Reviews? Do you like this game? [Spoilers]

[mikeprichard]

Sure, that all makes sense, Randomizer. I'm just sensitive to things that tend to break the dynamism of the game world, like these apparently infinite henchman respawns. This kind of anti-immersive (to reuse the cliche) element is directly against the grain of the other major QW mechanics - taking over and building bases, forming alliances that have real consequences, etc. - which show how choices and actions actually impact the world, all of which I'm very much for. But as with other issues with the game, there's always going to need to be a compromise of systems at some level, so while the infinite instant dungeon respawning in itself is something I'll find hard to accept as logical in the context of the game world, at least I understand it's an attempt to serve a greater strategic goal.

[Randomizer]

Older games had respawning monsters in the same places where even if you killed the boss, sometimes a generic version would appear without the name on the same place. It's annoying because if you return then you are usually fighting the exact same battles. Only a few places let you skip doing all of them.

 

Mugret's Mine only skips the mirelings. 5 of the last 6 zones are all one way dungeons if you don't take a lesser option to leave. I've had to go back to my last fort save when I couldn't finish some of them.

[mikeprichard]

Yes, I do very much like the flip side here in QW, in contrast to previous Spidweb titles - when you finally do clear a dungeon, it stays cleared! Not only does it arguably make more sense, it's definitely less annoying when revisiting locations.

[notarockstar]

Based on the demo played through a few times, the worst thing I can say is this is not Geneforge for sure :). That is my favorite.

 

I am very curious where the story goes from here. I really lost interest during the Avadon Phase, don't like the character development as well as I did the detailed style of GF. Avernum, I never got into that because of the engine style I guess. QW is a lot like both of those in ways, but so far I am making do and wondering about the story line mostly. I badly want to go on, however, paying off the new transmission has to come first and 20 bucks matters for the next while *cries* So, I stop here and will play it again when I can buy it in good conscience. 

 

I ran into no glitches or bugs once I sorted my issue with placing shops - which was me, not the game - and the story is good enough it has me wondering far more than I know a dang thing about what is really going on back home which landed me out here, doing this cleanup. One problem with the tale so far is I don't see why, beyond being a spoiled brat, I should be hating on the family yet. I assume that is ahead to learn reasons for it. 

 

Gratz Jeff, this was a superior effort and you can NEVER make us all happy totally. I am pretty happy until I can get a new GF LOL. Never could get 1-3 to run under win 10.

 

Edited September 15, 2019 by notarockstar
layout went nuts after posting too soon. Fixed it.

[Slawbug]

10 hours ago, mikeprichard said:

Slarty - to close the topic, I agree, as you also admit, that it's not a great system. More exceptions/customization (player accuracy skills, enemy evade rates, terrain effects, etc. - which need not be "infinite" variables as you seem to think) are always better than a flat arbitrary cap.

 

I emphatically do not admit that.  It's not a perfect system, but I don't think the system you want is achievable.  I think this one is perfectly good.

[mikeprichard]

Yes, notarockstar - Avernum is my personal favorite series so far, but I appreciate Jeff's model where he's going to continue to alternate remakes of the "classics" (at least I suppose G1-G3(?) for the next few years) with installments of his new adventures like QW. Given the very different style of QW, that's a good balance to strike, and of course it keeps food on his table so he can keep making new stuff. One of the common criticisms I've seen elsewhere of Jeff's work is that all he does is remake his old games, but while he does do a lot of that (and his remakes are actual quality overhauls in any case), his "original" catalog is pretty huge - Exile/Avernum x6, Geneforge x5, Avadon x3, and something called Nethergate, so this complaint seems pretty ridiculous. Anyway, I'm getting off topic again - really looking forward to getting into this one more after the upcoming patch.

[notarockstar]

1 hour ago, mikeprichard said:

One of the common criticisms I've seen elsewhere of Jeff's work is that all he does is remake his old games, but while he does do a lot of that (and his remakes are actual quality overhauls in any case), his "original" catalog is pretty huge - Exile/Avernum x6, Geneforge x5, Avadon x3, and something called Nethergate, so this complaint seems pretty ridiculous

 

Yes, it is an inane criticism. He is a one man show and they just hate that he has originals good enough people WANT them updated and current. I got into GF as it came out so waited years for them all to be out there and to get the end of the story. It is my favorite of all time for rpg games, due to the quality of the story and how immersive it was. That is a very hard bar to ever meet is all it is for me. I have hopes that QW may turn out similar by the end and am eager to see a remake of GF. 

