Best posts made by Tempest

@auspice said in General Video Game Thread:

I've tried playing the first Dragon Age so many times. In theory, it should totally be my kind of game... But I just can't. It doesn't capture me at all.

Same. I have played through about half of it a couple times. Something about it just doesn't click. IDK what it is.

If Morrigan wasn't a 10/10 character, I probably wouldn't have tried so hard.

I really enjoyed Inquisition, aside from all of the characters being god awful trash heaps (except Cassandra and the Iron Bull guy).

Looking forward to hearing more about this new SAGA game mentioned.

I tried DoD (and its predecessor) so many times, but there was always this overwhelming feeling of being a nobody, something I've never really felt on a WoD game, even when I make a new 10xp newb on a game where the Prince and Primogen Council are all PCs and have 100+ xp.

On the SAGA games there was always this sense of 'eh a new person, who cares, even if you started at level 8, we have these level 12 people who are /massively/ better than you, have all the plots designed around them, and they have no use for you because they can do everything themselves.' I can make a completely useless vampire on a VtR game and somebody will probably still want me around for something or other, even if it's just as a sacrificial pawn.

I have to admit, I love the John Wick movies and the world they built. But.

But.

I feel like none of it really 'works' without John Wick. The fact that he's this 'legendary badass' known across the world in all these assassin-haven hotels/shops/etc is a huge part of what makes any of it interesting, imo.

I think I remember seeing something about a spinoff in the universe with some chick (maybe I imagined this?), and it definitely didn't catch my attention, because of what I just said.

Pretty sure a cinematic.

ETA : I'm not even sure that's from the game at all, to be completely honest.

@WildBaboons said in Is there a niche for Urban Fantasy that isn't WoD or FC-based?:

And used/uses Fate which is unliked around these parts for some reason.

Personally, I just prefer a little more 'uniformity' if I'm actually going to go to the trouble of using a game system.

A Fate 'sheet' basically boils down to what stuff did staff let you get away with putting on your sheet and how creatively can you "work" the system.

At that point, I'd rather just play Supernaturals who have character trait writeups like it was a comicbook game.

@Three-Eyed-Crow said in High Fantasy:

@WildBaboons said in High Fantasy:

I had grand plans for a WoT MuSh using a slightly modified version of DF RPG. It fit so very well... but then realized I just don't have the time for that sort of endeavor, but it'd work! Especially for elemental based magic

I'd play the hell out of that. I always felt like the setting worked very well as a MUSH (maybe better than it worked as a series of dramatic novels). There used to be a decent audience for WoT games and I suspect it's still out there.

I'd love to see a WoT game somewhere. That isn't a MUD where you have to write essays of solo-RP to get to be an Aes Sedai.

White Ajah 4ever.

I think you'd be best off setting the game in the middle of the books and just have the "heroes" off screen somewhere away doing their thing while PCs do something else.

There's the risk of dying from cancer induced by how many bad players would want to play terrible "secret black ajah sisters", but I think it'd be worth the risk.

Thanks, peeps. Will probably pick Odyssey up.

In other news, wow this Spider-Man game is amazing as hell. I know it's largely just a reskin of the Batman games with added old-school 'find the vantage point' Assassin's Creed mechanics, but jesus christ. It seems perfect so far, and fighting as Spidey feels so FLUID it's crazy.

Red Dead Redemption 2...feels like it has a lot of potential, but it also feels kind of...tedious. Not sure I'm going to like it. I hate the inventory systems and the lack of fast travel makes me want to cry (I know you can unlock fast travel later, but oof). They went a little too "realistic" with some of the gameplay mechanics, is my impression so far.

Those two and 'robot-hunter girl' are my library atm. I haven't tried the hunter girl thing yet. (I always forget the name of that game.) Was only 20$ so grabbed that, tho.

Just a random note, if a spoiler is the first thing in the post, you can see the like first 10 words or something (i didn't count) of a spoiler in the 'post preview' thing when browsing the forum.

