Larian Studios Forums Beyond Divinity (English) Suggestions My suggestion for new "Divinity" series.

Hello,
Quite an old fans here And I personally found this series is the best CRPG ever come out since those old Ultima series, My suggestion for the new game for the series is....

- Stick with reallity as possible, Altho everybody knows that RPG is fantasy, Theres no harm in making it with some "Logical" gameplay also annd let all the Magic, Monsters and non human as the "fantasy" part... Exp. Ability to loot Your fallen enemy/comrade, Limited numbers of enemy & NO magically spawned enemy (Make a camp have 100 orcs or even 200 but you always have the chance of cleaning it out), NO magically dissapearing body & stuff.

- No level scalling... Make the enemy wich is supposed to BE skilled and deadly to be like THAT from the start, And easy enemy stays easy 'till the end ( Whats the point of training Your character when a every single lowly bandit is as skilled as you with level scalling)

- Make the design more medieval than Gothic-ish over doed things, every RPG now Looks like Diablo styled.

Thats some of My suggestion, I hope the new game using new engine would be out soon, Miss playing REAL RPG... Instead of some over claimed RPG that ends up nothing but half life with sword called Oblivion ( I might as well bought dungeon siege 2 than THAT... Atelast its more straight action)

Welcome to the forum Nightbaron <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />
Some nice suggestions there, especially the scaling bit.

Have you played Planescape:Torment? Or Fallout? Or Arcanum? Or Vampire:The Masqerade:Bloodlines? (And why does it feel like I've done this before? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />)

Übereil

So? It's not like it's common practice.

they could allow for the player to pursue an evil or a good ending and call it between divinity <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />

Actually, I'd love to play an evil character or a good character turned evil. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> It'd be absolute fun terrorising the civilians and to surprise the Black Ring by aiding instead of attacking them.

I'd rather like to see something like a redemption : I hardly ever see in games, movies, books etc. that a deeply evil character becomes redeemed - a bit like Darth Vader in the end (Or Kam Solusar, if anybody knows who I mean).

But - this rdemption shouldn't be without a price. The formerly evil person should have to suffer from his or her evil deeds of the past ... Inclusive heavy doubt, and a nearly broken character (which should need a psychotherapy in real life), deeply, rich character who's "redeemed", but always wished he or she hadn't done what he or she actually did.

I don't know how I could illustrate it much better, but I do hope that you get my idea.

I'm not sure, but I think the sorcerer (?) you free in the mines of Nashkell (BG1) goes into that direction, looking as weak and whining, although he's in fact a very powerful character - if he would see it. The only difference is that this one in BG1 is a good character from the start.

The redeemed evil character should act and reflect like havoing a rollercoaster ride behind him: First, he believed in everything to be "right" when he or she was evil, and then learns that everything was "wrong", and he or she (with females I think it might even be stronger, because it breaks so many clichés), and killed so many people he or she in a way cared for, destroyed the environment (like a Druid realising that he scorches his Mother Earth when he thought he was "on the right trip") and did things that heavily weightens his or her sould and peace of mind down.

I think this character shouldn't be crazy, or heavily mentally disturbed, but I rather believe that this character should've become depressive in a way - the burden of the many lives he or she has killed before - and sees hope only in trying to do something good, like fighting for the evil he or she once incarnated, and saving as many lves as possible through this.

Although in my chracterization this character shouldn't be crazy or mad, I think that this person should need constant encourage, because of this almost too heavy burden (a bit like Hamlet, I think this could be a good choice).

Not like ... who was the one who carried Boo with him ? I've forgot his name ... Minsc, I think was it. No, this character shouldn't be like Minsc, because this would be too far on the "mentally disturbed" lane, but rather like Hamlet, maybe.

Plus - what might make his or her tragedy even worse - that this character constantly has an Aura of Hope around him or her (like a Paladin, perhaps), and people constantly ask him or her for help - even close friends or relatives of those he or she had murdered before.

Having to face the relatives and friens of those he or she murdered before ... - and be confronted with the constand memory and tragedy of his or her former deeds ...

Hmmm...

I think that sometimes, the "evil character" doesn't do things 'cos of right or wrong. Sometimes, he knows it's wrong but he's overcome with so much grief, suffering and hatred that he just doesn't care anymore or he wants vengeance on the rest of the world.

It's like "you(the minions, etc.) can do whatever you want, just leave me alone" or even "It's those bastards again. I don't care whether you're friends of those who killed my girl but you will perish! Everything and anyone who shares the same ideals as the forces of _____ must die."

