ZyroMane

So, ... Final Fantasy II? Of course there's the other option, like Sword Coast Legends. I.e. everyone is in the party for banter, but you still construct a party for tactics. Me, I prefer companion that are a.i. controlled. Or, at most, Knights of the Old Republic switch control style. Especially when RTwP. If full party control, I like full party creation. Maybe some additional companion slots like Wizardry 8, The Temple of Elemental Evil, or SoZ. So I'm down with quest related followers. Even better if they don't take up precious slots.

MCA is obviously the definition of disgruntled former employee. However, whether or not Mr. Slam Dunk embezzled funds into the coffers of his relatives, he almost certainly mismanaged the company so bad for them to always be in the gutter when that was not true about other independent developers. Sure, still not Pitchford, but still. (Eh, everyone hates their boss.) TOW was a personal disappointment, but I was dreaming of an AP or DS3 after MMOs, RTwP Iso games, and that digital card game. That's on me. Grounded might be more my scene, If I was into survival games (read: the demo was fun.) I'm probably just setting myself up for further disappointment, but, while I don't think Skyrim is a great game (Daggerfall is my favorite Elder Scrolls,) I still had fun, and I'm hoping for some fun from Avowed. Not ever going to be Swordflight, but some nice dungeon design would be great. First-person orlan gameplay, with appropriate mechanical differences, would be a ten out of ten from me though.

Indeed it is. Can go solo, but only if you suicide your pawn. Pawns are the computer controlled party members, which is tied into the narrative. You create your own pawn early in the game, but can also take two other pawns (from other users or pregen ones) to adventure with you. And, just like how you can change your class (vocation in game) in the big city, you can change your own pawn's class. Only the arisen (main character) can be hybrid classes however. It also lets you play as a hobbit-sized character. An example of a party-based first-person rpg, which is neither a blobber nor Outer Worlds, is Brigand: Oaxaca. Its party system is more like KotOR, but it's oft described as a cross between Dues Ex and Morrowind. Dang, now I want to climb on oversized monsters in a first-person action rpg.

If combat is tactical, there is fun, if you get harder combat in the future for combat, but that thing Sawyer always talks about, then you can make the combat easier for those who want less of a challenge (or just not force combat, but then one usually ends up with Torment rather than Disco) and more tactical fun for those who play rpgs for the combat systems. ... In theory. But then we have Augury of Chaos as a counter example, or rather pushing the envelope too darn far. And I say this as one who tried clearing maps the multiple times I tried to play Pillars, and would do so even without bestiary xp. (In fact, in a map based rpg, xp for clearing maps of monsters could work out fine. But hey, then what are quests? heh)

Indeed, at the end of the day a game has to go in a direction. I for one miss animated hud face like id Software used to make. Heck animated portrait of any sort would be nice, also screen borders, Quake-style comand console, and a ui like Morrowind. There are so many things I miss in modern video games. Would also be nice if more games had Dark Sun's mouse driven control and KotC's hyperlink in-game documentation.

makes me want a 6DoF rpg.

I'm not well versed with the genre, but an ironman mode sounds like an excellent addition.

I use 90 fov typically, but higher than is more natural for 16:9. That's more 4:3. But I was able to play the Catacomb Adventure Series on a 1080p monitor with borders and original fov, so I don't have this issue. Character reactivity is one of the best parts of rpgs, and some of the best character reactivity is class based (although race based is even better, typically.)

I'm in such a blobber mood right now (yet I'm playing Sakura Dungeon instead of Wiz8, what am I even doing with my life?) I don't get how blobber now refers to single character games though.(1) Where's the blob!? Language, amirite? Wouldn't the reduction to a shorthand for party-based first-person game make more sense?(2) Instead of Wizlike / Dungeon Master clone. And why? Just because dungeon crawler is too broad? (I.e. first-person grid-based rpg / roguelike / hack & slash (Diablo) / even Gauntlet apparently.) Hmm, if Gauntlet is a dungeon crawler, and Catacomb is a Gauntlet clone, is Wolfenstein 3-D a dungeon crawler? Is Zelda? Icewind Dale is, right? Dungeon Rats? Hmm, way too broad indeed. Of course, first-person dungeon crawler may suffice. Also, there's a reason why programmer devs love making roguelikes. Hey, good use of language is a transferable skill. 1: I see it as such on Reddit often. 2: Of course, a blob is not a necessary condition for a party-based first-person game. (E.g. Outer Worlds)

Shoot, and here I was hoping Obsidian would make a spiritual successor to Descent to Undermountain.

This. Reminds me of Bloodlines where the game went third person for melee. Troika sure was something else.

I much prefer when games fully flesh out the systems they are developing. I mean I'm sorry, but not every game can be for everybody. Blobbers literally don't exist without first person for example. I for one have slow thinking, but I'm not going to demand that every action game has pause for orders (which doesn't help much anyway.) I'm also just plain bad at computer games anyway, but I'm neither demanding cheat codes (fun stuff though) nor story mode. That being said, if there is time and money, a "functional" third person mode wouldn't go amiss, like Bethesda does. I mean, it just works.

Wouldn't an Ultima Underworld sort of Pillars of Skyrim be a contemporary Battlespire?

I've recently realized that I actually prefer first person games. Now one can state that some games work better in certain perspectives, but obviously if you just copy what works in first into third, or vice versa, it probably won't. However if you adapt to the perspective, you might end up with something neat, possibly new, and perhaps even functional. Of course with decades of examples to pick from, there may be no need to reinvent the wheel. For example, consider turn based tactics. How does one translate that into first? Three games give me a solid foundation on which to build: Wizardry 8, Hired Guns, and Space Hulk.

Classes in single character games allow strict gameplay variation (Hexen, Amulets & Armor,) path divergence (Hillsfar,) and an extra layer of player build reactivity (Swordflight.) Also first person perspective (fpp) doesn't mean no party (blobbers (literally party-based first person games) obviously, but also Outer Worlds.) Of course, classless can be fine too, and you can still do the above ... more or less.