Knowing of stat checks

I don’t like being told what I need to succeed at a check, at least not in numbers.

I do like some greyed out choices, but not always. Selectable if can be useful to tell a player there’s more to explore.

They can also be really distracting. When I was testing The Lost Heir, for instance, there were constantly choices to steal things. I was playing a goody two shoes character, and yet those choices where there, niggling away at me like a little devil on my shoulder saying ‘steal something, steal something’ and I found that actually made it more difficult for me to immerse myself in the character and spoiled my enjoyment a bit.

And sometimes greyed out choices can ruin the game. Like having a greyed out “Accuse Jack of being a traitor!” when you thought he was your best friend, but now thanks to that greyed out text you know, or at least have a niggling feeling perhaps he’s not as honest as he claimed he was. So, well that influences the story, even if you couldn’t select it.

(While not choicescript, I think Depression Quest makes great use of greyed out choices in order to simulate depression and how it removes your choices.)

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