nikolokolus

I think most people agree that this kind of thing is fine, but some people definitely seem to think they're entitled to look at the nuts and bolts of the game, not just how Obsidian made out after the overhead gets taken out of the budget.

While I understand your concern, I think the primary reason why people were overreacting in this manner was more due to a lack of information about what developing a game is about. Let us know what are the costs and magnitudes when developing a game, insead of fantasizing on individuals number thrown around without context, this would rather diminish this kind of overreactions. Giving people figures to look at won't get them any closer to understanding how a game is developed. Until somebody has worked in a software production environment you won't know. You're being somewhat naive, if you think people will suddenly be enlightened and have a better understanding of what it takes to make a game just by looking at their internal accounting. More likely, people will be just as uninformed, but armed with some numbers ... that won't end well. Obsidian would get bogged down for weeks in the forums trying to stamp out fires and explain themselves instead of doing what they do best - develop games.

To me it comes down to good will vs. ill will generated. I just remember how reactive and sensitive people got during the Kickstarter when stretch goals were released and people would kvetch and complain that "100K for 1 companion and 1 new class" was unreasonable. This implies to me that there are already a horde of self-appointed, amateur game designers ready to pounce and light them up if they were to actually release granular details about allocations. It just doesn't seem worth it.

Honestly, I don't really care what "features" the stronghold has, I don't care if it's highly customizable or not, and I don't need it to fit my main character's class or be highly unusual. All I really want out of the experience of owning this stronghold is to have it play a meaningful role in the narrative. A) Have it sited in a strategic location, and/or B) not owning it or using it (or owning it and neglecting it) changes the nature of some conflict or the way part of the game unfolds. Beyond that? I'm perfectly comfortable letting Obsidian do whatever they like, given their budget and creative whims.

No preference, but I like most turn based games. Whatever, RTwP is fun too

Have no fear we'll all be neophytes together. Hmmm ... maybe the official website or Ausir's wiki could have some character building guides or some rules reference sheets by the time of release?

Grown adults? On the internet?! Ah, welcome to Earth stranger, you must have just recently landed.

sifting through fanfic would be a nightmare job ... just create it themselves and save themselves an aneurysm.

I voted "no" but I suppose I'm somewhere between there and "ambivalent." I've never seen a game with a strong narrative focus do this and have it work. However In an action game, NG+ is fine and for a game where exploration and "sandboxing" are the thing, then I guess it's fine, but for PE? I'm just not getting the vibe that continuing the game after the main conflict is resolved is going to be optimal. Whatever, it doesn't really matter I guess.

This can only end badly. Whatever minuscule benefit might be gained in good will amongst a handful of people, this would only embolden a good deal more to complain about feature X getting short shrift in comparison to feature Y. Do some of you really not see this?

Hell no they shouldn't release their budget to the public! Sweet lord, talk about asking for nothing but trouble; imagine the epic levels of bitching when people find out that only 10 dollars are being spent on boobplate and 20 bucks on romances!

Clearly the only solution is to have both frumpy and sensual, two inch tall character models

I salute the endurance of you all. p.s. can we please have more funny posts?

All I will say is that I'm glad Obsidian is making this game and that it's not being done by commitee.

The blanker the better. Half the fun of character creation for me has always been coming up with a back story that isn't saddled by a very narrow story.

That's not irony, that's just plain cruelty.

This is not the kind of superfluous touch I want limited resources being spent on Perfect fodder for a player made mod though.

No. Just no.

I don't really think it's possible to state it as simply as a ratio. I mean I'm fine with something like Crom Faeyr being in the game as long as it feels like something rare and special and the game isn't balanced around having it, and comparing fighting with Crom Faeyr to using a regular un-enhanced warhammer is a pretty gigantic difference, but it doesn't make you feel like your character just exists for the gear to have someone to carry it around. Sure you can have a ratio, all RPGs are at their heart and soul a system of values with modifiers. Besides, I'm not asking for a hard cap ratio, I'm just soliciting opinions on the general feel people would like. For example -- just guessing mind you -- I'd say Baldur's Gate 1 probably had a ratio of about 1:4 by the end of the game for how much special gear enhanced your characters' combat effectiveness. A high level fighter with just a basic long sword and no armor was still pretty damned deadly, just because of high saving throws, and numbers of attacks per round.

That's not really the question being asked. You can still have that wyvern skin studded leather armor or adamantine full plate armor, but what some of us are saying is that character level should make the man, not gear level (mostly). In Baldur's Gate 2 for instance, if you had some +5 full plate armor (I actually don't remember if there was + full plate? Anyway, it doesn't matter ...) which is definitely a high level item, it only improved the base item by about 50%.

When the fantastical ceases to be fantastic or shocking, I think it's safe to say the developers have included too many creatures or at least have put too many in front of you. I'm sure this game will need a balance, but like Piccolo, I want to be shocked and a put on my heels when I encounter that chimera in the depths of Eir Glanfath.

So what would you guys like to see as a percentage of total effectiveness be derived from gear vs abilities? In my head I'm thinking about 1:4 or 1:5 as a decent ratio.

Both creatures can get bent. I'm sick of them in games, in TV, in movies ... enough already.

All I need is a moat -- a moat and a bunch of hungry crocodiles. That's all I need, just this moat and these crocodiles ... and some murder holes. That's all I need is a moat, these crocodiles, and these murder holes ... and a tower

Oh no you don't! How dare you try to drag the awesomeness that is beards into this abomination of a thread.