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Fixed, thanks. This kind of thing is why I originally just transcribed everything manually instead of using C2T, it's much easier for me to notice typos when I'm the one making them (even then, a few would always slip in because I typed extremely fast). Of course, the sheer amount of text here still makes C2T the more efficient option, I just need to proofread better.
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Feb 16, 2017 14:50
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Episode 11: Preparations Last time, we helped a gang leader find a husband (as I mentioned, I'll show off the different options for that quest in a bonus update once I get around to that) and... well, that was pretty much it, as I wanted to get that quest out of the way before tackling one of the main objectives. We need to gain access to the ruins of old Tien's Landing in order to close the dam and find that piece of the Dragon Amulet before the Lotus Assassins do.  We need to go speak with Minister Sheng, the man who currently passes for Imperial authority in this backwater town. Before that, though, let's check with this merchant and see if he has anything useful for us. This will be another very wordy update without much of anything in the way of action, but I promise we'll get to it soon enough.    Not looking too promising so far. Those are certainly useful items for the local fishermen and such, but not exactly something we'd want.  Do you have anything useful? Like weapons or magical items? I have a cloak so warm it's like a weapon against the cold. I have a scrubber so good that it cleans like magic. You don't actually have anything I'd want, do you?Heroes don't need warm cloaks or scrubbers.  To be fair, I think all our party members could use some extra clothing just in case we hit some bad weather. I'm pretty sure Zu doesn't even own a shirt.  Who wouldn't want a basket so big you can carry two babies in it? Do you sell wind maps? I am afraid I do not. Just a few years ago, you could find wind maps everywhere, although only the rich needed them, with their airship racing. Recently, the wind maps have disappeared. I know that when the Emperor's men left Tien's Landing, they took all the wind maps with them. There are those who say... but it is not important. Tell me. Some say that Death's Hand is collecting all the wind maps and destroying them, so that only he and his minions may travel freely about the Empire. However, I do not believe such talk. I believe firmly in the goodness, kindness, and wisdom of our Emperor and all those around him.Yes, I hear Death's Hand is actually a very pleasant fellow when he's not out there murdering peasants and children with his friends.  I suppose there may still be merchants in the Imperial City who have some. And they were once so widely available that there must be some here and there. But I do not have any. Nor do I know anyone who has one.All right. No wind maps or anything else that might come in handy, but at least we now have an idea why wind maps seem to be so rare these days. Assuming Merchant Chiu isn't full of poo poo, of course.  We saw how that sailor tried to steal a sword from Merchant Cheung here and was somehow foiled by Minister Sheng showing up. Let's have a chat, maybe he has some problems for us to solve or even some useful items to sell.  Oh. Well, that doesn't help us much, does it?   Most of what is missing is perishable items: grain, baked goods, fruit. There's little chance of getting them back, and they're hardly worth the effort. The only thing I'm really upset about is a clay figurine. Yesterday, Tong, one of the sailors, took it. There was nothing I could do to stop him. The figurine isn't worth much, but it belonged to my mother. I wish there was some way to get it back. Have you told the authorities about this? Normally I would look to the local officials to help, but as you've already seen, Minister Sheng can do little about these sailors. Nobody in town can help.I suppose that's true. Even if Minister Sheng was competent, he doesn't have any place to put criminals in because someone burned down his office and the jail. As for Tong, we met him a while ago just loitering around and drinking his sorrows away. Maybe we should pay him another visit and tell him stealing is bad (unless you're the protagonist, I guess).  Is there some kind of reward if I help you? If you convince Tong to return my mother's figurine, I'll give you a discount on all my merchandise when it arrives. I promise!He offers that same reward even if we don't ask for anything. He'll also tell us where Tong is, but we already know that so let's get on with it and head on over to Beggar's Pier.  And here's our man, still standing around doing nothing.  You stole a figurine from Merchant Cheung. Figurine? You mean that clay shtatue? Pretty little thing. *hic* I jusht borrowed it for a while. I didn't shteal it. We could be all  about this, but we might as well hear him out before we do anything drastic.   Here. take the figurine. *hic* I didn't mean to cause no trouble. I just missed my ma is all. *sniff* Hey, it's okay. Don't cry. I ain't cryin'! I jusht... I jusht got shomething in my eye! *sniff* I... I gotta go back to the boat now. Come on, boys. Let'sh go. Excellent. We'll take this back to Merchant Cheung in a moment, but first there's something we have to do down here at Beggar's Pier.  That is, go talk to the captain of the ship.     We're sailors, we don't belong on land. If we could just get our ship back on the water, everything would be fine, but that won't happen until someone finds a way to close the dam. If the river is too low and fast, why don't you go close the dam? If I leave the ship, my men will have Tien's Landing in flames. The locals think the dam is haunted, and Minister Sheng can't find anyone brave enough to risk closing it.Aw hell, we were going to do it anyway.  The moment I saw you, I knew you were the fearless sort. I hoped you would offer to help. It shames me to need the help of a stranger. I'm not a rich man. But my reputation, my ship, and my men are worth everything I can give. Close the dam and free us, and I'll give you all the silver I have. I'll go to the dam right now.Well, after talking to Minister Sheng because he's the only one who has the key.  Yes, that.   There we go. I called this a sidequest a couple of updates ago, but it's really more of a way to get a larger reward from the main quest. We're closing the dam anyway, and talking to Ing here doesn't give us any extra objectives or anything. Okay then, let's return that clay statue.  After talking to this guy near Merchant Cheung, that is. We'll brave the Great Southern Forest in due time, but right now we have more pressing matters.  I have your figurine here. I... I don't believe it! Thank you, mighty one! You have no idea what this means to me. I have no silver to offer you, but I'll give you a discount on all the goods I sell... as soon as the dam is closed and I can replenish my stock.Excellent, we'll be taking a look at that soon enough. We should go see Minister Sheng, but instead I'll talk to all the peasants in this area since I didn't do so earlier.   