FlintlockJazz

Don't listen.Really, you're missing out on an extraordinary milestone because of some distorted hearsay. Yeah, second this. Witcher 3 is definitely not that, it actually looks into and deals with sexism (along with racism and other isms). The hearsay probably stems from the card collection from the first Witcher, which the developers admitted was a bad idea and have kept away from since.

Actually Vailians include a substantial number of dwarves too, hence my desire for Pirate-Dwarf.

I didn't knew any of this. What I read in the forum made me think otherwise. Also I got the impression that the opinion on the companions changed over time. I remember when Pillars was brand new I read totally different statements about many things. Interesting, THX. As you said, opinions may have changed over time, and what I wrote was just my impression too, so I wouldn't take it as gospel. Different forums probably have different opinions on the characters too, so its probably really hard to get a consensus, wouldn't be surprised if there was a forum where Durance was considered the sexiest character alive. If you're interested, the poll I mentioned is here: http://www.obsidian.net/component/poll/30-poe-favorite-companion you can also find it on the main page. Interestingly enough I notice that it started on the 24th April 2015 and the last vote was today, so its been on the main page for a very long time...

Ditto. Nah, if its not the belly button that burns then its usually some other part of my body. Wait, is that further sign I should be seeing a doctor?

I was under the impression that not everyone liked Hiravias, that he was a marmite character in that you either loved his jokes or you despised his very being. That's the impression I always got anyway. And going by the votes on the Obsidian website for your favourite Pillars character GM and Durance coming second and third, while Aloth is lagging far behind though I suspect that may be because those who liked Aloth tended to also like Eder and since he's coming first he's probably taking all the Aloth votes (perhaps we need an AV poll type?).

I find it amusing that people still seem to think Rogues are automatically thieves and/or other criminals. They are supposed to come from all walks of lives including courtesans, investigators etc. Heodan is a law abiding merchant yet he is Rogue. Its merely how they fight, Rogues use speed, wits, and subterfuge, and includes duelists and shock troops. Ydwin is a rogue because she is witty and uses guile in combat.

Eh I just thought it would add a nice little touch to the game and give a reason to visit Animancers other than for specific quests. Didn't think people would react so strongly to it tbh.

You are right. It's worth far more than I posess. Take all my money. Sell my body to dubious looking strangers, if necessary. You heard it Obsidian! His body is ready and willing for whatever you want, come and get it! Here Obsy Obsy Obsy...

That said, given that animancy is such a dicey proposition, it seems like there should be an element of risk if you're applying a real game-world condition to respec. Yeah, the idea that you could get a temporary buff/debuff was a sort of compromise between "the lore says its dangerous" and "you can't really kill a player's character off or permanently maim them for what is a gameplay aspect". I do have an ingame explanation: You go to a cheap, backstreet Animancer and since he's cheap he screws it up and gives you the Animantic equivalent of a lobotomy, and dumps in the gutter with the other failed attempts. Since the Watcher has a Strong Soul however he manages to recover from it, or if its a Companion the Watcher uses his Watcher powers to help them recover. This then establishes that its dangerous but thanks to the MC's special condition it is explained that they and their companions can uniquely avoid this risk. The world of Eora seems to function on a fundamental basis on souls, that they seem to power everything and define most things in this world. Weak souls seem to lead to physically weak and sickly bodies, mental illness etc.

Meh, I just thought it would be a nice touch and tie into the lore somewhat.

I think the idea is that all the skill and powers and stuff is driven by a character's soul, therefore respec in a gameworld sense could/would require a tweak of the soul to accomplish. ^ This. I was under the impression that class abilities were to do with the soul, though maybe they changed that later in development. Animancers are said to be able to turn people's lives around and such, plus Might is supposed to include spiritual strength and there are hints I think that the soul does have an effect on the physical body, I can see characters going in for a 'tune-up' that includes refocusing their abilities and the like.

I'm willing to double my pledge for this. Only double?

