Acky

Yikes. But no rubric is just as bad, as I mentioned earlier. There needs to be some sort of standard way that a scenario is reviewed that's easy to follow and provides enough room to be helpful to both the player and the designer. But having nothing may be as bad as having something bad.

Last I recall, you were just running away from some lolcats.

Quote: -Would Aran be willing for anyone else to work on the Blades Forge? I understand that he's busy, but if the CSR has to go somewhere else, that would seem a good place for it to go. This was actually discussed in a chatroom. ADoS sent Arancaytar an Email about it. He hasn't gotten back to him yet. Quote: -If the CSR is moved, might it be worth registering a separate domain name for it so that people don't object to whichever domain it is that it's on? Yes indeed Quote: -Would a chat be useful to bash out some more developed ideas that could then be voted on or discussed later? There is CRF's chat, but that is of course not a good idea. If we all want to do this in a Chatroom, AIM would be the best bet. And the fairest. Thoughts?

Quote: You know, it really would make the most sense to either continue the discussion where it was (SV).....)\. I'm sorry to say that that is not possible for me

It's something from the Avernum universe. It's like a drug that gives the user a lot more power, but makes them unstable. Alorael is a good example of this Check out this article here: http://encyclopedia.ermarian.net/wiki/Skribbane Edit GOLDENKING! The Great Archon

That's the ideal situation, where we don't have to rely on a damn number, but people in general want to know right off the bat if something is good or not, including myself. So a number, or at least some official way of classifying it, is pretty much a necessity.

Quote: What's wrong with the CSR? A couple of things. For one, its the reviews themselves. Most of them tend to be unhelpful to the designer or even the player (who is arguably the lesser important of the two and should therefore receive less attention). Commonly, a large amount of reviewers (including me, in all honesty)tend to be short, meaningless posts with a score. Reviewers would point out how amazingly technically advanced scenario's are (Blades of Rogue particularly) and hand it a score fractions over a 2. Most of the recent reviews have been more thoughtful, true, but its unlikely this trend will continue (I admit this is more of a personal opinion then fact). A fresh atmosphere is a good way to encourage people to "begin anew". The second reason is that the current review system is too vague. Some reviewers start with 5's because they seem like the "fairest" number. Others start with 6 to take into account giving people "the benefit of the doubt", or some such like that. Other people (such as myself) just jamble all of the scenario in the review and try to pull a score out of their ass. Others have a fixed ratio and system (Lenar Lambs) and use that to decide a score. And the scores themselves aren't consistent. Some people consider a 5 to the the "average" like a C+ or something, while others (like myself) consider 7 to be the "average" score. There are plenty, plenty of other people that think differently. As you can see, its really a mess. We need a fixed way to review a scenario that is both helpful to the player and the designer alike. The Great Archon

Ahy do people spam a topic by saying they've sent their report? I mean, it might just be personal preference, but if he's watching for reports, he's going to check his Email anyway.

Originally Posted By: Untamed Banana Slug Why would you want to create a Clawbug instead of a Vlish? Vlish have the clawbug's poison attack, AND a magical ranged attack which curses foes. No contest. Umm, Vlish in Melee? Against a swarm of Melee Bandits/Clawbugs? Vlish have no armor and very low physical resistance. This would have worked in a past game, G3-4 respecivly, because all battle creations were pretty much inferior to Fire/Magic creations. In G5, this is no longer so. Melee creations now do their purpose and avidly serve as effective front-end fighters. Quote: Battle shaping is broken remember? Actually, no, Battle Shaping is not broken. It's probably overall better then the other two branches, but it isn't overpowered. They just ROCK instead of SUCK, as they have for the last two games.