 

Anyway, this is not a Praise Jeff thread, so I will close out by saying that nobody ever makes a big hit without taking a risk now and then and QW has a few taken and seems likely to avoid some of the things I did not love about Avadon and Avernum, but, we shall see. In any case, they are still better than the rest out there. I don't play rpg anymore except for Jeff's releases anymore. I can't wait to see past the demo demon  

[Enraged Slith]

To put it succinctly, the game was clearly designed for tablets and phones, and despite Jeff's wonderful blog post explaining the changes, there is a level of immersion that is lost with those means of interaction with the environment. I enjoy the plot angle, though, and the writing is top notch. Maybe more than any of his other games, I'm getting a sense that my character's demeanor and choices have far reaching consequences. Not sure if it's enough to push me beyond the demo, though.

 

Mostly, it's making me nostalgic for the older games. Especially the Exile series. When I first booted up and dropped into the world, oh my goodness did it look familiar.

[ladyonthemoon]

3 minutes ago, Enraged Slith said:

To put it succinctly, the game was clearly designed for tablets and phones,

Which is why it's available only on computers right now...

[Grimm]

2 hours ago, ladyonthemoon said:

Which is why it's available only on computers right now...

 

I seem to remember Jeff specifically saying one of the reasons he chose to use the top down perspective was because that was better for iPhones. It's not solely designed for mobile, but it does feel like it was designed with a mobile release in mind. 

 

On 9/14/2019 at 10:46 PM, Queen's Vlish said:

 

I emphatically do not admit that.  It's not a perfect system, but I don't think the system you want is achievable.  I think this one is perfectly good.

 

On this topic, I'm surprised no one (at least that I can think of) has used a sigmoid type increase in accuracy. A flat cap has the obvious flaw of a season warrior missing a training dummy right in front of them  way more often than is realistic, but a sigmoid with even just two input variables (e.g. your accuracy modifier and the target's dodge modifier) could give a better feel for the "level 30 warrior vs lvl 1 mook" case without guaranteeing a hit.  

 

Probably trickier to balance than is really worth it. 

[Spidweb]

This was always meant to be a PC/Mac game, and the vast majority of its customers will be there. I wanted a look reminiscent of our early games and old-school Ultima/RPGs. That the new look works better on mobile is a just a bonus.

[Alarian]

First I admit I haven't actually gotten the game yet (will most likely download the demo first for the first time ever).  I've been playing SW games since the first game was mailed to me many years ago (I have every game hes ever made).  This is the first game that I'm not excited about.  I pretty much don't like every change he's made. That doesn't mean i'm not going to give it an honest and good try, but for the first time ever, it won't be an insta-buy.

[Slawbug]

1 hour ago, Alarian said:

First I admit I haven't actually gotten the game yet (will most likely download the demo first for the first time ever).  I've been playing SW games since the first game was mailed to me many years ago (I have every game hes ever made).  This is the first game that I'm not excited about.  I pretty much don't like every change he's made. That doesn't mean i'm not going to give it an honest and good try, but for the first time ever, it won't be an insta-buy.

 

FWIW, Alarian, I too was really underwhelmed by the screenshots and early reports... but I am really loving the game.  A real turnaround -- it's surprised me in a very, very good way.

[Simulated Knave]

I saw the screenshots and regretted backing.  Now I won't shut up about it and keep playing it for hours. 

[Slawbug]

On 9/17/2019 at 3:31 PM, Spidweb said:

This was always meant to be a PC/Mac game, and the vast majority of its customers will be there. I wanted a look reminiscent of our early games and old-school Ultima/RPGs. That the new look works better on mobile is a just a bonus.

 

.....this gives me an idea.

 

*mwahahahahahahaaaaa*

 

Time to have some fun with gimp.  Woo!

[Spidweb]

Thanks so much for giving the game a fair chance. We really believe in this one.

[Jocommando]

While I own Avernum, Avadon, and Nethergate on Steam, I couldn't really get into them because of the slanted, diamond-grid perspective.  For whatever reason, the top-down, square-grid perspective of QW allows my brain to parse the environment better and faster, and so I've been able to stick with it long enough to be hooked by the scenario, plot, stories, and quests.

