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New Comic - March 3rd 2008

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    JavenJaven Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    See but the thing is, Wiggin, that tactic would work if there was a crowd or not. how conspicuous you are has no bearing on how many people are around you.

    Javen on
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    DefenderDefender Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Little Jim wrote: »
    Lol! wrote: »
    That's called finishing the eighth kill, so that all of the districts are unlocked.
    The best part of the game, right there.

    I mean nobody at all, no guards to annoy me with their bows and such

    This is the kind of thing I'm talking about. This perspective indicates that the world looks nice, the running and jumping and climbing work well, but the actual game is annoying and not fun. Think about it, would you want to play, I don't know, DOOM, but with no monsters? No, the monsters were great. How about DOOM, but with no levels? Like, just a big open room with monsters, no hallways or corridors or anything? No, because the level design affected the combat and kept it interesting. Would you want to play with just one weapon? No, because pretty much every weapon except the pistol and the non-berserk fist got used in that game. Here, you're seeing someone who recognizes a well-made world (level map), but who finds the actual content to be "annoying."

    Defender on
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    Me Too!Me Too! __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2008
    Listen
    I don't need you to point out that I'm wrong.
    We already knew that.

    Me Too! on
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    Little JimLittle Jim __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2008
    Defender wrote: »
    Little Jim wrote: »
    Lol! wrote: »
    That's called finishing the eighth kill, so that all of the districts are unlocked.
    The best part of the game, right there.

    I mean nobody at all, no guards to annoy me with their bows and such

    This is the kind of thing I'm talking about. This perspective indicates that the world looks nice, the running and jumping and climbing work well, but the actual game is annoying and not fun. Think about it, would you want to play, I don't know, DOOM, but with no monsters? No, the monsters were great. How about DOOM, but with no levels? Like, just a big open room with monsters, no hallways or corridors or anything? No, because the level design affected the combat and kept it interesting. Would you want to play with just one weapon? No, because pretty much every weapon except the pistol and the non-berserk fist got used in that game. Here, you're seeing someone who recognizes a well-made world (level map), but who finds the actual content to be "annoying."

    I actually really enjoyed the game

    I also enjoyed all the little side quests and such because I generally used my godlike assassination abilities to escalate fights until I won via attrition

    my problem with the game that the freejumping system was fucking fun as hell, but you had to be sneaky about it because of all the rooftop guards, which annoyed me when I just wanted to do some freejumping

    however

    I did enjoy running towards an archer on the roof, then doing that jumping hidden blade thing

    never ever got old to me

    Little Jim on
    th_crabz.png
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    Regicid3Regicid3 Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    If you guys didn't know, they released a podcast.

    http://download.penny-arcade.com/podcast/PON%20PON%20PATA%20PON.mp3

    Regicid3 on
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    NuzakNuzak Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Defender wrote: »
    Lol! wrote: »
    Of course I also didn't do a lot of killing in the Kingdom.
    And I used the blend button maybe 10 times ever.

    It works the same in The Kingdom as in cities. It's just easier to demonstrate how fucking stupid it is in The Kingdom because you're the only person there, and everybody's looking right at you. However, you can do exactly the same thing anywhere in the game. It's not like there's different AI or something.

    Also, saying that you didn't use the Blend button is further exposing the flaws of the game; you should not have been able to get through the game without it, because it was supposed to be a "social stealth" game. The fact that you never even felt the desire to TRY to blend in with the crowd shows that the game was not balanced properly. Again, it would be like if every single mission in Starcraft could be won with just a big squad of Marines or something; if I can do that, then the game isn't made right.

    it's not even that, it's like the entire game of starcraft could be won by holding ctrl to make your squad nigh-invincible

    Nuzak on
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    ZeroFillZeroFill Feeling much better. A nice, green leaf.Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Javen wrote: »
    See but the thing is, Wiggin, that tactic would work if there was a crowd or not. how conspicuous you are has no bearing on how many people are around you.

    One jump ahead of the lawmen
    That's all, and that's no joke
    These guys don't appreciate I'm broke

    Riffraff! Street rat! Soundrel! Take that!

