The Wayhaven Chronicles: Book One (Discussion) FAQ Located on Post 2

Before I say anything else, I have to say how much I loved this game. It was the first CoG game I played (due to my gaming laptop overheating, I’m stuck playing games that aren’t so video intensive for now) and it drove me to purchase other CoG games. Unfortunately, the two I’ve gotten were highly disappointing when compared to this one, due to the others lacking depth. That said…

I agree with a lot of what you said.

[quote=“Real_Heh, post:245, topic:36176”]

  • I have already spoken in another, original discussion, but I did not like the fact that the actions have absolutely no effect on the plot, with the exception of a few cases. For example, if my character wanted to go into the army, has a good fighting skills, it is logical that he would feel prepared in a situation where these skills are required, right? But no, nothing like that. [/quote]

This one stuck in my craw in a huge way. I’ve played through with eight characters so far–five of them are fighters and would’ve joined the army. They wouldn’t freak out over a pigeon being in a building (hell, I wouldn’t freak out over that and have a huge thing for wandering around deserted buildings and construction sites). They wouldn’t freak out over a lot of things the MC freaked out over, and that rankled.

I get it that the MC is being thrust into something ‘new’ and strange, but if you’re setting up a combat-oriented stoic character, the MC should be combat-oriented and stoic, not a damsel-in-distress. Yes, the vampire thing may be hard to swallow for some characters, but one of the options when you find out is, for all intents and purposes, “Well, that makes sense…” As such, you shouldn’t be urinating yourself when you see a demon while walking around with your mother. Which brings me to another similar complaint…

Reaction choices are basically bi-polar–you’re either crapping your pants in fear or crapping your pants with excitement. You’re a detective, which implies you’ve been a cop for a while. You should’ve had, at the very least, basic self-defense training, even if you’re living in Froopyland, where it’s impossible to get hurt (Rick and Morty reference, for those who don’t get it). It reminds me of the old BioWare games, where your only choices were to be a complete psychopath, be nicer than Mother Teresa, or have no personality at all. Only here, the only choices are to be scared of your own shadow, be excited about everything to the point of stupidity, or be a smartass (typically while being afraid of your own shadow). It wouldn’t be too hard to change this, though, and to let the personality stats actually help form the character.

[quote=“Real_Heh, post:245, topic:36176”]

  • Stats exist for a reason. This attracts me very much Samurai of Hyuga and the system of stats is there - if your character is a jerk, then your choice are for jerks only. For example, if your basic stat is protection, it is logical that the samurai will throw himself into the fire to protect the person. However, if it is the opposite, it is logical that the character will stand still, smoking a cigarette, while half the city burned in the fire, and did not feel any regrets. That’s just what people are, there’s nothing you can do about it. And if the status system says that my character is sarcastic and stubborn, it is logical to say that he will not just simply forgive betrayal. However, judging by the game, it is. Now nothing can be done about it, but I hope that in the future parts of the series this will be given attention. [/quote]

This little bit made me want to play Samurai of Hyuga. I’ll have to check it out.

And I agree, I hope the future parts in the series take this kind of thing into account.

[quote=“Real_Heh, post:245, topic:36176”]
These are typical characters of Japanese harems. There is even an anime called Vampire Knight and its plot is almost completely rotated between vampires and one inept, modest and rather boring main character. I am sure that every character in the end will have a tragic story in which they explain how hard it is to them to live in this world, but come on. [/quote]

This is one I have to disagree on, partially, anyway. Yes, the characters are typical of Japanese harems, and they may turn out to be nothing but tropes, but there is so much potential for all four of them. There seems to be so much hidden depth to all four of them that the author could easily break the tropes and blow our minds with it, if she wishes to do so. She does so well at characterization that I think she may surprise us. I hope, anyway.

On a 10-point scale, I’d give it an 8, simply because it is so much better than the other CoG games I’ve check out (one about a bunch of zombies had me ready to throw my laptop through a window, because there seemed to be no way to survive till the end). That said, I agree that there is room for improvement and certain things–such as the character’s traits–should have more of an effect on the game than they presently do.

So, while I eagerly await the next installment in this series, I really hope the author will allow the stats to have more of an effect on the character’s behavior and that we can avoid some of the damsel-in-distress crap. While I have no problem with the MC being weaker than her (or his) team, I can’t stomach helplessness or “poor weak me” stuff. And, when she is rescued, she wouldn’t shy away from it and would thank them for it outright, without any mealy-mouthed pandering.