 

Combat/fort upgrades are just a means to an end: I'm in it to discover where this world has been and where I can lead it to.

[Silentshadow]

I have mixed feelings on this game.

 

I enjoyed it, the setting is great, the writing is awesome as always.

 

But while I praise the efforts to explore new gaming experience, there are some flaws that I found annoying.

 

1) The concept of Forts is interesting, but in the end, gamewise they all are basically the same. I would have loved that some features were reserved for some Forts and not for all. Ths customisation is mostly cosmetic, and in a game in which there is such effort to characterize the different nations, I found it lacking.

 

2) The possibility to respec completely the party is a bit too much I think. It tends to strip them of any characterisation (and they alreayd don't have much - no dialog at all!)

 

3) The backpacks are so small that it is nearlly impossible to add some flexibility in your equipment. I ended having roughly the same scrolls and potions on every character.

 

In fact, I found myself going around basically the same forts with a party formed of undefined characters. It hurts the immersion, I think.

 

Fortunatly, the principal character's lines of dialogue compensate that lack of characterization, but it's still a pity.

 

I think that the game don't exploits all af its potential and these flaws are one of the reason.

 

 

 

 

 

[Micawber]

I should probably declare that I've played every Spiderweb game since Exile II (and also Exile, albeit I came to it as a "prequel").  So, it's probably fair to say I'm a somewhat loyal customer.  Although I'm a casual gamer, I play on normal and quite happy to do so.

 

I also haven't yet finished Queen's Wish, due to having a pesky full time job 🙄

 

Nonetheless, I've thoroughly enjoyed Queen's Wish: The Conqueror.  I have no objections at all to the changes to gameplay compared to previous games; sometimes they make me rethink, but that's a good thing.  The challenge level on normal hits the right balance IMHO.  The writing, as ever, is superb, this is really Jeff's USP.  Love the forts and resources mechanic, which, to me at least, is reminiscent of some of the better board games I've played.  So yeah, I thoroughly recommend this game.

[Shaper_Mario]

This game is my favorite new Spiderweb release in a good while. It feels like the game took a lot of what I liked and disliked about Avadon's political storytelling and improved it by narrowing the game's focus to the 3 vassal nations. The combat system took a while for me to get into, but it feels pretty satisfying to end a fight without taking damage and only using 1 to 2 energy. It's also open ended enough for me to change up my playthroughs both in terms of exploration and fort design.

 

I'm really interested to see what's next, and while I'm looking forward to playing the Geneforge remaster I can't wait to see what Queen's Wish 2 looks like.

[qqry]

Finally finished game, with cheats of course (story guy here), otherwise I would spend on it another weeks.

 

In my totally humble opinion:

- I've very missed initial guidance, like it was in other games. This game is like "open world", ie. got killed in every direction and had no idea where to go,

- I really miss any storyline of companions,

- building cities/camps/fort was a nice idea but imo is very unsatisfying. All encampments provide exactly same stuff, there is some  "adornment" to add in each, but its poitless, esecially decorations have to poin north.

- every cave you go, there is some pack surprising you. Cmon guys. Surprise me to not have this encouter.

 

Yeah, after diving, I liked the story and waiting for part 2. But honestly strongly believe that it will be "improved" (to my opinon).

 

As said previosly, much more enjoyed old geneforge or avernum.

 

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by qqry

[madrigan]

I just finished the game -- I think. I was wandering around for hours trying to stop the Calamity, and then it seemed like this could not be done, so I went to the endgame. My reactions in no order:

 

I still want races, character classes, ability scores, and skills. But, it's true that you can simulate multiple character classes just by distributing the skill points in different ways. I liked the skills setup better than the one in Avadon.

 

I was sure there was a sneakier way to open the Thabhlen Gates, but all I could come up with was brute force. I thought there would be more than one way to do it. But I always enjoy Jeff's "set this bomb and run oh no there's someone blocking us" scenes. 

 

The choice to support the Owen seemed required morally, this was much less gray than most of Spiderweb's ethical dilemmas. It also seems relevant to our time out here in the RW.

 

I thought the characterization of the Mascha got too close to some real-world ethnic stereotypes. I'm sure this was unintentional, but I kept noticing it.

 

The butler character is hilarious.