Dikiyoba: *sigh* I really wish this weren't so. That effectively destroys weeks of work on the Wiki I've been doing. Still, its a product of Jeff's forgetfulness no doubt. But that really just puts the icing on the cake as far as how screwy the Geneforge timeline is. Alorael: Pretty much, yeah. "Cannonically" the Shapers originated on the west coast (Lethia Province and Nodye Coast) of Terrestia, and presumably expanded eastward. For games that supposed are all about the plot, Geneforge's plot is here, there, and the other place. Jeff really, really needs to work on his memory skills for his new series. Or maybe its just Geneforge. I don't remember these kinds of problems with Exile/Avernum. The Great Archon

No, I am aware of that. Think of it like this. The Shapers send the G1 PC west to help with settling a new land . This is Terrestia. We know this is Terrestia because in the ending text of G1 we are told that there is a swarm of activity in Dillame, as Shapers run around trying to create the new fauna and settle the land. If Terrestia is the "new land" then the other Shaper continent is east of Terrestia. Therefore, if one looks at it carefully, there were two continents at the beginning of the series. It was just not ever said outright. The Great Archon

Well, not outright, but a second continaunt's exsistance is dependent on the whole begining of the plot in G1.

It's a personal observment. You have frequiently mentioned that you need to "catch up" on pretty much every game series at one point or another.

Nice displaying of the Drakons.

Nope. G3 is to lenier for it to be possible to keep both sides happy. You must join the Shapers by Isle 3 and you can wait until isle 4 to join the Rebels.

ADoS: Do you have to catch up with every series? The Great Archon

I am in as well. ackrovan@gmail.com Just try to have a little patience next time. It takes a day or to for me to properly formulate my suggestions and thoughts so that you may gain the maximum help from my Beta Report. The Great Archon

