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thradrantir · 5 years

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Review: Maids II Deception

I completely and totally uninstalled Maids II, simply because once you get past the death of Kasia (basically the main character) the story's pointless.

Too much exposition, too much conversation, a great guide for TV Tropes (including sexy killers, nerfed character -in that your character is captured at one point and has an amulet placed on you that strips you of spells, shouts and perk abilities-, dangerous nympho, damsel in distress, the secret war -because for some reason the plot of Maids II is far worse than Alduin or Miraak or even the Volkahar vampires-, there can be only one, against impossible odds, and others), a disconnect from what we would see as risk-reward (sometimes the risk is not even there and we're awarded with 50,000 septims, other times we're facing impossible odds and we're given 2500 septims), the Golden Maidens (the sexy killers) are practically one dimensional, and there's no options to convince people to join your side.

Also, many of the names feel like they were ripped right from Resident Evil. The main bad guy organization is called -get this, in a high fantasy setting no less- Project Purity. Meanwhile, the other organization which I dare say isn't the good guys, is called Serenity's Sirens.

It's made perfectly clear that the Golden Maidens are well trained killers, infiltrators, manipulators and all around love sex. All but one, Xara who is the newest member. Xara is very standoffish and hesitant when it comes to both killing and sex. But no option is given to try to get her out of the Golden Maidens. By the time you have to fight the Golden Maidens, Xara is one of the members you have to kill, not being given a chance to get her out.

There's also a Dunmer woman who you have to make the choice of leaving at a checkpoint or taking with you. If you leave her at the checkpoint, she's the only survivor of an attack and due to the fact she was already mourning a massive attack and slaughter of Serenity's Sirens sisters at Fort Pazarath, this attack drives her insane (there's another trope). She eventually gets killed wanting revenge when she's sent out with the player character to infiltrate and gather information about the movements of the Heroes of Nirn (merc organization hired by Project Purity). If you take her with you, she reveals she wants to leave the Sirens and join the College of Winterhold. There's a really good chance if you've gone through the College quest line and that you've become the Arch Mage, she'll be excited to learn this and look forward to joining the College. Which never happens because she's still sent out on the aforementioned mission and killed.

The Dunmer woman and Xara are just two of a small handfull of characters that were treated very poorly. These were the interesting characters of a sea of one dimensional characters.The only one that really has potential outside of those ones who doesn't get killed off is Freya. Who is just... she has a very demented view of things. She flirts with your character, and if you flirt back there's a good chance you and Freya could end up in bed together at some point (which is fine, apparently, because the one character that the mod was promoed as having a massive romance with was Kasia and she ends up dead at the end of Act 3).There's also a massive disconnect in the economy created in this Maids II world and the rest of Skyrim.

I already explained that many of the quest rewards are in the thousands of gold. One can only assume your given that so you can turn around and use it in the brothel (oh, yeah, the Euphoria Palace is a brothel which is just a front for a highly trained military force in the middle of Skyrim that for some reason the Stormcloaks, Imperials and Thalmor just ignore). One night with a lady of the evening in Euphoria Palace costs at least 4500 septims.Conversely, the Flower Girls mod adds prostitutes to the major holds around Skyrim. All of whom only charge 25 septims.Granted, those prostitutes don't have a fancy room, a brothel mistress, guards or any of those. But still, that's a huge leap.

As far as the game mechanics go, there's too many times when control of your own character is just taken away from you. And it isn't in a cutscene which I could be okay with. It's just taken away for more exposition.The new zones that mod created as well are far too big. They don't need to be that big.And there's several areas that were made which are never used. And the number of load times in order to complete a mission and receive the quest reward is ridiculous.

Example, finishing the quest Escort mission, you have to go to Markarth (one load), go into the Temple of Dibella (second load), go back outside and patrol the city (third load), get knocked on the head and taken captive where you awaken on a ship (fourth load), then go back to Skyrim proper just south of Dawnstar (fifth load) and travel to a location just south of Morthal, which forces a load (we're onto six now), then you have to return to Euphoria palace (which would be a seventh load by fast travel or you could run all the way there... did I mention the Palace is south of Riften, so it's on the other side of the map from this quest location), enter the palace (seven or eight), go into the lower dorms (eight or nine), go into the basement (nine or ten), go into the dining room (ten or eleven), and finally go into Matari's Mediation Chamber (eleven or twelve).

