Comic Discussion - Week of 3-26-07

[Legendary]

How do I posted thread?

[Germ]

I dunno, lol

Naturally there would be enemies that are completely anachronistic.

[Sipex]

Heh, I always hated that in RPGs. Usually they'd make sense of it, but not always, sometimes it was just "random robotic boss in a cave!"

Additionally why are towns safe yet the town guard falls apart at the first sign of hositility?

"Welcome to Ravenguard, we're monster free."
*event happens*
"Oh no, the monsters are attacking the town and the town guard is completely helpless against the unorganised beasts! Please help us noble heroes!"

[Necrayu]

Because if town guards actually had any competence, there might even be an actual, existant, organized military unit that isn't trying to do in the players.

... I want to complain about tactical strategy games.
Because the theme seems to be, in all of them;
"There are people rebelling, go take care of them, %n!"
"Yes, SIR!" /salute
"Sir, I've decided to join the rebels. They convinced me it's better to go against the established system by fighting the war on the other side.
Because secretly I've always hated how the country was run, and/or my family was killed with no actual reason. I hate you, and hope you die. Soon.
By my weapon of choice."

You want unoriginal plotline, there ya go.

But to the main point of the rant, if they had an actual establishment for keeping things safe, then the PC wouldn't be able to go out and deal with random encounters because stuff would, y'know, be safe n' junk.

[Tiako]

I really want an RPG that follows the historical pattern of revolution:

1. Revolution against ineffective (NOT tyrannical) regime initiates.

2. Army either doesn't stop the rebels or deserts to them (You cannot have a successful revolution if the army is against you. Ever).

3. Transitory government set up. Transitory government proves ineffective, slowly collapses, and is replaced by new, more radical government.

4. Counter-revolution is stirred up in the countryside, either due to sympathy for ancien régime or radicalness of new regime.

5. To counter this, the new regime becomes even more radical. Witchhunts against counter revolutionaries prove destructive and bloody. violent suppression of rebels in the country side.

6. The person responsible for the survival of the new regime either becomes dictator or is executed for being moderate.

7. Key members of the ancien régime have fled to foreign counties or to more distant provinces. Actual warfare commences. New regime grows more repressive.

End result: If the New Regime survives the war, it will be ever bit as tyrannical as the old one, probably more. If it doesn't, it will be replaced by a reactionary government that is essentially the same as the ancien régime.

I do think it would be interesting if that level of complexity is introduced. And yes, revolutions follow that pattern with remarkable consistency. And before someone mentions it, The American Revolution and other separatist movements are rebellions, not revolutions. Big difference.[/list]

[Tiako]

No, the Fench soldiers refused to fire on the crowds. When Louis sent for them, they did not come.

And I was also referring to the Russian, English, and to a lesser extent, Cuban. The truth is that very few revolutions actually manage to succeed in overthrowing the ancien regime (I use this term slightly erroneously to denote any pre-revolutionary government).

[Tiako]

True, but the main problem is that a revolution, if successful, by necessity legitimizes other revolutions, and its very success encourages others to think that theirs could be successful as well. Furthermore, when a revolution doesn't accomplish all of its goals (Which it won't), then its stalwarts will be disenchanted, either turning more radical or counter-revolutionary. Compare the reformist England to the revolutionary France and decide which has been more successful.

Regardless, my point is that I wished some RPGs would follow a more realistic model instead of declaring "And then everyone was happy" at the end. One of the worst violators of this was Jade Empire.

Also, I read the second part of the newspost without noticing the flashback was entitled "Flashin' on the Back!". I believe my thoughts were as follows "Yep. ElfLad/Legendary has lost his marbles".

[Shimmel]

It seems most RPGs get partway through step 3, setting up the transitory government and end before anything else happens. But knowing those kinds of plots, that's probably as far as the story would ever be taken.

But hey, I actually read those booklets! More like skimming through, but still. I wish I could say they helped, but they're usually not really worth the time. Maybe one page will have good info and the rest is just explaining that moving the control stick lets you walk and stuff.

And on a somewhat related note, I wish they would keep those seizure warnings in the manual and not tell you every time you start the game. Maybe if more people read the manual...

