ZylonBane on 22/2/2010 at 18:16
Does ADaOB really reduce the ICE-pick count to (for all practical purposes) three on Impossible?
That does seem a bit harsh.
Nameless Voice on 22/2/2010 at 18:28
It originally reduced it to one.
One of the more recent versions was supposed to bring it back up to four, but one of them is bugged and doesn't appear. Another is at the top of the mantling spiral right before the finale.
And, of course, this is only on Impossible. The lower skill levels have more.
TheNightTerror on 22/2/2010 at 22:50
It actually bothered me to the point that I refused to upgrade past the first Straylight patch even when I was playing melee only. If I haven't played SS2 in a while I generally don't jump straight into melee only, and I was crazy enough to upgrade the patch because I heard the ICE-picks were put back.
Which means, 2 in the game, 1 at the top of a spiral staircase. That means that even if he put one pick back, a non-hacker player is still required to have the skills to mantle all the way to the top of the stairs in time to beat the game.
Edit: Wait a minute. Where was this one ICE-pick located? I don't remember ever finding it, was it in the second version?
Ryu Connor on 22/2/2010 at 23:27
The problem with any changes to the game outside of true bug fixes is that you basically begin to reimagine the game.
In flim such reimaginings are generally railed against. At this point SS2 is a classic; flaws and all.
Perhaps the (insert your modified game choice here) really is overpowered, but with ten years of hindsight and none of the creative insight that lead to the original choices handy, is fixing it really the right thing to do? Assuming that Irrational even had been granted the money to patch the game a little further would they have fixed it? If Irrational had fixed it, would they have chosen your choice? For all we know the choice may have been deliberate and said changes go against their vision and intentions.
Kolya on 23/2/2010 at 02:33
I don't know what you people think you are doing here. ADaoB is a mod, not a democracy. If you don't like it, don't use it.
Balancing has been an integral part of ADaoB since the very beginning and it's become extremely successful this way. It is the result of literally years of tweaking SS2 by a few talented individuals. Not by people who like to banter in polls.
Somehow the proposed name change seems to have lured people out of the woods and put it in their mind that they had a say in the direction of this mod now. That's a misunderstanding.
The idea to call ADaoB a "community patch" was born because that's what it de facto already is. We wanted to communicate this to newcomers better, that's all.
Go home and write your own mod. Then you may poll people about it if you're so interested. But don't use a poll to campaign others into doing your bidding.
TheNightTerror on 23/2/2010 at 03:38
My main thing was always that I was always under the impression it was first and foremost a bug fix patch, and I never understood it morphing into a gameplay mod. Completely removing the FEP and repair tools from the game with a mod that was originally created to correct bugs in the game, I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now. I wanted to see if anyone else thought it was strange.
Unless my memory is worse than I thought I never said if the poll results said I was onto something it should be changed. And unless I made a wrong turn, this is still a forum. Where should I have gone to talk about it if not here? Are we not allowed to even discuss it?
ZylonBane on 23/2/2010 at 04:35
This thread is making everybody cranky.
Odd.
TheNightTerror on 23/2/2010 at 04:45
And here I thought there'd be less arguing if I started a poll! :p
Ryu Connor on 23/2/2010 at 08:43
Quote Posted by Kolya
I don't know what you people think you are doing here. ADaoB is a mod, not a democracy. If you don't like it, don't use it.
The idea to call ADaoB a "community patch" was born because that's what it de facto
already is. We wanted to communicate this to newcomers better, that's all.
One of these things is not like the other.
You can't call it a community patch if the community isn't exactly involved in it. It's also not a community if the viewpoint espoused is that only certain people represent the community, because that's a clique not a community. Though the clique patch does have a certain ring to it.
In fact the essence of your post is essentially: Not a democracy. The work is by talented individuals and dissent is by people who are not. Go do your own work, but don't dare question ours. Success makes it right.
That's a serious litany of logical fallcies all wrapped up in one post there. It was also a bit unnecessary. If it is in fact a misunderstanding that dissenting opinion is allowed against the mod. Then there's not really any need to wade into the masses and explain that. Just go ahead and carry on as if nothing has changed. If the people commenting do not conform to the appeal to authority, then what difference does it make what they say?
That being said, I have some more opinion while I continue to labor under the misunderstanding.
So long as it remains the Straylight mod/ADaoB I think it represents itself just fine. The moment you rename it a patch and/or go as far as to start bundling it with patching tools is when it crosses a line.
At that point it's no longer simply an optional mod. At that point you're directing said newcomers not to experience System Shock 2, but System Shock 2 Special Edition the Straylight, Kolya, Nameless Voice, Miracle.Freak, and George Lucas reimagining. Experience this classic masterpiece the way someone other than the original developer intended.
Mercurius on 23/2/2010 at 13:35
Quote Posted by Ryu Connor
George Lucas reimagining
Ouch, that's harsh bro D:
