How did Age of Decadence turn out?

[Norfleet]

It's early access or some shit. I don't pay attention to betas/early access stuff. Allegedly it'll be finished "thursday", once the bugs are fixed. (Kinda like Grimoire, except some people actually played the early access.)

Me neither. I recall some stuff at this point ultimately failed to materialize anyway, so this no longer passes the threshold for "not vaporware".

 

[Night Goat]

Fucking release it already!

 

[Norfleet]

I'm sure they will if they ever actually make it. But since it presently resides in the realm of "vaporware", eh. You don't really want them to rush that. It ends badly.

 

[Helton]

So much dumbfuckery.

 

[Agesilaus]

There is a completely functional version of Age of Decadence released right now, it's extremely enjoyable and detailed. That places AoD firmly outside of the vapourware realm.

Right now, it's like a 4 chapter game with just the first two chapters released. When they release Ganezzar and whatever the finale is, that'll be the end, but right now you can play without any issues two entire chapters. Those chapters own, too, so don't pretend like this is just an alpha demo cobbled together with heaps of bugs and missing content.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Well I hope there's a HUGE amount of content missing, since what's in there now lasts about 2 or 3 hours. And that's with a Loremaster, the most pathetic character that's absolutely useless in combat. It's looking great but dat shortness...

 

[kazgar]

Well I hope there's a HUGE amount of content missing, since what's in there now lasts about 2 or 3 hours. And that's with a Loremaster, the most pathetic character that's absolutely useless in combat. It's looking great but dat shortness...

Err, doesn't each character have a different storyline, so its designed for replay-ability?

 

[Zarniwoop]

Err, doesn't each character have a different storyline, so its designed for replay-ability?

Yes, but it's an extremely short storyline.

 

[SniperHF]

Well I hope there's a HUGE amount of content missing, since what's in there now lasts about 2 or 3 hours. And that's with a Loremaster, the most pathetic character that's absolutely useless in combat. It's looking great but dat shortness...

Combat loremaster hybrids are some of the most fun builds to play. Good way to maximize content on one trip through the game. You will have to choose your battles though.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Well I hope there's a HUGE amount of content missing, since what's in there now lasts about 2 or 3 hours. And that's with a Loremaster, the most pathetic character that's absolutely useless in combat. It's looking great but dat shortness...

Err, doesn't each character have a different storyline, so its designed for replay-ability?

Loremasters, drifters, and grifters don't have their own storylines. They are expected to join one of the factions. If they stick with the main quest and some side quests, they will have shorter playthroughs. Also, non-combat playthroughs are much faster than combat ones as they depend only on your reading speed.

 

[sigma1932]

Well I hope there's a HUGE amount of content missing, since what's in there now lasts about 2 or 3 hours. And that's with a Loremaster, the most pathetic character that's absolutely useless in combat. It's looking great but dat shortness...

if you're getting through an entire playthrough, even of the early-release version, in 2-3 hours, you're playing with your eyes closed, or at the very least not doing anything that isn't initiated by your starting faction/contact/whoever.

That aside, what "class" you start as means fuck-all as far as what your character is capable of doing ability-wise-- that all depends on how you spend your skillpoints... a Merc or Praetor with low combat skills will get worked over just as bad as a loremaster with similarly low combat skills. All starting class really determines is the opening vignette story-arc if any (only like 3-4 missions at most), starting equipment (which can quickly be replaced with better stuff if necessary) and your starting reputation points with each faction, which I'm not entirely sure how that plays in yet, or if something will change concerning them in the final release.

Outside that, there's nothing stopping you from playing a loremaster or merchant that moonlights as a intimidating hard-ass with a high bodycount... you just have give up a bit of non-combat ability (and in turn some non-combat content, potentially) and shift skillpoints over to combat skills and work a little harder to pick up decent gear so you don't get your ass kicked, same as any other class has to when it comes to combat.

