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Fantastical Thoughts On RPG Game Mechanics in Avernum 4
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #22
I wish this thread were in General so that people would actually read it.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
G5 wishlist. in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #234
quote:
Originally written by Taliesin:

quote:
With great power comes great responsibility. - Uncle Ben, from Spiderman
You have to admit the Shapers understand this principle well, whether their complaining subjects do or not.

Do they? Whenever something goes wrong, their standard procedure seems to be to lock it up, forget about it and hope it doesn't get out.

[ Saturday, October 27, 2007 22:20: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
best creation combos for lifecrafter in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #1
For my money, the best army for a canister-free purist is nothing but Wingbolts. Sure, some enemies resist their attacks, but most things that strongly resist magic attack with magic themselves (which Wingbolts strongly resist), so you're not really at a disadvantage except against Eyebeasts, Glaahks, Unstable Firebolts and maybe a couple of other rare enemies -- and when you've got seven Wingbolts, even those will die after enough hits.

[ Saturday, October 27, 2007 22:16: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
What have you been reading lately? in General
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #571
quote:
Originally written by Dintiradan:

The Fabric of Reality, by David Deutsch.
I'm not sure how much of it is the book itself and how much is Wikipedia, but that book looks pretty terrible. Then again, I'm of the opinion that Popper is the most overrated philosopher of science of the 20th century, so I would say that.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Fantastical Thoughts On RPG Game Mechanics in Avernum 4
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #18
quote:
Originally written by Yama Toman?:

One easy way to make that work is to only fight monsters, i.e., creatures that don't wield weapons. This has been done at least twice in a quality RPG (Dungeon Master) and it's fairly reasonable for claws et al. to never kill you in one hit if you're wearing at least a little bit of armor.
True enough, perhaps, but it would seem to limit the kinds of stories that could be told in that system. Plot and character interaction are not exactly the Dungeon Master games' strong suit. (Also, for games that have no logical need to kill you swiftly, they're remarkably good at, well, killing you swiftly. But that's a feature specific to those games.)

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Fantastical Thoughts On RPG Game Mechanics in Avernum 4
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #16
quote:
Originally written by Synergy:

Are we really such singular, savage, bloodthirsty brutes that the only kind of fun we can imagine involves endless, regurgitations of numbing slaughter, where there are no real consequences for our choices? Then South Park is right. Our imaginations have been held hostage.
Now hang on a minute there. The reason we were all talking about combat is because you started the topic by talking about combat mechanics. If you're now saying that what you want is not redesigned combat but less combat and more things other than combat, then that's a separate issue. Don't try and paint us all as brutes because we participated in the discussion that you started.

I'd respond to some of your points in greater detail, but, well, I'm not sure exactly what you're arguing for any more. One day you seem to be advocating a tactical wargame, the next you want an RPG that de-emphasises the role of combat in driving the plot, perhaps along the lines of Planescape: Torment. With apologies to Matt Groening, it seems like you want a realistic, down-to-earth game that's completely off-the-wall and swarming with magic robots.

[ Saturday, October 27, 2007 05:31: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Fantastical Thoughts On RPG Game Mechanics in Avernum 4
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #12
quote:
Originally written by Student of Trinity:

If you want realistic simulations of medieval combat, you're looking at a very different type of game, not a revision of FRPGs. Short of that, the goal is not realism but fun. Suspension of disbelief is an important ingredient in fun, to be sure, but you can achieve that just by changing how you think about the game. Whereas the mechanics changes Synergy suggests would, I think, make a game that was outright infuriating.
I dunno. X-COM: UFO Defense is one of the greatest squad-based tactical games of all time, and it has quite a few of the gameplay elements Synergy would like. It sounds like what Synergy wants is basically a fantasy-themed version of that. It does require a certain change in player attitudes, though: for example, trying to keep all your original characters alive ends up being counterproductive, so the player has to accept a certain level of PC death and turnover as a matter of course.

I agree that it's a very different type of game from traditional RPGs. I don't think a game where you're expected to finish the game with the same four to six characters that you started with can plausibly coexist with a world where one well-placed hit can be fatal.

[ Wednesday, October 24, 2007 16:56: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Book or Movie? in General
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #62
quote:
Originally written by Zeviz:

This is an effect in psychology, but I don't remember its name. (Where is Thuryl with his Wiki links when you need them. :) )
I'm not sure if it's quite confirmation bias, but it's certainly related to confirmation bias.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
insufficient arrows on laptop keyboard in The Avernum Trilogy
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #13
If all else fails, I guess you could invest in a USB numeric keypad.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
The Political Compass (Armed and Dangerous) in General
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #44
Because I didn't see his second post when I first replied.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
The Political Compass (Armed and Dangerous) in General
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #42
quote:
Originally written by I'll Steal Your Toast:

I would like to take the test with these questions thrown out...
I agree some of the questions seem a little extreme, but I don't see a problem with all of the ones you listed. (Besides, how can you distinguish an extremist from a moderate except by asking a few extreme questions?)

