Torment Torment: Tides of Numenera Thread

[Lacrymas]

MRY, provide.

MMmyes, dance for our enjoyment, puppet.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

People who claim to have read everything in 10 hours are either skimming or simply skipping, but are afraid to admit that in public. That's all there is to it. Even the very fast readers don't go above certain thresholds that would be required to blow through 400k words in 10 hours, for example reading twice than average reader would likely put you at near the very peak of human ability to process information, but that's still only 600, maybe 700 words per minute.

Also, "speed reading" is not a thing, in case someone was wondering. I've been to a course once and what they actually teach there is skimming, because apparently some people need to be taught how to skim a page of text quickly, just like they needed to be taught their a-b-c's.

 

[Pirata Alma Negra]

Can't think why people are comparing it to the old game referenced in the KS, but damned unfair regardless

Maybe cause they made 4 millions based solely on this premise.

 

[Ivan]

It was the Gold Tidal Mere. You are a sick old person dying from the Iron Wind. Starts with you looking out a window at the ocean.

yeah, I somewhow missed that one. where do you pick it up?

 

[Kem0sabe]

People who claim to have read everything in 10 hours are either skimming or simply skipping, but are afraid to admit that in public. That's all there is to it. Even the very fast readers don't go above certain thresholds that would be required to blow through 400k words in 10 hours, for example reading twice than average reader would likely put you at near the very peak of human ability to process information, but that's still only 600, maybe 700 words per minute.

Also, "speed reading" is not a thing, in case someone was wondering. I've been to a course once and what they actually teach there is skimming, because apparently some people need to be taught how to skim a page of text quickly, just like they needed to be taught their a-b-c's.

No one reads absolutely everything, theres so much filler in the game that I bet they counted the different responses you get when you ask the same question as extra words, when the vast majority of them amount to a diferent way of saying "I already told you that " or "fuck off".

 

[MRY]

anduin Working in OEI again would be like putting back on my sweaty gym clothes after a shower. It was tolerable to work in it when I was in the zone, but I've been out of it for months. Plus, I really feel obliged to focus on Fallen Gods and other projects that I've neglected too long. Finally, I'm not sure why you think adding another area to the game would address any of the Codex's concerns with it. The complaints I've seen would be better addressed by focusing on some mechanical elements (crises, effort), perhaps another writing pass on a few spots (like the ending). I don't know if the Codex's diagnosis is right or wrong, but adding a new area would be an odd sort of medicine.

Ivan I don't know, I can Google it though. One sec. [EDIT: It appears to be the "Circulating Merecaster" which you get from reading 20 tombstones, which means that any consequences it has in Sagus Cliffs would not apply.] Incidentally, Loyhan Stolls's book has a little more background on what was going on in the tidal meres.

 

[FeelTheRads]

The game needs an editing pass all over, not only in a few spots.

I still rage at the way the narrator is handled.

 

[Lacrymas]

Finally, I'm not sure why you think adding another area to the game would address any of the Codex's concerns with it. The complaints I've seen would be better addressed by focusing on some mechanical elements (crises, effort), perhaps another writing pass on a few spots (like the ending). I don't know if the Codex's diagnosis is right or wrong, but adding a new area would be an odd sort of medicine.

That's cute and curiously optimistic. For it to even come close to any serious attempt at narrative coherency (and narrative in general, not only in the "main" storyline, but all over), it would require a total writing overhaul, with an editor this time, which won't happen.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Just checked it on Steam. The game now has MIXED reviews and all of the most helpful ones are negative.

Serves em right.

 

[MRY]

It would be inherently unproductive for inXile to try to adjust the game so that the critics on the Codex liked it, since, as you note, these critics want a complete overhaul of the text. It would not be inherently unproductive to listen to Codexian criticisms of specific mechanical aspects of the game or individual significant inflection points of the plot. If those criticisms were apt (which I really can't judge for myself), there might be some productive way to address them. Anyway, I doubt there's much I can do on this score since (1) I don't have time and (2) I'm not a mechanics kind of guy. But it's very flattering.

