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The Ritual of Registration


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The Ritual of Registration

Mac/Windows

 

Author: Nemesis

Rating:

Difficulty:

Version: 1.0.0

 

[composite=eyJ0aXRsZSI6IlRoZSBSaXR1YWwgb2YgUmVnaXN0cmF0aW9uIiwidGlkIjoiMTU2NzQiLCJ0YWdzIjpbXSwiYmdhc3AiOnsiNSI6MCwiNCI6MCwiMyI6NCwiMiI6NCwiMSI6MX19]

Composite Score: 2.3/5.0

 

Best: 0.00% (0/9)

Good: 0.00% (0/9)

Average: 44.44% (4/9)

Substandard: 44.44% (4/9)

Poor: 11.11% (1/9)

[encouragenecro]

 

[/composite]

 

Keywords:

Edited by SylaeBot
Automated Sybot edit; worker IPB::csrThread/vanadium
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From Enraged Slith on SV:

 

There isn't much to it and the only real event (the Shareware demon fight) in the scenario requires you to trek an annoying, spiraling path. Whatever significance the path might hold is lost on me; I didn't like walking it. The spinning pentagram was a very cool touch though, and I liked the demon's method of attack.

 

I was mostly disappointed that this scenario turned out to be a small forum cameo-fest rather than a clever attempt at the mystery behind the shareware demon. You even left out my favorite character.

 

I'm not sure how you want me to rate this. If anyone outside this forum actually plays these scenarios, I can't see what they would get out of playing this.

 

[rating]SUBSTANDARD[/rating]

 

It did what it sought to do but it isn't fun and not many people are going to understand what's going on. It's really not worth playing for anyone outside of this forum.

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From Thralni on SV:

 

I liked this scenario. It does what it should do, and therefor it's not much use for somebody not in the community, because he or she won't understand any of the references. Interestingly, all members present in the scenario, are only SV members.

 

Anyway, the story is simple and straightforward, and you don't do much more than walk around and talk to members, which is fun by itself, but it feels a little empty. The members don't say that much, and the actual ritual, which should be the primary reason of existence for the scenario, now feels like an excuse to make the scenario. That's a pity, because it could have been much more.

 

Still, in all it's faults and shortness, I had a laugh and I enjoyed my time.

 

[rating]AVERAGE[/rating]

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From Ackrovan on SV:

 

Master Ackrovan's Review of The Ritual of Registration

 

There's not much to say about it. Its short, and pretty straght forward in terms of plot....

 

Okay, I'm depressed because of this Scenario. When I had read that this was going to be made, I was thinking; "Hey, we'll get a cool original story about one of the biggest faces in the Avernum games!" I was extremely disapointed that it turned out to be a pothole.

 

*Note the the Designer - This was an Epic Disapointment for me, but like you said, you're expecting this scanario to do poorly, so meh. I don't have sympathy for it.

 

*Note to the Player - Skip it. You can find something else to do in your time that is more interesting, like say, picking your nose.

 

[rating]POOR[/rating]

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From ADoS on SV

 

I really liked the actual ritual, as short as it was. The cameos, however, were half-assed and boring, and I think something like the Registration Demon deserves a bit more effort on the part of the designer. The scenario would have been better without the cameos, because I felt compelled to talk to them as a Spidweb game regular, and yet although I knew the people, actually talking to them was dull, so even for someone in the community it fell flat. What would have been better than the scenario as it is minus the cameos and totally extraneous outdoors, however, would have been a more developed scenario with a more developed ritual, and more developed cameos.

 

By "more developed cameos", try comparing these cameos to the cameos in "Inn of Blades", a TM BoE scenario featuring cameos from mostly long-gone community members. I played IoB before I knew who any of the cameos actually were, yet they actually made sense as characters in the context of the scenario as well, so recognizing the people was more of an added bonus, rather than a requirement.

 

All in all, it was disappointing, as Acky said, but I wouldn't get depressed over it.

 

I rate The Ritual of Registration as poor [rating]SUBSTANDARD[/rating].

 

EDIT: Thought about it more. If you ignore the cameos, which (apparently) are only not a waste of time if you're actually one of them, the actual ritual was nice, if a bit too short and simple, and I edited my score to reflect that. I liked the first part and I liked the design of the demon encounter as it was, without the graphical frills that some people have suggested. I rate a thoroughly mediocre yet mostly functional scenario as substandard. This is better than that.

