Lord Elvewyn

Unlocking a harder difficulty settings would be fine but there's no point in having achievments. Given there's no classes and gear is purchased\looted what benefits could you get from them? They'd be a bother. And lets keep clear of Steam I've had DS3 on preorder for a bit, but I can always cancel it if the news is bad. Forcing online registration\achievement etc is definitely bad. It's possible to get some games that have had this bug worked around but then there's possible legal issues though not ethical ones. Mass Effect and Team Fortress used achivements well I understand but they had\have useful bonuses and are different styles so can't be compared to DS3.

Ugh... I don't even want to think about that movie... I do understand the way you feel, though. I felt the same way at first, too. Eh... You can't look at it like a dungeon siege game, though. Think of Champions of Norath... Nothing like Everquest, other than it's name in the title, and the area it's set in. That's the way I see this game, too. It isn't the game I know, it just looks like a different kind of game set in the same universe (that's the impression I get at least). =) To be honest I can understand why they chose to go this rout, though... A lot of people who are keeping tabs on this game haven't even played the first two games. The market is definitely geared more towards newer gamers, which is the way they should go if they want to make money I think. =P That being said, maybe this will open doors later on down the road for a 4th game based more in the traditional style of dungeon siege. =) ? Isn't that a little bit on how you decide Dungeon Siege III has to look? I mean Chris Taylor wanted to focus on one charachter before Obsidian took over. They just continued it. http://kotaku.com/#!5013942/dungeon-si...-could-fly-solo Its pretty much the same thing Fallout went through (though, here at least it is still in the same gerne) so I can understand the frustration. And Storywise DSIII acknowdlegdes the first games story already way more than the second did. Considering the (thus far) main atagonist of the third game was only born a short time after the events of the second game there may even be a connection. There's two issues though, party\no party plus player control\customisation V set character. So far it looks like AI\co-op tagalongs plus set characters with limited customisation. Seems fairly rigid, Still a month or two to dispell that illusion of course. Chris Taylor may have wanted less of a party focus but was he intending to eliminate classes too?

thanks a lot for the reply, mr. developer good news. but now it makes me ask more questions 1) can one block in all stances or only with the shield stance? 2) is there an advantage to blocking with a certain stance rather than with the other? 3) do enemies block? 4) if enemies block, how does the player get through the block? 5) when u block , are u immune to damage completely or are u just taking less damage from attacks? 6) if when u block u are immuned to damage completely from all directions than is that like an invulnerability button that only prevents you from moving around (then u roll)? Selected answers 1) All stances. 2) Depends on your gear. 5) You take no damage, but incur a cost to your focus. When you block with no/insufficient focus, you begin to take some damage (but the amount is reduced vs. not blocking). 6) Nope. It's more tactical than that. There are some advantages to blocking, but it's not just full invulnerability. How does the stick control translate to those on PC? Scroll left with the mouse perhaps? What about characters other than Lucas the Guardian? The spear\flame wielding female ('angel'?) might be able to use the spear to block melee weapons but surely nothing else. What of the gun toting female? No blocking at all surely? What the fourth, as yet unrevealed, character whom I presume to be the mage 'class' in the game? Barring a staff she\he won't be able to be anything non-magical to block. On a similar note, is it possible to block magic attacks or only melee\ranged combat? I mean a life drain spell such as leech life (DS1\DS2) isn't going to be stopped by a simple bit of metal in the way. I know DS2 included magic resistance to block those, and in fact you could face magic immune foes, which was really annoying as a mage character! As a mage player I'd be quite comfortable if you left the resistances out and limited blocking to material attacks only Magic uber alles!

I think you need to talk to Grenn about the modified blaster you found to get the suspicious goods mission\s. You're already two thirds of the way through the dark side path. I think you get more XP going DS if it helps.

How do you mean twitchier? This is an RPG not a console arcade game or an FPS. It should be planning more than button mashing right? DS1 you only had to click an enemy to attack them until they were dead. DS2 required you to click for each attack or at least hold the mouse button down which was a bit nasty. Is this going to be even worse than DS2? If so maybe there'd better be RSI\OOS warnings on the game as well as the standard epilepsy or whatever health warnings. I play Titan Quest on occasion and that's a DS2 style click to perform an attack type game with hotkeys. Holding the mouse down for all the enemies (especially with the mod I'm currently playing) and twisting my fingers to hit all the keys I need can be testing. I'm only playing it irregularly but extended play is a mite too intensive. Something that requires hotkeys plus intensive mouse clicking plus twitching sounds pretty nasty, purely from a medical\health standpoint of course.

Obviously I love playing them but NWN didn't overpower them, if anything they were underpowered. They had some nice area effect attacks but since they couldn't take damage and didn't do major damage against any one foe for the most part, plus some foes were immune to magic I was disappointed about their strength. I played a Weapon Master later and he just cleaved his way through. No running away just stand and kill everything that comes near. NWN2's the same of course. DS1&2 I led with a mage character but again it seemed unbalanced. Mages are really intended as support characters for parties with more than enough strong melee characters. Not that they should be but that's the way it seems to me from my playing. Of course if I were smart I'd play a melee character but clearly I'm not.

