7 réponses à ce sujet

[Lee80]

So I just finished watching today's character creator and game play demo.  So apparently there's no in game meter for friendship/relationship status.  They say they want it to be less gamey.  That reads to me as meaning the friendship mechanic will be a lot less detailed.  I really hope that the friendships haven't been watered down just to keep the game more action oriented. 

 

I don't see how this will be a good thing at this point. Either A) friendship status is very easy to max out by just by making the few major choices that matter to a companion, or B ) micromanagement of friendship is a nightmare cause there's no way to keep track. Neither of those are very appealing to me at all.  I really enjoyed earning friendship with my companions via choices in quests and talking with them over the course of the game.  (I also like the rival system which is apparently gone)  Anyway, what do the rest of you think?

 

 

[Allan Schumacher]

So I just finished watching today's character creator and game play demo.  So apparently there's no in game meter for friendship/relationship status.  They say they want it to be less gamey.  That reads to me as meaning the friendship mechanic will be a lot less detailed.  I really hope that the friendships haven't been watered down just to keep the game more action oriented. 

 

I don't see how this will be a good thing at this point. Either A) friendship status is very easy to max out by just by making the few major choices that matter to a companion, or B ) micromanagement of friendship is a nightmare cause there's no way to keep track. Neither of those are very appealing to me at all.  I really enjoyed earning friendship with my companions via choices in quests and talking with them over the course of the game.  (I also like the rival system which is apparently gone)  Anyway, what do the rest of you think?

 

It's mostly that it's not visible, so you as the player can't look at the bar and go "they're friends with me."  You determine that based on their interactions with you.

[Allan Schumacher]

Can you tell us if this invisible bar ever maxes out and locks into Friendship, or will we always be at risk of gaining disapproval?  As the game nears conclusion, taking hits to approval becomes harder and harder to rectify... at least, that was the case in DA:O.

 

I am not familiar enough with the system to comment on something that specific, unfortunately.

[Allan Schumacher]

I remember in DA:O Morrigan and I had a conversation about love. She didn't want me to be in love with her, so I said I wasn't. She was totally happy throughout the conversation, and then imagine my surprise when I got a -16 approval drop!

 

If there's no meter, how can we tell in situations like that what our companion is actually thinking? 

 

You will still get feedback as to whether or not they approve/disapprove of certain actions.  So you can get an idea on how things are going with a particular character.  I consider this a concession to make up for the fact that, as stated elsewhere, your interactions with companions are rigidly defined (you can't have more conversations than the game allows you to have), so a sort of "oh hey did that bother you?" type of conversation doesn't typically happen, for example.

[Allan Schumacher]

Did you forget to install the latest update again?

 

Also, not showing and not tracking a relationship stat are 2 different things. I have strong feeling that relationship is going to be tracked in the exact same way as it was in prior games, the only difference is you aren't going to get to see it change in DA:I, making it immeasurably worse.

 

In real life we use body language and pheromones to tell how someone feels about us, and if they don't like us we can try talking to them again to change their opinion. In a video game you have no body language and only one shot. Unless you save and reload. Without a meter you are going to need to reload from even further behind than you would with a meter. That or this will force you to use a guide to make sure that every conversation is perfect so you don't get screwed over.

 

You definitely do see a change, just not in the form of the bar.  For example, if you go and talk to Cassandra every time you return to Skyhold, her very first line (which is typically "the same" as they tend to be in video game land) will be different, and possibly even include different tones of voice and body language.

 

Further, you aren't only given "one shot" in that it's possible to get "disapproval" on one line, but that doesn't condemn your playthrough nor block any options away from you.  It's still possible to gain approval as you learn the types of things the characters respect.

 

The idea that every conversation needs to be "perfect" to prevent you from being screwed over isn't true.  Besides, the lack of the approval meter doesn't prevent you from doing this, because if you absolutely must not take any disapproval from the character ever, you're still given that feedback.

[Allan Schumacher]

When you say still given that feedback, do you mean the body-language/dialogue feedback you mentioned above, or something numerical like "+1, the IB approves"?

 

There are still messages that pop up saying "<Character> Approves."

[Allan Schumacher]

You're right that's usually a reasonable amount of latitude, but the issue comes when you've got some disapproval that is unavoidable without compromising your vision for the PC.  Then you can find yourself teetering on the edge and need to watch the situation carefully.

 

I guess we can be free to disagree on this, but this is the type of thing that I consider "interesting choice" when playing a game.  Do I stick to the principles of my PC knowing that my actions have been angering a companion (who has reactions I'm evidently concerned about).

[Allan Schumacher]

Oh, so it's similar to the influence system in the KOTOR games?  A message would pop up saying such and such character has lost or gained influence, no numerical value assigned.  At least, that's what I'm getting from your description.

 

KOTOR 2 did have that and it's a fair enough response.  The only difference being that we've also added qualifiers.  Slight/Greatly (or none).  They aren't all precisely the same "Two different 'Solas approves' doesn't mean the same level of improvement"

 

 

 

 

Prove me wrong, please.

 

You want me to show you a video of text saying "Solas approves?"

 

Or of Cassandra having a different introduction?

 

Because it seems like you're saying to me "If the bar was still there, I'd be satisfied."  Even if the bar didn't actually mean anything.