We set out again. We climbed the steep mountain road to the Nodye Pass. We gazed upon the massive, incredible walls that the Shapers had erected to keep out rogues, rebels, and curious players. Damn. We were hoping to get a vacation on a sunny Nodye Beach. Anyway, an annoying captain waved us off. Hmm.....the canisters are catching back up with us. The urge to flick him in his nose is very present. But we hold off. Instead, be scout the place a bit. An unfortunately merchant is stuck there. Poor sap. She won't let us help her, for whatever reason. We slip south into the creation pens to see if we could find the hidden route into the serviles escape route. By simple luck, the guards had just then wandered off. We make a dash to the west, and are lucky enough to find the route that Dominic told us about. We stumble into a nest of huge Fyora's. Captain Crunch, Stingray, and Philip all dash in and surround the Fyora's one at a time. Apple and Methane start cursing it dumb rogue while Sarah dazes the whole group. Easy peasy. They went down one by one. We didn't need to even apply Wrack. We leave the southern tunnel one at a time. Apple got caught once. Sheesh. Should have put those points into Intelligence. Once regrouped, we disarm a few pesky mines blocking our way. We run deeper inside, only to encounter an old, drayk. We forgot its name. Didn't even need to talk to it. It's a rogue creation, and by Shaper decree, must be destroyed! The Fyora's provide a bit of a problem. None of the bugs are resistant to Fire damage. Apple and Methane have some trouble too. We cast blessings, use a speed spore, and cast Regeneration Aura. With careful managing, we arrange it so that our bugs are all only taking one Fyora on at a time. Philip runs up and starts poking the reptile. Crunch and Stingray go after one Fyora on their own. Apple and Methane team up and take on another Fyora. Sarah moves herself near one Fyora, whacks another Fyora with Lightning Spray. The last Fyora goes for Sarah because she's the closest. Sarah could have dazed them all, but where's the fun in that? Once the Fyora's get outmatched, we pounce on the Drayk, applying Wrack, Burning Spray, Searer, and Lightning Damage. Once again, the Drayk falls just like its swamp brother. We pocket our rewards oh so happily. Sarah could have dazed them all, but where's the fun in that? We unlock the door with some living tools to get the Shocking Rain canister, mostly for the sake of completion. It won't have much use. A little bit for taking on those Clawbugs, but not much else. We report our success to the servile fella. She rewards us with more crap to sell. We then went for the Murkwood bandits. We destroy the clawbugs the building with no trouble. As we stroll around, admiring the new frills, we spot a bandit holding up on the road. She turns and flees. We pursue her, letting our creations take the lead. She stops running and talks to us, trying to dissuade us from coming in further. Of course, we don't listen. We intimidate her, telling her about the assassination attempt on Astoria. Any ounce of defiance in her is squashed just then. She lets us in, only asking us not to investigate the cavern to the west. We'll see about that. We snooped around, looking for the cave. It doesn't take long. We prep ourselves, blessing, aura's, the whole scherzo. We break in, fully prepared. We were going to let them live and repent this offence to the Shapers, but they don't even give us an evil monologue. Lazy. Our bugs swarm in, taking on the whole troop of soldiers practically on their own. Philip runs at one of the mages, getting him in the corner. The Vlish run in and start launching their bolts at the soldiers, supporting the Clawbugs. Sarah goes toe to toe with the other mage, topping his firebolt with Searer. Eventually, the soldiers backs are broken and their line folds, allowing the bugs to kill the remaining traitors. We look around the place, looting as we go. We open up the door on the other side. We then see a Shaper (Ah Shaper!) burning up documents, obvious evidence of their traitorous deeds. Before we can question him, we starts to kill himself. Fool. We did it for him. An Ice Spray spell knocks that sum'dogie dead. We then leave the complex behind, not without looting the campsite for the evidence. We stroll downward. Before we leave, we decide to check out the bandit storeroom. Unfortunately, there is a guard there, and she spots us. We quickly kill him, but not before he sounds an alarm. Oh well. We're going to have to fight our way out it seems. We start the to loot the place, only to find that our inventory is full. Vlish spit! We'll have to come back later. We exit the cave and overwhelm the bugs before they can poke at anything. We chug a healing pod, a healing spore pouch, and an essence pod. We fully bless ourselves, war blessing, protection, speed, and of course Regeneration Aura. We charge. Philip, the eager little chap, runs out and attacks the mage, forcing him to run. The Baton wielder comes out and pokes Philip. My two clawbugs scream wiley nilly and run into the crowd. The Vlish stay back and start letting loose with spells. With all the creations keeping the enemies at bay, I start hitting them with Shocking Rain, getting about 50 or so damage a cast. We take out the first group, and then run towards the second. Philip is still fighting them as his brothers run out and tangle with them. Vlish do so to. They fall with relative ease. Now that leader chick comes up to see what the hub bub is. She starts to target Philip, whose already weak at this point. Still, he charges anyway. We all converge on this filthy bandit to give her the justice she deserves; death. Unfortunately, she had quick action. She hits Philip with a devastating 100 hit. He can't take it. He has suffered too much. He dies by her hand. The creations go nuts. She flees in terror, trying to get of the grove. It is to late, however. Captain Crunch goes insane and charges her, pinning her against the trees and poking maliciously at her. Stingray stops and starts to cry at his dead brother. Methane floats over and tries to nudge Philip awake, but to no avail. Apple would react had we given him more points in Intelligence. Finally, the bandit dies with a thundering Ice Ball to her head. We claim our new sword (can't remember the name at the moment) for our own. Our bloody sword. We gain a level. We put the points into Mechanics. We bury our Philip, and continue on. Next time: We trek through the northern swamps of Mera Fen. OOC: I'm a little unsure as to what I want at the moment. I have enough essence for either two more Clawbugs or a Vlish and a Clawbug. Or a Plated Bug. We're just a little unsure at the moment. The Great Archon

Quote: I prefer E3.....E3 has a nice money cheat Why does that not surprise me?

He does, just to people only who Join Alwan. The Great Archon

General Alwans Shaper, aside from the Farseeing Shapers, in Stormhold. The Great Archon

Nothing of the sort in G1 There's a person in the G2 expert area (he's a hermit) near the end of the first zone G3 + 4 I don't believe so G5: Loyalists get Shaper Marzan

I don't mind being a beta tester. It'll just have to wait a few days.

Hey; is it possible for you to make an edit that gives me 5 in each spell/creation? Dialog, quest reward etc I don't care. The Great Archon

Shaping Charm = Awesome The Archon is pleased The Great Archon