Aliens RPG now "officially canceled."

[MetalCraze]

Yes, now it seems it's cool among kids to try to make Roshambo look stupid.

It's funny to watch, though, because such failure is rarely seen.

Yeah old fanboy trick - "let's give a totally unrelated example to make you look stoopid lol". I wonder how fanboy's brain work, I was never one.

What should I literally name the 60 page document that describes all of the things that fall under stealth-like and evasion gameplay?

Should I call it:

"Scouting, Traps, Blockades, Running from Aliens, Aliens Hiding, etc. etc. etc."

So... where is a "stealth" in there?

How does that differentiate the gameplay from survival using direct combat? Evasion was the best word to describe it; stealth was the second best word and still is.

Non-Combat Survival?

I don't see how recon, traps, blockades and running from aliens in panic relate to stealth at all

 

[MLMarkland]

What should I literally name the 60 page document that describes all of the things that fall under stealth-like and evasion gameplay?

Should I call it:

"Scouting, Traps, Blockades, Running from Aliens, Aliens Hiding, etc. etc. etc."

So... where is a "stealth" in there?

There's three etc., so take your pick.

Deniszi put it quite well. Survival or Survival tactics would do.

How do those labels differentiate surviving via evasion vs. surviving via direct combat? They don't at all.

Though, again, this is an extraordinarily ridiculous thing to argue about.

Is this -really- what you guys want to spend time talking about on the boards here?

Is this -really- what RPG Discussion amounts to? Arguing bitterly over the right words to use in discussions about gameplay mechanics?

Wouldn't it be more productive to focus on actual gameplay?

 

[MetalCraze]

I pushed "post" after you replied, I edited that. Also with answer which things I can't call stealth.
Stealth is doing things like reaching objective without being noticed. In your example it's surviving/trying to hold aliens back/running away from them.

Is this -really- what you guys want to spend time talking about on the boards here?

Is this -really- what RPG Discussion amounts to? Arguing bitterly over the right words to use in discussions about gameplay mechanics?

This topic actually should've ended in RPG Design Discussion, just check it - there are lots of topic like this and thus nobody reads them.

Wouldn't it be more productive to focus on actual gameplay?

Well I believe people actually wanted to know how would you use stealth against xenos. Which is a part of gameplay. And because stealth turned out to be something unrelated we have this now I think.

 

[MLMarkland]

I pushed "post" after you replied, I edited that. Also with answer which things I can't call stealth.
Stealth is doing things like reaching objective without being noticed. In your example it's surviving/trying to hold aliens back/running away from them.

#1) You are assuming there were only Aliens in the game rather than there being humans, Aliens, synthetics, mechanical obstacles such as security cameras, etc.;

#2) I've never listed all of the things that were loosely held under the label of stealth, only some of them;

#3) Reaching an objective without being noticed is definitely a stealth or stealth-like behavior and is one of the types of things covered by the general label of stealth in re Aliens RPG.

Well I believe people actually wanted to know how would you use stealth against xenos. Which is a part of gameplay. And because stealth turned out to be something unrelated we have this now I think.

I'm down with discussing in generic, broad strokes some of the things I worked on in relation to Aliens RPG now that it is well and truly canceled. I'm not going to reveal anything that violates my NDA (ie basically anything that hasn't been discussed already in some other public forum).

I've been willing to do that this whole time (and even said so pretty early on). Instead I've been faced with a never-ending stream of Rosh screaming about why we used the word stealth instead of the phrase "xeno defense system" or "recon & deterrence."

 

[Imbecile]

Am I wrong?!

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

We actually spent some time debating what we should call the system until we realized that debating what we call the system was an ABSURD WASTE OF TIME

This is the key to understanding why Obsidian games have been buggy and missing so much content.

So choosing not to spend too much time on arguing about internal names for game systems somehow reduces the amount of time you can spend on polish and actul implementation of content? How?

 

[Rosh]

#1) You are assuming there were only Aliens in the game rather than there being humans, Aliens, synthetics, mechanical obstacles such as security cameras, etc.;

So would that mean that certain playstyles would be comparatively worthless? After all, bullets work on humans, synthetics, etc. as well. A stealthy character against a xeno = free lunch.

I've been willing to do that this whole time (and even said so pretty early on). Instead I've been faced with a never-ending stream of Rosh screaming about why we used the word stealth instead of the phrase "xeno defense system" or "recon & deterrence."

Yet you accuse me of hyperbole, when you use that, 4chan retardation, spamming, constant topic derailment, and flat out lies. I gave you a break to get the stupid out of your system, but it seems to be inherent. Pity.

