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Wow, it's been awhile!


Alcritas

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And we all know we should have voted for you in the Misc. mod election.

 

—Alorael, who will answer Dantius's non-question with a suggestion: look at the BoE forum header. Only three designers get their own little subsections, and only one gets his own asterisks. So there you go.

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Not unexpected at all, they always return. It is inevitable. Although few returns are heralded with such fanfare. Warm welcome back to you.

 

And to answer your question, I broke my finger on Friday and go under the knife in three hours to have it plated and screwed in place. Blades related, your website has been relocated here with the closing of Geocities. Don't know if I have all the links working yet, but the important stuff is there.

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Some oldbies are basically just celebrated for being old. That's being a really tiny bit famous for being a really tiny bit famous, and yes, it's kind of dumb. If you don't get why so-and-so is such a big deal, usually you should just roll your eyes and ignore it. For instance, I'm not even a real oldbie, and the most I've ever actually done here is post a few funny paragraphs. Big deal.

 

But Alcritas made no less than ten sophisticated and creative BoE scenarios, several of which seem to make everyone's list of the best. That's a huge number of hours of hard work, all given away free to anyone who ever played Blades of Exile. That's a completely different category.

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Quote:

Yes. He is subtly asking to bear one by Alcritas.


Aran, that's disturbing.

As for Mr. Stranger, I don't even know what you're book is about, but I'm a real fan of authors born out of the mist. Knowing your reputation, the storyline is bound to be good.

~Artemis and good storylines. I once read a book that was a bit over 1000 pages, but the storyline went absolutely nowhere. The plot changes were so subtle, that I felt like the character was teleporting to different settings. It was annoying as fuhshiznit.
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Originally Posted By: llloyd
I keep feeling more and more like i'm the only person who really likes Geneforge, to the point of saying it's the best game in universe, but avernum/Exile, not so much.

You're not the only one, but Avernum is the more popular series.

—Alorael, who wonders how much BoX contributes to the overall popularity of E/A. He'd guess not much, and that's a pity.
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Originally Posted By: Dantius
Geneforge is a much deeper and more complex game than Avernum. A lot of people want their games to be a mindless diversion, not a philosophical exercise.

Not particularly. The plot definitely presents a lot more ethical questions than Avernum's does, and it does so in a more serious way. However, this has essentially nothing to do with the actual "game" part of them. But anyway, other than the issue of ethical quandaries, I fail to see how Geneforge's story is "much deeper" or "more complex" than the story of Avernum.

And there is a wide continuum between "mindless diversion" and "philosophical exercise" -- and a large chunk of SW players are somewhere in the middle, perhaps around "thought-provoking diversion."
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I'd put more stock in the moral differences. People like playing the good guys. They also sometimes like playing the bad guys. Geneforge usually doesn't let you do either. Your role will be one kind of moral gray or another, and you will work for people whose goals are not exactly noble and altruistic.

 

Saving the world from Grah-Hoth is really much easier to get behind.

 

—Alorael, who thinks the fact that Geneforge makes party building much harder might be a factor. In Avernum, you will dispel barriers, pick locks, and kill monsters. In Geneforge, you have to balance your urges to kill, steal, and lie. That's tough.

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Originally Posted By: Slarty
The plot definitely presents a lot more ethical questions than Avernum's does


That's what I meant. What was the last game you played that posed any philosophical or ethical questions that it didn't simultaneously answer? Game designers don't usually leave you hanging, which is what makes Jeff special.
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Originally Posted By: Dantius
That's what I meant. What was the last game you played that posed any philosophical or ethical questions that it didn't simultaneously answer?


I dislike the implications of this. As Alorael said, sometimes it's just fun to throw your lot in with the good guys. Or, if you're a powergamer, Gladwell.
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Originally Posted By: Ephesos
Originally Posted By: Dantius
That's what I meant. What was the last game you played that posed any philosophical or ethical questions that it didn't simultaneously answer?


I dislike the implications of this. As Alorael said, sometimes it's just fun to throw your lot in with the good guys. Or, if you're a powergamer, Gladwell.


I'm not saying that that's necessarily a bad thing, just that I find it is so ubiquitous that now the whole "good guy" has become so cliche that I now have no fun playing a one-dimensional hero who kills bad guys and rescues helpless maidens imprisoned by evil necromancers.

I do play good guys sometimes, and even enjoy it- most BoA scenarios are set up in this manner. I just have more fun in more complex situations. That's why Canopy was my favorite scenario.
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Originally Posted By: Alorael
In Geneforge, you have to balance your urges to kill, steal, and lie. That's tough.

That's not hard. First you lie, then you steal, then you kill, then you loot everything you haven't already stolen.

Dikiyoba likes the moral dilemmas in Geneforge and the clear-cut morals in Avernum. Moral dilemmas in Avernum, not so much.
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