OK probably no one here will get this but, joking aside, this was pretty shoddy game design. I mean, seriously I wonder who is using this mission system that they thought this would be a good idea? It feels like something a primary school kid would come up with. When MA first came up with their mission system they heralded it as so good and indeed, while this was largely BS, it does at least allow for some rudimentary stuff to happen which, in the right hands can be put to good and creative use, for example if you consider how it was used in Hunt the Thing. But lets face it, a single 3 choice "puzzle" where presumably only the correct choice doesn't lead to unceremonious insta-death, where the player has no opportunity made available to them where they might alleviate or circumnavigate this hazard, using prior knowledge gained elsewhere in the game, is... quite frankly, crap! It's this kind of stuff that really pains me to see in the game. It's such a mish mash of cruddy bits and quality bits... only to be ridden rough shod over by yet another cavalier ill placed "that'll do" attitude. I mean... what's the point in carving out a decent landscape, updating mob animations, day night cycles and any other polish that's been haphazardly applied over the years, just to erase any memory of it from the players mind by randomly killing them because some nerk thought "oh that'll be funny!". It isn't! I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all in favour of creating more hazardous areas in game, particularly landscape hazards that arn't simply "squish as many high agro mobs in as we can" but simply killing people for no reason? How is that fun? It really bugs me because there are SO many ways this mission could have been done better other than, "Pick a pick a number between one and 3,.. oh I'm sorry, you died - too bad ,-)". I mean, the interaction could have been strung out, there might have been a tip off of the right choice as a "reward" for going the "dialog distance" on another NPC rather than just skipping (or even just there in plain sight for those who actually read it properly and paid attention) or they could have used one of the electric shock animations and just knock some health off as if you just got electrocuted. They could have even built on that "warning shot" to indicate there was a greater threat looming if you get it wrong again (you wince from the shock then notice smoke billowing from the opening,... is it on fire?) maybe even put in a decision to go find the engineer or service manual so you can safely make the right move. Honestly, the possibilities are endless (just look a the wealth of text adventures dating all the way back to the 80s), and just because the tools are mediocre doesn't mean the art has to be. I know I always harp on about the little things, like the PEC bug and so forth, but as I always say, if MA can't even get the small stuff right, what credibility does it lend to them as developers of a financially tied system?... not a lot in my view. Over and out Wistrel
