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Paradigm wrote: I'm thinking that SoM might be the first LotR game I don't bother with. To me, the whole 'mind control/zombie orc army fighting for good' is too at odds with the setting to let me enjoy what look to be fairly interesting mechanics. If it didn't have the LotR setting attached I'd probably be tempted.
I'm a fairly persnickety Tolkien fan and find the game fits into the setting quite faithfully so far.
Paradigm wrote: The other thing that gets me (although this is kind of a trend in LotR games over time) is the ramping up of the importance of magic.
"Magic" plays a limited role in Shadow of Mordor. First off, Talion and Celebrimbor are bound by some kind of blood sacrifice/black magic -- for which practice I believe there is some precedent in Tolkien; although it is might only be darkly hinted at and in work subsequent to RotK (the unfinished & unpublished sequel). Second, the powers you use are not really OTT -- no shooting fireballs around or any of that. They are limited to plausibly wraith-like applications.
Paradigm wrote: the whole thing of 'spirits of vengeance' and 'mind control' in the hands of a Man, the least magical of the races of Middle Earth
Actually, those powers all belong to Celebrimbor. If you know who he is, you won't have any issue with him being fairly powerful -- especially in wraith-form.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/10/01 22:34:53
Paradigm wrote: I'm thinking that SoM might be the first LotR game I don't bother with. To me, the whole 'mind control/zombie orc army fighting for good' is too at odds with the setting to let me enjoy what look to be fairly interesting mechanics. If it didn't have the LotR setting attached I'd probably be tempted.
I'm a fairly persnickety Tolkien fan and find the game fits into the setting quite faithfully so far.
Paradigm wrote: The other thing that gets me (although this is kind of a trend in LotR games over time) is the ramping up of the importance of magic.
"Magic" plays a limited role in Shadow of Mordor. First off, Talion and Celebrimbor are bound by some kind of blood sacrifice/black magic -- for which practice I believe there is some precedent in Tolkien; although it is might only be darkly hinted at and in work subsequent to RotK (the unfinished & unpublished sequel). Second, the powers you use are not really OTT -- no shooting fireballs around or any of that. They are limited to plausibly wraith-like applications.
Paradigm wrote: the whole thing of 'spirits of vengeance' and 'mind control' in the hands of a Man, the least magical of the races of Middle Earth
Actually, those powers all belong to Celebrimbor. If you know who he is, you won't have any issue with him being fairly powerful -- especially in wraith-form.
Well that's something of an endorsement, then. From the trailer it looked completely overdone and implausible in the setting, but watching a gameplay video clears a lot of that up. Might just have to get it after all.
Asherian Command wrote: I have been going back and forth between a few games....
Hotline Miami,
Skyrim,
Monaco,
Thomas Was Alone,
and
Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne
But halloween is coming up and I really want to play horror games.
toasteroven wrote: Playing Just Cause 2, successfully landed a plane. There should have been an achievement for that, considering how many tries it took me.
I may just be bad at flying though.
Congrats!
And I think it's less you and more the fact that the game pretty much expects you to get out of the plane by jumping.
The people in the past who convinced themselves to do unspeakable things were no less human than you or I. They made their decisions; the only thing that prevents history from repeating itself is making different ones.
-- Adam Serwer
My blog
Mucking about in Saints Row 3 lately. Finished the storyline recently, with the good ending, and now I'm running around going for map completion and trying not to use any of the broken weapons from the DLC. Playing a female Boss with voice #1, because I can never get tired of hearing Laura Bailey talk. There's a reason Serana is my favorite NPC in Skyrim, after all.
Also been hitting Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 off and on, again. Beat one story mode (the bad guy one) and am sorta working on the good guy story mode, but I've run into the part where you have to play through seven or so missions, each with a different pilot (most of whom I've never used before because I don't like them). So I've got to take seven guys, all at level one, and run through mid-tier difficulty missions in mobile suits I've never used before (with attack patterns that I don't know) and somehow work up some kind of level of excitement for it... No thanks, Koei. Just let me pick Haman Karn in her ZZ outfit and run her through the whole story mode, instead of this schizophrenic character switching business, ok? Or heck, bring back Sleggar Law and I'll play him, instead.
Emperor's Eagles (undergoing Chapter reorganization)
Caledonian 95th (undergoing regimental reorganization)
Thousands Sons (undergoing Warband re--- wait, are any of my 40K armies playable?)
Milan, Sicily and HRE are donkey-caves. They keep attacking me, then they get excommunicated, then they just go "feth it" and keep attacking me.
The refuse ceasefires, except for Sicily, who offers a ceasefire, then attack 3 turns later.
So yeah, I'm going to start executing the lot of them.
I've been playing M2 a bit recently, too. One thing to note is that Milan are essentially a superpower. Their militia are a lot better than even a fair whack of most factions' early and mid-game professional units, and their Genoese crossbows are great at range but also ridiculous in melee; never charge a unit of them unsupported, even cavalry, because you'll lose. If you have enough points with the Pope then it mighthe be worth calling for a crusade on the Milanese capital or one of their cities you can't quite reach, and let the other Catholic factions draw some heat off you.
It's going to be a bit difficult dealing with Milan when you have the HRE and Sicily nipping at your heels, but Milan is your main target and will only get stronger if left alone.
EDIT: Also, don't execute prisoners if you're struggling with several factions already. It lowers your relations with everyone very quickly and should only be used sparingly, otherwise you'll find most of Christendom on your case and marching against you.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/10/02 16:26:41
Mandorallen turned back toward the insolently sneering baron. 'My Lord,' The great knight said distantly, 'I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offence against decency, resembling more closely the scabrous fur which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornment for a human face. Is it possibly that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?' - Mimbrate Knight Protector Mandorallen.
Excerpt from "Seeress of Kell", Book Five of The Malloreon series by David Eddings.
"You need not fear us, unless you are a dark heart, a vile one who preys on the innocent; I promise, you can’t hide forever in the empty darkness, for we will hunt you down like the animals you are, and pull you into the very bowels of hell." Iron - Within Temptation
Manchu wrote: Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 looks pretty interesting, I will give it a shot.
I heard good things about the DW Gundam series, someone tried to convince me to get it, but at the time I didn't have a console that could play it (still don't know if I do-- can it be played on the 360?).
If you get it, tell us how it is compared to the other DW games In spite of the often moronic character designs, I'm a fan of the Dynasty/Samurai/Orochi Warriors series.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/10/02 16:57:31
The people in the past who convinced themselves to do unspeakable things were no less human than you or I. They made their decisions; the only thing that prevents history from repeating itself is making different ones.
-- Adam Serwer
My blog
Melissia wrote: I heard good things about the DW Gundam series, someone tried to convince me to get it, but at the time I didn't have a console that could play it (still don't know if I do-- can it be played on the 360?).
If you get it, tell us how it is compared to the other DW games In spite of the often moronic character designs, I'm a fan of the Dynasty/Samurai/Orochi Warriors series.
Dynasty Warriors Gundam 1 was an unfinished mess. Stay as far away from it as you can.
DWG 2 was a favorite for me, since it had more UC Gundam characters and mobile suits, and mostly focused on the UC Gundam storylines. The addition of actual space battle maps was a good touch.
DWG 3 is fun, don't get me wrong, but it handles a bit different than 2 did. Health restoring item drops are really rare, but that's ok, since your health regenerates (to a % of damage taken). Of course, the bad guy's health regenerates, too. So you have to focus fire on them and beat them down to keep them from healing themselves. That's a new mechanic. There is a partner system, where you pick a sidekick before the battle, then that person doesn't show up as an npc during the battle... but if you get a certain item or control a certain battlefield area, you can summon them to deliver a big attack. Dropping Puru Two in the Queen Mantha on top of a boss is lots of fun. Which reminds me, instead of nondescript color-coded areas of the map to capture, the game now has color coded areas of the map with special features that affect the battle. Some areas make your mooks fight better, some spawn allied NPCs, some increase the rate and amount of your auto-heal, etc. Lots more stuff from alternate universe Gundam series... Wing, 00, SEED, etc. Some of the suits have nice move sets, but I shrug my shoulders at the characters, generally. The space maps got removed and replaced by ground maps with a starry sky, which was a bit of a bummer. The story mode is a mess of characters from the different shows and different timelines (Haman Karn sitting in a room with a teenaged Mineva Zabi is a little weird, especially since Mineva doesn't drop a "didn't I see you die" bomb in convo) all end up in the same fight and stuff happens. The highlight for me was Char Aznable coming face to face with Full Frontal and saying "You know, I never realized how ridiculous I looked till I saw someone else trying to dress like me." There are DLC characters and suits to get, but most of them are from 00, so I skipped them. I did pick up Marida Cruz from Unicorn and her Kshatriya, which both wreck face, but she doesn't pop up in story mode or in the random fights.
Emperor's Eagles (undergoing Chapter reorganization)
Caledonian 95th (undergoing regimental reorganization)
Thousands Sons (undergoing Warband re--- wait, are any of my 40K armies playable?)
