Awathorn

They should add backgrounds for every culture on char creation screen. A minor thing, but it would give us some idea how that part of the world looks like.

Hm? They tell you how Dyrwood, the Vailian Republics, and Readceras came to be. The rest is outside of the game's scope. Have a very nice day. -fgalkin I'm not talking about countries and their fairly basic and boring origins. I'm talking about nations. Where is the french revolution, enlighment and similar stuff that would enable this people to overcome racial, tribal and feudal obstacles and form "nations"?

How did nations in Eora come to be? And why is race irrelevant? That is the biggest problem with this setting. Just about the only thing well done is the whole soul thing and pantheon of gods.

And IWD2 was the weakest part of BG-IWD era. NWN2OC must be one of buggiest, most boring games in the whole genre. Actually, PoE is probably the best Sawyer game for me. Pleasant graphics, nice music, serviceable story and combat, reasonable number of bugs.

I like BGs companions more, but I guess it is a matter of personal taste. I do agree with OP on items, enchanting and gold. Every new game does this. And none can repeat the sheer joy of having one magical weapon, with a story, or even first plate mail, like in BG. Instead, you have 20000 gold by the time you reach Loading Bay, pretty much everything you find is bland and all of your stuff is MAGICKS, and you can make better or similar weapons to those you find. So, exploring and trading becomes pointless. You gather everything without looking, you dump 150 items to a random trader, you spend your meaningless money on another meaningless feature that is stronghold. And still, by the end of the game you are able to buy half of Valian republics.

It is unfair to compare PoE to BG. PoE will never reach the awesomeness and legendary status of such a game. End of. BUT, as I was grinding through 40 rooms with 150 thugs watching hideous graphics, listening to terrible VA and repetitive music over and over and over again, while AI was infuriating me (Yep, I'm playing NWN2), I learned to appreciate just how good PoE is compared to some other games.

I would prefer more portraits for NPCs, scripted interactions and BG style drawings of weapons and armors then more VO. Also, having more VO leads to more danger of dialogue turning out funny. Like dead hanged dwarf lady. Recently played NWN2. Well, tried to play it. It's a perfect example how 3D and tons of VO is vastly inferior to, let's say, PoE in its present state.

A little less VO. Just the basic stuff. People need to read, not listen mediocre VO, especially on-off one. Use that money for more music and ambient sounds, making cool transitions between combat and peaceful tracks etc.

Yeah, the language is silly. Is just seems like random th-w-z-y-ll everywhere. Or "Defiance Bay", "Gileded Vale" stuff. On the whole, the setting is quite unattractive to me. Kind of knew that would happen ever since Josh first said "glanfathan" and "biawac". Guess many (or most) people like it. IMO, weird names, real history ripoffs and a few historical events doesn't sound that good. Pretty much - amateur trying to write his first fantasy novel. Also, "nation" thing is not well explained. Stuff about the gods is cool.

Some of that stuff missing would actually be a good thing. Brighthollow LOL. Anyway, I hope they will have like 10M for the next one. With already established world and engine, it should produce much better end result.

At least is much better than NWN2OC.

There it is again... "Skip it, ignore it". I'm enjoying the game, well, some parts of it, but that's not the point. Point is - either do stuff well, or don't do it at all. Also, if you go for "the consumer base" - why not make another Bioware/whatever RPG with watered down RPG elements, open world, and tons of features from marrying elves and horses to redecorating you house an leading an army etc? Unfair criticism from my side would be something like - "Oh, I don't like to use guns/swords/magic/dwarves/quests - remove it from the game." Now, that would be stupid. If they give me a stronghold (btw, what a stupid way to gain stronghold...), it should work, it should have a huuuuuge impact on the game and on your position in that fantasy world. And I would be OK with that. You're building and "empire", you talk with the duc, you lead 50 armored soldiers into the Skaen temple. Fine. They enable crafting/enchanting. Again, fine. But then it would be nice to have some tools, some locations, some material, some sketches, logical background. And that should be available to the rest of the world. So, enchanted weapons are not rare, they are common. Right? But that's not the case. And it drags this game down. Just like those cheap story moments like end of Act 2, PC infiltrating the secret organization the way he does, and few other I won't mention because of SPOILERS. I really don't understand how are you guys OK with all that? We should be striving for a game that is excellent and different from other mainstream games today. Not the game that is mediocre and same like mentioned games (minus fancy graphics, cinematics and VO).

