Parable - 92 - HD

Merle Blue

Tails are cool! I wish I had one, too.

Chordat

He SAID what undoing the cheats does: it resets her morality and XP, not the entire game.

Some Ed

It's too soon to tell whether they reset the stuff that's just off panel, let alone the stuff that's way off panel.

Some Ed

What is the difference between a cheat and an exploit? It's my impression that an exploit is something that the game designers didn't intend, while a cheat is something they did intend. This would therefore be a cheat.

Um, but she's still filthy rich and has a ton of potions.

Jade English

Let me give you an example. "What did Obiwan tell you about your father?" "He told me you killed him!" "No, I am your father" is a crazy claim that makes me want to know more and seems cool and mysterious. "What did Obiwan tell you about your father?" "He told me you killed him." "No, Luke, You killed him! Also, Jedi aren't real, and Obiwan is just some old man." Confusing, contradictory, makes no sense. It doesn't feel like the rest of the movie will explain these claims from Vader, it feels like the writer had a stroke.

Jade English

No, I haven't read any of your commentaries. In your comic, a character just came in, babbled, made some claims with no explanation or justifications, accused the main character of cheating, took away her XP, and then demanded she go do chores for him. It doesn't feel like the world is going to reveal why they're right, it feels like they're an omnipotent liar. The flow of the story doesn't seem like you are going to explain why they did this, it seems like they are a rude liar who just ran in like an older brother and screamed "NO YOU'RE PLAYING WRONG!" and reset the system because he thinks any way of playing but his own is stupid. And thats ignoring that their actions are self-defeating since Susan is now less likely to be able to find Grace due to her weakened state, and less likely to do what they say since they gave her no reason to and just sort of...ran in and meta assaulted her with no explanation. Plus, their whole monologue about Susan being a glory hog makes no sense, the first half of this story was 99% Susan complaining that she didn't want to be bothered to be the main character. This guy has no reasoning behind anything he has said or done, he just ran in, made a bunch of unsubstantiated claims, ruined Susan's powers, and then ran off without explaining why he did any of that or why she should care what he says.

Dan Shive

I disagree on the bad writing unless referring to the commentary, as the commentary was meant to imply it SHOULDN'T make sense yet :P

coredumperror

There's a difference between "Something weird happened and I don't understand it yet" and "This thing that just happened makes no sense in the context of the story, based on existing rules that have already been established." This scene doesn't come off as mysterious; it comes off as bad writing. Though I think you're right that this reaction is due in large part to not being able to read several pages all at once, and to your commentary making it sound like it's supposed to already make sense. As for paragraphs on mobile, since you can't press Shift-Enter to make Patreon put in a linebreak rather than posting the comment, the only way I've found to do it is to compose the text in a program like Notes, and then paste it into the comment box.

James C

I assume, nothing - that was neither the result of XP, nor Morality, and they aren't The Playable Character

Dan Shive

I also confess to being confused as to how this feels like something without a reveal coming. Nothing's been explained about who this person is, only hints as to what they want and are capable of. I don't understand how it wouldn't be viewed as a mystery.

Dan Shive

Huh. Posting on mobile doesn’t seem to make paragraphs possible. Annoying. Anyway, I think basically what I’ve done wrong here is more in the commentary than in the comics. It sounds like I’ve given an impression of “this is supposed to make sense already”, which would naturally agitate anyone who already doesn’t like this development.

Dan Shive

The thing about update pacing is a thing can be explained very quickly in the story and still take a few weeks. I can either overdo the explanation to avoid that, or write around it working in the archives.

Jade English

I think the main issue is that it doesn't actually feel like there is a reveal comming. It just feels like that guy is a gatekeeping omnipotent jerk.

coredumperror

Thank you for putting my thoughts into words much more eloquently than I could have.

Jade English

I hate to say it Dan, but there is a difference between "Isn't this mysterious and interesting, I bet you can't wait to find out the secret" and "I know it seems stupid and poorly written now, but you just don't GET it yet. Just wait for me to retroactively make this crude and jarring plotpoint make sense, eventually." And having the character just sort of Yadda yadda away a major consequence of a seemingly random and completely counter-intuitive action doesn't make it better. "Hey, go find this person, but first let me make that WAY harder by taking away your levels and implying you're a bad person. There, now that I've both insulted and harmed you, you're sure to do what I say!" I'm sure it will all make sense, some day, but that doesn't make this enjoyable now.

ZekeStaright

I think I'd want a tail if it were prehensile or at least as controllable as a cats.

dude13537

And all those miniturized criminals and villains too, I guess, but mostly Blacksmith Elliot and his two identical girlfriends.

dude13537

Guys, we’re all overlooking the big question here. WHAT HAPPENED TO BLACKSMITH ELLIOT AND HIS TWO GIRLFRIENDS?!

James C

Wow, the cloaked stranger will feel stupid if it turns out Grace only appears in the post-game "Squirrel Queen" DLC. Also, Grace would probably be very disappointed in what they just did.

Chordat

well, at least it didn't reset ALL her progress. She's still a fabulously wealthy land magnate, and now she's found the Hero of Melee, stronger XP potions are available in stores, so she'll be able to level up faster.

James Blargh

Really need to see her now-oversized trousers just fwump to the ground as soon as she tries to walk.

Paul Lenoue

She's not the only one who wants a tail: https://tinyurl.com/sx4rfpr

Dan Shive

All I was saying in the commentary was that I gave myself an opening to do something. What that something was has yet to be explained. It's not supposed to all make sense yet.

Dan Shive

How anything was "cheating" hasn't been explained yet, and the XP potions (and pies) were brought up in the thirteenth strip. Very little about this is intended to be clear yet. The commentary is just a hint at something being off.

The Sunroses

aww she misses the tail.... mood honestly

coredumperror

I think this whole "she was technically cheating because potions were too powerful" thing only makes sense in *your* head, Dan. Most of us haven't played Fable 2 to the point of being able to understand the "implied cheating" you're relying on, here. Not to mention that I'm pretty sure you never actually mentioned *how* Susan got to level 5 in every stat. I had been assuming this whole time that she'd been adventuring off screen. I don't recall XP Potions being mentioned at all, though that may be my bad memory at work.

Thisguy

Was it cheats? Or exploits?

Matt R

I'm pretty sure Susan will be able to find potions to give her back her proportions along with her tail I think

Sunblaze

Its wierd she had zero motivation to farm XP in the first place and was glad to get those from potions. How should she have ANY motivation now to farm stuff XP? She does not know who Grace is and she has a minion who already does the melee-clubbing-the-enemies work. In her case I'd just sit around and earn more money again....

Andrew Pam

Tails are no problem if you have open-backed chairs.

KiTA

... She still owns like 90% of the game's economy, right? So any second she should suddenly be stupid rich and able to abuse that?

Halcyon

Thanks for clearing it up. You didn't have to. But it's nice to see Susan had the same reaction as a lot of us. lol

Stephen Gilberg

I'd want a tail only if it came with several other animal features. Otherwise, it'd feel out of place.