Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[WillowLuman]

Again, we're not quite equipped to get to Azura's shrine right now. There's a lot of swimming and climbing, not to mention a trip through Malog Amur.

[IronyOwl]

Here's an observation, though, for what it's worth: With Michael so underpowered, and any kind of power up slow and expensive, he's effectively railroaded to stay in civilized areas and means of transport.  His only asset is his knowledge of the game, which becomes more obsolete every game day, and which he has to be careful not to share too much.  If I was playing this forum game, I'd wonder exactly how I was supposed to make a difference in the world.

To be honest, after reading the whole thread, it seems clear to me that Michael was not meant to power up, especially considering the GM's desired time scale: he was meant I think to use his knowledge of the game to track and influence events, to maybe clue in one side or the others to better change their fate.

While leveling for us is more difficult than a normal Morrowind character, the issue isn't that we're incapable, it's that we've never tried.

I mean, think of what we did on arriving. Faffed about with some mushrooms, realized we're not an alchemist, and then went straight to Vivec to blather at him about everything we know. From there, we went back to Seyda Neen, stole some stuff, faffed about with trying to complete quests we knew of, and eventually gave up and joined the Legion. Then we got to blather about the genocide at Khuul, which led to us blathering at Cosades, which got us out of the Legion, which led to us blathering at Fyr.

We have tried a few combat quests, and battled or at least been struck by a few things on the road, but for the most part our game plan has consisted of running around talking to people and using our game knowledge like a truncheon. The only skills we've had an interest in have been either from automated Legion training or problematically magical in nature.

If we'd tried to be a normal Morrowind character, we'd have had it rough owing to our abysmal starting skills and attributes. But we'd still have been able to improve, and that would have made further improvement easier. That's what I'd like us to try now- going out and fighting rats or whatever to improve so future rats aren't so dangerous to us.

As we have found out, our knowledge is useless as nobody in a position of power who could actually do anything useful with it is willing to listen to the ramblings of a poor, low skill, mad outsider. We need a powerful and open minded ally to manage that, and short of.... erm, Aryon or Diviath Fyr, there aren't really any. I suppose we could always try our luck with the gods, but that would probably end badly, other than Azura, but contacting her would be a major pain in the ass at this stage.

This isn't the issue either. Plenty of people have listened to us, and really most of them believed us. The issue is that we've been using it because when all we have is a hammer, not because we thought it would produce an effective result.

Consider Vivec. We told him all about everything. Why? If the answer was "he's a good guy and so might be able to stop horrible things from happening," then I guess it probably worked. If the answer is "oh man yeah we should totally use our knowledge," uh. We did indeed say the things to the guy, so mission accomplished. If the plan was "it'll help us," I guess it kind of succeeded anyway, but that's not actually a plan.

Or the Balmora murderer. We knew who had done it, but we didn't really have a coherent plan for taking advantage of the fact. We tried anyway, and so unsurprisingly were butchered like a pig.

We've had plenty of partial successes or neat side benefits to using our knowledge, but we've had some difficulty benefiting from or affecting anything with it because we've seldom had a plan to do so. It's like if we had maxxed combat stats coming in here, and so decided to take advantage of that fact by killing everything in sight. Would that make things better? Probably, at least in a few cases... but you wouldn't have much sympathy for someone wandering around the grazelands one-shotting everything while complaining that stats really don't help much.

Again, we're not quite equipped to get to Azura's shrine right now. There's a lot of swimming and climbing, not to mention a trip through Malog Amur.

Yeah, this. Plus, why would we want to talk to Aryon again? The shrine at least has some potential for Azura to say "Michael what are you doing, go to Balmora and talk to Clover." Other than being Sexy's patron, I don't see what Aryon's got to offer us, nevermind how we're going to get to him. Telvanni, remember.


On that note, I'll officialize my vote as teleport back to Balmora and start meandering to Pelagiad. Stop by the side of the road to empty your magicka casting Fleabite, then fight anything along the way that won't murder us. Also collect alchemy reagents. Return to Balmora to rest if sufficiently injured. DANGER, DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

[Araph]

Yeah, this. Plus, why would we want to talk to Aryon again? The shrine at least has some potential for Azura to say "Michael what are you doing, go to Balmora and talk to Clover." Other than being Sexy's patron, I don't see what Aryon's got to offer us, nevermind how we're going to get to him. Telvanni, remember.

I considered Aryon a potential benefactor, given how different his view of the world is from the rest of the Telvanni. I mean, he's definitely the most reasonable by our reckoning, and he has more of an investment in the state of Morrowind as a whole than Divayth does. If I recall correctly, his people (the people of Vos under his... protection? Jurisdiction?) have a much more positive view of him than the other citizens of House Telvanni's domain. If we explain what we know, there's a good chance he'll react far more productively (and less 'for science') than Fyr.

