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Owenmoz

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  1. Hey everyone! Im back to say I actually rly didnt enjoy this game either!!! On a technical level it was fun. The combat the abilities the crafting all of that worked great. I also do like that the country clearly wasn't pleased with being colonised and there wasnt any beating around the bush about it. We also got to see more of the evils that colonialism does as opposed to QW1. (I still think Avernum 5 and Avadon in general do a better job out of it but also i played those games a long time ago so maybe my opinion would be changed by now) I however just dont see how the ending makes sense. Especially the queen's judgement of you holding any power when everyone can see that she is unwell. All the actions i've put a lot of effort into building throughout the game being completely undermined and reversed over that, doesnt feel great and seems to wish for a more spineless approach. On the other hand really loved how they complexified the relationships and characters that your siblings have. Very well done. But in its own way unsatisfactory since there is nothing you can do about it. And it definitely seems odd that both of them are in line with the Queen's Wish when its clearly harming them a lot. And it kinda sucks that this is the series that has a carry over code for the next games since it seems to reward a slash and burn strategy because the colonies themselves don't seem matter as much as your familial relationships at the end of it. So sacrifice a few colonies for more power in the court so that maybe some day your actions might actually make a difference? I value the nuances presented and like how they require the player to be very thoughtful and careful about what they do. In particular having in mind that this is a diplomatic mission and well... Diplomats are supposed to give sweet nothings. But i think with the enourmous stakes here it isnt fair to give such a complex navigation of reputation in a circumstance where you have limited power. I think moral ambiguity is well served by having all endings as good depending on the things that the players choices seemed to value or promote. Even if each ending may point out some of the evils you've deliberately or accidentally contributed to. Terrible shame. I had been rly excited about this and its one of the few games i got on the release date. Then again i do feel like a lot of the criticism i have may also be a reflection of how things are going now a days. I simply had more time for video games when i was younger so i think i'd have been better able to endure a bad ending back then. I think crazy canister endings and corruption water endings were categorically bad. And i started over to get a good one. I just dont quite see myself doing the same here and im not sure if thats a lot about the game or my lack of time.
  2. I strongly disagree. The shapers at Sucia island were at their most greedy power hungry, neglectful and irresponsible. A lot of the game does a point of showing you that the new era of shapers after Sucia are a lot more careful, restrained and principled. Like from a very basic standpoint modern shapers would be very unlikely to abandon serviles if they could help it due to their sense of responsibility over their creations.
  3. Games don't have to be hard. They have to be enjoyable, you can be lured in by a sense of achievement you get, by a sense of wonder you get to a world so alien, by a good story and solid, immersive characters, with multiple and understandable motivations, by the level of control you hold into shaping the world according to your own aesthetics and logics, by just the simple fact that its pretty, because you like watching things go boom, etc.. etc.. a very good game, would ideally, seamlessly include multiple of these at the same time. But difficulty alone is rarely a good marker for a game, and even then, i personally don't think a map is a reflection of that on its own, and I much prefer Jeff's move to rely a lot more on placement of people, and managing abilities in battles, i feel there are some kinks still to figure out. But that in itself provides difficulty that wasn't often available in the earlier games further than "Weakness/Resistance". Also wrt time, as triumph, marnick and ados said. Very few people have free time like that, and even fewer would lie about the time they have. An 8 hour work day, added to at least a full hour of commuting, and another of getting ready, and if you're able to and diligent, at least 6 hours of cooking and cleaning, and at least 8 hours of sleep. leaves you at exactly 0 hours of your day left. And thats the reality of most people, who will often sacrifice cooking and cleaning so that they have some me time, but eventually the cooking and cleaning will have to be done, which means bye bye weekends, and if im not mistaken the american government has no such thing as mandatory leave. Most people do not have time, and rely on fast, and easily consumable goods and services to maintain any amount of mental stability. To think otherwise comes from a place of privilege. That being said, most people are ready to consume long games, long books, long movies, long series, provided they don't give the impression of wasting one's time. And unfortunately trailing along doing repetitive things that don't really add much to the experience of a game bar personal taste, often feels to people as a waste of their time, and that definitely affects people's willingness to engage with something. And even then, games like Dragon age inquisition, which needs upwards of 150 hours to fully complete, are easily hailed as worthy and enjoyable, and people will easily throw themselves to the story. And there are many quests and mechanics that feel... unnecessary. In short we live in a society and its hard to blame gamers or developers for their preferences, since they don't exist in a vacuum and have very understandable reasons as fuel.
