Ztirual

I hear ya, man... I hear ya.

This seems about right. I don't really know that many people, even less who play these kinds of games, but I mentioned PoE (as well as D: OS) to one or two who had little to no knowledge about the IE games, although they had previously played DA:O, D3, or Skyrim. And as I explained it to them there was immediately a spark of interest and enthusiasm, regardless of what knowledge they had of the IE games or PoE. So the game 'sold' itself, and not really my explanation of it. Now, I think that those players who desire to be challenged and really think out situations, apply their minds, their logic, their reasoning and so on, while at the same feel deeply involved as they live and make a story with their own character, those players are sooner or later going to discover PoE - or rather, PoE is going to discover them. Because if the game stands it's own ground, it will, in spite of marketing, find its way - like a good song, and good songs are very rarely heard on the radio.

What if the various types of enemies and creatures have different seeing? A beetle, presumably, won't really see that much beyond 10 meters, whereas a bandit might have quite the exceptional eyesight and spot you from 100 meters.

"Let's see... I'm just gonna lob that lightning bolt over the wall... Seems legit!"

I noticed that Adam didn't use any 'formation rotation,' when you manually orient what direction the party is going to face. Is that something that is left out, not yet implemented, or did Adam simply not use it? Another thing, when the party wizard fired off what looked like a lightning bolt, it seemed as it went through his allies without doing any damage to them, and if it did, I didn't see any hit animation. Are those things that are being worked on or is that the supposed function?

<- Will save failed.

I've got to say, just reading people's thoughts on the Gamescon viewing of PoE makes me savagely stoked... But my gnarly will saves do seem to hold thus far, though!

It's not about resisting, it's about keeping a clean sheet when you go to bed.

I'm going to refrain from watching; I'm in fact keeping myself away from any critical or spoileresque information until I've gone through the Beta. I don't even want to know what PoE is when Beta begins... Speaking of which, what the hell is a PoE?

I usually make an Elven Fighter/Thief or Ranger on first playthroughs, so I reckon I'll roll with an Elven Ranger in PoE. After that, all the classes and races will in due time get their turn, no doubt about it.

Yes, to make more use of lighting and visibility really ups the ante when it comes to tactical decisions and strategies. For example; Party encounters an entrance to what appears to be a mystical ruin. It is night time and the only visible sources of light is a pathway of torches leading up a mound where there, seemingly, is a door - and also, in human eyes, shadowy figures moving about. You can't tell for sure. Now, you can make use of the darkness, have a scout sneak up and detect the foes, their gear, and their movement, and move one or two melee and ranged PCs out of the torchlights' range and into stealth, position them forward and have them hold. Then, if the scout's detection or identification succeded, draw the shadowy figures out with the remainder of the unstealthed party and close the gap, but just enough so that the hidden PCs are behind the enemy group. Then, without remorse, ambush from the dark of the night. Things like that, for example, is desireable to have in these kinds of games, more so in those where you actually have to think. So yeah, I agree that lighting and visibility are way underrated and unused in RPGs, as situations like these usually have to be imagined in order to fill the gap left by the lack of mechanics. Even the basic idea you described could have the potential to lessen that gap and sharpen the tactical and immersive edge!

This makes me ponder upon how stealth would function with such a mechanic - pretty intense, I'd say! That is, of course, in the assumption that it would affect all NPCs and creatures. But apart from sneaking, encounters and such in dark places or night times drastically improves as it would capture the sense of wading through blackness. But one thing though, would the PCs also be shadowy figures, or, for pure gameplay convenience, would they be illuminated in some way?

Yeah, just did the same! Great stuff!

Alright, soo... Where are you heading?

To me, wearing helmets or not should be exactly like that - either you have a helmet, or you don't, there's no beating around the bush. If a character's type is one that doesn't use helmets - perhaps they impede his sight in sword fights, or maybe they just mess up his hair or whatever - then he shouldn't be using helmets and thus, have the actual advantage/disadvantage of that. Which on another point, seems to be something that is rarely thought of in many games - usually, you only get advantages of having a helmet, and only disadvantages of not having one. But, back to the topic; Not using helmets, but equipping an invisible one merely for the stats and receive advantages/disadvantages that are not in line with character's type, mind, or build or whatever, drags one's own mind out of the game world. At least to me it does.

Alright, I'm sorry, I misunderstood your question. But that is a very good idea, no doubt about it; to have a racial starting reputation (perhaps not only with the Death Godlike?) with different associations that are or are not generally accepted - even aggressively opposed or propagated - in the major populace, as to really put forth the problem and difficulty with prejudice, sectarianism, division and so on and so forth. That would in fact present not only physical combat and the duress of that, but the mental battle as well! And things that are mental, is mental, man! And of course, that one NPC might see things as good or evil by their own judgement and another in a variation of that, as opposed to a PC that does not could lead into deep philosophical and existential issues - not only relevant to Eora, but also things we might think of on Earth; in other words, not only sword fights is part of the game, but mind battles too. I think that could make the game world come very much to life, and as you say, not make your interactions with NPCs into occasional blurbs without any real meaning or impact in relation to your PC. To me this sounds awesome.

