Morrowind and Oblivion had some wonky level ups, to be sure, but at least in Morrowind it was balanced by the fact that the enemies didn't necessarily get all that stronger. I mean, in the Bitter Coast region you'd get more Bull and Betty netches in later levels, and those annoying bat things wouldn't show up until level 5 or something, but ultimately there wasn't "levelling" and you CERTAINLY couldn't beat the game at level 1.

Now with Oblivion, things (and I mean ALL things) level up JUST AS FAST as you do. Its not like in Morrowind where there are always really weak areas and really strong areas (even though in some places you can get the loot before ascended sleepers spawn depending on your level), but you can't finish the whole damn game on level 1 unless you use potion exploits or cheats.

In Oblivion however you have your actual level and your relative level. So lets say you want to beat the game at level 1. How do you do this? Well, you pick all major skills as things you don't want to use, and then you get to level 100 in all other skills. 99.9% of the time the game will be a breeze, since your relative level (in all but HP) will be 100 while your enemy will be level 1. Sure your attributes will be a "little" low, but with custom class and custom sign you can get +15 luck which is the only stat you will ever need (on a level 1 run). Sure, there is that 0.01% of the game where there the enemy is NOT leveled and will strong regardless of your level. In this case, you need to use ample summons, poisons, sneak, and other such tactics ... since in this case you will be a glass cannon. But more often than not this is not the case.

Now, although Skyrim isn't quite as "cool" some would say (namely me), as Morrowind ... the level up system is SO MUCH BETTER. Its everything a TES player could want, imho. You gain levels as you fight/quest/etc without a care in the world about attritbute increases or maximum potential level. How did they do it? There are no attributes (other than HP/Magic/Fatigue), and maximum potential level is ALWAYS 80. All skills add to your level, the higher the skill the more 'exp' you get for each skill increase, and the stronger the enemy the faster you level your skills (essentially).

In Morrowind and Oblivion there are always 2 concerns ... killing your opponents/completing quests (the Macro), and Leveling your Character as best as possible (the Micro).

Now, as a fan of Civ IV, I can always appreciate some good micro ... but in Oblivion its just rediculous. Sure, I find it a challenge to level up my Oblivion character as best as possible (especially since I haven't figured out how to emulateXP/play morrowind on my new laptop), but there is always this nagging sensation of "Why don't I just beat the game at levels 1-10 again?" I think my first Oblivion character (before my 360 died) I had 100 sneak by level 6. Iirc I was a male redguard that tried to get +5 agility at each level for an Archer/Sneak character that never went past level 10.

Its too much focus on Micro. At least with Morrowind, you could either focus solely on the macro, (and still get decently strong characters), or focus solely on the micro (and get any number of different character builds, whether weak early on for higher max level, or strong early on and just get 100 attributes/max level before level 30, or to just try to max out your luck as much as possible ...), or any hybrid in-between.

Even in Morrowind though, as awesome as that game was, I think (at least from someone who finds it hard to ignore micro in a leveling up sort of game) it would be 10x better if it did levelling like Skyrim does.

Therefore, I think Morrowind with a Skyrim engine/level up system would be the best

and that both Morrowind and Skyrim are better than Oblivion :D ... and that I'd give props to Skyrim for fixing the levelup problem.

<--- 1700 in solo queue.

Anyone else?

I am looking for visual artists to help move us (RB) into the next phrase. Knowing how to code web stuff is helpful (in knowing how things work) but not necessary. We can leave the actual implementations to the code monkeys.

As this is not a large commercial site that site performance is utmost critical, I would like to see a delicious looking site - ie, CSS buttons need not apply.

You will be part of a team responsible to design how the entire RB future site(s) will look, and provide graphics where needed. Designs includes:
RB front door - I plan to adopt a CMS system so the front door would be active, with forum feed too.
Existing sub sites - to port over old contents with the new look and functionality
New sub sites - Hoping to see many more.
And more...

