Reputation System Q&A

[Kalah]

<img src="/http://static9.cdn.ubi.com/en-GB/images ... 111816.jpg" align=right hspace=10 vspace=10><a href="/http://might-and-magic.ubi.com/heroes-6 ... -32">Erwan le Breton</a>, producer of <i>Might & Magic: Heroes VI</i>, has answered the fans' question about what the reputation system will be like in the coming game. He calls it <strong>"Blood and Tears."</strong> What it is, in a nutshell, is a choice between two different personalities; rash and decisive, or thoughtful and wary of consequences.





<strong>Q: Tell us about the Reputation system.</strong>


A: “You were born a Griffin! The story of your life is yours to write, but choose your ink wisely. There are only two colors… your blood or your tears.”


In Might & Magic Heroes, you are proposed two distinct ways of writing your destiny. Your blood descends from the Dragon-gods themselves, and if you follow your instincts, attacking fast and hard, throwing caution to the wind, your blood will serve you well.


There is also another way to write your hero’s story. You can do your best to understand the complexity of a situation before acting rashly. This path is for seekers of knowledge, protectors and the curious at heart. It is full of moments of surprising happiness, but also times of tragic sadness. This is the path of Tears. Whatever path you choose, you must follow it through to its logical end. True heroes are true to their hearts. Whether trusting Blood, or risking Tears, writing the story of your destiny will be an exciting adventure.





In H6, the player will be faced with a very important Reputation choice between two different “moral paths”: the path of Dragon Tears and the path of Dragon Blood. This is not a Manichean “Good vs Evil” dichotomy but rather a dynamic concept of conflicting perspectives.





Blood Heroes will be active and offensive, Tears Heroes will be more reactive and defensive. Imagine, for instance, that your hero stumbles upon an innocent person being assaulted by a robber. Like a “Punisher”, the Blood hero will chase the robber and attack him to prevent him from causing more harm. Like a “Paladin”, the Tears hero will interpose himself between the robber and its victim. He will try to intimidate or persuade the robber, and comfort the victim.





<strong>Q: What are the consequences of these choices?</strong>


A: Your hero’s path will strongly influence your player’s experience: In terms of storytelling, it will unlock special quests on each campaign map, different companion heroes, and a unique “epilogue” map linked to your path.





Gameplay-wise, it will grant you access to specific “advanced classes”, 4 per faction, each with their unique visuals and sets of abilities. The more Reputation you gain, the more powerful your Reputation-related abilities become. For instance, Healing (a Light spell) will be influenced by your Tears rating, whereas Fireball (a Fire spell) will be influenced by your Blood rating. This is truly a unique system, never before seen in a strategy game.


<center><img src="/https://www.celestialheavens.com/images ... g"</center>





<strong>Q: What can we expect from the advanced classes? Will they work like in H4?</strong>


No, because they’re not based on a specific combination of abilities but rather on your Reputation choices. Your heroes’ classes will ultimately be defined by their faction, their affinity (Might or Magic) and their Reputation choice. For instance, a Might hero from the Haven faction will start as a “Knight” and can later evolve into a “Paladin” (Tears) or a “Vindicator” (Blood).





<img src="/http://static9.cdn.ubi.com/en-GB/images ... 111688.png" align=right hspace=10 vspace=10><strong>Q: Can you hold your class advancing? Or will it happen automatically?</strong>


Most ingame actions will award Reputation points. For instance, if your enemies flee before your powerful army, choosing to let them escape will grant you Tear points. Chasing them down to kill them will give you Blood points. More generally, using Tear abilities will grant you Tear points, and the same goes for Blood. Many quests will also offer a Reputation choice and they will reward you with the appropriate Reputation points. These gains are not mutually exclusive. Your Blood and Tears ratings are not co-dependant and you never lose the Reputation points you’ve gained.





When you reach a certain Blood or Tears threshold, you’re offered the choice of evolving into the corresponding Reputation advanced class. This is not automatic; you have to return to one of your towns to change classes. So you can wait until you have reached both of the Tears and Blood thresholds, and then make your choice. Every ten levels, you can also “respec” your hero’s Reputation (and therefore their class and abilities). But in the single player campaigns, you have to make a final Reputation choice at a certain moment, and you cannot go back and respec (for obvious storytelling reasons).

If you would like to take a look at the original page visit this link:
https://www.celestialheavens.com/1298807912

[GreatEmerald]

In other words, Renegade and Paragon points for heroes.

[Infiltrator]

I was actually doing something around that..

[inxan3]

Nice

[Infiltrator]

There we go

http://i.imgur.com/KN2Rj.jpg

[Skullmane]

I like the logical and careful way, but I'm surely not going to cry at any point.

