02-22-2003, 05:32 PM
All quotes from Artega's post.
It's possible that the game includes alignment checks in certain dialogues, but I'd hardly say that's the norm. I believe it's more accurate to say that, in rare instances, events will happen to a character of one alignment but not another. (e.g. Evil solution to Druid Grove) Other than that, the game uses largely the same dialogue sequences for all characters and it's up to the player to select the dialogue choice that is most in-character.
Reputation checks are probably more common than alignment checks, and they're typically used if a NPC makes a judgment based on your actions (shown most clearly by Reputation, not Alignment). But even this isn't *too* common, AFAIK.
Download Infinity Explorer and you can peek through the dialogues yourself. ;)
This often bugs the hell out of me. It's basically incentive to spend a certain portion of the game earning avoiding low rep so you can get useful gear at affordable prices. From that PoV, it is powergaming, and therefore easily argued with a "Roleplay properly" response, but even so, the system is rather... weird. It's saying that all merchants have the balls to say "It's 1000% extra!" to 1-Rep outlaws. They're not intimidated in the least. Why? Because they know that YOU know their inventory disappears with them at death. It's stupid.
I also find it totally absurd that simply donating to the local Temple of (Insert God Here) suddenly takes you off the Sword Coast's "Most Wanted" list and turns you into an instant philanthropist after being Public Enemy No. 1 no less than thirty seconds ago.
I find it amusing that, for me, RPing in D1 was more natural than RPing in BG primarily because I can only RP so much with a computer AI partner (i.e. SP BG; MP is ick). Granted, in D1 you need a group of RPing folk for it to work, but given that, it's easier to play a character with other people to play off of. The character is constantly interacting with other characters, and I get a more defined sense of the character. BG has the Alignment System to help it flesh-out characters, but I think it falls far short of replacing actual player-player interaction. Also, I know what dialogue, events, and encounters are coming in BG, so I find myself thinking ahead to "What'll this guy do here?" (i.e. planning) instead of reacting. Less natural character development. YMMV. ;)
The world in D1 is small, and that certainly has an effect on how immersing it feels. But D1 is mostly about combat, so as long as *that* is immersing, the world only needs to be a backdrop. :)
[o: *LEMMING* :o]
Quote:For those who don't know about it, it's really rather simple: there are three alignment types ... has a large impact on what dialogue choices your character will have available, and how NPCs will react to him or her.
It's possible that the game includes alignment checks in certain dialogues, but I'd hardly say that's the norm. I believe it's more accurate to say that, in rare instances, events will happen to a character of one alignment but not another. (e.g. Evil solution to Druid Grove) Other than that, the game uses largely the same dialogue sequences for all characters and it's up to the player to select the dialogue choice that is most in-character.
Reputation checks are probably more common than alignment checks, and they're typically used if a NPC makes a judgment based on your actions (shown most clearly by Reputation, not Alignment). But even this isn't *too* common, AFAIK.
Download Infinity Explorer and you can peek through the dialogues yourself. ;)
Quote:...having the maximum Reputation rating of 20 earns you a FIFTY-PERCENT discount on all wares in every store). ... low Rep. means higher prices (hell, NPCs won't even SELL you goods if your Rep. is really low).
This often bugs the hell out of me. It's basically incentive to spend a certain portion of the game earning avoiding low rep so you can get useful gear at affordable prices. From that PoV, it is powergaming, and therefore easily argued with a "Roleplay properly" response, but even so, the system is rather... weird. It's saying that all merchants have the balls to say "It's 1000% extra!" to 1-Rep outlaws. They're not intimidated in the least. Why? Because they know that YOU know their inventory disappears with them at death. It's stupid.
I also find it totally absurd that simply donating to the local Temple of (Insert God Here) suddenly takes you off the Sword Coast's "Most Wanted" list and turns you into an instant philanthropist after being Public Enemy No. 1 no less than thirty seconds ago.
Quote:I personally think that the Baldur's Gate series is much better than the Diablo series. BG represents true role-playing, while Diablo represents the common "dungeon crawl" format - lots of action, no story.
I find it amusing that, for me, RPing in D1 was more natural than RPing in BG primarily because I can only RP so much with a computer AI partner (i.e. SP BG; MP is ick). Granted, in D1 you need a group of RPing folk for it to work, but given that, it's easier to play a character with other people to play off of. The character is constantly interacting with other characters, and I get a more defined sense of the character. BG has the Alignment System to help it flesh-out characters, but I think it falls far short of replacing actual player-player interaction. Also, I know what dialogue, events, and encounters are coming in BG, so I find myself thinking ahead to "What'll this guy do here?" (i.e. planning) instead of reacting. Less natural character development. YMMV. ;)
Quote:Of course, this isn't entirely true for Diablo, since Buzzard did an EXCELLENT job creating an effective world and history for the game. Their only problem is that they failed to integrate it with the game effectively.
The world in D1 is small, and that certainly has an effect on how immersing it feels. But D1 is mostly about combat, so as long as *that* is immersing, the world only needs to be a backdrop. :)
[o: *LEMMING* :o]