 

I like that I can start working on a territory, then leave and go do something else. I liked solving personnel and legal problems for Miranda. I don't understand how potions work -- I never seemed to have enough flasks. It was very difficult to buy better equipment. Either I didn't have enough skill in Combat, or I didn't have enough skill in Magic. I'm not sure I should need Magic skill to use a magical spear. 

 

I am not sure how the code I got at the end will affect QW2, but I swear I will not lose the code for two years. 

 

My ending was very depressing. Since Avernum VI or so the endings have become less fantasy-fiction and more gritty. Your character does some great stuff, but ultimately it makes no difference, and heroes are barely different from anyone else, and the world falls into chaos. It's very fatalistic. I like the endings of Avernum 2-4. But that's a different kind of game. 

 

I will probably play through again, but I was satisfied with all my major choices so I'm not sure what I will do differently. There's no way I'm supporting the Mascha, or the Blessed. 

 

 

[Mechalibur]

9 minutes ago, madrigan said:

I just finished the game -- I think. I was wandering around for hours trying to stop the Calamity, and then it seemed like this could not be done, so I went to the endgame. My reactions in no order: 

 

 

 

Spoiler

You can stop the Calamity. It certainly makes the ending less depressing

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Mechalibur

[TriRodent]

51 minutes ago, madrigan said:

 

 

I am not sure how the code I got at the end will affect QW2, but I swear I will not lose the code for two years. 

 

What I did was open up a Wordpad file, write  the code down in the document, and then save it with a notation (1st game, supported 'x,y,z') and then saved it into the save game folder so that I could find it again further down the line.  The notation would be important if you wanted to play multiple games supporting different factions to see what changes in QW2.

 

55 minutes ago, madrigan said:

 

My ending was very depressing.

 

Yeah, I did the same thing on my first beta playthrough.  I got a note back from Jeff... "Uh, you missed about a third of the game..."  Reload a save from before you went back to see Queen Mom & go have a serious chat with the mage in Ft Haven...

[madrigan]

12 hours ago, TriRodent said:

Yeah, I did the same thing on my first beta playthrough.  I got a note back from Jeff... "Uh, you missed about a third of the game..."  Reload a save from before you went back to see Queen Mom & go have a serious chat with the mage in Ft Haven...

 

You mean the sage upstairs in the main building, right? He keeps telling me he has no more information. I have spoken to Ragala and to the Watcher in the Ahriel woods.. Do I have to visit all the survey points to activate the necessary dialogue?

[Simulated Knave]

It is WAY too easy to miss the quests from the Sage in Fort Haven. He doesn't offer them til after the tutorial. But you are prompted to talk to him during the tutorial, and don't exactly have much reason to talk to him after that. A pointer back to him of some kind would be a good thing.

 

That said, otherwise I found this game walks you through it quite clearly - I can't think of many locations you can go to that don't have a quest pointing you to them.

[Llamamoe]

Testing testing to see if I can post anonymously, this obviously enough is not the review.

[TriRodent]

1 hour ago, madrigan said:

 

You mean the sage upstairs in the main building, right? He keeps telling me he has no more information. I have spoken to Ragala and to the Watcher in the Ahriel woods.. Do I have to visit all the survey points to activate the necessary dialogue?

If you've talked to each of the people on all three regions, it should be reasonably clear just who caused the calamity.  Did you get the hint book? It tells your what's next if you're stuck.

 

That said, now that you've got local vassals, you may want to go talk to whoever you left in charge to see if they have any idea about what's going on. Perhaps see if two or three of them can come up with a consensus on how to save the land again...

[Mechalibur]

Here's the solution in a spoiler tag:
 

Spoiler

Talk to one of the leaders of the factions you've helped (other than the Owen; they're clueless). They should give you a key or lead you to a sage who can give you a key. The key is to the Nisse Refuges.

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Mechalibur

[Randomizer]

The key works everywhere and if you go elsewhere they will tell you that.

[madrigan]

Spoiler

Thanks all. I already had the key, I just had no idea what it was for. I hadn't looked much around the areas of the refuges. Whether I can actually defeat the nisse is a different thing. I will just keep running at them. I think it took me like ten tries to beat Redbeard in Av3.