In addition, I am really hoping she doesn’t bury us in angst with the relationships. I can deal with a little cat and mouse with certain ones (with A & M, it makes sense), provided it doesn’t drag on forever. These people are in life and death situations… when you may die at any given time, playing games is a ridiculous waste of time and energy and, psychologically speaking, you wouldn’t have much patience for someone jerking you around for long and would, be like, “Dude, sh** or get off the pot, all right?” :sunglasses:

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Amusingly enough, I’m a woman totally into strong men like Adam and Mason, so I know exactly what you mean. Nate’s too nice and weak to deal with my MCs who are more like me–she’d steamroll his butt before he knew what happened, then get bored and be looking for the nearest exit. And Felix… I love him to pieces, but I see him like a little brother to most of my MCs, no matter that he’s like 60 years older than them.

Only Adam and Mason are strong enough to deal with my MCs. And Mason is the safest choice for my characters who, to quote the game, “don’t open up easily.” By the time she realizes she’s falling for Mason, it’ll be too damned late for her to save herself. Hopefully, it will be for Mason, too, lol, or she’s going to go into full-on reckless mode.

If you think N couldn’t keep up with your MC then I think you haven’t been playing with the same Suavewell the rest of us have lol.

Unless you are saying that someone who has no fear to express their emotions is “weak”.

And about the above comment. I have to disagree, I have play with strong character that is combat orientated, and I seriously don’t see from where some of you are getting those impressions… Like, she jumped to fight the Thralls even if it was the first time in her life seeing something like that. I never got the damsel in distress vibe, if some, a combat oriented MC jumps to protect the team more times than the other way around.

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I have to agree with this. Based from her Tumblr though, Sera is planning to do some tweaking in the stats and I am looking forward to strengthen my MCs but from what I understand, the series will be mostly character based more than stat based so I have limit my expectations for the stat mechanics.

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Yeah, Sera said from the beginning that this game will be based more in your choices than in the stats. Which I immensely appreciate. There is nothing I hate more that games that force you to play certain way to achieve a good ending.

Like, SoH really pissed me off with the spirit animal stats, because I couldn’t choose the options I wanted without being penalised… And that really sucks imo.

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It really depends on your preference to be honest. Other people don’t like TWC mechanics since it’s stat mechanics are too little to none which they don’t like. I have mixed feelings about some titles that are too stat extensive but I don’t mind the restriction if it’s not too restrictive like Tally Ho and SoH. In the end, it boils down to preference.

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No, I don’t mean that at all. He’s just… soft. I played the N romance with a quieter, somewhat gentler MC and it worked really well (she was a fighter, but wasn’t afraid of her own softness, if you get my drift). She was closer to Rebecca and wasn’t all that affected by her mother not being around much when she was younger. She didn’t default to “hardass” like other MCs.

But the main MC I used is like a steamroller, and she keeps most people at arm’s length. She eventually starts accepting the whole “team” thing, but at first, she’s all about “I can do it myself” even when she’d likely get killed. And those traits are exactly why she wouldn’t really click with Nate once it got comfortable. She needs someone who can challenge her (like Adam quietly pushing with the “You can’t go alone” crap) and Nate is more of a soft touch. Using a soft touch on her is a good way to pull back a nub, at some point, lol.

And N being so suave is part of the problem with the tougher MCs. You take a character who isn’t used to nice, isn’t used to anyone who sticks around, and thinks the only way through a brick wall is to smash her head through it, and put her with Nate? It may be a nice change, at first, but eventually, she’d get freaked out waiting for the other shoe to drop. With someone who pushes back when she pushes, they’ll eventually get to what’s underneath the surface. Provided they stick around long enough… and if they don’t, it just confirms her belief that you can’t trust or depend on anyone but yourself.

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They probably mean in the term of fighting, N is weaker than the other characters/ROs like M or/and A. I agree with them, lots of people like strong characters so N being more of a words person could be an turn off to some people. (Doesn’t mean i don’t like them!)

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Oh god, I already feel bad for your MC. I hope she gets better through the books, because men, those are some serious trust issues that are no ground for a relationship :joy:

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I don’t think N is a weak fighter, they can defiantly hold their own in a fight, they just use it as a last resort unlike A or M. They are more willing to fight than F is, at the very least. But, yeah, they are more soft in terms of personality which is just a preference thing, so I do think it depends on the MC too. I like N with MCs so are either sarcastic or hard since it seems like N would be the type to be patient and let them come out of their shells are their own pace I mean, they did get through to A after all but, like I said, its a preference thing.

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This is the most brilliant example anyone can give to prove that N is perfectly capable managing anyone in this earth :joy:

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For real tho, where’s N’s Nobel Peace Prize? You know they’ve probably helped diffuse some of A’s bigger outburts.