This could have been cut down a lot by making cells smaller and joining certain cells. As an example, the main lobby of the palace could have been smaller and the two pubs connected to the lobbies could have just been doors that close behind you once you enter (one of the two pubs you never go into at all during the entire mod, so you could just have one pub). The basement area, which connects to the Grotto, the dining hall (and Matari's chamber), the armory and the catacombs could be cut down as well. The basement itself serves zero purpose save for a place to load into. The Grotto is an exterior area, so it would have to be it's own cell, as with the catacombs as it has it's own textures (using assetts from the Nord Ruins). But the basement, armory, dining hall and Matari's chamber could all be one cell without any loading whatsoever.

This is constant throughout the entire mod, as most areas you go into are way too huge. The town of Jonestead, for example is an underground town built into a mountain. There's about ten buildings in there which includes home for orcs, warehouse, watchtower (really, you need a watchtower in an underground cavern?!?), town hall, home for bretons, home for Khajiit, home for dunmer, home for Redguards, home that really has no purpose and the Pinder home.The Pinder home is the one you interact with the most. At one point, you have to liberate the town and by doing so enter every home, defeat the two guards and rescue the one captive there.

This could have been done way easier by just having a small group with everyone in the town held captive in the town hall. That way, instead of being disconnected from the story with constant loads (one load for entering and one load for exiting), you have one load into the town hall, an epic fight with the mercs, and rescuing the captives, then moving onto the Pinder home to rescue Marcus.

Finally, onto one gripe I have with this mod that centres around the main promo, which is the romance of Kasia Pinder. The mod author has made it nearly impossible to romance Kasia. This goes back to the risk reward kind of thing, but you're never given a clear view of what would work for a good romance option. While Friendship Points (really? Friendship Points?) are handed out without really doing or saying anything, Romance Points (see previous) are given sporadically. What would have been better (if you were really married to using a points system instead of just using a system similar to what Flower Girls uses) is allowing some options to give 1 RP others to give 2 RP and if you say something wrong, you lose 1 RP. But no, you're just given 1 RP no matter what if you say the right thing, but say the wrong thing and you lose 10 RP in one shot.

The final word, it's a mod that has a lot of potential but misses the mark on a lot of things. From grandiose exposition, too hours of conversation (which was way too much), to the over use of stereotypes and the janky game mechanics, it really hurt the enjoyment of the mod. If people are looking for a good quest mod, I'd suggest the really well done and sort of lore friendly Clockwork which has both an LE and SE download at Nexus. Another that's really good is an LE download based entirely on Terry Pratchet's Discworld. It is a monumental mod that covers everything from Going Postal to many of Pratchet's well known works.

Ultimately, Maids II Deception was a sex mod that had a massive adventure that came with it. And if you really want that, just get Caesia as a follower and the Flower Girls patch, and just go adventuring. Or Seductress Faye, a follower built for Flower Girls. Those two follower mods would work better than Maids II tried to do.

#mods #Skyrim #quest mod #sex mod #TES #TESV:Skyrim #The Elder Scrolls #review

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fearofaherobrine · 6 years

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Roleplay Server Log #288

“Cave Rescue, Fire-human, Please Don’t Eat the Birds”

[Alexis] - Not what I'm used to doing, but alright

[Alexsezia] Puts him down gently and the big cat just slumps. She pulls out her pick and cracks away the rocks, heading swiftly down-

[Alexis] Works hard next to the other Alex, occasionally putting down a torch so they can see-

[Alexsezia] Opens a hole and then jumps to the side as an arrow comes out of it.

[TLOT] Darts forward angrily and sticks his head in the hole, there's a lot of very panicked clattering noises before he backs out and throws a skull on the floor contemptously-

[Alexis] - Nice save

[TLOT] I don't have time for them right now. - Tail is lashing

[Alexsezia] Goes at the hole again-

[TLOT] This way.

