» Thu May 27, 2010 11:55 pm
I have an idea which would keep the Oblivion system intact because I believe it's on the right track.
First off, I created a character in Oblivion with speechcraft as a major skill. Useless yes, but only because of other opportunity. The issue wasn't that speechcraft and it's mini game were worthless, but once I;
Completed quests,
Did favors,
Earned enough gold to bribe,
The skill and minigame fell out of favor.
The lack of NPCs who's disposition actually needed to be raised either for important information or optional quest paths was an issue as was the fact that after a few good deeds their disposition skyrocketed.
Next, once I was wealthy enough, bribing was all it took until I maxed their disposition.
I have a simple fix to this situation.
1. Tone down the amount of favorable disposition points earned through questing. I understand people will like you for murdering a bandit outside the city walls, but not enough to worship you.
2. The speechcraft mini game was good IMO. It might have ruined flow, but the problem was the available bribe.
- With bribing, you should only be able to PROPOSE a bribe after you reach a "chatable max disposition." By that i mean you either must do enough favors, pass speech checks or play the minigame to an initially lower maximum at which bribing becomes an OPTION.
- Once the "chatable max" is reached (determined by your deeds, personality and speechcraft skills) and a bribe proposal is available, MAKE THE BRIBE A RISK.
In all walks of life and throughout time bribes have either been looked upon favorably or offensively.
Give the NPC who's at their "pvssyd max" a chance to either raise their disposition even further with a bribe, or drastically lower it with a failed bribe, at which the player is either locked, or must revisit the NPC at a later date.
Give me a fishy stick for that plz. =)