Setting the game 'outside' of the timeline of the books is a nice idea, but yeah I think you run into the problem of no Aiel/Ashaman/Seanchan, but also the problem of "less going on". It has been a while since I read the books, but wasn't stuff pre-books pretty quiet generic slice of life type setting?

"Place" in WoT is easily rendered a moot subject by making Travelling a thing. Most characters will either BE channelers, or probably closely tied to one. You could do small 5 room grids for multiple cities and the White Tower, etc rather than one big 30 room grid of Caemlyn. One city would work, but just a thought.

As for 'system', I have no idea, TBH. But, related - I will say that from my stint on a WoT MUD, players all want to be OMFG GOD TIER CHANNELER (yes, we're all surprised, aren't we?). Almost nobody wants to be the person who 'isn't even strong enough in the one power to Travel'. On the RP MUD I played, I actually wanted my AS to be just strong enough to Travel, and still wound up being the 'weakest' person around.

So there probably needs to be a way to measure that stuff, because otherwise it's pretty vague. 'Can you Travel or not' is the only real benchmark of power I recall off the top of my head.

If you can get over the frothing at the mouth about the absurd grind to unlock cosmetics, Mortal Kombat is pretty amazing. The story mode is nothing amazing, but it's definitely as entertaining as any cheesy action movie, if not more so. I spent probably 5-6 hours in it and I'm only a little past half way, I think, and I was at least entertained the whole way so far, and really enjoyed a few parts. Which is pretty rare for a fighting game, generally.

This game has somehow made me like Johnny Cage when I always thought he was annoying douche before.

Ignoring the grind for cosmetics, you can, from my foray into things, get at least 1 good skin for your preferred characters that is distinctly different from their base skins (which good god was super important for Kitana and Skarlet), from things like....You get 'normal human' Kitana in story mode. You get a NOT Tusken Raider Skarlet from her tutorial. Etc.

The graphics and mechanics and just...general 'fun level' of playing put Soul Calibur and DoA to shame, I think. Can't comment on Street Fighter or Tekken, haven't played their recent editions.

The Tower of Time bits are a little absurd. Fighting in a whole tower of characters who have 2x your hp, or have a MvC-esque 'buddy pop-in assist' firing off a special attack every 3 seconds is just not fun. Buuut, if you really want a tower of time reward or something, you can set your character to AI, and I can personally attest that, with the right AI loadout (IE you can set them to favor grapples/combos/zoning/etc), apparently an AI-controlled character has no problem beating ass through those difficulties. Because I am currently doing that while watching youtube.

ETA : From everything I've heard though, I wouldn't get it unless you're getting it on the PS4.

He's no Christian Bale, but Batfleck was perfectly fine with me. Infinitely better than I expected, going into BvS.

Cavill is weird to me. I don't think he's bad for the role....I just think I really, really, really fucking hate Superman as a character in a movie. He just...does not fit, to me. Something about Superman just seems ill-suited to a "realistic" representation, in my mind. He belongs in cartoons.

@BobGoblin said in Wheel of Time MU(SH|X):

Quality control with a bunch of special snowflakes.

And we wonder why our hobby has issues?

It's almost like the hobby is 90% writing and storytelling. Things where quality is very important.

So, Octopath Traveller. I'm usually not a stickler for graphics, but paying full 60$ price for a game that looks on par with SNES Final Fantasy 6 is kinda making me go ehhhh.

Is this the greatest RPG ever story and mechanics wise (I have trouble imagining how much one can do with turn-based rpg combat) or something?

What is justifying it being full price?

(Also, how similar is this to Saga Frontier? I loved that game.)

On the matter of pokemon, I just got my switch a couple weeks ago and I'll prooobably wind up getting pokemon when it comes out, but since I haven't played since like..Ruby(?), I have some questions.

First, I will probably always have a soft spot for the gen 1 pokemon. Vulpix, Growlithe, Krabby, Jolteon, Abra, etcetc. I'm sure some of the new critters will grow on me, buuut....

Is it even possible to get old pokemon still in the newer games? If they are...Are they actually catchable in the game, or would you have to like...trade them across 7 different pokemon games/systems to get from gen 2 to gen 6?