That's presuming death is evil in the first place? And if it is, why? What exactly is evil? If you ask me, I don't consider things as good or evil at all, but then again, others might not reason as I, so... In my view, it is not accurate to give Death either evil or good points since life doesn't fit into such ideas.

All in all, this has alot to do with the unpredictability of knowing how people are going to respond to the PC. We can predict - and by that I mean approximate - to a certain extent how we think people are going to react, but we can never pinpoint the exact nature of their reaction before it has acted - can you tell by looking at someones face if they think you are a wonderful or an ugly person? -, till then it is only an assumption, a speculation, but even so, it is not a certainty that our approximation or assertation of that person will be correct or true according to whatever it is we expect to find. So, some people in Eora can and most presumably are going to dislike or even hate Godlikes, be they Death or the other, and on the other hand, some people can and are also most presumably to have developed a fetish, a like, or a strong attachment to them. But the thing is, there are so many ways and variables that affect how an encounter could or will turn out, that we cannot really predict its end result before it takes place; you could during a certain encounter act in what is supposedly judged as 'good' ways or be talking, as a Death Godlike, in this instance, to someone who absolutely loathes that kind, but with the effect of your 'good' actions and then during the conversation, it could show that the Godlike is actually of quite a benevolent or sane nature - Death isn't something evil, just something that is prone to bring fear when not understood - and, therefore, change the view and thus the expected outcome - if there was an expectation, that is - and, therefore, change the common belief. Though, the outcome could also not be changed at all, and certainly, it could in fact turn out completely the other way and end very fatally, even if you acted with benevolence or kindness. My point is that interactions between mentalities cannot be predicted to such an extent that it is going to follow our expectations, as there is an infinite number of factors and variables between the here now and the future, and trying to make something that is unpredictable within something that only works on predictions is really hard to do - impossible, in fact - that being the computer and the game mechanics itself. Which, I stated earlier, means that if you play as a Death Godlike, you can expect there to be challenges in how people react, but, simulationally, there is on the other an 'infinite' variable that you cannot expect, you can only really find out about it in the moment it happens. So, I guess it also comes down to how the player also plays the game - if there is the prediction making of "metagaming" or the expectation making of "roleplaying", which is really only for the player who plays the game to decide upon.

Romances in games isn't really anything I personally desire or expect at all, but if it's there and manages to bring a tear to my eye, it's there, and if it's not, then no problem. I can see the beneficial aspects of it though, for those players who like it, as it does bring somewhat different roleplaying opportunities. On a side note, can you even metagame romances? And if so, why, how? In any case, I reckon it is quite the intricate work to get in-game romances that are good, because man, alot of the romances in very many games are more clichè or plain awkward than it feels heartfelt and natural - I've usually ended up feeling slightly sick and confused, like being on a trippy rollercoaster from hell, as opposed to feeling warm and fuzzy or whatever it is people feel. But then again, maybe I'm the awkward one.

Well, that does seem to be a matter of definition and self-expectation. A common belief is a popular thought that is, not necessarily factual or false, being created, passed on, or adhered to by individuals that form groups or collectives based on similar ideas for similar or various purposes. Now, if the common belief in Eora is that Death Godlikes should be killed at birth, does that also mean that nearly every NPC is going to have or act upon that specific belief, even if the culture is common to them? No. Because some NPCs are not many NPCs, and many NPCs are not all NPCs, and all NPCs are not some or many, but the whole, regardless of culture or belief; so, some or many might have that belief within their particular culture, but that doesn't mean that all act upon it, or even have it, whereas some or many who might not have that belief - or even know about it at all - could still act in the same manner as the culture or the belief demand, without having it. So, is it not to say then that the game is actually going to be heavily unpredictable, and therefore, not really unplayable - as how you respond with the action or reaction of others means that you are going to find out whether they shun you or not, whether they openly express it or not? I could be wrong, but to me, that doesn't seem as something unplayable, but rather as something that adds tremendous playability.

I don't know, the Conv. UI looks fine to me, although, perhaps the descriptive text should be in a different colour so as to stand out from the talking text. And also, if different PCs will be able to initiate dialogue with NPCs, shouldn't the respective portrait also show on the UI, so as to indicate who is talking to who? Might be confusing at times to not see who is doing the talking. Other than that, I find the UI to be good, having it large and with space makes the reading easy, but if the frame become very crammed up and tight it might be a possibility that the reading becomes disturbed, hampering the flow of read. A good dedicated reading space is good for the eyes.

Yes, its not a necessity to utilize the decomposing idea, so until the map reloads would seem as an excellent choice.

Ahh, so do they use invisibility potions or magicks to snatch the bodies; first on themselves, then on the corpses, and then they drag them back to the cave? Orlan; Orlans; Orlaneans; Orlanises; Orlanders; Orlanuses....... Wait, what?

*Cheerleading* - "Be specific - be, be specific!"

Indeed, I at least cannot shake of the critical eye and abandon the question for an in-game explanation as to how corpses disappear, why they disappear, and where they disappear - at least in the way they do now... I mean, are they supposed to do that, and if so, why? If not, why not?