[Alexis] Follows and scan their surroundings, her eyes darting to every shadow-

[Alexsezia] Puts her pickaxe into a zombie - Stupid thing!

[Alexis] Draws her bow- I don't like this

[TLOT] Natural tunnel... - Sniffs the air and runs ahead of them, his eye lighting up the darkness somewhat-

[Alexsezia] I don't either, but my Herobrine can certainly be trusted to find our Steve. - Follows him

[Alexis] Shudders a little but keeps up with them-

[Alexsezia] Loses sight of TLOT, but the passageway isn't a branching shaft.

[Steve] Suddenly perks up and lets out a little coughing bark

[Deer] Perks up as well- What is it?

-White eyes appear in the darkness, quickly approaching-

[Deer] - TLOT?

[TLOT] Barrels out of the dark and jumps on Steve, the two of them roll and land curled up together with TLOT licking Steve's snout affectionately.

[Deer] - Sorry TLOT, it's my fault we're down here

[TLOT] Looks up at her - Shit.... you got stuck in a lower part of the house, didn't you?

[Alexsezia] Comes running up as well - Deerheart?

[Deer] - Yeah, the playroom. Oh, hello Alex

[Alexsezia] How in the world...?

[Steve] Gestures making the tunnel bigger and digging with his claws-

[Alexis] Comes closer, sticking close to Alex- So how will we get her out of here

[Deer] Shouldn't be too hard, I do have creative in this form

[Alexsezia] We got down here from a surface hole, it's not too far.

[Alexis] - Yeah, let's get you guys out of here

[Deer] - Lead the way

[Alexsezia] Gauging the size the tunnel needs to be- Could we just use some TNT?

[Alexis] - Umm, I guess we could...

[TLOT] Show me where you want it.

[Steve] Worried chirp

[Alexsezia] Just a little bit of TNT. We're not going crazy here.

[TLOT] Prrp.

[Alexis] Shoots a spider that was coming closer-

[TLOT] Is turning stone blocks to TNT where Alexsezia is directing him too.

[Alexsezia] Okay, you guys stay back-

[Steve] Small unhappy noises-

[Alexis] Stands near Steve- Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon

[Alexsezia] Sets off the TNT, and the air is rent with the boom of explosions -

[Steve] Claps his paws to his eardrums-

[Alexis] Flinches at the noise and makes a tiny whimper-

[Deer] - Alexis? Are you alright?

[Alexis] - Yeah, I just... Wanna be on the surface again...

-The dust clears and there's a large open space so they can advance, it's about halfway to the vertical shaft and Alexsezia and TLOT are already laying the next line of explosives.

[Alexis] Is fidgeting some-

[Steve] Coos at her questioningly.

[Alexis] - I... I think I should be fine... Just feels like these tunnels are small... Kinda remembering why I never liked mining much...

[Steve] Looks around them with a practiced eye and scurries away, there's the sound of claws ripping away rock and he comes back with a handfull of small items and holds them out to her. Theres a few iron ores, some coal and a chunk of flint.

-There's another boom from up the tunnel-

[Alexis] Flinches at the noise- Thanks Steve- She takes the offered items

[Deer] - It won't be much longer

[Alexsezia] Comes back- We still need to widen the vertical part, but that might be safer with picks-

[Alexis] - Can we... Hurry?- Starts heading towards the shaft

[Deer] - I could probably do that quickly

[Steve] Trots towards the thin shaft of light and looks up-

[TLOT] is at the wall tearing at the dirt and stone-

[Alexsezia] Is on the opposite wall working it with a pickaxe

[Alexis] Starts working a bit desperately-

[Deer] Stands on her hind legs and scratches away as well-

-There's a bit of a flash and Alexsezia swears as it begins to rain up top and the droplets fall down the shaft-

[Alexis] Of all times for it to start raining!

[Alexsezia] Just goes at the stone with more determination, they're pretty close to the top-

[Deer] Pulls down a large chunk of rock-

[Steve] Hops from block to block and emerges onto the surface first-

[Deer] Pulls away more chunks to make the opening bigger so she can get out-

[Alexis] Is starting to breathe a bit harder-

[TLOT] Stops digging to look back at her- Alexis?

