In a hypothetical sequel...

[Themobboss]

The interesting question to pose, both to the maker and the player would be. Would you prefer that the characters from the first game are playable and you'd have to live with a canonical ending to the first game that might not have been what you personally experienced, or would you rather preserve the events of the first game and be more centered around a new bunch?

Personally I'd lean towards a mostly new cast of player characters. With Loren and company the major areas of friction and background have played out, where with a cast heavier in new additions so much of that territory will be fresh to discover again. There are areas to compromise between the two approaches as well. I could envision a setting where...Let's say Jul comes back and during the course of rebuilding her own power base discovers a grave threat. It's something she can't use, can't ignore, and can't face alone. The people that could be powerful enough (Loren & Company) wouldn't believe her. So, enter a new group that she puts together. Maybe have a couple characters from the first game that wouldn't be heavily impacted by canonical events in the first game. Or go a different direction and have certain characters be willing to join the group temporarily. Jul and group might do a favor for Dora let's say, but the only way Dora will trust is if she comes along for a mission or two.

Toss in an interactive storyteller at the beginning where players have the option to "set" what happened. I am so and so the bard and I'm here to tell the story of Loren the Amazon. So and so the bard does a quick recap of the "canonical" events of the first game. The player has the option to interupt the bard and say "that's not what I heard. So and so didn't marry Loren, and it was Elenor the slave". This could set the relationship, sacrifice, and name variables to factor in to the second game. Change a few lines of dialog based on that, and you can toss in characters as NPCs keyed to the first game choices.

[tnek89]

the idea above is perfect. This is what you should do!

[RaynaLynn]

my opinion is out numbered oh well


also i think cannon endings are annoying imo but that's just me

[Jim1958]

my opinion is out numbered oh well


also i think cannon endings are annoying imo but that's just me

Just my opinion mind, but I don't think you should think of yourself as out numbered. Winter Wolves is not a democracy but is a benevolent dictatorship with a goal to make games that people like to play and are willing to pay for. Ultimately Pack Leader Jack, and his noble sidekicks Aleema and Anima, have the final say plus the knowledge to know what will work. It never hurts to plead your case and I am willing to bet that there will be a lot of fans who will want to keep Mesphit around. (I was thinking that, since he is always running away that we should rename him "Blue Streak"). I for one would much rather see Mesphit kept than Amukiki, I said in a previous post that I thought Myrth should be put to rest but I doubt that will happen, not that I mind Myrth at all but I really think she runs the risk of getting blight in her vines.

Remember that this sequel is at least a year away if not more and many opinions are going to change after we get a chance to play the expansion.

Best Regards
Jim

[Aleema]

Mesphit is a character that loves disappearing, but so does Chambara. It's not fair if he doesn't get to return and she does. But you need to consider what characters can be further developed, rather than ones that turn you on. Ask yourself, does this character have anywhere left to go? Something left to learn?

[jack1974]

[quote="Themobboss"
Toss in an interactive storyteller at the beginning where players have the option to "set" what happened. I am so and so the bard and I'm here to tell the story of Loren the Amazon. So and so the bard does a quick recap of the "canonical" events of the first game. The player has the option to interupt the bard and say "that's not what I heard. So and so didn't marry Loren, and it was Elenor the slave". This could set the relationship, sacrifice, and name variables to factor in to the second game. Change a few lines of dialog based on that, and you can toss in characters as NPCs keyed to the first game choices.[/quote]
In the first draft of the story, I took into account all the various original endings, however for obvious reasons they would mostly influence the starting conditions/locations (like if you stay with Loren you're in the citadel, if you romanced Amukiki you were in Grimoire, and so on). It would probably also influence the story a bit, but the problem with continuing romances are many... first of all, what new romances can you have ? you should first break your current one? if you romanced Rei at end of first game, I don't think he would let you go easily, and so on.

The problem could be solved easily if you DON'T play Elenor/Saren in the sequel, but a completely new character, so while we could keep the ending of the first game, the PC would be "free" to love any character.

The main storyline of sequel will be the steps that led to the treaty between demons and humans/elves/dwarves. So Jul will be present in the party, and thinking about it probably would make sense to keep also Mesphit since he's half demon. Actually there isn't any reason why I couldn't add new ones but keep ALL the old characters, but have some of them participate in some missions / parts of the game like you suggested

Mesphit is a character that loves disappearing, but so does Chambara. It's not fair if he doesn't get to return and she does. But you need to consider what characters can be further developed, rather than ones that turn you on. Ask yourself, does this character have anywhere left to go? Something left to learn?

Yes that's true as well. I think indeed is better to wait after the expansion is out to decide which characters will have a reason to return / can be further developed.

