Chippy

It is really just a nitpicking irritation - when there's an npc that you want/have to talk to, but your main character has to sacrifice stealth and positioning to do so.

Just a niggling issue that kinda becomes a pain in the backside pretty quick when repeated too often - but forcing the player into dialogue that usually results in a confrontation, which triggers and then you find the enemy perfectly positioned to hurl death at your party (now standing out in the open) and clustered together. It completely invalidates formation, cover, stealth, traps/skills, etc. Once again the IE games handled that better. Although if someone else did the talking the enemy usually knew they wern't the party leader and their stats may not have been as good. Still a better trade of though than automatically loading the stealth character/protagonist and his party onto the bulleseye on the ground that ensures all party members are represented in the convesration, and all are ready to get equally pummeled when the fighting starts.

Excellent topic - I'll vote BG1 for the simple exploration it offered. BG2 felt like every outside area was still restricted to a corridor.

I am a bit concerned and uneasy about RPGcodex steadily making their way to $5000 for a party of enemy codexians. That'd be kinda 4th wall breaking - in the sense that do I immidiately inundate the party with fire/acid or use conventional tactics?.

Just hit a point in DA:O where every enemy has scaled up. So now certain abilities are just pointless, I find my entire party wailing against a single enemy (which just drags the battle out) and characters that were good now feel totally inadequate. And I considered the scaling in DA:O less of a problem than in TES games. Burn it with fire, however long it takes and whatever it's current HP.

I was thinking of an artifact resembling a 1:1 scale sex toy that inflates into a boob armour/pantaloon wearing decoy when it's user is near death to distract the aggressor - and if struck reveals that it's filled with a gelatinous cube that subsequently devours the enemy. Problem?. Only kidding. I've faith in Obsidian going down this route, I doubt they'd loose control to the fans.

Just a random thought that popped into my head (someone might have already mentioned it) but I remember that InXile are using some resources for Wasteland 2 from Obsidian, and (unless this is already being done) thought that maybe as Wasteland 2 is being developed, some resources could be used for PE. I don't necessarily mean we might see a scorpitron trotting around -because who needs a Terrasque anyway- and then kick some of the funding raised backwards to InXile. And obviously I used the term "resource" because I have no idea what might be appropriate.

NWN2 had the right idea. You weren't just rebuilding a keep, but the economy as well. Now if that concept was applied to the whole game it would be great because Obsidian could tie in character growth with actual events: like it takes 3 months to rebuild that critical bridge. - Spoken by someone who has given all of 30 seconds of thought to the subject anyway.

Before anyone sets the dogs on me I would like to preemptively say 1 thing: I remember the Z-axis "discussions" on the Bioware forums before the release of DR:O. And I still shudder. The fact is that Obsidian have nailed it, this game has got everything I'll want and stuff I haven't thought of yet. So when I say I have always wanted to climb up the back of a castle like a ninja in Shogun 2, I assure you that I am not trolling, but am just tech-less and wondering if the Unity engine can handle it?. I hate to think that this is where the rules lawyers start shouting for blood. "Do you realize what imbalances this will cause!". Nope. Because I just want to be a Ninja.

*Currently struggling through the party control system in DA:0. Taking a break after a Richard Pryor inspired high pitched "WTF is my party doing even though tactics is off" moment. Watches update 10* Tim Cain: We will allow you to control your party. Me: YESSSSSSSSSS!!!

So brilliant to watch/read these updates and have the guys from Obsidian just summarize all the things in this game and that make RPG's great.

I play the ironman mode in every RPG I play - it's a logic thing; games all agree that when you loose all HP you die. If HP was handled in a different manner I would change my perspective - I distantly remember someone from either Blackisle or Bioware once comparing HP to the amount of times you avoid a killing blow, then the last blow kills the character when they suffer more damage than remaining HP. So the only thing that would make me change my ironman mode ways if HP was handled differently - like minor wounds that reduce your health, then major effects that can take a player out of the fight (broken arm/leg, etc) to instant death scenarios like a dragon belly flops on your face...even if Sten in DA:O had the indomitable ablility!...an ENTIRE dragon just landed on him. If the combat and magic system is half as interesting as I think it will be this isn't a major deal for me and traditional HP still works. I'd rather more content in a stetch goal than changes in the rules system that require an enormous amount of work. But looking into what actually causes death would be cool.

Kind of tough to suggest anything as I think Obsidian have pretty much covered it. So to nitpick on an irritation carried through from almost every RPG I've ever played - having to use outlandish and frilly weapons/armour. So if the crafting system allowed me to pick the style of an axe (from a selection) I would hold out hope that at one fitted a style I liked. Because for the RPG gamer who has everything - the only thing left to worry about is fashion. Although if implementing something like that is more work than and additional area, or something like tracking for a Ranger then it wouldn't be a priority.

I'd like to be clear that I can't see anyway Obsidian are going to make a game I will feel negative towards, whatever they create will be fantastic. I also don't want to sound like a whiny entitled gamer - as I appreciate working with allocated funds and making realistic, measurable, timebound targets...so here comes the BUT... But I was wondering how much effort would be required to have the game react to the actual race you pick. For example; in DA:O elves were either slaves or a rebel race that were treated with disdain. Yet I never felt an ounce of racism towards my dalish character. I expect that as a stretch goal (at this stage) race reactivity would not recieve as much enthusiasm, and even if it did it's probably too much work to really make the player feel like a Dalish/Drow. But I thought I'd raise it anyway.

