Nantucket - Preview @ Rock Paper Shotgun

Rock Paper Shotgun checked out Nantucket:

Wot I Think: Nantucket

My rotten sloop is wheezing into port, the decks slick with blubber and blood, and still it isn’t enough. The sea teems with life and before this day is done, I swear I will silence all of it. From our home port to the distant shores of Europe and Africa, the water will run red.

This is Nantucket, a strategic-RPG about the golden age of whaling. I’m hunting for Moby Dick but it’s a long voyage from lowly captain to vengeance and fate personified. Mostly, my time is spent stabbing tiny baby whales until they turn into piles of money and food.

To help me in my quest to vanquish the all-destroying but unconquering whale, I’m going to bring my friends from the band Mastodon into the room. Let’s see how their version of events, as told in the song Blood & Thunder from Moby Dick concept album Leviathan, matches with my experiences.
[…]
Sid Meier’s Pirates! Is the closest thing to Nantucket that I’ve played. Both games involve moving from port to port trying to gather riches. Both have you dividing your takings among your crew. Both have an open-ended nature and can sometimes lack focus.
[…]

Thanks henriquejr!



More information.

96% going to get this one.

I'm going to get a Starbucks and watch this one.

See the movie "In The Heart of the Sea". It's based on the true incident Melville used in writing 'Moby Dick'. Good film.

I know it's probably hypocrisy when I'll gladly play for example a pirate killing loads of people, but Whale hunting? I don't think I can stomach that. (Bring on the SJW comments. Where is Luj anyway?)

Originally Posted by TomRon
I know it's probably hypocrisy when I'll gladly play for example a pirate killing loads of people, but Whale hunting? I don't think I can stomach that. (Bring on the SJW comments. Where is Luj anyway?)

But that's what whales are for. Their value has a fish is the quality and quantity of their oil, and that's what's important. That's what I gathered after reading my Melville.

In my mind, calling somebody SJW just shows you don't have any actual argument to make. You're just saying, "My tribe is strong and brave, yours is week and foolish! Let's not look at any evidence or facts, that's for the weak and foolish!"

Originally Posted by screeg
In my mind, calling somebody SJW just shows you don't have any actual argument to make. You're just saying, "My tribe is strong and brave, yours is week and foolish! Let's not look at any evidence or facts, that's for the weak and foolish!"

Agreed. It's mostly a term used by people who have no actual or factually valid argument to add to a discussion, but still wants things to remain the same. Remember change is bad.

Didn't expect a Moby Dick game so it's a pretty nice surprise.

As far as whale hunting goes there aren't many alternatives (Assassin's Creed) but considering it's set in the past and that no real whales are harmed it's a bit like complaining about killing animals in Far Cry games to unlock upgrades. Would you feel like complaining to PETA because you have to kill an exotic and unique specimen to unlock the highest tiered upgrade in Far Cry?

lots of things are rendered meaningless these days. Just terms to throw out to brand instead of to reason: racist, sexist, phobic… the least goes on. With all sides denying it.

As for the game, it looks interesting enough for a closer look

I'm in. I'll gladly explore, however superficially, this period in history. When I play the Germans in Hearts of Iron IV, I'm quite sure I'm not endorsing Nazism. I read lots of news stories about Donald Trump, too.

I can understand what Tomron is saying. There was an RPG a while back where you played a homeless guy and fought the other homeless for food. I can find that distasteful, while still recognising that I don't have much of a position when I'm conducting other digital massacres on a regular basis.

I hear what you guys are saying, too.

Personally, I don't like most movies and T.V. shows about prison. I find the setting abhorrent and distastefull enough to ruin the experience for me. Of course, there are examples that deal with the subject matter in enough of an intelligent or aritistic manner to overcome my tendency toward revulsion. Like most everything, it's not all one side or the other.

Hmm, it's interesting I wouldn't have thought that fighting against whales would be such a turn off for some. I am a huge animal lover and a supporter of animal welfare, but fighting digital whales doesn't bother me any more fighting the packs of wolves or bears or giant rats in every other game.

