Nonek

In Divine Divinity they had a nice couple of scabbards on the hip, one for straight swords and the other for curved. Also you'd be asked to sheathe your weapon if talking to somebody, which seems sensible. Small axes and maces were carried on a belt loop, while the bigger weapons were carried on the back. Thought that was an eminently sensible way to go about it, but Lephys' suggestion is also very clever. I would argue however that when entering a dungeon I want my weapons out, shield raised, wizards grimoire hefted and all eyes peeled.

I wish I was 8 -10 years old again. Sorry my opinion riled you so Ulquiorra, I thought you were on the same page that having more control over your party and situations is a good thing. However I can see you're rather fanatical about Origins so i'll not denigrate the game any more.

I agree Ulquiorra control was far superior in the Infinity engine games, where you could quickly and efficiently manage the rag dolls yourself. Far superior to the broken threat mechanics of Origins.

I enjoyed Origins combat from an aesthetic standpoint, but the Benny Hill style chases after the undead at the Siege of Redcliffe village didn't exactly endear the broken control system to me. Nor did my allies happily jumping into the flames outside the windmill. I'll take Icewind Dales combat control scheme anytime over that. Also why did I have to buy tactics slots, surely these should have been free AI behaviours like in the Infinity Engine games.

Restarted a stalled playthrough of Icewind Dale 2, the atmosphere conjured through the graphics, music and quests is rather enchanting. I've just gotten to the watchtower area, to the west of Kuldahar, and it's rather heartening to see all of these throwbacks to the original game. Never got this far before, I quit after the endless slog through the underdark, a place i've never been particularly fond of.

I just realised where I got the name of the Null monster I designed in that thread, sorry about that. That bloody woman looks like a very strong concept, be interested to hear the lore behind her once it's worked out. Personally I don't mind if you gents release an update once every fortnight regularly, the anticipation is quite pleasant.

Yes it's more than possible that i'm asking for too much importance to be placed on the stronghold, and its implementation into the gameworld. Maybe got a touch carried away in the old stream of consciousness. Then again there might be a legitimate reason for the strongholds isolation, a secret fortress hidden away in the hinterlands, or obfuscated in even weirder circumstances. Perhaps a cipher lords long lost tower, that the passing city folk cannot see, as its masters glamour still hides it from their vision.

It's a well known fact that children thrive on discipline, and make for far more well adjusted and productive adults. Look at my own situation, my father was a very strict disciplinarian, he once shot me for putting too much butter on my crmpet, but I thrived under such tough but firm conditions. Unfortunately my brother Kenneth did not fare so well, after being warned repeatedly not to walk on the grass he was beaten to death with a bamboo cane, while being asked how he liked it. We however never walked on the grass again, though that was partially down to the proliferation of claymore mines planted throughout the Rhododendrons. My dear sister Emma was lobotomised for picking her nose once too often, but had been warned often and at length to discontinue this horrendous habit. Apart from these two exceptions my siblings are stable and productive (if heavily scarred) members of society, who are raising families of their own. Yours. Herbert P Wibblebottom. Parkhurst prison. Maximum security wing.

I was shocked to read this, as a nipper I spent a few years in Montclair in Durban, and my parents always told me that the crime rate was almost non existent. I can't really remember much except for walking along the beachfront and munching on ridiculously cheap fruit, so i'm left wondering whether this was hidden from foreign workers and their families, or whether the crime rates have actually changed so dramatically?

Got to say I can't really see where all the rage is coming from, Bioware and EA make games that seem ideally suited to the Star Wars milieu, this seems to be a marriage made in heaven. Though I admit I thought Kreia was the only point of interest in the whole setting.

I agree that we might well be taking the part of nabobs upon the expanding frontier, but eventually there will be competition, the imposition of royal authority and hopefully discontent among the natives. Such a position will not go unobserved or unchallenged for long, and that's a good thing in my opinion, the game of thrones (even in such a low position as the player will inhabit) can be very thrilling and dynamic. Of course we should have the opportunity to master our demense, but the methods of that domination are what I find to be interesting. Edit: Personally i'm hoping for a situation as intriguing as that presented in the Mission, with Spain and Portugal eroding the natives last chance of integration with their conquerors through the Jesuit missions. So that slavery and efficient plantations may be taken over, imperial secular authority be reinforced, and papal authority diminished.

