Nonek

I think the point of a game is to engage the player. Challenges are one way to engage a player but they aren't the *only* way, and I've honestly never played an RPG that manages to do this successfully in any way deeper than simple skinner box mechanics. Personally, my best experiences with RPGs aren't the parts where the DM decides to "challenge" me with a difficult combat encounter, they're the parts where I interact with the characters and the world. Interacting with characters and the world should be one of the harshest challenges presented to the player, if the GM is worth his salt. Changing minds, whether through logical discourse, the presentation of proof or a simple recitation of ones deeds is fine, but i'm afraid to say that I know from past experience that people are not always logical and do not wish to hear the truth. Overcoming an antagonist through the demonstration of a superior philosophy, and highlighting the flaws in his beliefs is a challenge and always should be. If i'm handed these victories then they are cheap and meaningless, I wish to prove myself and stretch my intellect not be a passive observer. Background detail is fine and hopefully if logical adds to the depth of the setting and its players, but that can in no way be considered a game to me. Skyrim is a beautiful landscape, with a rich abundant ecosystem, the benefit of decades of lore behind it and a painstaking attention to detail, but it's not interactive or challenging. The world does not respond to my actions in any meaningful way, and thus whatever headcannon I choose to foist upon the game and the reasoning behind my characters deeds and decisions is pointless. I am not challenged because I have no reward, there is no accomplishment and no achievement to be gained. If I wish to be engaged by the characters and the world, then I can read of them easily enough, I am and always will be a fan of the written word. In a game however I expect challenge, interactivity, reactivity and acknowledgement of my actions. This is the strength of this particular medium in my eyes, and shouldn't be abandoned in favour of faux emotional engagement. Certainly not in Eternity's case, which was Kickstarted with the aim of bringing back the more challenging, content and feature rich games of the past, rather than settling for the streamlined and illogical games of the present, that are touted as being innovative while catering to the most degenerate of players who want simplification to the point of the game playing itself. The mainstream market provides an outlet for these players needs, and there is no need to force these hideous practises upon one of the few sparks of complexity and interactivity that remains in the genre.

I've never minded a bit of a challenge, a soupcon of strategic planning, and a touch of trial and error, mainly because ultimately for me thay lead to a greater sense of accomplishment when I succeed. If everything is handed to me, as i'm finding is all too prevalant in most modern games, then I grow bored and uninspired. What is the point of a game but to challenge the player after all, through learning its systems, adapting oneself and mastering them. A well crafted and logical narrative is important to me, but not so important as to overlook the gameplay aspect of the experience. I suppose in prioritising accessibility many developers have overlooked achievement, and unknowingly begun to starve those who are seeking a touch more meatier fare for their palette.

The Vaillian free companies are rightly considered to be some of the finest soldiery in the known world, and pre-eminent amongst them is the Meridian company, who march under the banner of the sunburst. It is a little known fact that in the baggage train of the Meridians there will always be a wagon full of Vaillian sunfruits, these sweet delicacies are in point of fact what gave the company its name, and each man has a ration of fruit issued to him with every meal. Not only do the sunfruits keep the company healthy and fit, their juice is smeared on the hands before battle to firm the soldiers grip, and on his brow to prevent sweat dripping into his eyes. A small thing, but with dysentry and sickness incapacitating many a free company during campaigning season, the Meridians have managed to maintain a fit and dependable fighting force that is quickly forging a legend for itself.