Not only that, but Aryon knows SexyWithers. Not just 'is aware of'; he actually knows who she is and what her deal is. There aren't many other people in that position for any of the PCs. We'll probably encounter Cinia again, too.

I mentioned the Shrine of Azura, but I was aware it would be practically impossible for us to get there. That's why I suggested a potentially useful trip that would cost us very little and is guaranteed to give us some time to practice destruction, alchemy, acrobatics, etc. on the way.

On that note, I'll officialize my vote as teleport back to Balmora and start meandering to Pelagiad. Stop by the side of the road to empty your magicka casting Fleabite, then fight anything along the way that won't murder us. Also collect alchemy reagents. Return to Balmora to rest if sufficiently injured.

...This is just as not-useful as travelling to Tel Vos. We'd be improving the exact same skills. Also, there's a crapton of wickwheat in the Grazelands, which I would consider a valuable resource to stock up on for healing potions.

[WillowLuman]

Remember, in this version, alchemy ingredient effects are different for every person. The only effect we know from Wickwheat is resist paralysis, which isn't an effect it has in vanilla. In fact, one of its vanilla effects is paralyze.

EDIT _{BECAUSE FORGOT EARLIER}: Though costing money, it's easier and safer to get to Pelagaid from Seyda Neen than from Balmora.

[IronyOwl]

I considered Aryon a potential benefactor, given how different his view of the world is from the rest of the Telvanni. I mean, he's definitely the most reasonable by our reckoning, and he has more of an investment in the state of Morrowind as a whole than Divayth does. If I recall correctly, his people (the people of Vos under his... protection? Jurisdiction?) have a much more positive view of him than the other citizens of House Telvanni's domain. If we explain what we know, there's a good chance he'll react far more productively (and less 'for science') than Fyr.

But what would he actually do about it? Is this a plan to get money or training or allies against Dagoth Ur or what?

Not only that, but Aryon knows SexyWithers. Not just 'is aware of'; he actually knows who she is and what her deal is. There aren't many other people in that position for any of the PCs. We'll probably encounter Cinia again, too.

He knows as far as she's told him and he's seen; that's not necessarily the same as having a deep knowledge of her history and inner workings. He might not be able to tell us any more than Yagrum can, especially since we already know a theoretically fair amount about her by assuming she's a pony.

...This is just as not-useful as travelling to Tel Vos. We'd be improving the exact same skills. Also, there's a crapton of wickwheat in the Grazelands, which I would consider a valuable resource to stock up on for healing potions.

The difference being that we can be relatively certain of surviving most of what's between Balmora and Pelagiad. Wandering around in the Grazelands has much less certainty on that note, especially if the Ashlanders are more proactive in their banditry.

EDIT _{BECAUSE FORGOT EARLIER}: Though costing money, it's easier and safer to get to Pelagaid from Seyda Neen than from Balmora.

The point isn't necessarily to arrive at Pelagiad, just to have a plan if we do. Wandering between a guild hall and an inn sounds like a fairly sound plan, and I recall there being a lot more open space around Pelagiad than Balmora.

Though I'd like to hear about safety. I'm of the possibly incorrect impression that kagouti (which I'm of the possibly incorrect impression we can't take) sometimes spawn in that canyon between Seyda Neen and the Pelagiad region, but not anywhere between Pelagiad and Balmora.

For that matter, I've already mentioned that I have no idea what Caldera is like. If it'd be safe enough, wandering between Caldera and Balmora could be even better, since we'd never have to pay for a bed and could instantly transport from one end to the other.

[WillowLuman]

The main danger going between Balmora and Pelagaid is cliff racers, which thus far are amongst the most dangerous things we've encountered There are a couple canyons on the way that are often chock full of them. The Seyda Neen route, on the other hand, only rarely has cliff racers, and the most dangerous thing that's likely to appear are nix hounds. The Kagouti are only likely to show up if you wander around north of pelagaid.

Balmora to Caldera has less cliff racers, but a worrying amount of alits. Still, less dangerous than Balmora to Pelagaid.

[Araph]

[snip]

I concede the point; Pelagiad is probably a better destination of choice for Michael.

Also, I totally forgot about the alchemy weirdness.

[The_Jester]

My vote is for going to Seyda Neen and training destruction and other skills between there and Pelagiad collecting ingredients along the way, although I don't really think there is anything worthwhile in Pelagiad at the moment so staying closer to Seyda Neen would be best.

This is a pretty good short term goal, but I still don't think we have settled on any decent mid-range goals. I think that we need to either decide whether to start taking some steps toward becoming the Nerevarine, or towards finding out if any of the so-called "PC"s are worth throwing our support behind.

