The problem came from a quest-chain called "Blood Legacy". Spoiler: cw: rape, incest, general non-con After arriving in a relative backwater, the attention of the MC is drawn multiple times to the fact there is a missing noblewoman in the area. Directed to her "father", we are told she was being escorted to make betrothal arrangements. The player can question him more deeply if they have enough ranks in appropriate skills to point out the apparent holes in his story. Some investigation reveals she was pregnant, a local herbalist offered her an abortive mixture which she denied. Further investigation leads to the player being sent after a false trail, and upon returning and confronting the liar it's revealed there's something more complicated afoot. The party has to venture into a dungeon under the liar's shop. I believe there are two possible entrances, one in the town and one in the wilds that can potentially be found without having to confront the liar? The noble girl has been kidnapped by cultists, and after finding their leader it's revealed that her "father" is actually her uncle, and that he impregnated the girl and spirited her away to give birth without scandal. The area is plagued by an ailment that makes the majority of births result in soulless children, and the Lord's wife has only given birth to these Hollowborn. The cultists conducted a ritual to fill the girl with the souls of disenfranchised people with reasons to hate the upper classes, and planned to send her back to her uncle. She would later go berserk once the other souls overwhelmed her own, and massacre his entire family. At the confrontation with the cultists, there are multiple initial outcomes: 1. You agree to let them go ahead with their plan. No fight, the girl is sent out. a You can warn her uncle about the cultists plan. She is sent to an sanitarium with the goal of healing her soul. (The sanitarium is later burned down) b You can let her go back with her uncle. She will kill him and his family. It is strongly implied that her mind will be broken by this. 2. You snap her neck. Results in having to fight the cultists. a You tell her uncle she is dead. I believe you can accept a bribe to stay silent, or kill him. 3. You attack the cultists. a She can be killed in the fray b She will return to her uncle. Same options as 1a and 1b 4. (Special) If you or a companion are a certain class, they can remove the souls from the girl, along with her memories of the assault. Results in having to fight the cultists. a After wiping her memories you can give her some general advice on where to go, such as to the local clergy, or the open road. a1 You can then go tell her uncle she's dead b1 Or kill him c1 I think there's a third option where you tell him she's alive and take a bribe to stay quiet about it. In a static storytelling experience, I would write an ending where she lives, has the souls removed but retains the memories, and is given a coinpurse and directions to the MC's keep to have a safe place to recover. That allows for additional plot-hooks involving her struggles later on, and provides an opportunity for a realistic recovery narrative and her personal empowerment. In a interactive one, I would keep the existing options but add additional outcomes such as: 5. You agree to let the cultists go ahead with their plans. a (Special) She returns to the inn. Free from any risk of being killed in a battle, the MC or their capable companion removes the infected souls from the girl. a1 Kill the uncle a2 Accept his bribe a3 Give her money and pay off her guard so she can make an escape a4 Offer her a place at your keepb Kill the uncle b1 Pay off her guard to take her to the sanitarium b2 Kill her 6. You attack the cultists. Same options as in the 5a and 5b line
And that's just what I came up with off the top of my head? And since she doesn't seem to have any later plot relevance despite the size of the quest chain, it would not be difficult to implement. If she goes to the stronghold, just put her there with a line of flavor text like "The young elf woman offers you a hesitant smile." or something. This in particular really stands out as Obsidian dropping the ball. Depending on past choices, it's entirely possible for there to be a man in that same town who the player gave money too in order to start a new life. And that guy was an accidental murderer.
Do you guys have any tips for someone who really wants to get into MMOs, but is also kind of a terrible player and is very afraid of being bullied over being a total n00b, and also has never played an MMO in their life and does not know how to thing? I'm asking for a friend
Find cool people to introduce you to the game or find a game with a helpful community. And as you play read guides, especially ones written for new players!
@wixbloom some other thoughts! Games with a lot of pvp tend to have more assholish communities. Similarly don't play a MOBA, don't do it, they have notoriously shitty communities. If you want more help, let me know. Some of my friends are huge MMO players so I've picked up a lot on the subject by osmosis.
@wixbloom Seconding what Mentarnes said. I understand being worried about draggng other people down, but if you find the right group of people, they'll be happy to help you find your feet. Anyone worth interacting with understands that we were all n00bs once. What are you thinking of playing?
@WithAnH I don't know for sure, but I was thinking maybe Rift or ArcheAge? I heard Rift has a generally chill userbase and ArcheAge seems really cool (but it has pvp all over the world, which is intimidating) and they're both free to play. But I'm also open to suggestions of games with a friendly desert community.
So, I'm doing a twitch stream now and am replaying Bastion and @siveambrai and I were chatting about the Super Giant's knack for storytelling through game mechanics. Also, had a brilliant play through of the Reflections. I'm so glad to be replaying the game.
@wixbloom The Rift community was pretty relaxed and helpful when I was playing regularly. Would you play on the NA servers?
@wixbloom Last year an internet friend of mine introduced me to a game called Ultima Online. It is 18 years old so the graphics are not what a lot of people are used to, but I fell head-over-heels in love with it. I currently spend most of my time on a free shard called Ultima Online Forever, where I am a member of the largest RP guild in the community. It's light RP so people aren't expected to get really into it, (I'm very bad at RP and rarely/barely do it) and there are loads of things to do without RPing. It's one of the five largest guilds on the shard, everyone is super friendly and would love to help you get started, and there are so many different style of game play that it's not hard to find something you like. Here's a link if you want to take a look at it: http://uoforever.com/about.php If you decide you want to log in and check it out, just let me know and I'll be happy to show you around and introduce you to my guild!
@wixbloom and if you love RPing there are some people in the guild who would be really excited to have you join!
@wixbloom Sounds like you've got some good options to choose from! I'm just gonna plug my favorite because I never shut up about it >.> The Secret World! Pros: great story, loads of RP in-game, on forums, Twitter and Tumblr, newbie friendly community especially on Tumblr, LGBT and PoC characters, can punch Cthulu in the face in your underwear while wearing a creepy horse mask. Cons: buy to play which means you have to pay once but then you have access forever (often goes on sale on Steam), is a horror game so trigger warnings
I'm kind of burned out on MMOs at the moment, I really like them in theory but I have a hard time connecting with people to do things with. I do miss my lala paladin, though. Also, I'm really looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077, whenever it comes out!
I beat Sil! http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=17759 I was planning to forge an artifact amulet 'Kintsugi' (with +Constitution and Grace, makes you encounter more dangerous enemies, grants you the ability Strength in Adversity) but I didn't find enough forges. Another time, maybe. I'm p damn happy with 'Light Remembered', though.
I should point out for context that 86 hp is an absolutely ludicrous amount of hp for this game. Ainwe there could just wade through massive crowds of dangerous enemies essentially unhurt, where most characters have to pick their battles and run a ton.
@wixbloom Delayed response but you could look into Guild Wars 2. It has a lot to do without even stepping foot into dungeon content, and it doesn't really have complicated 'rotations' for abilities like many MMOs do. It's also buy-to-play so you wouldn't have to worry about a sub fee, but you would have to pay for the game (it's often on sale for like $20 though).
