Masasume

Right. However, playing RPG's online aren't the same as playing FPS online. People that play RPGs online like being able to grow their character, and get loot while playing with others. Most of the fun in an RPG is upgrading your character. Right now the game sounds like it's multiplayer is the same as Fable 2's which was a huge disappointment to many fans of the series and genre. It's even weirder here, where what was a PC only franchise where the fanbase were PC players, is now a console game with what is basically a copy/paste PC port. Meaning the people that have been fans of the series the whole time don't even get to enjoy it as a proper PC game let alone a modern PC RPG with proper multiplayer. That being said, I have of course only played the demo. Hopefully I'll enjoy the single player enough that I wont even care about doing multiplayer.

So it wont even have an online only character server like Diablo 2, with characters that can only be accessed online for the sole purpose of multiplayer? Ouch.

Agreed. They made the entire UI large (even the inventory and talent tree) because console gamers usually sit further from their screens. On top of that, consoles don't have hover functions like PC, so all the text is displayed all the time. They could easily make the entire GUI into what we see in traditional PC RPG's with everything having separate windows that can be opened rather than huge things that take up the whole screen. Especially the talent tree. Mouse hover text goes a long way in minimizing UI space.

I think you're forgetting something here : local coop. The screen already feels crowded with two of those UIs on screen, I'm not sure we can put two of yours on one screen. Also, I must say I'm skeptical of the need to see all the abilities on the screen. If we had more than three abilities by stance and the stance system was a console-specific hotbar system, I could see the use though. Whoever said that putting the life and mana bar around the character's portrait would be a good idea : I agree with you. The local co-op I wasn't thinking of at all because it's the PC version. I don't think I've seen people do co-op on one computer since the late 90's. I assumed the game will have online/networking co-op/multiplayer. Was I wrong? I know the demo doesn't, but that's the demo.

Thanks I simply want to see everything on the screen. I know that you can't use the other abilities unless in the right forms/stances. I just don't see the point in hiding the other abilities completely when there is plenty of room to have them available. When you can see all the abilities, you're more likely to think to use them. Especially for a new player. They'll see them there and want to access them. I believe that a player should be able to pick up a game and figure out the controls without having to be told exactly what they are. Part of figuring out controls means knowing what your character can do. With the current UI, if you were to do that, you'd think "I only have three abilities?" And then you'd spend time pushing combinations of buttons and figuring out their are more. Easily done on a controller with few buttons, but on a keyboard/mouse you have far more combinations. Or you'd have to find a manual or something like that. It's not as convenient. But with my UI, you see all your abilities there, so you know what to look for. It may just be a personal thing though. Having said that, there is a strong connection between UI and controls with Western RPG's. PC RPG players are used to being able to look at the UI and tell from that what their controls are. Most are commonplace such as WASD for movement. But by having hot bars, or abilities that show what buttons to push to use them, you allow players to understand the game play quicker, and it feels much more comfortable. A lot of people that are currently complaining (or having issues) with the controls would likely not feel that way with a more PC friendly UI. The example I made was done quickly. I could improve it and make it a bit more appealing, especially that font. I turned out looking rather crude. The whole animation for switching forms/stances wouldn't have to be there. The border could simply appear around the current form/stance you're in, rather than being an animation.

You can actually finish the entire attack combo, and then roll back to where you were after by pushing back + Spacebar. That being said, if you're under heavy attack, your mana will regenerate very quickly and you can take advantage of your spells a lot more.

Ah, yeah. Haha. Looks like Divinity 2 did exactly what the current DS3 UI does. It switches without letting you see the other forms abilities at all. I've never played that game though, I don't know how often you would need or want to switch between forms or anything like that, so the UI working like that may be just fine for it. DS3 on the other hand, there really is no need to minimize what you can see. Most PC RPG's have at least 9 abilities on screen as it is, so making the UI work the way it does with only showing three doesn't seem all that logical for the PC version.

Really? The current UI only shows 3 abilities at one time, despite their being 6 abilities in all... It's a bit silly. The UI I set up shows all abilities at once and would actively highlight the abilities you can use based on your form/stance. From what I could see from the demo, all the characters are going to have two "forms" along with the guard stance. The warrior for example has his tanking form and his DPS form. If you noticed, I put 1, 2, and 3 up on the abilities. That's a nice visual reminders for PC players on what to push. If they were to change those keys to E,R, and F, as was suggested earlier, then it would change on the abilities to those keys. The 360 and PS3 don't need to visually show that. They standard UI simply mimics the controllers form. That doesn't work for a PC conversion because keyboards have FAR more keys than a controller does. The same UI doesn't really work for it. As far as the health bar and mana bar go, really, I think anything can work in that department. I'm sure it's large because most people have larger screens than they used to back in the day. I think as long as it's placed close to the abilities, it's not that big of a deal where or what it looks like. As for the special ability, I left it over in on the characters picture frame, but thinking of it now, it would likely go best between the two forms. It's nice to be able to see it easily. They used the special ability in Dungeon Siege two, and in that it was also placed more in the center of the screen. Much more noticeable.

I disagree that the UI is okay the way it is. It works for consoles, but not PC. Currently the demo is just a copy/paste of the 360 version. For this game to survive as a PC game, they need to work harder on it's PC version rather than just giving us the same thing. I went ahead and made a quick visual idea of what a better PC version UI could look like. And as far as controls go, it's up to the devs to find controls that are comfortable for gamers on both their console and PC versions as well. If everyone is having to go in and edit the controls when they play the game, then something is wrong. The default controls should feel comfortable to most players. Especially in a game where some functions won't work unless another key is being held down.

Depends on what Baldurs Gate games you played I guess. The ones I played felt a lot like Dungeon Siege.

Dungeon Siege 1 was like a cross between Diablo and a Baulders Gate game. Dungeon Siege 2 was even more like Diablo, with the portals, waypoints, and the way you had to run back to your body, but it still had that Baulders gate western RPG style feel to it. Dungeon Siege 3 feels like Diablo meets Fable 2/3. It's still a western style RPG, but it's more action RPG than Baulders gate style. This was clearly done to make 360/PS3 versions possible.

I really hope the PC demo UI isn't the one we will see in release. This UI worked great in the 360 demo, I knew what I was doing, and figured everything out easily. However, in the PC demo it's not near as clear. It's a lot harder to figure everything out, and the UI makes it confusing with the keyboard and mouse. I'm just talking about the main display UI. Honestly, if I had not played the 360 version first, I wouldn't have even known to look for HALF of the stuff my character can do in the PC version. The game needs a proper hot bar and such rather than what it has. Having to hold shift to see the other half of the abilities and then pushing the numbers for them while holding shift is very awkward as well. I understand that the different stances utilize different abilities, but I know that the UI can be set up for PC players to better see how that works. Tons of other RPG's do it. Right now with the current UI and the current controls, everything feels like a jumbled mess when trying to play. Once you figure it all out, sure, it's playable. But it's like trying to play a game with the controller upside down.