Silvia Black

Cretino wrote:

Have you ever tried going over the limit of emails onscreen? You're soon going to reach it man. I didn't get to the mid game and already have 9 emails.

It is possible to delete e-mails(in-game), although I have heard of issues if one does so, but I have not seen anything happen when I have.

Anyway, my take on Silva...eh. I have run into her once, and that was on purpose. As for her, though...well, not saying I hate the character, but given that I technically have avoided her, I'm not too thrilled. Mainly because she sounds like any of the characters who are absolutely against the Dark Brotherhood in TES, always taking that righteous stance, way too convinced they know every angle. I might get Skyrim soon, and the quest that allows you to destroy the faction? I won't do it.

While I don't reload if I get a violation, I usually just roll with it until I can do a quest that gets me a redemption. Actually, what might be a better idea is if she would send you that first email not if you have an outstanding violation, but rather if you have violated the Masquerade at least once(i.e you could get one, and then do any quest that would gain a redemption, but you still get the email). Eh, it could be like this already, I'm not sure.

Maxus Corvin wrote:

Actually, what might be a better idea is if she would send you that first email not if you have an outstanding violation, but rather if you have violated the Masquerade at least once(i.e you could get one, and then do any quest that would gain a redemption, but you still get the email). Eh, it could be like this already, I'm not sure.

Yeah, it's already like this, as soon as you violate the masquerade from anywhere, you get the email. It's up to you when to read it.

Junk in the haven is not such a good idea.

For the mails, I generally delete all my mails after reading and never had any problems.

Another suggestion: raise Silvia's prices after using her service a few times.

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Junk in the haven is not such a good idea.

For the mails, I generally delete all my mails after reading and never had any problems.

Another suggestion: raise Silvia's prices after using her service a few times.

I agree, the player can easily get hung up on objects, especially in such a small space, so adding junk would just create movement problems.

As far as raising Silvia's prices, I actually don't want to do that because I'm trying to make violating the masquerade not quite such a huge deal, or not as expensive to repair. Most players reload after violating it because it's such a big deal right now and those hunters are so mean, so I'd like violating the masquerade to be more on par with losing humanity, in terms of how detrimental it is to do.

I actually do think that violating the masquerade should be hard punishment! Why? First Tradition! Lore!

I should be possible for playing to pay someone to clear their problems. But I do think its absolutely fair any reasonable for a certain hefty price tag!

Most people reload (including me) due to a habit and because they don't know anything about silvia and her function. So I tink its better to inform the players about her existance earlier. Maybe pretty early via an Email like this.

"Hey, heard you are new in town. Ever heard of the Traditions? Masquerade is really important for anyone that wants to survive here. If you screw up too often on that, you will be put to your final resting place. Don't worry though. I can help. If you can pay me. My services don't come cheap though."

Maybe I want to explore those violations now. Cause I'm interested what she has to offer.#
I personally find her way to cheap to use now. Its the masquarade! The First tradition! One of the most holiest and revered pillars of the unliving society. Screwing up costs your head more often than not. I wouldn't want to have that important lore aspect changed.

Also, the whole hunter system is something I totally love. Why? My actions have a consequences. I love that. Don't make my action be obsolete with the use of 100 $ I don't need to spend on anything anyways. Let me say "ouch" when I look at the pricetag for her services.

You think $1000 is cheap? Or 600? You must probably be playing melee then. I'm spending money on dem bullets ; (
(Crossbow and FIRE CROSSBOW ammo SHARE THE SAME AMMO, which costs $2 without haggle)

Zer0Morph wrote:

Actually, in TFN 1.2 Silvia will be asking for the PC's assistance on quest which expands on the Hollywood Cemetery. I don't want to give away any spoilers but know that the reward will be a 50% cost reduction on all Masquerade Redemptions. I won't give any more away than that.

When can you get this quest?
I might have skipped it in my playthroughs

I like your idea about starting the game with an email from here, making the player aware of her existence. You must remember though, paying $100 for a masquerade redemption only happens for a player with a Haggle of 10. You need a crap load of XP to get it that high and most people won't. Most people play with a Haggle of 1-5 so her prices would be $500-$1000 per redemption, not $100.

Does that help put perspective on it or are you still disagreeing with the change?

Well, as long as the usual possibilities for redemption exist, I probably won't need her services anyway.
I have no intention of playing a triggerhappy demonconjurer, a Samedi who is tired of Obfuscate, or a suicidal Salubri staring at the world with all three eyes wide open...

