Professor of Magical Studies (was: Advanced Studies in Pattern Magic) - In Copyediting!

I was just wondering if we could have a little bit more of a description on the pattern electives. Like what does all of mind, summoning, and fighting magic entail, etc.

Also are any of the electives considered more popular than the others. Like is summoning and mind magic the two electives taught more frequently? It doesn’t really matter I just for some reason want to be the teacher of the least popular one. lol

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I really liked the game, I played a few times and finally managed to “beat” Darcy and yes I really want to punch them in the face and I can’t wait to see Manisha again.

Stats

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I’ll take a look! Also I love that you want to to teach the least popular one.

Thanks for the stats snapshot, @zIMattayIz. That helps!

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So pacing is so far so good. I feel like the student events could have gone for a bit too long then what is needed, but ultimately i enjoyed that you took your time.

I do admit i have gotten confused by some of the stats, such as what counts as being “logical”.

To answer the Darcy question, im mostly conflicted in terms of i dont find the character as dislikeable as i find them pitiful. They seem to not understand what actions they have taken is wrong or right. I feel like with development, some actual understanding and attempts of redemption of any kind would help this kind of person considerably but of course a good old punch to the face could also help them considerably. Of course, that doesn’t mean any character needs to or should forgive them but i don’t get maliciousness from them as much as ignorance.

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When the theta’s complained about me spoiling their prank I got called a she.

I went with dampen magical energy for my intrinsic magic, kind of felt like a mistake since it fails to be helpful every time I used it in the demo.

Darcy claiming nepotism helped me seemed odd to me, since I didn’t choose the “everyone in my family is a practitioner” background but the “my parents were researchers” background.

The game never made it seem like my parents were important enough for me to get the benefits of nepotism.

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This is so good I created an account just to tell you so! :slight_smile:

  1. I can’t really judge pacing because I’m the sort who would happily read entire novels of characters going about their days and interacting with each other.
  2. I’m very much enjoying the magic college/academia setting.
  3. Mostly yes. I do wish I had a better idea of whether later choices also increase stats or just test them.
  4. In order:
    1. Romance. Yay!
    2. Helping the poor grad student get better.
    3. The vastness! The setup was limited but so intriguing.
    4. The result of whatever conference they’re working on. I think I could get very invested in this if a few more lines were added about Dr. Ellison relying on us or it helping my career or wanting to beat Darcy or something, but right now I just want it to go well because of course I don’t want to do badly.
  5. Weirdly, basically not at all. This is partly because I’m playing an excessively nice character who is still a little in love with Darcy. It’s also partly because her betrayal didn’t make a whole lot of emotional sense to me–it’s hard to get mad at a character for acting as the plot dictates.

Sorry if any of this was just rambling! It’s almost 2 am right now and I need to sleep.

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I thoroughly enjoyed your story! I think it would be amazing to see the Mc have more options of alone time during his undergraduate years not influenced by other characters . Something that I also think would be super helpful would be further explaining what the patterns look like and a further explanation of what each focus allows for the main character as well as providing a glossary for certain concepts and terms would be amazing!

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Hey, so I enjoyed the game so far. I liked the characters and hope to get more depth with someone like Darcy.
He seems like a good character kind of having a live and ambition out of mcs life

I am keen on getting to know the other characters as well.

I like that you take time to build the world and wow I think it replayed like 10 times to check the small variations you had in the different memories. Very nicely done and a lot of work I am sure!!!

But i had some problems with the stats. I had problems balancing them out properly with the characters I played so far ( I tent to be a good two shoes that could probably play into that)

But great work so far and I am looking forward to your progress :smiley:

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I’m sorry it took me so long to get more detailed feedback down; I wanted to replay the demo and it took me a while to have the time. Spoilers are unmarked in the collapsed sections, so don’t read through until you’ve played the demo!

Random Reactions

Parking on campuses is hard enough without faculty being jerks and parking thoughtlessly! Grrrr. I think no matter what MC I play, I’ll be parking carefully.

Not getting coffee with my pie?! The horror! (Especially cut rate dessert like you get at banquets. You need coffee to go with them.)

This is probably just a me thing, but I really dislike the frat people. Playing jokes on your friends is fun. Playing jokes on people you’ve never met seems mean and I don’t like it. It wasn’t harmful, but it wasn’t very nice either.

Stupid half stairs. My building had them too and they are not user friendly.

Fucking Desmond.

datefriends. I like that.

“Did she really say, “Knock, knock?” instead of knocking?” This makes me think of John Mulaney, which is always a good thing.

Probably More Useful

I like the method you’ve chosen for establishing your pronouns.

How secret is pattern magic? Are there structural things keeping it secret e.g. Harry Potter’s Statue of Secrecy or is it just not talked about because you’ll get committed? If there are degree programs it kind of implies a structure of some sort.

I really, really like the time slips with the memory pattern. It’s an interesting way to establish character backstory. I’m interested to see if there are implications to it beyond a narrative device. Does time flow normally during that? Am I hanging out in a dark banquet room for the same amount of time as the events took in the past? A student does say we stood still for a long time in the basement part.