 

[Zarniwoop]

But every time you leave a city, you get an "ending" screen (similar to Fallout) explaining what happens to the guy you just met, how a faction you never even heard of takes over and how life changes under their rule etc. Like many years have passed. And I was hoping that those parts were MASSIVE gaps in content that would be added later. Because it makes zero sense at the moment and it's like you're skipping huge parts of the story

 

[Vault Dweller]

Whether or not you skip content is up to you, but skipping it doesn't mean that nothing happened. We take one of the default outcomes for your character and go with it. From this perspective, the endings are like news you hear after leaving a town, sort of "this is what happened after left". The content is there and you're free to participate in the events and shape them any way you want.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

But every time you leave a city, you get an "ending" screen (similar to Fallout) explaining what happens to the guy you just met, how a faction you never even heard of takes over and how life changes under their rule etc. Like many years have passed. And I was hoping that those parts were MASSIVE gaps in content that would be added later. Because it makes zero sense at the moment and it's like you're skipping huge parts of the story

That's probably because traveling from one town to another takes weeks and so people resolve their shit themselves instead of waiting for an hero.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Some events are urgent. For example, if you're told that the Imperial Guards are up to something and their commander should be taken out tonight, it would be silly to let you travel to another city, return weeks or months later and discover that the quest is still waiting for you.

 

[Zarniwoop]

That's probably because traveling from one town to another takes weeks and so people resolve their shit themselves instead of waiting for an hero.

Weeks are fine. We're talking about YEARS. Also, if things are resolved on their own, then your quests should become failed/invalid because in the time you spent travelling to some tomb to do what some guy asked of you, (actually as soon as you enter the world map) the whole city was taken over by another guy and the first guy got killed or something in the intervening decades, making your ring-finding quest or whatever it was pretty pointless. It's really pretty jarring and makes no sense.

 

[Tigranes]

But every time you leave a city, you get an "ending" screen (similar to Fallout) explaining what happens to the guy you just met, how a faction you never even heard of takes over and how life changes under their rule etc. Like many years have passed. And I was hoping that those parts were MASSIVE gaps in content that would be added later. Because it makes zero sense at the moment and it's like you're skipping huge parts of the story

If it's a 'faction you've never heard of' chances are you're missing a lot of content.

Also, if you only played with one class, you played 1/6 of the game or something...

 

[Zarniwoop]

But every time you leave a city, you get an "ending" screen (similar to Fallout) explaining what happens to the guy you just met, how a faction you never even heard of takes over and how life changes under their rule etc. Like many years have passed. And I was hoping that those parts were MASSIVE gaps in content that would be added later. Because it makes zero sense at the moment and it's like you're skipping huge parts of the story

If it's a 'faction you've never heard of' chances are you're missing a lot of content.

Also, if you only played with one class, you played 1/6 of the game or something...

That's what I was hoping for, that I'm missing a lot. But I don't see how that's possible since I go to every location. The big city that's supposed to be like Rome (but with a big hole blasted through), there's about 2 or 3 NPC's you can talk to and that guy at the arena and that's it. There are 2 exits, one where you come in (and get massacred if you try to help the trader) and the other one just says (TO BE CONTINUED) or something to that effect. Other than that the only thing I found walking around what is supposed to be a massive city with several neighbourhoods was being able to talk some mob out of burning down a house. Moving to the world map directly gets you the Fallout Ending screen with apparently years passing and THE IMPERIAL GUARD, whoever that is (I haven't seen anyone mention them let alone meet them), taking over everything before I've had the chance to go to the tomb of the guy I'm supposed to as part of the main quest. I'm really impressed with the mechanics of the game but it seems extremely light on story content. Or mine has some serious bug that triggers the ending screens when it's not supposed to.

 

[Vault Dweller]

That's probably because traveling from one town to another takes weeks and so people resolve their shit themselves instead of waiting for an hero.

Weeks are fine. We're talking about YEARS.

We aren't though.

For example, in Teron you're told that the Imperial Guards are planning to take over, like, now. If you're playing as a Guard, you see it happening. If you're playing as a merchant or assassin, you're trying to prevent it. If you leave Teron early (as in without getting involved in the events), they proceed without you, as it should be.

Also, if things are resolved on their own, then your quests should become failed/invalid because in the time you spent travelling to some tomb to do what some guy asked of you, (actually as soon as you enter the world map) the whole city was taken over by another guy and the first guy got killed or something in the intervening decades, making your ring-finding quest or whatever it was pretty pointless. It's really pretty jarring and makes no sense.