Anyways, why apply "evil" to a character? Due to the moral and social codes of a time period, your deeds might be considered "evil": like the execution of "witches" and "sorcerers" is approved by the religious orders, to release them is a heinous deed. Or "to take pity on and shelter the lower castes" is a blasphemy which results in hanging or torture.

Whereas "good" could mean "slaughtering the men, women and children of your enemies" or making slaves out of the enemies like the Raanars did.

And I've always liked a character redeeming himself but that would mean you and the other characters must be able to help him in times of need. I've never believed in leaving someone to the wolves: you either finish the job of fixing him up or don't do it. It's just like a surgeon vanishing before the operation has ended.

If a character breaks 'cos he's facing reality, then there must also be ways for him to recover. Otherwise, that could have rather unpleasant effects: like him not recognising anyone and wildly attacking random people or even trying to harm himself repeatedly.

Having known someone who actually broke, I'd say it's a rather unpleasant experience. To lose almost all your emotions and become a shell of a person and sometimes fall into a daze, to fight a battle between hatred and empathy, despair and kindness can turn you into a living dead. To make things worse, if you're overcome with hatred and the instinct to harm and hurt others, you might actually also try to destroy your own feelings and twist them for your own purposes.

Depends on the character.

ONE type of "evil character" could be so as you described.

But this is not the only type.

Just believe, for example, someone who is a racist. He believes it is "good" to perform a genocide. It's what he (or she) believes in, there is no "he knows it's wrong", because there simply is no "wrong" in his or her belief-system.

Fanatics act the same.


There are other types of "evil characters", I suppose, which differ only in som,e points - minor points rto our eyes, maybe, but possibly fundamental in this character's layout.

Though that's an interesting definition, I don't think all fanatics behave like that.

One example: Factors like "absolute obedience" and "total filial piety" might over-ride his sense of right and wrong. The trick is to not think about it, to sweep the issues under the carpet and pretend everything is fine. In Asia, we've got this saying: "you don't see it, you don't hear it, you don't speak about it"(the blind, deaf and mute monkeys).

The person may know that "all these acts" are absolutely wrong on many levels and might even criticise them but might also have been ingrained to pretend the act is right or to even ignore it.

That is: if the person did think about it and did consider such issues, then his "perfect world" might fall apart. He "knows" it is wrong but yet his brain registers it as "doesn't know": a paradox.

Or: As long as _____(father/mother/relative, etc.) declares that I must obey, I will obey even if the decision is morally wrong and even if millions of lives will be affected.

Of course, there're many other ways to define a fanatic and so-called "evil characters".

And besides, just 'cos a person talks about genocide, doesn't mean he'll do it. He might be some sort of fanatic but how much harm he causes will depend on who he comes in contact with and whether he actually is placed in a situation where he'll have the power to inflict harm or to influence others.

Oh yes: in certain Asian societies, there's this practise of assimilating various qualities from various cultures or countries. Now by itself, it isn't so bad as other cultures do it too. However, many usually blindly adopt these "values/qualities" which will often result in a 180 degrees change in moral values, principles, point of views, etc. Now consider this: a pro-peace society which practises this has been heavily influenced by a pro-war country responsible for various war crimes like rape, genocide, etc. What do you think might happen?

Look at this one : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

To me, it's the most terrifying find ever made, even worse than the A-Bomb.

Heh... that doesn't surprise me. I know of schools where authority and power are highly revered, more so than the art of learning. The type of deeds that students, teachers and even parents will commit just for the sake of being "lawful", "respectful to the various educational authorities", etc., sometimes put them almost along the lines of ,say, a Black Ring member. After all, many will stop at nothing to obey and carry out their orders including hurting others.

Btw, just finished BD: what can I say? I think that being in the state of "near-death" can sometimes have rather radical results. It can often push you over the brink and to an extreme: having known someone who nearly died at the hands of her father, I can say that parts of her history nearly fit the Damned One's to a T except for the setting. She joined a cult, she and her family conspired to hurt and maim one another. Sometimes, all it takes is a push and a shove to make you a complete sicko who's unrepentant for his deeds, no matter how cruel they might be and who relishes the thought of blood and hurting others.

i bought BD a couple years ago, but never played it. i bought it because the story sounded interesting even though i hate tag-a-longs. at that time i refused to install it because of starforce. since the removal of starfoce, i've just never gone back and picked it up. i've heard different people say different things about it. some liked it, some didn't. hopefully one day i will install it and find out for myself.

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