The Drunken Lizard Pub

Since it hasn't been hit in a month, I figured I would post the results... and expect a "Part 2" at some point, to include some oft requested options...

Just for the record, the number in () is the actual number of votes. I might do some color coding of the results... but not tonight. -_-

What style Game Engine do you favor?
3D Overhead view (9) 13%
2D Isometric View (44) 64%
2D Flat Overhead View (3) 4%
First Person (13) 19%

Comments: This is hardly surprising, considering the game forum it's in.

What type of gameplay do you prefer in an RPG?
Action RPG (1) 1%
Strategic RPG (10) 14%
Story Heavy (8) 12%
Action RPG with Story Balance (13) 19%
Strategy with Story Balance (20) 29%
Action, Strategy, Story Balance (17) 25%

This one's fairly spread out.

How do you like your Character(s) to start?
Class Based (17) 25%
Skill Based (11) 16%
Combination (41) 59%

Interesting. I would have expected a higher number for #2...

What type of level progression do you prefer for your Character(s)?
Level up with pre-designated stat increases (6) 9%
Leveling with manual stat/skill point designation (46) 67%
Skill Point Progression (11) 16%
Other (6) 9%

Another "no surprise here" result... you stat whores! ^_^

Enemy Encounters - The Little Guys
Random Encounters (9) 13%
Fixed Visibile Encounters (21) 30%
Random Visibile Encounters (31) 45%
No Preference (8) 12%

There's a decent spread between Fixed and Random visibles here, but Random Visible takes the prize.

Enemy Encounters - The Big Guys
Mini-Bosses with an End Boss (50) 72%
Single End Game Boss (2) 3%
Recurring Boss (5) 7%
No Preference (12) 17%

This one sort of surprised me, considering that Eschalon pretty much falls under #2. There aren't really any mini-bosses... except maybe the queen bee.

What's the type of Storyline Progression you enjoy?
Linear (1) 1%
Mostly Linear (12) 17%
Mostly Non-Linear (35) 51%
Completely Non-Linear (21) 30%

I think it's safe to say that Eschalon fans in general don't like linear gameplay... 0_o

How is your Treasure Best Served Up?
Completely Random - I like weapon fragments just as much as World Destroyers. (0) 0%
Scaled Random - Random but based on encounter level range... Dragons should be guarding more than a rusty ring and a scrap of paper. (26) 38%
Random/Fixed - Random with some fixed items or secret items that are super cool. (22) 32%
Mostly Fixed - World treasures should be fixed, only enemy encounters should have random loot. (15) 22%
Fixed - I don't like variety, it needs to be the same every time. (3) 4%
No Preference - I like treasure... in my pocket. (3) 4%

I left the extra descriptions in because I though they were important to the voting results for this question. Completely random FTL! >.<

What about NPC's?
Quantity - I like a veritable bustling world of NPC's, even if they have all the personality of a paper bag. (2) 3%
Quality - "A Few Good Men" is where it needs to be (and women, of course). (21) 30%
Balance - I like a lot of NPC's, but the quest-givers should at least be memorable characters. (44) 64%
Very Few NPC's - NPC's get in the way of my sword. (2) 3%

Okay, now I'm just being lazy by leaving in the extra descriptions. Paper bag = not a good time.

What Style of Combat do you usually follow?
Melee Freak (15) 22%
Magicial Mayhem (10) 14%
Stealthy-Type (8) 12%
Ranged Warfare (8) 12%
Balance (28) 41%

The first couple months of the survey, there were zero magic-only votes. But finally all the choices got some lovin'...

How about Personality Type?
Good (29) 42%
Evil (2) 3%
Neutral (15) 22%
Opportunist (23) 33%

Surprisingly light on evil, considering the number of destroyer posts... >.>

What's your favorite locale in an RPG?
In Town (17) 25%
Forest (9) 13%
Desert (1) 1%
Mountains (3) 4%
Arctic Region (3) 4%
Dungeon (26) 38%
Other (10) 14%

Towns and dungeons are the hip-n-happening places to be!

