Stealing in part1... Guardian hello??

[Nestori]

Now, I really would like to hear the annoying words of Guardian when I steal/move other peoples stuff around in Black Gate. Where are they?? :/

[Gruck, curiousis!]

You'd best not do that Avatar!

[Nestori]

Yea! That's the one!

[Beryllium]

Bah! ... I never liked that.

Why is the Guardian, of all things, acting as the voice of your conscience?
It makes no sense. The Guardian should be egging you on to abandon your virtues, not helping you keep straight.

The voice does set some atmosphere by creeping you out by showing you that your every move is being observed by the Guardian ... but surely that could have been better done than this way.

[Gradilla Dragon]

The guardian is trying to make the Avatar believe that he will be his companion, provider and master. He had to try to gain the Avatar's trust in some way.

[Dino (not logged in)]

Apart from that, what he says is usually quite sarcastic, meaning he is actually mocking the Avatar.

[Natreg]

"Enter, tell them you are the Avatar" <-- yeah really helpful the big red muppet

[Tristan de Inés]

The first time I heard that, it almost gave me a heart attack. I think the speech was set waaaay louder than the other sounds.

By the way, is it possible to port SI NPC alertness to BG? I think stealing is implemented better in SI where its not possible to clean out a house right under the owners nose.

[Shaun]

Yes, I always took this as the Guardian mocking the Avatar. At the same time, I found it hard to believe that the Guardian was omnipresent, as the voice over stuff seems to suggest. If that was the case, he would have seen everything that the Avatar did, and it seems he would have been better able to actually stop what happened.

My brother used to theorize that when the voice was helpful (i.e. warning you about Destard) that it was the Timelord, and when it was giving bad advice, it was the Gaurdian. Of course, they sounded exactly alike, so I don't think that idea hold water.

And yes, the first time I heard the voice out of no where, I too jumped and probably kicked my cat.

[Alun Bestor]

The fact that the Guardian warned you before you entered Destard implies that he and Batlin didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things. Such as on killing Avatars.

Which I would think of as a cunning wrinkle to the story, if it weren't for the other blatant inconsistencies with the Guardian's behaviour

[LordHart]

Wasn't the Guardians plan supposed to invlove the Avatar someway, and thats why he kept him alive?

[Andrea B Previtera]

Yes, more or less just the way the Usa did with Fidel Castro!

[dino]

The fact that the Guardian warned you before you entered Destard implies that he and Batlin didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things. Such as on killing Avatars.

That's one of the times when the Guardian actually tries to be helpful, for some reason. But at the same time, keeping you out of Destard means stopping your quest.

[MV]

That's one of the times when the Guardian actually tries to be helpful, for some reason. But at the same time, keeping you out of Destard means stopping your quest.

But you don't need to go into destard to finish the game. Only for a nice treasure hunt.

[Alun Bestor]

...and to complete Batlin's tasks so that you can join the fellowship so you can get into the retreat. Which isn't essential anyway, if you have the magic carpet. (whoops!)

Quote:
"Wasn't the Guardians plan supposed to invlove the Avatar someway, and thats why he kept him alive?"

The operative words here are "supposed to" and "some way". I don't think the Ultima VII writers ever worked out a plausible story for what the Guardian intended the Avatar to do, so the whole matter is sort of glossed over.

Interesting side note, though - did the 3 prisms actually need to be placed into the receptacles for the Guardian to be able to come through the Black Gate? If so, why did they rely on the Avatar fetching them, and then act all "oh no, you've arrived in time to foil our carefully-laid plans!" when he/she gets there? If not, then why did they have Christopher make the receptacles in the first place?

[Battered Dragon]

On a side note, why does the Guardian give his maniac laugh when you discover the "X" in the desert? Whats so funny/insidious about finding treasure in a desert that warrants the climactic laughter reserved for such discoveries as his throne on Avatar Isle etc. ?

[Natreg]

he doesn´t laugh in the "X", he says "I´m the Pagan Lord" backwards (Well, in the spanish version he laughs)

[Alun Bestor]

Fun trivia fact: in Spanish, "I am the Pagan Lord" backwards is "Scorchio".

[MV]

...and to complete Batlin's tasks so that you can join the fellowship so you can get into the retreat. Which isn't essential anyway, if you have the magic carpet. (whoops!)

I forgot that part. Opps.

But yea, I didn't ever join the fellowship. It seemed like I was selling my soul when I was given the choice, so I always declined to. At the time it was like "Well, If I join, then what power would the mysterious (at the time), guardian have over me?"

[Tristan de Inés]

> did the 3 prisms actually need to be placed into the receptacles for the Guardian to be able to come through the Black Gate?

I thought the prisms where required to dispose of the magic barrier that protects the black gate? So that the Avatar could destroy it with the wand.

[wjp]

I think Alun asked that question from the perspective of the Guardian/Fellowship, not from the 'game' perspective. I don't think the Fellowship intended them to be used by the Avatar to let him destroy the black gate

[Neutronium Dragon]

It occurs to me that the three smaller objects might have originally been crafted on those pedestals and later transferred to the three dungeons to create the larger generators, in which case returning them to their point of origin would have a disruptive effect - much like you see happening with the smaller gems being returned to the larger one in Underworld 2.

Neutronium Dragon

[Battered Dragon]

Quote:

he doesn´t laugh in the "X", he says "I´m the Pagan Lord" backwards (Well, in the spanish version he laughs)

Thanks, been a while since I last played BG. My next question would be, then, what the X has to do with the Guardian being the Pagan lord? If I´m not mistaken again, the treasure has nothing to do with U8.
Or is it just an easter egg? If it is, its not really well concealed, unlike most of the other ones...

[Dominus]

It's just a so called easter egg. The X and the treasure are only there to lure you to this exact position so the Guardian can drop his hint about the world of Pagan!

[dino]

This is a bit off topic, but since we're talking about easter eggs... why are easter eggs called easter eggs?

[DreamMaster]

Because they're not in plain view - they're hidden away for the really dedicated to find. Much in the same way that the easter tradition has parents hiding easter eggs for children to find.

DreamMaster.