The Creator

BoE is not dying at all. However, it's becoming less and less Spidweb-centralized. There's a couple of top-quality, recent scenarios that aren't even on their Untried table. If the first scenario stands alone and you can leave the rest of the series undone without hurting it, go for it. Incidentally, you're not the only one who's found 'How did this happen?' to be a powerful creation tool.

This is perplexing. Areni was put up as a .zip file first (and I think can still be downloaded in that format from the forum header), but has indeed now been replaced with a .sit. That's amazing. Why would anyone go to so much trouble to make things worse? Do ya wanna be a part of the solution?

I like Pre-made parties a lot. However, I would warn against starting a series with your first scenario. I did just that, and regetted it. You'll become a much better designer through the process of designing, and no matter how good your first scenario is, there will always be some things (probably a lot) that you could have done a lot better. If it's the first in a series, you're tying yourself into working on the same storyline (even if you come up with a much better one) and some design mistakes in your first work will most likely perpetuate through the series. For example, the outdoor terrain of Revenge is pretty poor. I could have made it a lot better. But I had to keep it that way for consistency's sake, beacause that's the way it was in Isle of Boredom. So, I recommend making a stand-alone for your first effort.

I started playing your scenario. It does show a certain amount of promise, but it just isn't very fun to play. A couple of reasons for that, but mainly there's just way too much combat.

I always have one character with 20 strength when I start.

If you prefer BoE, stick with BoE. Also, before you design any more scenarios, it would probably be a good idea to read a few of the articles floating about the place. And, of course, play a few of the classics if you haven't already. Welcome to the community!

You'll notice that all the BoA scenarios have been uploaded quickly. Within three or four days, A Perfect Forest will be sitting on the Quality scenarios table, complete with a list of user reviews. If Stareye updates it, they'll get the new version up in a jiffy. If it recieves more ratings, they'll update the score and the reviews. It's not a case of "We don't have time to look after BoE." It's a case of "We don't really give two hoots." Note that they list "working on upcoming games" which are five or six months from being released, as being more urgent than providing prompt customer service.

I once suggested that if they don't have time to take care of the tables, why on earth not hand them over to the community to handle. She said she'd think about it. Perhaps it would be a good idea to remind them of that option.

Yes, Revenge got put back up. After a whole bunch of annoyed emails. And being replaced with Frahhamn's Revenge.

Not like it's the first time a scenario has vanished like a fart in the wind, either...

1) Small map is generally better. Unless there's something really special about your outdoors. Keep a few sections spare, though - you can't add new ones later. 2) Personally, I build all the sequences individually and then join them up. (Sequences being when a whole bunch of stuff happens quickly - I build my scenarios mostly out of these) But it's probably not the best method to copy. Maybe do all the plot stuff first - get the core of the scenario done, and then add however many details you think the scenario needs. 3) I like hard battles, but only if they're clever. Tougher monsters and more monsters are two things that should probably be avoided when designing combat. Do something else to stretch the party - like let the bad guys get the first hit. 4) A lot of twists is a good thing, as long as they aren't forced or implausible. Generally, if it takes a big chunk of text to explain a twist, it's not so hot. But everyone loves a good story-scenario.

I find it amusing that someone calling himself Roderick Glossop starts a topic called Personality Problems. But then, that was probably intentional.

Actually, the fact that the character has an incurable disease is an integral part of the storyline. Also, it's important that you have no food. The stats aren't that unimportant. You can win that fight if you know what you're doing. But probably not without magic.

I found it interesting that Vahkohs is very vulnerable to Cloud of Blades for some reason.

A bit of both, really. Being a farmer means I'm constantly confronted with the harsh realities. I've seen thousands of animals die, because of humans, because of other animals, and sometimes because of their own stupidity. My religion and worldview shapes what I think and feel about these things.