  4. I will say the: "1 year later; unread replies" is rly funny. But im glad y'all communing with nature, and having the opportunity to spend time with hobbies and things that bring us solace and peace. I do think im in less of a love and light position as opposed to the last year, basically capitalism came hitting fast and etc... so things are far from easy to any of us, but one thing i noticed is that I spent the entire year feeling like I've done and achieved nothing with it, especially considering how fast its going, but because of various things i had to update my cv at least 3 times, and each of the times there were things to add to it, and quantifiable achievements even though it really doesn't feel like it. So basically, things are hard, but non of the achievements we've had are anything to scoff at, and if the world is unkind, its worthwhile to give ourselves the kindness of recognising our efforts and achievements ÜwÜ
  5. It can be more sprites. I just don't care that they be gendered. It can be many more sprites like the shaper sprite or the servile sprite. On the same end should jeff not have enough money, better to have a non gendered sprite than have fixed gender sprites particularly if its gonna be men are warriors and women are spell casters. Ultimately its just a sprite and i genuinely don't care about them so long as Jeff cleans up the shaper sect organisation. Because it makes no sense as it is right now and it has plenty of plot holes.
  6. They didn't say it should have a single gender neutral sprite, but that there is no real point in having the gendered ones, pointing out to geneforge and avadon as examples of how having gendered sprites can backfire. But also I wasn't repeating what they said in verbatim, i said I agreed and then explained why I did. UwU
  7. On that note though, I also hope Jeff does a better job with terrestia's ethnic diversity bc like geneforge 5 touches that very lightly and it fails to do anything with it i have many complaints about. Oh the woodlands people have redish skin. They suffer shaper rule but they remember. Which doesn't make much sense because multiple hundred years is enough to erase many cultural identities particularly when its an empire that's very bent on assimilation and full control. There's very little to remember in a situation like that. And moreover that should be a more apparent part of the rebellion too, like i'd imagine resentment over settler colonialism would a big motivator, yet the outsider human part of the rebellion seemed more so to focus on the inequality aspects than like cultural genocide, appropriation of land, and cultural/religious sites. \ Benhold was the biggest disappointment of them all. Being a native deran added 0 to his chracter. That entirely ignoring the already weak storyline of his, which might have been ignored if there had been a better job done on the rest of the native people, but he was the only notable native character and that was... Not it.
  8. NGL i saw the title of this subject and i knew better than to get in, but i did bc im a glutton for punishment. Anyway, in my canon shapers actually evolved past gender, and material/structural power made it irrelevant. I agree with slarty & goldengirl. Having all things gender neutral as the "shaper" shaper, or even the serviles would be great because honestly there is no need for diff "gendered" sprites either particularly with when there is no real point unless you have full customization options which would be expensive. Like aside from the cute icons in avernum which kinda made it more immersive i wouldn't see the point. And in general i don't see the point of not playing a character bc you perceive them as x or y. Particularly when their skill sets are entirely different. I'd be much more interested in seeing how new sects would exist in geneforge, since like terrestria had been in peace for some 300 years. What would be the point of a guardian as like a prominent shaper sect. Agents and Shapers would make sense bc like diplomacy, espionage and research would always be useful. But i remember the section on alwan and guardian makar in g5 made it seem guardians had a great sense of honour and don't believe in empty posts away from the frontlines. But what frontlines could have existed in a peaceful nation. I really hope Jeff remakes the shaper government because its very inconsistent and arbitrary which weakens the story. Also this sentence is upsetting me and my darker complexion homegirls. Its borderline creepy
  9. This is very much true i remember playing the game and feeling really lonely and lacking direction! It was rly like a good storytelling experience. We interacted most with artefacts and remains of a civilization than sentient beings which like i rly hope Jeff is able to replicate. But at the same time I hope the actual cities fell more like a safe space and refreshing rather than how they felt before which was like a "you can rest but best be on your way". I think the money restrictions were part of that too. It was very possible for a city to be exhausted in its usefulness and you having to move on for good unless its your specific faction. I think G2 and G5 did the best work with regard to cities G2 benefited from it all being in one map, and g5 benefited from faction being set in separate provinces and each area itself having a non faction related motive/quest/need to move forward. I would be really interested in the expanded lore of the game. Like is there gonna be a new faction? and if so will it be a secret one difficult to reach and meet? Will it mostly be a dead zone. Because geneforge 1 had this thing (very light spoiler about general theme)
  10. Hey all! This link is dead! Can anyone reupload?
  11. Yeah this deff is a good option the main reasons im hesitant is 1- I don't have a lot of time on my hands nowadays so committing to that would take me a good while. 2- The Nisse Battle was hard on me because it was like some.. 4 consecutive and by no means easy battles with no real refresher and i remember spending a good while trying to get to the very end of those which i dont want to do again anytime soon. I mostly am interested in the blessed ending for the Ahriel because i didn't like the trench town one. Which doesn't change even if you give the favoured status.