[Alexis] - I'm fine

[TLOT] Eyes narrow - Somehow I doubt that... - He brushes her mind gently

[Alexis] Is feeling a bit panicked about being in the tunnel-

[TLOT] Don't worry, we'll be out soon.

[Steve] Is scrabbling nimbly up the walls clawing out stone and checking the width against Deerheart

[Deer] - We're almost there

[Alexsezia] Gets to the top and starts breaking around the hole to make it bigger

[Alexis] Is moving slower-

[Deer] Claws away at the ground a bit faster-

[TLOT] Goes back to hurry Alexis up the crude stairs

[Alexis] Sorry, I don't know what's wrong...

[TLOT] You're afraid of caves.

[Alexis] - I don't think that's it exactly... I've been in caves before...

[Alexsezia] Came back down to help more - Alexis? You're afraid of small spaces?

[Alexis] - I don't know... I'm usually above ground in the open...

[Alexsezia] That's bad when survival can hinge on mining the right materials...

[Alexis] - Like I said, Stevie usually does all the mining...

[Alexsezia] We'll work on it, for now though, come up. Let's get this crew back into the light

[Alexis] Follows the others up into the rain-

[Deer] Makes sure the others are out of the way before she climbs up-

[Alexsezia] Dusts herself off- Good job all

[Steve] Leans on TLOT-

[Deer] - Does anyone know where Doc is?

[TLOT] Looks ashamed-

[Deer] - Or Yaunfen?

[TLOT] Yaunfen was with Markus last I saw.

[Deer] - Then I'll head over there, thank you for helping me get outside

[Alexsezia] You're welcome.

[Deer] Heads off for Lie's place-

[Alexis] Is taking some deep breaths, trying to calm herself

This message has been removed.

[Steve] Lowers his body and scratches on the ground a bit listlessly-

[Alexis] - Alex, the gift?

[Alexsezia] It was your idea. - She passes the item to Alexis and motions to Steve.

[Alexis] Fumbles a bit with the blanket before going over to Steve- Hey, Steve?

[Steve] Hrmm?

[TLOT] Is watching her curiously-

[Alexis] - Alex and I made this for you... Well, actually Alex did most of the work...

[Steve] Curious trill-

[Alexis] Tosses it over him- You know, since you're always making things for everyone else when they need comfort...

[Steve] Perks up and runs his fingers over the cloth, pulling it close like a cape. His eyes squeeze a little and he makes a soft noise-

[TLOT] He says thank you Alexis, and Alexsezia both.

[Alexsezia] Anytime. I think Alexis learned a lot. She'd never sewed before.

[Alexis] - Lots of finger poking

[Alexsezia] Pats her shoulder. - It gets easier-

[Steve] Snuggles down under the blanket.

This message has been removed.

[Alexis] - So long as you enjoy it

[Alexsezia] You guys can come to my house to dry off. Come on Alexis, I'll walk you home.

[Alexis] - Oh, thanks

[Firebird] -Scuttles up to Lie's house looking for CN. He's wearing actual shoes and the hood of his cloak is up for once.-

-Notch's door is suddenly burst apart by a fireball as a blur of fur and feathers comes racing out-

[CN] Is flapping madly and actually manages to get some air. He however is not looking where he's going since his eyes are closed and he flies right into Firebirds head-

[Firebird] -Eeeps and spins around, snatching CN out of the air. He almost squishes the poor kid before he recognizes him and loosens his grip- Hey bud...

[CN] Panicked noises-

[CP] Leaps for the small bird-

[Firebird] -Straight up just goes to kick CP in the general body, hissing softly at the cat-

[CP] Is thrown back and growls at Firebird loudly, his eyes are still trained on CN-

[Firebird] -Coldly- I will personally stomp on you until either your bones break, or you fuck off, so I'd recommend leaving. -Holds CN to chest-

[CN] Little hops up onto Firebirds shoulder-

[CP] Releases a fireball at Firebird-

[Firebird] -Gets the crisped, but looks no worse for wear, but he did raise his arm so CN didn't get crisped-- I am the SUN. Fire is my element you fool. -Attempts to kick CP again, much harder than the first-

[CP] Jumps out of the way, hissing at the NOTCH-

[CN] Tries to get under Firebirds hood-

[Firebird] -Tries to Kick CP one more time for good measure only to let out an eep as CN tries to get under his hood. Snatches up CN and puts him to his chest again- Don't.