These two don't have much of anything to say, other than affirming what we've already seen; Tien's Landing is not doing well at all.  Maybe the old man here will be more talkative.   Of course, we're both pretty old compared to most of the people in Tien's Landing. Why, most of them don't even remember what it was like before the flood.Time for a history lesson, everyone!  Eighteen years ago, Emperor Sun was young and flush with success from ending the drought. He began public works all over the Empire, including the Great Dam down-river. The workmen came and started building it near our town. We were not engineers and so we were not sure what it would mean. Some worried that it might flood us out. Most were unconcerned. After all, if there were any danger the Emperor would tell us, surely. One day, the Great Dam was finished. And the floodgates were closed. What happened? The town... the town flooded. We took what we could and fled. Mothers ran about screaming for their children who had gone out to play. Children screamed for their dogs. Some folks climbed to the roofs of their houses and refused to leave. We survivors straggled upriver... some collapsed from exhaustion, but the water kept rising. I carried a boy and a girl. I saw another boy fall, but I couldn't carry him. Finally, I fell over too. When I woke, I found the water had stopped rising. Go on.The emperor is a dick. We already established that with the whole Dirge thing, but not bothering to inform the people of Tien's Landing that they might get flooded and killed is some serious dickery in its own right.  Life went on, but no word ever came from the Imperial city. No warning, no explanation. Did we displease the Emperor? Or were we just beneath his notice? I will never know. The crewmen who manned the Great Dam would come to town sometimes, but they knew no more than we. I will go to my grave never knowing. No one here will talk about the ruins. The people started a new life here. But there was much pain and sorrow. Conversations would trail off. At night you could hear women sobbing... and not a few men. Finally, people stopped talking about the past, and then they refused to talk about it all together. Eventually they pretended it never happened. I saw the ruins on my way here. They aren't underwater. Mm. A few months ago, the Emperor's engineers and soldiers left. They just went off in the night. Soon after, the Great Dam opened on its own. There wasn't anyone around. The water drained, revealing the old ruins. Underwater these eighteen years, and now they're back. I don't know what made the Great Dam open. Some say it was ghosts. They say those who died in the town don't want to be forgotten.We, of course, know why the dam opened recently. Hui said the Lotus Assassins drained the lake while searching for the piece of the amulet.  We don't know how. We are simple people, and the Great Dam is not a simple thing. They say there is magic involved in its construction.There is magic involved in the construction of a lot of things in Jade Empire, so this would not be a huge surprise.   So that's what happened to the old Tien's Landing. Not exactly the most uplifting story in the world, but interesting nonetheless.  Now that we know the history of the town, we can finally go talk to Minister Sheng and see if we can do something about the town's future.   Truly, can you not see that I am busy watching my career slide into oblivion? Minister Sheng simply hasn't time for your petty concerns! I have problems of my own!Yes, we've noticed as much.  This backwater pimple of a town lives off of the lake created by the Great Dam. But the Great Dam is open and the lake is dry. The town is dying... under my supervision!Minister Sheng is clearly much more worried about his own status than anything that might happen to the town.  I have nary a clue. Unless... very well, you’ve convinced me to talk. It is dangerous to say anything, but I am a brave man. It was that horrible Inquisitor Lim! Lim oversees the Lotus Assassin operations in this area. A few weeks ago, he came to town and demanded a key to the ruins. Then his men went up there and opened the Great Dam!I don't think we've heard of this Inquisitor before, but if he's in charge of the Lotus Assassins around here we can assume he's not the friendliest of guys. We should hope he hasn't found the piece of the amulet yet.  Wu, you know perfectly well why they did that. Were you not listening to Hui earlier?  I didn't want the town to panic, so I kept Lim's presence here a secret. Better the peasants think it was ghosts... a much less terrifying idea. Is there anything I can do? Some brave soul must travel through the old ruins, which are absolutely not infested with ghosts, and close the Great Dam. The gate to the ruins is locked, but I have a key. I cannot order, or even ask, someone to go do this! If the Great Dam closes, the ruins will flood! Various Assassins and soldiers will be killed! Not good for my career.I see. So, about that key...    Perhaps I could direct you to the historic ruins of our old town, which lie across the footbridge and out the west gate. Certainly a sight worth taking in. Strictly for interest's sake, of course.Well, we seem to have... found the key to the ruins. Before we go sightseeing, let's see if Minister Sheng has any more information we can use.   I suppose, in theory, you could find a flyer at the pirate camp upriver. In practice, however, I doubt you would find the pirates very accommodating. I suppose Ru the Boatswain is mad enough to take you, if he's drunk. Hmmm... yes. Ru is surely the only one who would make the trip. And then the pirates would kill you.I love how casual the delivery of that last line is. Ru the Boatswain is, of course, the sentient wine barrel we met at the teahouse earlier, as he was bragging about how he was going to go close the dam. In his case, I don't think we need to worry about whether or not he's drunk.    Perfect.  First things first though, we've got another bookstand to take a look at. The text is a bit long, so I'll just post the transcription: The Airing of Grievances posted:Being a collection of the indignities suffered by Minister Sheng at the hands of the backward shanty town of Tien's Landing: It sure ain't easy being Minister Sheng. Come on now guys, don't threaten his cat, that's just uncalled for.  Also, I'm not sure how they managed to squash a tonberry without getting stabbed horribly. When we try to leave the area, a cutscene triggers and someone runs up to us.  Who are you? Huh, I think it's obvious where this is going. Merchant Jiang here does not look very trustworthy.   I simply fill a need the best way I can. What is the crime in that? Now, you seem a capable young woman, and I really need some help. Where does your wine come from? The town is cut off. We all must have our little secrets. How I conduct my trade is mine. Now, I need the help of someone with... discretion. Someone who knows how to keep their mouth shut and recognizes a good deal. Someone who likes silver... lots of silver. Does this sound like you?Not really. Well, we do recognize good deals and won't say no to a bit of silver, but I don't think we want any deal he's offering. Might as well confirm what's going on, though.  This is an excellent time to be a wine merchant. The sailors trapped in our town were on the river for quite a long time, and they had saved up massive amounts of silver. They've made me a rich man, but they still have much silver to spend, and I have a large enough supply of wine to last many moons before my stocks run dry. I saw you speaking with Minister Sheng, worthy one. I suspect he asked you to go out to the Great Dam and close it. Am I right? Do you have a proposition or not? I like the way you come right to the point. It shows that you are strong and decisive. I will answer the same way. I do not want you to close the Great Dam.That's unfortunate, because I'm going to close the Great Dam.  I want you to destroy the controls of the Great Dam, leaving it forever open. Then there will be no danger of some adventurer coming by and closing it. I'm not going to doom this entire town! Don't be so dramatic! I know that some think this river situation is fatal, but they are overreacting. They cannot adapt to the new realities. True, if the Great Dam remains open, the town will consolidate a bit. That might be a good thing. Either way. the smart ones who planned for their future will be fine. If you perform this service for me, I will pay you twenty percent of my profits to date. Rest assured, it’s a very substantial sum.It actually is a substantial sum (2000-2500 silver) but we're not having any of this guy's FYGM bullshit.  I'm really not sure how "surviving this crisis" would make the town stronger. As Minister Sheng said, Tien's Landing lives off of the lake created by the dam. If we keep the dam open, all the trade routes remain cut off and the sailors will be trapped in the dying town for who knows how long. The townspeople will inevitably leave, and then only the few "smart ones" such as Jiang here will be left... with a rowdy bunch of sailors who are now pretty much permanently marooned and looking to take out their frustrations on something. That doesn't seem like a proper foundation for a stronger Tien's Landing.  Twenty percent of my profit to date. Remember that. gently caress that. Next time, we will finally go to those ruins. I wanted to get there today, but as it turns out this update is already pretty drat long and it's better to cut it here for now. ----- DMorbid fucked around with this message at 19:35 on Feb 22, 2017 |
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Feb 22, 2017 19:29
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I actually like Minister Sheng in that conversation. Yes, he's a fop, but I can't help but find him endearing 
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Feb 22, 2017 19:59
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Minister Sheng is the kind of person that if faced with the end of the world would worry that it would be blamed on him.  Also it really is a terrible business idea to keep the drat open. How much gold does he think people have stashed away to spend on his wares or that the sailors simply won't beat him over the head and just take the stuff?
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Feb 22, 2017 22:44
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I think this is a particularly dumb scenario because there's no "how about you bribe me to not close the dam but I also won't destroy it permanently, you idiot" option as a counter-offer. Instead, I guess turning the town into Thunderdome is Closed Fist?  like I could try to write some nonsense justification but it's really a bad case of EXTREME CONSEQUENCES TO YOUR ACTIONS which falls really flat. The perils of binary morality. Psion fucked around with this message at 23:15 on Feb 22, 2017 |
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Feb 22, 2017 23:10
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Yeah one of the major flaws with this game is how quickly Closed Fist turns into Bioware's Knock-Off Darkside with some weak justifications slathered on top. Do an evil thing for no reason but hey it'll make people more self-reliant, maybe? I remember being disappointed after all the hype Bioware made about their totally unique morality system. Oh well, at least I had fun playing a kung-fu punchy lady.
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Feb 23, 2017 00:34
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There are some CF moments which work out quite well for what they tried to do, but a lot of them fall back on Bioware Comic Evil, which is what it is. On the bright side, Sheng is pretty good here.
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Feb 23, 2017 01:57
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Sheng is pretty great, yeah. He's pretty much the kind of guy who usually wears everything on his sleeve and his deceptions are just kind of adorable. This is just kind of Darkside Stupid, though. Oh, all the silver on that boat! It will all be mine! And then what, dickass? I guess you move on and the town's hosed?
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Feb 23, 2017 02:57
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Glazius posted:I guess you move on and the town's hosed?
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Feb 23, 2017 04:54
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I'm not sure how Minister Sheng could keep a robbery without being stabbed horribly.
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Feb 23, 2017 06:13
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Glazius posted:Sheng is pretty great, yeah. He's pretty much the kind of guy who usually wears everything on his sleeve and his deceptions are just kind of adorable. Good ol' Minister Sheng is another dip into the cultural cliché well, specifically that of the Foolish Magistrate: that personage of noble rank and title who, despite knowing poo poo about poo poo, is still advanced to being in charge of a town or village through wealth, lineage, and/or connections. He's a character that comes up in quite a few Eastern stories (though in Japan usually as a daimo, a feudal lord), and is one of the ways that was used to ridicule Confucianism, presenting an effete patriarch who uses overly complicated rules to keep the people down and make the land soft and weak; usually, characters like Sheng are there to provide an obstacle to be ridiculed and eventually drummed out of the story in the most humiliating manner possible. Sheng is really great, though, and whoever voices him gets the idea of "arrogant and put upon fop" very well, so I tend to like him. And yeah, I'd forgotten just hgow quickly CF became Evil For Sake Of Evilness, particularly where there's one or two instances coming up where it is portrayed with a little more nuance.
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Feb 23, 2017 15:41
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I like Sheng and simultaneously understand how someone burned down his office and jail while nobody in the town gave enough of a poo poo to stop it.Psion posted:There are some CF moments which work out quite well for what they tried to do, but a lot of them fall back on Bioware Comic Evil, which is what it is. Bioware morality systems do one thing perfectly, and that's demonstrate why purism is loving awful. There are times when it's worth bending principle to punch someone or not be an prick. Malah fucked around with this message at 03:37 on Feb 24, 2017 |
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Feb 24, 2017 03:32
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Episode 12: Ashes and Bones Last time, we finished with the Tien's Landing sidequests for the time being and finally got around to talking to Minister Sheng, who gave us the key to the ruins of old Tien's Landing. The Lotus Assassins, led by Inquisitor Lim, are hard at work looking for the amulet piece in the ruins and we should go there before they get their hands on it. A local wine merchant also asked us to keep the dam open because he's earning a lot of money from the sailors currently stuck in Tien's Landing, but we're not having any of that.  One last pit stop to make before we head out. We now have plenty of silver to buy the last of Darting Lynx's techniques, so let's take care of that.  That'll do it. The gems here are mostly ones we've sold her before, so now that we have Hawk's Elegance we've bought everything useful she had for us. I'll check back later in case she updates her stock, but I'm quite sure that doesn't happen and we now have all we need from her. As we approach our camp site outside town, we trigger a dialog scene with our party members. There is no cutscene or anything, it just fades to black when we get to a certain point and warps us straight to the dialog around the campfire. I also decided to update Zu's portrait to something a bit less crummy-looking.    Your question would be better directed at his favored student. She was at the school for three years before I arrived. This dialog choice is a bit pointless, it's obvious Zu was asking Dawn Star instead of us.  Even though Dawn Star was the one who suggested he ask us instead of her, Zu decides to get annoyed with us.   Bad omens? What makes you think that? You said you don't know anything. I know because of my name. It's one of the few details Master Li was told. I was named for a red glow opposite the morning sun. Like a distant... a distant fire.I thought she said something to this effect if we managed to ask her about her name way back at the beginning of the game (as you may recall, we chose another dialog option and then the one about her name just disappeared), but maybe I was wrong and she only mentions this detail here.  Of course, at the time we had no knowledge of the events at Dirge, which may have been the cause of the red glow.  It fits the time, but that just confirms my thoughts about being born under a bad omen. What could be worse than this attack on Dirge and the Water Dragon? If that is the most troubling thing you learn about your birth, consider yourself lucky.Hmm. Well, that last bit there sounded slightly ominous. Let's see if Zu has anything else to offer us.  I want to know what you and Hui were talking about. Nothing to concern yourself over. Very old business. I traveled this way when I was fleeing the Lotus Assassins. It was nothing. Some vagrant waif I passed off after making sure its belly was full. A far less surprising turn than what Hui said about your Master Li. She confirmed that he is the Emperor's brother. I know Hui to be a truthful and honorable person. Much more so than I consider myself to be. I do not question her belief, but belief alone is not enough. What if it *is* true? Much will have to change to accommodate this "truth." It means the Emperor lied about Li‘s death, and he may have assaulted the heavens. Zu seems to be having some trouble believing that the Emperor could have attacked Dirge and stolen the Water Dragon's heavenly power for himself. To be fair, that is quite a lot to take in so I don't know if we can really blame him. We only know what Master Li and Hui told us, but it would seem odd for both of them to be lying about what happened.  Well, he also decided that the peasants of old Tien's Landing didn't need to know that their town might get flooded once the dam is finished. Granted, that's less deception and more lack of caring, but still not exactly something a wise and benevolent Emperor would be doing.  Perhaps, but that, too, implies a weakness that the Emperor cannot have.He seems so... certain of that. He doesn't say "shouldn't" or "mustn't" but "cannot", as if the mere idea of the Emperor having flaws like a regular human being is simply unthinkable. It's entirely possible Zu is trying to convince himself more than anyone else, because he doesn't want to believe the Emperor would be capable of such terrible things.  Just don't blame me when the whole world is against you.At least he's still got our back, I guess..  You will need more than my help. Just try not to endanger your companions. They are not to blame for what your destiny mandates. Now, is there anything else? I want to talk about you some more. You seem agitated. I am always "agitated." It is because of my training. We were taught that we are always being watched, always being stalked. In many cases, it is actually true. You likely have similar feelings. When trained to be as vicious as the Assassins--or when you are the protege of a famous master--you tend to attract unwelcome interest. I wonder how you will react to this scrutiny. I also wonder if your fellows will stand by you when the true weight of what you claim becomes known.I suppose we'll see when we get there. Until then, we do what we can.  Your best may not be enough. That is why it is so often used as comfort after failure. "You tried your best, but death consumed the nation anyway. Sorry."Zu must be an absolute riot at parties. To be fair to him, maybe that answer was a bit on the non-committal side.  Enough. I don't have anything else relevant to say. Perhaps I will when I have seen more of what you are capable of... and what your master intends.Progress the story further to unlock more of his dialog. Got it.  Dawn Star still doesn't have anything relevant to say to us despite the yellow marker appearing over her head once again (  ) so let's get out of here and head to the ruins. Huh. Well, that's not the angle the ground's supposed to be at. This glitch occurred at the dam site and the ruins every so often, possibly because I had locked the frame rate to 60 instead of the intended 30. Quicksaving and loading seemed to fix the issue.  That's better.  Remember the Imperial watchtower and the gate next to it? We tried the gate (which Dawn Star said was very spooky) earlier and couldn't get through because it was locked, but now we have the key from Minister Sheng.   There we go. Old Tien's Landing is just past here.  We can just about see some Imperial soldiers and a Lotus Assassin ahead of us next to those pillars. Moving towards them triggers a cutscene.   Luckily, it appears they haven't found anything yet.   The Lotus Assassin decides to summon some help, which arrives in the form of a bunch of rat demons.   If you find one, bring it to me right away. If you fail me, your torment will be greater than any you have yet experienced. Now go!That's one way to motivate your workers.  The rat demons scamper off in search of treasure, and the Lotus Assassin turns to the Imperial soldiers next to him.   Well then, let's try to enter the ruins!    The lieutenant and his soldiers don't put up that much of a fight, although they are able to do some damage if they manage to surround us. That'll be why we lost a bit of chi during the fight, but it won't be a problem because there is a spirit font nearby.  Our reward for beating up these guys is the Gem of Thief's Sense. This is a fairly useful gem that points out which treasure chests are rigged with traps, and I'll show it off soon enough.  Not here, though, because I didn't equip it yet. Let's do that now.  The gem also adds +1 to Spirit. We'll replace Gentle Persuasion (the gem that boosts Intimidation) with this for now.  One of the crates in the area contains dragon powder, which as you may be able to guess is the Jade Empire version of gunpowder. We'll pick this up for later use.  The large gate to the south is the way forward, but before heading that way we'll check the path to the east. It has nothing but the spirit font I mentioned earlier. Well, and a couple of monkeys hanging around the spirit font. I'll call them Spirit Monkeys!  (I am so, so sorry)  Moving swiftly on. The ruins of old Tien's Landing are about as depressing as you might expect and are completely infested with ghosts. These green ghosts floating around never attack us, though, they're there just to add some atmosphere.  Huh? What's that now?  We get attacked by one of the rat demons, although this one is a bit special.  Rat demons in general are very weak and pose barely any threat unless there's at least half a dozen of them, but the cowardly rat demon here is even less threatening than his brethren.  This one actually yields before we kill him.   Rat demon knows things, important things and rat demon tells you... if rat demon lives!I like the rat demons. Their voice acting is great, and for horrible demonic abominations they're actually kind of adorable.  I knows hitting rat demon not good! Hitting rat demon bad! I also knows that rat demons like the taste of ducks... if you gots any ducks.... You not like ducks? No ducks! But maybe you like gems? Rat demon feels gem is very close. Rat demon tells you where gem is, then you let rat demon live, yes? Tell me where this gem is. Gem is hidden behind wall. Go down path and you see. Assassins gots rockets set up. They getting ready to blow up wall with rockets. So I should use the rockets to blow up the wall? Yes, yes. But rockets need dragon powder. Lotus Assassins always gots dragon powder handy. Good for blowing stuff up. Look around their camp and you find it.Way ahead of you, little buddy. I suppose he gives you that hint just in case you somehow missed the crate.  So simple, yes? Rat demon help you, now rat demon can go. Yes? No harm in letting this one go, I suppose.  He's so happy about it!   The cowardly rat demon wanders off in search of adventure and we won't see him again, although one of his fellow demonic rodent men appears to be lurking inside that house. Let's go see if he's as friendly.  I guess not. There's actually two rat demons in this house, and Wu is looking at the other one right here.  Rat demons can barely take a hit. If your weapon is upgraded at all, you'll probably one-shot the poor critters.  The rats were guarding a pot with 256 silver, but there's more interesting stuff behind the house. It's hard to see unless you look at the minimap (or look through the hole in the wall, which shows there's something back here), but there is a narrow path between the rocks and the wall.  And this is what we find. While we only see a skeleton, the HUD indicates we're actually looking at a cameo next to it  This one. The portrait is very clearly a quest item, so let's take a look at it.  The inscription on the portrait mentions someone called Wei. We know Old Wei was one of the survivors from the flood, so maybe this belonged to him? He never said anything about a wife, but we ought to show this to him anyway the next time we're in town. Even if it's not his, he might know something.  The only path forward is to the southeast. It seems we found the rockets the rat demon mentioned, so let's get rid of the soldiers and blow up that wall over there.   No, no. We didn't come here to spy on you guys, you're just in the way.   Let's just quickly fix that problem.  With the soldiers out of the way, we now have access to the rockets and could use our dragon powder right here. We'll take a look around first, though.  That is actually the way forward. We're not going to progress quite yet, obviously, but we might as well go see what's going on over there.   A soldier and the Lotus Assassin from earlier fighting off some ghosts, that's what.    I can't believe they don't see us. Anyway, that command word sounds like something we should keep in mind.  I'd also like to know more about that Power Source.  seriously how does that Lotus Assassin not see us, we're right there  Oh, now he does. Apparently he can only see what is directly in front of him, and because he was focusing on the soldier's face he didn't notice us a little bit off to the side. Or something.  The Lotus Assassin runs off and leaves the soldier to fight us on his own, which goes about as well for the poor bastard as you might imagine.  But yeah, we're not progressing any further yet because there's plenty to do back here. Let's take a look at these rockets.  Yep, that is certainly a wall we can blow up. Doesn't even seem like a wall, really, just a pile of debris.  All right, the rocket is primed and ready to go. Just gotta yank the lever here and watch the fireworks.  The fuse is lit. Here we go.   Hell yeah. That was pretty satisfying.  The wall is now gone and we are free to pass through, but we should check out this building first because there's something inside.   This rat demon is clearly much less nice than his cowardly friend.  Why is he going on about children? There are no children here, only us. Maybe he thinks we're children.  We're not having any of that, you know.  Well, it turns out that our ratty friend here wasn't actually talking about us, nor was he mistaken. There are in fact children here.  And... there is something very wrong about them.   Very wrong indeed.    I mean, they are obviously ghost children, but I suppose that's not exactly what we're trying to ask here.   Gah! Stop doing that!   I don't care. I don't care! Someone has to pay! Someone has to pay for what happened to us! How did you end up like this? You don't care about us! Big people don't help us. They only want to hurt! Just ignore her. She's gone strange because of what happened when... when the water came. We were locked in here, trapped in the orphanage with the rest of the children. As the water rose, we clawed at the door until our fingernails came off. Then we clawed at the window. When the water was too high, we clawed at each other. Then we stopped.  I should be a woman now, with kids of my own. I should have a husband and a house. Instead I have ashes and bones. We're tired. living one. We've been here for too many years. We just want to sleep, but we can't. Not until the mistakes of the past are undone. We could go "RARRR GHOSTS MUST DIE" but that doesn't really seem like the best way to handle things here. Instead, let's talk to them and see if there is anything we could do to ease their plight.  As you may have noticed, Miao here has become somewhat unhinged by the whole ordeal, dying in such a horrible way and not being able to rest. As such, she wants blood and she wants it now.  Bin, on the other hand, has remained surprisingly calm and rational after all that has happened. He only wants to rest.   You may remember that we met Kindly Yushan before. He was spending his time in the teahouse, doing nothing but staring at the wall, and brushed us off when we tried to talk to him.  We can find peace for a time at least, maybe until the voice of the shepherd returns so that we can find peace forever.Clearly, we need to pay Kindly Yushan another visit. Bin also acknowledges that any peace we might bring them now is likely to be temporary due to the situation with the Water Dragon, but it'd hopefully be better than nothing.  Yes, find him and kill him! Bring me Kindly Yushan's head. Or bring him here, and let me kill him! No! Please, living one. There has been too much death. If you find him just... just bring him here to bury our bones. Then we can finally rest.Right. We'll go get Kindly Yushan and get this sorted out. Maybe he'll tell us why he allegedly left the kids to die in the flood and...   ...okay then. When Miao said she was hurting us, she wasn't kidding. She did that twice and we're almost dead. I'm quite sure she can't actually kill you, but that's still a gigantic chunk of health she took off. When you're this low on health, you begin limping and become slow and useless in general. You probably won't end up in such bad shape too often because you generally have enough chi to heal up a bit, but it's still something to keep in mind.  Sadly, we can't fast travel back to Tien's Landing from here so we'll have to backtrack.  Some areas such as the ruins have unique loading screens, showing an enemy or character that is relevant to that area. The ruins have a couple of these, here is one showing off a rat demon.  And we're back in the teahouse. Kindly Yushan is on the upper floor, so that's where we're headed. I could also have gone to Old Wei at this point and shown him the cameo portrait, but we'll do that later on.   Old Mother Kwan is trying to make this place respectable again. You can't stay here. Go close the dam!Oh hey, look who's still here.  Ru, I don't have time for this! I have other customers to take care of. You have to leave now. No, I'm really pretty sure I have to drink now. I need to get my courage up so I can go close the dam. Just another drink or two... or three. Maybe four. More wine! You will? Thank the Emperor! I've lots of other work to do.Well, we were supposed to talk to Ru anyway, so this works out quite nicely for us.  Oh god, his beard has a will of its own!   My... my help? Nobody asks for my help. They don't even trust me enough to ride on my barge! But I'm not some useless old drunk! I'll show 'em! That's why I volunteered to go close the Great Dam. Just need a drink or two to get my courage up, first. I need you to take me to the pirate camp.Straight to the point.   There will be plenty of time for wine later, first we have work to do and it seems that work starts with persuading this idiot to take us to the pirates.  I promised to close the dam and save the town. Truth is, I wish I'd never told anyone what I was going to do. I was a bit drunk when I said it. But I can't back out now! Everybody thinks I'm just a worthless drunk. But when I close the dam, they'll think I'm a hero! I just need a few drinks to get my courage up before I go. [Success] You... you mean that, don't you? Well, I may have a bit too much fondness for the wine, but I won't turn my back on someone who needs me! Let's do it! To the Pirate Lair! I'll make my way down to the little dock where l have my barge and get everything ready. Just meet me at Beggar's Pier in the southeast corner of town when you‘re ready to go.There we go. We could go there right now and leave the dam for later, but we might as well finish what we've got going on. Who knows, maybe Ru will have had time to sober up a bit by the time we return from the dam site.   Who am I kidding, he'll be even more drunk by then. Oh well, as long as he can get us to the pirates it doesn't matter.  Dawn Star seems to believe Ru will come through for us.  Got it. First things first, though.  The waitress thanks us for helping out Mother Kwan earlier, but that's all we're getting out of her. Let's find Kindly Yushan.  There he is, still in the same corner.  Still not too friendly either, but now that we know he used to be the orphan-master we might be able to get him to open up a bit.   What happened the day of the flood? I was at the market buying food when the flood came. I ran back to the orphanage, but the water was too high. There was nothing I could do! The water kept rising! I had to flee. I came here with the other survivors and settled this town. I tried to start a new life. But everywhere I go, I see little faces watching me. A better man might have saved them. Sometimes I wonder... I wonder if I should have died with them.Well, we know a certain ghost girl who would agree with that, but let's not go there.  Let's ask about the kids instead.  Miao was strong; she did not give up easily. As for Bin, I recognize the name. A quiet boy, I think. I barely remember him. But they are gone now. All of them.  Yes, the ruins are haunted. Yes, the children will be waiting for him. He's not wrong.  We're not giving up so easily, though. He needs to come to terms with what happened the day of the flood, and we'll help him with that.  Fortunately, we don't need to walk all the way back to the orphanage, the game will teleport us there automatically.    Seeing Bin and Miao here clearly shocked Kindly Yushan quite badly, because he seems to think they're actually alive despite obviously being ghosts.   Bin is right. Nobody is getting hurt this time, Yushan will bury the bones and that will hopefully bring peace to everyone involved.   VIDEO: Burying the past   For some reason, this is an in-game cutscene instead of an FMV as you'd expect. I'm not entirely sure those bones are rendering correctly, as they look rather weird.  In any case, Kindly Yushan has buried the bones of the children, and now we will see if that has helped them find the peace they deserve.    Bin and Miao are still here, staring ominously at Kindly Yushan...  ...who, as you might imagine, is scared out of his mind right now. Did it not work? Were we not supposed to bury the bones?   However, the children don't attack or show any kind of hostility at all. Instead, they smile at Yushan and float away from the ruins of orphanage.  They've been unable to cross that threshold in the last 18 years, but now it appears they are no longer stuck.  And for that, they're showing their gratitude.   Miao is finally able to let go, and disappears as soon as she finishes thanking us.  Bin has found peace as well. We don't know how long that will last or if they can find their way to the underworld if we don't restore the natural order of things, but at least they should be free of the orphanage now.   And with that, Bin also fades away.  The rewards for doing all this aren't anything to write home about, but that's hardly the point.  Now that we have helped out the children, we can head through the wall we destroyed earlier and see if we can find some of those gems the rat demon was talking about. There is what looks a lot like a large Buddha statue in the background, which is an interesting detail. Buddhism isn't a thing in Jade Empire as far as I'm aware (neither is any other real-world religion for that matter), so the statue must represent something else -- perhaps one of the many gods in the Celestial Bureaucracy, or an ancient Emperor like Sagacious Tien.  When we get close to the headstone to the right of the entrance (to our left here because we're facing the entrance), convict ghosts attack. They all use Ice Shard magic, which makes them quite a bit more threatening than the average ghost.  The main problem here is that they can freeze you with the area attack, and it seems to have a rather big area of effect as well so avoiding it can be difficult especially if all the ghosts are ganging up on you. Getting frozen causes damage over time, and it's not exactly a small amount either so it's really a good idea to be careful in situations like this.  Luckily, our Dire Flame attacks work just fine here. Using magic is generally helpful because we don't really want to give these guys any kind of range advantage, and with Dawn Star on support duty we can regenerate chi fast enough to keep going for quite some time.   These guys are a bit annoying to fight, but we get them eventually and gain a level while we're at it.  Here's what the ghosts were guarding, a unique gem that is quite useful indeed (Charm +5, Body +1, Mind +1). We don't equip it just yet, though, because our gem slots are full and I want to show off the Gem of Thief's Sense.  That is in fact what I'm trying to do here. This headstone is rigged with a trap, which is indicated by translucent red particles emanating from it. Unfortunately, they blend into the background all too well in this area, so you really have to squint in order to see them in the screenshot. It's much more obvious in-game.  What the Gem of Thief's Sense doesn't do is help you avoid the trap if you choose to open the rigged container. There are other gems for that kind of thing. This one only tells you there is a trap, so you can just ignore that container if you prefer. I, of course, open everything because I don't want to miss out on silver and gems, so what we see here is still going to happen plenty of times.  There is another path leading out of this area, and when we approach it another cutscene triggers.  Oh, it's just a very small tornado.   Or maybe not. It's actually another convict ghost, and this is a special one.   You! What are you doing here? The quarry is ours! It was ours when we lived, and it's ours when we‘re dead!As far as I recall, this is the only ghost in the game whose eyes and teeth are fully visible. It's supposed to make him look really creepy and kinda does, although it also tends to make me think of those infamous Assassin's Creed: Unity glitches.  I'm Yuxi. Stabber Yuxi. Everyone was afraid of me when we were alive. Toughest convict on the chain gang. Then the water came. Everyone ran, no one came to help the prisoners... except Turnkey. But I know he only came to laugh at us. So... Turnkey had to die. The water kept rising. And rising. And then we died. But the quarry is still ours, even when we're dead! And now you'll join us! Did you know there was a quarry here in old Tien's Landing? I don't think anyone's mentioned it until now. But yes, that path next to us leads to the quarry, and we'll take a look at that once we deal with some more pressing issues.  Stabber Yuxi is a boss with a gimmick. He keeps summoning convict ghosts to help him out  The reinforcements eventually stop coming, and after that it's just a matter of whittling down his health bar. He has a lot of HP, so this'll still take a little while. I decided to use chi strikes to speed things up a bit, although it doesn't really help because Legendary Strike is far too slow and has too little range against his staff.  This, of course, makes my chi deplete extra fast. When I switch back to Dire Flame, I occasionally end up having to wait for Dawn Star to recharge my chi before I can attack again. Eventually, we manage to take Stabber Yuxi down for good. While I usually post videos of these boss fights, this one sadly ended up being so long and boring that I'm not going to make you sit through that.  Next time, we check out the quarry. It's a short side area, so we should also get to the main objective in the next update. See you then! ----- DMorbid fucked around with this message at 12:00 on Mar 1, 2017 |
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Mar 1, 2017 09:02
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I feel like someone might've bad Warhammer's Skaven a bit in mind when writing for the rat demons(not that it's a complaint). Or maybe that's just the archetype that always springs to mind for evil rats.
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Mar 1, 2017 11:06
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Man, those bones the orphan master is burying are massive! The orphans must have been huge in their living days.Doc Morbid posted:Zu: Just don't believe me when the whole world is against you. Minor nitpick, this says "blame" in the screenshot.
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Mar 1, 2017 11:49
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Bot 02 posted:Minor nitpick, this says "blame" in the screenshot. 
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Mar 1, 2017 12:02
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Where are souls piling up now that they're not moving on, anyhow? It seems like it might be better to leave the angry ghosts where they are or like as not we'll run into a giant wall made out of pure spite someday.
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Mar 2, 2017 02:50
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Glazius posted:Where are souls piling up now that they're not moving on, anyhow? It seems like it might be better to leave the angry ghosts where they are or like as not we'll run into a giant wall made out of pure spite someday. The souls of the dead are piling up around the places they died, or where they get summoned to. You can't just leave these ghosts alone, because they are everywhere, and if they don't get temporarily dispersed, they will kill innocent people. It wouldn't be a wall so much as a flood of murderous ghosts, creating more ghosts in turn.
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Mar 2, 2017 12:11
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Found this LP by accident. Why won't people post in the New LP Thread! (don't do it now, mind you) Interesting, but flawed game. I loved playing it, but I don't see myself ever replaying it.
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Mar 2, 2017 14:04
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This got me to reinstall and start another run with Leaping Tiger to see how it plays out. Maybe I will use it later even after I get all the cheese styles.
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Mar 2, 2017 22:02
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The best way to play is to save up points to invest into HER. THE ONE. THE GLORIOUS. THE UNSTOPPABLE.
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Mar 2, 2017 22:05
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Doc already has the longsword, no need to keep that unspoiled yes I know what you're actually referring to
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Mar 2, 2017 22:39
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my dad posted:The best way to play is to save up points to invest into HER. THE ONE. THE GLORIOUS. THE UNSTOPPABLE. If I'm thinking of the same character you are, the only problem with this strategy is that it takes so long to encounter her. You only get access to her somewhere around 3/4 through IIRC. OTOH she makes the last bit of the game she's around for a total cakewalk if you choose that path. Maybe Doc will be willing to pursue her on his closed first run.
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Mar 4, 2017 18:53
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I'm assuming we're talking about Mirabelle? I will get it and show it off, but actually using that thing is for barbarians. 
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Mar 4, 2017 19:02
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GuyUpNorth posted:This got me to reinstall and start another run with Leaping Tiger to see how it plays out. Maybe I will use it later even after I get all the cheese styles. I have never been able to use Leaping Tiger for a playthrough. It just seems like it's got no range.
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Mar 5, 2017 06:46
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Leaping Tiger is actually the
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Mar 5, 2017 19:14
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neuronin posted:I believe that 'Tho Fan' was included, much like the Huttese in KOTOR, to allow minimal development time for side NPCs...you have a single library of male and female 'babbles' that you can put any dialogue you want for in the text. It allows an expansion of the 'world' of the game while saving recording time and casting for convos that 'matter'. The problem with this line of of thought is that these are meant to represent real people and not Twi'leks so it comes off super racist. Also, they had an actual linguist come up with a language and then used the same canned lines, so that's not super great. Like, the phd student linguist who did it was kind of a yikes dude quote:"If they're a violent race, I'm going to give them a lot of really harsh sounds," he said. "If they're an ethereal race like elves, I'm going to give them a whispering, hushing sound." That's.....pretty hosed up, and Asian people aren't Twi'leks. That said, thanks for the LP so far, Doc Morbid! love you mirabelle:(
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Mar 6, 2017 05:26
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quote:Perhaps, but that, too, implies a weakness that the Emperor cannot have. There is 'the Emperor as he is imagined/revered as the Son Of Heaven/God-King' and then there's the men themselves. Some live up to it, others don't. The Assassin thinking must have some of the religion in it as part of their training. It's one of the better ways to make someone do dark things. "God-king says it's right and good. And he's God, so it must be right. Even if..."
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Mar 6, 2017 06:21
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stone cold posted:The problem with this line of of thought is that these are meant to represent real people and not Twi'leks so it comes off super racist. Um... what? Because some NPCs only have a few lines while others are more fleshed out, that's somehow racist? I'm ... kind of having a hard time following your reasoning here. How is this different from having NPCs whose entire dialogue consists of "Hey, protagonist, here are the directions to the next plot coupon"? Neither one of those are meant to represent real people, they're basically cardboard cutouts that flesh out the game world. But yes, Bioware totally screwed up by paying for a conlang and then not using it beyond a few snippets (that get repeated too often). They meant to go for "Here's a deep world with a real history" and ended up letting you see the cardboard-cutout NPCs as cardboard cutouts. Which is a shame, and they could have avoided it with just a little bit more voice-recording work. How much extra money do you have to pay someone to record twenty different lines instead of two or three lines? Then you split them up into what sound like phrases, mix and match in each sentence, and voila, a few thousand possible combinations -- and very few players would immediately recognize the repetition. (And I came up with that idea in just a few minutes; I'm sure there are even better ways of doing it that hardly cost anything). But instead, they cut too many corners, and Tho Fan feels like it's announcing "Hey, I'm an NPC whose only role is to point you to the next plot coupon" rather than an interesting world-building detail.
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Mar 6, 2017 08:42
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Tax Refund posted:Um... what? Because some NPCs only have a few lines while others are more fleshed out, that's somehow racist? I'm ... kind of having a hard time following your reasoning here. How is this different from having NPCs whose entire dialogue consists of "Hey, protagonist, here are the directions to the next plot coupon"? Neither one of those are meant to represent real people, they're basically cardboard cutouts that flesh out the game world. What's racist about it is making a fake language that has barely any words and is spoken by "a servile race," and making that your fantasy Chinese person. Either go whole hog on it or don't do it at all. And yeah, it's really patronizing to do that poo poo in Fantasy China, and make some of your fantastical Chinese NPCs morons who speak a savage language with like no words, I'm sorry you don't get that. Like, it'd be one thing if they repeated the same canned line and dialogue, but they have the same Tho Fan lines for different dialogue which feels like they're cutting corners and being racist. The other thing that always makes me sad is that there's all of one Asian va, so it's kind of yellowface in the grand tradition of Charlie Chan and the Chan Clan. There's some very ugly racist undertones. It's too bad that it's pretty fun gameplay wise, because like drat, bioware, what's up?
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Mar 6, 2017 09:07
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Tax Refund posted:Um... what? Because some NPCs only have a few lines while others are more fleshed out, that's somehow racist? I'm ... kind of having a hard time following your reasoning here. How is this different from having NPCs whose entire dialogue consists of "Hey, protagonist, here are the directions to the next plot coupon"? Neither one of those are meant to represent real people, they're basically cardboard cutouts that flesh out the game world. I mean the world of Jade Empire is pretty much explicitly Magic China. Talking about character language in Magic China in the same way as you talk about it when they are actual Not From Earth Aliens isn't super great because unlike the aliens, Magic China has a real world analogue in not-magic China.
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Mar 6, 2017 09:08
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stone cold posted:It's too bad that it's pretty fun gameplay wise, because like drat, bioware, what's up? Could you go be offended somewhere else maybe and leave this thread for the people that actually like the game?
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Mar 6, 2017 15:41
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Stroth posted:Could you go be offended somewhere else maybe and leave this thread for the people that actually like the game? Actually, could you go gently caress off instead? I'm sick and tired of people starting poo poo because someone said something you don't like about a game, especially the way you did just now. Criticism is cool.
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Mar 6, 2017 15:47
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Jade Empire is Orientalism: The Game and analyzing/criticizing that is cool and good. People often ask why there hasn't been a sequel and it's because EA is dumb but no way in hell are they going to make a mystical kung fu game with a fake asian conlang in TYOOL 2017.
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Mar 6, 2017 19:16
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Stroth posted:Could you go be offended somewhere else maybe and leave this thread for the people that actually like the game? Um, I actually did like the game, because the gameplay is really fun. The combat felt so crisp and fun to me when I played it as a kid, and I love all the different fighting styles. You can not like things about a game and still kind of like the game, drat dude, are we supposed to worship at the altar of only perfect games and be blind to all their flaws? Acknowledging bad things about a game is not being offended, though this game is in a lot of ways offensive, but drat dog, do you need a place where people won't criticize games or point out their flaws ever? That's pretty naive.
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Mar 6, 2017 19:19
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I really wish they'd actually done more with Tho Fan. I enjoy the way it sounds. It gives a more cosmopolitan feel to the game, occasionally hearing a different language.
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Mar 6, 2017 19:23
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This discussion has been very interesting and different opinions are welcome in the thread, just remember to keep things civil. 
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Mar 6, 2017 19:49
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Litany Unheard posted:
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Mar 6, 2017 20:37
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Xander77 posted:The game came out in the 21st century. What kind of huge leaps in social progress have we made since that would make this impossible? The climate around race has changed a LOT in the past decade. Media from ten or twenty years ago could get away with a lot more racially-based or racially-ignorant poo poo that would be a PR nightmare if you tried it today. Not to mention the social media aspect, which wasn't as much of a concern in 2005. Like I'm trying to imagine what happens if Bioware announces Jade Empire 2 tomorrow, and the five thousand thinkpieces about racial appropriation and yellowface in media that would flood Facebook and Twitter within an hour of that announcement is not something your EA marketing suits want to deal with.
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Mar 6, 2017 20:42
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What if... the Secret IP actually is Jade Empire 2? Or reboot since this is over a decade old and odds are people behind it already quit the company.
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Mar 6, 2017 21:33
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