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 King's Quest was an adventure game spanning 8 games, starting in 1983 and going all the way through 1998. I've never played them. I've never been a big PC gamer so I never really played many adventure games until way later in life, and even then King's Quest had never really caught my eye. I hear some are pretty good, and I really should get around to playing them, but as of right now the series, for the most part, has escaped me. However, in 2015 a reboot was released by Sierra, made by the Odd Gentlemen. I quite enjoy the game. It's really good, has an art style I enjoy a lot, has some really powerful voice acting behind it, the puzzles are smart, the writing is funny, and from what I understand the game has a few references that go over my head. Right now only Chapter 1 of 5 is out, but I'm sure if the game keeps up being this good I'll eventually get to the other chapters as well. Also, despite the fact the game is being broken up into chapters, each part seems pretty long. Chapter 1 alone had 600+ pages of script. However, there is a bit of a... reason why I should tell you you should not get this game. I won't be bringing it up in the videos, either, so this thread is probably the only place I'll be bringing it up: The Odd Gentlemen are assholes and thieves. I was warned not to get the game before, but I completely forgot and learned the true extent of what that meant after I had bought the season pass. See, the Odd Gentlemen were commissioned to make the Kickstarter Homestuck game, however shortly after they set to work on it, Sierra offered them the contract to make the new King's Quest series. TOG took the contract... and about seven hundred thousand dollars (or so) from the Homestuck game as well. While I don't like Homestuck, that's a loving dick move. Don't buy this game. Watch videos of it instead. EDIT: It has come to my attention that the above paragraph is a bit... contested. There's only one source for it, but from the looks of thing it's a pretty reliable source. Still, nobody else has said anything about it, and there's no concrete evidence other than "close personal friend of Hussie's says so", so maybe it's not as bad as I thought it was. Still, take this game with a grain of salt. I will say buy it, but be wary if you don't want to support potential thieves. Emphasis on potential. Chapter 1 Episode 1: The Tale of the Half-Blind Dragon Episode 2: The Tale of the Missing Wheel Episode 3: The Tale of the Test of Chivalry Episode 4: The Tale of Meeting the Townsfolk Episode 5: The Tale of Achaka the Great Episode 6: The Tale of the Starshroom Pie Episode 7: The Tale of the Duel of Strength Episode 8: The Tale of the Duel of Speed Episode 9: The Tale of the Duel of Wits Chapter 2 (Coming soonish) 
kalonZombie fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Jan 30, 2016 |
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Aug 20, 2015 13:36
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I had no idea this was a thing until now, and I've walthrough'ed my way through most of the series. Does the game let you get into an unwinnable state, like every good Sierra game should?
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Aug 20, 2015 13:54
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Fat Samurai posted:Does the game let you get into an unwinnable state, like every good Sierra game should? Not this chapter, but maybe later.
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Aug 20, 2015 13:58
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Why is it that the biggest assholes in games dev always sound like villains from a Charles Dickens book? The Odd Gentlemen, The Fine Young Capitalists...
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Aug 20, 2015 14:47
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I hate to be "that guy", but the original source for this embezzlement story has, in every source I could find talking about this, been a single tumblr post that showed no evidence whatsoever. It talks about receiving a timeline doc of some description, but shows nothing. The original post got archived, and... Well, reading it hasn't impressed me.. Was it a dick move to take on a second contract when you couldn't do both? Yes. Am I convinced embezzlement was involved? So far, nothing more substantial than this post has surfaced, to my knowledge. That nobody's decided to confirm or deny has no doubt hurt sales, because this rumour seems to be everywhere I look, despite having exactly the same core source each time. As to the game, I like how the story is about both old King Graham and Gwendolyn, but am less enthused about the deaths. In the old KQ games, there'd often be a sarcastic or funny message. In this, while some of the animations are quite funny (Yes, the bed is an indication of a trap. But not quite in the way you might think), the death messages themselves are the equivalent of the Prince of Persia's "No, wait, that wasn't how the story went", with much the same starting from just before your bad decision. Also, Graham is technically correct. He has faced this dragon before (In the original King's Quest 1, which... Uhhh... This segment is sort of a reboot of. Sort of.)
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Aug 20, 2015 15:02
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JamieTheD posted:I hate to be "that guy", but the original source for this embezzlement story has, in every source I could find talking about this, been a single tumblr post that showed no evidence whatsoever. It talks about receiving a timeline doc of some description, but shows nothing. The original post got archived, and... Well, reading it hasn't impressed me.. It's a highly trustworthy post by honest person starscream's craterous robot pussy
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Aug 20, 2015 16:16
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JamieTheD posted:I hate to be "that guy", but the original source for this embezzlement story has, in every source I could find talking about this, been a single tumblr post that showed no evidence whatsoever. It talks about receiving a timeline doc of some description, but shows nothing. The original post got archived, and... Well, reading it hasn't impressed me.. Was it a dick move to take on a second contract when you couldn't do both? Yes. Am I convinced embezzlement was involved? So far, nothing more substantial than this post has surfaced, to my knowledge. That nobody's decided to confirm or deny has no doubt hurt sales, because this rumour seems to be everywhere I look, despite having exactly the same core source each time. ipgd is a close real-life friend of Andrew Hussie (the creator of Homestuck). Hussie asked him to remove the tumblr post but wouldn't confirm or deny the actual story. If it was false Hussie would've said so; the "no comment" response indicates it's true and he's under a NDA or something.
