Merin

I'm okay with beta access being higher tier. Both as it limits how many can get in (for the sake of the beta meaning anything - this isn't an MMO, after all) AND as incentive to get people who really want that access to donate higher. This is how other games on Kickstarter did it. I think it is right. I even think they maybe set it too low.

Nail. Head.

Depends entirely on how active they get in promoting the Kickstarter and doing stuff to encourage more (and increases of) donations. If they stay as is, with what I would guess are updates about a day after goals are reached and maybe a handful of other updates on Kickstarter... 1.8 will be hit in roughly four days. 2.0 maybe a ten days after that. And we'll crawl to maybe just reaching 2.2 or 2.3 by end of campaign. However, if they up their game (I expect they will) then it could be in as little as 2 days, with later goals adjusting based on what their game is.

Context is important. In the context of this thread's topic, I'd argue that "mature" means both handling topics in an adult, reasonable, rational and thoughtful way as well as topics that are a bit more cerebral, more graphic, or more controversial. It's the combination of those two - you could have a mature conversation about bunnies or playing hopscotch, and you could have a very immature exploitation of sex, drugs and violence. So, to sum up - mature examinations of mature topics. A considered and grown-up inclusion of subject matter that is considered not suitable for minors and juveniles (the not-adults, or immature.)

"Achievements" as trophies you unlock to share with friends, the kind that include stupid, meta-gaming stuff, is only really fun for something like Saints Row the Third and silliness, IMO. That said, I love getting titles or such in games like Fallout. LOVE IT. So how Steam or XBOX or PSN does them? No. How games like Fallout or Arcanum did them? Yes.

The player-editable edition would be the easiest implementation, but possibly the least satisfying for the majority of players. I mean, you have people who won't care beyond a quest list. So we can say they are satisfied with any journal really. Then there are the ones that if they type it in but the game never reacts to what they type then they don't care to do it. I kind of understand that sentiment. So if they could create some kind of system where based either on player direct choices (for journal entries as they are written) or on choices the player makes during the game (dialog, story, which way they go in quest orders, etc.), or both, that shapes a prewritten journal entry that feels in a developing voice / style that players can feel is "their own" I think that would be the most exciting prospect. Look to Dragon Age: Origins. On the BSN you could click the story tab for a member's character and read what choices they had made. It was a pretty cool feature. Now ignore the social network function, and add some more player choice into the voice of the journal, and how awesome would that be? A finished journal, maybe outputed as a pdf, that you could read or share post-game.

Just saying...

DM does, yep. PnP are multiplayer gamers and you have to adjust for single player cRPGs, yep. Also - I've played plenty of tabletop RPGs where the players control multiple characters. It's sometimes called troupe play. Some games are buildt for it, some allow for it, some don't mention it (but can't stop you from doing it.)

Mostly Icewind, the Fallouts and Arcanum. NWN2, KotOR2 and even ToEE were fine as well and definitely have aspects I greatly appreciate. I'm not a big fan of BG, and not at all a fan of PS:T (I know, heresy around here especially) but I am a huge Interplay/Black Isle Studios/Troika/Obsidian fan, so...

They aren't working on anything together. Ray is going off into social entrepenaurship, and Greg will be focused on drinking, brewing, and interviewing brewers of beer. Ray is done with making games, but says they will remain a treasured hobby. Greg says it will be some time before he's involved in games again, and that he possibly won't return. ... The join announcement. It's just... I don't know.

WTF... announced on the same day? BSN Post Greg's blog. Ray's blog. It is dang hard to not start formulating conspiracy theories in one's head.

I can understand where you are coming from.. and I certainly don't want shallow story, either... hence why I'm not too big a fan of open world. You chose 4 then? I'd be satisified with 4. Just pushing for 6 as much as possible. Given the choice between mediocre story with meaningless but many choices and uninspired yet different endings vs. one good ending and meaningful but few side choices, I'd probably want the later as well. I think those of us in the 5 and 6 range still want good writing and good story. I shouldn't speak for everyone, though.

I pre-ordered TW2 on GOG. I own it, and The Witcher, but I've not even finished the first game yet. It's been awhile since I tried. I plan on getting through both, however, and am looking forward to TW2.

I don't think anyone in this thread was asking for "afterschool special" messages, nor shoe-horning in topics that don't fit the story Obsidian is telling. Straw man is full of straw.

I didn't spend the entire duration of Lonesome Road getting bitched at by Ulysses about the importance of symbols and understanding their meaning to hear Mr. Chris Avellone say the logo doesn't matter. *doublechecks* No, I'm not Chris Avellone. So... you have a quote from Mr. Avellone where he says that logos don't matter? If you do, point taken. If you are conflating my response with him, however... in any case - public domain is public domain. Common symbols are common - if you don't like the choice, don't like the choice. But this is as silly as saying that Dragon's Dogma and Divinity II shouldn't use dragons at all since Dragon Age:Origins had just done dragons.

