Squeek
connoisseur of tidbits
The ideal CRPG would assess the character chosen and how it was being played. It would react so that evil assassins would have different adventures than saintly Paladins, mages would live different day-to-day lives than warriors, and fanatics would perceive their world uniquely.
If there were a Dungeon Master present, and if he had the resources available, he could achieve that by modding the game. He could continue modding it whenever he felt it necessary. Mods can change the story. Mods can change everything.
How much better would Oblivion have been if Bethesda had smartly and extensively modded it and engineered it so that those modifications would be applied automatically in correspondence with the player, his choices, and how he made them throughout the game?
With mods at his disposal, a Dungeon Master could make the game darker and more sinister or lighter and pleasant. He could change every quest, every NPC, all the textures and even the graphics. He could blur all the edges completely, and he wouldn’t even have to be fair about it. All he would really need to be is intelligent and consistent, and the rest would be up to the player.
Bethesda only charged about $60 for Oblivion. That won’t pay for much.
World of Warcraft subscribers pay a lot more than that in the long run in order to play. We’ve all experienced or heard about WoW’s headaches, problems and other issues, so you have to wonder why. I’d say it’s because it's so big and has so much potential. But everyone plays the same version.
Instead of algorithms, randomization, synthesized speech and all that, I’d like to see a dev extensively mod its own game and then use the personage of a Dungeon Master to apply those mods in reaction to the choices and style exhibited by the player.
That would be awfully strict. If you didn't like those decisions, that would be too bad. You would just have to start over. How’s that for “Choice and Consequences?”
If there were a Dungeon Master present, and if he had the resources available, he could achieve that by modding the game. He could continue modding it whenever he felt it necessary. Mods can change the story. Mods can change everything.
How much better would Oblivion have been if Bethesda had smartly and extensively modded it and engineered it so that those modifications would be applied automatically in correspondence with the player, his choices, and how he made them throughout the game?
With mods at his disposal, a Dungeon Master could make the game darker and more sinister or lighter and pleasant. He could change every quest, every NPC, all the textures and even the graphics. He could blur all the edges completely, and he wouldn’t even have to be fair about it. All he would really need to be is intelligent and consistent, and the rest would be up to the player.
Bethesda only charged about $60 for Oblivion. That won’t pay for much.
World of Warcraft subscribers pay a lot more than that in the long run in order to play. We’ve all experienced or heard about WoW’s headaches, problems and other issues, so you have to wonder why. I’d say it’s because it's so big and has so much potential. But everyone plays the same version.
Instead of algorithms, randomization, synthesized speech and all that, I’d like to see a dev extensively mod its own game and then use the personage of a Dungeon Master to apply those mods in reaction to the choices and style exhibited by the player.
That would be awfully strict. If you didn't like those decisions, that would be too bad. You would just have to start over. How’s that for “Choice and Consequences?”