Something Awful on AoD, with a guest appearance from Admiral Jimbob: http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...473537&pagenumber=90&perpage=40#post451429920
Age of Decadence is to Fallout what Bloodlust Shadowhunter is to Bloodlines.
Actually no Bloodlust Shadowhunter was ambitious and hilarious whereas Age of Decadence is just this mound of dumb bullshit full of forgettable, boring dickheads that teleport you around and unequip all your weapons for no reason.
I don't think writing flat, dull, forgettable characters that feel like they've all been written by one boring asshole is a thing it ~*wants*~ to bring to the table.
I would've preferred it if AoD was bad in the way that Raven's Cry or Bloodlust Shadowhunter was bad, with godawful voice acting and weirdass bugs because that's funny and entertaining. AoD is just sort of there. It hasn't really bugged out or anything it's just kind of boring and poorly thought out. I would probably enjoy it if it wasn't just so fucking self-satisfied. Stuff like sparing a dude and demanding something being a one way street which you can't back out on if you don't want anything they can give you. It's just dumb stuff that probably got caught in development but it's just so fucking proud of being "hardcore" that reason just goes out the window. Although there's really no fucking excuse for the characters being so goddamn boring. I know it's an edgy post apocalypse but everyone's either grumpy, violent or both. The only guy I remember was some jerk who I asked to teach me about fighting and he just told me that killing dudes makes you better at killing dudes. Thanks guy.
Admiral jimbob said:Well, AoD’s existence seems to be making people hilariously mad. I really need to buy it soon.
How do you get into an argument with those people anyway. "You suck, my game is good!" ?The fun is pretty much already over, though. After the initial division over AoD, SA is back into its comfortable anti-grognard mode.
If VD had joined earlier, that could've been fun, yeah.
The fun is pretty much already over, though. After the initial division over AoD, SA is back into its comfortable anti-grognard mode.
If VD had joined earlier, that could've been fun, yeah.
Can't see how a game which offers you so many ways to avoid combat is particularly grognardy anyway (as far as I understand the term).
You mean back into their comfortable dumbfuck mode? Can't see how a game which offers you so many ways to avoid combat is particularly grognardy anyway (as far as I understand the term). Unless anti-grognard means casual gamer or something, in that case yeah, they should stick to developers that specifically cater to them (cannot fail/no bad chars/see everything in a single run modern philosophy of gaming design) and avoid any game that doesn't treat them like a special snowflake.
If literally any build will do just fine (PoE), why put any thought into character creation and development?
I'm having a very interesting discussion with Kevin Saunders about character systems and illusion (instead of the real deal) they often provide. This is one of those things. Witcher 3 character system was entirely optional (see the Codex review), yet there are also build guides and such.Because you want to play a character who does certain stuff or plays in a certain way that you find inherently enjoyable.
I mean, come on man, you know if this was a real argument there wouldn't be tons of build guides out there for all those easy RPGs where every build is just fine. Yet there they are.
I'm having a very interesting discussion with Kevin Saunders about character systems and illusion (instead of the real deal) they often provide. This is one of those things. Witcher 3 character system was entirely optional (see the Codex review), yet there are also build guides and such.
Ah, you've inadvertently stumbled upon the central contradiction of Vault Dwellerism. He jettisons some grognardy CRPG tropes (such the combat focus based on learning systems through repetition) but religiously clings to others (such as trap builds and having to restart the game until you find a build that works). The result is something that many people find weird.
Sure but even such grognard tropes like trap builds are far less pronounced because of AoD's near filler free nature, small scope/length and fast travel/teleportation (all of which makes it easy to just pick up and play in short bursts). It's certainly not the same as finding your build sucks after 20h playtime or something.
Ironically, the "find that my build sucks after 20 hours" situation actually happens when classic RPGs try to be more easy. The beginning is easy enough that even a bad build can work, but so it only becomes non-viable later.
You ever play NWN2: Mysteries of Westgate? Holy shit that module was fucking terrible about that. 99% of the module is face-roll-on-keyboard easy then you get to the last boss and DERP! Fuck, that made me so mad.
I don't remember that from MoW, but the Storm of Zehir final battle is famous for this.
what was the final boss? The banshee?final boss of MoW
As for them being an illusion, it depends on what you value. I say, any sufficiently complex system of character building will allow players to optimize their choices towards certain ends. Ingrognardyintelligent systems like yours, you have to optimize for sheer viability. In moreforgivingpopamole systems, you optimize for ego strokinggameplay variety, for roleplaying, or for "fun".
I wouldn't say it's weird but just that AoD is essentially its own thing, a game that tries something new in the genre. Obviously some will like it and others won't but I don't see it as a flagship title for grognards.