Incline Survey - Most Compelling RPG Concept & Setting Not Yet Attempted

[MLMarkland]

Some of these ideas are kinda weird. I like the idea of a stealth RPG and I like the idea of a RPG taking place during the Punic Wars, but merging the two concepts doesn't seem to make any fucking sense whatsoever.

You play Roman hostage and Greek historian Polybius sneaking past the siege pickets surrounding Carthage in late 147 to interview Hasdrubal the Boetharch to give your Histories an objective balance of interviews with participants on both sides, but Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus would have you crucified if caught while he put the city to the sword.

​

 

[Erebus]

Some of these ideas are kinda weird. I like the idea of a stealth RPG and I like the idea of a RPG taking place during the Punic Wars, but merging the two concepts doesn't seem to make any fucking sense whatsoever.

You play Roman hostage and Greek historian Polybius sneaking past the siege pickets surrounding Carthage in late 147 to interview Hasdrubal the Boetharch to give your Histories an objective balance of interviews with participants on both sides, but Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus would have you crucified if caught while he put the city to the sword.

​

Ae. : Well, well, Polybius. Didn't I tell you what would happen if I caught you trying to sneak into Carthage ?

Po. (Zoology + Bluff : FAIL) : I wasn't trying to sneak ! I was just... researching elephants ! One of them was right here just a minute ago, all big and purple. He left just before you arrived, so if you excuse me, I'll...

Ae. : Elephants aren't purple.

Po. (Mythology + Bluff : FAIL) : Come to think of it, it must have been a catoblepas. You know, the beast with a lethal gaze described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History.

Ae. : Pliny the Elder isn't even born yet.

Po. : Shit ! Err.... Err... (Psychology + Bluff : SUCCESS) Oh no ! behind you ! Numidian cavalrymen are stealing all your salt !

Ae. : WHAT ? NO ! MY SALT !

 

[MLMarkland]

Some of these ideas are kinda weird. I like the idea of a stealth RPG and I like the idea of a RPG taking place during the Punic Wars, but merging the two concepts doesn't seem to make any fucking sense whatsoever.

You play Roman hostage and Greek historian Polybius sneaking past the siege pickets surrounding Carthage in late 147 to interview Hasdrubal the Boetharch to give your Histories an objective balance of interviews with participants on both sides, but Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus would have you crucified if caught while he put the city to the sword.

​

Ae. : Well, well, Polybius. Didn't I tell you what would happen if I caught you trying to sneak into Carthage ?

Po. (Zoology + Bluff : FAIL) : I wasn't trying to sneak ! I was just... researching elephants ! One of them was right here just a minute ago, all big and purple. He left just before you arrived, so if you excuse me, I'll...

Ae. : Elephants aren't purple.

Po. (Mythology + Bluff : FAIL) : Come to think of it, it must have been a catoblepas. You know, the beast with a lethal gaze described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History.

Ae. : Pliny the Elder isn't even born yet.

Po. : Shit ! Err.... Err... (Psychology + Bluff : SUCCESS) Oh no ! behind you ! Numidian cavalrymen are stealing all your salt !

Ae. : WHAT ? NO ! MY SALT !

I’m not going to let video game writers write the damn dialogue.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

I’m not going to let video game writers write the damn dialogue.

East Euro Jank (with beautiful slavic themes and music) or a game about hunting down Loli pedos. If either of those happen I'll give away 100 copies personally.

 

[Vic]

I’m not going to let video game writers write the damn dialogue.

You're game is either going to be GOTY or absolute shit

 

[Gahbreeil]

Read the bloody document!

Setting? The Sword Coast entire.

 

[rojay]

Some of these ideas are kinda weird. I like the idea of a stealth RPG and I like the idea of a RPG taking place during the Punic Wars, but merging the two concepts doesn't seem to make any fucking sense whatsoever.

You play Roman hostage and Greek historian Polybius sneaking past the siege pickets surrounding Carthage in late 147 to interview Hasdrubal the Boetharch to give your Histories an objective balance of interviews with participants on both sides, but Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus would have you crucified if caught while he put the city to the sword.

​

Ae. : Well, well, Polybius. Didn't I tell you what would happen if I caught you trying to sneak into Carthage ?

Po. (Zoology + Bluff : FAIL) : I wasn't trying to sneak ! I was just... researching elephants ! One of them was right here just a minute ago, all big and purple. He left just before you arrived, so if you excuse me, I'll...

Ae. : Elephants aren't purple.

Po. (Mythology + Bluff : FAIL) : Come to think of it, it must have been a catoblepas. You know, the beast with a lethal gaze described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History.

Ae. : Pliny the Elder isn't even born yet.

Po. : Shit ! Err.... Err... (Psychology + Bluff : SUCCESS) Oh no ! behind you ! Numidian cavalrymen are stealing all your salt !

Ae. : WHAT ? NO ! MY SALT !

I’m not going to let video game writers write the damn dialogue.

You think you're going to do better than that?

It's the best idea you've been pitched in this topic: a comedy rpg where the dialog is actually both funny and smart. It will sell 39 copies, but critics will love it.