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Aug 20, 2015 16:28
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whitehelm posted:ipgd is a close real-life friend of Andrew Hussie (the creator of Homestuck). Hussie asked him to remove the tumblr post but wouldn't confirm or deny the actual story. If it was false Hussie would've said so; the "no comment" response indicates it's true and he's under a NDA or something. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true if an NDA of any sort was involved. And, as far as I understand NDAs, it is the one being contracted that is under an NDA, not the individual hiring. Think about it for a second, would you sign a contract saying "We're not allowed to say our contractor failed the job"? EDIT: For example, Sega hired Gearbox to do A:CM. Sega then sued Gearbox for failing their contract and retracted their right to the IP (Which was their right, as the people who hired). This is how it works normally. This is another reason I'm doubtful of this story, because when problems like this arise, often it gets legal, and it gets loud. Fez. Sword of the Stars 2. Hell, even Lands of Lore was based on the fact that TSR didn't want Westwood to work on Eye of the Beholder 3 due to "Creative Differences." What I'm saying is, this story has holes, holes that nobody appears willing to plug, and so it remains, at best, a tantalising rumour with circumstantial evidence. EDIT 2: Now, keep in mind I do not believe this theory, but an alternate theory could go as follows - 1) Hussie starts kickstarter. Hires Odd Gentlemen. Then fails to provide any guidance for the project. 2) The Odd Gentlemen are approached by Activision's Sierra brand, and given a better offer (Funded for the project and promised a cut, for example). They refund Hussie's money as part of this, and agree to part ways. 3) Hussie gets angry, gets friend to make a claim that they stole the money and did gently caress all, and retracts it later, knowing full well it'll be archived. In this scenario, the NDA signed by The Odd Gentlemen means that, unless they can conclusively prove libel (Which is less likely because it was a third party article which Hussie asked to retract without comment, leading to no conclusive proof either way), they can't say jack poo poo about said third party article, because it involves stuff they can't reveal as the contractor. I don't believe that theory, but there is literally as much evidence, at this point, for that one as there is "The Odd Gentlemen are a bunch of thieving bastards." Which is why I don't give any theory right now very much credence. Because the only thing that has surfaced right now is retracted third-party testimony. And there's been almost a year for such evidence to surface. For the prevailing theory, there's a timeline doc and a build that has never been seen, and a possible motive. For this theory, there is someone who knows how the internet works, and a possible motive. For both, there's 700k that nobody's saying anything about. In short... There is no conclusive evidence any which way, and so any theory is, by default, rumour and nothing more. I don't expect we'll see any resolution to the story for years. JamieTheD fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Aug 20, 2015 |
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Aug 20, 2015 16:42
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JamieTheD posted:Unfortunately, the reverse is also true if an NDA of any sort was involved. And, as far as I understand NDAs, it is the one being contracted that is under an NDA, not the individual hiring. Think about it for a second, would you sign a contract saying "We're not allowed to say our contractor failed the job"? EDIT: For example, Sega hired Gearbox to do A:CM. Sega then sued Gearbox for failing their contract and retracted their right to the IP (Which was their right, as the people who hired). This is how it works normally. This is another reason I'm doubtful of this story, because when problems like this arise, often it gets legal, and it gets loud. Fez. Sword of the Stars 2. Hell, even Lands of Lore was based on the fact that TSR didn't want Westwood to work on Eye of the Beholder 3 due to "Creative Differences." Sega is a big company, Hussie isn't. Settling and getting a portion of the money back is a better choice than using up more Kickstarter money on lawyers and delaying the game even longer. EDIT: Hussie has always spoken out when he feels his fandom is unfairly attacking someone, so the fact that he's completely silent about TOG is very strong evidence even if it is circumstantial. whitehelm fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Aug 20, 2015 |
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Aug 20, 2015 16:56
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whitehelm posted:Sega is a big company, Hussie isn't. Settling and getting a portion of the money back is a better choice than using up more Kickstarter money on lawyers and delaying the game even longer. Key words: "He feels", and at least one of those examples mentioned (The legal tussle between Phil Fish and his partner) is not a "Big Company Contract". Anyways, there's no solid evidence, I don't expect there to be any for a long time (if ever), and I've said my piece, so back to talking about the game. I don't know what the hell went on with KQ or the Homestuck game, I don't think anybody outside the affected parties know either, and none of them seem to want to talk about it, for whatever reason they're not talking about it.
