tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229618075021986600.post8422126326514344680..comments2024-02-07T22:21:28.079+11:00Comments on Creations of AmstradHero: Personal Review: Quests and ConsequenceAmstradHerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02313267316109911061noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229618075021986600.post-35634499032742097352010-10-15T16:01:03.477+11:002010-10-15T16:01:03.477+11:001. Backtracking has some value I think, but it re...1. Backtracking has some value I think, but it requires a light touch. There's a certain tension between player convenience and the feeling of an authentic world, and while in specific cases you want to err on the side of the former, you may still want to preserve the latter in the aggregate. I think a certain amount of returning to hubs and key locations helps. I often think of WoW vs Guild Wars - despite GW's superb design and high degree of player convenience, despite WoW's highly stylised art, Tyria just doesn't seem as real as Azeroth.<br /><br />I may have gone a little too far in Classic Week (certainly Ostagar's back door could have used its own map pin), but I think the side quests gave a bit of extra life to the areas that Fragments lacked. And of course the final encounter in Dirge is all about backtracking (in a real hurry), which works nicely with the design of your village level :)<br /><br />2. Unintended consequences require a delicate touch too, I'd suggest. If your module is short, go nuts. The player can trivially replay. If it's longer, you want to avoid anything that would make the player want to reload or start over.<br /><br />In particular I'd suggest significant mechanical impact is inappropriate. You don't want to disadvantage players on the game layer for opaque RP choices, and you don't want to teach them that seemingly innocuous choices must be done "correctly" in order to optimise. That can encourage extreme metagaming ala Persona calendar planning - you can make the player feel EVERYTHING must be checked in a FAQ.<br /><br />Little changes to dialogue or story down the track adding up to a pervasive sense that the game is paying attention but that there's little to fear from making choices is probably a good approach. More decisive choices can be more transperant and immediate on top of that foundation without the game feeling stateless.Jye Nicolsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10005040036768796965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229618075021986600.post-82192928792532305262010-10-15T06:17:55.804+11:002010-10-15T06:17:55.804+11:00from wizard of thay
Unexpected concequences in my ...from wizard of thay<br />Unexpected concequences in my opinion, totally fine. <br />they are a device to challnege the player, but in using them I think it would be important, <br />1) not to overuse them so that everything the player does has an unexpected concequence. <br />2) should be balanced against expected concequences. I helped them they helped me. this can also be used to build up to an unexpected concequence and add even more impact<br />3) I also feel that when using an unexpected concequence it can be as extreme as you want, on one condition...that the player inretrospect can go. yes tha makes sense that that happened to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229618075021986600.post-22623848635617146182010-10-15T02:26:42.046+11:002010-10-15T02:26:42.046+11:00AmstradHero wrote ...
Should players be expected t...AmstradHero wrote ...<br />Should players be expected to have a clear understanding of the consequences of their actions in order to make a reasoned decision, or should they potentially be penalised (or alternatively be rewarded) at a future time due to past decisions?<br /><br />My view is that the understanding of consequences should always be limited to the information on hand at the time the decision was made - which would, in most cases, mean that the player will be rewarded or penalized (or neither) at a later point in time due to those actions. One thing I do dislike is when those reactions are very significant - like a party member leaving - when no hint (eg: that same party member voicing their opinion before the decision is made) was given prior to that moment. <br /><br />I agree that the quests should be varied but I also like the scenarios where players have the opportunity to learn/do something that is not tied to a quest but still has a consequence later on. Something as simple as throwing a gold piece to the beggar outside the warehouse you are breaking in results in him creating a diversion if you trip the alarm and run out. There should be no hint or opportunity to meta-game (via interjections by companions who remain oblivious of everything rest of the time) that action - which makes the result have more impact when it does happen.Timelordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03321101433526313469noreply@blogger.com