Comments on: Context

By: Kio

Kio — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:38:52 +0000

I’m so excited all six of my nipples are tingling.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:57:28 +0000

Woot.

By: Julian

Julian — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:32:11 +0000

It’s probably a time-saving measure.

If you say “Cat people have more agility than most others”, I imagine the number of people that would immediately ask “Well, how much more?” is greater than the ones that would just nod. So let’s avoid having to go back and reply.

Likewise, the number of people that would see “Cat people have +5 agility” and simply nod happily is much greater than the ones who’d question what does that +5 mean, which so far it seems to be only you, Z, so I guess that proves the theory :)

By: Bhagpuss

Bhagpuss — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:46:16 +0000

Listen. They have cat-people! No-one cares what bonuses they get. It’s CAT-PEOPLE!

By: pjharvey

pjharvey — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:00:45 +0000

Context is great and all, but what is this game where we can be cat-people?! TELL ME.

By: warcabbit

warcabbit — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:28:50 +0000

Cat people are simply +5 STYLE over other races.

Yeah, you know who looks good? Me. That’s who. The Cat. Yow!
(It’s cold outside, there’s no kind of atmosphere…)

By: Dan Gray

Dan Gray — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:45:58 +0000

The simple answer is not to release the “+5″.

You say “These are the cat people, and they shall be slightly more agile than other races”. You don’t need to (and shouldn’t) quantify that, because it will almost certainly change.

The core of the race is not that it is +5 Agility, it is that they are slightly more agile. The +5 is just an arbitary number, and will change if it needs better reflect the “slightly more agile” part, and thus isn’t important in the slightest.

By: yunk

yunk — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:58:42 +0000

Cat people also get the cool ability to put out fire with gasoline.

By: Syncaine

Syncaine — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:53:21 +0000

This somewhat parallels what is going on in the DarkFall forums, where before the Spotlight section AV would communicate nothing, and of course people bitched. Now they communicate a ton, and anything that is not “The expansion is coming out today” gets a “why do I care about this, ETA expansion AV!!!1121!”

It’s both sad and amusing really.

(btw, the +5 for cat people is way OP, KTR’s needs to nerf it)

By: Longasc

Longasc — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:25:45 +0000

Think of other games. How much more % chance to crit is actually +216 Crit Chance? But often it is hard to express in a better way if there are diminishing returns and crit chance is tied ot level and level of the opposing mob and/or something like that.

But then, as Moondog already said – if people are new to the game, they don’t care for this at all. But I think there needs to be more transparency for those who stick around.

Unfortunately, getting more familiar with game mechanics often means having to read up what some number crunchers of the fanbase came up with. So no wonders we have players with only rough ideas and superstitions about what they are actually doing, equipping, and why they are doing it. :)

Getting familiar with the mechanics of the game and the effect of stats and game gear is an area that is not often discussed when it comes to game design. Ingame Wikis or improved tooltips might help here. Many people are probably interested in that, without being interested dedicated number crunchers by heart.