MxM wrote:

When can you get this quest?
I might have skipped it in my playthroughs

My apologies MxM, you must have read an old post of mine, this idea got smushed awhile back.

Zer0Morph wrote:

MxM wrote:

When can you get this quest?
I might have skipped it in my playthroughs

My apologies MxM, you must have read an old post of mine, this idea got smushed awhile back.

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Well, as long as the usual possibilities for redemption exist, I probably won't need her services anyway.
I have no intention of playing a triggerhappy demonconjurer, a Samedi who is tired of Obfuscate, or a suicidal Salubri staring at the world with all three eyes wide open...

I'll be honest, I've never needed her services yet either, however I'm planning on setting up a quest or two in TFN 1.4 so you'll still want to talk with her. As of now, if you just talk to her you get 1 XP point and if you Persuade her to reveal her past, you'll get 1 more XP point.

I'd like to set up 2-3 masquerade redemption quests that earn you XP as well though, at least that's the plan. Masquerade retrieval quests similar to the werewolf blood.

To be honest, I still think it is too cheap. For for something like 1000 - 50 per Haggle. I'm not even midgame have wayy to much cash already (no need to buy anything yet) and 22 xp I dont even need to spend.

I'm still thinkering with another idea concerning masquerade redemptions.
Instead of getting them outright (and possibly losing them because your record is clean atm), you have to report to the prince's office if you violate the masquerade. And if you can prove that you have done sopmething to protect the masquerade, like retreiving the werewolf blood, or dealing with Patty or Julius, they will clear your record.
That requires a room in the tower (problem), maybe a reskinned model for the employee, and dialog (real problem). Or I make it per telephone. Then at least i don't have to worry about the map and the lip files.
LaCroix has maquerade warning text, but I doubt the prince concerns himself with minor problems like the behaviour of some neonate.

You can make new maps by duplicating old ones and renaming them. So that's not a technical problem, and new lip files and cut-up dialogue sound files can be done too, very very tedious though. You have to ask yourself, is my idea "Technically" possible, and if it is, is the Time Spent <= The Reward for doing it. If it is, then go for it, if it's not, banish the idea to the abyss.

Zer0Morph wrote:

You can make new maps by duplicating old ones and renaming them. So that's not a technical problem, and new lip files and cut-up dialogue sound files can be done too, very very tedious though. You have to ask yourself, is my idea "Technically" possible, and if it is, is the Time Spent <= The Reward for doing it. If it is, then go for it, if it's not, banish the idea to the abyss.

Hey man, I'm not a noob...
Been there, done that. Question is, are there a map and dialog fragments that meet my requirements.

[quote="Zer0Morph"]

Zer0Morph wrote:

MxM wrote:

When can you get this quest?
I might have skipped it in my playthroughs

My apologies MxM, you must have read an old post of mine, this idea got smushed awhile back.

No problem, I didn't read the date of the post
[quote="Zer0Morph"]

Zer0Morph wrote:

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Well, as long as the usual possibilities for redemption exist, I probably won't need her services anyway.
I have no intention of playing a triggerhappy demonconjurer, a Samedi who is tired of Obfuscate, or a suicidal Salubri staring at the world with all three eyes wide open...

I'll be honest, I've never needed her services yet either, however I'm planning on setting up a quest or two in TFN 1.4 so you'll still want to talk with her. As of now, if you just talk to her you get 1 XP point and if you Persuade her to reveal her past, you'll get 1 more XP point.

I'd like to set up 2-3 masquerade redemption quests that earn you XP as well though, at least that's the plan. Masquerade retrieval quests similar to the werewolf blood.

That would be cool. Even playing "hardcore" I never needed her servizices.
Is there a way to know what happened to her eye ?

MxM wrote:

Is there a way to know what happened to her eye ?

Isn't that obvious? It was an accident while Zer0 was photochopping her face.

Childe of Malkav wrote:

MxM wrote:

Is there a way to know what happened to her eye ?

Isn't that obvious? It was an accident while Zer0 was photochopping her face.

Funny you bring that up, I was playing with her last night (yes we have a relationship) and the more I look at her nasty eye, the more I don't like it anymore. Thoughts about making her eye normal but keeping the scars? What do you guys think about this?

Zer0Morph wrote:

Childe of Malkav wrote:

MxM wrote:

Is there a way to know what happened to her eye ?

Isn't that obvious? It was an accident while Zer0 was photochopping her face.

