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Rondstat

Rondstat

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I also quite enjoyed the way the whole Tarddiad sequence was done, encouraging us to spend extra time there with some old school skilling, and making our discoveries seem much more by chance.

The lore introduced there was fantastic, too. Angof is an excellent character, and the story of the crystalline shapeshifters is simultaneously wondrous and horrifying. Plus the design is pretty cool, and I defo applaud Raven for introducing RS's first transgender character.

The light puzzle. THE LIGHT PUZZLE! This is what I had been waiting for, and probably the factor most sorely missed from Plague's End. It's been years since we've had a puzzle at this level, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The first moments are overwhelming, you have no idea what's going on. You investigate further, you start to understand how it works. And then, by the end, you've got your strategy and you feel like a boss lighting up them chunks.

But then, there are the shortcomings.

The enchanted key section. Why? Why? Guthix tells us that Seren needs to be put back together - which the Elves already know (Book of the Gods)! There's no reason for it, other than cynical fan service. Guthix was a perfect character, precisely because he appeared so briefly, every line was treated with extreme care, and his ending was treated as final and absolute. Then they include this - so we can tell Guthix about Zaros!? It's so transparent, to whom this is catering, but for me it does nothing but cheapen an otherwise great character with a superfluous digression and some limp dialogue - and I doubt eve John A could make it impactful, as the last time we saw Guthix, the world was at stake .

There are some mechanical issues. Nothing I'd exactly call a lorefail, but a few little hiccups - mostly excusable because of how many narrators we've had with elven history, and how unreliable it all ends up being. More egregious are the typos - bear, not bare; its, not it's.

28-Aug-2015 02:47:15

Rondstat

Rondstat

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Baxtorian. Not horrible, but it just felt sloppy. This was the biggest lore question mark left over from the elf quests, and it felt odd, using information that Arianwyn apparently had the whole time, to just pull this legendary figure into the present like it ain't no thang. Now, there's nothing wrong with him being a statue in the waterfall cave - it was always hinted that he may still be around - but at least let US discover the clue that leads to this revelation, don't make it something Lord Cadarn's just been sitting on because reasons.

I feel it would have been much better if we went back in time to talk to Baxtorian, who would give us the information on Seren's reassembly and the song himself, rather than involve Guthix or bring Baxtorian into the present. Plus, they don't even address the biggest issue - why'd he live so long? Meilyr mentions the mystery specifically in her notes, so you think they'd clear that up. I think Baxtorian is too big a character to play the role that he does. If we'd gone back and only had the opportunity to speak with him for a moment, sure, fine. But having the greatest legend of elven history sitting on the sidelines for most of the story seems like an odd choice, and a bit of a waste.

Once Seren comes back - meh. It all goes very predictably - thanks adventurer, I'll provide guidance but let the elves lead, so on, etc. I did like her mistrust of Zaros, but I felt like her dialogue really didn't match the character that's been so well established in the memoriam crystals. Perhaps this is intentional - it's impossible she would come back as the same Seren she was, but I'd at least have liked to have seen this addressed. A bigger annoyance is all the little inconsistencies, tonal and otherwise, in the flashbacks and histories. We had a pretty boilerplate 'I will rule the world' 'I will stop you' type of thing instead of the weird, desperate ******, mutual psychological abuse vibe that's been hinted at previously.

28-Aug-2015 03:01:01

Rondstat

Rondstat

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There were some aspects about her return I liked, though. Eluned's existential crisis. Giving me the opportunity to firmly state my opposition right from the get-go. Big ups.

And though there were some lore hiccups, I think there was some laudable attention to more forgotten points, like Baxtorian's status as a master of runic magic.

There's another big positive for this quest that's rather more intangible, which is that it was very satisfying. I can't describe why exactly, or how, but I finished the quest, and it really did feel like my character was at the end of an adventure. Which I haven't felt for a good while. It was certainly an epic quest, running around three worlds, playing with the fates of gods (lolz). I don't think that's all there is to it, though. Heck, maybe it's just the feeling you get from finishing a tricky puzzle. But I thought the structure was very good, and it had superb flow - each piece seemed to follow the next in a way that made sense in the context of the story (save for the Guthix bit). When we finally reached the end, it felt right.

EDIT: I-n-c-e-s-t is the word that's starred out in the post above. I clarify because I thought the bizarre, unnaturally defined character of their relationship, with its loathing and desire, was the defining aspect of the Zaros-Seren connection.

