I really can't believe I'm having to make this thread all over again for D:OS 2.
Remember this discussion back from D:OS?
http://larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=496316&page=1I'm still running into examples where both characters are present at an event, but only one of them receives an attitude adjustment score.
For example, if you have your two adventurers (Tom and Sue) file a report about the lost sheep to its owner, Bertia, the only one who Bertia ends up liking is the one who had the conversation with her. In this case, if Tom is the one that informs Bertia that her lost sheep has been found dead at the hands of the mortician, then Tom receives a massive attitude bonus with Bertia, while Sue (who is standing right there thinking "I helped too!") receives nothing.
I feel that if both party members are present at the time when an attitude adjustment is made, then the adjustment should apply to both of them (particularly in the case of positive adjustments). In the case above I feel like one character should be smart enough to say "Bertia, both Sue and I found the corpse of your sheep during our investigation. Together, we confronted the mortician and got a confession out of him. We came here to tell you the news right away.".
Now, I realize the developers want it to be possible to create a situation where one character is loved by the town and the other is hated. And that is why I'm specifically speaking about events that happen when both characters are together. When they're adventuring apart or speaking to NPCs while separated, then treat them as individuals. Otherwise, it should be a team effort.
Part of the problem here is with multiplayer. Right now the game is creating a situation where one player can either intentionally or unintentionally hog all positive attitude adjustments by simply being the person who initiates a conversation with an NPC first, perhaps because they have the best social skills of the group and have been designated by the co-op duo to do the talking, or they just happen to be the character who always runs out front/leads. I just don't think people in multiplayer sessions should be pressured into feeling like there's a contest to see who can race to Bertia (and other events) with the good news first. Again, a team effort should equal team rewards or team consequences.
Now, I'm assuming this argument was something the developers ultimately agreed with since we eventually received a patch that fixed this problem (and allowed all party members to receive the credit they were all due).
But here we are in the sequel, and once again it's a case of "the-person-who-talks-to-the-NPC-first-receives-the-reward". Why?
I play this game cooperatively with a friend and have been watching this happen repeatedly during our adventure. The latest and largest offender so far is "Elodi" in Fort Joy, who rewards the player with a whopping +50 attitude adjustment upon coming to her defense during the "shakedown" event. However, the reward only goes to the player who was speaking with her, *even if the other player is standing right there listening to the conversation, and even if the other player participates in the battle to save her*. That is, frankly, nonsense.
Why are we taking steps backwards in design here from D:OS EE? Is this an oversight that (like last time) is eventually going to be corrected? Should we just wait a few months until common sense changes like this make their way into the game?
If I sound annoyed and frustrated it's because it's difficult to remain in a state where I'm enjoying this game when problems that were (in theory) ironed out years ago keep showing up for an encore presentation.
