6461

You do know you can make the names up yourself, right?

6462

Out of the numerous glaring problems, the name auto-generating is what kills it for you?

6463

I haven’t gotten any deeper into the game since I pre-ordered it. I tried it when it came out, thought it was bad, and only now have re-visited it. I tried it again last night, saw the stupid auto-name generator, assumed it still sucked, and turned it off. So, it still has problems?

6464

Really? You judged the whole game based on the random name generator in the very beginning?

6465

Yeah but when it auto-generates shit like “Asalosluy” and “Omixtapputr” I just think,“Wow, how fucking stupid.” and I lose the mood and go play PS3.

6466

Yep. That part is fucking dumb. You mean to tell me they can’t take those lines of code out and leave it blank?

I played it a lot when it came out and it blew dog. I thought I try again, they still have greeting me at new game start up an example of poor design (imo), so I’m not willing to risk the investment of my very limited free time.

I’m willing to listen to your critique of how it has improved. Then maybe I’ll summon the energy and try it again.

6467

Ha! You won’t get that from me! I don’t think it’s “improved” much, but I’ve felt Elemental was lacking in a lot of areas besides just poor coding, so polishing the game to be more stable really didn’t “fix” what I wanted.

I just think it’s odd to dismiss a game based on a random name generator.

6468

You’re right. It is odd.

6469

I gotta admit that I have shown some premature prejudice on stupid game features, but this one takes the cake.

6470

I didn’t quit the game because of it, but I too hate it when games decide that in order to be unique they have to make up names you have no idea how to pronounce. My mind tunes out immediately. There’s zero chance I’ll figure out what’s going on in whatever nonsense backstory you’re peddling and I will like the game less.

6471

But that’s not really a valid complaint in this case because all the randomly generated name spots in Elemental give you a chance to rename it to whatever you want. If you can’t be bothered to get your mouse pointer to the text box and type in your own name, then I guess you’ll just have to live with what you get.

6472

I dunno, I’m usually one to say that Elemental isn’t bad now, just that it isn’t good.

That said, I think there’s a real point to be made that if one of your first impressions getting into a game is a name you simply cannot pronounce then it honestly is a bad idea to have it there. It’s just mentally jarring.

I mean, how long did you have to go in “The Call of Cthulhu” before Lovecraft finally dropped that doosy of a name? Oh, wait … bad example. ANYWAY, you still get what I mean ;)

6473

Hmmm, I think of it this way: Elemental at release was bad, Elemental now is just bland.

It doesn’t have problems so much, more just a lack of anything that grips you and makes you want to go another turn.

6474

I like having random name generators. It saves me from having to come up with my own, and it gives me a sense of what are appropriate names within the games mythos. All my Rift characters are randomly named and I’m pretty happy with the results, whereas LOTRO didn’t have a random name generator and it took me forever to come up with a name that fit into Tolkien’s world.

I’m strongly in the pro “games with random name generation” camp. If you don’t like the names generated come up with your own.

6475

Sure it’s valid, it may not be a big deal (it’s not to me in this game). I was speaking generally. If they went through the bother of making a random name generator they could have at least considered if the names they created could be pronounced easily by most people.

I fired up Elemental to remember how much I hated the naming - click through a bunch of random names for your character and the world and see how many you can pronouce. Maybe it shouldn’t bug me but it does. Also I still don’t know how to pronounce their encyclopedia.

6476

“There are currently 124 weapons in Fallen Enchantress including 17 base weapons.”

Makes it sound like designing troops will be quite interesting and not just piling on stuff until you’ve got the best unit :)

6477

Are these 124 weapons going to have a bit of flavor, or will they be the GalCiv-esque “Weapon #2 is Weapon #1 with 3% greater damage”? That style of troop design wouldn’t be particularly interesting.

6478

Read the linked dev diary, it answers your question in detail. IMO, the equipment customization sounds awesome. I like reasons to equip swords vs spears vs maces, other than just being better against armor types. Spears armor pierce, mauls get a larger bonus from strength, etc… great stuff!

6479

Everything I see from Derek makes me want the game more and more.

6480

That all sounds flippin’ amazing. The kind of thing I’ve longed to see in this kind of game for years.