LadyCrimson

Not at the actual end of the game yet, but so far Rajani's choice (I'm playing Anjali) only = small a dialogue reference later, but it had no effect on what I actually had to do.Maybe it makes a bigger difference in the endgame, I'll find out soon I guess. Haven't played the Witchers, or many story-RPG's of the past 5 years or so (got tired of the formula for a long while), so can't remark on those either. But I'm probably not typical to begin with - I said to an acquaintance once that what motivates me to keep going in cRPG's now is usually companions/party member related. Thus stuff like Oblivion falls flat because there are no companions while FNV grabbed hold & won't let go. I like to feel like I made a difference on NPC development during gameplay ... not just my own chr's stats or the ending slides. From what I've seen so far, at least...agreed. Disagree to an extent. Taken on it's own merit, DS3 is an enjoyable, fun, & often humorous game. Once I realized DS3 was not going to have the same sort of more-direct-Diablo-clone gameplay, I just tried to see how I liked it as a game in general. I like it quite a bit and think there's nothing wrong with having a sub-genre of RPG games that go like this. But I do agree that I wouldn't want all cRPG's made to be like it. Just like I wouldn't want them to all be like Diablo, or all be like Oblivion, or Fallout etc. either. That would be boring.

It used to be that time flew when I was having fun and crawled when I was bored. Now time flies regardless. I can't believe it's almost July already. I spent most of the day alternating between chores and DS3. Hubs cleaned one of his vans out and I believe we're going to get rid of it. Actually it seems we're going to get rid of both, because as much as he likes the newer van, he still doesn't like the way it "drives" - maybe we can get two Mini-Coopers. They're about the right size for this town's narrow roads and tiny parking lots.

I disagree on this. At least it doesn't compare badly to other (earlier) Obsidian RPGs IMO. But I respect the opinion and I can definitly see where you are coming from. Well, if you took the game's story/chrs. and put it into novel form, I'd like it much better. I did read most of the Lore and all of that, along with being patient enough to read the dialogues and it's nice (especially the references to the past games) but eh, didn't reach me I guess. In a game, it's hard for me to be emotionally touched when no matter what dialogue choices I pick, the outcome is the same. Which is what happens in DS3 far as I can tell. I reloaded several key dialogue points and in the end, it's still the same outcome/I have to do the same thing. I feel like my chr has no influence what happens in the game as I play it - well, beyond "influencing" a companion. So while the story may be potentially good, I don't "feel" it. Actually, as much as I love FNV, I feel the same way about 80% of what goes on in that game, too. Or most games, which is why I probably am not very into "story" in games to begin with. In a novel I'm not expecting to be an influence so the telling of the story has more impact. Or something. I'm not sure really. I'm not easily moved by most stories themselves to being with...tho there are a few basic themes that tend to get to me a lot, if presented in a way that I relate to.

I agree about story depth - games aren't exactly novels, so to speak...but it's the combo of deeper character development/choices + an open world to explore + hunting for unique, hard to get/find items etc. that turns a game into a 60 hour one for me. DS3, as fun as it is, has none of those, imo. Mostly it has some fun/challenging combat, some funny companion lines, and a decent/passable dialogue concept with important chrs. to move the story along and get some background. DS3 reminds me more of Overlord...where I loved it very much while playing it, but the desire to replay it is rather low. Altho I must replay to record all of Lucas lines. And maybe the mage guy, he's funny too. They should include voice files with all games, imo, darnit. :D

Lucas' influence deed points give +Stamina (as opposed to Will or whatever else) For the companion deed bonuses, does anyone know if they're cumulative (total of +10), or is it +2 for the first one and then +3 for the next ones, for a total of +5 Stamina if you get all three? Am I making sense? Also, I take it once the Influence bar is full, any other Influence Gained is superfluous?

I have the Meisters of Stonebridge support and I sense DS3 is coming to a close rather soon. Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels that way. Which is good because the siren call of FNV seems to be getting loud in my ears again. It's been fun with DS3 tho...AI-Lucas has made me chuckle almost all the way through it with all his dry wit lines and Mr Straightforward Goody attitude. Not to mention some of the other humor. Obsidian writers always seem to make me laugh and for that I thank them.