On-topic, I've been playing Black Flag more lately,
Is this a game based off the TV pirate series? #intrigued
No, it's one of those Assassin's Creed games.
Although it's perfectly possible to play for hours on end and not even touch the Assassin's Creed side of it, just raid, pillage, plunder and otherwise pilfer your weasly black guts out.
Milan, Sicily and HRE are donkey-caves. They keep attacking me, then they get excommunicated, then they just go "feth it" and keep attacking me.
The refuse ceasefires, except for Sicily, who offers a ceasefire, then attack 3 turns later.
So yeah, I'm going to start executing the lot of them.
I've been playing M2 a bit recently, too. One thing to note is that Milan are essentially a superpower. Their militia are a lot better than even a fair whack of most factions' early and mid-game professional units, and their Genoese crossbows are great at range but also ridiculous in melee; never charge a unit of them unsupported, even cavalry, because you'll lose. If you have enough points with the Pope then it mighthe be worth calling for a crusade on the Milanese capital or one of their cities you can't quite reach, and let the other Catholic factions draw some heat off you.
It's going to be a bit difficult dealing with Milan when you have the HRE and Sicily nipping at your heels, but Milan is your main target and will only get stronger if left alone.
EDIT: Also, don't execute prisoners if you're struggling with several factions already. It lowers your relations with everyone very quickly and should only be used sparingly, otherwise you'll find most of Christendom on your case and marching against you.
Is it normal for the AI to never ceasefire, and just eat excommunications?
I keep trying to make peace with the AI, and they want ridiculous stuff in return.
What I have
~4100
~1660
Westwood lives in death!
Peace through power!
A longbeard when it comes to Necrons and WHFB. Grumble Grumble
squidhills wrote: Dynasty Warriors Gundam 1 was an unfinished mess. Stay as far away from it as you can.
I've got the first one, and enjoyed it. The story missions can be a bit annoying at times, largely due to the "let's switch you to a brand new (unleveled) mobile suit!" type of stuff that happens from time to time. And Judau sounds like he's got gravel in his mouth when he talks.
But from what I've heard, the later ones are better. I've been meaning to pick them up for a while now, but never quite seem to get that done.
Unfortunately, I don't have much to compare it with. The only two other DW games that I've got are Samurai Empires 2 (think Nobunaga's Ambition, with the battles resolved via DW-style battles), and the first Fist of the North Star game.
Milan, Sicily and HRE are donkey-caves. They keep attacking me, then they get excommunicated, then they just go "feth it" and keep attacking me.
The refuse ceasefires, except for Sicily, who offers a ceasefire, then attack 3 turns later.
So yeah, I'm going to start executing the lot of them.
I've been playing M2 a bit recently, too. One thing to note is that Milan are essentially a superpower. Their militia are a lot better than even a fair whack of most factions' early and mid-game professional units, and their Genoese crossbows are great at range but also ridiculous in melee; never charge a unit of them unsupported, even cavalry, because you'll lose. If you have enough points with the Pope then it mighthe be worth calling for a crusade on the Milanese capital or one of their cities you can't quite reach, and let the other Catholic factions draw some heat off you.
It's going to be a bit difficult dealing with Milan when you have the HRE and Sicily nipping at your heels, but Milan is your main target and will only get stronger if left alone.
EDIT: Also, don't execute prisoners if you're struggling with several factions already. It lowers your relations with everyone very quickly and should only be used sparingly, otherwise you'll find most of Christendom on your case and marching against you.
Is it normal for the AI to never ceasefire, and just eat excommunications? I keep trying to make peace with the AI, and they want ridiculous stuff in return.
Very much so. In my current game, France declared war on me by besieging Bordeaux (which I nicked off Spain when their reinforcements couldn't reach it before the rebels inside beat back to initial siege). I'd been waiting for this and my spies in Angers and Rheims opened the gates for me to take both of them (although I miscalculated the travel distance to Rheims from Antwerp, so instead of assaulting in the same turn as Angers I was forced to assault one turn later - there's a reason why this is bad). Then I was hit by the usual Excommunication threat from the Pope, and since I was 2 crosses more in favour with him than France (5 vs 3) I assumed France would have to abandon the siege too, giving me time to re-build my forces, train a new assault squad, throw my spies into their remaining settlements and go for another 1-turn sweep. But that didn't happen. 3 Turns after the threat France are still sieging Bordeaux and showing no signs of stopping any time soon. I assume they'll be excommunicated for it at some point, but it's already fethed with my plans and I can't be sure if and when they will be excommed. If I try and ceasefire now, even though my military might is Supreme and theirs is probably Meagre (given that their only force is besieging Bordeaux, and is mainly Pilgrims leftover from the crusade I beat them to), and they only have Toulouse, Marseilles, and Paris left, and they're dirt poor, and as soon as my threat goes I can march right into Paris and Marseilles on account of my spies opening the gates, they'll want huge amounts of money, and very likely the lands back that I took from them.