Originally Posted by fadedc
Hmm, it's interesting I wouldn't have thought that fighting against whales would be such a turn off for some. I am a huge animal lover and a supporter of animal welfare, but fighting digital whales doesn't bother me any more fighting the packs of wolves or bears or giant rats in every other game.

Yeah, I hear what you're saying, and I'm not saying it's logical. I think that's a reason I prefer fictional settings to historical ones. I want escapism, not realism.

Originally Posted by Herman Melville
For some of these same Quakers are the most sanguinary of all sailors and whale-hunters. They are fighting Quakers; they are Quakers with a vengeance.

The irony was not lost on Melville regarding these pacifist Quakers. It would have been obvious to anyone.

What I enjoy about historical fiction from their time is there's no attempt to modernize their understanding and use it as a metaphor for what's wrong with their old fashion thinking.

In fact, some of Melville's ideas are downright hilarious.

Look what's happened to druids in Dungeons and Dragons even.

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
But that's what whales are for. Their value has a fish is the quality and quantity of their oil, and that's what's important. That's what I gathered after reading my Melville.

I feel compelled to remind you that whales are mammals, not fish.

Originally Posted by fadedc
Hmm, it's interesting I wouldn't have thought that fighting against whales would be such a turn off for some. I am a huge animal lover and a supporter of animal welfare, but fighting digital whales doesn't bother me any more fighting the packs of wolves or bears or giant rats in every other game.

I think what turns me off about the idea is the relatively defenselessness / innocence of the whales. We've all probably killed a large number of wolves, bears, etc. in RPGs, but typically it is in self-defense or at least for survival. (I don't mind the hunting segment in Conan Chronicles NWN module). But hunting whales for blubber is like the equivalent of hunting unicorns for their horns in a medieval fantasy RPG. Except add in the fact whales are real & actually threatened by whale hunting.

I'm not saying there's necessarily anything wrong with being bad in a video game. Role-playing an evil character can be fun, I think, but then you're probably engaging in battle with paladins and such. Or as an assassin, coming up with sneaky ways to kill your victims and get away. Not so much fun to hack up peasant children whose only hope is to run away, IMO. Guess even when I'm in the mood to be the bad guy, I prefer to be lawful evil rather than chaotic evil.

Anyway, it just doesn't sound like a very interesting setting for an RPG to me. But any RPG where you're only fighting one creature sounds pretty dull.

Originally Posted by daveyd

I think what turns me off about the idea is the relatively defenselessness / innocence of the whales. We've all probably killed a large number of wolves, bears, etc. in RPGs, but typically it is in self-defense or at least for survival. (I don't mind the hunting segment in Conan Chronicles NWN module). But hunting whales for blubber is like the equivalent of hunting unicorns for their horns in a medieval fantasy RPG. Except add in the fact whales are real & actually threatened by whale hunting.

Well the whales are certainly far from defenseless, if there is one thing I get from the game it's that whale hunting is incredibly dangerous. As for innocence, I'd say they are no more innocent than wolves or bears, and this being a Moby Dick themed game, they can have a bit more sinister feel to them. Much like in other games, sometimes you fight them for loot or XP, other times for survival. And of course wolves and bears are also real and many are also endangered species in the real world and threatened by hunting.

Only fighting one type of enemy is a more understandable complaint. Although there are some non whale enemies, as well as different species of whales with different abilities. But repetitive combat is a frequent and quite reasonable complaint for this game.

Originally Posted by daveyd
I feel compelled to remind you that whales are mammals, not fish.

humbug.

Be it known that, waiving all argument, I take the good old fashioned ground that the whale is a fish, and call upon holy Jonah to back me. This fundamental thing settled…
a whale is A SPOUTING FISH WITH A HORIZONTAL TAIL.

Whale is a fish ???? When did a whale turn into a fish ?

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
humbug.

Be it known that, waiving all argument, I take the good old fashioned ground that the whale is a fish, and call upon holy Jonah to back me. This fundamental thing settled…
a whale is A SPOUTING FISH WITH A HORIZONTAL TAIL.