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Games => TSoG => TSoG Wish List => Topic started by: KZ on July 24, 2010, 09:30:38 AM

Title: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: KZ on July 24, 2010, 09:30:38 AM
Branching off from this (http://sinisterdesign.net/forum/index.php?topic=505.0) topic, the question (quite unexpectedly, at least for myself) arose is "how ot get rid of soul charges"?
Although they're used to revive teammates in-game, it seems that some folks don't like to use them or have too many of them for ethical, practical, financial or style reasons (see page 2 of the original thread)! Thus, what sort of solutions would you like to see for this issue, folks?

How about if Luca reaches, say, 50 or 100 soul charges, she can either disperse them in-battle for a poweful elemental attack (e.g. Soul Blast, covers the whole area, like Holy Blast, and deals 20 damage to all enemy units, and friendly units as well, if friendly fire is on) or disperse them at the HQ, but instead gain extra 10-20 PsP or health (the leftover energy released in letting souls dissipate from the material realm into another plane can be gathered by Luca)? What are your thoughts on this?
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: MikeW781 on July 24, 2010, 09:36:18 AM
Quote from: KZ on July 24, 2010, 09:30:38 AM
Branching off from this (http://sinisterdesign.net/forum/index.php?topic=505.0) topic, the question (quite unexpectedly, at least for myself) arose is "how ot get rid of soul charges"?
Although they're used to revive teammates in-game, it seems that some folks don't like to use them or have too many of them for ethical, practical, financial or style reasons (see page 2 of the original thread)! Thus, what sort of solutions would you like to see for this issue, folks?

How about if Luca reaches, say, 50 or 100 soul charges, she can either disperse them in-battle for a poweful elemental attack (e.g. Soul Blast, covers the whole area, like Holy Blast, and deals 20 damage to all enemy units, and friendly units as well, if friendly fire is on) or disperse them at the HQ, but instead gain extra 10-20 PsP or health (the leftover energy released in letting souls dissipate from the material realm into another plane can be gathered by Luca)? What are your thoughts on this?
I think they could be traded for a monetary reward- prehaps a owner at the Arena wants you to revive dead combatants and will pay you handsomely?
Title: Re: How to getting rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: Dorgon 5000 on July 24, 2010, 11:45:50 AM
Maybe she gets the power to take you to a secret area?
Title: Re: How to getting rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: KZ on July 24, 2010, 03:26:25 PM
I think it will be a tad morally dubious to sell someone's souls for money, don't you think?

I don't know about a secret area- would that require a lot of extra work for Craig? Well, maybe getting a glimpse of what's on the other side, or getting to see some of the backstroies of some of the consumed souls (e.g. put in a couple of generic texts for a Bandit, a Ravinale Guard, a bug, etc) would be quite interesting, methinks. (Though that might look like a rip-off from Mardek 3...)
Title: Re: How to getting rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: Dorgon 5000 on July 25, 2010, 12:50:01 AM
Quote from: KZ on July 24, 2010, 03:26:25 PM
I think it will be a tad morally dubious to sell someone's souls for money, don't you think?

I don't know about a secret area- would that require a lot of extra work for Craig? Well, maybe getting a glimpse of what's on the other side, or getting to see some of the backstroies of some of the consumed souls (e.g. put in a couple of generic texts for a Bandit, a Ravinale Guard, a bug, etc) would be quite interesting, methinks. (Though that might look like a rip-off from Mardek 3...)

Craig has made a lot of areas already, I donĀ“t think one more should be any big deal. KZ had a good idea, but rip-offs are something that we should keep the telepath series free from.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: SmartyPants on July 25, 2010, 11:15:51 AM
Maybe Soul Suck should be weaken where it is more difficult to gather Soul Charges.