Eh... That's a pretty broad generalization... Have you ever played Two Worlds? Terrible, terrible game... Unplayable as a mage, too. If you wanted to make any progress, you had to use weapons. Also Champions of Norrath: Return to Arms had very gimped magic, except for the Shaman. If you wanted to play the overpowered character in that game, barbarians were the ones with the never ending criticals for millions of damage... Until the patches for Diablo 2 that added synergies, playing a pure caster wasn't even an option in the end game (Although now, a lot of the caster classes are overpowered. Then again, so is every other class in that game, heh). The very fact that the Archon has a melee stance suggests that staying in the magic casting stance would lead to a very quick death if one was swarmed (or at least that would be my guess). If some thought is put into the combat design, mages can be just as balanced as any class. =) Mages should be just as balanceable as a class, but they usually aren't. Icewind Dale, NWN, even DS, while mages could be powerful they couldn't go toe to toe in PvP. I don't play PvP of course so it's not critical but DS is the only one that really allowed a mage to lead in single player and even then it can be challenging. Mages just have too low of damage:damage resistance. Personally I'm not interested in the urg me smash style of play, pretty lights, columns of fire and bolts of lightning raining from the skies are more more cup of tea but as to whether that'll be possible ... Basic rule of thumb in pretty much all RPG games I've played is that mindless meleeists rule. Give them magic resistance and they're unstoppable. TQ might be a bit different. You assign points so can max out strength to the limit to get the best armour available to a meleeist, you have range which gives you a couple of early attacks and if you go the Dream & Death schools you get some percentage based bonuses, e.g. 10% vitality reduction if the enemy closes to melee range. Most of the 'spells' are fixed damage so it doesn't scale but the summons do to some degree and the stuns are always useful. Mages should play like machine guns versus knights. They can't absorb the damage a knight can but if they open fire first the meleeist goes down fast! I might be slightly biased of course

What? No, that's not the case. You control one guy. You can have human friends or AI henchmen-style friends, but it's not going to be squad combat. I think you've got completely the wrong impression somehow, so maybe we can wait for some real info to clear things up before making judgments. Agreed. It's a case of tagalongs who are 'possessed' in Co-Op play by friends as I read it. No squad control so you can't co-ordinate your attacks. Probably means henchmen will be left behind in single play unless there's quest specific interactions though. Definitely need more info.

No help in the walk throughs? Try googling Gamespot, KotOR and Sith Lords. You should be able to find out the solution. I can't recall it off the top of my head. Is this the one where you need to need up with the 2IC in a bar? I think that's something different. You may need to reload to a point before you contact Sasquash as you may have permanently neutralled him via conversation.

There will be pre-made classes if I am not mistaken. Guardia and Archon Mage are the ones I know of. To be honest, the Archon Mage does look pretty awesome... I like the fact she can change into a fire elemental of sorts (from what I've read)... Reminds me of the transformation spells from the first game (well, after the expansion at least)... only not gimped, heh. It looks to me like the other caster will be a nature mage (judging by the lightning-ish glow coming from his hand off the website). Would be awesome if they brought back the orb spells and maybe the healing/buffing/debuffing spells (for those of us who enjoy playing support chars or might want to have a healer npc in the group). I would love powerful pet spells even more (like in the second game), but I don't think that would ever happen. =P But the Archon's not a true Combat Mage but instead a hybrid, melee-combat mage character. There's already a melee character, and there looks to be a gunslinger - ranged\archer type. Presumably there will be a true mage released at some point in time but given there's only 1 character left to reveal I very much doubt they can squeeze in all the death\lightning\ice\healing\buff etc spells from DS1 & DS2 into the one character. Looks like magecraft gets nerfed by yet another game. As an aside, are there any games where magic really gets the power that it should?

I pre-ordered a little while ago because it's DS. Have to wait and see more details to confirm whether or not it's worthwhile keeping it pre-ordered. No custom character ability suggests no multiplayer. Sure there's co-op which is cool, but forcing story character roles is really lame. As always, more details needed.

Head wall, head wall! Please no! That's totally not DS1\DS2 and is really not needed.

We knew that since a while. Makes sense, considering DS's box art. Why, was that already in DS2? No idea, but in the demos they've shown the statue of the farmer showed... a female warrior. Movie wasn't bad, a nod towards the game but not exactly canon. Gah PC claptrap. Outside Hollywood girls don't wield swords (mostly). I really hope I don't get stuck playing a girl. I've got the game pre-ordered via Amazon, which means I won't get it until 'til about June but 4 characters only and at least one girl. Obsidian needs to release some really convincing preview info. The graphics are sweet but I'm not interested in staring at a sweetly rendered girls backside for 24 hours or however long the game takes to clock. Actually I'm not interested in staring at a guys backside either but at least that's easier to tune out

Agreed. Beware the babyfaced killer.