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There is now a worrying fusion of information and entertainment.
Well, the question is whether it's worrying. If making information entertaining means people are inspired to learn more, isn't that a good thing?

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All people have their rights, but it is better for all of us that different sorts of people should keep to their own kind.
Take a straw poll of your neighbourhood and I wouldn't be surprised if a majority of people answered "yes" to this.

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The businessperson and the manufacturer are more important than the writer and the artist.
What's wrong with this question? I had to think for a little while before deciding how to answer it. (I ended up disagreeing, for much the same reason you did.)

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Charity is better than social security as a means of helping the genuinely disadvantaged.
There are plenty of conservatives who believe this, even if you and I don't.

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Pornography, depicting consenting adults, should be legal for the adult population.
Again, plenty of people disagree with this -- especially if you make the reasonable interpretation that it's asking whether you think all pornography depicting consenting adults should be legal. (Quite a lot of it isn't in most countries.)

[ Friday, October 12, 2007 21:21: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Book or Movie? in General
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #9
The movie isn't always better than the book; sometimes, it's the reverse. Who even remembers that Jurassic Park was originally a book? (2001: A Space Odyssey is another example, but it was written specifically with the intent of making it into a movie, so it doesn't really count.)

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Need Opinion: Graphics in Blades of Avernum
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #1
There's a little too much green in that brown, methinks, and not enough red and yellow.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
The Political Compass (Armed and Dangerous) in General
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #11
L/R: -5.12
A/L: -5.95

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
A Contest Idea in Blades of Avernum
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #4
Guess I might have to port Hunted! to BoA after all.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
equipment fails totally in Tech Support
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #1
I think the stat bonuses do have an effect; it's just that you don't see them on your stat screen. This was changed in G4 so that displayed stats include bonuses.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
I miss Exile. in Avernum 4
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #18
quote:
Originally written by LakiRa@:

Games shouldn't be judget by their graphick.If its not good enough or if you arren't used to it, it should be judget by how much is it fun to play and nothing else.If the game is fun to play you won't mind the graphicks and other minor stuff.
quote:
Originally written by LakiRa@:

Arent Exile graphick like pre-historical?I tried to play Exile but couldnt stand the graphick and the gameplay so I quited quite early in the game.
Objection, your honour! There is a contradiction in the witness' testimony!

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Return of the Admiration of Evil Poll in Blades of Avernum
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #19
quote:
Originally written by Lenar:

The U-Vote Designer Villain score:
This evaluation of popularity is derived by totalling all votes in this poll for a designer's villains, and dividing that by the number of villains by that designer available in this poll.
The UVDVS is measured in Votes-per-villain.

TM wishes to express his opinion that this metric is unfair: since it isn't possible for a voter to vote for every villain, designers are effectively punished for making more villains.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Avernum 4 Observations in Avernum 4
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #36
An easy way to give humans an advantage would be to let humans start with up to three traits instead of two (or let nephilim and sliths have only one trait), but that might shift the balance too far in the other direction.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Does life imitate art? in General
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #9
Heh, World Builder. That's a name I haven't thought about in a while.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Sputnik in General
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #33
quote:
Originally written by Stillness:

If you're going to compare apples-to-apples then go with what did happen during the cold war, not what could have happened...unless you're comparing stress levels. I think it's at least as high now - probably higher. I think this world is more uneasy.
If you want to talk about what actually happened, how about the dozens of proxy wars between nations allied to the US and nations allied to the Soviets, each killing hundreds of thousands of people? Wars on the scale of Iraq erupted once every year or two, and larger ones came every decade or so.

[ Friday, October 05, 2007 21:51: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Avernum 4 Observations in Avernum 4
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #9
quote:
Originally written by Iffy will bring you warm fuzziness.:

Whey did you remove some (a lot) of the graphics in the first place?
Because scaling up the graphics from previous Avernum games would have made them look ugly, that's why.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Geneforge IV Survey in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #33
Actually, that's not impossible. Puresteel is highly purified steel that's been infused with essence; it's possible that the process of using a canister uses up the essence, meaning that the steel that was left would just be ordinary high-quality steel.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
I have glasses. in General
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #42
quote:
Originally written by Student of Trinity:

My dad told me he once met someone who claimed to have 20/10 vision, which I think is possible but near the limit for humans. The guy was a fighter pilot (for the RCAC people here: a CF-18), so that would make sense.
I've heard reports of trackers in hunter-gatherer societies with 80/20 vision (or 20/5, if you prefer). I can't vouch for their accuracy, though.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Radiance & Vampiric Touch in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
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Member # 869
Profile Homepage #7
Also, if you attack an undead with vampiric equipment on, I believe you take small amounts of damage instead of being healed.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00

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