So why am I killing the overlord anyway?

[Cyprene]

I know the opening crawl says that he's "subjugated entire continents", but it feels to me like he's just sitting in his castle chilling.  Do the murderous robots all belong to him?  Is he the guy that shattered reality?   Is he maybe making the windstorms? 

I mean I get, game-wise, that the goal is to go find him and wreck his face because he's the big bad.  But I just wonder what he's done to justify it.

[LaughingThesaurus]

I do believe that in past updates, the overlord would actually do things like destroy bits of continent (or was it the whole continent?) and such, but players didn't like the intense pressure... but don't quote me on that.
I agree, that sort of business is a bit too extreme for my kind of gameplay, but the overlord DOES need to be actively effecting gameplay and the world so that there's a reason to actually feel like you want to kill him.

[doubtful]

....are you serious?

That guy is a jerkwad. He kicks over my sandcastles and steals my lunch money. 

He also called my mom fat.

[Cyprene]

Well sure, maybe yours does.  Mine likes puppies, drinking tea, and long walks on the over-beach.  He has a master's degree in Roman history, and donates 10% of the proceeds from his overlording to United Way. 

[BenMiff]

The impression I got was that the overlord was the one controlling the monsters, and the monsters are doing something (keeping people trapped, interfering with resource gathering, etc.) He's not tromping around the landscape because command takes all his time and effort.

[LayZboy]

Cus he's got the magical mcguffins and you gotta take this shit back for FREEDOM AND AMERICA! YEEEAAH!

[Mánagarmr]

....are you serious?

That guy is a jerkwad. He kicks over my sandcastles and steals my lunch money. 

He also called my mom fat.

That made me laugh. xD

[Mick]

I do believe that in past updates, the overlord would actually do things like destroy bits of continent (or was it the whole continent?) and such, but players didn't like the intense pressure... but don't quote me on that.
I agree, that sort of business is a bit too extreme for my kind of gameplay, but the overlord DOES need to be actively effecting gameplay and the world so that there's a reason to actually feel like you want to kill him.

I would love some sort of "pressure" difficulty slider added to the game, with the easiest selection being as the game is now.

[MouldyK]

Cus he's got the magical mcguffins and you gotta take this shit back for FREEDOM AND AMERICA! YEEEAAH!

Then let's storm his castle for the Ark of the Covenant, Holy Grail and Crystal Skulls and take back our FREEDOM FRIES that he stole! hug YEAH!!!

-punches babies in anticipation-

...why you ask? Because they are FREEDOM BABIES! YEEEAAH!




Also, if in doubt, you can also say he was the asshat in a little game called Earth Defence Force 2017 who said this:

Random AI Guy: "HQ, HQ! The nest is just too full of bugs! We're all gonna die if we don't get out of here! Requesting permission to retreat!"

Commander (or the Overlord): ".....Permission Denied. Keep fighting!"

I mean that's a dick move! I blame the Overlord for it!

[LaughingThesaurus]

There was a suggestion for something like a doomsday device that gives player benefit but adds pressure to the game.... Otherwise I guess we've just got to wait for the developers to hop in and talk about it, or just search Mantis for the idea or something.

Until then... I will focus all of my hatred on the overlord because he called one of my friends fat! Jerk. =(

[Cyprene]

I don't know if it needs a gameplay mechanic to address it.  Maybe like add a line to one of the Ilari's dialog that goes, "And go kill that Overlord because he's a big poopey-head!" 
So at least I know he's a big poopey-head. 

[doctorfrog]

Maybe the answer would be to change who the overlord is, as well as what he does. You can pencil me in as one of the folks who would prefer a little more pressure. As it was, I lost interest pretty early on in my brief play through of AVWW because of a lack of motivation to really do all the work of busing a frontier civilization.

What I mean is, turn the overlord, who now only sits around and broods, into a thing that looks and feels like it is sitting around and brooding. He could be a giant pulsing rock/brain that is attmlting to further unmoor the fabric of the planet. Perhaps he is feeding on misery and broken matter like a Langolier. Or maybe he's like Cthulhu, who lies dead and dreaming. If you can't quite answer the need with a game mechanic, do it with lore... And then come back and fix up that game mechanic!

[LaughingThesaurus]

Personally I'd love to see some kind of game mechanic, like the Overlord unleashing an attack on one of your map-tile settlement buildings. It'd be its own mission, and failing it destroys that building, and maybe requires a second type of mission to be completed to make that tile habitable again. Would add yet more to the citybuilding element, too. Increasing the difficulty of that would result in the possibility of the remaining forces bleeding into other structures, leading to less intense missions that can potentially cause collateral damage.
And don't think I forgot the folks who wouldn't want to deal with those. You could absolutely send adventurers off to defend the buildings for you, if they're skilled enough... supposing that works well with the game design.

Although i'm all for additional lore too, maybe in the form of yet more mysteries. Maybe eventually we'll see a game mechanic or two and some additional lore to really inspire some overlord hate.

[tigersfan]

Having a game mechanic like some of those described here is definitely something we'd like to do. Currently, we don't really have the time to work on a change to AVWW of that scale. But if/when we get around to doing an expansion or something, it's a possibility.

[Hartmann]

But I just wonder what he's done to justify it.

He's the evil Overlord. He just exists to be kicked in the face, elbowed in the ribs, punched in the balls, cornered by Abe Takakazu in the restroom, and being dragged to hell by the possessed Justin Biber to endure an eternity of suffering.

Listen to me, son! How ‘bout getting with the program? Why don’t you jump on the team and come on in for the big win? Son, all I’ve ever asked of my men is for them to obey my orders as they would the word of God. We are here to help the POOR OPRESSED PEOPLE, because inside every gook there is a survivor trying to get out.
It’s a hard-ball world, son. We’ve gotta try to keep our heads until this peace craze blows over! If you ladies leave my island, if you survive recruit training... you will be a weapon, you will be a minister of death, praying for war. But until that day you are pukes! You're the lowest form of life on Environ.
You are not even human-freaking-beings! You are nothing but unorganized grabasstic pieces of amphibian shit! Because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the more you will learn: I am hard, but I am fair! There is no racial bigotry here! I do not look down on CENSURED, CENSURED, CENSURED, or CENSURED; here you are all equally worthless! And my orders are to weed out all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to serve in my beloved Corps! Do you maggots understand that?
The deadliest weapon in the world is a adventurer and his glyphs. It is your killer instinct which must be harnessed if you expect to survive in combat. Your rifle is only a tool. It is a hard heart that kills. If your killer instincts are not clean and strong you will hesitate at the moment of truth. You will not kill. You will become dead glyph bearer. And then you will be in a world of shit. Because glyph bearers are not allowed to die without permission! Do you maggots understand?