Interview Interview with the Tyranny Writing Team at Game Revolution

[agentorange]

They mentioned drug cartels as evil, drug cartels actually do a good for society providing hallucinogenic substances on demand for individuals , that is more value than the whole democrat party brings. Maxican and colombian drug dealers created more jobs than Obama.

I'm sure you'd be saying the same thing if your entire family were chopped up and dunked in acid vats and then you had your dick cut off and put in your mouth. Then set on fire.

 

[Lurker King]

Threads like this are an interesting study in Yin-Yang metaphysics. It's almost as though people are inexorably compelled to argue no matter how little there is to debate. But the fact is AA RPGs are Codex community "interests" whether we like them or not because "cranberries" and "other reasons."

The only reason why I keep posting on these threads is to make sure that there is someone to criticize these awful AA cRPGs and reminding the gullible and less demanding players that there are alternatives. The Codex is maybe the only place on the internet where people can tell the difference between popamole games like FO4 and classic games like FO and where you can actually learn something. However, if we lower our standards with shallow games like Shadow Run, this place would be a completely waste of time and I would have nowhere else to go. Sometimes the blind adoration is so much that I think that maybe I should have been better doing something else with my time, even if its related to games, like playing more classics or writing a review. I don’t know.

 

[DeepOcean]

They mentioned drug cartels as evil, drug cartels actually do a good for society providing hallucinogenic substances on demand for individuals , that is more value than the whole democrat party brings. Maxican and colombian drug dealers created more jobs than Obama.

I'm sure you'd be saying the same thing if your entire family were chopped up and dunked in acid vats and then you had your dick cut off and put in your mouth. Then set on fire.

I'm sure Obsidian will show this on Tyranny for the coolness factor.

 

[Sacred82]

Soylent Green really leaves me wondering though, I have no idea what she meant by it being an influence since the only thing I know about it is the "omg its acshuly peopel"-twist. Maybe they are going for a similar twist, something really predictable like the player being Revan Kyros with amnesia?

If you want to see any parallels, the twist would have to be far more fundamental (and sinister) than this. Like, what does Kyros really want with the world? What is his ultimate goal?

Spoiler

Eradicate all humans and replace them with halflings... no wait I've read that somewhere

 

[agentorange]

I should have been better doing something else with my time, even if its related to games, like playing more classics or writing a review. I don’t know.

You should always be doing something better with your time than posting on codex.

 

[Sannom]

The game seems to revolve around the idea of "What if Alexander the Great was portrayed as cartoonish villain who won and you worked in his middle management?

Nah, it revolves around the idea of "What if Alexander the Great and his Diadochis were immortal, had a clear technological advantage and the ability to fire magical nukes and you worked as the enforcer of his law in the latest land he conquered?".

Maxican and colombian drug dealers created more jobs than Obama.

I'm sure Republicans and conservatives are to blame. You don't come out of eight years with a simpleton in charge without some sort of consequences.

Soylent Green really leaves me wondering though, I have no idea what she meant by it being an influence since the only thing I know about it is the "omg its acshuly peopel"-twist.

So not only are you late at parties, but you also suck at reading. There are four people being interviewed here, and she isn't the one to have made the reference. And the what exactly was referenced in Soylent Green is also detailed.

The Codex is maybe the only place on the internet where people can tell the difference between popamole games like FO4 and classic games like FO and where you can actually learn something.

You should try this.

 

[a mod]

The only reason why I keep posting on these threads is to make sure that there is someone to criticize these awful AA cRPGs and reminding the gullible and less demanding players that there are alternatives. The Codex is maybe the only place on the internet where people can tell the difference between popamole games like FO4 and classic games like FO and where you can actually learn something. However, if we lower our standards with shallow games like Shadow Run, this place would be a completely waste of time and I would have nowhere else to go. Sometimes the blind adoration is so much that I think that maybe I should have been better doing something else with my time, even if its related to games, like playing more classics or writing a review. I don’t know.

Sounds like the time has come to learn game making and join a team.

 

[Latelistener]

Teams are for pussies. Real men do it solo, with maybe a couple of slaves for dirty work.

 

[Lurker King]

I'd like to walk back some of my defense of Starks.

The only thing worse than regular dudes writing banal shit is people that can't write shit, but love to portrait themselves as writers. I read these tweets and the only thing I see is "I want to work for Bethesda, I want to work for Bethesda. Please, hire me, Bethesda!". They will not hire you, kiddo. The new policy on Bethesda is using modders work for free to avoid unnecessary costs.

 

[MRY]

GR: What kind of tyrant would you be?

MacLean: I would tax/imprison/kill people for having children, using fossil fuels, and wasting resources.

I won't respond to this on the substance, but I feel prophetic.

QUEST ADDED: Clean the River
To resolve the dispute regarding the River Naxus, you will need to kill 20 sludgelords dumping industrial waste into the river.

QUEST UPDATE: Clean the River, ctd.
Killing the sludgelords has saved the river, but enraged the vile Syndic Tion. Use your multi-fire-arrow to put an end to his uprising!

QUEST UPDATE: Clean the River (complete)
Tion's death has ushered in a new era of clean water. Moreover, the new Syndic has instituted fair labor practices. You stick Tion's head on a pike to warn others against defying Kyros' will, because Evil Has Won in this game.

 

[you know what time it is]

comix "books"

To be fair there are plenty of good comics outside of the prefix-man shlock. Transmetropolitan would make a great adventure game.

