First Impression: Isle of Storms

I don't know about either of those two.. it seems like so long as we avoid specific words we're good. I mean come on.. we can have constellations that are the direct symbols of the 8 virtues and have the same virtue test questions verbatim.. Arabella tells you in not so many words that this is in fact the same world.. and yet she can't dress like a gypsy? What is we say it's bohemian and not actually say she's a gypsy? Surely we could get away with that.

 

Then maybe they should just nix the Truth, Love and Courage as the defining answers. Ask questions of morality with more complex answers that determine more specific things. Then afterwards she declares you on a path...or even you don't find out about the Truth Love and Courage til you actually go to Ardoris and speak with the Oracle for the first time.

Example: "Avatar, on thy journey thou dost stumble across a severely wounded dog with no owner in sight. Dost thou rescue the wounded animal and attempt to heal its injuries? Leave the dog to let nature decide its fate? Or end the poor beast's suffering thine self?" Depending on how you answer this will start you with some points in taming, no points in taming, or some points in Death.

While I think the original questions are nostalgic, it would be nice to see some new conundrums in there to make us think about it.

 

When some players think : "You guys should do like ultima 9 it was well made" and "sorry I know this is an alpha (first iteration) but ima reluctantly give my feedback"

You know something is not right...

 

And answering these questions that we've heard a million times before doesn't do the trick or make me feel like I'm becoming 'the avatar'.

I expect Arabella's realm here to feel a bit nostalgic, in that I know I'm deciding my fate. I want the answers I give to feel like they really matter and have a serious effect on how I'll relate with my character through the rest of the game.

Although we don't want to be pigeon-holed into cookie-cutter molds, having an affinity for a certain method of solving problems should be acceptable. Do I like the direct approach? Or finding a clever solution? or perhaps finding a way around the problem entirely? Maybe we could also have some physical alteration that may or may not be just cosmetic, like a magical mark on our body or something for a reminder of that 'fateful' day.

I think with just 3 choices, we can definitely present them with actual 'tests' rather than a casual conversation. Put our life on the line, or someone else's! Make it exciting! Most of all, make us feel like any choice is a good choice, but that we have to be aware of and live with the consequences and feel that it's worth while.

Other than the nostalgia of knowing I'm 'deciding my fate', the experience here should also not look, but 'feel' like the Ultimas in how the island is presented to us. The 'bridge between worlds' is looking good, but it feels cold and unfamiliar. Right now, it doesn't feel like we're between worlds, it feels like we've already traveled to New Britannia, like we're hovering just above it. As it is, it just fills me with questions like 'why is this here? what is she doing here? this doesn't make any logical sense.'

I think instead it should feel like a happy dream that seems to blend our Earth reality with the New Britannian reality. A grassy hillside that could exist in either world was a brilliant 'bridge', and we need this one to feel similar. The old gypsy always fit into the scene nicely; she was just a gypsy in a traveling carnival who could tell the future. It was familiar yet mysterious, and had an internal logic to it. This doesn't.

This Arabella needs to seem like she belongs there, like this is a mysterious place that definitely has a purpose and history. Maybe she is a miner or scientist examining the odd properties of this island. Maybe she is building a telescope to better understand the heavens and the lands of New Britannia. She obviously is friends with Lord British and has come here at his behest. How did they get the Lunar Rift working? And how do they control it, despite the fact their operation is a mystery once again after the cataclysm? Is it known that all visitors from other planets must travel through the island as a sort of gateway? If this is the case, why aren't they working on protecting it? How do they know only friendlies will try to enter this way?

 

It is the old 'Robin Hood' question: Rob from the rich, give to the poor. The honesty (truth) to deliver to the lord vs. the compassion (love) to help the beggar. That it leads to being a ranger/thief is just the game playing stereotypes in its present form.

I wish the system was a little more robust. The Ultima 9 example above is quite awesome. But I wonder though is Episode 1 of SoTA is about the principles though, with the Avatar discovering virtues later. Consider that instead of the Ultima 9 Gypsy dishing out cards once and done, in SOTA we have an Oracle watching us for the whole trip. Maybe the Oracle assesses our leading virtue at the end of the Episode 1 journey, not the beginning?

 

Robin Hood actually stole from the government.. not simply the 'rich'. People keep forgetting that.

 

Yeah, that's pretty much how I felt Episode 1 would go, like Novia is just one big testing ground to see what kind of Avatar you really are through your actions. That's why we don't really see LB yet. He's waiting to welcome the avatar after the test is complete.

The thing is, why should I need the Oracle to tell me how moral I'm acting? As the fabled Avatar of legend, shouldn't I find this invasion of privacy and Big Brother activity disturbing? Why must we act virtuous, but the oracle can sit there, not doing anything to help as the world goes to pagan all around her, watching and judging without taking action herself? Deciding not to decide is still a decision. And sometimes, inaction is worse than any of a number of difficult choices.

 

Good questions on the need for an Oracle to tell us what we should already know. There is a lot to be discussed there.

Perhaps that goes back to RG's view that the Avatar is about us, the real person, in game discovering ourselves, not about a made-up role-played character. If we actually play the game according to our own real life preferences, then the Oracle's role is to assess us, the player, to provide independent reflection on our self-notion of virtue and if it is what we really thought it was. That is an interesting notion because it would point to SOTA being a social experiment or about social commentary, beyond being a game.

My only issue with that is not knowing the 'rules' by which the Oracle weighs actions. There is so much room for disagreement in what is virtuous and what is not. Like taming, as an example. Some may see taming a bear as courageous, but not compassionate to take the bear out of his native environment. But some may see it as compassionate to make it easier for the bear to survive by giving it food as a tamed creature, instead of letting it take its chances foraging. So if I tame a bear, will the game judge me to be a compassionate human being if I were to feel that taming a bear is courageously stupid but horribly uncompassionate? It is interesting that the game is about - me, the Avatar - but the Oracle is positioned to be very judgmental unless someone has some really awesome programming algorithm for this.

 

All the more reason to either change.. or have separate dialogue here for multiplayer. In telling the player that they are indeed the Avatar of the past.. the game is essentially telling the player "you must be virtuous". For the Avatar of the past has embodied the 8 virtues have achieved enlightenment in all 8. So right off the bat anyone who isn't virtuous isn't playing the role assigned to them. If we all played like that there may as well be no PvP and no serious RP either for that matter.. for what is story without a villain? Who is there to fight if everyone is on the same side?

If we all want to play anything other than the Avatar we're forced to throw that part of the story aside. And for those of us who want to be THE Avatar.. there is still conflict for there can't be more than one.