  12. Granted but a world wide recession hits the months after and inflation renders your money equivalent to the Iranian Rial
  13. Hi, Im too lazy(read don't actually have the time to) go through all the different playthroughs needed to find out all the different endings. So and Slarty im looking at you. Does anyone have a list of them in detail? Though im mostly looking to see whether i want the ahriel blessed ending rather than trench towns, im also curious about the
  14. Ok, so while i was trying to express what i didn't like about this game i realized that I feel the way the people reacted to us the colonizers was almost nonsensical to me? Like it was clearly and naturally explained in that each region had an internal power struggle and needed our help to work with but given my understanding of colonization and how negatively it affects those involved its starting to down on me that there should have been a lot more resistance. And significantly more dislike towards us, Instead all we have is a group of people who is all but resigned to being a colony again and is more focused on how to benefit from it than kicking us out. Maybe it's because they were hoping the nisse would be driven out by us and they would stop being tormented by all of that, but that was barely even implied. The only difference being at the end with that key or maybe they're just too used to being subjugated by bigger powers? But like if we bring the comparison to avadon, where we are literally an agent of enforcement of authority, there is much bigger nuances both internally and externally with regard to our rule and a lot more hostility and resistance, whether its people being plain unhelpful to overtly challenging. And even in situations where they are resigned to our power they are incredibly hostile about it. I.e khemeria in avadon 1 when at the end of their story the shaman was like "we knew it would come to this because you are all a bunch of destructive rats. Now we must face the consequences of your actions. Please leave there is not reason for you to be here or for us to endure you" (im paraphrasing mostly bc of spoilers) but yes everyone had a mix of fear, bitterness, and hostility to them that guided the atmosphere of the game. And it existed in tandem with the same feeling of resignation. And they all also had their internal power struggles that could be exploited for victory but us being unwelcome was still very clear. and on the other hand we have avernum 5 where as a surfacer, despite the crimes the war having ended around 3 generations before and a lot of people having died since then, and the diplomatic relations being in general cordial and even friendly at an official level, there is a huge amount of hostility towards you by the people, and straight petty unhelpfulness and challenges and people taking advantage of you which ends up being exploited by the loyalists even. Some are straight up homicidal levels of hostile. And they express their distaste and affirm their independence at any chance they get. At the end of the day it was "we can even be friends but don't get it twisted, it will be entirely as equals" Like it would have been honestly realistic if there was a former vassal you had no option but to retake through violence, in that, they should still have their internal disagreements, but you could only use it to sabotage their resistance, not entirely talk your way out of. The only non violent option you'd have would be not reclaiming them. Like that would be tension and nuance and pressure worth having in the game. Anyway bottom lines is if that one part of the game of better expressed it would have been a much better game. Another interesting thing would be having the colonies work to help the nisse against you particularly those of the factions that disapprove of you.
  15. Like they said above probably start with the avernum first trilogy remakes. (the second one is really one of the best games Jeff has ever made) Avadon is modern and easy to get into but i think most of the people here did not love it for various reasons. But it really shines on its second episode. My personal favourites are from the geneforge series, which is currently being remade so probably wait for them to get done. A lot of the much older games will have some trouble running in modern computers so I wouldn't really recommend. Queens wish on various levels is very different from the rest. I wouldn't start there, I prefer it over Avadon but I think Avadon had a better political nuance to Queen's Wish, particularly regarding imperialism and authority as far a the theme for colonization goes that really was not handled expertly in hindsight, which is surprising because Avernum 5 got the gist of it expertly. But its very fun to play and it has an interesting story. Compared to the rest of the games it has one of the funnier and more unique introductions conceptually.
  16. Oh yeah I remember end game G5 was a mess, esp wrt to high health and high resistance of enemies and i feel it got into a trend which was later carried to avadon where torment difficulty meant this meatbag has a lot of health and you'll stay here hours trying to kill it. I'd rather avoid that, but yeah i miss interpreted your meaning of gameplay.