 

[madrigan]

This is a supplement to my earlier post on this thread now that I've actually finished the game. I always play on Casual. I don't like min-maxing and I don't have the patience anyway. I found the last stage of the game -- the battle with the nisse -- very frustrating. I tried to get into their tower and was slaughtered. I went back to Fort Haven, spent a bunch of money upgrading gear, and got slaughtered again. I looked up the cheat codes and started using "mothersblessing" and still lost party members. Ultimately, in order to get into the tower and win the final battle, I just used that code every round whether I had taken damage or not, because in some cases the nisse can kill a character in one round. This is how I was able to see the end of the game with the nisse mission complete. I realize that there are people who are great at games and have beaten the nisse on Torment with no codes. This is fine but I am not one of those people. I've never actually seen the end of Geneforge 5, because even with every cheat code and editor I could find I couldn't even get into the fortress for the final showdown. Yes, I could go back and finish all the sidequests and level up higher, but I don't think that would have made a difference.

 

A few years ago Jeff wrote a blog post saying that designers should make their games as easy as they possibly can, and then go back and make them even easier than that. I don't know if I would rather have a level below Casual (I suggest "Incompetent" as the level name) or an always-on cheat code that just keeps your health and energy at maximum at all times. I do know that I would like to see the whole story without typing in the same code thirty times. I'm impressed by people who are great at games, but they're like people who can do a backflip or that understand calculus -- my body will never do those things. Nonetheless I'd like to finish Spiderweb games without being so aggravated. So, short version, I'd like this game to be even easier so that even I can enjoy the whole thing.

[Mechalibur]

I don't mind casual being easier, but I don't think the other difficulties should be touched. I haven't tried torment yet, but the final battle on veteran felt perfectly-tuned (well, maybe the frontliners had a bit too much hp, but it certainly made the fight exciting).

[Shaper_Mario]

The last fight was frustrated me a lot on Veteran, because once the enemies came close enough with 2 or more Battle Frenzy levels my party members started dropping faster than I could revive them. I eventually dropped the difficulty of my last run to Normal so I could beat it without compromising my ending. Of course, I admit that I probably wasn't playing optimally and that I would probably have given my party different skills and potions knowing what I do now about how it plays out. Serves me right not to keep a save file outside the final dungeon.

 

I enjoyed both of my playthroughs a lot, and I'd love to do another one to make other choices and get a full Veteran win. I'll just have to plan for the difficulty spike.

[runner]

I really want to enjoy this game but for some reason it's just not grabbing me. I felt the same with Avadon. The writing is very good but everything else, from graphics, to combat, to overall story, to character progression, all feel like a downgrade compared to Avernum/Geneforge. Also the UI is rather clunky and it's making it hard to do simple things like put things in my inventory, I miss the fluidness of avernum's UI (the first series).

I'm going to stick with QW out of hope it gets better, but am honestly a little disappointed. Expected much better from Spiderweb, especially given the kickstarter funding!

[Clintone]

So...I just finished the demo on torment and here are my thoughts. I've bought about half the spiderweb games and played the demos for about everything else except for the Exile series...so I'm a fairly large fan of these games.

 

The Queen's Wish is definitely more forgiving than past games. Past games paid far less attention to what we might call "fairness." Humans in the early Avernum series had more or less no advantages. In the remakes they were kind of broken and there was little reason not to use all humans. In Geneforge, the guardian class was horrible pretty much all the way through the games. In the Avernum remakes melee weapons were almost totally obsolete compared to bows and magic. Magic has been overpowered for pretty much ever single Spiderweb game I can remember except for The Queen's Wish and Avadon. What was even more annoying was that most of the time you had no way of figuring that out until far into the game...especially in the Avernum remakes that were a lot less forgiving of doing anything the wrong way.

 

Now, in the Queen's Wish you can reset your skill points just by going back to a fortress and the skill trees seem reasonably even. Nothing seems extremely overpowered or extremely useless.

 

However, I, and apparently lots of people were more than willing to play through the pain and the temptation to throw our computers across the room and the making of voodoo dolls with Jeff's name on them that we'd stab with needles in rage...partly for the storylines, but also because it was neat to have such control over the characters, for me at least. I like the idea of building my own character, making mistakes with it, and trying to trudge through.

 

I think what I was hoping for was something closer to what we might call "fair" than the older games but with countless different strategies to beat, that you had to experiment with to figure out, not just in terms of strategy but in terms of character creation. I like to feel like I can mess everything up if I build my character the wrong way.

