Googolplexbyte

sounds cool, you could have the game consist of a short story mode/portal-style tutorial, which then has a continue after the credits, which leads to an endless free roaming survival mode that builds on what you learnt in the main game.

While I agree with the first part, I think the "style" of RPG should also take into account which "style" of RPG is cheaper and less time consuming to make. Obsidian is use to big budget(tens of $MM) games, something kickstarter can't achieve (maybe a couple of $MM), so great care must be taken to ensure they don't run over budget. Trying to do this, while not negatively affecting the story would be difficult, some solutions; No Voice overs, base on pre-existing engine, use a retro style, make the game short but with room for replayability and expansion.

Agreed, why bother falling back on the planescape setting? Obsidian could do just as well (or much much better) with an original setting while not risking scaring off people who haven't played or didn't like PST. Forcing unnecessary limits on yourself (such as old IP) would only stifle innovation and creativity.

How many Hindu protagonists can you name? What about Christian? I don't remember ever playing a christian protagonist!I don't see why you'd even have any real world religions in the game. Exactly my point. Also true, but this is generally done by making humanoid, not only tolkienesque races, but also the dreadful furries. I think Obsidian has the creativity to make humanoids that aren't furries or tolkien ripoffs. Also if they had a unique setting it'd be kind of weird if the just dropped normal humans in there, even if it's just humans that have been changed slightly by the new setting, such as an evolved human that has changed to suit harsh condition of world covered in desert, or humans infected with a bio-engineered disease that makes them fear pure water and gives them rock-like skin, or humans with glowing eyes and blue-grey skin mutated by nuclear war.

Yeah I agree, all the retro stuff and keeping the game short would be nice as it'd allow more time and money to be spent developing the story and characters, anything that can be done that allows more time to be spent on the story the better or improves the story, should be done, such as: Making the game short and dense, no need to waste time adding fluff to lengthen it. 2D isometric turn-based game, simple mechanistically = less time on non-story. procedural generation = big intricate world with minimal time spent on world building. Party based could be helpful for a game with good character. Non combat focused game, allowing for more variety in the story. Strategy and tactics, allowing story choices to have consequence in game play. Conversation "combat", allows story choices to be more interactive and skill based. A story relevant levelling system would be nice. A party transport/cargo vehicle, so party members leaving/dying has less impact on loot. Full party member control and customisation, so that your in control of everyone's story

How many Hindu protagonists can you name? What about Christian? I don't remember ever playing a christian protagonist! I don't see why you'd even have any real world religions in the game.

Great idea, let's focus on the story and setting on abnormal sexuality. Bioware has blazed the trail on this by publishing several high profile RPG/dating sims. Obsidian just needs to take it to the next level and abandon all pretense of story beyond who gets to bang who! /sarcasmAlright, that might have been a little bit harsh. Point being, sex should not be the main focus or even a heavy element in RPG's. Leave that to the dating sims.by no means did I want sex to the main focus, it'd be nice if there was a game capable of talking about sex and relationships in a mature meaningful manner, that wasn't from atlus, but I don't think obsidian are capable of that.No, I just want a game where the protagonist isn't the same standard character as every other video game, I'm only asking for a bit of diversity.Shouldn't they just leave the choice to player? Why the f*** would they force worldview/sexuality/anything on the PC I want to play?Even TNO could be shaped to a person/alignment you wanted.I for one I'm not ashamed of being a white heterosexual priviledged man; for my rpg-s I pick characters I wish to roleplay, be they white, black, green, purple, gay, straight, asexual, tall, short, fat, human, elf, genius, retarded, nice, violent... That's what chargen is for. You can have lots of customisation of your character even if you exclude real human ethnicities, why do all games have to be focused on homo sapiens, when they contain humanoids, there are so many unique and distinct being you can create that don't have to have anything to do with real humans.

f Agreed, completely new and original setting

I think the point of Isometric RPG (along with no VO) is it'll be cheaper, Kickstarter isn't going to give them that much money, so obsidian is going to have make some cost cutting choice some where and if that give the game some Nostalgia all the better, but just because a game sounds traditional doesn't mean that it has to be mechanically, there'd still be plenty of wiggle room for innovation and risk taking.

I very much agree with you on that point, switching to Alpha funding once they've got that initial kick start, would probably be a big help towards giving the game a bigger budget, plus it'd help involve the community all the more.

