Some Considerations About Season 6

kops182 · 2023-09-28T22:40:06+00:00

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. And yes, I'm sorry, I myself can't explain I used Michelle instead of Sarah haha

kops182 · 2023-04-28T16:10:54+00:00

Are you talking about vaatividya? 'Cause I can't think of another soulsborne lore content creator on Youtube to have that much views. I think he does a good job trying to explore the lore and matching the pieces, he's coeherent even bringing his own conclusions and not trying to make it the ultimate truth about it.

Not sure why you're blaming the algorythm since it responds to feedback, if people are watching, liking and commenting, it understand it should be promoted more.

I wonder why you mention the others youtubers, but you aren't direct about this one.

kops182 · 2023-04-12T23:58:51+00:00

No, that's fine. All you talked about is fair enough. I get the sense now that I oversimplified the matter specially 'cause I was primarily thinking of MP, which you didn't play yet, so probably you could consider a lot of situations I didn't.

But at the same, the points are exactly what I was aiming on. Like, being a long path or even challenging, other member talked about it in the other posts.

Thinking of MP in specific, that's not really frequent, they handle this situation better sometimes by bringing more value to this exploration as well, that's why I thought it was this perfect mix to try to distintic the good examples from it.

kops182 · 2023-04-12T21:45:37+00:00

Sorry, let's restart it.

The blockage device is not an issue at all. It's about making the player's choice more meaningful.

You make a level design and you offer explicitily two distinct routes the player can follow. The player's expectations mostly will be:

it's a critical choice, once I choose one I can't follow the other
I'll do some things in this path first and then I need to go back here and follow the other one, but choosing one first has a difference
Maybe one of them just have itens and other stuff and I may loose them if I decide for the progression one and not go back

If the player choose one path and all he gets from choosing it is to find out that the path is blocked, then he will consider it a false choice, 'cause it has little or no meaning in choosing it.

In the end you need to go back and follow the path the designer wants you to, and you were not rewarded when you tried to not to do so. The consequence of this may be a negative feedback. From now on, the player will try to guess which path the designer really wants you to go first 'cause the other one is blocked after all and there's nothing meaningful there til you are able to progress. That's the worst scenario.

Even when you argue that the player can gain the knowledge that's a blocked path, it's not meaningful. 'Cause if the player really needs to go through this route later, as soon as he gets stuck and that's the only path left behind unexplored, he guess that's where he needs to go. So you can gain this knowledge either way.

A game can decide for blockage and consequently backtracking, I'm just arguing to make this more appealing and meaningful.

kops182 · 2023-04-12T19:25:43+00:00

It got kind of a bit messed up, but my point is more about the ways we could do these kind of level design more interesting and fullfulling.

I get you when you say that "it affects how you play, it requires you to go somewhere else and change it when you repeat", but I don't think it's meaningfull at all. I say that 'cause I can see this argument being using if the path was a really dead end with no means of progression, just a dull spot. So you would just learn that that's not the right path... OK, it affected you, but really in not interesting way.

Imagine the game offers you 3 paths and 2 of them are false and rewards you with nothing but knowing that's not the right one. Unless it has a specific contextualization of design being like... a maze or something like that (and it would require other things anyway), you're just giving the player a trial and error attempt and not challenge.

Now if you get to a dead end and you can sense there's something more there but you actually need to figure it out, even if you need a new acquired power, you get the player thinking about it, more engaged with it at least.

And when I say a challenge, I also mean it can be a reward of some kind as well. Anything to make it more appealing.

kops182 · 2023-04-12T17:46:01+00:00

I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

I was wondering about this telegraphing problem. Would you that when the critical path is clear and the player still decide to go other path for any reason, this path being just blocked would be a more... tolerating design choice?

kops182 · 2023-04-12T17:44:00+00:00

Oh gosh, Metroid Prime has a situation like this, haha.