28-Aug-2015 03:08:32 - Last edited on 28-Aug-2015 03:28:50 by Rondstat

Plonster
Dec Member 2019

Plonster

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While guthix sleeps for the story for sure. But my favourite quest was the great brain robbery. Because it had a nice quest plot that involved going under water again into a secret base. It had another small island off my already favourite island. And the weapon reward at the time made all the more to finish the quest. The anchor was insane against players and it was the coolest weapon to date in design imho. I remember when I got my anchor when it first came out and I was stoked. I have this memory of everyone showing it off at pest control and spamming it lol. That anchor was awesome and remained awesome from march 2007 until it died out when godswords were released. Clan Defy -
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28-Aug-2015 12:58:52 - Last edited on 28-Aug-2015 13:08:18 by Plonster

Rondstat

Rondstat

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SO, I did Forgiveness of a Chaos Dwarf through Birthright in sequence on the beta (prefaced by a reading of 'The Coat Thief'). Wow. This is how these quests were meant to be played. The dwarf quests are probably the most character-driven in RS, and possibly John A's most mature work in the game.

First off, it's bleak. Man, is it bleak. The whole series is about a bunch of hollow people, their best years behind them, confronting their values, dreams, goals, and finding them empty, their lives aimless and without meaning. By the end of the quest, everyone's pretty much been reduced to a nihilist, and I think you miss the clear character progression, the parallels in story arcs and thematic consistency, when you break your experience of the quest up over years.

Some other factors help, too. Though I know we shouldn't be seduced by graphics, I really do feel like the 2001 era dwarves were distractingly clunky and primitive, and engendered a proclivity to dismiss the seriousness of a storyline that was quickly outgrowing the sophistication of its game. Secondly, the postquest dialogue for Bot* isn't just an extra, but a vital epilogue for the whole story, and its an immense narrative boon having it instantly available upon completion (especially for Veldaban and Brae).

I think dwarves never got the respect they deserve, because the quests never had anything shiny, no special graphics, well-known bosses, puzzles, mechanics, areas, etc. It was all set in ugly old Keldagrim, and never dealt with topics that affected the wider world. So, it was an anomaly, lorehounds never got stuck in, and very few people ever got what the story was really about. Redoing them, it's clear that Birthright is an AMAZING and very appropriate finale for the story, elevates the existing themes to their devastating conclusions, and leaves the player with the same ashen taste in their mouths that the heroes have lived with.

04-Sep-2015 03:41:38

Rondstat

Rondstat

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Veldaban is a man (dwarf) driven by a firm moral compass in a society that demands amorality. He's able to toe the line and put in the hard work necessary to become leader of the Black Guard, but at the expense of his personal life, and he finds himself middle aged, full of self loathing, hating what he has come to represent and how it has cost him himself. There's so little that truly defines him, and what there is contrasts directly with his office.

So he becomes a crusader. At times clandestine, at times insubordinate, but he lives by pursuing true justice. Not against the hapless human or starving thief, but those who truly threaten his people. The rising threat of the Red Axe is what gives him the opportunity to live.

But then, it's taken away from him. His love. His respect. His position. He quits the black guard in a rage, but when he makes plans to establish contacts and investigate the Red Axe on his own, he instead ends up spending his days drinking, observed by a lone barmaid, tormented by the fact that the office that he had come to despise was all that defined him. At his lowest point, the only thing he had retained was his principles.

We then meet Meike. Initially enthusiastic and idealistic about the prospect of a king, the monarchists see royalty as a sort of magic bandaid to all society's ills. When Veldaban enlists her help to stop Hreidmar taking the throne, she is shocked to find that all she'd believed, what she'd spent her adult life fighting for, is a lie, and she must be the instrument that compromises it, to ensure her longheld dreams never come to pass. Veldaban is callous when he demands she 'fix' the records, oblivious to her disillusionment, and ironically foreshadowing his own development.

04-Sep-2015 03:54:19

Rondstat

Rondstat

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Finally, our heroes sacrifice truth, sacrifice justice to thwart the King of the Dwarves. Veldaban becomes the most powerful dwarf on Gielinor, and it has only cost him his principles - the one thing he had left.

When we meet Veldaban again, he is bitter, cynical. He has become the symbol of oppression he rallied so hard against, that once made him throw down his badge before the throne on which he now sits. His is the purse that holds tight the strings, keeping the Black Guard from fully patrolling the city. His are the edicts that send citizens to fight and die. And he finds he has become callous. He despises not only himself, not only the greedy consortium, but the common dwarves who pester him with petitions, the people for whom he'd once sacrificed so much.

He believes in nothing. He loves nothing. And so, after listing off a plethora of very real issues to the kingdom, he turns selfishly, to the one thing that gave him purpose so long ago. He turns to the Red Axe. The man with everything has nothing, and he can only lend meaning to his bleak existence in the pursuit of vengeance.

No longer are perps judged on their characters or intentions. In no uncertain words, he instructs us to execute anyone with even a passing connection to the Red Axe, as per the law. He leads a quixotic, unprovoked crusade into their territory, only to discover the one dwarf more empty than himself.

Hreidmar dedicated his life, his fortune, his standing, his morality, even his soul to ascending the throne. And now he stands on the cusp of winter, nothing to show for it, and decides, rather than face his failures, the hell of his own devising, he would rather build a grand facade, a grotesque pantomime that allows him to live the perfect fantasy that staves off real life.

04-Sep-2015 04:05:37

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