Tale

I think 2 is what they've been stating. Sawyer and Avellone like to talk about getting feedback on ideas from the fans and build "for the fans." Though they've also talked about particular ideas that they are personally passionate about and would like to do.

I'm honestly here because of Neverwinter Nights 2. Literally speaking, my registration is less than 2 months after release. I was rather late to the Planescape: Torment and Fallout party and still haven't given Icewind Dale a complete playthrough, but it's the next game on my list, followed by Temple of Elemental Evil. I enjoyed Knights of the Old Republic 2 at its release enough to be very interested in Neverwinter Nights 2. And despite that game's flaws, it's what opened me up to being more fanboy than mere fan. But what interests me the most? I'd say Planescape. I'm with the majority on that. Trying out unusual ideas and using themes well is what I ask for most.

I've never heard of GOG.com distributing things not bought from GOG.com, with the exception of the Witcher. Them validating Kickstarter rewards would be a first. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I favor tying it to skill. I also favor making it a game of its own. A good conversation should be like a boss encounter, with tactical consideration in accordance with spec.

Back on topic, please.

Whack-a-mole. Sorry, crappy mod humor. Gave Black Mesa a whirl yesterday. I like it, but it's disconcerting the changes. I'm running around with pseudo-familiarity and it freaks me out. Like wandering around your house, but not really being sure that it's your house. Also gave Stranger's Wrath HD a whirl. Didn't get far.

But what if they have a quest where you have to talk to a guy, exchange information with him, then go to another guy. Well, if he rushes in and kills them, then the guy can't tell him what he needs to know, he can't tell him who to talk to. So what, he's going to have a note on him? And that's going to be the situation for all quests that import non-item updates? Everyone has completely on-topic notes in their pockets. They would have to implement a unique quest solution for this one playstyle whose real objective is to just break the game. Or never let quests have information be the objective. It's either limiting on the quest design, or its lots of extra quest design. Arcanum you can kill anybody and advance. It doesn't brea kthe game at all. It's fun playing an aristocrat who just shoots someone instead of going through a fetch quest to get information. That's fair, Tim and Josh have done it for previous games, they probably know how to do it without much compromise. I'll withdraw my objection in light of evidence.

But what if they have a quest where you have to talk to a guy, exchange information with him, then go to another guy. Well, if he rushes in and kills them, then the guy can't tell him what he needs to know, he can't tell him who to talk to. So what, he's going to have a note on him? And that's going to be the situation for all quests that import non-item updates? Everyone has completely on-topic notes in their pockets. They would have to implement a unique quest solution for this one playstyle whose real objective is to just break the game. Or never let quests have information be the objective. It's either limiting on the quest design, or its lots of extra quest design.

I voted that I dislike the traditional races. But that's untrue. I just think that fantasy needs to explore new (or at least newish) race ideas.

Why is it not valuable? In a roleplaying perspective, the more options you have, the better. I think forcing morals on someone playing an RPG is precisely the wrong thing to do. Homicidal maniacs have a notoriously disruptive playstyle. They derail campaigns completely and sometimes require totally unique paths to quest completion to make up for it. It's not about forcing morals, it's about the fact that it's a lot of work for a niche playstyle. The purpose of such playstyles is typically less about morality and more about breaking the game. I say let it be broken and leave it at that.

To me, a sociopath would be someone that sees people as tools; someone who's not afraid to use them in whichever way is most profitable to himself. That type of playthrough, I am interested in. There's many selfish people out there like this to some extent. Having said that though, a sociopath wouldn't see the point in needlessly killing someone off and wouldn't be randomly killing people unless it was somehow profitable to him, so even this has it's limits. Fair enough. I'll be corrected on that. The homicidal maniac is what I meant.

The pointlessly destructive PC is not an option I think is valuable. And I think even classic games tended to shy away from including a murder option to every piece of dialogue or let total sociopaths have a fair chance at completion. That said, in the spirit of maturity and complexity, giving the PC challenges that can be overcome with underhandedness is something I see as valuable.