I am not sure how to go about the volunteer selection process, since too many cooks spoils the broth, it will depend on the response. We will see.

We don't want your copyrights, just the right to use any of your contributions for the purpose of Realms Beyond as we see fit

PS: There will be a credit page listing staffs and contributors.

Anyone else play it?

I am familiar with the main series (Shin Megami Tensei) and the spin-off Persona series.

My favorites are SMT:Nocturne and Persona 3.

Sooo... if you were approached asking what the most entertaining/amusing (civ) threads were on the site, what ones would you say?

I'll claim the obvious one, pocketbeetle's FFH2PBEM1 thread.



DISCLAIMER: This is not meant to rank/create a competition for anything, nor to create controversy (say if you gat landed the smackdown in PBEM0 and are annoyed to see it listed as entertaining. It is merely a means to collate a selection of must-reads for any interested. The focus is on entertainment value, not interest level (e.g. PocketBeetle's FFH2PBEM1 thread is entertaining, while Krill's PB5 thread is interesting/informative.

Where the lurking lurkers lurk lurquaciously

Living players reading this: You suck at forum navigation, go away

Current Status

Part of d1-n1-d2 is in the following quicktopic due to issues with the clock

http://www.quicktopic.com/48/H/7PVPyqxTYfq

Day 6 deadline 29 November 2200 GMT

Live Players - 4

Azza
Lewwyn (aka Loki)
Jkaen
Pindicator


Dead Players - 15

Bigger, Jalabhar Xho, Loyalist was lynched day 1
Commodore, Hot Pie, Lurker was killed night 1
BrickAstley, Mace Tyrell, Loyalist was killed night 1
Ichabod, Arya Stark, Loyalist Tracker/Watcher was killed night 1
Mattimeo, Jon Snow, Loyalist 1-Shot Commuter was lynched day 2
Pling, Asha Greyjoy, Lurker was killed night 2
Serdoa, Janos Slynt, Traitor Jailkeeper was killed night 2
Novice, Varys, Jack of All Trades Survivor was killed night 2
Twinkletoes89, Jaime Lannister, Traitor was lynched day 3
Thestick, Gregor Clegane, Lurkicidal Bulletproof Serial Killer quit the game and was mod-killed day 3
Rowain, Sansa Stark, Loyalist was killed night 3
Sareln, Brienne of Tarth, Loyalist was lynched day 4
Coco, Cersei Lannister, Traitor went AWOL and was mod-killed day 4
Zakalwe, Petyr Baelish, Loyalist Pimp was killed night 4
Mardoc, Eddard Stark, Loyalist Honest Stealthy Doublevoter was lynched day 5
Cyneheard, Joffrey Baratheon, Lurker was mod-killed night 5
Qgqqqq, Thoros of Myr, Loyalist Doctor was killed night 5
Tasunke, Loras Tyrell, Loyalist was killed night 5




Rules

1. 48 hour days. Nights are 24 hours. The 23rd of November will be a 1 day break where posting is suspended.
2. Due to forum silliness, day ends at 2200 GMT realtime this game, regardless of what the forum clock says.
3. In the event of extended forum downtime or downtime that occurs in close proximity of the deadline the day will be extended 24 hours at the GM's discretion

4. During the day each player may cast one vote for someone to be lynched. Players may also vote for "no lynch" and if "no lynch" receives a majority there won't be a lynch.
5. Votes must be posted in red text or they will not count. Votes with spelling errors of names do count so long as it's unambiguous in the GM's opinion whom is being voted for. Votes embedded in quotes do not count.
6. The player with most lynch votes at the end of the day is lynched and eliminated from the game. In the event that two or more players are tied for the most votes, and no roles or other game conditions break the tie, a random player from the group with most votes will be lynched.
7. Night actions have been pre-assigned a priority order that seems sensible to the GM and will be processed in that order.
8. Anyone failing to vote for 2 consecutive game days will be mod killed and removed from the game with a loss.

