Hassat Hunter

Already did that :D (All the way to 5.30AM) Well, not the D&D (since that *started* at about 5 or 6AM...) so it would be nice if that was hosted.

I rather they don't spend time making the game work a second time with the same party (seriously, why, if the game is made for making a new party?)... as that would take a lot of time away from making the game function properly first time around and adding more content there. I wouldn't object to a new quest or so unlocking your second game, but that should just be based on having finished the game, not using a character again...

So, something like a forum you mean? Yeah, I totally could support an Obsidian forum...

Well, more power to the person who farms enemies who carry about 3-5 gold per kill above doing the quest giving 2000gp I guess...

So. Many. A-Holes. In. This. Thread. I know a few gamerfriends who have the same and need mods to get past spiders. So while I don't agree with *not* using spiders (they are kinda inheritent to RPG's after all) I don't see why there could be already incluse (so not needing a mod) an anti-spider mode which just changes the skin and name (but not functonality) of the monster.

I wouldn't expect them to respond properly to "consoles can't properly run this game" with an "okay, yeah, I see that" but rather with "X-BOX/PS/WII is SUPREME. Your puny PC can handle it, my awsomechine can totally whoop da game?" right. Yeah, thought so...

Well, not sure why BG and DX are in different classes, since they both used the same system :/ BG had it right to me. Not too much useless junk, makes most sense, and you couldn't steal their entire inventory if it made no sense but to pawn off adding stupid repetition if you really want all that gold (not sure why one would want).

Really depends on it's execution. As "mystery" quests are generally the worst ones to replay. If it's a sidequest like in KOTOR1 Dantooine one could skip it (since it's really boring and annoying to replay). Onderon KOTOR2? No suck luck... and it really is an annoying thing to do every time. Although I suppose these would be larger and require more detective work, right?

I rather have handmade sidequest rather than random... they generally do suck. And having handcrafted sidequests lock or be unlocked based on randomness (as opposed to say, faction choices or things you did in the past in the story) doesn't strike me as the proper way to add replayability either. So yeah, also a "no" from me...

Well, personally I like all the talk. And so much... if you skip a day 8 new pages of new content waiting, it's crazy. But if you () are not interested in talking I suggest just adding the announcement forum to watch, so you'll get any important updates from the devs made there in your inbox.

I don't want to be forced to do a 30+ hour sidequest in a row without break just because I chose "expert"...

Not really sure I identify. Baldur's Gate (And Athklatla) was pretty alive to me even with a few wandering NPC's. Felt deader at night, but of course it's supposed to be. Never felt like it wasn't a real city. Maybe it's just about more modern cities? Like Onderon (KOTOR2). Although just adding NPC's for the heck of it walking circles can look pretty stupid too (think... Taris in KOTOR1).

Yeah, just start with crappy, basic gear tuned to your class. How you advance then is entirely up to the plot. Gaining gold and buying it like BG1 makes sense, but so does scrounching it together trying to escape the starting dungeon (KOTOR2, BG2).

A) With the dungeon, 2 cities and other stuff, it's most likely to resemle BG. B) We got 2 full cities. I am pretty sure, like BG(2) awesome day/night things can be done with them. Baldur's Gate was great during nighttime. Athkatla somewhat less, though I still couldn't imagine it being always daytime. As well as with the other outdoor maps. Even linear. They could do that for one (or other certain) NPC then (like the horribly non-functional 'boogieman' sidequest in BG1). No point in making all NPC's act that way. It's no fun finding your questgiver out of 17 potential locations. In Oblivion/Skyrim a marker and big arrow might help with that, but I loathe to introduce that here. So it's just more added tedium, no gain (IMO). Second point is true though. There are certainly things that can be improved upon compared to IE...

1. Many different ways to finish quests. Nothing more fun than to try "the other ways" 2. Endgame isn't decided at, well, the end or 2 hours before that but an accumilation of everything you did throughout the game. No reload and get all endings within 15 minutes! 3. Mutual exclusive content sounds good (like differen guilds). 4. Many companion interuptions. So the next time you pick another group and see what they say instead when X happens.

Well, without VO, there is no harm adding different lines per race, avoiding those issues. Which VO, becomes harder since you need to voice them *all*... and that costs money. And publishers/developers dislike adding money for stuff some people may not see so they just generalise it into a single line. So, yeah, I doubt the issue would be present in PE...

Well, if it has bad scores *everywhere*, it's sales drop dramatically in a matter of weeks, if not less, and it becomes the standard of internet thrash talk, It's pretty safe to say it only sold due to hype. Case in points; DNF and Dragon Age II. And that's only from 2011. Also, critical acclaim and good sales can clash pretty often. Bloodlines. Planescape: Torment. Also sales can be pretty easily manipulated by just having, say, Steam or GOG sales. Instant extra sales. Or pay what you want events. Conclusion; It's really hard to say... so better just keep to opinions, and let facts be.

And even THAT backfired horribly... Sorry, selling your soul doesn't work that way. Oh, did I say "selling your soul"? I mean "contracts"... Yup, that was the only publisher I could think about as well where this wouldn't be a horrible, horrible thing. And Paradox has done non-strategy games stuff, including TBS. So RPG shouldn't be too much a stretch... Still prefer self-publishing of course.

Not quite agreeing. The difference isn't KOTOR. It's 2D vs. 3D. 3D becoming popular and "the standard" many RPGs came to try how to control a party using it. Keeping the same teammembers only worked when pretty much automatising the gameplay (think original Dungeon Siege), which wasn't liked by many. So they decided to do the best accepted approach... less NPC's. 3D RPG's went that way way before KOTOR. Cinematics already made it in BG2 and PST far more than BG1. BioWare just took it further, made easier by a 3D engine. As for the voice-acting, also progression. See BG-BG2-IWD2. Became more and more, till it was at KOTOR. So yeah, I think it was the shift from 2D to 3D that really did RPG no good. As it did RTS. As it did adventures. Looking at it, I really hate 3D Pretty much the only good it did was FPS and 3rdPS.

