NWN2: Passing of time/aging

White Warlock · Post by **White Warlock** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 4:15 am

HEEGZ wrote:I recall 9:1 having the most votes as well... I thought it was decided to leave it be for NWN2. Guess we need to clarify if a decision was made or not, I can't remember what forum those threads were in though.

31 to 20, indicating something 'slower' than 9:1. As fionn indicated here, the poll you are referring to, which Twiggy has graciously presented a link to, was not well presented, and so even the inference of 'slower' than 9:1 is unreliable. We pose a proper poll, or we drop the subject, that's how i see this issue.

Twiggy · Post by **Twiggy** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 5:01 am

Drop a subject....here? ROFL You could beat a subject til its dead, animate it, rip it to tiny bits, sweep it up into a jar, lock it in a triple combination safe, and slap biohazard stickers all over the outside but that still wouldn't keep some necro from dragging the rotted corpse chunks out for reinspection in a month.

If time compression is being changed for technical reasons, hey I'm all for it. If its being changed for RP reasons....meh.

Rotku · Post by **Rotku** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 5:54 am

Twiggy wrote:If time compression is being changed for technical reasons, hey I'm all for it. If its being changed for RP reasons....meh.

They're my thoughts as well. Although I probably would have said something else instead of meh, but oh well, it'll do.

witch · Post by **witch** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:46 am

We pose a proper poll, or we drop the subject, that's how i see this issue

Time rate in nwn1 works fine.

Thus should work fine in nwn2

Thus, Leave it as it is and drop it.

besides that +1 to what Twigs said.

ballonger · Post by **ballonger** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:01 am

Works fine? Nuclear bombs works fine too. Let's use them more.

I am only interested in changing the time ratio for RP reasons. It's during heavy RP moments I've felt the time passing so quick have been devastating for immersion. The mechanics only happen to benefit from it. Everyone says "Leave it as it is. Use your imagination." but there really isn't a need to. When I'm RPing I prefer if I can focus on my character and interact with his/her environment. It helps a lot if the environment is behaving somewhat naturally. The less weird things that happen the better. It draws from focus to have to pretend time isn't flowing too fast as well.

I wouldn't mind seeing a well worded poll on this, but trust me: Wether or not we have a poll, if there is a decision I will gladly shut the hey up and abide by it. I didn't know there'd been a poll about this for ALFA2. I thought this was currently up for discussion.

Ronan · Post by **Ronan** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:28 am

In the last poll, 62% of voters wanted time compression slower than we currently have it, so it will probably end up a bit slower. Altering time compression is so easy, I don't feel its really necissary to make a decision at this point. We can always try something and see how it goes.

I'm also tossing around the idea of making time compression MUCH slower in normal areas (maybe 1:3 or so), while travel areas operate differently.

I've spoken with each server team and confirmed no one will be making any time-dependant RP-killers, such as common roads which are untravelably dangerous at night, or critical shops only open during the day. These are issues even with our current 7-minute hours.

Do not confuse resting limits with time compression, the two things can be altered seperated. Resting limits are more of a game-balance issue (mostly its a great valve on static combat) and can be altered to whatever we want. For example, a 12-hour resting limit might be put into effect with faster time compression. Also, DMs will be able to allow a PC to rest without advancing the global server clock. So there are virtually no technical or game-mechanics reasons the time compression needs to be set to any sort of value. Its basically all RP. Add in the ambiguous passage of time when logged out, and its basically just an in-game RP factor.

Brokenbone · Post by **Brokenbone** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:09 pm

Time compression for tech reasons (buffs, resting, day/night cycles): debate it then come up with a figure.

Time compression DICTATING roleplay: get bent.

Some people will want to play young human heroes, others will want to play a long lived demihuman who gets to be a grandma if they survive for two real-life years. Leave it to the players working with their DMs on their own stories (i.e., "Hello, I want my squire-like human PC to be turning 18 soon, which is about time for an audience with his liege about either washing out or advancing in responsibilities... can we chat about any plot that way" or "My drow wants another baby and is mounting healthy specimens, let's get rolling percentile").

Two cents I guess similar to a Twiggy thing and a Ronan +1 above.

ballonger · Post by **ballonger** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:38 pm

Those last two posts made a lot of sense. That's good enough for me. Thank you.

*backs into the shadows*

Fionn · Post by **Fionn** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 4:25 pm

witch wrote:Time rate in nwn1 works fine.

That is your subjective opinion. I've always felt it was cartoon time. Then again, I tent to play a spellcaster. Part of Pu'Q's rashness has always been that his buffs were timing down while people stood around waiting for somebody to lead.

I'm with ballonger; unless Ronan's variable timeflow is viable, we should seriously look at 5:1(12 min hours) vs our current 9:1(7 min hours). The one concern I have with this variable approach is playability. If I have a buff up that lasts 1hr/level, I'd like to know how long in RL minutes that is. I've had DM sessions (and PC-only sessions) in both 'normal' and 'travel' areas, so any caster is going to need to be able to predict this meta info clearly.