Djur, no need to attack him. How do you seperate conscience from religion? I can't. My religion is central to my beliefs about what is right and wrong. If I believed that God didn't exist and that we all evolved, I'd believe that there was no right or wrong, and I wouldn't feel guilty about anything. But then, maybe that's just me. Obviously, you disagree with me over a few points. That's okay. I was simply putting forward my view on the issue, seeing as I'm usually the voice of conservatism around here - I've been involved in gosh knows how many debates over on the General board about homosexuality, abortion, animal rights and whatnot. I wasn't in any way trying to justify witchcraft. We both agree that's a bad thing. My point was simply that an artistic representation of a bad thing is not necessarily a bad thing in of itself - citing the Passion once again, we watch the Son of God as he is brutally murdered. That's a bad thing - doesn't make it an evil movie. Regarding the second passage, I presume you're making the point that violence is bad, and BoE involves a lot of virtual killing, so BoE is bad. It's an understandable point of view. Personally, it's like a chess game for me - I enjoy it for the tactics. I very much doubt anyone does enjoy it for the 'violence', such as there is - there's a million 'better' games for that. There are one or two scenarios that seem to delight in the gore and have detailed descriptions of violent scenes - New Life and Burned to the Ground come to mind. I don't enjoy these, or pretend that there's nothing wrong with them. But that doesn't make the medium bad. Anyway, you have your own opinions, and I'd be suprised if anything I said changed your mind at all. I'd be willing to continue this discussion if you are. Regardless, nice to have you drop by again. You could stick around, you know. However you feel about BoE itself, you can still chat with those who do play it.

I'm a devout Christian, and BoE doesn't bother me at all. Okay, there's 'demons'. But they aren't anything like real demons. You can hack them to death. In Quests of the Spheres, there's one who died from natural causes. I think the scenario Demon provides a pretty good explanation of the BoE demon, which shares pretty much nothing with real demons apart from the name. I think there is often a tendency among Christians to be over-sensitive about anything spiritual or supernatural. We all accept violence is a bad thing, but that doesn't mean Ben-Hur or The Passion of the Christ are inherently evil films. And given that we believe that a supernatural realm actually exists, one is forced to wonder why so many Christians are so opposed to anyone actually dealing with it. I know some people who think Lord of the Rings is evil - and it was written by a devout Catholic. Anyhow, I'm just saying that there's no argument against using Demons in art that really stands up to logical thought. Because they're evil? See above point about the Passion and Ben-Hur. Spiritualism? For Christians, surely the spiritual world is just another set of facts. Besides, I'm sure Aceron and others wouldn't consider Frank Peretti's "This Present Dankness" to be morally bankrupt. Gross inaccuracy? While the vast majority of representations of demons (including and especially the BoE one) are incredibly inaccurate, so are Disney films when it comes to animals, or just about any movie regarding violence. One argument that could stand up pretty well is "It's wrong to glorify evil". I can see this one as a strong defensible position. However, BoE doesn't do this. The Demons are the baddies. Anyhow, This is all pretty much irrelevant to me, as I see Blades demons as purely ficticious inventions that only share a name with the actual things that everyone worrries about - much like the 'priests' in BoE.

That list looks pretty good to me. I'd probably add 8.4 as a priority as well, but otherwise, great.

I really am terrible with PMs. I didn't notice yours till today. Sorry. Anyway, I've replied now.

Eriene? Didn't you make Murder in Ilyanon? And, um, hi, Ace. You might sorta know me - I was here last time you appeared. Hope you'll stick around for a bit.

For "bows" you just can't go past the guns in Doom Moon II. But then, for super-powered anything you can't go past Doom Moon II.

I obviously feel that the Dialog Box is by far the most important thing. Everything else is nice, but I could do without it. No Dialog Box option really diminishes my desire to design for BoA.

Cripes, who's in charge of the tables? Bandits 2 seems to have disappeared. Talk about making a mess of things.

IoB is hardly ancient. That would be a somewhat more accurate statement if the scenario were about three years older.

I arrived during the Ikonboard days. I joined the Lyceum around the time of the 4th contest. I came a bit later than TM and at almost exactly the same time as Khoth. I got BoE when Brotherhood of the Hand was the newest Solid Adventure.