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Aug 20, 2015 17:08
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I vote we remove mention of that stuff in op because the thread's gonna turn into a shitshow if we dont.
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Aug 20, 2015 17:30
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Really doesn't seem necessary now since it appears that all that needed to be said has been said. It's a clusterfuck, no one knows anything for sure; that's about it unless we start getting Homestuck fanboys. Anyway, I'm pleasantly surprised by the looks and feel of the game. I didn't like the -quest games even in the nineties (Hero's/for Glory being the exception) so what looked like a cheap cash-in on unfounded nostalgia was a game I immediately decided to pass. Now I'm thinking I made a mistake - as far as post-telltale adventure gaming goes, it looks pretty interesting.
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Aug 20, 2015 17:34
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Ambivalent on the game so far, it looks nice but I think the 2 button control scheme is dumbing it a down a bit.
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Aug 20, 2015 19:14
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This reminds me, were these the same guys working on a fanmade remake or sequel back in 2010ish? I remember them getting a chapter out, it being pretty bad and Sierra sending them a cease and desist even though they were getting no money for it.
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Aug 20, 2015 20:13
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The choreography (is that the right word?) of Gwen's initial encounter with Garth is goddamn terrible. Both participants end up looking retarded and blind and really loving retarded.
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Aug 20, 2015 21:02
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This game looks neat. Too bad I can't stand playing adventure games, so I'll probably never play it. More importantly will there be a death reel(s)?
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Aug 20, 2015 21:35
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Fabulousvillain posted:This game looks neat. Too bad I can't stand playing adventure games, so I'll probably never play it. More importantly will there be a death reel(s)? There also seem to be alternative actions that don't lead to death like the wheel/dragon/bell choice. Will those be shown off?
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Aug 21, 2015 00:17
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Fabulousvillain posted:This game looks neat. Too bad I can't stand playing adventure games, so I'll probably never play it. More importantly will there be a death reel(s)? whitehelm posted:There also seem to be alternative actions that don't lead to death like the wheel/dragon/bell choice. Will those be shown off? Yeesh, so many things to show off! I might show off some deaths (I'll need to have a THIRD file going on to do so but I love you guys so no biggie), but as far as I can tell, the "rippling consequences" won't be showing up until Chapter 2 at least (they certainly don't show up in Chapter 1), and even then I doubt I'll play through the entirety of the game another three times to show off what will probably ultimately be minor changes. Besides, clearly the eye is the only correct choice here.
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Aug 21, 2015 00:29
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It's very pretty, I like a lot of the design choices from a viewing perspective, but watching this makes me think I'm going to be a lot happier just watching it and pretending we got a King's Quest cartoon series instead of a game. (Which means I greatly appreciate your efforts in bringing it to us! But if I tried to play it, I'd be complaining constantly about how this wasn't proper King's Questing.)
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Aug 21, 2015 04:09
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Well, the other thing on 'rippling consequences' is that Gwendolyn derives her behaviour in the chapter from her grandfather, so depending on how you approach problems, her decisions will change too. It really isn't obvious on a first playthrough though. Otherwise, despite suspect circumstances, i do love this game. Its the first in a long time that has literally made me laugh out loud.
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Aug 21, 2015 08:47
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EDIT: Wait, crap, wrong thread, sorry!
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Aug 22, 2015 16:44
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This game looks interesting. Its nice to see more modern adventure games. Telltale had the market cornered for quite awhile and now we're seeing competitors like KQ or Life is Strange. I wish there was a little more innovation as all these games are way too similar in design. Also is it me or has most of the genre really gotten away from puzzle solving?
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Aug 23, 2015 04:53
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fillertrack posted:This game looks interesting. Its nice to see more modern adventure games. Telltale had the market cornered for quite awhile and now we're seeing competitors like KQ or Life is Strange. I wish there was a little more innovation as all these games are way too similar in design. Also is it me or has most of the genre really gotten away from puzzle solving? The folks behind Dreamfall and The Longest Journey are also releasing an episodic adventure game.
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Aug 23, 2015 05:04
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fillertrack posted:This game looks interesting. Its nice to see more modern adventure games. Telltale had the market cornered for quite awhile and now we're seeing competitors like KQ or Life is Strange. I wish there was a little more innovation as all these games are way too similar in design. Also is it me or has most of the genre really gotten away from puzzle solving? There are still smaller games coming out that look much more like the adventure games of yore, except with more modern influence in the puzzle and story design (fewer dead-end scenarios). Wadjet Eye games is a good example. http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/ There are also other sections of the genre moving in other directions. There's the adventure games that were popular on 'casual' game sites, mixing old-school puzzle-solving and hidden-object stuff together. There have been at least two video detective games lately. Lots of things with innovative art direction that I haven't played enough to really judge their puzzles: The Silent Age - http://store.steampowered.com/app/352520/ Tormentum - http://store.steampowered.com/app/335000/ 'Telltale Style' is its own subgenre by now, as far as I can see, but it certainly isn't all adventure games.