So I'm just curious when people state hours until they finished, are they counting all the time spent staring at their inventory and making gear or skill decisions? Because the time stated on the save games doesn't reflect that at all. The game timer pauses when you're doing that stuff. So for me actual walking/combat/dialogue stuff has, I guess, been so far about 15 hours....but I know my arse has been glued to a chair for at least 5-6 hours longer than that (I've been keeping track of the clock on my desk, not the savegame notation) simply because of all the time I tend to spend looking at merchants & inventory/skill screens or just admiring the scenery etc. But I spend way more time than average doing that sort of thing I suppose - at least the first time or two through a game when I'm unfamiliar. For me the length, taking into account the way the game is designed, feels about right. If it goes on too much longer I'm going to get bored I think. It's too linear and there's not quite enough item variety/skill complexity or story/character depth to keep me going for 60+ hours. And I didn't expect it, honestly. It's not Fallouts or even the less complex KOTOR & was never meant to be. It feels a good length for a high-octane-rpg romp where most of the length comes from replaying w/all 4 chrs rather than sticking with one character for weeks.

That would be my opinion too. It's been working quite well for my non-blocking, uber-healing, high Will/Stamina Anjali, at least. Except, as toastification noted, against the super-hitting enemies. I have the feeling those enemies will always be difficult no matter what, at least on Hardcore. With AI-Lucas a more balanced set up between armor & stamina & a few Mastered skills seems to work well. He hasn't died at all since a few mistakes in the beginning. Oh sure he whines that he's "not doing well here" but then casts his heal spell or I make him stand in fire and then he's all fine again. AI-Lucas is such a baby.

I was enjoying myself quite a bit in DS3 for a while there, until I hit the Mines. After feeling quite turned around several times trying to find my way through there, along with the camera viewpoint constantly swinging into "show a closeup of my chr's arse" mode in the middle of combat as I tried to move in tiny confined spaces, I saved the game and went to bed. Also, I guess I missed finding a 3rd book a long time ago for one quest & since I don't think I can go back in there I guess I missed the boat on that one. They should grey out a quest if it can't be completed. Hopefully once I'm out of this area I'll enjoy myself a lot again.

Why I like to play in offline mode... Anyone know what this is supposed to do? Can you remap the keys yet?

I'm having similar issues w/melee & Anjali but I figured that was because I'm terrible with the keys/dodging etc. and all that. So I use the Immolation Aura w/maxed out passive healing bonus, jackal, and the healing ability. The Aura actually works pretty well for most things...I can stand in it and heal while taking damage long enough to fire to regain focus, than run & spam the abilities again. I "herd" them into tight little groups before casting. Kills most fairly quickly if they're standing in it. Have some other bonuses or gear that seems to increase healing over time sometimes too. But it doesn't work as well on the bosses since their 1-hit dmg is so high. Those I try to hit enough to regain and cast the Aura near Lucas so it heals him. Takes forever but it does work eventually/get lucky.

Btw, I don't know how it is when you're actually playing Lucas, but my reason for generally trying to keep him using shield/sword is because every time the AI-Lucas uses that Blade Dash ability he ends up "dashing" 50 yards away from the battle and gets stuck for 5 seconds before coming running back to rejoin the fight. That isn't exactly very useful to me.

I've gone from "DS3 is ok/a fun casual romp" to "DS3 is pretty cool, I really like it, I don't need to sleep." Not that I think it's a masterpiece of the century/ultra fave game or anything, but imo it really picks up/improves once you're somewhat past where the demo left off. Either that or Lucas' lines (and some of the other npcs+their interactions) & some of the intense boss fights have made me chuckle enough that I've forgotten to think about the few things I don't love about the game.

I've level 12 and Spinning Kick is Mastered with Immolation Aura almost there and the Healing ability more than 3/4 of the way there and the Jackal maybe 1/3. I don't see it being much of a problem in that area. I even have Lucas Mastered in Shield Pummel and half way to a couple others. Perhaps it goes faster on Hardcore because the fights last longer so you use the skills more? At this point after SKick was Mastered I've been focusing on Fire Form. Combined with AI Lucas it seems to work out really well. Except for the big boss fights. Still have trouble with those. The lady in the Town Hall had poor Lucas reviving me every 90-120 seconds seemed like. Took many long tries of "almost..." heh. Haven't tried Katrina yet, I'm a stick-to-one for a long time sort.