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N has to smooth over after A’s outbursts, keep an eye on F so they don’t go chasing every sports car they see, and keep M from melting down after someone walked by wearing too much cologne.

If they aren’t Agent of the year every year then there is no justice.

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Right there with you. I haven’t replayed SoH because of the level of stat-gaming needed. It kills games for me. :slightly_frowning_face:

That is why I love this game, stats are there and affect enough that you can fail some things, but it won’t screw you over because of it. :blush:

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cough

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As far as the character stats go, I understand but I also see the reasoning behind it. Most games, and this includes CoG, are focused on the stats and the main character. When you are in an RPG for instance, you pick your attributes and level them up to get new perks. Your character gets heavily developed throughout the game but mostly, your relationships with the supporting cast are pretty shallow. Spend X amount of time with person = become friend, or in the case of romance = fall in love. Not to mention, the lack of syncing the romance with the plot. I can’t count how many times my MCs are in a serious situation and there is no reaction from their RI. Or even worse, my character isn’t reacting when their RI is in trouble. Like the romance exists outside the plot bubble and it honestly drives me even more nuts than when my normally collected MC panics under pressure.

I’m not saying it’s not annoying to be the damsel in distress because it is by far the trope. I hate. The most. Every time I reach the point of the story with Murphy taking the Detective, I flip through that part as fast as possible until my Detective has agency of the situation again. But that’s my preference. I think Sera preferred to flesh out the romances and giving each romance option a chance to react in every scenario rather than just developing the MC.

Let’s look at the first fight scene with the thralls and the lead up to it. While most games would maybe provide one small scene with whoever you choose as your RI where you share generic flirtatious dialogue (this choice to spend time with your RI is almost always at the expense of plot options or skill raising options) then fight scene where MC shows off their badassitude using their chosen skillset. However, Sera wrote in two different scenarios of going to the bar or staying at the office, and then wrote 12 unique interactions, 3 per RI. And she melded these into the plot rather than making them bubble activities. The fact that she chose to dedicate her time to the romance rather than the same old superpowered MC who can take on the world by themself is refreshing. And even saying that, she does provide different scenes based on whether you focus on combat, speech, tech, or deduction. I just think I’d have rather had the cute scenes of the MC getting knocked out and each vampire reacting differently to it rather than the MC blocking the shot with their awesome combat skills and fading to black.

Plus I think we also underestimate the amount of levels between a human and a supernatural. I think of it as a thirteen year old black belt of karate taking on an professional mixed martial artist. Best chance scenario, you take them by surprise with one good shot and I think that’s what pretty much happens in this story. I think the detective will eventually make it close, especially considering how fierce Rebecca is, but for that to happen immediately is unrealistic. You are playing a small town cop and a very green detective. As satisfying as it would’ve been to thrash Murphy after he hurt Nate (And man was I pissed off in that moment), I still understand the limitations my detective has.

And it’s kind of funny because while I am the sort that exclusively creates combat adept MCs, I’m more drawn to softer personalities like Nate because he doesn’t feel the need to constantly belittle the MC’s abilities and is willing to let the detective participate. I’ve said it before in this thread but Adam and Mason constantly writing off the MC as weak and pathetic really made it difficult to romance them. Either provide constructive criticism or shut up you two. I prefer guys like Felix and Nate who smile and appreciate it when my detective says that she’ll watch their backs, not the two scoffing fools rolling their damn eyes :rage: I have to prove myself enough to guys in real life, I don’t want to deal with it in fantasy too, thank you very much.

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So does N have a smartphone or an older type of phone?

They have a smartphone and they are terrible at it. :rofl:

@morphine But actually, I’m really glad you asked because I forgot to mention one of my headcanons that I totally hope @Seraphinite sees cough cough that N should totally have an indestructible Nokia 3310 (that F would totally tease them for, but then it saves their lives one day, idk, maybe it stops a bullet? maybe it’s the only phone that still has battery? either way, N is vindicated.



http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/232/788/1ab.jpg

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To be fair, A probably needs one too. Its the only thing they can’t destroy…

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It’s also probably why N got one in the first place even though I’m sure the Agency tried to convince them otherwise.

Agency: Please, Agent Sewell, just use a smartphone.
N: A, come here please?
A: What is it?
N: [puts the Nokia in A’s fist]
A: What–?
N: Shh. Just trust me.
Agency: Um—
N: A, the detective has left without informing us.
A: WHAT? [tightens grip]
N: I’m sorry, but that was a lie.
A: Why would you even do that?
N: To prove a point. [points to the still pristine phone]
Agency: Holy shit.

And then the Agency makes it a point to use Nokias over smartphones—F is…so disappointed.


also

I have been literally called out, lol

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