I think the best use of my time would be writing a novelization of the game based solely on the impressionistic understanding I have of it from this forum.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

GamesRadar stream with Colin and Gavin, not sure if this was posted.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/127561384

 

[GloomFrost]

Oh man!! I have just remembered that Wizardry 6-8 have setting just as unique, fantasy plus sci-fi technology staff, space travel, weird creatures and magic, good plot and characters minus gays, feminists and transgenders BUT with of one the best party building and combat in the genre. Oh and you even have an ability to read thoughts there also haha!

 

[MRY]

GamesRadar stream with Colin and Gavin, not sure if this was posted.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/127561384

I like hearing the background story at 8:20.

 

[Lurker King]

Avellone made two companions, but the only thing he tried to implement (a mental dungeon) was cut.

MCA said here in that he didn't want to be Lead Writer at Obsidian anymore, and we don't know why he ended up only doing 2 companions..

What he didn't want was to be just a writer, but a developer. Which makes sense if you think about it. This difference between writers and developers is idiotic.

 

[Lacrymas]

It would be inherently unproductive for inXile to try to adjust the game so that the critics on the Codex liked it, since, as you note, these critics want a complete overhaul of the text. It would not be inherently unproductive to listen to Codexian criticisms of specific mechanical aspects of the game or individual significant inflection points of the plot. If those criticisms were apt (which I really can't judge for myself), there might be some productive way to address them. Anyway, I doubt there's much I can do on this score since (1) I don't have time and (2) I'm not a mechanics kind of guy. But it's very flattering.

I think the best use of my time would be writing a novelization of the game based solely on the impressionistic understanding I have of it from this forum.

That's only the text though, it requires even more work for it to become a good RPG as well. It's just a catastrophe all over and I weep tears of all these wasted years. We aren't the only ones criticizing it though, Steam and Metacritic (user reviews) have a Mixed rating, 50ish % of GOG reviews are negative as well. That speaks volumes and it's probably an unmitigated disaster that the InXile blacklisting of the Codex couldn't prevent (stay classy, InXile).

 

[MRY]

Yeah, I think the range of criticism of the game is something that everyone at inXile is aware of. Certainly it is something I'm aware of.

I will say that I have generally found GOG ratings not as useful as Steam reviews, and neither are as useful as substantive discussions like those here or on the GOG or Steam forums. GOG ratings don't require you to own the game, so they are sometimes skewed by public outrage.

 

[Lacrymas]

I meant the written reviews at GOG, I almost never look at the star rating. The only time I did is a few weeks after SoD came out and was surprised that it was 2.5 stars, while the written reviews are pages upon pages of 0 stars. Which strikes me as suspicious.

 

[MRY]

Both the reviews and the ratings can be written without owning the game. For games that aren't lightning rods, that's great, especially for older games, because people can write reviews for games they bought years before GOG even existed. But for games that are lightning rods, the reviews are typically less useful.

I don't really want to debate the legitimacy of particular TTON reviews because I haven't read them. I just don't think even thoughtful reviews are that helpful because they tend to be very generalized. Some basic themes by now seem clear (crises too slow, classes too similar, writing too flowery, effort too easy, etc.) -- reviews can be good for gathering those themes. But in terms of getting specific action items, reviews tend to be too superficial.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

T:TON user ratings themselves are'nt bad at all. GOG is sitting at 4/5 average, Metacritic at 7/10ish, Steam is at 69%, but they're not counting the backers into aggregate, which is just idiotic. Plenty of games have sold great with averages like that.

It's how visible the negative reviews are, that's what's killing them dead I'd imagine. If you open up Steam reviews, you have to go out of your way to even find someone who actually likes this game. People who dislike it may be a minority, but they are apparently pissed off enough to keep upvoting the negative stuff, long after giving up on the game.

But that's the risk you take when making a successor to something of near-sacred status like PS:T. I don't think InXile have any right to complain, yeah the expectations were probably impossible, but it's those expectations exactly that made people throw $5 million at them without asking any questions.

 

[Lacrymas]

MRY, how would they not be superficial then? Someone to write a 300 page critical dissertation, with all the research that entails? It's obviously not worth it, it's enough to just say that narratively (overall, not just main quest) it's a random string of ideas held together with spit, if they are held together at all.

T:TON user ratings themselves are'nt bad at all. GOG is sitting at 4/5 average, Metacritic at 7/10ish, Steam is at 69%, but they're not counting the backers into aggregate, which is just idiotic. Plenty of games have sold great with averages like that.