[GreatEmerald]

There we go

http://i.imgur.com/KN2Rj.jpg

+1

[Tress]

They really didnt answered to some vital questions.
a) what sort of bonus does advanced classes get. simple % to spells, fire resists etc or something more interesting like extra (like banshee howl etc, differently working necro and so on)abilities.
b) Is basic class just inferior(like in homm4), or is there some reason to keep neutral path.
c)Is letting mobs go, only way to gather points since that really wasnt that much of a vital aspect in homm2/3. They mostly fled there for sake of convenience e so we don't have to bother. Somehow seems awkward if such marginal mechanic suddenly becomes so vital. ... New strategic resource fleeing mobs .. that's new.

[Lord_Haart]

"In other words, Renegade and Paragon points for heroes."



Huh? "This is not a Manichean “Good vs Evil” dichotomy but rather a dynamic concept of conflicting perspectives."



It seems that this isn't going to be harsh vs fair. Both paths seem to be disconnected from any moral stance, but more about how you as a player approach situations. I really like this, actually.

[GreatEmerald]

It seems that this isn't going to be harsh vs fair. Both paths seem to be disconnected from any moral stance, but more about how you as a player approach situations. I really like this, actually.

That's exactly what Renegade and Paragon are.

[scorch]

there are some new ( for me at least ) screens in gamespot that may refer to this topic:

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/mightmag ... ull_size=1



http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/mightmag ... ull_size=1



http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/mightmag ... ull_size=1



http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/mightmag ... ull_size=1

[GreatEmerald]

"You will gain the Martyr ability"
Ouch. Remind me not to become a Paladin.

[rdeford]

This reputation system sounds great to me! I've been hoping for more in H6 than just a new set of creatures and another race or two, but with the same old game play. I used H5 scripting to make a map (Vision Quest) that implemented a reputation scheme of sorts that affected the outcome of the game. Anyway, as you can tell, the concept appeals to me greatly.

[Lord_Haart]

"That's exactly what Renegade and Paragon are."



Not necessarily. The implementation might match that somewhat but in theory, "Renegade" can still be cold and calculating ("Tears"), while Paragon can make swift, emotionally-driven decisions on the spur of the moment ("Blood").



In Mass Effect, Renegade and Paragon were more about an ethical standpoint (cynicism vs idealism, self-centered, etc). In Homm6, I can imagine that Blood and Tears will be more about whether the player likes drawn-out battles (with spells like buffs and passive abilities) vs quick and brutal combat (direct damage etc). So it's more about what playstyle you prefer than the ethics you have.



That said, I'm not sure I like how reputation is gained in Homm6, e.g. by choosing to let armies flee or not... that doesn't really seem that relevant. Of course, it's still not a straightforward moral choice - depending on your foe, letting them go could be a moral thing (letting peasants who were forced into combat flee) or an immoral thing (letting demons who will terrorize villagers go free).
Edited on Sun, Feb 27 2011, 21:31 by Lord_Haart

[Ildrenvred]

I was so disappointed with H5 that I lost hope for H6, but this does look promising.



The picture of the Haven mount is a +1 and this new moral system looks to be a +1 as well.



As a result, I have renewed my interest in the series.

[GreatEmerald]

In Mass Effect, Renegade and Paragon were more about an ethical standpoint (cynicism vs idealism, self-centered, etc). In Homm6, I can imagine that Blood and Tears will be more about whether the player likes drawn-out battles (with spells like buffs and passive abilities) vs quick and brutal combat (direct damage etc). So it's more about what playstyle you prefer than the ethics you have.

That's true, but you can't exactly have the ME-style options in a non-RPG game anyway

[ThunderTitan]

Story wise you can easily have them in any game, though in some it might break the flow of things (like in a straight shooter most people will not enjoy having to stop and make a choice before every major battle).

Man, i really do hope that they really won't just make them like Renegade and Paragon ended up being, and we actually do get choices where sometimes being good requires to take the blood path and being evil to take the tears path...

That way you force people into having to take points in both if they want to play only the good or only the evil path, while leaving it open for people who just want to spec into one path to do it without having to be complete monsters...

[agni]

they're not codependant, so unless you try to get to an advanced class ASAP, I don't think you'd be pressed into certain selections (people probably will anyway, though).



i kinda like it, although letting go & chasing down is sometimes a strategic choice regardless of my tendencies...

[Kalah]

Sooner or later, you will only get one choice of action, depending on which road you have taken ... I like that too.

[Kosh]

I'm also pretty iffy about the feeling monsters affecting this; I don't want to be forced to kill (or not kill) fleeing monsters because it will affect my reputation. More importantly, my concerns are a) my time, and b) if my hero needs the experience. This mechanic seems like it may trump both and as it sounds like reputation will have a significant impact on gameplay, and removing choices from the player isn't usually a good thing (talking about the choice with feeling monsters, kill or let live).



Otherwise it sounds interesting. Still need more info though, of course:)