How about the now-traditional end of the year unearthly item spading roundup? Woo!
Kicking things off, there's the antique floor mirror. I don't think anybody doubts there's plenty still to find in here.
- Each zone seems to have some kind of barrier we can't get past yet, like Erenoth's nemesis, the smug tree in the Winter zone. Just how huge is the amount of content we're still missing?
- Looks like we only have a few weeks left of using this in-run. Are there things that can only be unlocked while in-run that we should be hustling to find?
Next up is a pair of one coin items, the shield of scales and the spacious cargo pants. I think these really hit the sweet spot in terms of balance, theme, and ease of use.
- The shield is tricksy. Just when you think you've got it all, somebody finds Numbing Neurotoxin. Or even yet still more interactions with the special techniques it grants. And there's still the possibility of interactions with the snake minigame in the Summer zone. Are you sure this was a one coin item? :P
- And there's got to be more to those knuckle strands, but have we otherwise checked every pocket of the cargo pants?
This year's sole two-coin item is the wolfskin belt. You've said there's more awesome here to be found. Since then we've found out a bit more about some of the techniques, but somehow I doubt that's everything. Any hints on where to look for more?
Last but not least we have the Rag Man's cape, another nice utility item. The prototype coat was a tough act to follow, but, amazingly, you seem to have made another Evasion-focused shirt that shares many of the same functions but is different enough to be complementary.
- I'm guessing we have found most of the content here, but probably not all. For example, is there a way we can learn the cool "razor cape" technique the Rag Man uses?
Speaking of prototypes, what is the prototype vest a prototype for? Was it a prototype for the containment suit top that was rejected when Midgard discovered a full, airtight seal was important? Or is it a prototype for newer, less bulky gear that we have yet to encounter?
Thanks for the new Punk Uprising sidequest, even if it did throw a major spanner into my quest for depth. :P New quest —> lots of new questions:
- I looked for a way to alert Hawk to the punks' plans to burn him and his ilk up, but couldn't find a way to do it. Did I just overlook something, or is there some reason why he's so nonchalant about the punks tossing firebombs around on his turf?
- Is there some path through the quest that doesn't involve the player supplying explosives to the punks?
- In other Blind Legion news, where are the flamethrowers? I mean, if you can't believe guys on TV ranting about "flamethrower-wielding cultists stalking dark terrors", who can you believe?
- Snipers are cool. Are there hidden depths to the Sniper skill, or does it pretty much just do what it says on the tin? Maybe it's like the Servant of the Mask skill, which is relatively easier to get than other skills from the same quest, but is correspondingly less powerful?
Thinking about the new quest has really brought home to me how ambitious the quest design for this game is. I mean, players can be potentially be aligned with or against some or all of the following:
- the Fae King
- the Ocean King
- the Ghoul King
- the Herald of Flames (the Four?)
- the Third Eye
- the Blind Legion
- Dr. Thomas
- one (but only one, after The Survivors quest!) of four survivors
- someday, probably
- the Mafia
- the Yakuza
- the Renegades
- only you know what all else.
Seems like as the main quest line progresses, the number of potential interactions increases exponentially. How do you manage to keep on top of the content hydra so that it doesn't overwhelm you by growing too many new heads?
Why do so many choice encounters have a rest/heal option? If you're too beaten up to adventure, you won't be able to use these. If you're not completely out of HP, gang hideouts or your apartment in Southside generally provide more amenities. Should we be looking for more interactions like the one in the Empty Breakroom, or is there some other kind of rationale for that option being so common?
How close are we to getting the Devilish Flames technique legitimately? Do we need to find a whole new quest/quest-y block of content, or do we already have most or all of the moving parts we'd need? From the image, I get the sense that some kind of boss fight might be involved…
Is the Better Part of Valor conduct the one you had in mind in your devblog post about adding some new conducts, where you said "I make no promises anyone will ever get one of them, you’ve proven your resourcefulness in the past and it seems a shame not to include it."
Do you think the addition of cyberware has enticed spambots like "vuittonreplica" and "onlinediscout", both of whom recently created accounts, into playing the game? :)
I tried to keep them bite-sized (even if some were pretty chewy), but I realize that was a lot of questions. Thanks for answering however many of them you got to before running out of patience.