Rations - Hearty vittles, perfect for sustaining the weary traveller. Salted meat and dried fruit baked into a crusty loaf of bread, a skin of small beer to wash it down with. Has no particular benefit. Orlan Dreamgrass - When the Orlan wish to while away a quiet afternoon they'll stuff their pipes with this narcotic leaf and drift away. For a Cipher the effect is far more severe, his abilities will be boosted and his acuity sharpened for a good few hours, however a certain lethargy will overtake his limbs draining his stamina. A single stalk placed under his tongue is all he needs for the Dreamgrass to take affect. May be habit forming. Glenfathan Porridge - Made with oats harvested from the graves of their fallen warriors, the Glenfathan hold that consumption of this porridge is a sacred duty, and it not only honours the loss of their fallen but lends one a measure of their strength. Certainly it has done no harm for their legendary berserkers health. Consumption of the porridge will grant a small bonus to health for a few hours, even more if the oats have been mixed with ox blood rather than milk or water. Vaillian Sweetmeats - A delicacy of growing popularity in the Dyrwood, the recipe of which is unknown to any but the Vaillians. Grants a rush of increased stamina for an hour or so as the body absorbs the sugary goodness. Trailcakes - Rangers and Druids of the Dyrwood swear by these little pastries when undertaking a hard journey, they boost stamina for a good duration and enhance natural healing. However there is a downside, when the eater falls into slumber he will sleep extremely heavily and lengthily, and if disturbed will suffer for his body not recieving its needed recuperation time. Saintsblood - Wine from Aedyr, said to have been blessed by the blood of a living saint , the consumption of this vintage by any Paladin or Cleric will result in euphoric joy and a heady feeling of strength suffusing the body. No one is sure whether the many tuns of this wine were actually all blessed by the martyrs blood, or whether the church is using stimulants on its warriors. The churches dogma states it is the former, and the latter is heresy punishable by tongue pulling.

Not exactly arbitrarily in this case, given that there were good reasons for doing away with it, and given that Sawyer wasn't so confident in the mechanic himself. The original IE games didn't have durability mechanics, so it's not really even a case of feature stripping from some prior point - if anything, Eternity seems to be adding quite a bit of complexity onto the IE template. Just not this particular idea, which didn't seem to work very well. To me Baldur's Gate was a bit too streamlined, but i'd just finished a playthrough of the old Ultima collection as I remember, so it was bound to appear sparse by comparison with no enviromental interaction, npc schedules, crafting, item manipulation, teleportation, sleeping animations, consumable vittles etcetera.

Ah I may be just a bitter old man, but i've seen twenty years of feature stripping and streamlining to the point that there is no game, just a cinematic experience being shown to you rather than an interactive game to participate in. Therefore I always prefer that features should be retained and improved, rather than jettisoned arbitrarily. However I could get over the MMO aping combat mechanics without campaigning for their change, so i'll do the same with my equipment now being impervious to all harm. I'm sure Obsidian will still make a good game.

Harumph!

My arms and armour won't degrade at all? Damn! Pardon my uncharacteristic profanity.

Or perhaps Whirling Dervish due to his multiple attacks. Indeed there's a case for re-naming a few others I believe, a rogue could be re-named as a scout or assassin reflecting their superior knowledge of weapons and armour, the fighter could be known as a soldier or legionnary to explain their meat shield rather than warrior status etcetera. Still there's a lot to be said for keeping the traditional names.

Indeed I agree, but no one reading of the Dead Marshes can escape the parallel being drawn there. I think his writing was affected by his experiences without a doubt, though obviously he was not trying to be allegorical with his noted preference for history.

Now that's what you call a Silicone Valley, boom ching. Sorry, i'll report immediately to the Sarkeesian death commandoes.

Tolkien's writings were pure escapism and not meant to be anything else, and considering his experiences in the trenches their simplicity might have been something of a coping mechanism. Personally I found his work on the sagas and various anglo saxon translations such as Beowulf, to hold far more weight than the Lord of the Rings. The Silmarillion has far more depth and nuance than the Red Book.

Happy birthday cousins.

The last day of the sale seems to be rather good value, to say the least.

Though I don't dislike the original crafting and durability mechanic personally i'd go further Infinitron, make that sharpened state achievable at blacksmiths and at campfires/rest points for the crafting skilled individual, so that we can achieve an optimal state before bearding the "big bad" of our current destination. Perhaps whetstones and repair kits may be purchased, in the hands of the unskilled they maintain items at a normal level of preparedness, but in the hands of a crafting wise character they can achieve the superior states you speak of. So before venturing into the last level of say Deathtrap Dungeon our crafter is busy at the fire patching, repairing armour and honing the groups weapons. So that they are at optimal efficiency, his own of course not needing so much attention as his skill mitigates their degeneration as in the original mechanic. Of course there must be a downside for this, so have a dull/blunt state if one wishes to not invest in crafting or repair kits and whetstones, that may be achieved if combat is regularly indulged in between trips to the blacksmiths. Off the top of my head: Durability of 00 = Dull/blunt. 01-80 = Normal performance. 80-100 = Sharpened. Thus you have twenty blows for this weapon when fully sharpened before it degrades to, eighty blows using the normal stated damage of the weapon before, the damage/to hit penalty of the dull/blunt state kicks in. Edit: Have these maintenance items be part of the top of pack mechanic, so that it is a strategic choice of how many to carry over other items perhaps? They would of course be slowly used up or worn away themselves as well.