DS1&2 didn't have a great deal of interaction. I know they weren't Obsidian games. Depends how the dialogs\moral choices\interactions work. Characters? Sounds like Diablo to me. Okay maybe fixed classes rather than straight characters but none of DS1's ability to blend classes. Not played or really even read up about DAII yet so can't compare it to that. Isn't it more akin to NWN2 than DS1\DS2?

No idea about DS3 but you could in DS2. DS1 offered this for one of the main multiplayer maps. It seems a strong possibility to my mind if DS3 is sufficiently based on DS2\DS1 though we'll have to wait and see.

Definitely looking very nice. You're obviously on the downhill slope now. The only question for us gamers is the gameplay specifics. That's what's going to determine whether we figure this is awesome or a faceplant. Latest preview details have me a bit concerned but we'll have to see, it's early days. I'm wondering if maybe it's going to be more Diablo than DS1\DS2, though the latest Diablo is apparently promising gender options for all classes so hmm need to wait for more details blast it all. Doesn't the Geneva Convention outlaw torture?

Definitely sounds like a Diablo 2\Diablo 3 comparison would be more accurate.

I love the thought of a DS3 but I've mixed feelings at this stage after reading some of the preview material. Obviously it's too early for definitive details but .... A May release is okay but sooner is better! - Do you play classes or characters? There look to be a couple of previews of Lucas the Guardian. I'd prefer to select my own class and play my own adventure than play a prescripted character\plot. Yes I know DS1\DS2 were plot limited. At least in DS1\DS2 I got to choose whether to stare at the backside of a guy or a girl all day long and whether I threw magic or smacked stuff over the head with a blunt bit of wood grunting as I did so. Powers? It's not clear if the power bar you build up through attacking is an alternative power attack or a nuke that you need to work to build up. Basically the difference between DS2's special powers and a 'special move' from something like Street Fighter. Yes very old school reference. DS2 nukes are fine but an alternative attack might unbalance the game, especially if you play a nature mage\healer style class\character. Skill tree's familiar, though I'm thinking TQ more than DS2. Equipment fits only one player? Sounds interesting but doesn't that preclude sharing? What of a person with two characters they play at different times, can they exchange equipment somehow as in TQ? What if you try to help out a friend level up in a hurry? Limited interface. Assuming that the tiny circle with the character portrait and dots beside it is the interface it looks far too small\insufficiently detailed. There's no numbers to tell you how your health\mana is progressing just a bar guide. I can't see the old 4 weapon slots (melee, ranged, 2x magic) though I've no objection to this being replaced to something user definable e.g. 4x magic slots, 3x melee choices etc. Not clear if it's easy to switch spells. In short too little info no clear easy easy way to change things, at least not outside the presumably easily selectable\editable inventory\spellbook screens. Obviously I need to wait and see what new info gets released but I am a little concerned that maybe DS3 won't be everything\anything I'm hoping it will.

Agreed. I'm not interested in playing some female just because I want to play a sorcery class for example. All the previous DS's allowed basic customisation and KotOR2 allowed options, gender and basic portraits to select from. It was predefined true but did give some player options. Not sure what yoomazie's on about.

Any word on on what the difference between classes and heroes is? I'm guessing you select a class at the beginning of the game and can't change. Is this correct? This is opposed to say NWN2 where you can select a new class each time you level up, to the maximum of 4 different classes, or DS1 where you can max out all classes.

Oblivion (Elder Scrolls IV) goes to the other extreme. You get to custom design your physique, especially your face, within the restrictions of your chosen race.

Oh I hope it's not Christmas. An April\May release would suit me well. I'm looking forward to having some time off come Autumn. I got curious and had a look online to see what my local store is retailing it for plus discovered the Amazon version. Looks like only a standard version release, no deluxe\collectors pack etc and while Amazon's saying March, EB's just saying sometime this year. Prices differ too, about $60 versus $90. Maybe I'll think about buying via Amazon, assuming the game's as good as I'm hoping. Any chance of an early demo? Pretty please with a grumpy dwarf on top?

JRPG? limited customization? Was that Diablo 2 was? because that's the path DS3 is taking and I don't consider D2 had "limited" customization. Now if you mean face/body shape/cosmetical stuff, well, yeah, it may lack from it but I couldn't care less about it. JRPG - Jap syle RPG as opposed to Western, or so Google tells me. Prescripted plot with preset characters. No real player choices. TQ was limited with its customisation too. Gender, name and tunic colour are the only options. While I'd prefer to customise my character as long as I'm playing something that appeals to me I can live with it. At the very least gender choices should be permitted, and probably race, though that depends on the DS3 world.

False, you obviously don't know much about languages. Every word can be used in many different ways in sentenses. It is very very hard to let software guess in which way you use it. That's why you get that kind of translation. Be glad that there is a free good translator. Makes our lives much easier. Oh I'm fully aware of the complexity of language and the inherent difficulties in translating shades of meanings between them e.g. Greek's agape, phileo, eros, and something else (likely misspelt) all classified as love in English. The problem is Google's translator doesn't just lose tenses or whatever it loses order thereby changing the entire meaning of a sentence. For all I know it may be the best translation software available, that doesn't make it good though.