br /><br />I worry about a BG sequel. Wasteland 2 was a letdown, personally...mtysonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-79033335776198910782019-06-01T20:17:49.853-04:002019-06-01T20:17:49.853-04:00What if there is a link between the Gospel quote a...What if there is a link between the Gospel quote and the spell that kills the character? You probably need one more element to complete (or disprove) the puzzle.Abacosnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-14041366977096318052019-06-01T18:47:42.304-04:002019-06-01T18:47:42.304-04:00I'd say there's a bit of a difference betw...I'd say there's a bit of a difference between just quoting the Bible and explicitly telling the player to read a certain part of itTwibathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11872080022551062309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-83010443469124219842019-06-01T15:22:33.123-04:002019-06-01T15:22:33.123-04:00In Diablo the range of stats was greater. For exa...In Diablo the range of stats was greater. For example, +1 to armor was almost unnoticeable. So a piece of armor would have a range for each stat it could have. So instead of +5 AC with a +1 bonus, it would have +50 to +70 armor. Including for magical bonuses. And it would have a quality bonus with around five levels. So even if you found the exact same piece of armor the stats would be different on each piece. Missing just a single stat off of being perfect (best in all stats) would affect the value to other players by a significant amount.Drawdenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-77576838189009162062019-06-01T14:27:01.783-04:002019-06-01T14:27:01.783-04:00My pedantry compels me to note that such an assump...My pedantry compels me to note that such an assumption is belied by how common it is for modern writers to make grammatical errors while correcting other people’s grammar.Halligan39https://www.blogger.com/profile/06660360026558547112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-86207362240781176522019-06-01T14:17:30.703-04:002019-06-01T14:17:30.703-04:00Those tables still exist, but the effects they pro...Those tables still exist, but the effects they produce are both stronger and more different than the array of small differences possible in a Diablo-Esque loot system, where the wider variety of strengths and types of bonuses coupled with the more complicated system make determining the actual strength of one item versus another problematic to say the least.Halligan39https://www.blogger.com/profile/06660360026558547112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-57213244715586390962019-06-01T13:27:19.691-04:002019-06-01T13:27:19.691-04:00A character was quoting scripture to decry hypocri...A character was quoting scripture to decry hypocrites. The Bible is such a part of our culture it’s little different than a developer having a character quote Shakespeare. I hardly see this as preaching. Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16946742995687817751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-50062781293636970202019-06-01T01:39:03.976-04:002019-06-01T01:39:03.976-04:00There's an Android game called Lowlander that ...There's an Android game called Lowlander that does a pretty good job of it.Iffy Bonzooliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07519858732154180575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-73296633101569458292019-05-31T22:13:05.659-04:002019-05-31T22:13:05.659-04:00Ah, that makes sense. Ah, that makes sense. Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16946742995687817751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-12190414789528431492019-05-31T21:19:22.024-04:002019-05-31T21:19:22.024-04:00While I don't know about 4E or 5E (I've sw...While I don't know about 4E or 5E (I've switched to GURPS for most of my tabletop gaming these days), D&D was fully capable of a Diablo-style loot system as far back as the original release. Quite literally Diablo-like - the originial booklets contained a set of tables to randomly generate magical swords.Gnomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13920812227941556716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-33370178298548255862019-05-31T18:20:36.614-04:002019-05-31T18:20:36.614-04:00On that note, "MAVETH" is Hebrew for &qu...On that note, "MAVETH" is Hebrew for "death".Stillqnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-70580359232828400432019-05-31T17:50:18.035-04:002019-05-31T17:50:18.035-04:00Thanks for noting this. The spell names all seemed...Thanks for noting this. The spell names all seemed annoyingly familiar in some way, but I didn't realize they were consistently Greek.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-50011278047582951542019-05-31T17:49:24.206-04:002019-05-31T17:49:24.206-04:00In retrospect, I think Basilikos Mnemeion is the n...In retrospect, I think <i>Basilikos Mnemeion</i> is the name of the location, not one of the kings buried there.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-58117663615672477392019-05-31T17:48:00.365-04:002019-05-31T17:48:00.365-04:00Yeah, my further research into the creator suggest...Yeah, my further research into the creator suggests a certain evangelical orientation.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-14211629105968980452019-05-31T17:25:51.142-04:002019-05-31T17:25:51.142-04:00I wish there was a way to up-vote posts.I wish there was a way to up-vote posts.mtysonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-3048765037492725712019-05-31T16:51:07.365-04:002019-05-31T16:51:07.365-04:00D&D style loot has little randomization- speci...D&D style loot has little randomization- specific items do specific things. A +1 Longsword always deals 1d8+1 damage, a sword named "Evilslayer" might deal 1d8 extra damage to evil foes, and it always has this effect. <br /><br />Diablo style loot has a lot of randomized stats. No two helmets have the same numbers, and figuring out which differences are meaningful and which ones are useless is part of the metagame. I don't remember Divinity Original Sin going *too* hard on that, compared to an actual Diablo game, but it did have significant randomization, which made the loot feel less unique. It's definitely NOT 5e style.<br /><br />That said, the main difference between old D&D and 5E's loot system is that you get a lot less of it. Less coins, less stuff to use coins on, and you even have a limit on the number of magical items you can equip- 3 items total. I suppose this is meant to keep minmaxing down, but in reality I've found it just leads to players keeping the items with the highest stat bonuses and tossing the rest. Regardless of my personal critiques towards the system, it's generally supposed to de-emphasize loot hunting, and I'm not sure that would be a great fit for a video game.Maplehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01125740523827661666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-10193888672266381872019-05-31T16:24:08.005-04:002019-05-31T16:24:08.005-04:00yeah but isn't larian a lot of the old origina...yeah but isn't larian a lot of the old original BG people?stmpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-13084333550577664912019-05-31T16:19:54.105-04:002019-05-31T16:19:54.105-04:00My pedantry compels me to note that anyone who act...My pedantry compels me to note that anyone who actually goes to the trouble of using Old English (the language of the Venerable Bede) or Middle English (the language of Geoffrey Chaucer), which are what was spoken in mediæval England, seems likely to do so more or less correctly :)<br /><br />What people routinely abuse to create that "mediæval" feel is Early Modern English - the language of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and the King James Bible.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-21289729397671386802019-05-31T15:53:49.807-04:002019-05-31T15:53:49.807-04:00People were just trying to sound medieval. Nobody...People were just trying to sound medieval. Nobody was using grammatically correct Old English. If anyone did, it would probably be unreadable to modern English speakers, like that sentence you just typed. Harlandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-58651053461881900422019-05-31T14:59:59.232-04:002019-05-31T14:59:59.232-04:00Never mind. Should have read the screenshots. Yeah...Never mind. Should have read the screenshots. Yeah, that was preaching.Ryan Jonesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-90778165466466552992019-05-31T14:57:13.061-04:002019-05-31T14:57:13.061-04:00I didn't catch a John quote, unless you are re...I didn't catch a John quote, unless you are referring to the white blocks in front of the tombs, which is kind of subtle. I think you are right, though- the game's creator had definitely been exposed to biblical languages, and probably in a religious context. Not so sure about the preaching to the player aspect, though, or at least, not any more than Ultima itself did. Ryan Jonesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-52690273979508441422019-05-31T14:54:56.162-04:002019-05-31T14:54:56.162-04:00There is a kickstarter for one called Skald RPG. I...There is a kickstarter for one called Skald RPG. It looks similar.Inebrushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06034088229996129697noreply@blogger.com