And how do you know what's the quickest option between A, B or C on the first run? Heck, while that one time going into a conversation was a good call, the other time I sneaked in a locked warehouse, tried to reason and ended up with reinforcements being called instead of less fighting. In a good RPG (and I think OE can make it) it really is dependant on the situation what "the best/fastest" is. If you want to know that straight up one has to do plenty of re-loads... and that's hardly a fast game to pass through the game . However this time around it doesn't matter what your character roleplays at, it's not going to affect the reward. The warehouse with extra thugs because you tried talking? Not more XP than straight fighting. Or sneaking passing all combat, which takes effort though. So wheter the first or second or afterwards time, there is no penalty to roleplaying your character. If you want to go the "fastest" route using meta-knowledge after 5 runs, why prevent that? I don't see the point. As long as there is no "good" or "bad" option for your (first) game, and not a single path (combat) is always the most beneficial. And as stated, stealth and talking can have it's downsides too. I wouldn't want conversations to become the new "one way to rule all" either. Anyone object to that? Exactly. And this is exactly the solution to that. No option will be worthless, all are equal. You don't need to specifically use one to not miss out, or avoid one since it's 'lesser'... and if you want to vary ingame, feel free to do so. Although of course you will not become quite as good as a specialised build in that regard. Or use various teammates for the different functions. Look at all those options besides fighting. That's what RPG's supposed to be about. And that's what OE intends to give the game. Exactly what objective-based XP is good for. No more artifical "this intimidation is XP worthy, that one ain't" just to make the system work. No really hard number crunching to make specific options as good as combat, taking into account variable XP for power level etc. It's one of the easiest way to add "balance". It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it. Poison the beast, lure it in a trap, kill it straight off, toss it off a cliff. Devs wont need to make 5XP scales for all these options, 1 ring, ehm... XP reward to rule them all. And for those asking then "why would you want to slay it in fair combat with all these options!" the answer would be 'because you want it'... It really *should* be that simple... Well, that goes without saying. Obviously. I seriously doubt they would give XP just for clearing an endless dungeon level for example, that would be stupid. Not that it completely excludes very big rewards for moving the main plot forward (think Deus Ex's plot forwarding bonusses). "Quest-XP" is just a name. Objective-based is the *exact* same, although it confuses people less with actual quests apparently. Basically, it's not just a reward for finishing quests. It's a reward for doing what needed doing, whatever way it was. Or could be for exploring even. So many options to utilise it, while still maintaining 'control' over the rewards given by developers, something monster based XP has way less. Hopefully that answers your entire post. Has your evaluation of the system changed, either towards one or the other? No, it's not. Which however does not mean this part *is* still true. Not really. The major point (for me anyways) isn't so much to make an infallible system as to make a system where roleplaying is viable as an option. Where there is no negative consequence to not adhere to the strict code of mass-murder. That you don't need to "game" to get the most XP out of it, but can perfectly well stay in character and the game does account for it, proper and as it should. Considering the myriad of non-combat skills and options, it makes the perfect candidate for objective-based experience, compared to, say, IceWind Dale which was much less story and much more killing everything, where combat-XP was the most obvious route to take. BG1 with it's many combat scenes too. Wheter BG2 or PS:T would benefit from the new system. I would say yes, however, it's too late now. However if PE is made with the system in mind... yes... I can see good times for roleplaying . To make a long story short; If people want to 'game' the system to get the "best"/fastest route, more power to them. It would be interesting to see what kind of a party one would need for that though, switching playstyles on the spot all the time . Or maybe they even make special parties for it in the adventurer's hall. If someone really wants to do all that effort to save time (kinda counterproductive, but what the heck)... I want to see their Let's Play . Hmmm, I hope you used HR as an example of how NOT to do it. Since it rewards more XP for sneaking up a person than killing them. Also it's major awards for sneaking and such completely voiding combat and tech playthroughs...? Yeah, that's a good example for OE how they definitely should not implent PE's system...

Well, source of confusion found. PE *isn't* a sandbox game. It's pretty much a story-driven game. And yes, EVEN in the 15-layer dungeon. They *always* said that so I am not sure how you would have thought otherwise... Also, having large maps like BG with just random monsters and only 2 quests or so, yeah, can be pretty wasteful. Personally I think it's a good idea BG-exploration is still in, but not so much space is wasted on mere combat without story or purpose of doing it besides just having more combat. The majority on this forum kindly disagrees. Yours truly included. Well, they could still make it like BG. Just that besides the combat that doesn't award you you can find the occassional quest that does reward you, a special monster that rewards you. A single good fight is more rewarding than 2 dozen meaningless fights, XP or no. Fighting for the sake of just adding more fighting (the so called "thrash mob") should be avoided as much as possible. True. However, this *is* a linear storyheavy game, not Skyrim. And surely you rather explore to find a good nice ruin than 3 maps copied over with a bunch of thrash mob which is then called "exploring", no?

Scalping bandits and selling them (BG) isn't a quest though... nor should it be one.

It's pretty easy... called "hype" Dragon Age 2, Black & White, Spore, Duke Nukem Forever... list goes on and on.

Meh, I just killed one little girl to see the difference and immediately got the "bad" ending. What does one dead little girl more or less do? I hope she's happy killing off thousands, if not millions of people. Wasn't my fault

Does my avi-count, or are only pure housecats allowed?