A reputation system depends on the system of values upon which that reputation is built. For a merchant it is honesty and quality control and sometimes it involves keeping up with delivery time or merciful attitudes towards those who may not comply by the rules.
For a hero, it must be the heroic acts in which the hero is an energy processor.
The hero is such an entity that can consume and store energy then at wilful events discharges that energy to save someone or devastate evil as it is defined by the system of values that measures the reputation of that hero.
Technically speaking, we noticed that solving quests in Divinity was the mechanism with which reputation was appended. Not necessarily increasing though and that was an inconsistency in the game rules, because you are forced to join the thieves’ guild to solve many quests and consequently you lost reputation. Now a consistent system must set the rules by which reputation increases and if such was synonymous to that of the real world then all the negative quests must be avoidable by having a parallel yet more difficult root to solve them. For example, I did not need to join the T. G. but to be allowed to open the back door from the sewers by telekinesis or lock picks.
Then I could walk right to the book and get the holy dagger ready for any thief who wishes to confront me. If none did, then I shall not harass them either.
What I am saying here is that if it is solving quests that increase reputation, it is an error to design quests that lower that reputation forcedly, but it could be a penalty for choosing the easy root rather than the heroic root.
The most important question here is: A reputation among whom?
I apologise for verbosity but it is a must.
We should be aware that among thieves there is a system of reputation that increases when the master thief conquers a hard to open safe or rob a very well guarded castle.
The secret is in the word ADMIRATION.
Reputation increases when the hero succeeds in expanding the base of admirers.
Saving, helping and defending others, conquering, wining and all sorts of challenged success are means of building reputation.
That is why I recommended that the rift’s natives must act as a substrate for the hero’s reputation system.
Cheers.
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mage.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mage.gif" alt="" />