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From Lord Grimm on SV:

 

Funny story:

I’d recently installed Blades onto a new computer and this was to be the first scenario that I’d play on this computer. I created a new party and opened up the scenario: It began with the great Shareware Demon, announcing that I was crossing into territory I should not, and that I must perform the Ritual of Registration. Great intro!

And then I noticed that little message in the bottom of the screen reading “unregistered copy”. Ten minutes of hunting down and moving the appropriate data file later, I went in for real.

 

 

Pay your dues to the man and get rid of that pesky Shareware Demon once and for all.

Short and to the point, only on Hard and Torment did it require some alchemy skill and literally cutting a few corners to beat.

It's well-designed, but really, Nemesis should be flogged, drawn, quartered, and have his remains beaten into oblivion with a wet noodle, because it's little more than a brief attempt at a cute cameo-fest that doesn't even cover the basics of the community. I mean, the idea is good, but the execution is lousy. And yet, from a gameplay perspective, it's still well-designed. I kept oscilating between laughing and asking myself if that was it.

Nem, if you're gonna produce a community piece on a whim, don't you think you could be a bit more thorough?

 

Plot: Poor

Gameplay: Average

Presentability: Good

Scripting: Poor

Personal Enjoyment: Poor

 

Rating: [rating]SUBSTANDARD[/rating]

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From Ephesos on SV:

 

...wow, really folks? I could feel the flames in this thread from several states away. So, I decided I needed to try this, because it can't possibly be as bad as the reviews suggested.

 

Guess what? It isn't that bad. Yes, it is basically a short cameo-fest with one fight (albeit a funny one... I just had a lot of coins on me). Yes, it could've gone more into depth about the community at large (like what Shadow Vale actually is). But it's not nearly as bad as these reviews make it sound. I mean seriously, 1.3? Foul Hordes at least got some scores of 1.5, and that was pretty terrible.

 

Now, for some useful feedback:

-It's entirely possible to send your entire party through the portal if you hit Cancel. This ought to be fixed.

-The path of runes, while interesting, could use a bit more variation perhaps.

-Not having to completely retrace your steps after the fight would also be nice.

-I was disappointed that the star floors and objects weren't used for that fight, because they would've been perfect.

-If I was there to help with the trees, why didn't you use my trees?

-The outdoors, while pretty, didn't serve much of a purpose. Probably could've moved the "do you want to leave" node up to the river.

 

But aside from those little quibbles (a fun word), this was a very brief but enjoyable scenario. It at least merits a 5.0... half a point above my score for Muffins 'n Hell because it has fewer typos and more solid town/outdoor design. Nemesis, keep up the good work. (though I'll admit that I would like to see some more substantial stuff in the future)

 

And on another note, just because not every scenario can aspire to the plot complexity of Exodus or the technical excellence of Blades of Rogue doesn't mean it should be panned. Just sayin'.

 

Note from Tyran: There are too many numerical scores in this post to even try converting them all and still having a review that makes sense. Suffice to say, Eph's final score converts to [rating]AVERAGE[/rating]

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From Dikiyoba on SV:

 

Well, like Ephesos, this thread made me play the scenario.

 

No, it's not a masterpiece. And it could have been done better. But it's decent, and it does what it was supposed to do.

 

It's not horribly buggy, I was never horribly confused as to what I was supposed to be doing, and the design works. That alone makes it worth at least a four. Plus, I thought it had its moments. I liked the path of runes, the fight with the demon, and being struck down for being a pirate, for instance. So, I rate this [rating]AVERAGE.[/rating]

 

Dikiyoba.

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From Smoo on SV:

 

Honestly, what were some of you expecting? I was expecting something that would either have too much community-centered inside jokes or just something plain terrible. While the cameos sport a bit of column A, The Ritual of Registration is by no means terrible. It is not very good either.

 

You enter the scenario on your way to register your copy of Blades of Avernum. This is done by talking to Jeff Vogel and then performing the Ritual of Registration. This all takes about ten minutes; and yes, it is silly. Really, there is not much to write about. The town layout is alright. The NPCs range from functional (Jeff) to pointless (the cameos) and kind of fun (the pirate). There is no real combat, although you have to fight the Shareware Demon and I must say that I liked his vicious attack. Unfortunately, he was not nearly as formidable as his previous appearances would have you believe. My only major complaint is that the spiraling dungeon requires some needless back and forth wandering. A teleportation to Vogel's office once the deed was done would have been nice.

 

My advice for players thinking whether they should play The Ritual of Registration or not is this: expect the worse. You will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[rating]AVERAGE[/rating]

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