I wonder if the objection to being massively wealthy at endgame is simply a dissonance, we are not usually treated as being so wealthy, and it does not fit in with the story being told? In NWN2 being the lord of Crossroad Keep, and maintaining the lands, it felt like we were wealthy and powerful, matching our financial status. Being fantastically wealthy in Icewind Dale seemed to work against the internal logic of the adventuring party however, these were desperate men and women, seeking their fortune on the frontier. While it would be original to play as a cash strapped desperado, with a half empty purse all game long, I don't think that it would be appropriate to what Eternity is trying to achieve. Perhaps the game needs quest and locales that only open up when certain levels of wealth are reached, thereby reflecting our hard work in loot gathering and giving us a reason to spend extravagantly or even invest in more important matters, political or ecclesiastical in nature perhaps?

I assure you i'm not trying to troll anybody sir, I freely admit I know nothing about that cartoon, I was just politely responding with what I thought would be a logical interested reaction so as to provoke discussion. Obviously my responses have raised your ire so I shall withdraw, hoping there are no hard feelings.

Personally I like item degradation, it feels intrinsically right to me, whether that be a spear thrust bursting through the rings of your mail corselet and holing your gambeson or whatever. It seems like a nice touch of added flavour for the player who likes to immerse himself both mechanically and narratively, however I can see how many players used to more streamlined modern systems simply wish to maintain a combat ready state without too much preparation. Perhaps the mechanic should be optional? What I usually spend money upon varies per game, in the infinity engine games it was without a doubt magic items. In Betrayal at Krondor it was the array of very useful miscellaneous inventory, rope, elven slippers, whetstones, armourers hammers, rations etcetera. In the Witcher it was without a doubt the books, covering monster lore, alchemical recipes, history and such. I did not need to purchase or collect dropped loot in the latter game because my inventory was limited to a realistic amount, and my weapons were superior to the common mass produced armaments of the soldiery. Edit: I'll admit i've complained about playing a virtual Croesus numerous times.

I always assumed that he was just using telepathy, I did like the stomach jest from the third game however.

I assume he can't talk now lacking a lower jaw and all, pity to mess up the pretty boy looks however. Doesn't sound or look like he qualifies at all to me, does he practise Allfathers runecasting or recite kenning poetry as was many of the legendary Berserks predilection?

Do enemies arms and armour degrade also? I'm just thinking that if i've been busily smashing an axe into my foe, will their armour become less effective? If I loot that armour from their corpse will that damage i've inflicted show, and the item state be maintained? Can I mitigate wear and tear through use of disposable items such as whetstones, oiling and polishing my armour etcetera, or is this upkeep reflected in the crafting skill?

The more features the better, always thought it was rather well handled in Betrayal at Krondor. However I would like to add that maybe there should be certain top tier weapons and armour that do not degrade, or are self repairing. Used as a reward for thorough exploration or valorous deeds.

Fletching, what crafting station do we use? So long as I have the arrow heads, if i'm using them, then all I need is a fire to help straighten the shafts and boil the glue for the flights, as well as a sharp knife.

Food and drink, item durability, enchantments etcetera. A feast of positive information in my eyes, thank you very much Messrs Cain and Monahan.

His snake is scarred? Does the gentleman practise masochism or somesuch? Edit: I didn't see the gentleman biting on his shield rim or frothing at the mouth, as was the traditional Berserks wont, so i'm not sure that definition applies. He certainly doesn't appear to be scandinavian.