FTL - What games can learn from FTL

Fluent said:

Winning with a 99% chance doesn't seem much fun to me, but eh, to each their own. I need some luck/RNG involved nowadays to keep me interested.

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I think you get me wrong here. FTL has a great learning curve.
But that's why people have the impression that it is very luck based.

I didn't have this 99% win chance from the first minute but after having played the game for 50h or longer (a successful playthrough takes ~4h).

Remember that this is a permadeath game. Permadeath isn't fun, if you have a choice between A and B, and one of these permanently kills you.

But FTL doesn't have this. It normally offers a "save choice", a "risky choice" where the possible consequences can be estimated and you have special options if you have special equipment or crew which guarantee a success.

If you are just flying around, always take the risky choices and then blame RNG for failing, that's your fault. You need to think about when to play save and when you can afford to take a risk and maybe lose a crew member for example.

I can dig that. I just prefer more unpredictability in general anymore. But at the same time I want consequences to matter in RPGs, which is why I think we are overdue for a balanced, well thought out Consequences Mode in RPGs.

I know this is besides your point. I don't know anything about FTL other than I didn't care for it much when I tried it.

ChienAboyeur said:

No. The product's mechanics are not only combat. Part of the product is to deliver a rich and dense world and as such, the narrative design includes mechanics to deliver lore/story.
For example, companions are doors to the lore/story and the PC related actions are determined by lore.
Again circularity. No interest in lore then dismissal of the lore and the mechanics to deliver lore.
Lore is obviously relevant for anyone with the slightest interest in their companions and incidently the lore.

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Read a book. Watch a movie.

I play games for the game mechanics. Delivery of story is not a game mechanic, since the player isn't doing anything. In games like PoE, the story is mostly there to "hold the scenes together" and serve as a backdrop for what is going on, to give context.
And for that purpose, PoE goes totally out of its way with far too much input. Most of this input you have no reason to be interested in.
There are a few exception with interesting characters like the Grieving Mother or Durance. Their lore I liked since it was written better and because I cared about the characters. And more importantly, their lore is not just dumped on you wiki-style but it develops over time.
But it's just that, an exception. The game treats every single topic and NPC as if it was super important or super interesting to the player. And dumps everything onto you, well, as I said, like a wiki, not like any real person would actually talk. NPCs in PoE are mostly info-stands.

Baldur's Gate knew when it had to shut up. PoE doesn't.

TheSHEEEP said:

Baldur's Gate knew when it had to shut up. PoE doesn't.

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Did you play Shadowrun Hong Kong?
Even much worse. Every single vendor tells you the completely irrelevant story of their lives. Worst of it: Embedded in the ridiculous amounts of irrelevant text you also find XP and story relevant triggers in very rare cases, so that you can not just leave them out completely.

Kordanor said:

Did you play Shadowrun Hong Kong?
Even much worse. Every single vendor tells you the completely irrelevant story of their lives. Worst of it: Embedded in the ridiculous amounts of irrelevant text you also find XP and story relevant triggers in very rare cases, so that you can not just leave them out completely.

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Yes, I played it. They can be compared in this regard, but I'd never say it is worse in SR:HK. Because it really isn't.

I found the writing much better and more importantly, they were less verbose and less wiki-style.
It wasn't people explaining the universe to you, "just" people telling you their personal stories.
For reasons completely unknown to anyone, so that's the same kind of weird as it is in PoE. Most have no reason to tell you all that stuff and you have no reason to listen. Yet there you go.

Either way, the amount of text to go through is much, much larger in PoE. Per talkative NPC, that is.

TheSHEEEP said:

Read a book. Watch a movie.

I play games for the game mechanics.

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That remark on this site. Players interested in gameplay are the definition of scarcity on this site.
Nevertheless, the point is made already: players who have no interest in being delivered a rich and dense world must admit it instead of denying it and simply move to another product if they feel threatened because the product is not meant for them.

Browsed the vid and watched a couple of streams.

Was enough to see that points made in the vid do not exist.

There is no tension in the product, or more exactly the tension follows the usual RPG curve: struggle at start then dominate, streamroll the rest.
The resources management is common: thesaurizing to allocate later. Resources are not needed for a part of the run, the late allocation happens to secure the final outcome.

It was also noticed that this thread is somewhat a commercial to advertize for patreon subsidizing. Even though the community on here somehow took a stance on this kind of funding request.

In all cases, the vid is the work of a mouth piece willing to tell as his monetized support desires him to tell. Watching a couple of streamers playing live was enough to tell the depiction of the product as it is made in the vid does not correspond with the product.

Hilarious that joxer got rekt by this game

In this kind of products, until players have learned the basics, it is their common lot to be wrecked.

Gaming only starts after the learning stage.

Noticeably, content is locked in this product, in an effort to dilute content. Usually not a good sign.