What Type of Ending do you go for?
They All Lived Happily Ever After (28) 41%
Tragedy (30) 43%
Evil Ending (3) 4%
Other (8) 12%

Interesting... half of y'all are some morbid folk.

And let's not forget the most important question....

How did you like this survey?
Excellent - Doooood, this survey was like, totally AWESOME! Awesome with an "A", as opposed to any other letter that would totally not make sense... (11) 16%
Good - I thoroughly enjoyed the deep, thought provoking questions. Keep up the good work... er if you plan on making a job out of this. (31) 45%
Neutral - Eh, it was all right, I suppose. I didn't have anything else to do anyway. Except maybe... nope nothing. (23) 33%
Poor - I could totally write a better survey in my sleep. As a matter of fact, I'm doing this survey in my sleep right now! (3) 4%
Horrible - Man, you seriously need to take long look at your survey making skills. Oh, wait... you don't have any! Sorry about that, didn't mean to kick you down the stairs and spit on you after you hit the bottom. Have a nice day! (1) 1%

All right, did whoever really have to select #5, just because it was the coolest sounding option? >.<

CrazyBernie wrote:Since it hasn't been hit in a month, I figured I would post the results... and expect a "Part 2" at some point, to include some oft requested options...

How is your Treasure Best Served Up?
Completely Random - I like weapon fragments just as much as World Destroyers. (0) 0%
Scaled Random - Random but based on encounter level range... Dragons should be guarding more than a rusty ring and a scrap of paper. (26) 38%
Random/Fixed - Random with some fixed items or secret items that are super cool. (22) 32%
Mostly Fixed - World treasures should be fixed, only enemy encounters should have random loot. (15) 22%
Fixed - I don't like variety, it needs to be the same every time. (3) 4%
No Preference - I like treasure... in my pocket. (3) 4%

I generally agree with the plurality on 'Scaled Random' (with some 'Random/Fixed' thrown in sometimes!), though I think the former option needs to be based on more than the "level" of the monster "guarding" the treasure.

One of the big problems I had with Book I was that "treasure difficulty" wasn't rewarded either, because the loot seemed to be totally random!
I.E., if I have to get through a trap and a lock to get inside a treasure chest, then I dang well better get something more than some lantern oil and a skull for my troubles!!

So, treasure should also be scaled to whether treasure chests are locked or trapped or not - with unlocked, untrapped chest giving the crummiest loot, and trapped and locked chest giving premium loot...

CrazyBernie wrote:Enemy Encounters - The Little Guys
Random Encounters (9) 13%
Fixed Visibile Encounters (21) 30%
Random Visibile Encounters (31) 45%
No Preference (8) 12%

There's a decent spread between Fixed and Random visibles here, but Random Fixed takes the prize.

I have to admit: I don't quite get the definitions here - what would be the difference between "Fixed Visibile Encounters" and "Random Visibile Encounters"?

(FTR - and I think I mentioned this over in the Book II Regeneration of Monsters thread - my personal preference is for each "map" to initially have a certain number of 'fixed encounters', but then have the game shift to 'encounters randomly placed within the map in question' upon re-entering it, once all of the initial 'fixed encounters' in the map in question have been "dispatched", if you catch my drift...

Fixed visible means that the enemies always show up in the same place no matter how many times you restart the game.

Random visible means that the enemies might spawn randomly (number and location), but you can still see them...

jRPG's (Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, etc) generally use a Random Encounter system... you don't see the enemy until you encounter it in battle.

Also, I corrected the "random fixed" typo... thanks for pointing that out... without actually pointing it out! ^_^


I also would be a fan of scaled random w/ some fixed rarities... but given the choice between the two I'd rather have scaled random. Book I does have a sort of scaled random, but it's level based as opposed to environment based (the higher your level, the higher level loot that you might get). It's cool in a way, except when you don't get something your level. >.<