Imbecile: Need to get a bigger gun. BIG FUCKING GUNS!

 

[Gragt]

Nobody cares about the fucking rules anymore.

 

[Rosh]

Nobody cares about the fucking rules anymore.

Oh, I know. It was merely a matter of topic discussion, and we see where folks wanted to take it down to their level.

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

To recap:
1. Rosh says that stealth against aliens is stupid.
2. Monty says that the name was chosen poorly, and "stealth" isn't really stealth.
3. Rosh proceeds to nerdrage about Obsidian raping the canon by allowing players to use stealth against xenomorphs, even if "stealth" isn't really stealth.

This has to be one of the most idiotic threads I've ever seen.

 

[Helton]

Conventional vs. Guerilla

 

[Rosh]

To recap:
1. Rosh says that stealth against aliens is stupid.
2. Monty says that the name was chosen poorly, and "stealth" isn't really stealth but whatever lazy term Obsidian wanted to hammer into their definition of non-combat solutions.
2a. Stealth isn't just against xenos, but humans and security devices, to sneak past.
2b. Stealth means a million different design concepts.
2c. lol 4chan
3. Rosh proceeds to nerdrage about Obsidian's obvious playstyle differences that would mean stealth would be useless against xenomorphs.

My contribution has to be one of the most idiotic posts I've ever seen.

Fixed.

EDIT: Holy shit, why do I keep typing Oblivion when I think of Obsidian? Hmmm...

 

[Rosh]

Guerilla

Survey says!

#1 most awaited description.

DINGDINGDING! We have a winner!

Guerrilla Warfare!

See? All sorts of shit could have been used instead of...yeah.

 

[MLMarkland]

This is like when Iran stole the elections.

 

[BearBomber]

Were there any romances planned to be inclouded?
Would player be able to chose different party memebers?
Tell something more about the combat system.

 

[Rosh]

This is like when my mom drank during pregnancy.

 

[Darth Roxor]

This thread is seriously pathetic.

 

[The Feral Kid]

Am I wrong?!

Moar like:

 

[circ]

Ok some questions then, feel free to skip any that SEGA wants to keep the lid on.

1. Was there a char gen system? If so, what game's char gen system did it resemble closest?

2. Were there ranks/promotions?

3. Were there clothing options?

4. Could you do spacewalks?

5. Fly a ship? Use hypersleep?

6. Could you call 'Mom' for supplies/whathaveyou?

7. What kind of objectives were there?

8. What was the (vaguely) underlying plot?

9. Were any other Fox licences involved?

10. Did you receive any goodie bags from SEGA?

11. If so, what was in them?

 

[FeelTheRads]

I'm not trying to make Roshambo look stupid. I'm simply responding to absurd distortions he is promulgating in his posts.

No? Take a look at your imbecilic signature. Fake quote + quote pyramid = LAWL! TEH SMART!

Absurd eh? More absurd than the pathetic excuses you and Anthony "the camera was fine people just had problems with it" Davis are making up?

 

[MLMarkland]

I'm not trying to make Roshambo look stupid. I'm simply responding to absurd distortions he is promulgating in his posts.

No? Take a look at your imbecilic signature. Fake quote + quote pyramid = LAWL! TEH SMART!

Absurd eh? More absurd than the pathetic excuses you and Anthony "the camera was fine people just had problems with it" Davis are making up?

I never said the NWN2 camera was fine. I hated it every minute.

As for the sig, if Roshambo can't take some ribbing he needs to stop trolling. There's a difference between a contextually appropriate joke and trying to make someone look stupid. Though I'm sure he's fine and doesn't need you sticking up for him.

As for the questions, I'm not going to detail a bunch of stuff about a cancelled game at another studio. I don't mind mentioning stuff that's been mentioned elsewhere:

The character creation was cool and very appropriate for a sci-fi RPG. You had squadmates. There were military ranks for marines. Sega didn't send me any goodie bags. There was clothing options and they were not just cosmetic. There were no spacewalks.

Edit:
Also, I think you angry guys need to look around. You are angry at the game industry in general, but you are trying to take it out on the handful of RPG developers who actually give a damn, hang out at RPG Codex, and generally agree with the sentiments espoused by the majority of members here. If you are angry at us, there isn't a single solitary developer in this world you shouldn't be angry at. If that's your attitude, that's fine, but it's a silly attitude in my opinion and it isn't going to get you very far.

 

[denizsi]

How does that differentiate the gameplay from survival using direct combat?