I’d be curious to find out why Darcy picked us as their partner. Was it just that we’d already been speaking? I also look forward to seeing if their method changed for clearing their mind in the present.

Even though I’ve read it several times, I always laugh at “I’m responding poorly because the advice is bad and dumb.” He’s not wrong! But I’m trying to defuse the situation here!

I assume we’ll meet up with M again at some point? I feel bad about their injury.

“…appropriate, since the department hired you after he vanished near the end of last school year.” That’s ominous!

Typos/Grammar

Sorry if any or all of these have already been addressed!

Missing a period when Manish is introduced: “He has brown skin, and wears his black hair slicked back His slap bracelet…”

After flattering the dude who threw the seal at M, the female Theta says “Someone thinks he’s clever,” which is a pronoun error because I’m using she/her. (This only happens in the student mixer branch; it was the correct pronoun when I went to my dorm first.)

Either Darcy gave me two high fives, or that sentence was repeated. (I wrote this in my first pass, but now I don’t recall exactly where it was. Placement test maybe?)

Overall, I’m really impressed and have enjoyed rereading and finding differences between branches. I’m a little intimidated by how many things there are going to be to do in the game: trying to juggle them all will be challenging!

My first MC is both completely ready to pop Darcy in the snoot and still wistful about what could have been and attracted to his sneaky face. For me myself, I’m super mad at him for being so self centered. Even playing as a person from a non-magical family with no helping hands, he still acts like it’s okay for him to cheat you out of the fellowship. I hope at some point we can actually get him to acknowledge how shitty that was.

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It’s unique to me! It reminds me of some TV serieses where there are flashbacks to what happens. I like that approach, because it allows us to understand things about the modern day.

I’m enjoying the plot. As someone who has preliminary plans of teaching after tertiary education, I imagine myself as the MC.

I’m not enjoying Darcy, though. I want revenge.

They do, yes. I relied on logical choices and research choices, and they’re going well. I’m buzzing through the choices. I’ll try out a playthrough with other choices later.

I look forward to doing research, and teaching. And to take revenge on Darcy, if possible. But I’d prioritize my research and teaching duties.

I’m worried about the potential ramifications of that, in terms of how other professors and students would see it. Perhaps something more subtle?

Anyway, some stuff I have to report:

A bug here:

“Yes,” the man says. “Though we’d better release him before she suffocates.”

The pronouns are mixed up here.

And this is confusing me:

“I got it!” Desmond calls. Before Isaac can channel magic, Desmond lifts a piece of pattern paper. Fire blossoms from his hands like water from a hose. The tennis ball vanishes into It splashes the ceiling. Protective patterns flare as they absorb the energy and send it elsewhere.

I presume a period is missing? The scene implies that the tennis ball went into the ceiling.

And, lastly, this:

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Thanks! This feedback is very helpful, from the small details of typos to the larger feedback on the pacing and plot.

@furyleika, you’ll meet them again. That’s too major a thread for me to drop it. Also I love that you’ve experienced half-stairs, too.

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I like the pacing so far, but I agree with some of the posters before me in that sometimes it could get confusing whether we were in the present or reliving the past. To be fair it makes sense that our characters could get muddled up between realities, so it’s really up to you what changes you want to make for that.

Question: I know Manish is currently out of the game in terms of pattern magic, but will they show up again and be romanceable in the future?

The choices are straightforward in terms of what skills they may involve, but some of the stat checks are pretty steep! Higher stat boosts or more forgiving stat checks I would appreciate.

I romanced Darcy in the flashback (honestly it was kind of hard to decide between him and Manish, but I decided on him for the drama!), so all of his underhandedness was doubly infuriating! I mean knowing what we know of his background, I can see where he’s coming from, but it still doesn’t justify all he did/still does. It’ll be interesting to try to reconnect with him while still subtly chipping away at his rep.

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I really like the setting, plot and characters so far, such an amazing world! Darcy broke my heart but i still want the MC to be with him\her (enemies to lovers trope is my favorite ) i’m not an ambitious person ( the game seems to make us as one) i prefer to connect to people, so i hope it will be possible in this game. Sorry about my english and i can’t wait for more!

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Why doesn’t this have more traffic. This is literally one of the most well thought-out and written WIPs in this Forum.

Anyways kudos and anticipating more content!

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This does look pretty cool. Especially considering you can romance the extra dimensional being in your head. Got me hooked with that

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Wow, this is amazing. I love the pacing, the choices we’re given, the characters (except Darcy and Desmond of course, but that’s the way they are), I’ll definitely get it on release. :100:

I loved the luncheon, its awkward atmosphere and getting along with the new professor. :ok_hand:

I cannot wait having to deal with a mountain of things to do this semester :sweat_smile:

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I’ve been quiet of late, mainly because of actually working on the game. I’ve got a rough draft of Chapter 3 and am plunging headlong into Chapter 4 now.

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Chapter 3 is up! Some old acquaintances make a re-appearance in this chapter, and you finally face the worst terror: your first class session.

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This is exciting! I was just talking with someone via DM about this one yesterday. Or maybe the day before. Time’s not real. Anyway, very excited to read the update! Will definitely replay the whole thing.

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This hits a little too close to home now that I’m grading my first papers! Can’t wait to read the update!

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