 

[Fenix]

Comixs can never achieve same level of descriptiveness like good written book.
Reading and understanding/comprehension/interpretation of what you have read help to develop your brain and mind, while contemplation of comics develop only contemplativeness and visual thinking which is already overdeloped in modern days of videoera, which we can see in every aspect of culture - films, games, etc, where form prevails over substance.

 

[Decado]

What the fuck is wrong with American Exceptionalism? We are exceptional, fucking deal with it.

 

[Crescent Hawk]

fascism, American exceptionalism, drug cartels, capitalist corporations, and militaries

How about Communism, Mongol invasion, Islamic conquests and rule and unchecked mercenary ravages ( see 30 years war).

 

[a mod]

fascism, American exceptionalism, drug cartels, capitalist corporations, and militaries

How about Communism, Mongol invasion, Islamic conquests and rule and unchecked mercenary ravages ( see 30 years war).

Noble freedom fighters and moderates, obviously.

 

[Mustawd]

What the fuck is wrong with American Exceptionalism? We are exceptional, fucking deal with it.

The Romans, Greeks, Persians, and Mongols are all laughing their assess off right now.

 

[Fenix]

How about Communism, Mongol invasion, Islamic conquests

And what about them?
First is a global experiment, rest two is a cheerful people who just love to see the world.

 

[a mod]

cheerful people who just love to see the world.

 

[duanth123]

A world wherein there’s one big evil dude on top really only works when it’s sold with great big lies that get the average person invested in the evil (or just dependent upon it), instead of willing to resist it. And for evil to win long term, it also needs to be immune to self-implosion (since we’ve all read enough fantasy literature to know that evil defectors are involved in 9 out of 10 evil regicides). So with that in mind, I’ve found most of my inspiration comes from non-fiction: fascism, American exceptionalism, drug cartels, capitalist corporations, and militaries through the ages have all provided a great deal of inspiration as to how evil wins.

The irony being, and I'm calling it now, that by game's end our brave protag will have the opportunity to either single-handedly or through unrealistic coordination of internal factions self-implode the whole system by murder/removal of the head Tranny from power.

But only after we are cutscene paralyzed and forced to discover that Obsidian has plagiarized itself because no, Thaos Kyros was never truly evil, Thaos Kyros only acted evil to preserve a greater secret that would destroy the world if revealed preserve the world in the face of a greater evil that would destroy the world when revealed (near or at game's end.)

Either some form of magical calamity or some type of external military force/supernatural threat.

 

[Irenaeus]

I have high hopes for this (the drama, I mean).

 

[Sannom]

How about Communism, Mongol invasion, Islamic conquests and rule and unchecked mercenary ravages ( see 30 years war).

The stalinism is already evident from the literacy thing.

The irony being, and I'm calling it now, that by game's end our brave protag will have the opportunity to either single-handedly or through unrealistic coordination of internal factions self-implode the whole system by murder/removal of the head Tranny from power.

Doubtful. I am, however, expecting the opportunity to replace one of the five Archons we've been introduced to so far.

 

[Azrael the cat]

They mentioned drug cartels as evil, drug cartels actually do a good for society providing hallucinogenic substances on demand for individuals , that is more value than the whole democrat party brings. Maxican and colombian drug dealers created more jobs than Obama.

I'm sure you'd be saying the same thing if your entire family were chopped up and dunked in acid vats and then you had your dick cut off and put in your mouth. Then set on fire.

Probably hoping for too much, but there's plenty of room for different shades of evil, even in that. I'm thinking, say, of 2nd and 3rd seasons of Justified. 2nd season, you've got the town's most established drug dealer. Presents herself as a pillar of the community, genuinely respected, keeps out the oxy trade by dominating the drug market as a large-scale cannabis dealer, etc. Of course, that's partly bullshit - she doesn't kill indiscriminately, but she's far from clean, she's willing to make a fortune by selling out the town for a very dodgy mining company $$$ and her sons don't have her sense of principle or competence, and eventually shit spirals. The following season though, is all about the consequences of getting rid of her, with a genuine psychopath working for the 'big-time' mafia instantly seeing the opportunity to come in with far greater violence and dollars behind him.

There's no pretence that the local crooks are any nicer than the outside mafia, but they're preferable and maybe even necessary simply by virtue that they live there, and so they've got an interest in preventing things from destroying the place.

 

[Mustawd]

You guys know this is a game right? Most grimdark game I played recently was Papers Please. I had more fun with Torchlight.

 

[Kev Inkline]

We are now fully in the age where game writers spend most of their free time playing other games, and not necessarily good games at that. Mock Sawyer's history degree all you like, but his personal preference for going into actual history is something that would benefit almost every RPG writer. Avellone also used to talk about going to movies, history, and other diverse media.

Also, as soon as you are designing (fantasy) societies and trying to persuade the reader to see for what reason your characters do what they do (incentives), I would say having some elementary knowledge in social sciences would help immensely. At least this background made The Wire by far better show than what it would have otherwise been.

 

[Kev Inkline]

I am sure some of you are familiar with RuneQuest. Now that's a grim bronze age tech-level setting, and I can't help but see similarities with Lunar Empire and Tyranny's setup.

Now, for me, Gloranatha's design has been always above that of, say Forgotten Realms, given its unforgiving, primitive society and visceral combat. If Tyranny could capture even a little bit of that magic (or in this case the lack of it, since RQ isn't that high magic a setting), we might end up getting a decent game.