"Jefferson" Project Forum News
Posted Sunday, March 30, 2003 - 19:50 CET by Veldrin

Here are today's "Jefferson" project forum highlights. Please take into account that these are only single parts of various threads and should not be taken out of context.

J.E. Sawyer, Lead Designer

Quote: But the reality is I'm trying to pin down a generally accepted identity for an entire *race* - an identity which people all too often toy with, ignoring the wealth of information we have on these dark elves. To me, this is inappropriate and must be addressed.

Huh? The majority of people in any race aren't adventurers, period. Most humans don't go around cleaving goblins in twain with a two-handed sword. Most elves don't learn how to shoot eldritch flame by manipulating the Weave. Most dwarves don't hack into a giant's kneecap with a battleaxe.

If drow are to be restricted from certain things, why not surface elves? Halflings? Dwarves? Humans? It is anathema to the desires of many role-players. If all elves have to be good or neutral, run around with bows, and frolick in sunlit meadows, it takes a lot of freedom away from how people are allowed to make and play their characters. There's nothing particularly fun about restricting people, and balance isn't even a question in a case like this. If drow can be priests of Vhaeraun, and priests of Lathander are roughly as powerful as those priests, what game balance concerns are there?

Ultimately, complaining about what sort of characters other people play is kind of ridiculous, IMO. The methods by which other players have fun are irrelevant if they have no direct effect on you.

Quote: and NO drow can be clerics of Lathander (duh).

No such restriction has ever been in place, your personal opinions aside. Ugly people cannot be priests of Sune because it's part of their religion. Violent people cannot be priests of Eldath because it is anathema to their whole belief system. Lathander is the god of dawn, light, and renewal. As exceptional characters, drow make more sense as Lathanderites than many other races. Have you never read the parable of the prodigal son?

Quote: can we increase or decrease camera angle and will there be a sky. I really would love a sky.

You can move the camera between 38.5 degrees above the horizon to 90 degrees -- straight down. You will only see the sky in select cutscenes.