Ok, you guys seem to be ganging up on WaterD because he's talking about playing the game in the least fun way imaginable. Which is perfectly understandable - which is why, as he mentioned, he would not be getting this game if it means he would have to play it like this.
You can say that "oh you don't HAVE to play that way", but see, here is the thing. Take the limited rests system. In any game with rest, I could just make up a rule and say "i have limited rests between" cities and play any RPG like that, say Morrowind. Why is it then will Eternity have this system? Why are there brilliant dudes thinking about this stuff and programmers making it happen and UI people doing UI to support this?? When you can just impose this rule on yourself and have a blast! You can impose this rule on any RPG and have a blast, why would I buy Eternity for this?? Why install a mod to balance things or make a challenge for yourself when you can just houserule those away with some roleplaying and cheat console use??
We know the answer to this. It's because the game is about challenge. And challenge comes from limitations. Think about the children's game Floor Is Lava. How much fun can be had with friends just by inserting a simple limitation - you cant touch the floor, you have to get across the room. This is what game design is, finding those fun limitations. Just how much time is the most fun to spend thinking about each decision? I don't know! I've never played this game, and even when I would, I don't know this game nearly as well as the designers do. They're professionals at this, they have years of experience finding fun limitations. I would gladly pay 60 or 100 dollars for someone to think all of these things through and let me buy the most fun way to play the game. And let's be honest, this is something Obsidian does consistently, so you're probably into it.
Waterd has pointed out a very critical question that is central to the game, but has not been answered - how much time is the most fun to spend thinking about decisions? I can pause every 0.5 seconds and take hours to make my decision, discuss them with other people as well. But that wouldn't be fun. And it would make every combat scenario trivial and devoid of risk of loosing. And I can't just not use the pause feature because I would be missing out on tons of features. There is an answer, possibly in the form of a bullet time system akin to Max Payne (I believe certain mods for FO:NV add this as well, using AP). The question still remains about how much bullet time is optimal, how it is gained, if different actions consume different amounts, and how your build affects it. I wouldn't know the answer to any of these questions. Which would be the most balanced? Which would lead to the most challenge? Which will lead to the most dynamic playthroughs? etc etc. These are questions the designers can answer to make for a kick-ass game. They would probably even come up with something I would never think of.