 

So, I think, personally...I'd like something less "fair." I'd like something with less emphasis on balance, but more of the Avernum remakes' neat looking spells. I'd like more neat options (like stealth...if someone introduces a stealth skill you can train in I will be euphoric for years to come). I'd like something where it feels more like you're dropped into a real environment that doesn't care about you and you have to find ways to survive in. I'd like the fortress building system to have more options you can mess up your game with.

 

I would like the keeping of the option of resetting your skill points though...but maybe that could be an important part of the strategy. Maybe you find out that bows are literally designed to be completely useless, except in rare circumstances, and you learn from that and re-train your character to get through the game.   

 

For me, balance has little to nothing to do with finding games fun. What I enjoy more about games is the mood - if there are interesting spells that enhance the mood like the awesome blink, call the storm, and daze from the Avernum remakes?. Can I creep through the darkness stealthily as a solo character? Can I surge through my enemies, crushing everything in sight as a warrior? ignoring arrows with my steely skin and knocking people out of the way with my war hammer? Can I have a team of archers agilely sniping away then fleeing, luring foes who chase them into traps? I think both the Geneforge series and Avernum 6 had all that...and the Avernum remakes had most of that (although I still say every melee weapon and polearm in the game was totally useless, and so was multi-tasking, and not figuring that out until halfway through the game made me want to throw my laptop across the room)

 

It seems like though, both the Avadon series and The Queens Wish lost a lot of that personality. I can't choose whether or not to be stealthy, or snipe as archers, or plow through barbarically, or control people's minds with magic as much anymore. I just kind of go into dungeons, and then there's a best way of doing things, and that's a pretty strait-forward path, and you can veer away from that path a little, but not as much as I'd like. I do like the game though. I just had a lot of ideas for improvements for past games...and none of the big ones really went into this one that haven't been in past games before. Even the fortress building system, while interesting, seems like it's just the beginning of something that could be more interesting if there were more potential ways to mess everything up. Maybe we could build two or three alchemist shops or taverns (and other buildings) per fortress rather than just one so we could specialize in one area of skill a bit more, or have the choice of multi-tasking a but more, or spending more on gold-producing taverns that might make things harder at first through having less access to weapons, but help more over the long run...stuff like that.

 

In my opinion, a more complicated, more free, fortress-building system alone would bring the game up to the level of being something really new and special.  

Edited September 26, 2019 by Clintone

[St_Leibowitz]

Overall: Enjoyed it a ton, finished it quickly. A lot of other spiderweb games I get tired of near the end as I am backtracking. That happened at the very end with this one too but it was still a faster paced and more enjoyable experience. Can't wait for the next one.

More detailed:

Just echoing what a lot of others have said here, been playing Spiderweb's games since the beginning. I super enjoyed not having to pick up a ton of garbage loot (though i do find it charming as well). Also xp rewards for areas was great, balance was quite good for a just released game. Except (spoilers) the final fights at the end  which were a huge jump and eventually I just used the mothersblessing cheat during the fight to finish it. I felt like there certainly were not enough magical items or big upgrade charms. I never really felt like I found or made super powerful gear which would have super helped at the end game. Maybe it was just me but I needed it.

Character and story wise it was a good romp. Maps felt small this time around, which overall was okay. I miss bigger cities and more city interactions. I loved having a ending recap based on my actions and being updated by NPCs about my reputation so I had a idea of how I was perceived.

Agreed that it needs more abilities or more complexity to fortress building. More monster / enemy types. But hopefully that will come with the next game as they build assets and world.

Super excited about the next game! Thanks for putting this one together.

[ladyonthemoon]

On 9/19/2019 at 12:40 AM, Spidweb said:

Thanks so much for giving the game a fair chance. We really believe in this one.

It does deserve a chance!

 

There is something that puzzles me though, since we can no longer train skills (two handed weapons, bows, spears, and so on) we must add skills/perks each time we level up. The problem is that, after some time, all the skills have been upgraded and I'm about to find myself with points that I won't be able to assign.

 

I tried creating a party that is more or less like the ones we created in Avernum, basically:

• two warriors skilled with the bow, spears and all kinds of swords,
• one kind of "healer"; this one uses Support skills and uses bows,
• a mage/sage that uses magic and wands.

The number of skills points to add for each category being limited, I'll soon no longer be able to assign points; I don't want to give warrior skills to my mage for example.

 

This is my main problem with this game. Otherwise, I have a lot of fun playing it!