Interesting. Reading this I thought I'd check mine. Stays steady at around 30%, more or less, for me. Nvidia, i7, no anti-virus or much of anything in the right side of the task bar. Sounds like DS3 doesn't like some background process.

Hm ok. I had 2 pts for the passive ones last time, before I went to bed...I thought maybe it was the start of some kind of progressive pattern. Odd. I've been wondering about that. I started thinking "cool, everything I use could have a somewhat decent chance of knockdown so maybe I'll become this knock-down king bwahaha", but I think I'm changing my mind on that one. @Tigranes In theory I'd love to do that (and in some games I become fair at doing stuff like it) but until I can remap keys I probably won't be able to do so terribly effectively against the high-dmg situation bosses. I have become decent at switching stances cast fire aura/jackal, switching again to cast healing and again to cast fireballs to regain the purple orbs/focus as Lucas pummels things for me, but the dodging/rolling/blocking on top of that etc. is a bit much for me.

Yeah, E. Same one you use to pick up items with, and save the game with.

I think my 2nd run through DS3 will be on Normal. I wanted to see what Hardcore was like & how I'd fare, but after that I think for this game I'll prefer it being a simple mindless romp, like I usually want my action-rpg's to be.

I liked Anjali in the demo for her melee/spell versatility - so I wanted to continue with her in the game. But on Hardcore I'm starting to think I should focus on one "stance" especially since you can gear your companion towards whatever you lack (Anjali healer/mage w/Lucas as shield/tank for example). Any opinions on that? Do you like to split it up do you do you like to specialize? How many points do you get total for lvl 30 anyway? I noticed the pts. you get for the ability bonuses seemed to increase at a certain clvl. Does that continue? I know you'll still use both stances at times for various things but I just mean boosting the bonus effects ala more damage to Shield Bash vs. more dmg for the 2H stance stuff, or more healing/dmg for the Fire Aura etc, vs. spinning kick bonuses, etc.

Or have a spouse that does. those were hilarious, especially the iphone one. Hubs main client just switched from Blackberries to iphones for no good reason and...well nvm.

Definitely nice to have all that info in one easy post to read/study, nice work. Maybe you could do one for all the known controls, too? Like I was clueless that you had to press E/use key to save the game at the save points (vs. it autosaving when I approached or something). Keep wondering if there's more things like that I'm yet unaware of. Most likely.

*slapface* Yeah, I'm batting 1000 in reading comprehension today. In that case...in my very limited experience so far, there's not too much to be done there. I have noticed, however, that it seems like if you give your companion better equipment for one stance, plus maybe focus on putting points in the...uh..bonus effects?...of those abilities, they'll tend to use that stance a lot more often, so at least they'll use the abilities of that stance more. Not 100% sure of that, but so far with Lucas, with awesome gear for his 1hand stance and utter crap gear for his 2hand, he hardly uses his 2hand at all.

Eventually consoles will come out with a "new version" with much upgraded hardware...I try to look at it this way: it means the PC I built will last me a lot longer, gaming wise, than it used to. The controller vs. keypad thing isn't going to go away I think, however. There are games that I haven't minded the way things worked in that regard (like Overlord was fine on kb)...just depends how it's done per game, for me.

I do understand wanting/expecting something closer to the original games one loves. Imagine if Diablo3 went this route of drastically altering core gameplay, there would probably be street riots. But it doesn't mean a game has to be so in order to have the rights to the name. Even tho I knew Obsidian was going to be taking a different approach, I was still taken aback by how different it was. The more I play tho, the more I like it. Perhaps not as much as I liked the more casual (and likely more replayable, imo) hack n slash of the first two, but it's still fun. Once the keyboard is (hopefully) mappable I'll enjoy it even more. Sometimes change is a good thing. The multi-player aspect, from what I've read, tho, is not something I'd like at all. I haven't tried it myself but from description I think they did drop the ball on that part. What the reasons were for those decisions of how it works, I don't know.

I'm not sure what you mean by "force." It's pretty much like similar in DS1/DS2, just use the ability you want to "master" as often as the focus or those little purple orbs will allow you to. eg If you want to Master the Spinning Kick, stay in Anjali's human form & use it all the time as her main special attack choice until the Mastery bar fills up.