Since all the cool kids are doing their own topics and polls I thought I should get in on the act and do my own. I reckon the option for respecs/retraining/whatever you want to call them should be sold specifically by Animancers, as it makes sense in the lore instead of just any old trader. You then get a little cutscene where the character is strapped in and electrocuted or something to redirect their soul flows or whatever, perhaps lobotomised, before getting to re-do your levelling. Depending on the quality of the animancer doing the work you could even maybe get little buffs or debuffs depending on how good/absolutely terrifying the animancer's work was. Remember to post on the poll, because that means something or whatever.

I didn't mind Tales and Throne was generally received as pretty bad I thought, seriously flawed and linear for the conclusion. I'm with Jan, should have made a proper third game for a trilogy but instead they went with expansion. Feels like an "And then..." storyline and ending.

A transdimensional larder door shield! You use it as a shield as normal, but you can prop it up against a wall and then open it to open the way to a larder that exists between dimensions, and there is a random chance during battle that the door will open while you are wielding it and have a chef lean out to shout at everyone for making a noise and disturbing his customers.

The chances of meeting the stretch goals are a million to one, he said - but still they come!

I think using 'standard' races is probably for the best for the first few games at least, as it helps them establish their setting better by showcasing 'typical' members of their races. I mean, what do we actually know about Pale Elves in this setting? Not much, so Ydwin is a good chance for us to find out more about Pale Elf society and the White that Wends in general, whether Pale Elves are primitives subsistence living down there or if there is some sort of Mountains of Madness Lovecraftian city there, since really we don't know!

I gotta say, I'm reluctant to approve of attribute changes for companions, as I feel they are one of the aspects by which you define a character. You know by looking at the attributes what the developer intended for their personality. Imagine if they had allowed it in Baldur's Gate and you used it to raise Minsc's intelligence to 18, it would just feel wrong, and make finding that companion or sidekick with that awesome stat not as meaningful. Hell, maybe instead of being able to change their stats they should instead give some characters more points than you can normally get? To represent that character feeding one of their mates to the blood pool before you met them.

What? Even Tali, Wrex and Garrus? Yes, even them, though I did still like them. Dunno what it is, but even when I like their characters something about Bioware characters rub me up the wrong way. It's like there's a level of obnoxiousness you have to tolerate with each of them.

Mass Effect 1 only kind of ninjamances you. Sure, the default state if you talk to them every mission is romance, but there are multiple opportunities for you to express your lack of interest. The only problems with it in Mass Effect 1 (incidentally this is solved in the later games) is that it never explicitly tells you when you should say you aren't interested and it assumes that you are interested if you never say anything. Based off what we know from the reputation system it will be a lot more visible than in Mass Effect. Quite often it meant being outright mean to them. Not being mean to someone shouldn't really equate to romance in my mind, but maybe I'm just picky... Weird. Ive never played ME but a quick Google search provides: How to avoid all romantic relationships in mass effect 3? There you go! Ah, but that's for the third one! They were trying to rape me in Mass Effect 1.

I didn't even notice that you hadn't even put the 2 there to be honest, as it was pretty clear what you meant. Wait, so Ciphers are NOT meant to be able to check the past lives of souls? That means the whole soul pedigree thing isn't a thing? The confusion between ciphers and watchers has been one of the things that put me off playing a cipher, since its kinda like "Wait, so which of this is or isn't typical cipher stuff?"

Considering I have had to kill off characters because I found myself forced into a romance, that would be grand! :D That's a little extreme. What romance were you forced into? Ashley, apparently just talking to people is enough to get people wanting my Shepard-meat, had to Virmire her to keep her off me. Same thing happened with Liara too in another playthrough, and since you can't Virmire her she ended up in my cabin even though I had already pretty much told her to bugger off outside the lockers and only just managed to avoid being forced to feed her my meat, and even then the game considered that I had 'romanced' her...

Considering I have had to kill off characters because I found myself forced into a romance, that would be grand! :D

Dunno, it’s a nice image. Mostly I guess I'll find out once I get home...