GhanBuriGhan said:
...It is not about "fixing mistakes" I know that even some modders claim that themselves, but it is just arrogance. They fail, like you, to see that what they perceive as a mistake, doesn't bother someone else, or is even preferred by them to their mod.
It is about fixing mistakes - i.e. bad or needlessly sub-optimal design. I have two arguments on this. I guess you'll disagree with the first one, but I can't see how you can disagree with the second [to be honest I can't see how you could disagree with the first, but that's probably just my arrogance
]:
(1) The current system rewards the player for spending a lot of time thinking about which skills / stats are best to increase. It penalises natural play, and rewards thinking about game mechanics rather than the game world. However you dress it up, this aspect of the system is a design flaw. It should be fixed.
(2) Currently there are two camps of users: Those who like / don't mind the current system, and those who think that it sucks. Now imagine a the system were changed so that the second group liked it, and the first lot still liked it. That would be a definite improvement. Can such an improvement be made? I think that it can. It's certainly conceivable that it could be. Sticking with the current system because "most people seem to like it" is just lazy. Most players don't have a clue what the possibilities are. It is up to designers to take things forward and surprise players with better systems - to make them think "Wow - I liked the old system, but this is so much better. I never would have thought of that.".
I'm not convinced by the "No system will please everyone, so stick with the current one and mod in changes." argument. For a start, there's no reason to think that a system couldn't please everyone. No system will be
perfect for everyone, but that's a different matter entirely. Bethesda have a system which some people like, many think is ok, and quite a few think sucks. Why they don't try to improve it is a mystery to me.
Galsiah fixes the levelling system because he thinks the original sucks. I don't like his mod.
Did you try it? If so, what did you not like? I would really like to know. Perhaps I'm wrong in thinking that a system could be made to please everyone (more than the current setup at any rate). What did the standard system do better than GCD?
There are two elements I can think of that I'd like to improve:
(1) Choice.
GCD removes in game choice from character progression (apart from choice through action / skill training). I find making important choices one of the interesting features of character building, so these should not ideally be removed. However, the standard system doesn't do much better - the only choice is how to allocate a few attribute points. This choice makes no long term difference, and a very small short term difference.
Compared to making in game decisions in e.g. NWN, the Morrowind decisions are pretty uninteresting.
I'd prefer to have choice of new character abilities rather than of a few attribute points. Preferably I'd also want those abilities to be linked to the game world - through quests / guilds / factions / trainers... If I had time, I'd attempt to make such a mod for Morrowind, giving the player really interesting choices of different abilities as he played the game. No such system is part of GCD, since it can be independent - such a mod wouldn't require GCD, and GCD wouldn't require it.
(2) Versatility.
GCD enforces a character's class quite rigidly. Choices you make at the start have a huge effect on the the entire game. I prefer this to Morrowind's standard system, but I don't think that it is the ideal. My ideal system would allow a character to change "class" very slowly over the course of the game. His actions would influence not only his skill increases, but would also slowly influence the rate of those increases, and their benefit to attributes. A mage who switched to playing as a pure fighter would find it very hard going for a long time, but would eventually get used to his new role, and progress at a reasonable rate. This kind of system would require skill atrophy, but could be very effective if done well - combining character versatility with character diversity.
If you don't like the removal of choice, then using GCD with another mod could give you more interesting choices. If lack of versatility is the trouble, then I agree GCD isn't going to please everyone in this regard. If it's something else, then please let me know. I like to know why people don't like GCD as well as why they do.
I'm aware that you don't
need a GCD-like system to enjoy the game, but what offends you specifically?
I've never maintained that GCD is perfect, since it isn't. That's one of my main objections to the way things are in the standard game - a mod takes a lot more effort to do a lot less than a standard system could. The system should be fixed (yes,
fixed damnit), not modded.
I'd be surprised if a system couldn't be made to suit both your tastes and mine. Having a system that a load of people consider badly flawed is not good. This should be "fixed", where "fixed" means: make a system that isn't badly flawed in these people's view, and is ok with the people who like the current system.
If GCD is not an improvement on the standard system in every respect, that does not mean that the standard system doesn't suck - perhaps they both suck, but that doesn't mean a better solution is not out there.
Presuming that there is no better solution is closed minded.
Not looking for one is lazy.
Actually the necessary skill points for the perk is most likely a game setting variable and thus accessible through the CS.
But can you alter the level at which perks are awarded for each skill independently? Can you change the order in which perks are awarded? Can you disable the skill level based perk trigger and award them when you want to via script?
It's possible, but I doubt it. Of course I hope to be wrong.