  17. Oh that one has so many cave ats. Elimination of language unfortunately is a big step in elimination of culture because languages exist and evolve based on cultural perception of the world, and with different ways to express it even at a semantic level. We'd have a really seasonless world without languages
  18. Granted. But suicide rates skyrocket due to the increasing understanding of the futility of hard work as a means to escape your class origins. Though alternatively that class consciousness would usher us into communism. But that aside cities would definitely not be able to exist for much longer esp on a sustainable level due to the ecological pressure that high a population would put on the single spot its concentrated at. Questions regarding encroaching wildlife reserves for real estate should it still be under capitalism? Iirc the takeshi kovacs books they actually do explore that, although there humans actually have space colonization tech. My wish is to be able to create life all kinds of life.
  19. Im confused bc i don't think the original and geneforge 5 had that many differences in gameplay. I think the main one was, action points, the lack of encumbrance, and unlimited money in store. It has a few more spells and creations and I guess more classes? But the gameplay felt essentially the same. I don't think we'll go back to encumbrance and limited moneys. Lore wise it wouldn't make too much sense to have g5 creations and spells unless he retcons the entire story. I think of the newer gen creations only gazers may have been made at a prior time bc drakons and rotgoths are fruits of the g2 shenenigans and the rest came after directly as a result of the rebellion. Classes likewise bc unless there is once again a retcon, shapers had/have very clear segments that were also culturally relevant to their rule. But then again this is sucia island a place of mistakes and misfits. Anyway i really don't see how different those two are. WRT beta testing, im not an expert on these things but at least regarding the split of intelligence i don't see him back tracking. The skill point pricing probably will change according to how players use them, but i remember jeff once saying he isn't too pressed about class balancing unless its too glaring. Also I think during beta testing speculation falls kinda moot since you already have access to it so no time as good as now im supposing.
  20. Hi all, happy new year and i hope we're all good and i didn't miss much. I'm not sure if this in the right board but since it's not yet out im guessing here is fine? So i was having a look at the prototype screen shots of the new geneforge, and while you can't see much from them, the one for the players level up was really interesting if also a bit daunting. Basic findings; Intelligence is split into two new skills: -Essence Mastery -Intellect Class Strength is no longer measured by the relative cheapness of certain areas of the skill distribution. (we see a shaper character, that says "strong" in shaping skills but the skill pint cost of those is actually high while weapon skills are the cheapest and it appears with a "weak" on top) Shaping skills seem to be the most expensive after the basic ones. Combat and Magic skills seem to be similarly priced. General skills are the cheapest. This along with the partition of the intelligence skill, makes me feel like the shaper class will be at a disadvantage? But also that it will be harder to generalise. In previous geneforges, if you were smart you could get a guardian with two solid creations that could cast semi advanced spells. Here i think it might end up being significantly harder to achieve the same. I think most of all due to the prices of the basic skills, and the partition of the intelligence skill. I wonder if the abilities tab will be different from the original one and link you to a skill tree type of thing like the most recent games? Which would further separate the classes and hopefully/possibly better balance. Wrt changes on the creation skill line im not entirely sure i understand it, but it seems they get unlockable abilities? which is honestly a great improvement from the original in my opinion. But i hope it doesn't over-complicate stuff. I wonder if it would reward older creations over new ones and to which extent? iirc G3 had a relative "issue"regarding that in that i.e. if you got a vlish by the second island it would be significantly powerful at around endgame rather than behave in a tiered manner. Anyway. Im really happy to see it get a remake and i really hope it reaches its final stretch goal because i love a remaster with a bit of expansion. But I wish they gave the kickstarter a looser deadline. most of us only get paid once a month. So having a 30 day kickstarter doesnt allow much room for much tbh. Either way. Im psyched.