[CN] Confused noise-

[CP] Starts trying to circle Firebird-

[Firebird] -Ignores CP and starts toward Markus's house since the door got totaled- Just, don't go in my hood.

[CN] Is really confused but settles down-

[CP] Hunkers down and butt twitches towards Firebirds retreating form-

[Markus] Runs out the door and nearly slams into Firebird- Fuc-

[CN] Surprised chirp-

[Firebird] -Totally didn't nearly punch Markus for getting bumped into, nope.- Watch it! You almost squished CN!

[CP] Leaps at Firebirds back-

[Notch] CP NO! - It's VERY loud

[CP] Flinches and drops to the ground-

[CN] Scrambles for Firebirds shoulder in surprise at how loud Notch was-

[Firebird] -Steps back a bit, spooked-

[Notch] Strides forward and sweeps Cp off the ground into his arms- Just... stop...

[CP] Yowls-

[Notch] Tries rubbing his ears - I know we're all under a lot of... - really looks at Firebird- ...pressure?

[Firebird] -Awkwardly letting CN settle on his shoulder- ... Yes?

[Notch] Is standing at an odd angle trying to see under his hood - Why is your face covered?

[CP] Grumbles as he hunkers down in Notch's arms-

[Firebird] -Just tilts head to not allow Notch to.- Because it is. Do I need a reason? -Soft huff-

[Notch] Keeps petting him softly- Oh... is it because of your eye?

[Firebird] ... Yeah.

[CN] Hunkers down, making himself as small as possible-

[Firebird] You can see them both when I'm.. Fully human. My hairs different like this.

[Notch] So? If you're missing an eye it's no big deal.

[Firebird] -With emphasis- It bugs me more than it will anyone else.

[CP] Huffs and lays his teeth on Notch-

[Notch] You know... Doc has a pretty big jar of glass eyes in different colors in their lab. I think they basically make them for fun, and maybe shock value. If you asked I'm sure they'll give you one. - notices the teeth- I can feel that...

[CP] Puts a bit more pressure-

[Stevie] Comes running out to jumps in puddles-

[Notch] Winces - Cp...

[CP] Little growl-

[Firebird] Really? .. I'll have to ask at some point... So uh.. Why is everyone.. Not as they should be? I saw Flowey was in his bear form again..

[Notch] Doc updated the server with a bad copy of the snapshot accidently- he indicates the non-functional golem totem-

[Deer] Comes into sight, having heard Notch- Oh, so that's what happened

[Firebird] Ah. Alright.

[Notch] Then Cp and TLOT both chased them off. I'm not sure where Doc went.

[Deer] - That would explain TLOT's silence when I asked about Doc...

[Notch] He seemed really angry. I presume you found him somewhere?

[Deer] Shakes her head- No, I came to get Yaunfen first. I was stuck underground until Alexsezia and Alexis came and helped get us out

[Notch] Ah. Endrea has hir. In the house. Yaunfen is in their humanish shape.

[Firebird] -idly petting CN-

[Deer] - Could you get them for me? I'm afraid I wont fit...

[CN] Rubs into the pets-

[Notch] Yeah, hold on a sec. - Goes into the house, still carrying Cp-

[Yaunfen] Is reading a book-

[Deer] Looks at Firebird- Firebird? That's your secondary form?

[Firebird] I'm not sure. I'm fully human. I'm usually only partially. -Scuffs heel a bit- It's inconvenient.

[Deer] - But it can have it's uses

[Firebird] I guess.

[CN] Snuggles up against the outside of the hood-

[Notch] Comes back out with Yaunfen-

[Yaunfen] - Mama!

[Deer] - Hello my little one, have you been having fun?

[Yaunfen] Nods eagerly-

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