Bitching trolls and Fable
It's funny to see how people react and deal with things online. Luckily everyone
is free to speak their minds; everyone is able to post a message on bulletin boards,
expressing their opinions, which I consider to be one of the greatest parts of the
internet. It's a pity, though, that some people try to grumble as much as possible
online, without checking first if what they are saying is actually true. Some people
call them “dark newbies”, whilst others prefer the term "troll".
Most of these people don't fully understand what a game - Fable in this case - is
and we can't blame them for that really. We released a FAQ
with all the latest and most correct information in it, just to inform everyone
who's excited or interested in this game. Presentations are given at shows, to present
what's there, journalists write up a nice (or not so nice) hands on preview, capture
the screen in moving or still images and all the stuff gets released on that amazing
thing we call: the world wide web.
One of the big items recently was the one about Horns and Halos, which started to
live a life of itself. Of course these things are in, no doubt about it. What some
people didn't understand is that when the press saw the versions of the hero with
the horns (evil) or butterflies (good), they were shown very extreme versions of
your character. Also, this game is still in development, the whole process of Horns
and Halos – just like everything else – will be tweaked and polished
as we speak, even toned down, and as you play the game, these alterations to your
character happen over a very long period of time… something we're not blessed
with when giving a press demonstration.
Many people also made a buzz about the fences they saw recently in the videos thinking
this meant there were no opportunities to explore the world. People thought that
Fable wasn’t free roaming. But this doesn’t mean it is non-free-roaming
either; it’s just different. For all those who are afraid they can't wander
in to a big forest and get lost; don't worry you can! I got lost in a big forest
that had no pre-defined paths and that had several secret locations (like a cave
behind a bush).
Because I got tired of most of the grumbling about the so called lack of an open
and free world, I started to play Fable a lot last week. To the point where I started
dreaming at night about the female heroes of Albion who got rather interested in
me and my very *sensual* (cough) body. My god, Briar Rose certainly is a hot chick!
I also managed to have a different experience every time I played it. One day I
just wandered around, interacted with the townspeople and ran after some chickens.
Great was the surprise when people started to call me chicken chaser in the local
town! The simulation we talked about in the FAQ and previous
updates really works and is something that definitely played a role in my
experience. The other day I really got in to fighting and magic; trying to ambush
some traders in the woods, team up with bandits and literally bash up every single
person in the world of Albion. I tried to get as many women as possible attracted
to me, tried to hit on some guys in the harbor and got utterly wasted in the pub.
The third day the story got my attention and I managed to complete some quests related
to the main plot. I doubt anyone playing this game for the first time will be able
to complete it in 30 hours. Even after four days of playing I haven't finished half
of the main quests yet, let alone done everything that's possible. The first time
you are set free from the guild is a magic moment; the world feels bigger then big,
it looks better then good and a feeling of joy, happiness and overload got to me.
Almost everything is done differently in Fable; blame the wicked mind of the whole
design team for that, with Peter Molyneux as a part of it.
Why did I start playing Fable so suddenly? After all the moaning from trolls all
around the world my personal motivation to work on the Fable community sank to a
level somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. A bright conversation with the team
and finally the experience of Albion and my Hero assured it's all hot and juicy
again! On a bright note, having concerns isn’t bad at all, please feel free
to always express them on the boards. Bitching, though, and spreading false information
about a game and its features is just something completely different.
Will Fable be out this summer? I think it will be, yes.
Sam, Community Pet Lionhead
Studios