Preview: Watch Your Back in Salem
- Thread starter Greg Tito
- Start date
Sounds really, really "role-playing" heavy...That's a bad thing for me. I think I'll skip it.
And the idea of being killed while offline is just wrong.
And the idea of being killed while offline is just wrong.
Totally with you on that last part. That's a bit...Rough.Onyx Oblivion said:
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if death wasn't permanent, but combining those two mechanics?
Ow.
Rich history well for America I suppose couldn't game developers look little farther field to other places with history even if use an American main character there's whole world out there.
I love the idea of player killing carrying rather heavy consequences. I was behind it, and even considering playing my first MMO game since Diablo 2, right up until the bit where the delusional, paranoid, misogynist assholes behind the witch burnings are right all along.
Kinda lost me there.
Kinda lost me there.
When I heard death is death I was a bit put off, but seeing how they handle it I'm totally going to consider trying this. Anyone else think the idea of being a Witch Priest to defend other witches could be fun?
Colour me intruiged. I will keep an eye on this and hopeful;ly get to play the beta.
I like the ideas and as for:
couple of Questions though. do you get a murder scent from killing a native indian and is that distinguishable from killing a villager (as it would be very different at the time this is set). Also interested to see how the villages will rule themselves and how easy it could be to change villages (inter village warfare)
I like the ideas and as for:
Its a game and having a part of that history included in some form or other is good even if it does play it the wrong wayLazarus Long said:
couple of Questions though. do you get a murder scent from killing a native indian and is that distinguishable from killing a villager (as it would be very different at the time this is set). Also interested to see how the villages will rule themselves and how easy it could be to change villages (inter village warfare)
This sounds like it could be really cool. Paradox Interactive has screwed up big time before though (see Hearts of Iron 3) so I'm hoping that doesn't happen to this. Yes, being a witch priest would be pretty slick. Maybe make a witch group/guild to look out for eachother? Honestly rolling a new toon in games is one of my favourite things to do, its just that I never get them to level cap...
Well, the game seems to be going for a Lovecraftian vibe, which means having witches/servants of the dark powers around. By definition I get the impression that thw witches are probably going to be corrupt and evil as well.Lazarus Long said:
That said, the situation in Salem was a land grab more than anything (I've been to Salem) and the "trials" are actually a number of seperate issues, and not all of the victims were women. 14 Women, 5 men.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials
At least as I remember it from when I visited Salem everyone involved including the victims were a bunch of douchebags once you cut out all the propaganda. These incidents played a key role in banning witch trials, because honestly, I think there were some serious doubts on whether there was any real religious fervor, as everyone involved had some kind of perfectly worldly stake in this.
That said, being a horror game, I fail to see why having horror elements in it is a big deal. Especially seeing as this game seems to be set well before the time of the Witch Trials, and the monsters are real.
Also while not popular with the new-age movement, I will say that while I doubt there being magic involved, a lot of the hype behind the witch hunts and the like was true. It's just that we like to put a very judgemental spin on things, and you also have the "New Age" movement which is harmless, and also has a vested interest in wanting hisorical re-inventionism.
The truth is that primitive people have some very nasty rituals, this includes primitive white people. For all of the "one with nature" celtic stuff, the bottom like is that you had tons of torture and murder being committed by pre-christian religions. Some of the sites are pretty disturbing, and once in a while they do shows on this kind of thing but few people put all the pieces together. As time went on, these beliefs never really disappeared, and you had people doing nasty things in secret because it was tradition. To a Christian anything not frm god is from Satan, so these people were Satanists even if they did not specifically worship the devil. Given that Christianity wrecked these cultures and drove them underground, these people trying to invoke their own religion against it probably didn't help matters (and the darker the magic, the nastier the requirements as well). This is of course to say nothing of actual, bona-fide Satanists, which of course themselves developed as a knee-jerk opposition to Christian domination. I think it was one of those "strange but true" real-life supernatural shows when I was a kid, but apparently there have been Satanic lairs uncovered in places like Paris. One of them had like hundreds of baby skulls set into the walls around the alter, and is probably the inspiration for tales that Satanists are still abducting and killing babies today. You look at some of that stuff and it's pretty easy to see where the whole school of "The Witch Hunters were right" dark-fantasy fiction comes from, especially when it's set decades, or centuries before things like what happened in Salem.
At any rate, if you like the game otherwise, I wouldn't freak out about that aspect of things. The point is simply there is another side to it, and it's a work of fantasy. I doubt the game is trying to say the Salem Witch Trials were actually justified, but as far as fantasy goes (people have used that as a horror story with real witches), why not? It's no worse than a movie some guys made about "what if George Washington was a seriel killer".
Good ideas: you die, you stay dead.
Not so good ideas: offline characters.
Scenario: "oh no, I have committed a minor infraction against another player. And this being an online RPG, he now wants massively out of proportion revenge. D'oh well, I had no plans to ever stop playing this game anyway."
Not so good ideas: offline characters.
Scenario: "oh no, I have committed a minor infraction against another player. And this being an online RPG, he now wants massively out of proportion revenge. D'oh well, I had no plans to ever stop playing this game anyway."
Concerned about the staying dead concept, but definitely planning on giving it a look when it comes out.
This sounds pretty interesting. All the interlocking systems sound pretty cool and although you being able to be killed while offline permenantly is pretty harsh, it's only if you commited a crime and then decided that you didn't want to hide or anything (so either you're stupid or lazy). This will probably curb the random grief murders that would happen otherwise, as now murder has to be a carefully planned thing. I still imagine there will be groups the PvP each other alot, but there will probably also be areas that are heavily patrolled by a dedicated group. Not to mention that specialization will make some people very crucial for certain tasks in a village (losing one of your few priests or expert crafter would be very bad), so some people will be very protective of each other.
And I love that only certain people can sense the witchcraft scent. This will introduce all new levels of paranioa into the game.
And I love that only certain people can sense the witchcraft scent. This will introduce all new levels of paranioa into the game.