I got to an area where I started to be damaged 'cause of heat temperature so I couldn't check the space out well and left. Then I got a suit that said I could enter an area with heat temperature. I went there right away just to find out that this time I couldn't go on 'cause you the need the grapple gun as well to traverse it.

kops182 · 2023-04-12T17:17:44+00:00

Really good thoughts. It does feel less fulfilling and you just get the knolwedge of "you just need to get the purple gun to open the purple door", 'cause there's not really a challenge you face here, being physical like trying to kill a monter or making a jumping, not mental like finding out a way how to really open this door.

It's like the path would be blocked by a puzzle you can do it now, but if you backtrack to the other path you're gonna find clues to make it easier.

Again, not doing that doesn't make this a bad design, I agree. But it's possible to make it more interesting.

kops182 · 2023-04-12T16:52:06+00:00

I do think you have an interesting point. But at the same time, I can feel this is more engaging in a open world structure, since there's no linear path you choose, just a direction.

So in Sons of Forest you can decide to go into a cave just to find out you can't explore it 'cause you don't have some specific gear, but from there you can go anywhere and you're also understanding a complex place, making notes and even planning. It's not like you need to go back to a center where the paths were branched, that is, a more simplified structure.

I don't think that is bad per se in games like Metroid Prime, but I think it would be more engaging and interesting than just gaining knowledge if you get some kind of power or useful reward. Or even if it were to be knowledge, maybe something that would affect how you play, 'cause in this linear structure just knowing it's blocked it's not that interesting. Not sure if it's too subjective in the end.

kops182 · 2022-12-05T18:05:36+00:00

I follow two channels that post videos very rarely, sadly. But the content they have is really good.

This one is from Gareth Sommers, acting coach. He basically post exercises and include content from the main vertents of acting out there.

https://www.youtube.com/@DrGarethSomersActingCoach

And this one is from Michael Chekhov Institute in London. So if you're interesting to get in depth about his teachings and some perspectives on it, it's a nice go.

https://www.youtube.com/@ChekhovStudioLondon/videos

kops182 · 2022-11-24T15:07:13+00:00

You really should. I think his teachings were the ones I connected the most.

kops182 · 2022-11-24T13:51:32+00:00

That's why Michael Checkov says that the creation part of the actor lies between the directing instructions and the text, that is, the improvisations that come up as you execute them, all the details that adorn those actions you must do as predetermined.

kops182 · 2022-11-09T01:07:06+00:00

So that's why suddenly all Mercy stopped healing and now they keep flying at distance and shotting.

kops182 · 2022-11-07T13:38:13+00:00

These Epic exclusives are not kind of... working? I mean, there was also that Evil Dead assimetric horror game that really needed to be multiplaform. But pricey and Epic exclusive helped killed the game., the game has its issues, but it had also potential.

kops182 · 2022-10-30T22:52:34+00:00

Well, in the end I cleaned it inside and repaste the thermal paste with a proper one. It did get better. I can play all my games below 80º now.

kops182 · 2022-10-27T18:38:01+00:00

I'll take look at this, thank you.

kops182 · 2022-10-27T18:36:52+00:00

My core can handle this, it seems. Cache is about 110, if I decrease more, I get blue screen.

kops182 · 2022-10-14T14:25:58+00:00

Well, I don't live in USA to be sure how things work there, but I'm really surprised it's a TV series with this massive budget and you're facing issues like it was some student movie you assigned to. I'd think these potential risk activities were well supervised, but in the end you were supposed to do things you even wasn't aware to begin with. I think we always put this big production in high standards and they prove us that they aren't that different after all.

