VOLRATH'S PROFILE

Wow, thank you very much. Although the issues you address are similar to those we have already heard about, you've presented it in a very fair, polite, and articulate way and I appreciate that. Like I told FG, we've tweaked Arc I (which is primarily where the balance issues come up, though feel free to correct me if you feel it was also a problem later on) in the past and will likely do so again when we feel the time is right. One of our priorities with MotW was to continue moving forward to maintain our creative momentum, so we didn't lose interest in the project and quit. The downside of this is that it meant the earlier chapters no longer reflect our own progresion.

I also wanted to give my two cents on what you were saying about Stoic's character arc. It is true that for his whole life, he has been selfless and held a lot of empathy for the downtrodder, which meant he had a hard time fitting in. However, I did try to illustrate (perhaps not well enough) during the Arc V flashbacks that he went from being more hopeful to being more cynical. Early on, he believes that anyone who shares his viewpoints is inherently good, and thus joins Stephen's group and ignoring some of the warning signs that he was less than noble despite sharing Stoic's disgust with the knighthood's discrimination. After that whole incident, and the tragic ramifications for Zeno/Stoic, he became much less trusting. It was meant to make a point I've tried to articulate in the later arcs - that people should be judged by their actions rather than the just positions they express on issues.

But thank you for the review, and for writing it well enough to make me examine the story through the prism of your comments.

Upon further consideration, I'm done. I see now that this was a waste of time. You're clearly either unable or unwilling to engage in a civil debate, and have no recourse to support your points other than unjustified dogma and childish insults. I only mentioned the music error again because of the "100% percent accuracy" comment, which we both know by now isn't the case.

In that same post, I was actually trying to defend you against some of the insults you have received. I don't think MotW should get a free pass just because it's popular, and I think people attacking you just for simply having a dissenting opinion (and not for the review's other faults) are undermining MotW's own credibility. But after attacking the person yourself, you responded with the same sort of immature insults, directed not at one person, but at a huge group of people. The hypocrisy is breathtaking. You may come back with another round of the same BS, but I'm done.

One hundred percent accuracy is a stretch, given the discrepancy with his evaluation of the music (apparently there is a “battle music,” which was news to me and ArtBane). Still, I don't approve of criticism of FG that is along the lines of “It's popular, it's must be good.” That's not right. If you're going to try and dispute his assessment, I would like it to be substantial. Even if he seems to have only played for an hour or so (the story and character sections are noticeably devoid of detail), it is his opinion and if he chose to quit so early, I suppose there isn't much we can do about it. I would much prefer an alternative review to a continuing argument about this one.

I'm not a terrible active member here, but I have been following your stuff. You write terrific reviews, Brickroad. Keep up the good work.

If anyone would like to provide additional reviews, feel free. ;)