Personally what i'd like to see is a realistic implementation of the stronghold into the gameworld, if the protagonist accepts the land, titles and duties that come with that fortress then he is in effect placing himself in a position of subservience and dominance, subservience to his feudal lord and dominance over the people and chattels who worked and live upon his land. Thus requests from his liege lord cannot be ignored, and the laws of the land cannot be overturned without consequence. Thus we see the player immersed into the laws, obligations and duties of his position, rather than just having a consequenceless treasure room. Politics suddenly becomes a paramount issue: How does one turn away that zealous inquisitor intent on rooting out evil and the ungodly in your land, the church is a strong ally and a dreadful foe. The kings taxes that you administer the collecting and safeguarding of, what actions do you take against bandits, tax dodgers, and willful non payers. While that gold sits in your vaults will it remain untouched or will a little slip away, through creative accounting, sticky fingered servants or greedy collectors. What of bordering nations, and discontented potentates within ones own realm? The player may be courted by them or their emissaries, promised wealth and further titles for either military support, or willful ignorance of troop and logistical movements being conducted on their lands. Does the lord remain loyal to his feudal betters, or betray them to neighbours and powerseekers, and what will his tennants and brother nobles think of his actions. If his plotting should become known, and his conspirators are overthrown, can he expect anything but the loss of titles and land or else face siege and possible annihilation. What of war? The nobleman is exempt from taxation, the wealth he gains from the rents of those working his land and conducting business in his demense is entirely his, but this comes at a price. He must raise levies, and help his feudal master in the pursuit of warfare against the states enemies, even if they are not his enemies, lest he be labelled traitor and coward. Does he do so, and will he personally go to war at his masters bidding, perhaps gaining renown and fame, or just a heavy heart at the pointless slaughter of able men and women in the meat grinder of medieval melee. All this and more, such as trial by combat for matters of law, the risk of unionisation among his workers, the spread of plague and sickness among his people, the security of his demense, the more mundane matter of judgement etcetera, etcetera. Edit: Also what of a peasants rebellion, some charismatic Wat Tyler arises among the common folk demanding equality and liberty for all. Does the player support this movement, which demands that all his titles and lands be taken away, by force if necessary. That the nobility are not better because of divine right, or the quality of their souls, but are the same as all other men and should be cast down from their thrones of luxury, thrones built upon the slavery and toil of others. Will the player support freedom, or his own hard won luxury, that would be an interesting dilemna.

Darklands.

Sorry had to step away, and now the posts un-editable i'm afraid JFSOCC, I do apologise.

The companion quest time limits worked well enough in BG2 and I liked them there, they were well highlighted by repeated warnings and gave a comfortable amount of days wriggle room to the protagonist, made you think about who you'd pick up and when among the companions. Gave the gathering of your party and the quests undertaken a nice air of strategy, so that your wandering was a bit less aimless. That said could a cunning player with a silver tongue extend that period of waiting, through persuasion of the companion and perhaps a gift of money or equipment?

Allthough I liked the grimoire, it was a rather deliberate attempt to lure the player towards the evil side of the alignment axis. I'd prefer something a little more subtle, taking the grimoire and Torment as a template, i'd say make every step a little more logical and well reasoned. Each companion had a secret hidden from Nameless, a few had many, let the grimoire hint of these and reveal them once it's got what it wanted (a drop of Nameless' immortal blood, a certain deed accomplishing etcetera.) Let it still deliver free powers at the higher levels of use, so that it appears to be helping the player, all the while alienating the protagonist from his companions and vice versa. Their morale steadily drops as the tome keeps whispering, and they either leave or attack the player at the lowest levels of loyalty, thus when the book suggests selling one of them off it seems to be a wise precaution rather than just a nasty and petty move. A pro active strike, after all the skull lied, the gith slave hates you, the tiefling conspired with her father, the fire wizard wants revenge, the succubus is evil, the cube knows too much and the Mercykiller is just too dangerous. Also make the grimoire useful in and of itself, it's curse is clever because it reveals no great penalty when equipped, instead aiding you in a very real way. Ideally i'd say let it have a motive and a game plan beyond corrupting the player, give it goals that it needs help achieving for which it will reward generously. For instance it could want a body ultimately, and ask that the player once he has slain someone like the construct wizard, place it upon the corpses chest so that it might drain their knowledge. Amply rewarded the player exits the Modron cube, and finds the grimoire rotting in his hands, the cube is unresponsive and the reborn Wizard has total control of that construct never to be seen again. Or perhaps come the end of Torment, the loyal grimoire finally switches sides, betraying the Nameless One to his doom. Either siding with mad Ignus, if he's present at the Fortress, or the Transcendant One himself if he is not. The player has given too much power and influence to the grimoire, it masters him easily and he is doomed to imprisonment in his own body, a flesh toy for Ignus burning, or a mindless tramp wandering Sigil watched over by the Transecndant Ones shadows. A real downbeat ending worthy of a man who sold himself into slavery. Though i'd also include an ending for the most cunning of incarnations to betray the grimoire, a deal returning it to the greedy hands of Lothar who will tear its spine apart, and rip the words from its pages with fell necromantic powers. Or even just thrown from the high battlements of the Fortress, to be consumed by the nothingness of the negative material plane.