 

[MLMarkland]

Some of these ideas are kinda weird. I like the idea of a stealth RPG and I like the idea of a RPG taking place during the Punic Wars, but merging the two concepts doesn't seem to make any fucking sense whatsoever.

You play Roman hostage and Greek historian Polybius sneaking past the siege pickets surrounding Carthage in late 147 to interview Hasdrubal the Boetharch to give your Histories an objective balance of interviews with participants on both sides, but Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus would have you crucified if caught while he put the city to the sword.

​

Ae. : Well, well, Polybius. Didn't I tell you what would happen if I caught you trying to sneak into Carthage ?

Po. (Zoology + Bluff : FAIL) : I wasn't trying to sneak ! I was just... researching elephants ! One of them was right here just a minute ago, all big and purple. He left just before you arrived, so if you excuse me, I'll...

Ae. : Elephants aren't purple.

Po. (Mythology + Bluff : FAIL) : Come to think of it, it must have been a catoblepas. You know, the beast with a lethal gaze described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History.

Ae. : Pliny the Elder isn't even born yet.

Po. : Shit ! Err.... Err... (Psychology + Bluff : SUCCESS) Oh no ! behind you ! Numidian cavalrymen are stealing all your salt !

Ae. : WHAT ? NO ! MY SALT !

I’m not going to let video game writers write the damn dialogue.

You think you're going to do better than that?

It's the best idea you've been pitched in this topic: a comedy rpg where the dialog is actually both funny and smart. It will sell 39 copies, but critics will love it.

Critics hate me.

But I’ve sold some games.

And I know dialog.

But I don’t reject the concept of an absurdist gonzo take on any subject matter in any genre — Malibu Road embraces the Hunter S. Thompson gonzo aesthetic, and for an audience that likes that it is very compelling. The movie has over a million unique audience and is one of the highest rated movies about the CIA in history (and the highest rated independent movie about the CIA).

CIA’s media affairs department loves it — they watched it a couple years before anyone else and had no requests or notes.

 

[Vic]

Malibu Road embraces the Hunter S. Thompson gonzo aesthetic, and for an audience that likes that it is very compelling.

your friends?

 

[Vic]

The movie has over a million unique audience and is one of the highest rated movies about the CIA in history (and the highest rated independent movie about the CIA).

take your meds

 

[MLMarkland]

The movie has over a million unique audience and is one of the highest rated movies about the CIA in history (and the highest rated independent movie about the CIA).

take your meds

Google it

 

[Vic]

The movie has over a million unique audience and is one of the highest rated movies about the CIA in history (and the highest rated independent movie about the CIA).

take your meds

Google it

your movie has one negative review and one fake review, probably from yourself, on imdb

 

[MLMarkland]

The movie has over a million unique audience and is one of the highest rated movies about the CIA in history (and the highest rated independent movie about the CIA).

take your meds

Google it

your movie has one negative review and one fake review, probably from yourself, on imdb

Ok

 

[Vic]

Feels like a student film

It's hideous I'm afraid. Can't even remember how I came across it or how it ended up on my watchlist but the premise sounded intriguing and the poster looked good. The alarm bells rang immediately though with a poorly acted and tediously banal opening monologue. The credits were high school level. The first scene post credits was bad high school level acting... both stiff and chemistry free. There's zero timing between the cast and the dialogue is stilted. The direction is poor and the whole things lacks any creative spark. I think the good reviews and scores are presumably because only friends and family have seen it. Brings me no pleasure to say that everyone else should avoid.

that's the only real review you've got

 

[MLMarkland]

what Ok? That 7.1 imdb rating is because of your fake review lmao

On IMDb the movie has a number of ratings comparable to the last Liam Neeson movie — ratings determine score not reviews — 360 ratings is the magic number on Amazon that suggests a movie has gone mainstream.

Unless someone really loves or really hates a movie they are not going to bother writing a review, the ratings control the score. The words in the reviews have no impact and are just people with a strong opinion stating their opinion.

There’s a 5:1 to 8:1 ratio of negative to positive written reviews for products, unless one pays to Game the system.

I’ve been an opponent of gaming the review system for my entire career, because it leads to flawed outcomes where critics / audience love or hate a thing in a bipolar fashion — which makes the review output meaningless.

I’ve never reviewed something I worked on. But I’m not going to hire a black hat marketing agency to juice reviews either.

The movie will exist forever — the reality of people’s opinion of it is undeniable - only people concerned with quarterly numbers or contracts as a PR agency care about the short term.

 

[Vic]

yeah I deleted that post because I remembered wrong and couldn't be bothered to look it up, still, a far cry from one of the highest rated movies about the CIA in history come one man lay off the drugs

 

[MLMarkland]

Feels like a student film

It's hideous I'm afraid. Can't even remember how I came across it or how it ended up on my watchlist but the premise sounded intriguing and the poster looked good. The alarm bells rang immediately though with a poorly acted and tediously banal opening monologue. The credits were high school level. The first scene post credits was bad high school level acting... both stiff and chemistry free. There's zero timing between the cast and the dialogue is stilted. The direction is poor and the whole things lacks any creative spark. I think the good reviews and scores are presumably because only friends and family have seen it. Brings me no pleasure to say that everyone else should avoid.

that's the only real review you've got

10/10
Mystical and deep
For your average viewer, this movie won't make any sense at all.

