prodigydancer

Opted for direct competition with TW3, eh? It's gonna be interesting.

Well, I'm disappointed (though not surprised being a Codex lurker). Dragonfall DC is a rehash of a 2013 release and D:OS is just plain boring. But people seem to like them for some reason. And of course WL2 didn't make it. FU, Codex.

Not really. You're trying to generalize what is a particular case. Consider Ra's al Ghul as he was portrayed in Batman Begins. The guy isn't above deception, openly committing a crime or trying to make an entire city go down in flamses so he's definitely not LE. On the other hand, he's not CE because he doesn't relish in the suffering of others. The destructions he causes - he thinks it's merely a necessary evil. The ends justify the means. His philosophy and his methods make him a NE villain even though he doesn't care about personal gain.

Rationalization = LE. OK, sorry. I won't do any more derailing here, I promise. I just like D&D alignment system - it's impractical but it's fun. People tend to hate it for some reason though.

Nah. Notoriety for the sake of notoriety is NE thing as is backstabbing someone just to make them feel miserable. CE is more about random havok and destruction with not much logic behind it. Extreme CE is: "I'm weary and going to sleep but I still have a fireball memorized so let's set this crowd on fire. Dying screams are the best lullaby."

Mmm. Technically what you say is true. BG2 isn't the most non-linear game ever made. Outside the main quest you're mostly free to do whatever you wish though. And the main quest... I know there's no time limit but linearity helps to create some air of urgency and inevitability. In contrast with BG1 the situation isn't under your control (it's a recurring theme starting from the rough awakening in Irenicus' dungeon) and you're never really given an opportunity to regain control. You have to deal with it and diplomacy isn't always an option.

If you want to RP NE to the same extremity as you did with LG, it'll be even harder. Extreme NE is: "Can't offer me anything I want, eh? OK, you've wasted a whole minute of my time so I'll hunt you for sport in 3... 2... 1..."

I'm somewhat divided on this example. It goes against every role-player's instinct that says "stick your nose into everything or you'll miss out on something interesting most likely". So people are understandable upset about being punished for doing what they've learned to do by playing other CRPGs. On the other hand it's refreshingly cruel and unforgiving encounters are often the most memorable. Since "game over" probably means "load a save" I'd say it's not a big deal.

You're acting on a premise that either the Cowled Wizards are your friends (the ending scene of the prologue offers some strong evidence against this theory) or at least they're an LG-friendly law enforcement group (again, there's no evidence in game that would support such point of view). CW themselves are mages and are known to sell magic use permits to anyone who can pay. Does this look like a fair practice? I'd say it's legalized bribery and abuse of power. And why would they care about a thieves guild? There's nothing in the game that suggests they would. There are more shades of gray in BG2 than you want to acknowledge. You must get your hands dirty to save someone dear to you. The difference is how dirty they'll be but there is no Disney-style perfect solution to everything. Sorry. And you're good at claiming that anything that doesn't work the way you want it to work is a plot hole or a quest omission.

BG2 doesn't let you play a one-dimensional LG-bound freak. If that's how far your definition of Paladin class goes, it's probably a bad idea to roll a paladin in any game. But don't be so upset - it's a very common mistake. Many people think that playing a paladin is about casting Detect Evil before talking to anyone and, in general, smiting some "evil" at every corner. "Hey you! You, crossing the road in the wrong place! Feel my holy wrath!"

Consolitis. WL2 and D:OS are PC exclusives and they have grid-based inventory.

It's Kalah and the voice acting is appropriate since he's a gnome. As for him being crazy... I think almost all gnomes in IE games were nuts just some were also dangerous. It's true that Irenicus was power-hungry but I wouldn't call it his defining feature and I wouldn't call him clichéd. What made him stand out? First, he and Bodhi were way more bitter and openly cynical than most video game villains. Second, Irenicus wasn't going to destroy the world. He just wanted to ascend to deity status. His methods inevitably made him the protagonist's enemy but his motivation was understandable.

Just stop. Kiting only really worked in simple 6v1 fights against melee guys. None of them was any hard anyway no matter which strategy you used. But have you ever tried to pull your little trick in one of the larger IWD fights against multiple melee/ranged/caster enemies? Now I don't remember the original but in IWD:EE in some fights you're outnumbered 3-to-1 (on Insane, probably not so bad on Core). Good luck winning those encounters with kiting. Engagement is a horrible mechanic that was added only because Obsidian cannot into encounter design.

And that's the only thing worth caring about. Design decisions aren't a holy cow. If the system doesn't work, it means the decisions were wrong and the rationale behind them was faulty. From a neutral bystander's point of view the combat system in BB has gone a full circle. It started with people complaining about beetles being OP and now in v392 it's back to people complaining about beetles being OP.

Let's not bring first-person real-time ARPGs into this, alright?

That would be deliciously overpowered.

@PrimeJunta Your suggestions are intriguing but as it stands now, Wizard in PoE doesn't have any counters except Arcane Dampener and Arcane Reflection. Neither is particularly interesting or creative. I'll rather have bland utility spells than no utility at all.

In other words you were out of arguments. Which doesn't surprise me because the thread is full of direct and factual comparisons that are hard to dismiss. PoE Wizard sucks. What's worse is that the developers' stance is basically: "We agree that the class sucks but we won't do anything about it. Maybe in expansion..."

And who does represent the majority then? You?

There were four or five wizards on the top floor of Sorcerous Sundries in the middle of some ritual. They attacked you on sight unless Xzar (or Montaron) was with you. It wasn't a quest, just a little easter egg.

Disappointing. Remember how having Edwin or Xzar in your party in BG allowed you to walk out of certain otherwise violent encounters with the Red Wizards or the Zhentarim respectively. A minor, but nice, touch.

Yes, it's an easy meat shield, so what? They should deal with the problem in a different way rather than just slapping "combat only" flag on the ability. The whole situation reminds me of the melee engagement system - yet another completely arbitrary restriction. What they do every time they can't solve a potential gameplay or balance problem in a creative way is basically telling us: "Hey, doing X is the wrong way to play our game. We won't allow you to play our game in a wrong way so you can no longer do X. And the only right way to play our game is how we ourselves would play it." This line of thinking is about the worst thing that can happen to a game developer. Consequently PoE is turning from a promising project to a mediocre game at an alarming speed.

Because no fun allowed. The change is disappointing but expectable. I no longer have any faith in PoE developers because I've seen time and again how their thinking works. Cipher has abilities that are incidentally very strong openers? Would the solution be to work hard on balancing? Hell no! We'll just restrict players from using them as openers, problem solved.

DA:I is moddable? o.0

Here we go again. Engagement isn't just "any" control. It's more like total control. A decent front liner should have abilities that snare, trip or knockback enemies and, of course, he should be able to attack those who try to run past him. But it should be a regular attack (maybe with a bonus to hit), affected by recharge rate, not instant AoO that happens "because magic".