I'm thinking the monks of Eternity sound like Flagellants, using martial arts like Pankration, the brutal wrestling/boxing of the ancient greek warriors. I prefer this as it would seem to fit more with the cultures of Eternity, rather than the Bruce Lee monks we see presented in AD&D.

Good question, I suppose it could be a learned thing, long gruelling hours plumbing the depths of ones soul in meditation, enduring greater levels of pain or sparring with ones brother monks. Prayer and a calling for the cleric, a gradual strengthening of ones faith in their deity, and a learning of accepted theology. Or perhaps it's an inborn thing, some souls are born suited to certain pursuits. Before that warrior pioneered his form of straddling the edge of death, the souls of born monks were lost and aimless, dockside bruisers with an unhealthy appetite for pain or assassins looking into their victims eyes for a clue to their strange urges.

I wonder if a monk, keen to strengthen his soul, would take part in gladiatorial contests? Can they use spiked gauntlets and other fist enhancements, like the greek pankration martial art, from the classical era.

Can't helped but be intrigued by the Monk concept, specifically why their theology would prioritise this level of suffering for its adherents, are they a flagellant like organisation? Perhaps the old adage of suffering being good for the soul, taken to its logical conclusion? Whatever the case, it's absolutely fascinating. The garb of the varying nationalities is also very pleasing, one can imagine the bustling port cities of Eternity being riots of colour and culture, clashing in a vivacious melange. The Valians in my opinion however need canes, for gesticulating, beating the dirty Glenfathans and general posturing at a jaunty angle.

A space marine romance: His eager hands, shaking with barely restrained lust, slowly reached out to caress her voluptuous form. Oil dripping from his meaty fingers, he began to rub and massage every inch of her curvaceous form, his excitement building by the moment. His eyes wandering greedily over her body were suddenly stopped by the dread regard of her sight, with laser precision she held him immobile in her regard. Snarling he wrapped her in a towel of softest synthskin, wiping oil and dirt away from her slippery form, before laying it down upon his matress. Clumsily he slammed his load into her, grunting with satisfaction, such a tight, eminently right fit. By he on holy Terra, Brother Magnus loved cleaning his bolter.

The game is being made for the Kickstarter audience alone however, the developers have stated this numerous times, and though I would not call myself hardcore I did contribute to help escape the modern trend of dumbing every game down to sell to the widest possible demographic. There are plenty of featureless streamlined games out there for the mass market, the whole point of project Eternity is to step back and embrace a style and genre that the industry abandoned, not to ape the latest trend. As for the game being a survival simulator, from what i've read of the medieval period, the getting of food and clean water was as much a priority as it would be in a setting such as Fallout and Wasteland. Entire armies and cities were devastated by dysentery, spread by polluted water. Bread was the staple diet of most of the malnourished lower classes, and meat was an extremely rare luxury. A good rpg set in this time period should have elements of survival incorporated into it, otherwise we do not understand the struggle that the peoples of the gameworld undergo, and it becomes less believable. More a renaissance fayre setting than an immersive theatre of conflict. That's my personal take on the matter anyway.

And ye, with each step that the mighty ursine Astartes take, they mutter the name of their monolithic Primarch. He who sprang forth from the planet Nutwood, to join his immortal father among the stars, and lead the crusade against the very stuff of nightmares. Mighty Christopher Robin. May my stitching not be unwound by the hand of Tzeentch, my stuffing not rot from Nurgles plagues, my fur turn aside the fury of Khornes rage, and my button eyes remain blind to the temptations of Slaanesh. In the Emperors name, no evil shall escape the snuggling of our bolters.

Damn and blast Mr Auxilius! Thought this was a thread on green cannibalism, i'm now slightly miffed.

Plastic! They were lead in my day. Yeah like any setting with twenty or so years of heritage, the Warhammer IP possesses a lot of potential to build upon.