[Germ]

And on a somewhat related note, I wish they would keep those seizure warnings in the manual and not tell you every time you start the game. Maybe if more people read the manual...

I recently purchased a Nintendo DS. It has the best of both worlds, as all games come with a Health and Safety Warning booklet, and not only that, but when you actually boot the system, you're presented with a screen telling you to read the Health and Safety booklet.

Also, I actually read my manuals, too. It has prepared me for the disappointment when I unlock the Ninja class in FF3 and learn they can't equip every weapon and armor like the NES version.

[Normalphil]

On "Type 1's" and "Type 2's", I call that the "Gau Test".

Basically, whenever I meet somebody who bitches about how the character Gau from FFVI sucked, I know I'm looking at somebody who chose the setting where the battle pauses while you take your turn. And I laugh at them, because they deserve mockery and derision.

[Legendary]

Yeah, I vary between Type 1 and Type 2 based on how much I like the game.

FFTA: Type 1. I love that battle system, even though the game's ridiculously easy. Actually taking the time to branch out into all the different classes made it even easier. But it was fun, and "too easy" is a more forgivable fault than "too hard," in my eyes, at least.

FF7: Type 2. "Man, I don't care about Materia, just get to the point where this game is worth the $20 I paid for it." (Hint: It doesn't)

Tales of Symphonia: Type 1. I played through this game eight times, just so that I could see the different scenes for each character. I also spent a lot of time choosing skills for combos, and messing around with EX Gems.

[Germ]

To be honest, despite being "Type 1" for pretty much everything else, including Final Fantasy Tactics/Tactics Advance (why yes I did master every job) and Final Fantasy 7 (Protip: Getting a set of Master Materia for even just your "main" team isn't eff'ing worth it), I never had the patience to figure out which of Gau's rages were good beyond Holy Dragon, Stray Cat, and Magic Urn (much less the patience to get many of Gau's rages beyond Holy Dragon, Stray Cat, and Magic Urn).

The fact that Gau can't equip the Merit Award in the recent FF6 remakes tones down his usefulness immensely ("What do you mean I can't 4x Catscratch-Wind Slash any more?")

[Reaver225]

1st playthrough, I'm type 2.
2nd onwards? Usually type 1.


Also, madness?
THIS IS <insert country name>AAAAAAA!!

[Legendary]

I'm moderately type 1 - I customize somewhat, and I actually plan my attacks, but I don't customize down to the hairs on my characters' heads or do it when I feel like it's worthless.

In other news, wouldn't the spider just fall to the ground and be defeated once its legs were decimated?

SPOILER WARNING:

Unless they nonsensically regenerate completely after a few rounds.

[Germ]

I'm moderately type 1 - I customize somewhat, and I actually plan my attacks, but I don't customize down to the hairs on my characters' heads or do it when I feel like it's worthless.

In other news, wouldn't the spider just fall to the ground and be defeated once its legs were decimated?

SPOILER WARNING:

Unless they nonsensically regenerate completely after a few rounds.

It confused me to no end in the FF4 remake for GBA where the coders forgot to make Gaibon's arms die when the body hits 0 HP, so you had a pair of floating snake-arms to fight after you killed the boss.

[Draco N. Slayer]

Heh, I have a lot of comments to make...
Re: anachronisms: Ever played any of the chrono games? Anachronisms through the roof
Re: revolutions: You're forgetting "I pick up my guitar and play, just like yesterday...". And if you aren't, shut up, I needed to fulfill my daily song reference quota
Re: manuals: I don't bother reading them, I just look at the pretty pictures
Re: types: I guess I'm very type 1. I hate doing 998 damage when I could've done 999. But what about that rare segment which actually genuinely care about the game's storyline?

[ValorForm]

The Dragon Tank from Chrono Trigger comes to mind when thinking of the mechanical spider.

[Legendary]

Re: revolutions: You're forgetting "I pick up my guitar and play, just like yesterday...". And if you aren't, shut up, I needed to fulfill my daily song reference quota

Hey, man, we all want to change the world.

But when you talk about destruction, don'tcha know that you can count me out?