Things that bug me about Avadon (spoilers)

[InsaneShadow]

Please don't take this poorly, as I'm actually enjoying the game for the most part, I'm just trying to offer constructive criticism

 

 

 

Items have Energy resistance. Which is Magic resistance on the character sheet. Consistency please? I'd go with Energy Resistance on all, since Magic Resistance can be interpreted as blanket reduction in all magical attacks, which is not the case if I understand it correctly.

 

Quests can be VERY nonlogical. You can't talk to ANYONE about most of the side quests, unless they're the exact target of the quest. I was trying to find out how to get into the Secure Cells. The boss of the cells said I'd need to get a key from someone else, like Hand Calla. I had no option to ask her about it.

Likewise about asking the cell boss about where Spiridion is. No idea. Someone wants me to find him, but I can't even ask the cell boss about him. Likewise with most of the zone unlocking; 3 people might give you quests for a new zone, but only one of them can/will actually show you where it is on a map, and even then the trigger is you giving more info than you may want to even after that person has asked you to do something for them in that zone (thinking of Runner Faiga/Dhorla Woods here)

I feel like I run into this a lot. People who it seems logical to ask (or at least have the OPTION of asking) have no option. I understand it's a time/money thing, but it still bugs me

I like having to think on quests. I don't like simply having to hunt all over the place to find the 1 person who might even talk to me, or else simply be forced to wait in ignorance until the plot has advanced to the point where someone might talk to me about said quest. If a quest unlocks but then stalls, someone should tell you that it's stalled and why (say, on the key for the secure cells, after the boss off the cells tells you to maybe check with Calla, and you go talk to her, you can ask her about it and she'll say "not now, maybe later when you're more experienced/have done this/things have settled down" like happens with many of the other characters who have quests you don't yet qualify for)

 

 

In that same vein, no journal quest updates to reflect what you've learned/accomplished (for the most part). For people who don't play all that linearly, it's rather annoying.

 

The Ivory Skull looks exactly the same as all the other skulls, and there's several others in that room. I only realized it was something I wanted from a chance mouseover and noticing different text.

 

What's the point of even having most of the "alternate" weapons? I'm thinking mostly of the steel daggers and shortswords, and spears in general. Steel daggers don't even show up until after you've got iron broadswords, which easily outclass them... Variety in vendor loot? And spears are just worse Halberds as far as I can tell, and show up about the same time.

It might be nice to do something like halve dagger's damage but halve their AP cost as well. Not sure how to work things out for the shortswords and spears though, given the all or nothing nature of attacks (attacking with 8 AP or just 1 makes no difference). Which brings up an interesting possibility. Damage based on AP remaining, with a "cap" based on the weapon type. Daggers 4, shortswords 5, broadswords 6, spears 7, halberds 8. Max damage at max AP, degrading linearly for each less AP you have. Should keep things balanced; 2 full dagger attacks should equal (roughly) 1 full halberd attack or 1 full and one partial broadsword attack. Maybe give it a steeper curve so 1 halberd attack does more than 2 dagger attacks to offset the advantage of less wasted damage with daggers (1 blow might kill your target, so you can still get a hit on another target).

 

The Dex scaling of various "melee" AoE attacks. I get that they're semi ranged abilities, but I think it's really annoying to stack up a melee char to get a "melee AoE" and find out it scales off your nonmelee(damage) stat. This applies to the several shaman AoE spells as well. Doesn't matter that the damage type is physical, you're casting a SPELL, you're not shaking the ground with your hands (or throwing rocks ).

[A less presumptuous name.]

1. Jeff has never been too consistent with effect names. Someone can probably look in the scripts and give you a better idea of what effects there are and what abilities/items use which effects.

 

Keep in mind that some quests are given well before you can complete them. For Spiridion in particular, you have to wait until Hand Callan gives you a quest in the secure cells before you can find him. Also, Spiderweb is a two/three man operation, so they can't put in all the detail into the quest log that we may want. A bit annoying, yeah, but it's part of life.

 

I never noticed any ivory skulls, so count your blessings. Jeff puts in lots of items just for variety, scene, and vendor fodder. Don't think too much about the thousands of daggers placed throughout the game, just loot anything worth anything.

[Marak]

The Ivory Skull is your phat lewt for killing the Shadow Beast. Unfortunately, depending on where in the room you kill it, the Ivory Skull tends to get mixed up with other skulls. Only a lucky mouse-over saved me from missing it.

[A less presumptuous name.]

Oh, then I think I may have gotten it. There's only the one?

[Randomizer]

Just the one and I almost missed it too.

[Marak]

Yeah, it's a rather unique item. It's like a Charm from the Diablo II expansion: whoever's inventory it sits in, they get a stat bonus.

 

You may be able to go back to the Beast's Lair and grab it; items don't typically disappear off the ground in Spiderweb games unless you're intentionally dropping hundreds of items on the ground, all over the place, and overloading the system (so to speak).

 

Just run around the Beast's Lair hitting 'g' and looking for a skull that doesn't have the John Donne quote about 'for whom the bell tolls'.

[Superba]

Actually, I got two Ivory Skulls (thanks to Turtle) :-)

[InsaneShadow]

Originally Posted By: Master1

1. Jeff has never been too consistent with effect names. Someone can probably look in the scripts and give you a better idea of what effects there are and what abilities/items use which effects.

I KNOW that. I'm not asking questions, I'm pointing out things that bug me.

Quote:

Keep in mind that some quests are given well before you can complete them. For Spiridion in particular, you have to wait until Hand Callan gives you a quest in the secure cells before you can find him. Also, Spiderweb is a two/three man operation, so they can't put in all the detail into the quest log that we may want. A bit annoying, yeah, but it's part of life.

Again, know that, offering my feedback on how I as a gamer react to it. I don't enjoy getting a quest that I can't complete and have no idea WHY I can't complete. In some cases it might make sense, but so far in many cases it has not.

Quote:

I never noticed any ivory skulls, so count your blessings. Jeff puts in lots of items just for variety, scene, and vendor fodder. Don't think too much about the thousands of daggers placed throughout the game, just loot anything worth anything.

I think that one's been covered.

I would like to comment that I love the fact that you can quickload from the start screen