If you like weird metaphorical mystical things, if you like Jodorowski or David Lynch, or anything else that is designed or inspired to get more than one viewing like F for fake, you will enjoy this all 3+ times you check it out.

Don't listen to the one star guy. This movie is the real deal for the weird future we are moving into. There's a real shifting of male and female energies, an echo of things throughout time. Have you ever heard of what happened to Phillip K Dick? This movie is in the same sophia-inspired like of wisdom that you might just be looking for.

It's not meant to be a normal movie for chuds. Don't let that one star review fool you lol!

The counter point by a viewer I did not know but who I thanked for the solid review.

Does that review sound like me? Do I use the word “chuds”? I’m 45 years old, I honestly don’t even know what chuds means in current internet slang.

Out of ~100 ratings on IMDB, two people felt compelled to write a review — they both might be authentic, they both might be friends and enemies (but I have no idea if they are), one or the other might be inauthentic.

Watch it. Decide for yourself. If you don’t like it, you can always hit stop.

 

[Vic]

totally not a fake review and totally not the only review on that account

 

[MLMarkland]

yeah I deleted that post because I remembered wrong and couldn't be bothered to look it up, still, a far cry from one of the highest rated movies about the CIA in history come one man lay off the drugs

It simply is one of the highest rated movies explicitly about a declassified CIA operation.

That’s a short list of movies. You got Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, The Good Shepherd (a fictionalized account of real events), The Men Who Stare at Goats, Wormwood.

Someone unrelated to the production made an IMDB list about this, we’re on the list — we’re not the highest, we’re not the lowest, we’re in the top 25.

My main reaction when someone sent me the list was amusement.

The movie is about a declassified CIA operation called Operation Midnight Climax. There is no other movie that is explicity about OMC, a Technical Services Division sub-program of MKUltra using hookers to dose johns.

On the other hand the movie is a parable, that it is about this 1950s CIA program is secondary to the purpose of the motion picture.

We gave it to CIA’s Media Affairs department in 2017. We’d never have a rating from the Motion Picture Association of America if there was a national security risk related to the movie.

Facts are sticky.

PS We actually waterboarded an innocent comedian for a scene, which ZD30 and Sicario did not do. That is probably the most controversial thing we did, but I had the crew and actors waterboard me first in camera rehearsal to ensure it was safe and we had a good & safe way for the actor subject to tap out. I run safe sets.

 

[Vic]

come on man!! your movie has 93 ratings, ever heard of statistical significance. the other movies you mentioned:

Zero Dark Thirty, 310K ratings
Argo, 626K ratings
The Good Shepherd, 106k ratings

you really think if your movie got 100k ratings it would maintain the same score? If you got one fake review than those ratings are probably, as the one reviewer said, from friends and family. Yet you are calling one of the highest rated movies about the CIA in history, on a list by some random guy! there are 12 hoops you have to jump through to arrive at your conclusion.

Fact is: your movie sucks.

 

[MLMarkland]

come on man!! your movie has 93 ratings, ever heard of statistical significance. the other movies you mentioned:

Zero Dark Thirty, 310K ratings
Argo, 626K ratings
The Good Shepherd, 106k ratings

you really think if your movie got 100k ratings it would maintain the same score? If you got one fake review than those ratings are probably, as the one reviewer said, from friends and family. Yet you are calling one of the highest rated movies about the CIA in history, on a list by some random guy! there are 12 hoops you have to jump through to arrive at your conclusion.

Fact is: your movie sucks.

Did you watch it?

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Is it on YouTube?

 

[Vic]

no you have to pay 6 bucks to Amazon to watch MLMarkland act without a shirt

 

[MLMarkland]

Is it on YouTube?

Probably not. YT has algorithms that take down content based on music that has to be licensed. Malibu Road has licensed music, it probably gets taken down if someone uploads it to YT within 30-60 minutes based on just the music license algorithm.

It’s available for free on Plex and Tubi (Tubi is pretty good) with reasonable commercial interruptions.

Malibu Road runs on a broadcast style schedule on Sling TV (also free if you choose the bcast style ad option).

It’s on 37 platforms in 109 countries so there are other lesser known platforms you can view it on outside the US / EU / UK / Japan.

We’re banned in China, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Syria and Venezuela. We are not banned in Russia. (I can’t really explain that pattern — I and prior games were banned in China, but we’re very popular in India so it’s not a BRICS thing, it’s just what I know is true).

You can probably torrent it — and I don’t care if you do, my position has always been people who pay or watch ads for movies are an entirely different audience than technically savvy people who can and will torrent movies.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I’ll buy Willow at the local store on DVD instead. It is about time I watched that.