I doubt anyone can play all the missions(without constant gold farming) on Brutal Friendly Fire and not  have a single player die.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: KZ on July 25, 2010, 11:45:28 AM
Why should soul suck weaken? It's already a weak enough attack as it is, or are you referring to the % of how many times a lethal Soul Suck manages to get Soul Charges?
If the latter, I'd still keep it at 100%, and those who wish to avoid extra soul charges, should simply refrain from using soul suck and, instead, use Mind Blast if they know that the attack will kill the enemy unit and get the team a soul charge.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: algebra15 on July 25, 2010, 01:05:33 PM
Sounds great. My only problem is: what if you're using Luca for giving Duvalier Psy Points? Then one would want to save up Luca's PsP, and if she's behind him, then a ranged attack works.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: KZ on July 25, 2010, 03:35:10 PM
Well, surely a skilled, or even a semi-skilled gamer could simply use Luca's Soul Suck in times when it won't kill the unit? I am sure that if the player half-heartedly tries avoiding accumulating soul charges, 98% of the time he or she won't be put into a situation where that would significantly affect game play and be of major inconvenience. I actually have to put effort into getting the soul charges, even when I am grinding or facing highly superior/inferior opposition.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: algebra15 on July 27, 2010, 01:53:05 PM
I admit that that is a good solution to the problem. And for one to say otherwise would be saying one is not even a semi-skilled gamer. Maybe we don't need a way to get rid of  Soul Charges.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: TheWanderingShadow on October 20, 2010, 08:24:52 PM
I kind of instictively collect Soul Charges now. :P I feel it isn't necessary to get rid of Soul Charges. I mean, it doesn't affect anything to have too many, right? Soul suck should be used as just any normal attack in battle. It even has tactical value, being Luca's only long distance attack.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: Duskling on October 20, 2010, 08:28:15 PM
Quote from: TheWanderingShadow on October 20, 2010, 08:24:52 PM
I kind of instictively collect Soul Charges now. :P I feel it isn't necessary to get rid of Soul Charges. I mean, it doesn't affect anything to have too many, right? Soul suck should be used as just any normal attack in battle. It even has tactical value, being Luca's only long distance attack.
I agree, but don't you mean, "Luca's only long distance attack so far?"
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: bugfartboy on October 20, 2010, 08:30:55 PM
And it happens to have the opposite of a cost. So despite it being weak, it aids Luca in keeping her Psi Points up. The Soul Charges are just kinda a bonus in my opinion.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: ArtDrake on October 20, 2010, 09:37:19 PM
It just bothers me that unless you purposefully kill someone off, you have no way to rid yourself of them. Perhaps there could be a Personality bonus for letting them go by en masse?
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: bugfartboy on October 20, 2010, 09:42:35 PM
Hmm. I don't know. Not everything need to have a bonus. Maybe it could create a possible battle based on what your personality is. Surely some of the spirits would want to get some revenge for being killed. And the Hero could try to talk himself out of it based on his personality.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: Steelfist on December 11, 2010, 10:19:47 AM
I like the idea of being able to sell them.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: cyso on December 11, 2010, 10:52:07 AM
Who would buy a bunch of souls?
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: bugfartboy on December 11, 2010, 01:28:10 PM
The Arena. Don't you remember the spirits you can buy?
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: cyso on December 11, 2010, 01:31:27 PM
Maybe, if the soul charges could be converted into spirit form.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: ArtDrake on December 11, 2010, 05:17:32 PM
If they are to be used, they could be used for:


Then again, the Yellow orb makes the move obsolete with Transfer.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: bugfartboy on December 11, 2010, 07:56:44 PM
Nay. How would they give you defense boosts? If thy could become ghosts, they could be sold into slavery for the Arena. Other than that, there is no logic behind your suggestions.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: ArtDrake on December 11, 2010, 11:19:35 PM
They're not suggestions. They're simply a review of all possible ways to use souls. Have I missed any? If you are not in favor of, and not interested in getting rid of extra Soul Charges, I can't help but wonder why you're even posting here.

Do you have any positive suggestions, rather than negative ones?
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: bugfartboy on December 11, 2010, 11:38:00 PM
Yes. Sell them to the arena. I've already said that. And how about you get 150 souls charges, you get a greater ghost to fight for you? Doesn't that make sense? <Partial Sarcasm
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: ArtDrake on December 12, 2010, 01:06:18 AM
Monetary gain is one of the possibilities. I'm not saying I support any in particular. I'm tired of people saying I'm ridiculous, and don't think things through.

How do we know that the Arena has ghosts willing and able to revive participants?
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: bugfartboy on December 12, 2010, 08:26:44 AM
Who said anything of reviving? I meant that if it were possible to form a ghost out of soul charges, you could form a ghost and sell it to the Arena as a slave or mercenary to buy into your team.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: ArtDrake on December 12, 2010, 11:30:10 AM
Okay, I'll put it up.

And if you could talk to these ghosts instead of selling them, maybe you could do a side-quest.

But Ghosts aren't formed that way; ghosts happen when they have a very strong reason to stay. They don't need a Soul Charge. If you made a ghost with the Soul Charges you got from Ghosts, where would you be? You'd have multiple copies of the same Ghost running around, since they reform after a while.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: cyso on December 12, 2010, 02:21:56 PM
Maybe you could go to the arena and revive participants for a fee, like Nelis.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: ArtDrake on December 12, 2010, 09:12:36 PM
It's up there now.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: cyso on December 12, 2010, 09:21:36 PM
Using soul charges as psy points seems to me like it could become a game breaker very quickly. So does using them to buff your stats. I still don't get how the souls would buff your stats.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: SmartyPants on December 13, 2010, 12:37:26 PM
Quote from: Bugfartboy on December 11, 2010, 01:28:10 PMThe Arena. Don't you remember the spirits you can buy?
I think the Psy Arena is gone by the time the Cult took over.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: ArtDrake on December 13, 2010, 09:01:05 PM
We'll see. They could have made it into more of a gladiator arena.