  21. Ok. Im on mobile so i cant quote specifics and i wanna be clear. I rly liked the whole story i do feel like both the vol and the arhiel could have used a bit more juice. (Esp the arhiel cause i love the concept). But in general this isnt to say the Nisse lack depth. Just compared to the the vahnathai obviously it will feel emptier bc its backed against 6 games worth of lore and clear immediately established motivations. That was more to draw the intro line on how i feel conflicted about them. Because i feel that they manage to achieve something i think only the corruption from avadon has lore-wise. And avadon, was by far not my fave game series to play. And even then the corruption was very much ignorable and didnt hold any power over the rest of the world. Like as far as it goes w jeff it is refreshing to have something beyond your ability to comprehend and something you can't trully beneficially negotiate with. Writing wise my main complaint isnt the lack of depth which is rly too early to make any big statements on. Its the conflicting information through all sources. I like the abusive parents take it would explain but i'd like to know in what way do they think or do they actually benefit sacramentum. Dreams and teleportation? Or keeping haven out? And on the part of them not wanting haven cause it would grant the surfacers independence from them; why be antagonistic towards the surfacers then? Like wouldnt it make sense to make sure they are well liked and protected. Granted internal ethnic conflicts do not seem in favour of them but it was literally the exact same people that ultimately gave us the literal keys to the nisse's defeat. And the ukatish dragon is exactly where i find the nisse novel. Because even with that dragon you get to dictate the terms. And the dragon also isnt necessarily maliciously harmful. Just greedy and entitled. So its easy to understand. On that note the nisse were scared of at least one dragon. To what extent does their power get. they are capable of making eye beasts and tyrants. And other beings. They are capable of ravaging the entire land and destroying their cities as to avoid being learned of/about. Stealing souls etc... Why would a blind dragon prove worth abandoning an important city over. Their whole Schrödinger's power level and threat level is genuinely my main bone to pick with them
  22. Okay. Im at the last battle which like. Entirely kicks my ass repeatedly. I was rly futilely looking for a bed jeff might have sneaked into that tower so i can recharge and as i rage quit for the night. Heres some thots: So i've been having entirely mixed feelings about the nisse in how they are written because. Essentially the whole underground powerfully magical people is very vahnathai to me(even doe it seems clear that the objective was more on the lines of evil fairies, but like aslo he knew the parallel would be drawn) . However in this case they seem to lack the depth the vahnathai had in that theres no real internal factions and their cultural identity isnt as 3 dimensional. And yet im not sure if i like that or dont. Having them as like categorically if incomprehensibly evil. Puts me as a player and as a reader. In a situation where i have to accept that there is middle ground that can be reached making them immediately inaccessible. Which is new for jeff imo and particularly where u can diplomacy ur way even through dragon fights. But i am thoroughly confused wrt their motivations which is both to jeff's credit and fault. Since it deff keeps me hooked but its also frustrating. Since rather than few selectively placed information that gives an air of mystery. It just gives a good amount of often conflicting information and im unable to determine whats what. Like we have they themselves expressing discomfort at being known. They also see haven as an invader rather than an enemy and stated they are an oppressed minority. We have the people of sacramentum truly fearing them with good reason. Cause like the whole eternal torture and damnation thing which is rly generously dispensed over the most tiny reasons. Which reminds me im still not entirely sure if the ppl of sacramentum are forbiden to talk about the nisse in general or forbidden to do to the people of haven. And furthermore if it is in general how do the people *know*. I guess they just vaguely talk about the refuges. Finally we have a really complicated setting where much like the dragon cared about Ukat. The nisse do seem to care about the people? Which goes in direct contradiction to everything else. Is it just a god complex and the conflict is more on the fact that they dont want to share their playthings. Or is it a real care for their cultural identity and evolution. Cause one of the deals was literally dont interfere with them and let them grow independently. Which is honestly a fair and kind request since colonialism is ultimately entirely harmful to native communities. So.... I dont get them at all. And the information i am given is often times contradictory. So speculation is beyond me. Also finally i can't marry the level of secretiveness and essentially running away from one prince and 3 soldiers with the amount of power at their disposal. Like if you are godly it would make more sense for you to flaunt it. Particularly if everyone around you knows so. Unless there is truth to what they said and they have been invaded and slaughtered and oppressed before. Anyway this is one of Jeffs most conflicting creations to me i rly cant wait for queen's wish 2 to find out more and finalise my opinion on them. It would be sexy if jeff had put somebody we know on the nisse's world. For instance watcher chimera. If we had found him there it would have added weight to it. I rly cant understand them at all this is like so frustrating on any other i'd say bad writing here. It seems deliberate.
  23. Yeah end game haven abilities really do out shadow every support ability bc its the only that can heal near 100% life on top of curing any effect. Its really pricey and i tend to keep my character from using any abilities unless its weaker enemies. The battle frenzy does last longer which pays off in longer fights. But u can take it or leave it tbh. About the races in general i do want to say that ahriel grew on me. Even if i only really use radiance its rly useful in that fear attacks as well as charm attacks are way less effective. And the vol.... I never really find an excuse to use their abilities. Particularly since its the support character and like im gonna need that energy elsewhere. If it was like a group buff at a fraction of its power it would be much more appealing to me. Ukat is like. My fave both skill set wise and personality. Even if i love the entire arhiel concept.
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