(Tangent, related question, if there are more than just 'current gen' wouldn't that mean they'd have to have images/etc built into the game for EVERY POKEMON EVER? That seems like a lot.)

Second question, if you bought both versions (Sword and Shield) would you be able to trade to yourself, or would you also need a 2nd Switch from somewhere?

Idly, back on other books. Just recently read the first 4 books in Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle series and they were pretty great. Along the lines of your typical Wheel of Time-y Fantasy sort of stuff kind of but with some unique representations that I haven't seen done before. The ending of Book 3 made me want to slap somebody, but in a good way. Went out and spent 30$ on Book 4 (which is still relatively new I guess and only in hardcover), when I pretty much just always buy paperback. (I can't do the e-reading. Give me a fking book pls.)

If anybody has any Fantasy series to recommend, lemme hear 'em.

@WTFE

I've never seen anything remotely close to that in regards to metaplot on a MUSH. Maybe I've just been lucky.

On a MUD, sure. On Firan, probably.

Metaplot on a MUSH is, in my experience, pretty easy to ignore, if it even exists in the first place.

That staff behavior honestly sounds almost exactly like some run-ins I had with various MUD staffers over the years. Like. Exactly.

MUD staff is definitely prone to "OMG YOU WILL PARTICIPATE IN THIS STORY I WROTE (AND IS ENTIRELY SCRIPTED ALREADY) AND ACKNOWLEDGE IT IS THE BEST THING EVER OR ELSE THERE WILL BE ACTUAL MECHANICAL SETBACKS FOR YOU AND THE ENTIRE GAME". I've never seen anything remotely like that on a MUSH, unless you count Firan (I wouldn't).

Makes me wonder, did this Castle Marrach staff hide behind anonymity? IE no record of who they played and they generally wouldn't even say which staffer was making decisions or doing things in-game that affected players?

I'm sure a lot of people here are going to balk at the idea, but I kinda sorta got into Destiny 2 for like 3 months earlier this year (got bored with it, as is standard for me with MMOs), and I felt like as a game, it had one of the best soundtracks I've experienced in a long while.

'Journey' and its accompaniment of one of the first story missions is one of the most perfect bits of story/music/gameplay I've ever had the pleasure of playing through.

Just the music.

Actual HUD-less playthrough of the story mission. Skipped the first 2 minutes or so to get closer to when the music starts.

@Taika said in Making Territory Relevent:

So what makes territory valuable, and what balances it?

IMO, npc's have to be involved. Because staff has to be directly involved in who gets what, and NPCs make it the easiest way to do that.

If it's a vampire game, the entire city belongs to the NPC Prince. Maybe a subsection or two of the city is regarded as being under some other NPC's purview and they can 'approve' you for territory in that area. You don't get to claim territory without somebody's permission or you are stealing from the Prince/whoever.

Players should have to participate in the game to get territory. Do a favor for the Prince. Help with some bit of plot that's happening.

Not "oh there's a free spot here, I take it now, thanks". That's boring and leads to players feeling entitled to have territory rather than it being something they have to earn.

Also I disagree with @Ganymede. Territory doesn't even need any sort of resources to be regarded as valuable. All my experience with MUers says that people being able to go "this spot is MINE!" or getting introduced at Court as "Regent of XYZ Neighborhood" is more than enough to incentivize players to want territory.

Fire Emblem is amazing so far (I’m not very far into it). Really liking what they’ve done to get away from the same old same old FE mechanics. The new class system seems pretty cool.

It’s really strange to see how well the “daily life” mechanics of Persona + Trails of Cold Steel /etc keep you engaged.

Which, on that note, it definitely feels like Fire Emblem: Trails of Cold Steel edition so far. Which is a compliment.

@arkandel

Marvel not taking itself seriously and doing it well is Marvel at its best.

GOTG2 might be my favorite movie since 2000, nevermind my favorite 'comic movie'.

Super excited for Thor. Probably wait till next weekend tho. I like empty movie theaters.