So help me god, I'm considering another LP

[Azira]

Yeah, I know I still have one on hold, I'm planning on getting back to it eventually. Even if I do intend to cheat to be able to finish it..

Now though, a crazy thought occured to me. And that was to do an LP of Might and Magic VI.

Why? Because I liked the game back when I bought it in '98, and I've recently had an urge to replay it. If I do an LP of it, odds increas that I'll actually finish the game as well. But I am unsure whether it's a good idea.

Several reasons:
Time. I don't have as much free time for this as I did when I did the UFO After* series LPs. I'm now the proud father of two children, not one, and have regular working hours in contrast with the more flexible hours last summer.
Lack of Larp. I don't do larp. Not really anyway. And thinking of commentaries for all the shit going down in the game might get me burned out. So I figure I might end up doing the LP much like I did the After* LPs, where I comment on the progression in story and how the characters get stronger, but no real inter-party banter or stuff like that. This might mean that people will lose interest.
Screenshots. I won't do motioncapture for an LP. Only if there are in-game FMVs. I'm a staunch proponent of screenshot based LPs, and any LP I do will be one such. I'm just not terribly sure this game would be done justice as a screenshot based LP.

So, if this LP happens, it will have:
infrequent updates on no set schedule
there will be no larping, but 4 lucky sods will be chosen to be the heroes of the party
the LP will be based on screenshots
and I will not be arsed to screencap each and every monster we encounter. Just interesting encounters, that either pose a significant threat, or somehow has relevance for the plot. And then only if I notice this.
just maybe, I will accept input on how to progress in the plot, and what skills the heroes should develop. I'm fickle, so don't count on it.

There. Go ahead. Vote in the poll. I might even pay attention to the results of it.

 

[dextermorgan]

there will be no larping, but 4 lucky sods will be chosen to be the heroes of the party

 

[Yeesh]

Put me in, coach. This is my one chance to really make something out of myself.

 

[Damned Registrations]

I tried MM6 but couldn't really get into it. Would be interesting seeing someone playing it to see what I'm missing out on, since a lot of people apparently love the game.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

I'd be interested in watching it, no LARP necessary. My Might and Magic experience is a little spotty, so I'd be interested more in the play-by-play.

And maybe I can finally be a character in two LPs that actually can be finished (RIP Pool of Radiance and RoA trilogy LPs). Eh, eh?

 

[Insane Psychic]

Fuck yeah! Don't care how you do it, Your UFO LPs have been very good, and I don't mind the non-larping and all the other shit. Go right ahead.

 

[Lindblum]

there will be no larping, but 4 lucky sods will be chosen to be the heroes of the party

Me!Me! Pick Me!

I would totally watch this.

 

[octavius]

I am the one you want!

 

[Crooked Bee]

Do eet.

 

[Azira]

Well well. 10 votes for the various iterations of "yes", 1 vote for "no" and 2 kingcomrades. Seems overwhelming, does it not?

Alright. I will probably start up the LP within the next week or so. I haven't chosen the four heroes yet, but I'm fairly set on that I will be using both a mage and a priest, so two of the hero classes seem pretty much set in stone already.

 

[Pope Amole II]

Go for a full caster party - fighters are absolute crap in this one, after all. And you can even skip cleric, honestly - I've replayed the late M&M recently and I went with 4x sorcs in the VI and never looked back. Unfortunately, character system is broken as hell there. And even if you wish to go melee, take 2x archers with maxed (I mean, totally maxed, like 30+) fire magic skill - at least they will be able to do something in combat (though sorks still will be much more powerful in all situations).

And I hope you're using the Grayface patch - 2x gameplay speed quadruples the probability of you completing this LP.

 

[Azira]

Haven't even installed the game yet, so haven't looked at what patches that are out there, but I will keep this Grayface guy in mind.
And as to the composition of the party, I will let at least some of the decisions be up to the community. I'll tally your vote as for 4 nukers. I'm not convinced however, I fear that party might be a bit boring for me to play.

 

[Azira]

Oh boy, it has really hit home that I've played MM VII much more than MM VI. I had my mind set that choosing the right class was important, as it dictated what skills you could master. That's very true for VII, not so much for VI.

Ohwell. Will install the game now, and fire it up to get some initial screens, then I'll let people chime in with what character they want representing them in-game, and I'll soon be good to go.

 

[Pope Amole II]

The thing is, other characters just can't do anything that a nuker can not. Melee combat is broken (without a patch, that is) and even with the patch you just can't deal significant amount of damage to mobs - with some relics and grinding and mega-buffing (meaning a light magic skill of 40+ enhanced with ring of said magic) you will be able to dish out, like, 100 damage per hit (that's at the stage where monsters have somewhere around thousand and there's, as usual, ton of them), and that's when you hit and if your hit is successful, while the mage of same level will just shred the monster in one or two or three shrapmetal blasts. Another point that fighters can't really tank - they don't have any skills to reduce incoming damage (except armor, kinda, but the difference there is quite insignificant on higher levels) and, more importantly, they don't have any means to actually direct incoming damage on themselves. So their durability only means that they just die after your casters die and that's not a situation where you want to be.

Clerical magic is also broken - buffs are mainly useful for meleers (which suck even with them) and are outclassed by light magic, healing is ridiculously underpowered (usually you get hit for, like, 50-100 damage and you have to dump a lot of skillpoints in body magic to heal at least as much), "cure effects" are easily replaced through potions, town portals and, in dire cases, divine intervention and crowd control effects could be awesome if only they worked (they don't even with patch, as far as I know).

And archery way also loses its power quickly - sure, it's broken in the early game, but after a while damage quickly becomes insignificant and never rises back, VI is not VII and VIII which are playthroughable with full archer (or full melee) party.