People here seem to point out that a Mixed rating on Steam is a death sentence, forever doomed to go for cheap on Bundle Stars. I don't know if that's true though.

 

[MRY]

How would they not be superficial then? Someone to write a 300 page critical dissertation, with all the research that entails? It's obviously not worth it, it's enough to just say that narratively (overall, not just main quest) it's a random string of ideas held together with spit, if they are held together at all.

I've seen some pretty long and thoughtful reviews over the years. Darth Roxor's PoE review is probably the best I can think of, but there are probably 10 to 12 positive and negative user reviews of Primordia that I've read on Steam and GOG over the years that I found helpful. But much more helpful in my experience are message threads because usually the way those go is something like: "User 1: Here is something I dislike." "User 2: You're crazy, that's great!" "User 1: You're dumb, here's why." Etc., etc. The conversational/adversarial process tends to clarify and focus.

I don't want to suggest that I think user reviews are worthless. For god's sake, they're the only thing Primordia has to sustain it -- I'd never suggest they be disregarded. And given that I've read every one and tried to reply to most, I don't think they should be overlooked by developers, either. But if I were telling a developer how to better his game, I wouldn't recommend spending hours on the reviews, and I would recommend seeking out more in-depth discussions of the game.

 

[YES!]

Whereas you and your kind of brainless game loving retards were sucking all over the cock of such timeless master pieces as Dungeon Siege while shitting over ToEE for having a couple bugs and not having RTwP combat and being too complicated and not having a fully recruitable party but forced you to think and make a decent party to do well, etc. Then shitting all over Bloodlines for the same nonsensicle bullshit. And this is after all you fucking retards pirated the hell out of Arcanum without even thinking of buying it and trashing the shit out of it. All because you really love rpgs.

It would be nice if retarded kids stopped revising history to fit with their oh-so-hip I post on an rpg site and I am a big shot internal narrative.

You are just a kid with shit taste and fucked up chromosomes. Fuck you. Fuck your toys. Fuck your pokemon. Fuck your Zelda. Fuck your whore mother for raising a man-child. And fuck all of your revisionist histories.


P.S. I know I said I wouldn't be back to this thread but I hate this fucking nobody piece of shit enough to break my word. I just want to kick him in his down-syndromey face until there isn't one.

You seem angry.
You must be going trough a rough patch in your life.
Do you need a hug?
Or maybe you need to talk about your feellings?
Tell us all about your problems. Let it all out.

P.S.: Actually we support real RPG's. 2 are going to come out this year (supossedly). One is called Battle Brothers, the other Grimoire (wich will most likely never be realeased).

You fucking people and your sycophant hivemind. "We support" "We this" "We that"

Battle Brothers is not an rpg. It is a strategy game with rpg elements. The fact this site does not even know the difference between a strategy game and an rpg even though it has Tacticular Cancer proves my point.

You guys should start focusing on your individual selves. Reflect on what YOU like and don't like. Ask yourselves if you actually like rpgs, and if not why do you post on a site with rpg in the name? Because you like belonging to a hive mind of fucking degenerate retards because you feel it gives you some sort of identity?

If you had a cousin who joined a golf club even though he didn't like golf but wanted to belong to a group of fucking idiots wouldn't you think he was weird?

You kids need to grow up and live your life some before becoming internet idiots. Once you're married with kids and your life is a huge pile of shit is when you absolutely need the escapism of the internet. There is no rush. If you don't live a real life you end up being a retarded manchild who still plays with toys and pokemon and masturbating to Sesame Street like you guy's leader Filipeepee or whatever its name is.

Also, Grimoire is a real rpg so only like three people on this site would actually like it.

 

[ga♥]

Colin McComb confirmed in the twitch that the Fifth Eye psychic warriors quest is a tribute to Blue Oyster Cult.

 

[Father Foreskin]

Is this when the people who like tired cliches make the cowbell joke? Somebody inform Brian, maybe he cant put it in the next Bards tale remake.

 

[HeatEXTEND]

But that's the risk you take when making a successor to something of near-sacred status like PS:T.

This.

fallout 3 got away with it financially because of mass-appeal, beyond PS:T fanboys numenere only has the look-at-me-look-at-what-im-playing pond to leech from

i wanna see inxile's 2017 quarterly financial reports