Not really. If the local lord who gives you the quest is killed you can still deal with the other two lords. In other words, just because the original 'quest giver' is dead, doesn't mean that what he asked you to find is useless to everyone else.

 

[John Yossarian]

Can't really say what those ending screens look like since I haven't played since the version with only Teron in it, but I don't see why changes in a town after some faction takes over means that years have passed. Chances are those people who "took over" had very different views from the previous owners, that's why they had to take over instead of integrating with the previous faction. So it'ss normal that they would implement their different views ASAP.

 

[Vault Dweller]

That's what I was hoping for, that I'm missing a lot. But I don't see how that's possible since I go to every location. The big city that's supposed to be like Rome (but with a big hole blasted through), there's about 2 or 3 NPC's you can talk to and that guy at the arena and that's it. There are 2 exits, one where you come in (and get massacred if you try to help the trader) and the other one just says (TO BE CONTINUED) or something to that effect. Other than that the only thing I found walking around what is supposed to be a massive city with several neighbourhoods was being able to talk some mob out of burning down a house.

You really didn't find much, did you?

Things to do/people to talk to in Maadoran (other than the faction questlines):

- Kemnebi (quest 'Down on luck')
- Basil and Quintus (quest 'Problem solving')
- Abukar the Mad (loremaster, quest requires a location that's not in the demo)
- Healer (quest requires a location that's not in the demo)
- Erebus (Gaelius' loremaster; praetors only)
- Iola (the healing machine)
- Youth (quest 'The package')
- Miltiades (continues quest 'Fool me twice...')
- Amerius (quest 'The rightful owner')
- Praetor investigating Senna's murder (should you kill lord Senna in the first place)
- Domitius (continues quest 'The map')
- The crowd near one of the houses in the Arena district
- A man selling fake badges
- The local guide
- An old man near the Abyss
- various encounters in the Slums
- the storyteller
- thugs near the gate
- the gem quest (talk to the man in the carpet store)
- the sewers (talk to the man near a well in the Slums)
- the arena fights.

There are several districts there: Arena, Trade, Palace, Slums, Abyss.

I'm really impressed with the mechanics of the game but it seems extremely light on story content.

There are over 70 quests and over 100 NPCs. I'd say that the story is one of the most praised aspects but you have to explore a lot, talk to different people, and replay the game a few times to have enough pieces to connect.

 

[Zarniwoop]

That's probably because traveling from one town to another takes weeks and so people resolve their shit themselves instead of waiting for an hero.

Weeks are fine. We're talking about YEARS.

We aren't though.

For example, in Teron you're told that the Imperial Guards are planning to take over, like, now. If you're playing as a Guard, you see it happening. If you're playing as a merchant or assassin, you're trying to prevent it. If you leave Teron early (as in without getting involved in the events), they proceed without you, as it should be.

Also, if things are resolved on their own, then your quests should become failed/invalid because in the time you spent travelling to some tomb to do what some guy asked of you, (actually as soon as you enter the world map) the whole city was taken over by another guy and the first guy got killed or something in the intervening decades, making your ring-finding quest or whatever it was pretty pointless. It's really pretty jarring and makes no sense.

Not really. If the local lord who gives you the quest is killed you can still deal with the other two lords. In other words, just because the original 'quest giver' is dead, doesn't mean that what he asked you to find is useless to everyone else.

Whereas if you're a loremaster, no-one ever mentions the Imperial Guard, ever. Your master asks you to do some quests, murder some poor innocent dude and then you meet Lord Whatshisface's guard at the palace gate. You resolve the quest(s) for him and he lets you see Lord Whatshisface. Then you are sent to Maadoran.

Can't really say what those ending screens look like since I haven't played since the version with only Teron in it, but I don't see why changes in a town after some faction takes over means that years have passed. Chances are those people who "took over" had very different views from the previous owners, that's why they had to take over instead of integrating with the previous faction. So it'ss normal that they would implement their different views ASAP.

The way the story is presented in the "end" screens definitely suggests the passage of a long time. Also, if you leave Teron, watch the screen and come back, everything looks completely different and people talk about "the days when Lord Whatshisface still ruled" like it was long ago. That does not suggest a few days or weeks.