When he said "we" he was talking about him, me and all the other people with good taste in RPGs that funded this game. Eternity: Hearthfire is a terrible idea. All the best RPGs didn't have houses you could buy and raise families in. This isn't the Sims. Consider me to have bad taste, then, as I have no problem with property in an RPG. I mean, what were those losers Gygax and Arneson thinking when they including players getting their own base of operations (keeps, towers, etc.) as a normal part of leveling up. Those guys clearly knew nothing about RPGs made in good taste.

Yeah, I don't care what Bethesda's MMO is using as a symbol. Obsidian can use what they want.

Asking for more details is not unreasonable. Saying that Obsidian is doing a poor job (as compared to what) I say is. I just posted elsewhere about this - but Obsidian is on track to have as many updates with as much information in them as both inXile and Harebrained Schemes, and forget about Double Fine - they started on February 8th and had their first update on the 15th, a week after they hit their goal.

Thanks for the comment - but you guys are doing just fine! Don't worry about it! Keep on doing the great job you are doing!

I put Shianni in charge of the alienage at the end of the game as my "reward" - she was one of my favorite NPCs from the game. I liked her more than some of the companions!

That's right, how'd I forget the City Elf origin?!? That was my first playthrough, and I chose to play a female rogue elf (three things that go against type, the latter two being choices I NEVER make for characters I play) specifically because of the ads for that origin story. Origins was such a great game.... no, wait, NOW I remember why I forgot about it. DA2 and ME3. That's why. EDIT - and, speaking of BG2, the intro to that and Imoen's memories of her time in Irenicus's care were all about the darkness of being tortured.

No, this is one of the better original (at least to me) ideas I've seen in a long time. I like this. If, after events happen, you had a way of chosing how your journal recorded events... imagine how personalized your game experience would feel! I love this! I can imagine a myriad of ways this could be implemented - from somehow the game gleaning from your choices and dialog options a specific style to fill out your journal entry, to after events happen the journal pops open and you select some options that shape how the entry is written, to simply having the normal bullet points but under the bullet points are text boxes for you to fill in your in-character description of the bullet point. Thanks for the idea! I hope Obsidian sees it and considers it! This could be really big - and I think it would be fairly simple, depending on the way they could go with it, to implement. Unless they wanted it very complex - which I'm all for!

I'm game for lists of things I don't see media often deal with! family vs. community vs. state: is it right for a father to go out and fight for his king, leaving his family behind? is it okay for a mother to steal medicine her child badly needs despite her village having a clearly defined order of who gets the medicine to maintain order and fairness? should the governor be able to enforce strict taxes on a prosperous farming hamlet to help feed the soldiers defending the borders? I don't remember ever seeing a game really dig into this (well, maybe that One Chance flash game) hedonism vs. purity: sure, you get good vs. evil all the time, and you get certain acts dropped into either moral spectrum... but when have you seen personal pleasure vs. ascetic restraint (and all the ranges in-between) discussed in a game without overt moral or religious overtones? characters who are gluttons, others who refrain from material wealth... just examining the extremes that people can go to based on their own predilictions, urges and personal codes of conduct science, skepticism and atheism: this is a fantasy game, so possibly a bad place to put this - but I felt like Dragon Age: Origins (despite later protests to the contrary) did an amazing job of letting you play as a character who didn't believe in the gods, and in fact the world played out almost like the real world (short of magic existing) where belief was a matter of faith and spotty historical record, not concrete miracles and proof; also, just once in a game I'd like to see science treated as a way to understand the world and not as a "belief system" or just the way in which you can ENGINEER devices self-interest vs. sacrifice: inside a game it would be nice to see the idea of "sacrifice" not automatically being accepted by all as good and virtuous; different races and cultures should definitely leave plenty of room for beliefs of a more objectivist bent; moreso, taking care of oneself and wanting to see everyone prosper as much as possible should get equal billing as opposed to constantly saying how much struggle and sacrifice everyone gives is the "right way to live" "taboo subjects": some things that just won't ever be included - rape, incest, torture... depending on the focus of the game, having these as story points (since they are real things that really happen) and the player character and companions having to deal with these things being in the world would be a very mature game, if handled right.... and this isn't to suggest that players are allowed to rape, torture, or have sex with their parents... but if it's good enough for Greek myths and the Bible, why can't the subject matter be in an M rated game? Those are things I'm always wishing would at least occasionally be in the games I play.