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Justin, if you're the chosen one please consider going a little bit into the Arcanum direction for a few tracks at least - I really like the music from NWN2 posted above, but things like still give me goosebumps. (sorry, no idea how to embed videos yet. )

My musical preference is the Arcanum style (Ben Houge) or NWN2's MotB (Alex Brandon), but that doesn't mean I wouldn't trust anyone else to make a good soundtrack. I vote 1 and hope he finds a style that pleases both me and the Skyrim fans. Edit: Oh, and real instruments are always a big plus. If you don't have enough cash left for an orchestra, go with a string quar.... okay, I think I'm repeating myself too often.

That is what some of the "gamers" (I use this term very loosely) here want though. They want to explicitly see women get brutally ganged raped in full view so they can watch... This thread makes my stomach churn. The mods should step up and lock it! This is not what Obsidian wants anyway. I'm pretty sure we won't ever see that in this game, not even a hint of that, so just ignore those vibes.

Kraut too, so I'm entitled to insult kinsmen.

The bar is in the other thread, silly Kraut.

That's always a standard point and might be true, however in all my favorite games it was those little details that made them unique and better than the masses. I don't need to brush my teeth in game, but the love for detail is one thing that really makes me appreciate a game. I always thought the character animations in NWN1 were really cute, for example. Or take a lot of small details from the Witcher 1, like the ambient creatures running/flying off on your path or a cat licking it's paws in the tavern window before taking a nap. I stopped multiple times in the middle of something just to watch these things and thought "wow, they really care a lot about their world". Other games again, as good as the core mechanics and main story might've been, were completely ruined for me due to the lack of this love for detail. Sadly, this includes one or two games by Obsidian...

I'm not against that at all - after all most composers still feel at home in multiple musical styles. Personally I'd love some Arcanum atmosphere, but that doesn't mean Ben Houge has to be hired to do it. I just hope it'll be more unique than the average wagnerian bombast you hear nowadays. Personally, the PE trailer was too much of it for me already. Which doesn't man it was bad, just not really what I'm hoping for.

I'm torn between hard and ESBR. Personally I really don't mind hard, gritty and shocking, but there's a fine line between realism and shock effects. I also don't think certain things like rape should be touched in all detail, simply because it might be (understandably) too much for a large part of the audience.

I wouldn't mind some more character detail and the retro style may end when it's getting into "pixelated on purpose". But when it comes to love for detail and animations, I always like to compare NWN1 to NWN2, where the former had blocky characters, but with absolutely lovely animations both in combat and social situations, while NWN2 only had characters walking with a stick up their arse, more polygons or not. Just compare the sitting alone. I also know many players hated the NWN1 "dance of death" combat, but I thought it was absolutely lovely to look at. And dare I say "parry"? Most useless skill ever maybe, but sooo fun to use for immersion. One thing I Obsidian's later games always lacked were really nice animations, I hope this time we'll see more of them.

No more rebooting for me! *happy dance* Not sure if that'll bring a new wave of supporters or not, I think most Mac users who also like games simply accepted the fact they have to use Bootcamp to get their kicks. But no rebooting for a quick roleplay fix is very welcome. I hope the game will support Steam Play.

I'm silly like that too.

Useless cr*p.

And what do you have to say about other aspects of a game? Can you enjoy anything that is scripted and AI driven? Why game at all? I'm sorry, but this argument can be taken to any aspect of a game, plot, fight, writing... so why gaming altogether instead of having a real life?

Link ? So far I have this: http://forums.obsidi..._120__p__725311 Not entirely what I had in mind but still informative. I very much like his statement here, which also sums up why I dislike Bioware's approach while still hoping for something better: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/44687-romances-in-nwn-2-and-rpgs-in-general/page__st__120#entry725311

I agree man, but even if they include homosexual romances, you can rest assured it's not gonna be like in dragon age, the guys at obsidian are much more reasonable and smart...I mean who wrote the dragon age sausage fest? some fan fic guy wasnt it? here we are dealing with pros... Just look at Fallout:NV's two gay companions, they were much more believable than anything in DA2 without you even having the option to romance them. I trust Obsidian to stay on a high artistic level and not compromise a character only as a fan service.