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Aug 23, 2015 05:45
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I have to admit, I am sick of the Tell-tale games since any decision results in the same result, over and over again. As for what these fellas have been accused of - and I'm not wishing to state I agree/disagree with said accusations - isn't it the same as what Gearbox did? And what did those Fine Young Capitalists do?
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Aug 23, 2015 08:27
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Samovar posted:I have to admit, I am sick of the Tell-tale games since any decision results in the same result, over and over again. TFYC did nothing other than get completely hosed over.
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Aug 23, 2015 09:09
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Did somebody order an Homestuck fanboy? Seriously, I find it very likely that the Odd Gentlemen really did syphon the Homestuck kickstarter money into King's Quest. Otherwise why would Hussie try and get a fraction of his money back? If they had kept the money, or they had invested a part of it into making the game, he could have just asked them to get to work on his game as well. On the subject of this game, I have in truth already watched a couple of walkthroughs of it, and as much as I dislike its creators I gotta admit that it is a very nice product. Did you see the water effects in the first part? And the design for the dragon, beastly and rhino-like? It is very well-written on top of that. I also dig the idea of a subtitled LP. I don't know if this is the ideal game to apply it to, since it has subtitles of its own, but it is a good idea. Are you going to show off all the different choices you can make?
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Aug 23, 2015 10:28
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That's kind of my thought as well; what if they did spend the money, don't have it any more, and are paying back WP from future revenues on KQ? In that case its in everyone's interest to not say anything about it and not hurt the sales of the game. That said, it's a beaut looking game, though Gwendolyn has that pixar look to me. Good choice on the subtitles since I get the impression with the narration that there's a lot of dialogue going on here.
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Aug 23, 2015 10:42
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On the subject of dying, if you do die in this game you almost always appear not long before the moment of your death, so showing off that should not take too much time if you decide to do it in the main playthrough.
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Aug 23, 2015 11:03
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Looking at various sources online, it does seem that The Odd Gentlemen dropped all of their other projects to work on King's Quest (including the Homestuck game), and that in turn burned their other clients. I found enough "proof" of that to my mind. That's pretty crummy, but it's also the nature of the industry. What I can't find proof for is the accusation that they stole the HS Kickstarter money in order to fund the development of another game. Defense of that accusation generally points to the accusation itself, a tweet the HS creator gave in which he says he has "no comment" on the matter, and... that's it actually. I can certainly believe that TOG screwed the HS game by dropping it in favor of King's Quest. I can also believe that they acted chicken poo poo and didn't let go of the HS game until the contract was terminated. What I can't believe without evidence, considering how the Industry seems to work, is that they used Kickstarter money for another game to develop King's Quest instead of the functionally limitless money provided by Activision. The burden of proof is on the accusers in this case, and I'll reserve my judgement until something new comes to light. So is dropping another game and then being chicken poo poo about it in order to work on King's Quest is crime enough to warrant boycotting the game? That will be a subjective call. Personally speaking, the LP so far really makes me want to play it.
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Aug 23, 2015 19:11
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I just bought the game. I may even play it.
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Aug 23, 2015 19:55
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Tobias Grant posted:TFYC did nothing other than get completely hosed over. If getting $70,000 as a reward for making one woman a "ideas person" for a game constitutes getting completely hosed over, I'd sure like to get completely hosed over some day.
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Aug 23, 2015 20:06
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Obviously inferior to the more Rosella-laden KQ7
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Aug 27, 2015 00:18
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After a friggin' dragon, this story seems a bit tame, but bare with us here. Episode 2: The Tale of the Missing Wheel 
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Aug 28, 2015 01:08
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Stale bread is clearly the superior choice. Also, going by an anecdote from GameGrumps, the people who chose to actually leave tips were in the extreme minority during testing. Kinda makes me happy I did it first time.
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Aug 28, 2015 02:06
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Why are, what I can only assume are Cricetinae rodents, acting as horses?
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Aug 28, 2015 07:34
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Samovar posted:Why are, what I can only assume are Cricetinae rodents, acting as horses? Don't you pay attention? Those are unicorns.
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Aug 28, 2015 07:42
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It turns me off somewhat to see a big-nosed, greedy merchant character, as funny as he is.
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Aug 28, 2015 08:33
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Samovar posted:Why are, what I can only assume are Cricetinae rodents, acting as horses? Because ~fantasy~?
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Aug 28, 2015 16:44
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Plus they're really cute? Especially the one with the eyepatch.
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Aug 28, 2015 17:24
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