Review Bloodmoon loved by All Out Games

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon

<a href="http://www.morrowind.com">Morrowind: Bloodmoon</a> has earned itself an <b>89%</b> in <A href="http://www.alloutgames.com/Reviews/bloodmoon.html">this review</a> over at <a href="http://www.alloutgames.com/">All Out Games</a>. Here's a taste of the love:
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<blockquote>Solstheim is riddled with caves to explore, and a great deal of these are local burial grounds which, as you might expect, don't always feature entirely dead inhabitants. There's some new loot players can equip or sell, and obviously some new places to sell it, but don't expect the bustling marketplaces of Mournhold, because Solstheim's frigid climate does little to attract business. In fact, players not loaded down with provisions may find themselves heading back to Vvardenfell by boat just to stock up on more supplies. It would have been nicer if Khuul wasn't the nearest port back on the main island, though, as you'll have to go well past there to get any real shopping done. But it's a minor gripe, and more options open up after Raven Rock grows beyond its early restrictions. </blockquote>
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This is something I don't get about most fantasy settings. If tombs and burial sites spawn up undead so frequently, like they seem to do, don't you think it's time to invent the <i>funeral pyre</i> or some other, safer method of getting rid of human corpses?
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Spotted this at <A href="http://www.shacknews.com">ShackNews</a>.

 

[triCritical]

This is something I don't get about most fantasy settings. If tombs and burial sites spawn up undead so frequently, like they seem to do, don't you think it's time to invent the <i>funeral pyre</i> or some other, safer method of getting rid of human corpses?

Here's another brain twister. The guy that buries the bodies must not encounter these undead creatures, otherwise you might think that since they are an adventurer they would not put any more bodies in the crypt. Or do undead just start popping up after a certain critical limit has been reached. If so, an astute grave planner might be able to solve to the undead dilemna by just not overpopulating the graveyard or tomb.

 

[Psilon]

The dialogue in Morrowind indicates that the locals worship their undead ancestors. It seems reasonable that (at least in the Elder Scrolls games) the undead in tombs are just pissed off about would-be grave-robbing nectarines (sic).

 

[Realbumpbert]

What if you are a member of the Tribunal Temple, though? I enter tombs to donate at the shrines, not to loot them (they have lousy treasure, anyway). It's clear that the developers either didn't care to put that kind of detail into the world, or, they put the dungeons in before the dialogue, and gave the dungeons precedence.

 

[Psilon]

Probably the latter. It would seriously unbalance the game if Temple members got a free pass inside tombs. If they had perks for faction rank, I could see making a high-level Temple member safe in tombs--though it would mean extra scripting--but with Morrowind's default system everyone would just sign up once and then never touch the Temple again.

That's one of the things I liked about Daggerfall; high rank in a faction actually meant something. It's too easy if you can do enchanting, spell purchases, and spellmaking with a probationary membership. Aside from a few pieces of quest loot (Amulet of Admonition, Skeleton Key) there's no real incentive to progress within a faction. Even the Great Houses don't offer much besides an easier Hortator path and a lame stronghold miles away from any major town. (Tel Uvirith, anyone?)

Oh, and your signature should properly read "We are, therefore we am." Terry Pratchett rules.

 

[Astromarine]

AFAICR, there one mod who addresses exactly that. Not the free pass for tombs, but the faction thingy. It's a mod by a guy called Qwert-somenumbers, which along with a HOST of other balancing features adds much higher faction ranking requirements and restricts services to ranks

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Well, if it did recognise that you were a member of a temple and let you pass safely, then that's fairly acceptable so long as the second you started looting, you got in trouble with the dead guys.

Sure, you might have a cool item now, but think about it this way.. You're going to have to fight everything on the way out. If you weren't exploiting the temple, you could fight part of the way in, go heal outside, then continue where you left off.

 

[Psilon]

Who's going to fight their way out, though? You'll just see an explosion of popularity for Mark, Recall, and the Intervention spells. There's enough non-tomb combat that most people will still max out their weapon skills even if they don't go on an undead-slaying rampage.

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

cool!! tombs to explore! man that never got old in Morrowind. O wait yeah it did.
I understand the impluse on the devs/publishers behalf to milk the product and not change what aint broke (at least in terms of sales vs. devolpment time) but does anyone really want more of the same? Being able to become a werewolf is kinda cool, but they already had the vampire thing in MW. I wish they had tried to address some of the serious shortcomings of the orignal instead of adding a new island with some new critters. snore.

 

[Realbumpbert]

I play Daggerfall more often now....I love the faction progression. When I became Archmage, and received the Teleportation power, I felt like a god! Whereas without the Give Your Orders Mod, I felt like even more of a powerless figurehead than that scuttlehead Trebonius. Now, though, I get to order my minions around. We plan on taking over all the Telvanni towers. :twisted:

Psilon, thanks for noticing. I love Terry Pratchett so far (half way through my second TP book). But there are two different quotes on the same page in Small Gods...maybe I should add the whole dialogue. My quote, then yours. Heh.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Who's going to fight their way out, though? You'll just see an explosion of popularity for Mark, Recall, and the Intervention spells. There's enough non-tomb combat that most people will still max out their weapon skills even if they don't go on an undead-slaying rampage.

Oh yeah, teleportation spells would be a problem, especially intervention since it's one of those priesty type spells that priests are likely to have.

