Its both about Avadon games and the newer Avernum games (EFTP and CS).
I'm excited about the richness of the stories, and the diverse skills and abilities offered to me, but I realized that I just rely on some general rules-of-thumb, mainly of two groups:
- One: sorceress and shaman need Intelligence because it increases magical damage and gives generally more 'something' to each spell; If you want to attack melee, you need Strength; etc.
- Two: more is better. The new saber has a maximum damage number higher than my current sword? I'll take it, and it has extras? even better. I gained experience? great, I'm more diverse.
Why isn't there a clear method in-game for the player to see exactly (formula-wise) what each skill and ability number value affect? If I'm supposed to reach decisions on skill points allocation every level gained, to improve and sharpen my character's potential and actions according to my idiosyncracies, how can I do that without knowing their exact use? It feels like the in-game hover-info provides statistical data on your skills on one hand, and on equipment and abilities on the other, but the middle of the bridge is hidden by fog. Am I missing something here?
And, just curious: how did you guys figure out the calculations for battle mechanics and abilities without that info?