The AI only ever offers a ceasefire when it knows it can come back in a few turns and do it again, and uses it as an excuse to have their stack sit next to your castle/city for forever and a day because there's nothing you can do about it. You might also get a ceasefire when they have one or two settlements left, no army to speak of, and you rule half the world, but those are the times when you just mash Decline and put them down at your leisure. At the times when it would be sensible to offer/accept a ceasefire, the AI will be contrary and never do it.
With excommunications, it never does the AI any harm. I've played a lot of games when factions get excommunicated over and over and over again (*cough* Milan *cough*), and they never suffer from it; nobody attacks them for it, but they can still carry on regardless. If YOU are excommunicated, however, in true "AI hates Humans" fashion, you will become the target of Crusades and literally everyone will line up to thump you. There are only two times when it's fine to be excommunicated, and they are: 1) When you own Europe and have beaten most of the Christian factions, and 2) You're in a position to assassinate the pope, since every faction is reconciled following a papal election.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/10/02 21:30:34
Mandorallen turned back toward the insolently sneering baron. 'My Lord,' The great knight said distantly, 'I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offence against decency, resembling more closely the scabrous fur which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornment for a human face. Is it possibly that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?' - Mimbrate Knight Protector Mandorallen.
Excerpt from "Seeress of Kell", Book Five of The Malloreon series by David Eddings.
"You need not fear us, unless you are a dark heart, a vile one who preys on the innocent; I promise, you can’t hide forever in the empty darkness, for we will hunt you down like the animals you are, and pull you into the very bowels of hell." Iron - Within Temptation
Eumerin wrote: The only two other DW games that I've got are Samurai Empires 2 (think Nobunaga's Ambition, with the battles resolved via DW-style battles), and the first Fist of the North Star game.
I enjoyed Samurai Warriors 2: Empires more than I probably should. I played that thing to hell and back, I think I logged more hours in that than in vanilla Samurai Warriors 2.
...which reminds me, I got a Japanese import version of SW 3: Legends for the PS3 I need to play more of.
Emperor's Eagles (undergoing Chapter reorganization)
Caledonian 95th (undergoing regimental reorganization)
Thousands Sons (undergoing Warband re--- wait, are any of my 40K armies playable?)
Milan, Sicily and HRE are donkey-caves. They keep attacking me, then they get excommunicated, then they just go "feth it" and keep attacking me.
The refuse ceasefires, except for Sicily, who offers a ceasefire, then attack 3 turns later.
So yeah, I'm going to start executing the lot of them.
I've been playing M2 a bit recently, too. One thing to note is that Milan are essentially a superpower. Their militia are a lot better than even a fair whack of most factions' early and mid-game professional units, and their Genoese crossbows are great at range but also ridiculous in melee; never charge a unit of them unsupported, even cavalry, because you'll lose. If you have enough points with the Pope then it mighthe be worth calling for a crusade on the Milanese capital or one of their cities you can't quite reach, and let the other Catholic factions draw some heat off you.
It's going to be a bit difficult dealing with Milan when you have the HRE and Sicily nipping at your heels, but Milan is your main target and will only get stronger if left alone.
EDIT: Also, don't execute prisoners if you're struggling with several factions already. It lowers your relations with everyone very quickly and should only be used sparingly, otherwise you'll find most of Christendom on your case and marching against you.
Is it normal for the AI to never ceasefire, and just eat excommunications?
I keep trying to make peace with the AI, and they want ridiculous stuff in return.
Very much so. In my current game, France declared war on me by besieging Bordeaux (which I nicked off Spain when their reinforcements couldn't reach it before the rebels inside beat back to initial siege). I'd been waiting for this and my spies in Angers and Rheims opened the gates for me to take both of them (although I miscalculated the travel distance to Rheims from Antwerp, so instead of assaulting in the same turn as Angers I was forced to assault one turn later - there's a reason why this is bad). Then I was hit by the usual Excommunication threat from the Pope, and since I was 2 crosses more in favour with him than France (5 vs 3) I assumed France would have to abandon the siege too, giving me time to re-build my forces, train a new assault squad, throw my spies into their remaining settlements and go for another 1-turn sweep. But that didn't happen. 3 Turns after the threat France are still sieging Bordeaux and showing no signs of stopping any time soon. I assume they'll be excommunicated for it at some point, but it's already fethed with my plans and I can't be sure if and when they will be excommed. If I try and ceasefire now, even though my military might is Supreme and theirs is probably Meagre (given that their only force is besieging Bordeaux, and is mainly Pilgrims leftover from the crusade I beat them to), and they only have Toulouse, Marseilles, and Paris left, and they're dirt poor, and as soon as my threat goes I can march right into Paris and Marseilles on account of my spies opening the gates, they'll want huge amounts of money, and very likely the lands back that I took from them.
