VACCARIA'S PROFILE

author=Kylaila
@KatanaHiroshi

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The holographic something looks really really nice! Great clean sci-fi look. The map is really really large tho. Plus very uniform. Is hard to tell with just the big size, but I guess if you stood at the northern portion you couldn't tell which of these same-looking doors you are facing unless you walked left and right. Unless it's meant to be intentionally disorientating and confusing, do add some doodads and other markers so you can know where you are just by standing where you are (once you got to know the environment). Keep in mind you only ever see a tiny portion of it at once, that can be really really frustrating. All that said, it's nowhere near as confusion as it could be, so it may pan out alright.
Is there some sort of garden area in the middle or why are there only two doors at the top leading to it? Seems like a huge area cut-off.

author=LockeZ
For non-quote taglines, you could try offering suggestions that are actually useful, like reminding people about various site features. Though of course, there's nothing wrong with still being snarky about it.

Suggestions:
"Make a playlist of games you want to recommend!"
"Make a playlist of games you want to play!"
"Mark a screenshot as looking for feedback, then wait for your ego to be completely crushed."
"If you liked a game that came out this year, nominate it for the Misao awards!"
"You can submit Let's Play videos as media for other people's games."
"Anyone can write a review! Just don't write like a third grader."
"Please buy something from our store. We are poor because Pom Gets Wifi takes up all our bandwidth."
"Makerscore is earned by your contributions to the site."
"Subscribe to a game to receive notices when it updates. And when it gets a new screenshot. And when someone comments on it. And when the developer farts."
"Everyone here is an amateur. Offer advice if you think it'll help their game. (They will probably respond best if you're super rude about it.)"


I also suggest portions of some of the subforum descriptions:
"Speak out on various game design fundamentals, game development, aesthetics, and experiences spanning a large variety of topics."
"Need help with game making or have a problem with an engine you just can't figure out on your own?"
"Are you a spriter, writer, scripter, musician or artist offering help or resources?"
"Forum $ponsored by EA Sports"
"Slightly classier than moronic. Slightly."
"Press 1 for English, 2 for |337 speak."


And finally, how is this not a tagline?:
"Contribute lots."

author=Kylaila

author=Schwer-von-Begriff

author=KatanaHiroshi
It's a dungeon crawler. You're making a game that involves more on gameplay than story.

I raise you Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. Great games with good and long stories and a surprisingly entertaining dungeon crawler to boot. I heard that the latest game is quite challenging from the get go, too. I agree with your other points, though!

A dungeon crawler can be anything that you want it to be. Just like every other game. Just make sure to promote your project correctly so that people who love difficult crawlers aren't misinformed because your project focuses on the story aspects more than the dungeon aspects. :)

I found Pokemon Mystery Dungeon to be a complete and utter drag in all departments. Slow sluggish battle animations, easy battles, the sleep animations and all that senseless repeated conversation EVERY TIME YOU COMPLETED OR DID ANYTHING :'(
.. sorry. I like the idea of playing cute critters, and monster in general, and I only picked up one of the series since they are sold used cheap like hell, so hey, maybe the last ones did it better.
I just had to have that said .. somewhere.. once.

Aaanyhow. It is true that anything goes. But I do agree with others that having more freedom in such choices, having a lot of story elements in the environments (and subtly so) works far better due to it making the dungeons more fun, and adding to what you are doing anyway. There are also a few with random events popping up in the dungeon, something to investigate n solve possibly, too (like The Dark Spire or Paper Sorcerer).
It all adds to the atmosphere and is just fun!

There are some first person dungeon crawlers with more story like SMT Strange Journey, some with just a kind of hidden story like the Etrian Odysseys, some with a dating-sim like snuggly character interactions when you return home (Demon Gazer)
And that storyheavy games like other SMTs or Persona rock is also proof that it can work amazingly well.

.. just. make sure that the battles are rock-solid. No additives can save bad extensive dungeoncrawling if that is the care of your gameplay.

author=luiishu535
Wow, thanks for the fast and insightful comments, everyone!

I'm planning to have two cutscenes in the game (an intro and an ending or two) and both of them will probably be skip-able. The cutscenes won't be that long though, just a few minutes at most. The other dialogue will probably just pop up during gameplay. You play as pre-made characters in the game and I wanted to give them some personality at least. The dialogue I'm planning to have in the game is aimed to strengthen the game's setting and atmosphere.