I don't fully understand how you can kill something, and use its energy to revive other stuff, and yet some creatures end up having even more Psy energy as ghosts...

but you don't see me pointing out the flaws, yogc.

These are just possibilities, and if you have better ones, please speak up. These don't even have to be implemented. It's just that if some people DO want to use up their Soul Charges, and don't want the guilt of killing their teammates (like moi), this is trying to be as complete list as possible of all possibilities that anyone might reasonably consider as uses for the Soul energy.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: ArtDrake on July 01, 2011, 01:01:55 PM
Oh! I've a new idea for the use of Soul Charges!

Exchange some number (10, 13, 15, 17, 20?) of Soul Charges for an extra level in a combat skill; those that have met their end have knowledge that can aid you in battle.

Y'know, this is sounding really lame, now that I put it in writing. Never mind.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: MikeW781 on July 01, 2011, 06:25:24 PM
Quote from: Duckling' on July 01, 2011, 01:01:55 PM
Oh! I've a new idea for the use of Soul Charges!

Exchange some number (10, 13, 15, 17, 20?) of Soul Charges for an extra level in a combat skill; those that have met their end have knowledge that can aid you in battle.

Y'know, this is sounding really lame, now that I put it in writing. Never mind.
I kinda like it. It would have to be a lot though, but yeah. Good idea.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: ArtDrake on July 02, 2011, 12:37:41 AM
However, this may conflict with Craig's plans concerning the way abilities are unlocked. You could, theoretically, unlock Vengeance without ever using Feedback! Problem.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: SmartyPants on July 02, 2011, 04:39:39 PM
One of issues of allowing people to get rid of excess soul charges is that players might not have any when a teammate dies.


I don't see the big deal of having extra soul charges.  I usually forget there are soul charges untill I talk to Luca.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: bugfartboy on July 02, 2011, 05:22:54 PM
Quote from: im2smart4u on July 02, 2011, 04:39:39 PM
I don't see the big deal of having extra soul charges.  I usually forget there are soul charges untill I talk to Luca.
When I play the demo, it's ditto for me.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: ArtDrake on July 02, 2011, 10:47:12 PM
im2smart4u, your first point could apply to money: why should we let people spend it on things they want, when they could end up having none for buying things they need?

The idea of Soul Charges piling up throughout the game just irritates me; however, I could be the only one that has this obsessive compulsion.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: SmartyPants on July 02, 2011, 11:14:20 PM
Quote from: Duckling' on July 02, 2011, 10:47:12 PMim2smart4u, your first point could apply to money: why should we let people spend it on things they want, when they could end up having none for buying things they need?
I see how you are trying to appeal to my libertarian side, but the game world is different then the real world.  Reviving is a game mechanic that allows the player to bring back a character after making a mistake in battle.  In TRPG2, one spends all the gold they can on training.  If half the party dies, then there isn't enough gold to revive them.  I belive Craig decided to use Soul Charges instead of gold to revive teammates, so they can focus all their gold on training.  If we try to turn Soul Charges into a type of currency, then it will beat the point of what Craig was trying to do.
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: ArtDrake on July 03, 2011, 12:30:31 AM
Ah, no. I wasn't trying to appeal to your libertarian side. Your libertarian side hadn't even shown up on my radar; it was just a convenient analogy.

But I see your point. That brings me to a second idea. You are familiar with the way in which Ali the Incorrigible refuses to gamble if you have less than a certain amount of money? The same concept could apply to Soul Charges. Luca raises a safety concern if you try to "spend" Soul Charges on attack levels when the transaction would leave you with less than a certain amount of Charges, about 5 or 10.

That resolves the concern you raise, hmm?
Title: Re: How to get rid of extra Soul Charges?
Post by: SmartyPants on July 03, 2011, 08:50:45 PM
Quote from: Duckling' on July 03, 2011, 12:30:31 AMBut I see your point. That brings me to a second idea. You are familiar with the way in which Ali the Incorrigible refuses to gamble if you have less than a certain amount of money? The same concept could apply to Soul Charges. Luca raises a safety concern if you try to "spend" Soul Charges on attack levels when the transaction would leave you with less than a certain amount of Charges, about 5 or 10.

That resolves the concern you raise, hmm?
Sounds good to me.