However, we're not talking about a new AAA title with cutting edge technology here - if you want to develop an oldschool RPG in the style of old Infinity games nowadays, you can do that as an Indie developer. No licensing of a costy CryEngine 2, no middleware and all that, even heavy cuts on voiceovers and multi language... I do believe that Obsidian can make quite a bit out of those funds by now already, given they don't make a Fallout 4 or Dragon Age 3.

First off, I don't expect only two people (say, Sawyer/Avellone) writing the whole game. And then, what I'd expect from Obsidian is exactly NOT giving us the "my little pony" stuff Bioware writes, because yes - that's uninteresting. I sure hope they don't want to write romance plots like that and aim for something much more mature and immersive. And it's really not all about getting laid in an isometric view, but about immersion, realistic and believable characters who grow on you during a long epic travel.

I'm actually expecting more than that. Much more.

It depends entirely on the author's writing skills whether we're ending up with a Hentai dating sim or an immersive, mature romance plot. I trust Obsidian's skills enough to expect more than the first.

I'm in a happy relationship thankyouverymuch. So instead we only focus on some hack and slay for people who can't get a good killing spree done in real life and need to compensate for missed army time? I also take it that people who are in a relationship don't read books or watch movies, those feature love scenes that certainly took resources from the author that could've spend on more action scenes and bloodshed? Sorry, but if you want games to be accepted as an art form and not just kiddie stuff, you should be open to all things that make us human, which certainly includes love and sexual themes as well, probably more than blood and gore in the 1398th boss fight. Again, I'm not asking for Bioware-style teenie romances or boobies, but for mature themes for a mature audience.

I don't mind some exotic or fantastic weaponry, it doesn't all have to be strictly European medieval. In NWN2 for example I missed some neat things like the 2-bladed sword from part 1, it was fun to use. But please don't ruin the artstyle with ridiculous, oversized and horribly designed JRPG-weapons, one of those things that totally killed DA2 for me was the armor and weapon design. And please no overdone flashy effects like in NWN2 too. I like fantasy items if they're done well and decently, but all that flashy stuff is IMHO the opposite of a mature game design.

Haven't you tried BG/NWN? Modern MMOs are exactly the point why many people would love that kind of multiplayer again, MMOs are no alternative at all. For me, at this time there's no alternative to NWN(2) simply because no other game ever had it's unique multiplayer, and believe me people were looking and hoping for a newer game to switch to for years. I don't think anybody wants a MMO or tacked-on multiplayer like in Mass Effect, that's a totally different subject and indeed nothing to waste resources on.

I always hear the same argument about "taking away resources" whenever it comes to things that might add more depth and immersion to a game, so much that I really want to ask 'so, what's left if we take out all that and just focus on the main aspects?' And the answer will probably be simple hack and slay - welcome to stupid F2P MMO #2354, "I'm happy as long as the game mechanics work and I gain my levels fast". That's not epic, that's not fun, that's not the game I'm throwing my money at. I'm paying for a great story, and stuff like love always plays a role in a great story. Hell, I don't want the silly fan catering Bioware does today either, after DA:O I really saw nothing interesting in those romances anymore and it only seems like a tacked on standard for fans who want to play Barbie and Ken anymore. But a GOOD romance plot adds so much immersion and depth to a game that I'd be sad if it's left out - especially in a game that caters to a mature audience where you really can write some unique stuff and not teenager dreams. For me, games have become an art like movies and literature, and things like love, romance, sex are as human and as important to humans as eating and drinking, probably more important than stabbing goblins with a bastard sword. I take it as granted that this major part of being human plays a role in art, literature and mature games, in a way that caters to a mature audience - that means, no teen stuff like Bioware, no tittie show like The Witcher, but as a professional writer would handle it.

I can't say I didn't like the Dragon Age Origins, so my vote goes for that. Since I was never able to start Arcanum without crashes or bugs, I can't really say much about that one, other than the music is fantastic. NWN2's approach is fine enough, DA:O's probably wasting too many resources.

I simply trust Obsidian to be the better storytellers these days, ever since DA:O at least. They already have more than enough talent and as was said above, too many cooks...