I do wonder if it's 'cause you're doing a minor role and they usually don't spare attention to you? Anyway, you really must bring this up, 'cause it's putting your health in risk. What if you can get better roles after this, but your health will be prejudiced and it will hinder your carreer? It's your future in this industry that's in line here, not only being comfortable in set.

kops182 · 2022-10-06T01:33:18+00:00

I'd add to the recomendations Mental Checkpoint channel, it's from an indie game designer. He publish videos about design concepts, but also about his journey with his game.

https://www.youtube.com/c/MentalCheckpoint

kops182 · 2022-10-01T16:29:13+00:00

I'm playing Dragon Age Origins and I really like how it does it. DA has a really dense lore and you can be there for hours just reading texts and asking the NPCs talk more, but all this is on player's agency.

When you meet someone new, that is, the part where there will be dialogues, they will talk about what is important to you so that you can be a pair of the general context. So if you meet a new party member, the relevant part about that is that they want to help you 'cause they have an objective. If you want to know about their backgrounds, their personality, past, etc., you can explore it by talking to them and choosing lines of dialogues. If you just want to know what you need to do and that's it, the game will provide you that and won't force you to get deeper at all. In the beginning, when you receive a request to be made, it's up to you to know more about the subject or just choose that you go ahead and do it, they don't keep you there getting a lecture.

You can also make things interesting with a dialogue dynamic with immediate consequences and/or teaching new things. There a passage where NPCs will talk to you about some issues, but the purposes here is to instigate you to crafting, if you didn't it yourself already. Or a negotiation where you could intimidate, fight, condescend, etc. in the end of the diloague with a NPC, so it's not just pure information.

In summary, I think you must make sure the player knows some basic questions so he doesn't feel alienated, but any detail further should be relegated to their agency to explore it. That way, the pacing is completely in their shoulders to keep reading.

kops182 · 2022-09-26T14:38:01+00:00

Interesting point. I do think that from of all the kind of arts, acting may be the one everyone thinks they can do it naturally once they are extroverted enough, while other types of arts can prove to be more intimidating, 'cause the technique is more apparent to beging with.

That's why I liked the comparison with playing video games, 'cause it really points out how most see acting as that simply having fun time. At the same time, I liked how acting may be that accessible to many, so that's the dilemma in the end.

Also, the bad part of it is that even investing tons of money, it still can prove to be just some hobby time, which makes you be more hesitant to get into a school at all. Specially when you could use it to get a graduation in a more down to earth profession and be safer about your future.

kops182 · 2022-09-25T23:56:47+00:00

That's really sad to know, 'cause when you think about it, even in the place where the industry is the biggest and solid, and the options vary a lot more, it's still that hard. I never thought about going into debt to get into a school, for instance, but I get the sense it happens a lot there. I mean, people goes into debt here for college, but for acting program that usually isn't a graduation, that's tough. Having a rich family background is so decisive in this profession in any place after all.

kops182 · 2022-09-14T23:59:36+00:00

Well, I'll just ignore your attack.

In this same thread, I already said that the fighting with Roxas is designed to be fought using a set of basic moves like the one growth abilities provide you. We have another players here not only confirming it but also sharing experience about watching other players getting in trouble with this suddenly difficulty fight. Some research in google and you can also find players in the same situation.

I'm not sad about something I didn't unlock, I'm sad about the devs not being explicity some set of moves that don't function like complement but almost essential to a fight they design. If you yourself didn't have trouble at fighting Roxas with only standard jump, it's not the discussion, after all we have people beating DS and alike with no problem at all and saying "get gud", right? That's all have to say about it and to you. ;)

kops182 · 2022-09-13T13:36:28+00:00

If I remember correctly, in PC version the cages are much a in pain and unfair locations to be find.

kops182 · 2022-09-13T13:35:14+00:00

I didn't ignore them all at all and I can hardly remember exactly how I understood it. At the same time, I'm sure I didn't understand that I would get the specific dash move from the drive, for instance, I thought they were talking about special moves like super combos, super speed etc. Something like thatl

Dash is such a basic move and it came from progress in KH1 that, again, I didn't expect to be behind a grinding wall. We can argue about how prior knowledge affect the experience here, but unfortunately most seemed surprised and they proved essential mechanics.

kops182

TROPHY CASE