I do like the mechanic of being able to set up shrines in tombs for quests, experience, or some other gain.. Basically, do what a priest would do since you are a priest. I also like the idea that this could be exploited as long as there's a consequence for it. Not being able to translocate from a tomb would be a pretty bad consequence for everyone who plays the game, so I wouldn't think that'd be a good one. Something that just affects priests who exploit their duties for personal gain would be great, though.

 

[Psilon]

Here's a thought. If you piss off the local undead, they may stop trusting the Temple. Your clerical superiors then send you back in later with a couple of gallons of holy water and a silver katana, telling you to take care of things.

Either you pacify the ghosts (which may cost some money, loot, skill points, etc.) or you, ahem, pacify the ghosts with your weapons. At this point, the owners of the tomb get annoyed with you since you killed off their ancestors. If you clean out Andrano Ancestral Tomb, then the Andrano family hears about it in a few days and their dispositions drop by 40 points or so.

 

[udarnik]

The tombs in Morrowind are all family tombs, and as an outsider you definitely aren't part of the family. If the typical dark elf already hates your guts, then how much more would his ancestors hate you? I don't think there's a lot of gameplay opportunities for these places. And balance has nothing to do with them. I've walked into tombs and walked out with extraordinarily powerful items - ebony helms, constant effect elemental resistance rings, etc. Personally, I think those tombs should at least be locked and better trapped, but oh well.

I'd love to see the developers do an expansion that made guild membership mean more and added depth to the original island, but of course that would and will never happen. Anyone have any favorite mods? Is the "Give your Orders" mod really good?

 

[Elwro]

Anyone have any favorite mods?

My favourite is "The Seekers faction". It adds a new guild with interesting quests. It's good, because it focuses on persuasion and generally non-combat skills.

 

[Psilon]

I'll check it out once I finish Tribunal. Hopefully the magical alternatives are supported as well. Charm 50 pts for 5 seconds on touch, anyone?

 

[Realbumpbert]

I love "Give you Orders." So far, I can only order around the weakest of my guild fellows, but I'm rising in the ranks. It's a small feature, but provides limitless fun (or maybe I have a long attention span ). You can order anyone to stay, follow, wander, etc. provided: they like you A LOT; or, you outrank them in a guild.

Super Adventurers is a very fun mod; adds new, generic NPCs that go home at night, and bandits that travel the roads. Combined with the Traveling Merchants mod, the highways of Vvardenfell feel a lot more real. And it also balances the game a little, tweaking skills, training, and some other stuff. Master trainers have been removed or hidden, and training costs double. Creeper is on vacation, and Mudcrab only has 2000 gold. NPCs, however, generally have more gold, and the economy has been changed. Enchanted items are generlly worth more.

Vampire's Embrace is outstanding, if, of course, you are a vampire. It lets you talk to NPCs and complete quests, although it is very difficult, since you have to bribe NPCs huge amounts or Charm them to stop them from attacking on site. You can drink people's blood if their disposition is even higher than that required to speak to them. They even become addicted to your bite if you do it often enough. One of the best features, IMO, is the ability to infect others with the disease, who will sleep for three days before rising as one of your undead children, whom you can order around, and share blood with, even without the Give your Orders mod.

Horatio's Spellcasting mod returns to to a method of magicka drain similar to Daggerfall; no more running out of mana after your second spell. High skills reduce cost.

Alchemical Warfare makes playing as an alchemist with Marksman rather than Magic skills a viable option; it's great fun. You can fill arrows with potion ingredients to blast enemies. Sometimes they blow up in your face, though. I was experimenting in the Mage's guild once, when my concoction exploded all over me and Estirdalin, nearly killing both of us. I went crazy trying to heal her with a Restoration skill of 16.

Once they come out, evil players and undead need to check out Necromancia and Illuminated Order. Both introduce Lichhood (as a trandformation, NOT a choosable race). Necromancia seems to have more features, including nasty evil things to do, like torture, on an all new landmass, but Illuminated order seems like it'll be out sooner.

GIANTS is good for a challenge, with new mosters (including nymphs ). Overall, though, it's good for a test drive. Soon you'll know the new monsters by heart, and may want to uninstall it. The multicolored Hungers and Winged twilights can jar you out of immersion, sometimes.

IndyBank is a necessity. Banking, loans and loan sharks, interest, real estate. Great stuff.

 

[udarnik]

Wow, great post. Those sound like some interesting mods -- I'll have to start paying more attention to the mod scene and downloading some of these guys.

 

[Kain_II]

if u's want all that faction fank stuff, e-mail me at shaundonnell@hotmail.com all of the stuff u want and ill put it together in a mod for u.
cya 8)

 

[Siward]

I've gotta say that although I would absolutely love to be able to control a faction in Morrowind, it would be atrocious to have people following you around all the time. Of all the times I've been frustrated in the game, I have never been more frustrated than when leading some idiotic argonian from the middle of the ashlands all the way to Ebonheart. It would be an absolute nightmare to attempt to orchestrate party movement on a more widescale level. It was almost a nightmare just leading three minions to a build site in Bloodmoon. I don't think I'd mind this all that much if their AI follow code weren't so bad. I have friends who do quite a bit of game programming and all of them have told me that Bethesda did theirs the wrong way...I personally tend to agree.

It seems like Bethesda has come very very close to doing several things perfectly in Morrowind and in both its expansions. Anyone else feel this way, or is it just me?