[Hank Parsons]

That's a few maps out of the whole game. There are certain areas that it's still gonna be really easy to clear out in comparison, and that's not good.

Tactics is on v20 (which is more consecutive improvements over a sustained work-period than most mods can claim). Some day it might cover the entire game. At this point in time, it fixes far more battles than any other BG2 mod.

You claim it is so few areas, but really BG2 only has about 14 major battle/quest areas, and Tactics improves almost all of them:

• Chateau Irenicus- Improved Ilych
• Athkatla - Improved Undead (A+ major improvement, finally makes skeletons in the graveyard some threat); 2 Major Lich encounters in the Docks (cool!); Illusionist in the Docks (A+ cool battle!); Acid Kensai (yields overpowered items); Improved Bodhi (under discussion; too exaggerated)
• De'Arnise Hold - Improved Torgal finally gives this map some worth, it was absurd before getting the Flail Of Ages that easily. This is one of Tactics best componants, A+.
• Windspear Hills - improved Firkragg
• Umar Hills + Temple Ruins - Smarter Dragons makes for a challenging, decent, fun Shadow Dragon. Another great victory for Tactics.
• Trademeet + Druid's Grove - Tactics completely overhauls this area and makes it fun at last. Until you get to Improved Faldorn, she is too exaggerated for me: Unbeatable legit?
• Brynnlaw + Spellhold - This part of the game sucks and needs to be improved. Yawn.
• Sahuagin City - A+ Tactics! One of the coolest componants of Tactics, the Minor Avatar Of Sekolah battle is one of the most fun battles in the entire game. This level sucked before, it rules now, I'd play Tactics for this encounter alone. And if it's unbeatable for your party, stealth around the side and avoid this battle: Player's choice, immersive, realistic.
• The Underdark + Ust Natha + 3 Lairs - Smarter Beholders, deadly Mind-Flayers, and drow and kua toa mages who actually use spells against you. I would say Tactics totally overhauls this entire part of the game.
• Small Teeth Pass - I haven't tried this Tactics encounter yet, but it does totally overhaul this useless area. Rumor is it is exagerrated, but I can't say til I try it.
• Noth Forest
• Forest of Tethir
• Suldanessellar - Smarter Mages again
• The Nine Hells Improved Irenicus should be the hardest battle in SOA, and it nearly is.

That's almost every area of the game!

That doesn't justify it breaking the immersion.

First, I disagree that it breaks the immersion. I was less immersed in the game when Azuredge kills a boss in one hit.

Can there not be some people who want immersive banters and NPC's, and others who want really-difficult battles? Yes, you can desire both in a mod, but as a mod-maker Sim Ding0 you know this does not happen by divine intervention: someone has to actually make the mod. Tactics is the best mod for what I want, that currently exists. It can be better, yes, but it is not the "horrible" mod that some people are afraid of.

"Very poorly" says it all. And Tactics bumps everything up to difficulties so extreme that the slider becomes pretty insignificant anyway.

You may have misunderstood what I said was poor. I was saying the Original BG2 Difficulty Slider is done very poorly, because it ONLY does what you've asked for: to make all enemies uniformly more difficult, by increasing the damage they do. Tactics is far more sophisticated enhancements.

The Tactics slider is implemented in Improved Bodhi. Did you try it? If so, which of Bodhi's powers did you notice reduced (or as you said: not affected) by the easier slider, and: was the "Easy" Improved Bodhi more acceptable to you? If Easy Improved Bodhi was still unacceptable to you, then which ability of hers was over-the-line in your opinion? <--Specific question to Sim Ding0.

However, it seems too exaggerated in Tactics.

I don't disagree that some battles in Tactics are too exaggerated. "Too exaggerated" is a very different criticism than: "unprofessional", "wrong", "unjustified", etc. These superlative criticisms are more exaggerated, unjustified, and out-of-line than the accused.

I don't believe so. I'd rather both kobolds and spirit trolls were slightly stronger. Or alternatively, the player was weaker, which is why I'm making the XP rebalancing mod.

Tactics did not make the Druid's Grove Spirit Trolls harder. It put them there. Are you knowingly misrepresenting what Tactics does, or have you not played Improved Druid's Grove lately?

I'm glad you are making the XP Rebalancing Mod. I have checked out your forum topic for it. I encourage you to make the mod that you like. However, I think it is not nearly as good as Tactics. It doesn't sound nearly as interesting or fun. I could easily set my XP's down with ShadowKeeper if that's what I want. I already limit my characters to reduce cheese for the player (me). Since XP Rebalancing is not released yet, you can hardly hold it up against Tactics.

Then there are the ones that it doesn't affect at all...

Such as?

Within the gameworld, it's utterly inappropriate.

Your criticism was reasonable before, but now you are displaying an ego complex. It is not your decision what is appropriate for other players. I think that Staff Of The Magi, Ring Of Gaxx, other items are inappropriate: For Me. I don't tell Bioware to remove them. I think that romancing Imoen is inappropriate: For Me. I think that Sola and Chloe NPC's are unrealistic, overpowered, and inappropriate for my game: Therefore I do not install them! Player's choice. I would never tell a mod-developer that they've made an "inappropriate" "unprofessional" "unjustified" decision in developing their own mod. That really sounds egotistical when it's coming from another mod-developer.

On the other hand, it doesn't mention breaking it either, which is in reality what it does.

It improves the immersive factor *in the battles* for me (not the role-playing aspect, but the believability that enemies are actually a threat). Even if it did break the immersion, do all your ReadMe files mention everything they DON'T do, or every criticism of its detractors? No. You tell what the mod DOES. Then the players can choose if they want it. You seem to not want me to have that choice.

[ 08-27-2004, 10:00 PM: Message edited by: Hank Parsons ]