A huge pile of new previews - 1/24/2014

SubJeff on 3/2/2014 at 08:09

Quote Posted by Goldmoon Dawn

Queue, I have absolutely no idea what you are going on about. I see you all puffed up about taking me to Comm, like oh wow Im so scared. I was in Commchat before you even knew what Thief, Looking Glass, or Ultima or anything was. I am most certainly not acting like a child.

No one cares about Ultima. This is exactly why people think you're a nut - you wheel out the word "Ultima" and how you know all the secrets about LGS because of it and everyone collectively rolls their eyes.

Queue isn't getting "puffed up", he was just suggesting that we might want to take the discussion out of this thread but you've turned the suggestion (which is entirely friendly) into something negative. How?

It's these two things that you do - HERP DERPing about Ultima and failure to understand simple things that make you look like a child/idiot.

On topic: I realise that I want to play Thief regardless of the previews/reviews just to see how it turned out. That's why I've already pre-ordered it.

ThePhotoshop on 3/2/2014 at 10:50

Wow. I would not want to be making a game for these Thief fans.

jay pettitt on 3/2/2014 at 13:39

Quote:

No one cares about Ultima

Perhaps you should.

I certainly don't give a fig about Ultima. But I'm ignorant that way. It's mostly before my PC video game playing time and I never really got into the table top or PC role playing thang anyhow...

But LGS era Thief was a product of its time and a product of its developer's aspirations, interests and backgrounds. Which basically means that Thief very definitely has Ultima in its DNA. In many ways Thief is Ultima's bastard offspring. Historically, it was LGS trying to make a game like Ultima - a game that delivered that same fantasy/adventure experience, but streamlining out all the dice rolls and stat-sheets. That much is well documented in developer interviews. It was clearly something they cared about.

Again, personally speaking, I don't happen to give a fig it because it's not really in my world view. It's something I missed out on. But that is ignorance on my part. It's 100% valid for GD to talk about it and to be cynical about an attempt to make a 'Thief' game that's coming from such a different place in space/time. Maybe it's not the be all and end all. Maybe the world moves on. But it is a valid enough point of view.

Folk could maybe do with making a little tiny bit of effort at trying to understand where other people are coming from, instead trying to flail their ageing wrinkly flaccid battle egos around the ~~old folk's home~~ fora. Among other things, it's not becoming.

It's no good if folk are only ever interested in seeing the world only from their point of view. If we all did that, we'd still all be flat earthers. Different perspectives aren't a threat.

Renault on 3/2/2014 at 14:00

Quote Posted by ThePhotoshop

Wow. I would not want to be making a game for these Thief fans.

Just curious, what are you referring to specifically? There's been a lot of garbage in this thread, but I'd be interested to know what's sticking out that makes us seem like such raving lunatics. I think at this point I've just lost all perspective.

SubJeff on 3/2/2014 at 14:58

I lost it so long ago I don't know whether I'm in the 2nd or 3rd dimension.

Funny that you and I are the only two (that I've noticed) who have admitted to pre-ordering.

I'm going to kick your ass on the Bank level.

Renault on 3/2/2014 at 15:03

Quote Posted by NuEffect

I'm going to kick your ass on the Bank level.

I assume you mean on the leaderboards - I've been ghosting for years now so you better get some practice in.

On that topic, NIB posted this on the official boards, I though it was pretty damn funny:

Quote:

Can't wait to see how good "BiggusDickus77", "XXXYoMamaXXX" and "Headshotzzzz1996" did in comparison to me.

SubJeff on 3/2/2014 at 15:24

I'm what they class an Opportunist I think. Though I ghost as much as possible. I won't beat you for speed, but to me that's not the point.

That NIB quote is funny.

Thirith on 3/2/2014 at 15:53

Quote Posted by NuEffect

No one cares about Ultima.

I do. A lot (within reason). Probably more than about Thief. I'm by no means Mr Has Played Every Single Ultima (Including The Gameboy Ones), but I own the original boxes of every PC Ultima from U4 onwards. I treasure my trinkets and cloth maps.

And you know what? Every time Goldmoon Dawn opens his mouth about Ultima, I cringe. For someone who claims to treasure those games, he doesn't actually say much about them; he just waves his I know Ultima better than any of you plebes! badge as if it bestowed him with some old-school street cred. It's in no way about the games and in every way about GD. I remember asking GD about Ultima and what came back was entirely lacking in specifics - or indeed sense. If he's played the games, he knows how to hide it.

So, please don't hate the game, or even the player, 'cause we're not all gibbering neckbeards.

On the more relevant topic: the preview I read (Eurogamer, I think) pretty much turned me off a pre-order, mainly because the game sounds so lacklustre. If the reviews from my trusted sources come out and make it sound as enjoyable as, say, Dishonored or Chaos Theory, I'll get it at launch, but otherwise I'll wait until it's come down in price.

NIB on 3/2/2014 at 15:59

Quote Posted by NuEffect

That NIB quote is funny.

It's funny because he obviously has some problems with grammar :erg:

Tomi on 3/2/2014 at 16:00

Quote Posted by NuEffect

No one cares about Ultima.

Well... I care about Ultima. :p

It's not something that I feel like admitting in here anymore, but yes, Ultima VII is perhaps my favourite game of all time. Such a great game with a fantastic (but somewhat predictable) story and the most immersive gameworld that I've seen. If only the combat in Ultima VII didn't suck balls, it'd be nearly the perfect game.

Anyway, I've played all the "proper" Ultima games (apart from Ultima Online, and I certainly haven't finished them all!), but I honestly can't see this alleged connection between Thief and Ultima. I'd love to hear more about that, but I'm only interested in clear answers and not the same old disdainful and vague "answers". I'm sure that some of the Thief devs loved Ultima (a lot of people did around that time!), and I suppose that there are some thematic similarities between the two series (especially Ultima Underworld <> Thief), but I must say that I never ever associated these two with each other before someone mentioned it here.

Hmm, let's see...
The guards in U7 and TDP wear similar(ish) armor.
You can eat stuff that you may find lying around.
There are bows and swords in both games.
You can steal stuff in both games.
Ooooh, and there's a stupid little boy called (http://wiki.ultimacodex.com/wiki/Garritt) Garritt who's a thief in U7.

*gasp* How did I never notice this before?! Thief is the bastard son of Ultima and Richard Garriott! :o
(Garriott, more like Garrett eh?)

Seriously though, there may be some little "nods" towards Ultima in Thief, but none of them seem very obvious to me, and there's certainly nothing in Thief that really screams Ultima. In my opinion, anyway.