Magister Lajciak

Great interview - thanks for posting it! I can't wait to get hold of this game!

It is not really the combining/elimination of skills that is bad about the 4E skill system. That is mostly fine, though I do think they have been somewhat overzealous with the combinations/eliminations, particularly with eliminating things like craft and combining movement skills. What makes the skill system so bad, as far as I am concerned, is that all skills advance at a rate of 1/2 point per level for all characters. This makes it impossible, by official rules, for a character to be truly bad at a skill and I like my NPCs and my PCs to be really bad at something - it adds color to the character and makes the gameplay more interesting. For me the 4E skill system is, therefore, simply not acceptable in a D&D-like RPG - unless house-ruled of course, but house-ruling can, in principle, solve anything in any game, so that is somewhat a moot point.

For me, 4E is completely out of the question now. We had a discussion about whether to switch or not in all 3 of my gaming groups. For 2 of the groups, I am the DM and wouldn't switch regardless, but when I nevertheless asked the groups what they would think about switching all members of both were vehemently against it. In the third group, where I am merely a player, I would have no option but to switch, but luckily for me the DM there was also opposed to it and so were all the players. It's not that I don't see any benefits at all in anything 4E, but the benefits (treatment of epic levels, every character getting something interesting at every level) just don't outweigh the disadvantages (skill system forcing us to be good at everything, same resource management for all classes, overly gamist concepts [explicit per encounter powers I am looking at you], flavor not resembling D&D any more and so on) for me. Nevertheless, I will keep some limited tabs on the 4th edition for the sake of noticing when 5E comes out, which will hopefully move back to some 3.X edition concepts and introduce some positive innovations.

That is correct, sir.

One of the verbal Q&As supposedly mentioned that there will be respecing, but not full respecing.

I think the graphics look great and fit the Diablo feel perfectly.

I think the crafting rules are just part of skill system issue, the skill system being just horrid in general.

Here is the link to the news: http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizo...lcomeAboardSean

Sean Reynolds, the D&D/Forgotten Realms designer, has just been hired by Paizo to work on Pathfinder.

I love the Blizzard game formula of concentrating on their 3 IPs. Their IPs are excellent and there is little room for more IPs in their portfolio without huge overlap. They have a Science Fiction IP, a Standard/High Fantasy IP and a Dark Fantasy IP. The only thing really left open would be some Contemporary/Modern IP and some Steampunkish/Not Quite Contemporary IP or a Historical IP, but neither of those has me very excited. I am happier when they focus their development resources on the three IPs I love.

Yes, Diablo III is here and looks/sounds awesome!

Good finds everyone - so a Diablo 3 announcement tomorrow seems very likely now!

That conversation system sounds great!

Just because you're exceptional doesn't mean you're a superhero. A background of a couple of years of thievery doesn't turn you invisible. Not so... or at least not any more. In AD&D 2E, what you wrote was true, but in 3.5 edition, commoners are at least level 1 too - see the NPC classes (these classes are weaker than PC classes though) section of the rules. If we're going to say "any more," then perhaps we should speak of 4E? Where it's even more true. Yes, it is true in 4E too. I guess I am still in the mode that 4E doesn't really feel like D&D for me, so I automatically discount it. Sorry about that - yes it is true in 4E.

marshel, you don't have to relearn stuff if you don't won't to. Nobody can force you to switch. I and my group, for example, we are not switching to 4e.

Interview galore... we have yet another: http://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/stormofzehir1.php

BTW: Great interview - thanks for posting it.

Not so... or at least not any more. In AD&D 2E, what you wrote was true, but in 3.5 edition, commoners are at least level 1 too - see the NPC classes (these classes are weaker than PC classes though) section of the rules.

I also thought the Spirit Meter was a great mechanic. Hopefully, the reaction of some will not dissuade the developers from trying out similarly innovative mechanics in the future.

There is a countdown to WWI at the Blizzard Website (www.blizzard.com). Speculation is running rampant that Diablo will be announced at the World Wide Invitational. What do you think? I think this is likely.

I don't consider it flavor text. Also it is just one of many things I dislike 4e. if you think that, then I guess you won't like the upcoming PCRPG-s based on 4.0 neither That is not necessarily the case. I also dislike a great number of things about 4e and will not buy the books nor will I run the game in PnP, but that does not mean that I will automatically dislike CRPGs based on 4e. The electronic medium is simply different. I am to a significant degree a simulationist DM, so 4e is not for me in PnP, but CRPG computer games, by necessity, come with the world pre-simulated already, so I won't have to do it with the sub-par (compared to 3.5e) tools that 4e provides for that. That does not mean I will prefer 4e CRPGs to 3.5e CRPGs and indeed I would hope for more expansion packs to NWN2, but it does mean that when there comes a point when only 4e CRPGs will be made I will not reject them on that basis alone.

I suppose if we really are able to switch out pre-made characters at a camp, than yes, making a full party from the start would be feasible for me too.

This is my position too. Dinosaurs don't fit my notion of a magic and swords game, but the game still sounds great!

The party TOTAL is at 4. So no, you cant make 4 characters and add the "joiner" NPC's. OK, thanks - that means I will not make a party, unless there are fewer than 3 "joiners"...

I have a question about the party system: I know that we can create a party of up to 4 characters. There will also be characters that can join us on our journeys. Do the 'joiners' take up the same four slots that are used for the creation of the full party or are they added in extra character slots?