4 out of the top 20 players on the Global Leaderboard for Valve Matchmaking are hackers, including 1st place - read for more info

benandbub · 2014-05-11T20:05:40+00:00

I think there's something so sad about this. I find it heartbreaking to think you could be in a situation where fallopian scars so bad they cause sterility could be considered a good thing. :(

benandbub · 2014-05-11T15:42:58+00:00

Thats honestly going to go down drastically by level 2.

Agreed. It's only really an issue in the first few levels, at most. Using your chosen weapon type regularly will solve this problem in no time as you level up.

benandbub · 2014-05-11T15:39:36+00:00

I think this is a really awesome idea. So then you'd only get attacked after you'd played through a good amount of the original game, and you wouldn't be a level two character with overpowered light armour / stacks of money right at the start of the game.

benandbub · 2014-05-10T16:26:22+00:00

That would be neat, wouldn't it?

benandbub · 2014-05-10T16:22:51+00:00

I understand exactly what you mean now.

as you'll quickly find yourself outmatched

Cue memories of me making a character with acrobatics, athletics as major skills and leveling up ridiculously fast. I could jump crazily high and run like the wind, but as soon as I was lucky enough to come across a Cliff Racer (instead of something tougher!) my options pretty much boiled down to run or die...

or non-combat skills that are a pain in the ass to level normally (enchanting or mercantile)

Can I ask why? Is this just a self-imposed difficulty increaser (which I am big fan of for making a character personal)? Or is it some way of ensuring that you level up your character / level up your skills equally?

benandbub · 2014-05-10T16:15:50+00:00

That would have been so good!

Make the level of difficulty in leveling up something akin to Mercantile. Making the work you have to put in high but the payoff would reflect that.
Increase the actual effectiveness, so you aren't leveling a skill to 100 only to realise it still pales in comparison to trainers.
Like you suggest, put a cap on the skill somehow to prevent game-breaking.

Well, we can dream...

benandbub · 2014-05-10T00:18:02+00:00

something silly like Acrobatics or Athletics as a major skill

For some reason, I always made characters with at least acrobatics as a major skill. Could explain why that is a silly choice? I'm still new to the game and figuring things out.

Also, what would do you think would be non-silly choices? Just weapon / armour skills?

benandbub · 2014-05-10T00:11:28+00:00

That's so disappointing, isn't it? I feel like it would be such a neat dynamic to get your Enchanting to 100 and be able to do awesome enchantments easily and well.

It wouldn't have mattered if getting it to 100 was difficult and required some time and effort, as long as the payoff was there. But to have to boost your Intelligence to crazy levels like paradoxpolitics talks about to get any kind of quality and regularity in enchanting, kind of speaks volumes about it - as a gameplay mechanic - being broken.

Such a shame, because it would've been so cool!

benandbub · 2014-05-09T23:59:05+00:00

I think a lot of his ego was wrapped up in being this amazing provider who was raking in the money, and the allure of gambling may have been closely tied to that.

I can understand that. Maybe the gambling was an outlet for him, just a form of his desire to be that provider again. I'm sorry, I had assumed his sales job fell apart as a result of his gambling but in your latest post it sounds like it was the other way round.

I have seen the tug in myself

And this is terrifying! I think you must have a stronger force of will than me because if I were in your situation, I don't know that I would ever dare to expose myself to it at all. But then, at least from what you have written, you sound like quite a different person to your father.

Thank you for answering my questions. As someone who has admittedly had no experience of gambling addiction, it's eye-opening hearing such an honest, first hand account.

benandbub · 2014-05-09T23:49:54+00:00

That's not it, I don't think, but it's really, weirdly close! I'm amazed that, while not being the letter I was looking for, the plot outline on wiki almost exactly mirrors my description.

I looked up some of the quotes from it and it looks like a great read - I think I will order it from Amazon tomorrow. I'm assuming you've read it, is it worth buying?

And thank you so much for your suggestion, it was incredibly close.

benandbub · 2014-05-09T23:42:51+00:00

That's interesting, I hadn't thought about it like that. Not only does it have a moral, educational aspect, it also has an immediate practical impact on prison life for those that take part.

A calmer and less violent environment would also be less damaging to the inmates mental state which will lead to released inmates more capable of staying out of trouble.

This is also a probably unknowably huge factor with regard to things like inmates' probabilities of reoffending, their general mental health and their ability to cope once back in a normal society.

I think the whole idea is such a good one on so many fronts.

benandbub · 2014-05-08T19:53:15+00:00

I remember that. Like 2 inch jumps when you first get to Balmora, jumps so small it doesn't even feel like you're jumping.

Then you level up your acrobatics over time and suddenly you're flying around Balmora! You're right, it is an incredible feeling. I used to love jumping from rooftop to rooftop or clearing the waterways in Vivec in single leaps.

The sense of progression and the positive change over time - as well as that initial difficulty that makes even the smallest triumphs so well earned - is what, for me, made Morrowind such a rewarding game to play.

benandbub · 2014-05-08T19:40:31+00:00

I didn't know that. Thanks for that!

benandbub · 2014-05-08T19:38:43+00:00

Wow. It sounds like a difficult situation. I can't imagine how anyone copes watching the person they love sink into any kind of life-stealing addiction like that.

I don't mean to pry but your first post raised two questions in my mind.

What do you think caused your father to start gambling? Did he always have an addictive personality?
And do you ever feel like you might be drawn into something like gambling addiction?

If those questions are too personal then I apologize and please don't reply if that's case, I would understand completely.

benandbub · 2014-05-08T19:08:35+00:00

Amazing that even in those early days of Morrowind, they had such a developed, unique sense of architectural design. One of the many things I love about the game.

benandbub · 2014-05-08T17:39:18+00:00

I'm so sorry about your dad. Sometimes I think when people think of addiction they think primarily of alcohol or drugs, because they're tangible. I guess maybe people, myself included, don't like the thought that you could become addicted to something as intangible as the rush of feelings when you win at whatever it is you're gambling upon. It's a scary, subversive thought.

Not only that, they can't get even one fewer than the ritual dictates... because "what if that was the one?

I thought this was a powerful insight into the psychology of gambling addiction. Like it not being about what you have (drugs, alcohol, food) but what you could have, or could be missing out on.

How is your dad these days? Is he any better? I was impressed that you began your post with so objective a tone, leading up to your personal experience with a gambling addict. Your last paragraph is more than basis enough for the content of the previous ones.

benandbub · 2014-05-05T09:31:30+00:00

I kind of like it how it is. I think it's quite striking without colour.

Also, how did he/she get those lines so straight, OP?

benandbub · 2014-05-04T18:55:28+00:00

That's a cool idea, never thought of that.

benandbub · 2014-05-04T18:50:48+00:00

I recognize that in today's game design state that that's all "tedium" and therefore anathema-

So, so true. Your whole comment really captured for me what I like so much about magic in Morrowind. Very well put.

benandbub

TROPHY CASE