I completely agree with this topic, but just thought I'd throw in the concept of characters gaining enormous strength - it is a fantasy game after all, and if I can gain a (D&D example) 19 hill giant and above strength, then it stands to reason that the size and weight of the weapon a character can weild could increase.

Really like the art style and armour/weapons. No frills. I think Obsidian has always been on top of this (I particularly remember the lore screens of weapons from PS:T and IWD 1/2) and hope the engine from PE can allow for something in that vein. Not like some RPG's where it looks like the artist took their holiday in Amsterdam and came back with inspiration/tracings off their backside.

One thing that I've always appreciated about Obsidian RPG's is that they tie stats and skills into character experience and ability. What I mean is that I'm constantly (as a player) drawing on prior experience and learning of past games on what a game can and can't do, then as I'm playing the game I build up this immidiate skillset that it requires for me to advance. If the game is put together well, that skillset is rewarding and I find that I don't die. Unlike other companies;- like Deus Ex:HR required a certain type of gameplay...until you hit a boss battle. Dragon Age Origins rewards me by using skills to advance a quest - click on a reindeer to find out what's wrong with it and get an answer based on your wilderness skill, click on a book and get rewarded with XP and a codex entry...click on a bedroll in the forest and get rewarded with death. ME:2 as a cover based shooter...until you get plonked into a hover vehicle that handles completely differently and you have to dodge a 1-shot canon of game over. Sometimes I think having 20 years experience with games is a bit of a disadvantage. You could win a ZX Spectrum racing game by just pressing up -because it didn't have enough memory to recognize the edge of the track and slow you down - as a result I'm still playing games and playing them within the percieved limitations of the technology. So it'll be really nice to play a game again where my wilderness lore skill/constitution will be checked (and not my reflexes or understanding of how the game is scripted) in the event that someone at Obsidian decides it's really funny to script a 1-shot kill mosquito finding finding its way under my characters armour. Hope that made sense.

I can just see it now: "Here lie (following names) who were just too drunk to continue on the road to adventure, So we threw them out the back door, where they could be sober and conjecture, As they wailed for more brew, and the pile of bodies grew, We could either start to dig, or feed them to the pig. Ok so that was crap, but I was just wondering why a tavern/gravestone came to mind?. What about a famous tapestry, or a statue, or a bridge paved with legendary names...

One thing I always wanted to do in the IE games is assault/defend a castle. I always wondered if if was a limitation of the technology. what could be seen on-screen at any time, or any other reason that that scenario didn't take place. It'd be cool to see that in Project Eternity, and maybe if (system requirements allowing) we could see large armies on the field?. I was one of those fans watching Return of the King thinking "A fireball would have been perfect there! What kind of wizard is Gandalf anyway!".

I expect Obsidian have this covered (I must resist the urge bring up stuff that was standard years ago and feel it warrants attention now because current RPG's are so accessble) but I was wondering about giving certain weapons some practical advantages/disadvantages. One exmple that comes to mind is large weapons (halberd, longbow) either not being usable by thieves or giving them a penalty to their skills. Speed factors and initiative was a major reason for me to pick a weapon in the IE games. Although initiative was broken. Dragon Age did a great job of allowing handaxes that extra bonus to strength to compensate for the off-hand penalty. So maybe this is all standard, but what about including actual weapon characteristics such as: The Two handed axe hook opposite the cutting edge being used to pull shields away from enemies. (Shogun 2 intro movie style) Katana - or equivelent - cuts through spear shaft. Blunt weapon beats helmet. Dagger doesn't parry halberd. Etc, etc. That's the gist of it. To give fighters a reason to pick a weapon, and make it similiar to choosing the right spell per encounter. Otherwise there are too many examples of RPG fans picking a weapon based on (what they know) will be in the game, pure damage and munchkinism. That's a term right?.

I'd like more conrol over traps - timed, and remote controled come to mind (even if it's explained as a piece of string). Otherwise you always get that 1 enemy that sets it off ahead of the rest. Also (DA:O comes to mind) if the components are too expensive, I found myself saving up for them throughout the game - and then just not needing them, even though I invested in the skills. Or just prefering to buy that 1 artifact.

Congratulations Obsidian. I'm glad in a way that it's been more than ten years since the like of Torment and Arcanum; everyone's a bit older and wiser, the community (I hope) can see the difference between the current triple aaa RPG's and the opportunities of KIckstarter. And all the greatest developers are still involved without having got burned out, drunk away their brain cells or resigned!. So - looking forward to the next few years.

Just got played by Divine Cybermancy, I mean, I did something with - or tried to make sense of - and coherantly defined what was a great game that made total sense to (my dog) who seemed to get it totally. Brain hurts. Keep the implants away.

I'll keep checking back for a vote system, but if Obsidian are screening for the popularity RPG's in the vein of infinity engine games then you have my vote, wallet, blood transfusion, bulk coffee donations, etc.

If that site ever shut down there would be a seismic wave felt across the globe that would cause every human being to involuntarily fart in ignorant relief. Except for the dedicated few.