    Just a little snack, guys
    Rip him open, take it back, guys
    I can take a hint, gotta face the facts
    You're my only friend, Abu!
    Who?
    Oh, It's so sad Aladdin hit the bottom
    He's become a a one-man rise in crime
    I'd blame parents except he hasn't got 'em
    Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat
    Tell you all about it when I got the time!

    ZeroFill on
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    thorgotthorgot there is special providence in the fall of a sparrowRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Squashua wrote: »
    Taking bets for tomorrow's Gygax tribute comic.

    Odds are 10:1 vs. a comic regarding Harrison's move to Infogrames.

    they did it today, instead

    thorgot on
    campionthorgotsig.jpg
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    JavenJaven Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Now I am absolutely going to have that song in my head all day

    Javen on
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    bowlofpetuniasbowlofpetunias Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    In death comes a memoriam. It's fitting.

    bowlofpetunias on
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    DefenderDefender Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Lol! wrote: »
    I blended in with crowds without pushing the broken button.
    It's called don't run around and be a douchebag.
    For the most part, it worked.

    I'm refraining from "Goddammit, Wiggin," on this one for the moment.
    Javen wrote: »
    See but the thing is, Wiggin, that tactic would work if there was a crowd or not. how conspicuous you are has no bearing on how many people are around you.

    Right, so here's what we are proving: The core "new, innovative feature," namely "social stealth," doesn't exist in this game. The whole amazing new gameplay mechanic that they said would be in the game was not actually there.
    Lol! wrote: »
    And as for counter-kills, I find them much more satisfying if it happens because I was in the middle of an attack, saw someone about to hit me, and hit the block button. If you time it right, you get a counter kill just by tapping the block button, without holding it, waiting for an attack, and being a bitch about it.
    Feels much more natural and not like I'm cheating.

    I didn't know that you can get a counter kill just by hitting "block" at the right time, and frankly I doubt that you're correct in that claim, but it doesn't even matter. Also, if you are correct, then the fact that you can launch a counter while you are already attacking just means that Altair is even more overpowered than I original realized! The inherent weakness to counter-attacking in real-life fencing or in video-game fencing like, say, Soul Calibur, is that you have to allow the enemy to attack you, which means forgoing your own offense. That's the whole drawback! If you can counter-attack WHILE attacking, then there's no strategy at all, you just bang on "attack" and "counter" constantly.

    Also, waiting for counters isn't "being a bitch" or "cheating," either, and to be blunt, that's a stupid perspective. Seriously, that's really, really dumb. I used to play Chess and people would complain about castling because it gets done in one move what should normally take several moves. They would also complain about using knights to fork, because it's "not fair" that they have to lose a piece when they get forked. And some people would even complain about the queen being used offensively, because she's "too powerful." To bring it back to video games, I've seen people complain about knocking people out with chip damage in Street Fighter, or saying that throws are "cheap" or "unfair." Sorry, holding "block" doesn't make you invulnerable.

    In short, if Altair has some kind of ultimate move that costs nothing to use and keeps you almost impervious to damage while using it, you are a fool not to use it all the time. It's a sign of bad gameplay design that you have an ultimate move that always wins every fight. If you have to handicap yourself voluntarily because you're so powerful that it feels like you're cheating, then THE GAME IS DESIGNED BADLY.

    I have some half-siblings who are like 20 years younger than I am. When I play basketball against my under-ten half-brother, I voluntarily play just badly enough that he has a chance to win if he tries hard. The fact that I have to play badly on purpose in order not to win is a sign of a balance problem; specifically, my little-kid half-brother is not an appropriate opponent for me. Assassin's Creed should not make the player so powerful that it feels like you have to play down to the game, like how I play down to my half-brother. And even if you do CHOOSE to cripple yourself, you won't ever really lose. You can, at any time, turn it around and start using counters and win easily, so the game is offering you no challenge. More importantly, there's no depth. Why should I learn how to use the dodge-step and the throw-break and all these other tricks and moves and techniques? I have one single technique that wins 99% of the fights in the game, and it's easy as shit to do.

    That's like the definition of bad balance, man. How do you not see that?

    Defender on
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    DefenderDefender Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Little Jim wrote: »
    Defender wrote: »
    Little Jim wrote: »
    Lol! wrote: »
    That's called finishing the eighth kill, so that all of the districts are unlocked.
    The best part of the game, right there.