It doesn't, it's not about what it changes in the game but about the level of intelligence shown by developers and the way developers choose to treat gamers, ie. like morons. Now, most of them are, but one would think Obsidian might have been aiming at a better bunch.

the obtuse rants of a few people in this thread in response to such a meaningless bit of information really does say a lot about the quality of discourse online these days.

Ok sir, from now on, we will accept any kind of idiotic name-slapping of game features with absolute blind faith without any skepticism whatsoever. Want to call axes blunt weapons? Sure, who are we to know better. We're just a bunch of morons, so as long as it fulfills some basic gaming desires, we shouldn't give a shit at all. Now, get to work and bring me the best adventure game where I can blow the shit out of everthing! Bring me the best stealth game where I can blow the shit out of everything! Bring me the best racing game where I can blow the shit out of everything! Bring me, just bring me and call it anything you want! Bring the most innovative emotional cinematic experience of epic proportions full of 720 degrees of freedom where I can do anything I want when I want it and how I want it in mind boggingly next-generation ways. That'll show 'em clueless semanticisits!

I look forward to your next post when you use misleading turns of phrase to make a point.

And I, your next misleading point to make mind-bogging turns!

Also, I think you angry guys need to look around. You are angry at the game industry in general, but you are trying to take it out on the handful of RPG developers who actually give a damn, hang out at RPG Codex, and generally agree with the sentiments espoused by the majority of members here.

Not entirely true. Obsidian specifically gets lots of pity points around here. There as many, if not more, posters showing support for Obsidian than those condemning them, either for specific design decisions, or wholly as a developer. Same for CDP. Same for Vogel. Nobody pretty much cares about Bethesda at this point except for the joy of insulting them. Bioware is heading towards the same direction. These are probably the biggest names I can recall right now.

If you are angry at us, there isn't a single solitary developer in this world you shouldn't be angry at.

There pretty much isn't.

 

[MLMarkland]

How does that differentiate the gameplay from survival using direct combat?

It doesn't, it's not about what it changes in the game but about the level of intelligence shown by developers and the way developers choose to treat gamers, ie. like morons. Now, most of them are, but one would think Obsidian might have been aiming at a better bunch.

You are ignoring the entire point of naming something... to differentiate that something from something else. If we call the gameplay that includes non-combat methods of survival "Survival Gameplay" then we haven't differentiated that gameplay from combat methods of survival, for example.

Of the possible names, stealth, evasion, recon & deter all work. Survival, Xeno Defense System and some of the other suggestions do not work at all. They do not provide the required level of differentiation to be a valuable label. They are useless for the same reason that if someone asks me what I am drinking and I reply "a drink," I have not actually provided any useful information.

 

[Rosh]

As for the sig, if Roshambo can't take some ribbing he needs to stop trolling.

If you can't take the critiques, then you need to stop posting stupid shit or apologizing for the mistake of someone letting out your SOOPER SEKRIT GAME DESIGN CODE WORDS!

There's a difference between a contextually appropriate joke and trying to make someone look stupid. Though I'm sure he's fine and doesn't need you sticking up for him.

Just like you were doing fine at making yourself into an idiot despite what the fanboys want to chimp out. Instead of replying with a rational argument trying to detail exactly what the fuck you guys were trying to mean by "stealth", you decided to go for spamming stupidity.

If you guys, including a supposed military man, couldn't figure out an appropriate term for calling a mechanic and instead require something to be bastardized like the meaning of CRPG has been bastardized in this genre, that's your problem, not mine. See what happened when those dumbed-down internally grunted phrases get out into public? It got slipped out, and you slipped in it.

You think I might have been a bit too harsh? I'm nowhere near as nice as some Aliens fanboys. I was letting you get a feel of what they do on a regular basis.

Also, I think you angry guys need to look around. You are angry at the game industry in general,

Because the game industry, in general, sucks?

but you are trying to take it out on the handful of RPG developers who actually give a damn

HAHAHAHAHA! No.

and generally agree with the sentiments espoused by the majority of members here.

Lip service. You should talk to Bethesda, I hear they are REALLY good at it. Stealthy, even.

If you are angry at us, there isn't a single solitary developer in this world you shouldn't be angry at. If that's your attitude, that's fine, but it's a silly attitude in my opinion and it isn't going to get you very far.

Funny you should mention that, as angry is happening across the industry as a whole, and customer dissatisfaction is causing many developer houses to fold or be bought out. You and Obsidian might preach high ideals, but in the end, Obsidian still releases half-ass half-finished games. Repeatedly. See my sig for the next Obsidian abomination.

Their only attempts at decent games have thus, so far, been met with cancellations and excuses.

NEXT!

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

WOW.

I kinda understand why Rosh got a cameo in Tictacs now.