[ChaosMorning]

faerirose: yes I was inspired to do a steampunk game and it could be easily set in Loren's world but I think would have little in common, I mean with so many in-game years passed wouldn't even be fair to call it the "sequel of Loren Amazon Princess", if Loren herself was buried 100 years ago from the starting point of the game! so perhaps would be a different title, with same gameplay and same world but different age.
About Jul, I love grey characters, not necessarily "true good" or "true evil" ones. And yes I should explain how is possible that demons are "accepted" and not shoot-on-sight

MadarFoxfire: yes finding a solution wouldn't be too hard, I get what you mean

Maybe will do a sort of spin-off about Jul which takes place shortly after Loren's storyline ends, and then a steampunk game (or still a fantasy one, depends) based on the world but after some time has passed.

Actually, that is a very intriguing idea...

Maybe a small spin-off, short VN with Jul as the protagonist, trying to marshal the demon forces together. It could act as a bridge for how demons eventually become (more-or-less) accepted citizens in Aravorn (seen in Spirited Heart, right?). We could see Jul trying to gather allies and form a homeland (perhaps in Everburn) for demons, and potentially see how this could cause panic among the other nations of Aravorn and whatnot and potentially raise an army to conquer the rest of Aravorn (maybe that could be some of the big moral choices? Raise an army or focus on trying to unite the demons to become an accepted race among the world)

[MarSel]

I think we need a timeline of all the games in Aravorn!

Before the demons can be accepted Amber's game needs to happen so the world is more accepting of Dark Elves first, right? Anyway I love the ideas everyone one has I just wanted to say if anymore games happen in this world maybe we can have some cameos?? Like they could be secret party members that you have to do lots of quest to get so it's a big surprise or even give you quests or you bump into them while traveling say "hello" and they are gone. Like how many years in the future is Spirited Heart? and how how do Demons and Elves (Dark and Light (normal??)) live for? Could we see one of SH's LI's at a very young age in towns (for Elves) and on the battlefield (for demons).

Anyway that was my idea I love cameo's appearances even more when you can somehow have them in your team.

One other thing in general, I love big parties but I also love hearing banter from my Fave characters. Can at some point in the game or even a few quests you have to cut down the team for a while (you pick the members like a battle). They have done this in many games with large parties, Eg.. Tales of Symphonia (one event) and Final Fantasy 7 (most the game) PS (your game (few quest).

[jack1974]

I think we need a timeline of all the games in Aravorn!

Before the demons can be accepted Amber's game needs to happen so the world is more accepting of Dark Elves first, right? Anyway I love the ideas everyone one has I just wanted to say if anymore games happen in this world maybe we can have some cameos?? Like they could be secret party members that you have to do lots of quest to get so it's a big surprise or even give you quests or you bump into them while traveling say "hello" and they are gone. Like how many years in the future is Spirited Heart? and how how do Demons and Elves (Dark and Light (normal??)) live for? Could we see one of SH's LI's at a very young age in towns (for Elves) and on the battlefield (for demons).

Yes the right order indeed would be: Loren, Amber, Loren's sequel (Demons are accepted), Spirited Heart. I think already after the first Loren ends, the dark elves aren't hated so much by the elves. Besides they're not attacking humans (except for rogues, but there are also human rogues). So for dark elves the "integration" with society would be easier/quicker, since they're not hunted at sight like demons, except by elves (until the end of the story).

One other thing in general, I love big parties but I also love hearing banter from my Fave characters. Can at some point in the game or even a few quests you have to cut down the team for a while (you pick the members like a battle). They have done this in many games with large parties, Eg.. Tales of Symphonia (one event) and Final Fantasy 7 (most the game) PS (your game (few quest).

In Loren's expansion there are lots of characters quests where your PC will adventure together with only another character (the one of the quest). So you'll play fights alone with Rei, Amukiki, etc.

[Aleema]

It wouldn't be like "yay! racism is OVER!" so quick though. Just look at any society ever. This is a happy candy fantasy world so you could write it that way, but it may give the wrong impression that racism is easy to solve in real life. It'll probably take hundreds of years before people truly don't give a crap if you're blue or have pointy ears. But again, this is a light fantasy world, not Game of Thrones or anything else depressingly gritty. It's supposed to be fun in the end. In my humble opinion (ignore as you like) if Amber is really only a couple months to a couple years after the original Loren, Camille should be aware of the struggles that the dark elves had to go through in Loren. She can decide personally how she would handle it with her characters, though I'm sure she's written way too much to give her a new backstory by now. xD

Also, I love how Jack's go-to people to advertise are Rei and Amukiki.