Terror_K wrote...
I'd have to play it to see why... I don't actually have that particular mod. If there was a good reason for it I can understand, but with ME2 I couldn't see a good reason at all why they changed it and didn't keep the old method of earning XP for direct deeds rather than just getting a lump sum at the end. That hardly rewards players who go the extra mile to search every nook and cranny and get every kill, etc. It also encourages BS like unlimited spawn enemies. It doesn't technically make the game "less RPG" but it feels like it was done.
First off, your argument wasn't conditional, so Witch's Wake having a reason doesn't matter to the argument you made. If you want to make a different argument now, then fine.
That said, XP isn't the only form of reward in ME2 (or NWN1). I found a geth assault rifle on that quarian planet -- that's a reward.
There's also no better reason to give out XP per kill rather than at mission completions. That it feels like less of an RPG to you isn't a valid argument. You can say that you like instant XP gratification from enemy kills more than XP being rewarded for completing a mission. That's fine. But that's not the same as an argument that ME2 is less of an RPG, which I guess you acknowledge.
Terror_K wrote...
For the first: No. A written description only tells me vague details, it doesn't in any way outline the actual statistical values of the weapons and armour themselves. How can I compare weapons when there's no concrete mathematical representations to show me how each weapon performs in its various ways?
For the second: No again. They no more indicate the guns stats than picking up the various guns in Doom, Quake or Unreal Tournament represent the differences in how those guns perform. Which pretty much proves this aspect is purely a shooter mechanic now.
OK, they're not stats, but comparing guns is easy. The guns you get after the first ones are probably better (in ways explained in the description). This isn't ME1 where you pick up every crappy gun that some random merc drops (and even then, they weren't better than the Spectre weapons). If you pick up a gun, there's a reason. That's a pretty clear indicator all by itself, especially for the Collector Ship weapons. And if not, there are always written descriptions, like "...fires in highly accurate five-round bursts and can be pulsed for rapid fire. Deadly at range, very accurate, and effective against armor, shields and biotic barriers. Upgrades the Avenger Assault Rifle." Or, "Overall, this weapon should be more effective against shields and barriers than a battle rifle, but will likely have less armor penetration capabilities." And that's all without having to fire a shot.
Without numbers, you might miss things like the Geth Assault Rifle doing 11 more DPS than the Collecor Assault rifle, but so what? It's 11 DPS. You don't need to know that it does 11 more DPS to know that a gun you only get on Hardcore difficulty or higher is probably better than one you get at the start of the game (assuming you have the
Collector's Edition). And if you don't know, it's just 11 DPS. I challenge anyone to notice the damage output difference. And if you can, then you've just found yet another way to compare weapons without numbers in the descriptions. (You can also just read the description).
I would've preferred numbers, too, but that doesn't mean I'm also going to be able to validly argue that I can't compare weapons or that the guns are less RPG-ish than the guns in ME1. And, again, there's no such thing as "RPG mechanics," unless you want to count role playing as a mechanic. So saying something is more of a shooter mechanic is completely meaningless (to RPG purity arguments), even if you could argue why something is a shooter mechanic.
Terror_K wrote...
What I mean is that this is a method and feature used most commonly in more action-oriented titles rather than RPGs, which tend to try and make things flow a lot better and not throw up "Mission Complete" screens.
First off, if you care about flow and what's common in games, old RPGs are not something worth emulating. Stopping after ever fight to click on dead bodies (or bags left in place of a dead body that disappeared) and then click some more for coins and trivial things like fire crystals does not make flow better. Nor does manually running all the way back to the Normandy at the end of a mission, which isn't always done in ME1, by the way. Corpse or crate pop-up boxes, by the way, aren't that much different from mission complete screens, and probably come up way more often, consequently breaking the flow way more often.
Second, a feature being most commonly used in action-oriented titles rather than RPGs doesn't make it something that detracts from the RPG-ness of a game.
Terror_K wrote...
My main problem with these aspects is actually the fact that they're so clearly presented in a manner that's supposed to appeal to a more mainstream audience who usually play action games and often shy away from RPGs, to the point where it almost feels like the devs were giving their old fans the middle-finger in the process. It's like waving a flag that basically says "I'm An Action Game Made for Shooter Fans Above All Else!" to the old fans and to the new one says "I'm Not Too Involved Or Filled With Scary Stats, So No Need to Be Afraid Of Me"
I'd love to see you try to explain why that is, or why appealing to more people is somehow automatically the same as alienating old fans. Are old fans not supposed to like good shooter mechanics in a game series with shooter combat? Are old fans supposed to hate everything in a sequel that's different from or wasn't in an older game? Are old fans only people who liked an old game in a series because of how it handled every aspect of itself? Are old fans not supposed to like things that a lot of other people like? If not, then what's the point of this complaint and how can it be a valid criticism? You can have the opinion that Avatar is better than The Hurt Locker, but "because Avatar has a more realistic desert setting" isn't a valid reason for that opinion.
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). There is nothing like that in ME2. Not a single place you visit is memorable. Every mission is in closed corridor space. No exploration (and no, planet scanning is boring beyond believe, that is not an exploration), no planet surfaces, no open space, nothing. Just go straightforward and shoot whatever moves. And if it is too hard for you, we will place nice things to hide behind so you are NEVER surprised when ther is a fight coming.
