Hark the Raven tells the sad tale of the wizard Cadaki, his king Alerae and his home of Aramore. Seeking redemption for his old evils, he befriends an adventurer to help face the demons of his past. In the mix is Lady Tora, a wizard of some power who is suspicious of Cadaki and his motives. Who will you side with? And can you save Aramore from its horrific past?
Posted by MikeLM9215 at 2006-04-01 10:32:24 Voted 7.25 on 02/28/06
CEP is not required to play. _________________________ The road to Ravenloft is paved with good intentions.
Posted by Lance Botelle at 2006-03-07 14:48:14 Voted 5.75 on 03/07/06
5.75 HARK THE RAVEN (184TH TESTED MODULE)
This is my updated scoring system structured around the format provided by Bioware. The final score is still consistent with my old system, but I hope to give clearer feedback within the new guidelines. NB: Judging any material is always subject to personal taste. I have tried hard to be as objective as possible. Remember, this is only my opinion; Bioware�s is the one that counts! If you believe I have scored your module unfairly, or I have missed something of importance, please email me at �[email protected]� and I will consider any comments made.
All nine Bioware points can score a maximum of 1 point each, leaving 1 point for my personal interest/like of the module.
Text of Module: (2.0 out of 3)
The Writing: (I do not scan the writing looking for errors, but if I notice something while reading it, I will note it here.) I noticed a missing word and spelling errors (alright > all right). (0.5)
Characterization: The characters were well done. (1.0)
Dialog Flow: While straightforward, the text was very linear until the final choices. The wizard talking through the raven confused me for a while. (0.5)
Concept & Execution: (3.25 out of 6)
Originality/Creativity: Quest story to help summon a creature. (0.75)
Logical Flow: This felt orchestrated. Where did the Banishing Stone come from? (0.25)
Drama: Having to spill blood was a moment of drama. (0.25)
Pacing: An urgency to release (or not) the wizard demanded the pace. (1.0)
Character Development: Minor development in the NPCs. (0.25)
Multiple Paths: I saw at least three. (0.75)
Conclusion: Technically, this module scored above average in the writing in my opinion. (2.0/3). The story scored average in my opinion. (3.25/6). My personal score is 0.5 out of 1.0. The story was quite good, but was let down by the logical flow in my opinion.
MY SCORE SYSTEM (IMHO):
< 5 Not up with the competition.
5 - 6 Average.
7 - 8 Above average.
> 8 An exceptional piece
PERSONAL SCORING FACTORS (IN ORDER OF MY PRIORITIES):
GRAB FACTOR: How quickly am I involved in the action? Do I have direction?
PLOT: Is the story engaging? Is subject interesting? Varied conversation choices?
CHARACTERS: Are they easily identifiable? Are they rounded/memorable?
SPELLING & GRAMMAR: Is the text easy to read? Are there quite a few errors?
OTHER FACTORS (MINOR INFLUENCE): Design for atmosphere & scenery, including sounds & props. Quality of module stability; does it break easily? _________________________ World of Althéa Blog: Link
Posted by MikeLM9215 at 2006-02-28 13:10:59 Voted 7.25 on 02/28/06
Actually a decent story. Both sides presented so well couldn't decide if it was good or evil. Would have liked to get stone and blade without using feather. Or third ending where accidentally summon some other creature instead.
_________________________ The road to Ravenloft is paved with good intentions.
Posted by herrjeff at 2006-02-28 12:31:05 Voted 7.25 on 02/28/06
This module looks like a short writing exercise on the concept of trust, in a fantasy setting. The main NPC offers an interesting story, a few dialog options but only one key choice to the PC. The second NPC is less developed, but at least will not repeat herself once she has played her part!
The module would be more consistent if there were Lore or Insight skill checks to guide the PC's assessment of the situation, and if its description did not spoil the plot.
Posted by thegeorge at 2006-02-28 09:56:26 Voted 6.75 on 02/28/06
I hesitated to vote here because of (as Kirian mentioned) the tendency to "downvote" when there is a string of suspicious high votes, which could just as easily be legit.
I thought the premise was interesting but the writing itself wasn't all that compelling. It seemed to lack substance (which could be due in part to the word count limit). Also, running back and forth between npcs gets old fast. It was just okay for me.
Posted by Kirian at 2006-02-28 08:26:51 Voted 6.00 on 02/28/06
Having a string of insanely high marks like that does indeed raise suspiscion. Also, it works against the mod in the end, as new voters will tend to downgrade the mod when it does not meet the high expectations the high rating has induced. Anyway, I will try to rate this mod as unprejudiced as possible.
The writing is a bit unripe, and I found several commas missing. Also, I wasn't impressed by the character's role of errand-girl. The raven greeted me as the Hero of Aramore, but how does fetching a few things make me into a Hero? Also, the author gave away the plot and removed all ambiguity in the Description on this page. Without it, I might have wondered what this raven-critter was all about, and if he might perhaps be trying to trick me. But now it was clear from the start that here's a sad old wizard that in "seeking redemption for his old evils, he befriends an adventurer to help face the demons of his past". Pity.
Posted by Tangent Kaufman at 2006-02-10 07:44:33 Voted 7.00 on 02/10/06
I liked the ambiguity you've set up here. However, at times there weren't enough dialogue options to choose from. I know writing is what's supposed to be looked at for the contest, but some little things like naming your areas or giving your characters portraits go a long way for setting up the atmosphere.
Posted by p_perry at 2006-02-08 15:40:41 Voted 3.00 on 02/08/06
This mod felt way too rushed. There also should have been more dialogue options that actually took their time, where you actually felt like you were conversing with someone and not being pushed forward. At least one journal entry into why you were there also would have helped.
Actually, I am really concerned about it. A friend of mine told his mates about the competition and they had a play of my mod and liked it. I didn't think they'd vote for it though.
I've since told them they should download as many as they can because there are some great mods on show here -- much better than mine! Otherwise it's not fair.
I hope this isn't a problem.
Posted by mystic_princess at 2006-02-02 02:48:32 Voted 10.00 on 02/02/06
I think your mod was awesome, whatever Niki thinks I am a genuine fan and you deserve all the votes you get.
I think it's hilarious how every single person to vote for your module had their accounts created on 2006-01-31. I can tell they are all real live NWN fans. Too bad you don't have to have a valid CD key to be able to vote.. it just opens it up for people to make hundreds of dummy accounts and vote their submissions up.
Posted by Tiewaz at 2006-02-01 00:32:23 Voted 10.00 on 02/01/06
Oh man this mod is MAD.
I've always felt that NWN was 80% combat, 20% plot. This mod shows that there is wayyyyyy more potential than that, and is a fantastic story. This is exactly the kind of stuff I want to see in NWN2.
Amazing job man!
Posted by katisme ( 203.24.xxx.xxx ) at 2006-01-31 22:04:15
totally wicked... awesome :D
Posted by joycelai at 2006-01-31 16:20:30 Voted 9.75 on 01/31/06
this was pretty cool
Posted by arminas at 2006-01-31 16:10:32 Voted 10.00 on 01/31/06
story was well written, not too verbose and engaged my interests well. Tres witty, I loved it!
Posted by reedli at 2006-01-31 16:06:55 Voted 9.50 on 01/31/06
this mod was freaken leet!
Posted by minal at 2006-01-31 15:45:30 Voted 10.00 on 01/31/06
sounds really good!
Posted by solai at 2006-01-31 15:31:43 Voted 9.00 on 01/31/06
i am impressed
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