 

Edit: I'm starting over, see if I can find a balanced way of playing specialised characters.

Edited September 27, 2019 by ladyonthemoon

[Randomizer]

You can train in skills outside your specialty to pick up useful passive ones and the tier abilities like increased evasion by getting Support skills.

[Slawbug]

Yeah, the system actually really incentivizes not just sticking to one training tab.  Most of the passive tier benefits are useful for everyone, often more useful than even acquiring a new active skill from your favored tab.  Most of the passive skills are also great.  And, because you don't have to pick STR/DEX/INT to specialize in, an ability like Whirlwind Attack can be used at near-peak effectiveness by any character.

[ladyonthemoon]

14 minutes ago, The Rural Abjurer said:

Yeah, the system actually really incentivizes not just sticking to one training tab.  Most of the passive tier benefits are useful for everyone, often more useful than even acquiring a new active skill from your favored tab.  Most of the passive skills are also great.  And, because you don't have to pick STR/DEX/INT to specialize in, an ability like Whirlwind Attack can be used at near-peak effectiveness by any character.

It's the "can be used by any character" that I don't like... much. Everything can be used by any character; making them interchangeable.

[TriRodent]

Lady, 

 

(can't easily edit quotes on my supposedly smart fone...sigh, so not going to give everyone a big block of text)

 

As mentioned, there are plenty of uses for spare skill points.  Everyone should have some healing ability if for no other reason than to spread around energy usage before combat ends.  The first tier of both combat and magic have a skill that everyone should have for the passive bonuses. Etc.

 

Worst case, ship them off to me and I'll make sure that they don't go to waste...

Edited September 27, 2019 by TriRodent
Interchange comment. Yes and no, consider it more a base strength/bonus level for everyone

[ladyonthemoon]

14 minutes ago, TriRodent said:

Worst case, ship them off to me and I'll make sure that they don't go to waste...

[madrigan]

Two comments on relatively peripheral matters. One, whoever drew the spiders should get the Spider Drawing Award. They are realistic enough to be recognized as spiders, but stylized enough to seem like tabletop miniatures. Scary but not gross. That was a great job. 

 

Two, once I was done with everything else I wanted to do I started playing around with the furniture and decorations. It was pretty fun. I built a beer garden near one of my distilleries and then put a bookshelf and a plant in the barracks, you know, because one's living quarters should be as pleasant as possible. I made a little park next to the water with chairs and trees. I tried decorating my room in Fort Haven but there's wasn't much I could do. I realize it has no effect on gameplay but I'm glad it's in there.

 

Also one last thing, I'd like it if buildings I create had a sign on the outside saying what they are. I often had to go from building to building trying to find the smithy or whatever. Ok I think that's it.

[Randomizer]

28 minutes ago, madrigan said:

Also one last thing, I'd like it if buildings I create had a sign on the outside saying what they are. I often had to go from building to building trying to find the smithy or whatever. Ok I think that's it.

You can put up a banner outside near the building. Then click on the banner to go into edit mode and scroll through the 8 different types to find the one to match the shop.

[Minion]

The new dungeon system is absolutely brilliant. Having to carefully conserve your available resources, including your hit points and ability/spell points, makes every single battle a challenge both in terms of immediate tactics and your overall strategy for clearing the dungeon. I have actually had to pull back from dungeons when I overreached to build up my forts and re-equip, instead of just giving everyone healing magic and quaffing abundant potions to force my way through. I should add that I've been playing on Torment from the start.

[ladyonthemoon]

I accidentally right clicked on Sutter when starting a new game and I made a discovery:

 

[Mechalibur]

Holy crap, I had no idea you could check enemy stats! That would have been useful for me in my last game.

 

Edit: Also, Sutter's a whimp, I guess 😛

Edited September 28, 2019 by Mechalibur

[ladyonthemoon]

I don't know where to post this, sorry if this is the wrong place.

 

I was playing, fighting a drake, when I noticed that the player that was attacking had the wrong weapon active. I had already pressed the left mouse button, so I kept it down and pressed the escape button. The save/load menu popped up; I pressed escape again and this popped up on my screen. It looks like the screen we were getting in the Avernum editor when we wanted to add something to the game; it was experimental back then. Anybody knows what this does and what we can enter in the dialogue box?

 

[Slawbug]

Cheat codes