    I mean nobody at all, no guards to annoy me with their bows and such

    This is the kind of thing I'm talking about. This perspective indicates that the world looks nice, the running and jumping and climbing work well, but the actual game is annoying and not fun. Think about it, would you want to play, I don't know, DOOM, but with no monsters? No, the monsters were great. How about DOOM, but with no levels? Like, just a big open room with monsters, no hallways or corridors or anything? No, because the level design affected the combat and kept it interesting. Would you want to play with just one weapon? No, because pretty much every weapon except the pistol and the non-berserk fist got used in that game. Here, you're seeing someone who recognizes a well-made world (level map), but who finds the actual content to be "annoying."

    I actually really enjoyed the game

    I also enjoyed all the little side quests and such because I generally used my godlike assassination abilities to escalate fights until I won via attrition

    my problem with the game that the freejumping system was fucking fun as hell, but you had to be sneaky about it because of all the rooftop guards, which annoyed me when I just wanted to do some freejumping

    however

    I did enjoy running towards an archer on the roof, then doing that jumping hidden blade thing

    never ever got old to me

    I would just grab them by the collar and throw them off the roof. The basic attitude was "this isn't even worth pulling out my knife, get the fuck out of my face."

    EDIT: What I'm saying about "fun versus annoying" is that you're basically saying that walking around the empty world would be more fun to you than playing the actual content of the game. In most games, think of what your favorite part was.

    In DOOM, it's probably fighting monsters, and you probably have a distinct memory of the first time you saw the cyberdemon. In Wolfenstein, same thing, it's ducking around doorways and firing machinegun rounds at Nazis, and you probably remember "GUTEN TAG!" at the end of the first episode. In Prince Of Persia, you probably recall some high-speed acrobatic combat, or maybe a particularly intricate series of jumps. In Tenchu, it's undoubtedly either a boss fight, or this one time you killed three dudes in the space of five seconds without being seen. In none of these games is your favorite part "just checking out the scenery" or dicking around in an empty room. (I did sometimes just stare at scenery in Sands of Time, but it was not my favorite part.)

    So in AC, your favorite part should be fleeing the guards after a big public kill, like in the intro movie, or sneaking up on a target and shanking him before anyone figured out it was you, or even having a battle in The Kingdom with a dozen Crusaders and a Templar who happened to be nearby. But it's not, apparently.

    Defender on
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    OrikaeshigitaeOrikaeshigitae Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited March 2008
    defender, your essays have been getting longer lately

    are you in the masturbation contest?

    Orikaeshigitae on
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    Me Too!Me Too! __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2008
    Man I just did it about 5 minutes ago.
    If you're in the middle of an attack, and you see someone attacking, and you hit the block button, no holding necessary, you get a counter kill.

    Me Too! on
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    DefenderDefender Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    defender, your essays have been getting longer lately

    are you in the masturbation contest?

    I am not in that contest. Also I'm doing some new stuff with 3DSMax, XNA, and now even portable systems, so I need more "chill out and regroup" time.
    Lol! wrote: »
    Man I just did it about 5 minutes ago.
    If you're in the middle of an attack, and you see someone attacking, and you hit the block button, no holding necessary, you get a counter kill.

    Man, that is ridiculous. So basically, Altair can counter-kill people at ANY time, even when he's already striking. I knew countering was broken, but this is just fucking stupid. The whole elegance of combat comes from the fact that you must expose your vulnerability in order to strike.

    Defender on
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    M.D.M.D. and then what happens? Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Does the comic of today require a new thread or should I just put it in the op.

    M.D. on
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    SquashuaSquashua __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2008
    Wow. All bets default.

    Squashua on
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    TankHammerTankHammer Atlanta Ghostbuster Atlanta, GARegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Does the comic of today require a new thread or should I just put it in the op.

    Put it in the OP of the thread dedicated to the guy.

    I really get a kick out of the tagline "rolling in his grave" by the way. Made me smile.

    TankHammer on
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    KovakKovak did a lot of drugs married cher?Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    why is everyone(defender) still arguing about the various merits and shortcomings of assassins creed

    Kovak on
This discussion has been closed.