GhostofAnakin

I didn't realize DA3 was that far along in development. When's the release date? Summer 2013?

Project Eternity's actually inspired me to replay Baldurs Gate II. I was going to start with BG, but it was doing wonky things and didn't seem to want to install properly. So I jumped ahead to the sequel. I've only just gotten out of Irenicus' dungeon, but already I'm reminded why I love these games. April 2014 just can't arrive fast enough!

I'm impressed with them hitting the $4 million mark (slightly under $4 million on kickstarter, but with PayPal I'm pretty sure it surpassed). I honestly didn't think the $3.5 million big city stretch goal was going to happen a week ago. I'm also glad kickstarter is over. I would have ended up convincing myself to keep upping my pledge to higher tiers that I shouldn't be spending on.

This is basically it. Especially the first sentence. I don't necessarily think there's such a thing as "game is too big". It really doesn't matter whether it's 20 hours long, 50 hours long, or 200 hours long, so long as the developers can maintain a consistent level of quality throughout. And yes, this includes pacing.

At least for my first play through, I'll likely go with the maim option rather than permadeath. Especially if the party companions have sidestories/quests associated with them, I don't want them dying early on and missing out on all that content.

In a twisted kind of way, I'm looking forward to the kickstarter period coming to an end. It'll take away the temptation to pledge for a higher tier reward that I can't really afford.

I like the idea of the bulk of XP coming from completing objectives, but I'd still be in favor of very minor XP being awarded for killing things. Kind of like, assuming a quest earns the player 500 XP (300 XP for completing the quest, plus up to an additional 200 XP for completing the quest in an *optimal way), then in relation to that kind of XP, perhaps 5 XP for the weakest of enemies, 10 XP for middle range, and 50 for the tougher enemies. That way the majority of XP is still geared toward completion of objectives, with only a minor about for killing things. *for example of what I mean by optimal, perhaps a quest requires a rescue of a princess in addition to simply recovering an item that a bad guy has stolen. Simply defeating the bad guy and retrieving the item will yield 300 XP, but if the princess dies or if you fail to find the dungeon she's being held, you lose out on the additional potential 200 XP extra.

I really didn't think they'd reach the $3.5 million stretch goal. I underestimated the last minute kickstarter frenzy.

How much of that development time was spent on the high-end graphics? Plus, as you indicated, they were both new IPs that had to be created from the ground up. PE, while a new IP, seems to be heavily based off of what they did with the IE games. So they already have a general framework for what needs to be done, and have an idea of how long it takes to do it.

Finally finished reading all the books found in that library and have made my way to the second level of Irenicus' opening level dungeon where you first meet Yoshima.

So maimed is basically the same as knocked out, like in current games where they pop back up after the last enemy is killed and slowly regain full health over time? Or do the companions suffer long-term effects/penalties to their abilities after being maimed?

Did he really? That's pretty cool if he did. I guess he's still got a soft spot for those old IE games.

I haven't followed too closely any developer comment on companion death in combat, and how it will be handled. Will they die, or will they be "knocked out" until after the battle is over if their HP hits zero? If it's the latter, then a Raise Dead spell is irrelevant anyway since they just revive after the battle is over with.

No, I don't want to miss out on game content because I choose not to play at the highest difficulty levels. It'd effectively be forcing people to play at a difficulty they may not be comfortable playing at. Replay value should stem from different ways to do quests, with different consequences depending on your choices. It should also stem from various party companions, and mixing and matching them in subsequent play throughs. It should *NOT* stem from having to play at each of the different difficulty levels in order to see all possible story/quest/encounters.

I started a new game of Baldurs Gate 2. I don't know what class to play as. My mind always "defaults" to one of the fighter classes, but I want to try something different. I just don't know what.

Environmental effects could be hell with friendly fire on. Imagine a room full of gas (or whatever other flammable object), your mage gets the bright idea to toss down a fireball, and ignites the entire room -- your party included -- on fire.

As of right now, I decided to go with the $65 tier with an extra $15 for international shipping. I'm debating whether to add another $20 for the expansion or not. Limited funds at the moment, so that international shipping thing kind of takes the money I would have definitely forked over for the expansion.

I like the general idea of the OP. It would be interesting to sort of come across an artifact that you don't immediately know its use, and its description is vague, at best, until you actually then come across something else later on that sheds more light on it. Or as said, perhaps during a conversation with a bartender, he mentions a rumor about something, but no actual quest option triggers. You just have to try and follow up on the rumor on your own without the game saying "now go see Person X for step two".

IMO, it's worth it, especially at how cheap you can probably get it now. Some of the better "Choice & Consequence" I've seen in a video game, making the replay value through the roof.

Not Obsidian, but I'm replaying Baldurs Gate 2 right now. I'm taking forever to get out of the first level because I started reading all the books in that library, which is putting the rest of the game on hold.

Maybe it's the nerd in me after watching Big Bang Theory and seeing the t-shirts Sheldon's always wearing, but I think Obsidian should have a host of t-shirts available in their online store. They can range from just a basic t-shirt with Obsidian Entertainment written on the front, to more graphic t-shirts with either the names or famous characters from their previous games.

Ah, thanks. I guess I'll up my pledge by at least the price of the expansion, then.

The bolded part in particular is a good example of the flaw in your argument for this mechanic. The problem with your suggestion is you're assuming every player thinks like you do, and thus this mechanic serves its intended purpose only if that assumption (which is clearly wrong, based on the replies in this thread) is correct. You know what two game mechanics would ruin *my* game? Not being able to save at any time I want, or being punished for saving my game when I felt like it.

I'm still trying to figure how to add add-ons to my pledge. As it is, I've pledged a certain amount and indicated which reward tier I want for it. But going through the process, I never saw an option to indicate I also want, for example, the $20 expansion add-on or the $25 t-shirt add on.

Being able to save at any time was fine in BG, PS:T, Fallout, etc. But apparently it's going to be an issue in Project Eternity? People have been clamoring for "another PS:T" or "another BG" for how many years now? Now that they're getting it, they're finding things that weren't even an issue in those games to complain about.