Funny you bring that up, I was playing with her last night (yes we have a relationship) and the more I look at her nasty eye, the more I don't like it anymore. Thoughts about making her eye normal but keeping the scars? What do you guys think about this?

I don't know, whith the scars and the normal eye she would look better, but I was more interested abourabout her background/ story

MxM wrote:

I don't know, whith the scars and the normal eye she would look better, but I was more interested abourabout her background/ story

She has a full background and story, but you need persuasion to get her to open up about it, you also get XP for doing so. The persuasion level needed is around 5 or 6 but I lowered it for 1.3 to around 3 or 4. She explains who she used to work for and why she's helping Kindred now. My plan originally was to leave her open for additional quests and dialogue lines. Right now I'm setting up quests for her via email so I don't have to deal with new lines and lip files.

Cretino reached out to her and she responded so we know she's still around, so the potential of additional voice acting lines could be very cool. My mental gears and cranking.

Personally, I'd say keep the scars, and the eye as they are. Without them, there wouldn't be much of a question. Even if the question is "How did that happen?" it is enough that people might want to ask.

Maxus Corvin wrote:

Personally, I'd say keep the scars, and the eye as they are. Without them, there wouldn't be much of a question. Even if the question is "How did that happen?" it is enough that people might want to ask.

There is a line where you can ask, "What happened to your face" but she won't talk about it unless you have a high enough Persuasion. Keep the eye and scars as is? I can do that, I just thought I did TOO good of a job as it's very ugly and hard to look at, LOL. But yeah, I can keep them.

What does everyone else think?

Zer0Morph wrote:

MxM wrote:

I don't know, whith the scars and the normal eye she would look better, but I was more interested abourabout her background/ story

She has a full background and story, but you need persuasion to get her to open up about it, you also get XP for doing so. The persuasion level needed is around 5 or 6 but I lowered it for 1.3 to around 3 or 4. She explains who she used to work for and why she's helping Kindred now. My plan originally was to leave her open for additional quests and dialogue lines. Right now I'm setting up quests for her via email so I don't have to deal with new lines and lip files.

I meant the story about her eye, even with 9 of persuasion she didn't tell me anything
Ps: sorry for mispelling but I'm using my cell, as I can't use my computer till March

Zer0Morph wrote:

Maxus Corvin wrote:

Personally, I'd say keep the scars, and the eye as they are. Without them, there wouldn't be much of a question. Even if the question is "How did that happen?" it is enough that people might want to ask.

There is a line where you can ask, "What happened to your face" but she won't talk about it unless you have a high enough Persuasion. Keep the eye and scars as is? I can do that, I just thought I did TOO good of a job as it's very ugly and hard to look at, LOL. But yeah, I can keep them.

What does everyone else think?

A) 'Ugly' is relative. I don't know what this NPC looks like as I didn't know about her (I don't do Masquerade Violations, sorry ), but not everybody is going to agree on that part - and let's be honest, are any characters in this game really pretty? The graphics kinda make debating this point moot in my opinion.

B) 'Ugly' people exist. The World of Darkness is an ugly place where bad shit happens, especially to good people. It's supposed to make you uncomfortable - it's not a romantic comedy, it's horror, for crying out loud. Appreciate the horror. Embrace the horror (no, not like that, that's what Nosferatu and Toreador are for).

C) People who have scars and/or have lost an eye exist. Why should they not exist ingame? Especially since this NPC has a story to tell about these features. Tell that story, don't censor it just because it doesn't look pretty.

So in my opinion, keep her as she is - or at least don't just pretty her up just for the sake of prettying her up. I like the fact that there is a female (!) NPC who looks like a person and less ... generic, if you get what I mean.

MxM wrote:

I meant the story about her eye, even with 9 of persuasion she didn't tell me anything
Ps: sorry for mispelling but I'm using my cell, as I can't use my computer till March

Oh sorry. She doesn't have a specific story about her eye, but I figured it happened when she was attacked the "mentor" she talks about saved her life, who which by the way is a powerful Salubri. But I didn't tell you that.

I meant she talks about her background in general, who she used to work for, and why she's left the Fu Syndicate to help Kindred keep the masquerade.

Quote :

So in my opinion, keep her as she is - or at least don't just pretty her up just for the sake of prettying her up. I like the fact that there is a female (!) NPC who looks like a person and less ... generic, if you get what I mean.

You have a good point, and you're the second to agree with keeping her the same. Looks like I'll leave her alone then.