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« on: May 17, 2014, 06:32:30 am »
Now I feel like a bit of a jerk for my previous (way long time ago) outburst. Sorry about that, guys. Let's say I was a spirit of chaos or something and leave it at that.
Something interesting that I've noticed: despite Morrowind being a game, this... adventure?... doesn't follow game-rules. That is why you can't 'game' the system. It follows narrative rules, with some game rules tacked on to keep it interesting. Okay, that makes little sense, but allow me to explain, after which its going to sound very obvious and I'm going to seem a dunce.
In a game, you tackle a big problem by preparation. You level up, collect all the possible bits that can help you, grind skills, etc. until you are strong enough to deal with it, which is why it is important to get stronger whenever you can - the game (generally) doesnt wait for you, the difficulty of the tasks you face are set, regardless of how capable you are of dealing with them. But on the flipside of the coin - and this is the bit gamers exploit - you dont have to wait for the game either. You can grind up capability and tasks become easier, so if you do all the correct tasks in the correct order, a gamer usually stays ahead of the curve and finds all challenges easy if not trivial.
Here, we follow the rules of narrative, where you deal with a big problem by, in a sense, charging blindly at it. Okay, not exactly. But in a game it is possible to play yourself into a situation where you are behind the curve sufficiently so that you 'lose'. That is not possible in a story based on narrative. How interesting would Harry Potter be if he reached the final face off with whats-his-face-that-must-not-be-named-except-it-doesnt-actually-do-anything and he learns that because he had elected to leave the magical doohickey behind in the first chapter or neglected to practice his spellcasting enough while running around on whatever errand he was doing he is now incapable of defeating his nemesis and dies quickly and quietly? No. Narrative means the hero always has a chance, however slim! And on the flipside, it means that whatever advantages the hero gains, he will never have more than a slim chance against whatever his enemy is because that would be boring.
This is where the tacked-on game-rules come in. Plot runs on narrative. The rest of the world runs on game-rules, which means cliff-racers, rats, Kagouti, Alits, all the other nasty things that can kill you will if you are dumb. Even a bunch of the plot characters will kill you if you are dumb. But you also get 'resets' if you die, (save/loading?) with some consequences to the narrative. Or something.
What does that mean for you, Micheal (and all the voices guiding his steps?) Don't think of this as a game. It doesn't follow gamey rules. Think of it as a story. Odds are that no matter how much Micheal trains and improves, it will be just enough to get him through the (plot) challenges that await him. Doesn't mean he does not need to practice at all, but he does not need to grind. We don't need to build up a base or practice up a bunch of skills or do anything in particular before we can take on the next piece of Plot, because advancing the plot (and practicing responsibly while doing so) will provide sufficient improvement.
I'm sorry to say I have no real idea about what to do next, but a few interesting bits the other voices (and Micheal too I suppose) can consider:
-Azura is the key to this. I have limited experience, but she seems to be a lot more involved in this world than in vanilla Morrowind. The question here is who was the 'We' that yanked Micheal into Morrowind in the first place? My money is on Azura.
-There is a connection between Azura and Celestia/Luna, but you've noticed this already. What if Azura is both Azura and Celestia, depending upon which world you are standing? Equestria or Morrowind? Like viewing a complex shape from different sides? Just spitballing here. Probably not technically relevant anyway.
-Perhaps we are approaching the pony angle from the wrong side. Micheal was aware of them before he entered Morrowind. What if he brought them in with him? Bits of his consciousness/memories/personality/etc. So far he has not been able to have a coherent conversation with them, it is as if they HAVE no base reality. Consider Awesomicus. He ignores the reality around him pretty much, but doesn't respond to references about a 'real' world either (I think). At least, he did not react to the 'questgiver' breaching the 4th wall and knowing about things such as 'fetch quests' and 'quest chains'. So who is he?
-Remember that Micheal himself technically has no 'real' world either (sorry Micheal), apparently. Based on the conversation with Vivec, it seems his memories of himself pre-Morrowind are 'false' in a way as they have no origin. So what exactly is Micheal? Human? Humans don't appear out of nowhere. A copy of a human? That seems more reasonable. But if so, who made the copy? And why? There are 4 or so potential Nerevarines in here already, why need another? Unless his arrival was necessary for them to arrive...
Heh. That's all I have. Pretty sure I've muddied the waters more than I've helped, but some reminding is necessary every once in a while.