 

[John Yossarian]

Maybe those dialogues need a little tune up then, but the everything looks different part, I guess you would say the same about Mosul before ISIS takeover.

 

[Tigranes]

But every time you leave a city, you get an "ending" screen (similar to Fallout) explaining what happens to the guy you just met, how a faction you never even heard of takes over and how life changes under their rule etc. Like many years have passed. And I was hoping that those parts were MASSIVE gaps in content that would be added later. Because it makes zero sense at the moment and it's like you're skipping huge parts of the story

If it's a 'faction you've never heard of' chances are you're missing a lot of content.

Also, if you only played with one class, you played 1/6 of the game or something...

That's what I was hoping for, that I'm missing a lot. But I don't see how that's possible since I go to every location. The big city that's supposed to be like Rome (but with a big hole blasted through), there's about 2 or 3 NPC's you can talk to and that guy at the arena and that's it. There are 2 exits, one where you come in (and get massacred if you try to help the trader) and the other one just says (TO BE CONTINUED) or something to that effect. Other than that the only thing I found walking around what is supposed to be a massive city with several neighbourhoods was being able to talk some mob out of burning down a house. Moving to the world map directly gets you the Fallout Ending screen with apparently years passing and THE IMPERIAL GUARD, whoever that is (I haven't seen anyone mention them let alone meet them), taking over everything before I've had the chance to go to the tomb of the guy I'm supposed to as part of the main quest. I'm really impressed with the mechanics of the game but it seems extremely light on story content. Or mine has some serious bug that triggers the ending screens when it's not supposed to.

Yeah, you found very little. The last version I played was months ago when that 'big city like Rome' was first given out to the public, and there's about ten times more content at least than what you specified. See VD's list.

Now AOD is certainly not a 'big' game. Even when you literally do everything you can with a well built character, once you know the ins and outs of the system and especially if you play non-combat the whole thing is over in a few hours. The point is that this is the most replayable RPG in history, and is literally worth at least 10 playthroughs given the different options you can pick.

Let's take Teron - do you play as the Imperial Guard who then takes various missions to protect your Lord from threats? Well, you can also play as the assassin who is the source of those threats; or the merchant who is buying people off in the back dealings behind those assassinations; or another faction who later swoops in to try and take advantage of the situation; or a thief's guild with its own agenda which nevertheless gets implicated in that same sequence of events; etc.

One interesting question for VD is how someone plays in a way that you miss so much of the game. There are cases where you can go to Maadoran very very early, given what options you pick. My memory's fuzzy so I don't know exactly what you did, but basically, it's like getting caught by the Enclave in FO2 and going to see them early, or getting caught by the mages in Risen 1 and missing all of the Bandit Camp / Harbour Town quests. i.e. you never heard of Don Esteban but you now miss 40% of the game.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Whereas if you're a loremaster, no-one ever mentions the Imperial Guard, ever.

Why should they?

"I hear the Fighters Guild is recruiting up to something." ?

It's up to you to explore and learn more. Btw, if I recall correctly your master does suggest to join another guild:

"Ah, the impatience of youth… Good planning takes time and thought. If I'm too slow for you, you're more than welcome to find yourself another master. Hmm… this is actually not a bad idea. I can only teach you so much and you need all the help you can get."

"Which guild would you suggest?"


"You can learn something new from any of them, but with Carrinas you may get more than you bargain for. He's a man with a vision. Now, vision alone doesn't make a man dangerous, but throw in troops drilled to follow orders without question and you have a recipe for a perfect storm. Getting caught in a storm would be most unwise, especially for a loremaster.

Linos is your best bet. He runs the merchants guild. If scheming and plotting aren't exciting enough for you, talk to Cado of the Forty Thieves' fame. It won't be boring, that's for sure."

Your master asks you to do some quests, murder some poor innocent dude and then you meet Lord Whatshisface's guard at the palace gate. You resolve the quest(s) for him and he lets you see Lord Whatshisface. Then you are sent to Maadoran.

Doesn't mean you have to go right away. There are faction quests and side quests. The game is non-linear and we aren't holding your hand, so it's very easy to miss a lot of content. I'm not saying it's the best way to design games, but we like to experiment and try new things.