OOOHHHHHHHHHHHH DAWGI found a document on my Google Docs account that's a "question-and-answer" session between !!!! and ???? (Oric and the other mysterious villain shown in a very early update). It was uploaded on
January 28th, 2013. For reference, on 1/28/13, we were
here. This is, as far as I know, the earliest Warrens-related text document. We're entering TWoOtA archeology territory, here.
A lot of it is no longer applicable since the plot solidified, but other parts are. I don't think there are any spoilers in here, in particular since so many things have changed, but if you haven't been reading theorycrafting stuff then there might be one or two minor spoilers for something or other in here.
The link is here:
http://pastebin.com/pNkBH0AqI know there's jokes about how Warrens seems surprisingly well-planned-out and internally-consistent for a story relying on reader suggestions, but holy shit.
Right off the bat, there is no mention of the Angels or their superior(s). Oric says the dungeon is of Human construction -- in essence, an artificial afterlife. Oric also deliberately mentioned the Sinister Siblings as his actual siblings, and it seems they entered intentionally. None of these things are necessarily the case in the plot as it stands.
The stuff about Soul Stars and the LSS (called two different names in the document, you can see it didn't settle until the first hints of the Seraphim) is pretty similar to what we know but there are some incorrect things.
Oric's explanation about Riltia makes zero sense. In fact, the stuff about Ciro/the Astral Influx makes zero sense as well. Experience points? Stronger soul link?
The document does try to explain where Mili went which is interesting and not all that far off from what Al suspected might have happened.
Maybe the biggest difference of all - and it was Ochita who pointed this out to me - is that this is a much lighter, straightforward story. The only real plot twist in this version is "you were here ALL ALONG, and now you're going to reset again to make me more immortal, hue hue hue." And sure, that was a plot twist in the canon story, too, but there's others things in consideration now. For example, in this story, Oric is the bad guy no matter how you look at it. He's just selfish and afraid of death. That's it. What I mean is, in this story, Ecco would have never said Oric's system was "sound."
Because I don't have perfect memory of my own plans, what this suggests to me is that the additional factions (Angels, whatever Pink Girl and Chief are doing, etc.) were slowly introduced in Chapter 2 as a way of making the story engaging. The introduction of the creatures subservient to Oric but integral to the Warrens' operation allowed the Siblings to have various competing goals and made the story's morality a little more "grey-and-grey." If it was Oric controlling the whole thing by himself, the siblings would have to be completely brainwashed and with him or unbrainwashed and completely against him. I think Oric actually hints at this in the document, saying Riltia was "given" a more heroic role as if he could deliberately cause that.
The multiple factions also gave the players more importance to the story. Now our decisions actually matter instead of being "good" or "evil" -- we can ally with or against someone in-story not because it's the Path to the Best Ending but because we agree with them. I wanted this extra layer to the story because Bay 12's collective spirit may ultimately decide on a better route, and ending, through and to the story than I'd choose on my own. We've already done this -- allying with Proxxy and Cain, refusing Ecco his Ultimate Weapon, and choosing Windsong over Ripriver. These decisions and many others have significant impact on the game, and I'm pleased to see the shape it's starting to take.
i left home a lowly forum game author, and return a dam hillbilly
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Topic: (ISG) The Warrens of Oric the Awesome ??? (Read 3899706 times)