So yeah, sure, you can go through the game with any party you like, but be warned anything other than 4x nukers is heck of a grind since other characters just can't do anything except popping moles with puny weapons.

 

[Azira]

Alright people, we're just about ready to get started, but first I need 4 volounteers.
To make signing up easier, here's the available classes and what starting skills they can choose amongst. Don't worry, you'll get to learn a lot more skills later with training.
Let's take a look at the start screen first. Just because.

Now for the classes. First up is the Knight:

The Knight is a damage dealer and tank. He will never be able to learn any magic casting skills, so he's not as skill point heavy as the pure caster types.
Next is the Cleric:

The cleric can use some armour, and gets acces to the spirit, body and mind magic skills, in addition to the late-game light and dark magic. Very powerful stuff, I'd like at least one cleric in the party!
Next is the sorcerer:

These elemental mages don't use any heavier armour than leather, and they can only learn to wield daggers, staves and bows, but they get acces to earth, air, water and fire magic, in addition to late-game light and dark. Again, at least one of you will wind up a sorcerer, even if none of you choose to be one.. M:
Next class is the paladin:

"A cross between a knight and cleric" is a pretty apt description. He's tanky with good armour skills, and he has acces to the three initial cleric spell skills, but he cannot learn light nor dark magic.
Archer:

This one is somewhere between knight and sorcerer, but again, like the paladin, is exempt from learning light and dark magic. Starts out with bow skill as a default, but we can easily pick up that skill in the first town, so this guy isn't exactly mandatory.
Finally, the druid:

This bad boy can learn every magic skill. Except for the two most powerful skills, light and dark.. If one of you is just dying to play a druid, I might go along with it. It's just, well, light and dark magic are so powerful it's almost a joke.
As to the skills, don't fret too much about them as I stated previously. Many will be learnt later as the possibility arises. Each skill carries certain perks however, as you level up in mastery of them. The example here is the sword skill:

Yes. You can dual-wield. The magic skills will enable access to more powerful spells as mastery increases. It will be my top priority to get a character with mastery of water magic, for the single reason that there is a town portal spell..
Next up is the stats. These will be boosted in various ways during the game. You can go ahead and say what you'd like your characters to emphasize, and I'll take that into consideration when I start the game:

You'll also need to choose a visage, an ugly mug I'll have to look at for the rest of the game. To make matters worse, the portrait changes appearance with damage taken, and each portrait has its own voiced outbursts which are also bound to become annoying. I'm suffering for you people here..
The female faces first, you only get 4 to choose from:

The male faces are double this amount, though the last face looks decidedly tranny for some reason..

Alright people! Tell me what class, what skills and what face you'd like your electronic alter ego to start out with, I'll pick 4 of you and then we'll be off!

 

[Pope Amole II]

Pope Amole II - cleric (yeah, I said that they suck above, but you just can't be anything but cleric with a name like that), spirit & mind magic (and definitely pumping all the remaining skillpoints into dark magic later on), face №... Dammit, they all look crappy, let me roll a dice - 7 it is.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

How about a druid focusing on elemental magic (was it water or air that gives the travel spells?) and maybe using archery as soon as you can get it to make up for squishiness?

 

[Azira]

Pope Amole II - cleric (yeah, I said that they suck above, but you just can't be anything but cleric with a name like that), spirit & mind magic (and definitely pumping all the remaining skillpoints into dark magic later on), face №... Dammit, they all look crappy, let me roll a dice - 7 it is.

Alright, you choose the portrait of the man with the strangely effeminate lips. Fitting for a Pope cleric..

How about a druid focusing on elemental magic (was it water or air that gives the travel spells?) and maybe using archery as soon as you can get it to make up for squishiness?

A dr00d? We can definitely use someone who goes straight for the water teleportation spells though. And each and every party member will be picking up the bow skill ASAP. As for how far they develop it depends on how useful I deem their other skills to be.

 

[Yeesh]

Just make me a knight with plenty of might and prove how groovy melee is in a fight.

Also, eyepatch guy. These faces suck.

 

[Takeda Kenshi]

A Paladin named Sir Dicksmoker, with Diplomacy and Perception.

Male #4 for the lulz.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Wasn't going to sign up, but put me in as a Sorc named DR for the sake of salvaging your chances. Get whatever skills you deem useful.

 

[Monstrous Bat]

Bat Man. Sorcerer. Air and Water. Male #3. Dump luck, max out intelligence and then boost speed as much as possible.

 

[Azira]

The LP won't start until sunday, at the earliest. So there's still time to sign up. I will probably choose the four heroes randomly, possibly with die-rolls. Unless I really don't care for the results...

Anyway, won't get the chance to play the game today nor tomorrow. So any latecomers still stand a chance of naming one of the heroes. M:

 

[Azira]

When the LP starts, the first update will feature a secret area...

 

[Azira]

Well, no more entries for more than a day. I take it that's it. Below I've listed all the peope who replied to this thread, taking it for granted they wouldn't mind seeing their alter egos comprising the team trying to gain The Mandate of Heaven. M: I've rolled a d20 for all of them, and the four highest rolls are my chosen four!

6 dextermorgan
2 Yeesh
9 Damned Registrations
11 Edward_R_Murrow
6 insane psychic
17 Lindblum
2 octavius
3 Crooked Bee
8 Pope Amole
12 Takeda Kenshi
4 Monstrous Bat

No cheating was involved, and frankly I'm a bit surprised with all the low rolls when written out like that, but it also beautifully sums up how my DnD sessions usually go..

So the party will consist of
Sir Dicksmoker the paladin

Edward_R_Murrow the druid

Lindblum the cleric

DR the sorcerer

Now to firing up the game and get the team underway!