9. Dead players may make one posthumous post that doesn't contribute to discussion.
10. Forum profile camping is not allowed.
11. To prevent confusion that may arise in the case of cross posting, posts may not be edited.
12. Breaking rules will result in penalties ranging from warnings to loss of abilities to being mod killed depending on the severity of the infraction.
13. Players may not communicate with other players about the game outside the thread via PM, email, chat, quicktopics etc. unless told otherwise.
14. Players must check their PMs each game day before posting.
15. The village/town faction this game is called Loyalists. The Loyalists win when all threats to their faction are eliminated and at least one loyalist remains. Loyalist PMs do not contain a statement to this effect.
16. If all players are simultaneously eliminated, or the game reaches a stalemate situation, the game is a draw.
17. Directly quoting role PMs or other communication from the GM isn't allowed.


Game specific notes

1. Please refrain from spoiling the plot for those who haven't gone past the first half of the first book or TV series.

2. While using the same characters as the source material, this game won't stick to the established plot. For example: Viserys Targaryen could potentially have been in this game, having returned in secret to Westeros after the plans for his sister's wedding fell through.

3. Therefore you attempt to metagame the source material at your own risk. Scum have false identities anyway.

4. The King is not actually a player in this game that traitors have to kill.


Sample Vanilla town PM:

Quote:You are XXX, Loyalist

You are loyal to the king.

Insert bio here.

deco rush long!!!1!

no team flashing

friendly fire is on you noob

knifed lol

zomg hax

etc


various phrases spoken on numerous occasions whilst playing the classic game, Counter Strike.

There's a promising Kickstarter project in need of funding (currently 36% with 20 days to go).

Quote:Inspired heavily by the 70's Sci-fi aesthetic, Maia is a colony management simulator where you must keep your colonists safe, fed and happy. Liberally influenced by nineties god games, the game will have a dark sense of humour and more toys to play with than you can shake a Molyneux at.

(...)
Gameplay
--------------
You must excavate an underground colony to escape the hostile surface of the world. Mine minerals for construction, build rooms to house, feed and entertain your colonists and defenses to protect them from dangerous wildlife.

Research sources of power, water and food. Explore the surface and perform science to produce the technology you need to survive your new home.

Quote:Features
------------
Up to 2km x 2km x 2km of procedural world
Complex colonist AI
Dark humour
A unique aesthetic
Water and Lava simulation
A dark ambient soundtrack
Cellular Atmosphere
A simple minimalist UI
Inspired by 1970s hard sci-fi
Intricate defense systems
Bi-polar androids
First person mode
Open data for modders.

Development
-------------------
Maia is currently in early alpha. A playable release will be available as soon as mid January. The game will run on Windows, Mac and Linux and have absolutely no DRM.

The game will ship in summer 2013. After that, development will continue indefinitely, with regular updates, and swathes of new content every month.

Quote:Robots who are afraid of the dark, moody colonists inspired by 70s sci-fi films, kleptomaniac aliens and self-seeding flora – all are locked together in the complex ecosystem of indie god-game Maia, currently seeking £100,000 of funding on Kickstarter.
(...)
“Everything has to fit into this ecology, and balancing it will be interesting and fun for the player,” says Roth. “If they kill all the predators, then they’ll just end up with hundreds and hundreds of little furry things running around. If they kill all the furry things then the predators are going to start looking for things to eat, and venturing into the colony."

Quote:In the first person mode you will be able to do most the things that the computer you possed can do.

Possess a IMP and go digging, possess a turret and defend your base from invaders or even possess a door and.. well... annoy people.

I had planned to spend the first post of my first spoiler thread describing a terrible strategy in great detail to manage expectations. But now that you can't see the first post from the forum view I guess I'll just put this here:


(Its not by me, it's by these guys: http://www.bergerandwyse.com/food-cartoons/small-foods/ )