On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 7:39 PM, Andrew Phillips <phillip...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I think the skill-tree in Dragon Age is another example of Blizzard-itis. > They make wildly successful games, so people start thinking that's what a > successful rpg looks like. The other thing, especially about combat related skills is that they require a lot of micromanagement to use efficiently. So apart from a few outstanding skills, they are not really getting used much. In that regard, I believe Adonthell's combat feats [1] should mostly be "passive" talents [2] that influence combat style, one of which can be active at any time. So more "feats" than "moves". Moves, i.e. one-time activated talents, should really have a large effect and possibly be limited to higher level characters. One positive aspect are some of the plot related choices. (Some) quests can be completed to varying degree. Like defending the village without any of the villagers being killed will give better rewards than otherwise. Also had the choice between fighting the posessed boy, letting the mother sacrifice herself to help the boy or, under special circumstances, rescue both boy and mother. So we should think about not only offering different ways to solve a quest, but also have resolutions other than failed and completed. Better even, if there will be consequences for future parts of the game. People that are optional in the completion of quests will only be able to provide helpful information or training if they survive. People needlessly angered OTOH might complicate matters later on by refusing help or asking higher prices. Personally, I found it quite satisfying to see how a choice I took earlier comes back later on in the form of additional dialogue options or an NPC turning up to resolve an otherwise difficult situation. Have to see if part of this can be added to the design docs on the Wiki. More thoughts welcome. Kai [1] http://adonthell.berlios.de/doc/index.php/Rules:Stats#Abilities [2] http://adonthell.berlios.de/doc/index.php/Rules:Items#Talents _______________________________________________ Adonthell-devel mailing list Adonthell-devel@nongnu.org http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/adonthell-devel