[WillowLuman]

We still haven't heard back from Clover. We could take up residence at Caius' house I suppose, in case any of his blades contacts come back there to check. He might have found the rest personally, but Clover is still MIA.

[IronyOwl]

The main danger going between Balmora and Pelagaid is cliff racers, which thus far are amongst the most dangerous things we've encountered There are a couple canyons on the way that are often chock full of them. The Seyda Neen route, on the other hand, only rarely has cliff racers, and the most dangerous thing that's likely to appear are nix hounds. The Kagouti are only likely to show up if you wander around north of pelagaid.

Balmora to Caldera has less cliff racers, but a worrying amount of alits. Still, less dangerous than Balmora to Pelagaid.

Crap.

I'm really not fond of paying to go to Seyda Neen to beat up mudcrabs and hope they accept squatters, but I'm not fond of being torn apart by pterodactyls either. If nobody beats me to it, later on I'll try to do some console testing to figure out exactly how we're likely to fare against everything.

Quick Construction Set check reveals:

Alit: 30 HP, 1-9 damage, 30 Combat, 50/50/42 Str/Agi/Spd
Cliff Racer: 45 HP, 3-8 damage, 50 Combat, 50/50/255 Str/Agi/Spd
Kagouti: 45 HP, 4-12 damage, 50 Combat, 90/75/45 Str/Agi/Spd
Kwama Forager: 23 HP, 1-3 damage, 30 Combat, 30/20/5 Str/Agi/Spd
Mudcrab: 15 HP, 1-1 damage, 30 Combat, 15/15/6 Str/Agi/Spd
Nix Hound: 23 HP, 1-6 damage, 30 Combat, 50/50/28 Str/Agi/Spd
Rat: 23 HP, 1-2 damage, 30 Combat, 20/20/8 Str/Agi/Spd

Which seems to confirm that cliff racers are potentially death incarnate. If testing reveals we can take alits, I might suggest Balmora-Caldera, but I'm forced to concede that Balmora-Pelagiad is unwise.

This is a pretty good short term goal, but I still don't think we have settled on any decent mid-range goals. I think that we need to either decide whether to start taking some steps toward becoming the Nerevarine, or towards finding out if any of the so-called "PC"s are worth throwing our support behind.

The issue I have with becoming the Nerevarine is that we're too weak for most of it, and likely will be for a time. If it's a first come first served type of deal, we're probably not going to win that race. If not, I guess there's no particular rush, ash blights and the like aside.

Making contact with the pony pals seems important but not guaranteed to produce results, to me. If we can get in good with them, that could lead to all sorts of advantages, plot and otherwise. If not... well, it'd still be good to know more about them, but again, possibly not something we need to do immediately.

So I guess my medium-term goal, other than skilling up, would be to make contact with some of the suspected ponies. Leaving a message at one of their four known (well, suspected) domiciles might be a good start.

[GlyphGryph]

Do we have a way to get to Vivec city? Because we got a little hint dropped for us:
"go talk about the Lost Prophecies with Mihla Milo in Vivec City"

Which actually sounds like a pretty damn good goal for now, even if we decide we want to travel there on foot to train our skills on the way.

And still, check in to see if there are any fighters guild quests we can do before we leave.

[WillowLuman]

Do we have a way to get to Vivec city? Because we got a little hint dropped for us:
"go talk about the Lost Prophecies with Mihla Milo in Vivec City"

Which actually sounds like a pretty damn good goal for now, even if we decide we want to travel there on foot to train our skills on the way.

And still, check in to see if there are any fighters guild quests we can do before we leave.

Wait, did Caius really say that? If so, might be worth checking out.

[The_Jester]

Do we have a way to get to Vivec city? Because we got a little hint dropped for us:
"go talk about the Lost Prophecies with Mihla Milo in Vivec City"

Which actually sounds like a pretty damn good goal for now, even if we decide we want to travel there on foot to train our skills on the way.

And still, check in to see if there are any fighters guild quests we can do before we leave.

Wait, did Caius really say that? If so, might be worth checking out.

Reference please. He didn't say that in the most recent conversation, but if he said it, that would be a fairly big clue towards us following some sort of amended MQ.

[GlyphGryph]

He didn't say it. It was said by our character/Lord Bucket's narration, which also mentioned that this was when he WOULD say it, if he wasn't called away early.

It's still a lead.

[WillowLuman]

I just thought of a major point of divergence in the MQ here. Vivec tells all the ordinators to hunt down the player because he feels the Nerevarine is a threat, but he changes his mind. Except, pretty much the first thing we did in this game was talk to him. Might we have affected how he'll respond to this situation?