Dhorla woods

[Oji]

I've got now 3 quests for dhorla woods but theres no way to get there, dhorl stead is only location to visit when i leave area. I tried leaving through all sides but still no luck.

What should i do to proceed?

[Ouroboros]

You should speak to the runner nearby

Click to reveal..

She is in a house that nearby exit point to the north

[Oji]

Hmm, despite having quest from that runner and others for woods, i had to explicitly tell her that im hunting shadow beast to open woods location, that seems not logical to not open location just because of that.

[ToddMcF2002]

I have to wholeheartedly agree. The unaccessible location nonsense is the worse feature of the game. I also had multiple quests and couldn't access Dhorla Woods and had to google to find this thread. Note that one of the quests is FROM THE RUNNER! I already went down the particular dialog branch before seeing the creature so there was no reason to suspect there was a new option to trigger the location unlock.

 

There is a similar issue in the KVA. The conventional way to handle this is to simply let the player get his butt kicked so he/she knows they should come back later.

 

I really hate this, because I hate using google to solve stupid stuff. This isn't a puzzle. Its simply a horrible game design feature!

 

Sorry for the rant. I simply want my 45 minutes of pointless wandering around back.

[*i]

ToddMcF2002, while it is perfectly fine to critique aspects of games, please do so in a polite and professional way.

[ToddMcF2002]

I think I was polite enough? I is a frustrating feature of the game. I'm a paying customer of multiple Spiderweb Games and I'm not trolling.

[*i]

I agree with the substance of what you are saying. The only issue I had was with the tone of the second two paragraphs. I meant no offense to be taken. Just a simple reminder to everyone as a lot of the criticism on these forums has been getting a bit more hostile as of late.

[Dikiyoba]

Really, given the way a few other people have vented their frustrations at Avadon in this forum somewhat recently, we really ought to award ToddMcF2002 a medal of restraint. No profanity, no slurs, and minimal use of ALL-CAPS.

 

Dikiyoba didn't mind the limited exploration so much, but figuring out how to open the Woods in Dhorl Stead was a definite nadir. It was unnecessarily convoluted and confusing.

[Slawbug]

That particular segment was inadvertantly made worse by the way the Dhorl Stead map was constructed. You had to do an inordinate amount of walking to get between various NPCs due to the river and trees. Also, walking between the same dungeon segments multiple times to deal with that lever and door was pretty annoying.

 

Quote:

The conventional way to handle this is to simply let the player get his butt kicked so he/she knows they should come back later.

This is what I've always advocated as well. Apparently, when Jeff does this, it results in angry emails from players who feel stuck; angry that they can't beat the enemies; abandoned, since they weren't led directly to the place they were supposed to go; and apparently unwilling to ever buy another SW game again.

 

Players these days. *shakes head*

[goblindolf]

I don't understand that because that even happens in game like WOW, which is full of casual players, where players eventually run into some high level area they are not ready for and die to some level unknown monster.

 

They simply get their body and go somewhere else.

 

Some zones were bordered with zones that had monsters a good 20-30+ levels than the current one, and I have never heard of players refusing to go somewhere else and just charging to death over and over and ragequitting instead of moving.

 

This problem sounds like 1-2 token people getting more attention than is warranted

[*i]

Originally Posted By: goblindolf

This problem sounds like 1-2 token people getting more attention than is warranted

One rule of game design is that no matter what you do, someone will be unhappy.

I agree that the Dhorla Woods plot segment was bad in this sense, but not because monsters would have been too tough. I do think the design here could have been improved; by making the area reveal the way to control plot flow, it messed up a lot of the side quests. Better would have been some mechanism that prevented you from accessing the Beast's lair too soon, although that would have required reworking the zone.

[Aeden]

The main issue with quests is in Avadon I found so far (first of Jeff's games I've played), is that there is no way to know where the quests are or where to complete them. I just keep going through dialogs and people endlessly, seeing if they have new sidequests, which gets a bit annoying after a while. Also it is a waste to miss side quests.

 

Often I also pick up quests that I already completed, sometimes without knowing. So I spend time trying to complete a quest I apparently already completed, which again is slightly frustrating at times.

 

Secondly the quest texts aren't always that clear of when or where to go.

 

I absolute love Avadon so far and almost finished it, but for a new version I really hope for a more extended quest log and a clearer way of identifying quest givers (new and completed).

[*i]

Aeden, that's a good point. Something that would be helpful is if the quest log were made a little more sophisticated including who the quest giver is, where s/he is located, and information about what has been accomplished. Perhaps even color coding and ordering for quests that are not completed, complete but reward not collected, and then those that are entirely complete.

[Randomizer]

Quest locations are marked on the automap with a star, but when you have multiple quests and they are in different zones it doesn't help.

 

The problem with where to get quest rewards is that sometimes like with the Wayfarer's quests for Calantha in Avadon you need to find a different person for the reward from the quest giver and the person might move.

[ToddMcF2002]

I'm also loathing the fact that entry/exit points on maps are essentially meaningless. In GF4 for example, I would tactically enter an infested town like Thornton from different directions to assault the fringes. Avadon is like Dragon Age, which is hardly a good thing.

 

I guess I'm discouraged that an indie developer like Spiderweb would go through such efforts to mainstream their game. The Geneforge system used a far superior mechanic to restrict map navigation, with either gates or superior forces...and yet it encouraged exploration and choices. Now, we get parties that can't tactically initiate battles and maps that play like Dragon Age...

 

I'm waiting for cutscenes in Avadon 2

[Randomizer]

Jeff cut back on cutscenes since it takes so long to do the extra graphics.

[ToddMcF2002]

I'm good with that. Most "in engine" cutscenes in rpg's drop you smack in front of your opponent leaving zero tactical options.

[Aeden]

Cutscenes would be nice, but personally I would rather have him invest more in the quest log if costs or time are an issue

 

It doesn't have to be kindergarten level like WoW or something, but a bit more help would definitely streamline gameplay.

[Earth]

I got frustragted about having quests to do but couldn't get to area where to do quest also jumping (walking) back and forth many times was taxing but doing sidequests allowed exploration which reduced taxing.

[nikki.]

I must be the only person to still keep a pen and some paper by my side whilst playing computer games. It makes it so much easier when I can note down things like where I got a quest from, or which zones had locked doors.

[A less presumptuous name.]

Originally Posted By: Like Tom Petty Said.

I must be the only person to still keep a pen and some paper by my side whilst playing computer games.

I've always meant to do this, but I like to enjoy the freshness of my first play through the game without any scribe work. I plan on keeping records to help min/max and get every quest the second time through, but that second time through never quite happens. At least not with a pen and paper.

[nikki.]

Originally Posted By: Master1

Originally Posted By: Like Tom Petty Said.

I must be the only person to still keep a pen and some paper by my side whilst playing computer games.

I've always meant to do this, but I like to enjoy the freshness of my first play through the game without any scribe work. I plan on keeping records to help min/max and get every quest the second time through, but that second time through never quite happens. At least not with a pen and paper.

Oh I don't do it to min/max. I do it because I'm forgetful. Unfortunately, that means I sometimes forget to make notes on something I need to remember.