Development Info MCA was checking out Age of Decadence

Well, he's certainly more polite than us.

I only say that if VD doesn't reply to him the same way he did with people who said the exact same things here... we'll finally know what changes the nature of man (apparently MCA).

That's awesome. I like getting raw (not filtered through bullshit promotional videos released by publisher) glimpses into the minds of developers. Sawyer's always good for that.

Notice he only managed to do well in combat by dumping all his skill points into one stat. That is the same problem I had. Eventually I just gave up on combat completely and went the all-dialogue route, but it stopped me from playing through the other factions like the Imperial Guard. Iron Tower really need to make the combat easier. It isn't about the 'AWESOME' option, it is about basic survivability.

Also, when one of the best designers in the industry says he likes the writing, that is strong praise indeed. Slap yourselves on the back, IT.

It's not to belittle VD, but it's not like there is much competition at all in the genre, since you can probably count the games with great writing on one or two hands.

Uh...

Nonsense, the quality of the writing has nothing to do with competition.
A poor writing remains a poor writing even if it's better than Ass Effect.

What?

So then, MCA played AoD demo but not Arcanum... the plot thickens.

Sawyer?

Nice, quotes for the next video.

Or perhaps "Died in the first merchant ambush. - MCA" would make more sense....

Yes. You know, the cyborg/game developer with no inner monologue? The one who works at Obsidian with MCA?

I guess I can see how what I wrote might confuse someone but... come on.

"Roger Federer was checking out Vince Dweller's amateur championship tennis match."

"That was awesome. I love getting glimpses into the mind of tennis pros. Nadal is always good for that."

And how did I reply to all these people?

I don't see it as a problem. It takes time to understand and master the system. Until you do, compensate your inexperience with more points.

Indeed. I didn't expect it, to be honest.

Not very well, if I recall correctly. But they framed their complaints in a different way than MCA, much different, to be honest.

It's not about better than others here, since better than crap is just mean mediocre.

It's about being a great game. In the absolute sense, not comparative sense.

Slightly defiant and defensive (understandably, for the most part though).

I'm afraid you don't. The only issue that generated heated debates was the combat difficulty. Everything else was discussed without much drama. Some people liked it, some people didn't, which is their right.

As for MCA's impressions, I agree with most points and not out of respect, but because he's right and there isn't much to argue about:

- the loading text IS too dense; never liked the way it came out but didn't have time to change it
- some vignettes ARE too uneventful and have only one dialogue "choice" - never liked it, discussed it on the Codex a long time ago, never found a better solution.
- not clear that you need to talk to the innkeeper - agree; I prefer the old way of starting in the dialogue mode.
- didn't realize that you need to equip a weapon to attack the thugs - :oh you!:
- had to put all points in swords - as expected
- died in the fake merchant ambush - as expected (for a new character)
- not sure where and when you get the armor - an excellent point
- teleporting is confusing - 50/50 with a chance of growing on you
- couldn't modify combat skills - no idea what he's talking about, asked to clarify

You mean posts like this:
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/thursday-is-finally-here.70531/page-25#post-2027639

It's okay to start the game in dialogue mode as long as that dialogue doesn't immediately teleport you someplace else.

did you try to use cheat engine?