The AI only ever offers a ceasefire when it knows it can come back in a few turns and do it again, and uses it as an excuse to have their stack sit next to your castle/city for forever and a day because there's nothing you can do about it. You might also get a ceasefire when they have one or two settlements left, no army to speak of, and you rule half the world, but those are the times when you just mash Decline and put them down at your leisure. At the times when it would be sensible to offer/accept a ceasefire, the AI will be contrary and never do it.
With excommunications, it never does the AI any harm. I've played a lot of games when factions get excommunicated over and over and over again (*cough* Milan *cough*), and they never suffer from it; nobody attacks them for it, but they can still carry on regardless. If YOU are excommunicated, however, in true "AI hates Humans" fashion, you will become the target of Crusades and literally everyone will line up to thump you. There is only two times when it's fine to be excommunicated, and they are: 1) When you own Europe and have beaten most of the Christian factions, and 2) You're in a position to assassinate the pope, since every faction is reconciled following a papal election.
Well that's dumb. Is there a mod that can fix that? Seems to be very unfairly weighted against the player.
What I have
~4100
~1660
Westwood lives in death!
Peace through power!
A longbeard when it comes to Necrons and WHFB. Grumble Grumble
Milan, Sicily and HRE are donkey-caves. They keep attacking me, then they get excommunicated, then they just go "feth it" and keep attacking me.
The refuse ceasefires, except for Sicily, who offers a ceasefire, then attack 3 turns later.
So yeah, I'm going to start executing the lot of them.
What faction are you playing as if I may inquier?
When they get exomunicated, make sure to hit them hard, either wipe out an army or three. or capture a town or castle.
And well, only do that if you feel like making a lot of new enemies rather fast
France. I got attacked, retaliated and everyone hates me now.
Except for Poland. They are cool.
Oh dear.... France well that is your problem, they really suffer from a lack of good quiality early and middle period infateri and such.Their cavalry will make up for it, but well wont be the best stop gap. I always try to capture Bern as soon as possible, it gives you the chance to keep Milan at bay
There are mods that include some diplomacy fixes or patches, but most of those are overhauls or rebalance the entire game such as Stainless Steel and Darthmod.
You'll have to grin and bear it, unfortunately.
Look at it this way, at least you're not playing as the HRE; they tend to end up facing Milan, France, Venice, Denmark, Poland, and the Byzantines as the player. If you can take Caen from the British, and take Bordeaux early on, then as France you only really need to fear Milan and perhaps the HRE. If you leave Antwerp as a rebel settlement then the HRE might nab it, creating a buffer between you and Denmark.
If you focus all your efforts on Milan after eliminating Caen then you should be able to concentrate on the HRE. With Spain blocked by 2 castles and left to deal with Portugal and the Moors, England left without their mainland foothold and dealing with Scotland, Denmark dealing with HRE and Poland, and Venice dealing the HRE and Byzantines, you should be pretty much in the clear for a good while and find yourself just North of the Papal States, allowing for a good trade route and easy access for your butt-kissers Diplomats. Gifting the Papal States a few hundred gold each turn will keep your relationship strong, and an Alliance with them is always good to have.
Mandorallen turned back toward the insolently sneering baron. 'My Lord,' The great knight said distantly, 'I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offence against decency, resembling more closely the scabrous fur which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornment for a human face. Is it possibly that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?' - Mimbrate Knight Protector Mandorallen.
Excerpt from "Seeress of Kell", Book Five of The Malloreon series by David Eddings.
"You need not fear us, unless you are a dark heart, a vile one who preys on the innocent; I promise, you can’t hide forever in the empty darkness, for we will hunt you down like the animals you are, and pull you into the very bowels of hell." Iron - Within Temptation
And if you're drinkin' well, you know that you're my friend and I say "I think I'll have myself a beer" 
~4100
~1660
Emperor's Eagles (undergoing Chapter reorganization)
Caledonian 95th (undergoing regimental reorganization)
Thousands Sons (undergoing Warband re--- wait, are any of my 40K armies playable?) 
In spite of the often moronic character designs, I'm a fan of the Dynasty/Samurai/Orochi Warriors series.