It's rare to find a feature people are against. But I guess multiplayer being mandatory has left a bad taste in people's mouths. Anyway, I thought it was cool in Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale/Neverwinter Nights. I never actually used it in those first two games. So that should tell you how committed I am to supporting it. The idea of having Obsidian.net game nights to party up is a cool idea, but there are definitely better things to have if it's too much effort to implement.

I always got the impression that Tieflings were much less than that. That they're humans whose family has spent so long in a particular part of the realms that the realm started sticking to them. Like a family has had a vacation home in Baator for 4 generations, then the children just start popping out with horns with no non-human indiscretions required. But good luck convincing the father of that. Devil/Demon blood's just a shortcut to it. The Devil/Demon has been diluted out by a line of impure descendents, but the planes, they never let go. No. Neeshka's grandfather or father (I think it was grandfather) was a powerful devil. Grandfather. But given that grandfather is sometimes used in place of "Great-Grandfather" it's possible she's even further removed.

I always got the impression that Tieflings were much less than that. That they're humans whose family has spent so long in a particular part of the realms that the realm started sticking to them. Like a family has had a vacation home in Baator for 4 generations, then the children just start popping out with horns with no non-human indiscretions required. But good luck convincing the father of that. Devil/Demon blood's just a shortcut to it. The Devil/Demon has been diluted out by a line of impure descendents, but the planes, they never let go. To try to bring that back around to races for this game, that's a way I like for creating new races. People spent so long in a place that the place just started sticking to them. Gives fantasy a sort of Lamarckian flavor.

Generally speaking, I despise counting hours. Exceptions are to be made when the rest of the game is so unenjoyable that you've started a bullet list of complaints, because why not? Quality over quantity. I don't want padding. I can appreciate that Obsidian wants to make the world feel more alive, so we will have lower quality/easy quests. But I hope it doesn't get to be like DA2 and ME3 where some guy tells you to go X, you go there find whatever, go back and get a reward dropped on you with barely a sentence exchanged. It has to feel that someone actually tried here. I'd rather my cheap fed-ex quests where along the lines "if you're going to Townsville, please deliver this letter to my lover" and when you get there you find out the lover is a member of the wizard cabal and he's consorting with the enemy, so you have the option to expose him or keep it secret. As opposed to "go find me a farm plow"->"thanks"->CHA-CHING. Make it an opportunity to flesh out the world or an excuse to direct you to new locations, not just extra coin for checking cracks or wasting time.

This contradicts with what Paradox used to say. I'll see if I can dredge it up. Can't find the specific quote, but I did just verify that I can run some games without Steam active. Just did it with Bastion.

I suspect they're holding back info for two reasons. 1) It's not all set in stone, they want some feedback. 2) Information releases can bring in additional buzz and new backers, regaining momentum.

I think we kind of got distracted from talking about races in specific to discussing mythologies as a broader topic. I've pruned the thread to help get back on track. If someone wants to talk about broader mythological influences, that should probably be its own thread.

I'd like to remind everyone that the purpose of this forum is to provide suggestions or feedback for a game. As far as I'm aware, that includes unpopular ideas. That said, be considerate of how you argue for your idea. And that your argument may be insulting to other people on this forum. If in doubt, share your idea and move on.

Not necessarily in a meaningful way. Which of the listed archetypes does Fall-From-Grace fit under? And does that explain why people like her as a character?

Technically, dragons were one of the first things to appear related to the project. The Ouroboros symbol. Now, does this mean something is already planned for our scaly friends? Are they intended to be present or merely symbolic within? You've got me wondering. I won't miss them if they're gone. Maybe Obsidian is trying to make a totally original fantasy setting that avoids the typical trappings. I can support that. But I'm curious about the symbol and its dragon.

I was referring to economy and banks. If gold has weight, then equipment costs have to be considered. Can't have equipment that costs more gold than people can carry. And if people are going to be tossing money away to keep their weight down, then that's also a concern for what they can or can not buy later on. Maybe it's not nearly the hurdle I imagine it to be. I've never dealt with it.

It's a low priority thing for me. If gold has weight, then they need to either have a very tight economy or banks, regardless of difficulty level. It's a neat feature, but I'm not sure it's worth the extra effort.

I haven't heard anything about a new forum, but nobody tells me nothin. Hopefully we can get a new hamster (and wheel) to power it as a stretch goal.