It seems that "Just ignore it." is a magical answer for everything on this forum. Never really had tough time with camping supplies, I did play with and without custom made companions, and I played with stronghold fully developed and totally ignored after taking it. And hence the tittle "Unnecessary features", not "OMG this sucks, I can't play, Obs I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!!!...!". Secondary stuff, ya know? 1) Resting. Very artificial solution. Why not implement danger level that would make resting impossible/costly in a room next to 20 bandits, but possible in the courtyard of your fancy stronghold or cleared level/part of dungeon? 2) Taking everything. This is hilarious in a game that brags about difficulty, tactics and strategy? Also, effect on world economy and prices? They are designed with that 200 suits of armor and 700 xaurip spears in mind. I understand, people are lazy, people want everything, but it is dumbing down to please the crowd. Same with ranged weapon ammo. Yeah, it's a pain in the ass, but it's a resource and a choice. Infinite whatever is bad. It leads to stupid games like DA2, for people who can't bother to press more than four buttons. 3) Stronghold. Whatever you do with that damned thing it will still be an empty husk, unless the game is based around it. Also, from roleplaying point of view it makes 0 sense that you rule the most powerful fortress in the land. And as such, you and your band of merry misfits run around saving piglets, killing babies, doing little errands or all out massacres of people both important or not. Let's put it like this: In BG1 you are stranded with no money, nowhere to return and with a few friends. OK, you do different stuff gaining friends, money, equipment. Sounds fine? In PoE you have a stronghold, you carry 300 swords in your inventory, you have companions, hired guns, guards in your stronghold, talking chair, you've practically conquered another stronghold (so, that's two in one country), and still, you go saving kittens from the trees and nobody gives a single f...k about who or what you are. In reality you should almost be able to wage war with every in game settlement except DB. 4) Custom made companions. It's a nice idea. In IWD it was highly logical. But, PoE is supposed to have a strong story. And because devs need to give similar kind of experience even to those player who go with custom made companions, real companions seem detached from the story and just like an afterthought. That's it. Also, it's funny how you can hire a dude to go through hell with you for a price of a renting a room in a decent inn. 5) Enchanting, crafting, whatever. Are you a smith? Nope. Do you have materials, tools, 20 years of training, ancient formulas or plans? Erm, nope. Powerful wizard, tower, books and all? Nope. So, why can average Joe, a trader from Aedyr, with some herbs and things, in the middle of nowhere, between killing wolves and xaurips, make a magical sword comparable to 9/10 "legendary" items found in the game? I have no idea. Well, people love their sandbox games, there's that. Also, if crafting and enchanting is so easy. Why doesn't every fool in the world do it? Bandits in the woods, sure, slaying kith. Firemen, clubs with freeze damage. Housewives, staffs with fire damage. Making potions, or oils witcher-style is OK. You gather herbs, you find recipes, or buy both, and you have a potion that makes you more lively for a short duration of time, or poisonous blade in one or two fights. Things you find in deepest dungeon should matter. Sword pieces you collect from 15 levels of fighting should be epic! Same goes for stuff you buy for XXXXX gold from merchants.

What would you like to see removed in future PoE games? For me it's: - Limited camping supplies. Stupid beyond comprehension. Especially when you can carry like 80 suits of armor. Oh, another thing that needs to be removed. "Take everything" is just dumbing down to please modern gamers. - Custom made companions. Devalues real companions and makes them detached from the story. - Stronghold. Just forget about it. It belongs in different kind of games. Give us a room in the inn, a house in the city or something like that. Why does every game has to have a stronghold? - Enchanting/crafting. Again, why does this has to be in every f...ing game? Stop being lazy devs and make interesting items. Creating high level merchant or smith who will do this kind of work if he is provided with unique material and lots of gold would make sooo much more sense. Instead of all this superficial stuff I would like to see more attention given to combat, items, dungeon design, encounter design, lore, story, npc depth, dialogue etc.

It's a decent game. Nothing really different from other modern RPGs. Different view, less money to do fancy stuff and VO, less overall gayness and beeeewbs, same unconvincing story, few wannabe shock moments, dumbed down gameplay for all to enjoy. One big mix of NWN2, IWD2, ToEE and Lionhearth LotC in a different world. Unfortunately, I was hoping for an upgraded bastard child of BG and PST with an original twist. Didn't get it.