I know where the books are

Hi,

I think everyone has experienced this "problem" after playing a few games. You just know where to find the books and other powerups, who can teach what skill, and for which quest you get a powerup as reward.
This rather straightforward feature of the game can (and probably does) lead players to rise their stats in a certain order, regardless of the clan they are playing.

So, I've been thinking of ways to get this a bit more flexible. Something like randomizing the distribution of items.

My first thought was, making books for every ability and setting up some kind of library where you can select a limited number of books to boost your stats. Now that I'm writing this down, I've been thinking of something else. Why not make the books from permanent upgrades to boosters like the magical items, so you can borrow one in the library to get some stat up, and if you don't need it any more, just return it and borrow something else. (That would also disable the exploit of selling a book and then rebuying it twice.)

Another thought I had was setting up something like an "email college". There you can buy a limited number of upgrades for your abilities. It would be like having some teachers around, but on the computer, to avoid the game limitations on new maps, and the problem of getting voice actors for new npc dialoges.

Any other ideas or comments on this

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P.S. Apart from the game limitation, that you can't create new items, but change the existing ones into something else, as long as you can find a suitable model for the graphics, I'd like this topic free of technical discussions. We can set up new topics for discussing the technical problems of any idea posted here.

Hi!

I think your ideas are great, aside from the tech problems you mentioned. I think that at least randomizing the occult objects and books would be really handy, since once you've played the game through you know where to find them. And like you, I've found that I as I keep replaying (most of the time as a malk, but other clans too), my characters are all pretty much the same stat-wise. I do sometimes switch between seduction and intimidation and very rarely between melee and firearms (since the firearms are just so much more effective, they've made the melee weapons mostly superfluous), but all the other stats seem to end up the same. And it bugs me. I'm a big fan of Morrowind and Oblivion so Bloodlines still seems too short for me, which is why I keep playing it again and again (am I the only one who'd pay a ridiculous amount of money for a VtM MMORPG?), but got to tell you that it is getting boring.

I like the idea of the online training via e-mail, I think it would make the computers and the e-mail on the game a lot more fun and important I mean after you've read all the e-mails you get in the game once, you know exactly what they say, and I for one haven't bothered to actually read them after my second round with the game. So any new e-mailing would be great...

I'm not so sure about the library, it might make the game (especially the end) too easy, since anyone who's played the game once knows what kind of boosters you need for a certain quest. I think the end of the game is already too easy (I'm just a girl and not an avid gamer) so getting special objects for the final quests would just take away the little challenge there is. Of course this would work for those who don't find the game too easy.

tinga1911 wrote:

Hi!

I think your ideas are great, aside from the tech problems you mentioned. I think that at least randomizing the occult objects and books would be really handy, since once you've played the game through you know where to find them. And like you, I've found that I as I keep replaying (most of the time as a malk, but other clans too), my characters are all pretty much the same stat-wise. I do sometimes switch between seduction and intimidation and very rarely between melee and firearms (since the firearms are just so much more effective, they've made the melee weapons mostly superfluous), but all the other stats seem to end up the same. And it bugs me...

Yes, it's the same for me. Most characters I play end up with the same stats, too.

Quote :

I like the idea of the online training via e-mail, I think it would make the computers and the e-mail on the game a lot more fun and important I mean after you've read all the e-mails you get in the game once, you know exactly what they say, and I for one haven't bothered to actually read them after my second round with the game. So any new e-mailing would be great...

The idea for this was mostly to get a chance of spending your money on something useful. Making new quests e-mail based seems the easiest way to go about it, but the mails themselves will get as boring as the existing ones, after you read them a few times

Quote :

I'm not so sure about the library, it might make the game (especially the end) too easy, since anyone who's played the game once knows what kind of boosters you need for a certain quest. I think the end of the game is already too easy (I'm just a girl and not an avid gamer) so getting special objects for the final quests would just take away the little challenge there is. Of course this would work for those who don't find the game too easy.

Don't worry too much about that. If I put up a library in the fashion I mentioned, you could only 3 or 4 books and only +1 for the abilities. And don't forget, in that case, there would be no normal books lying around.
But you are absolutely right, compared to some of the other quests, the endgame seems ridiculesly easy.

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Hi, everybody

I've setup the skeleton for an email based college over the weekend. It seems to work fine, but it still needs fleshing out. So I need some texts that are displayed when you start the courses for increasing abilities. Something like the descriptions in the books, or tips for real world books to read "for further studies"

Any suggestions are welcome

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Cool! I think this is a good idea. I guess what it comes down to is what can an online college teach to a vampire? I'd be happy to write some course descriptions, but I need a guideline. Also, how long can the descriptions be (word or character count would be nice)?
And by the way, is the online college going to be tied to the research skill?

I've got some titles ready, if they're okay I'll write full descriptions for the courses.

History of Barfighting (brawl)
A. Grout's Human psyche (intimidation)
Ms. Manners knows best (charisma)
D. Caruso: Finding the threads (investigation)
Beckett's World History (scholarship)
Locksmith's Apprentice (security)
Money, money, money (finance)
You have the goodies (subterfuge)
W. Tell: Aim High! (firearms)
Pilates for Dummies (dexterity)
CIA stealthology (stealth)

I'll try to come up with more, these were just some random bursts of my ever-so-lively wit.

Computer (low skill)
Did you try turning it off and on again ?

I set it up so you can buy 36xp worth of Abilities at 100$ per xp. You can learn any ability from 2 up to 4. This will also cost you 2 points of blood per 3xp to simulate the time needed for studies. And you need at least 3 research feat, your choice if you get it with scholarship or intelligence.
The other limitations i've thrown in are: 50$ entrance fee; you get thrown out if you fail to pay for your current course; courses not spent until the bloodhunt starts are lost; if you don't have enough blood for the course and level you try to achieve, you don't learn it because you can't concentrate but you have to pay the money and lose the slots anyway.

On the technical side, you can use up to 512 characters of text and 32 for a short description

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Hi,

The titles sound promising But we only need abilities, no attributes
For computers I was thinking on something like "ALT + F4 my favorite keys"

Another question: A directory in the game computers can have up to six functions. Would you prefer the 12 abilities in alphabetical order in two directories, or better 3 directories "talents", "skills", and "knowledges" as in the charactereditor?

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I'd like a separation between talents, skills, knowledges, since there is an actual reason for this separation.
Talents are innate, skills are trained with practice and tactical, and knowledges are learned through studies...

I would propose that for skils and talents, the course would be night class of practicing :
paintball/lasergame for Firearms
Chevalerie/chinese juggling for melee
Aikido training for brawl,
Dodgeball for dodge,
Sneaking out of bed when your parents are watching TV to get a cookie for stealth

Like claudia, I too would like to have them in three foulders separating the talents, skills and knowledges.
"CIA interigation techniques" (intimidation)
"How to get what you want, when you want it and how you want it. If you know how to ask, you can get the answers you need, every time."
"Scrooge it!" (finance)
"Money: how to get it, where to put it and what to do with it."
"Aim it right"
" "My name is William Tell: when little oppressions touch me, arrows hidden in my cloak whisper, "Ready, ready." "

Hi,

sounds as if the sorting will be "talents/skills/knowledges"

The suggestions for titles and texts so far sound good

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