Great idea, let's focus on the story and setting on abnormal sexuality. Bioware has blazed the trail on this by publishing several high profile RPG/dating sims. Obsidian just needs to take it to the next level and abandon all pretense of story beyond who gets to bang who! /sarcasmAlright, that might have been a little bit harsh. Point being, sex should not be the main focus or even a heavy element in RPG's. Leave that to the dating sims. by no means did I want sex to the main focus, it'd be nice if there was a game capable of talking about sex and relationships in a mature meaningful manner, that wasn't from atlus, but I don't think obsidian are capable of that. No, I just want a game where the protagonist isn't the same standard character as every other video game, I'm only asking for a bit of diversity.

The main character should start off fairly plain average and indistinct, fundamentally replaceable. The story and attachment you have to a character should be the one you forge through role playing and choices you make. It'd be nice to be able to play a kind fellow, who dies straight away leaving friends to morn and save the world themselves and play an aggressive egotist who walks all over his subordinates leaving them spiteful as he takes over the world, all in the same game by mere merit of an ambiguous beginning and dynamic story.

Main character shouldn't be a white straight male(or an analogue of such), how about a game in setting where those word have little meaning, have a society with a colourful bisexual androgynous populace, why not have the majority of the population be non-human, some sort of original humanoid (and not an ethnic stereotype in fantasy/sci-fi guise).

It'd be nice to see a good fear system, where enemies flee if your to strong or their to injured, and NPCs hide and shops close when you pass through town, being able to avoid fights using raw physical intimidation.

Yes please

No nostalgia factor involved with me, TB is not an obsolete relic of the yesteryears despite not being offered much at the moment. I just happen to like that sort of gameplay much better than RTwP, and I absolutely loath slowmo stuff. And there really are too few of 'em turnbased games in the market. Agreed, I don't think I've ever played anything turn-based other than pokemon, but I still would like something turn-based.

Agreed a unique environment, containing unique creatures and races would be brilliant.

Okay here's the game I fantasise over; A sci-fi version of Sid Meier's Pirates as an RPG, in which you and your crew sails and colonises the clouds of Venus, make the game short, but with lots of re-playability, I liked how you could alter the world you started in for difficulty. The semi-2D environment of sailing on an ocean of clouds, is very conducive to stealth and ambushing, as well as semi-random(stealthed) encounters. Make it 2D isometric turn-based Strategic tactical RPG with squad/party combat as well as heavy emphasis on non-combat, such as making each character have two class a combat class and non-combat class, although there could be some overlap. You will have RPG progression, your Airship will have RPG progression, and each of your crew members have RPG progression. You, your Airship and your crew members, will be fully customisable. Each member of your crew will be distinct have there own stories as well as interconnected ones. Everyone of your crew member (including you) can have emotions, relationships and even Non-game over deaths. The main game [story] is time limited, making the game technical short and fast paced, but the game can carry on outside of the main story. This allows both a quick game for those who want it, and an in depth hidden world full of exploration and side stories for those whom have the time. The world is composed of vast oceans of clouds, filled with floating structures allied to various factions and of different types, Sky Farms[Harvesting the much brighter rays of the sun to feed the plants], Sky shafts[Vast towers that plunge into the clouds, hoping to gather resources from the surface without being destroyed by the inferno on the surface], Sky Hooks[ Port cities, with space elevators connecting it satellites above], Sky Fortresses [Large floating commercial cities, that trade and hoard Gold, weapons and other] resources], Sky Mines[small wondering mining cities that seek out naturally occurring floating islands composed of alien coral], Coral Shanties[scrap together home built on the underside of floating islands, often filled with pirates, and folk willing to viciously defend their home]. The Floating Alien Coral Islands are islands composed of hexagonal tiles made of nitrogen-filled porous rock/living matter, the islands are often filled with minerals gathered from the air by micro-organisms as well as other important resources, it often carries native alien life forms as well, but be careful the oxygen you breath is a deadly toxin to them. These islands can be like mini block game side mission, where you can gather resources for trading or upgrading, as well as for practising combat. All floating structures can be sacked, conquered or traded with so long as they don't destroy with their cannons when you approach, crew/party combat should be tactical and turn-based, kind of like RPG chess.

Oh if you actually want to take my clouds of Venus setting seriously, you can know the idea of humans colonising the clouds of Venus is grounded in science. 50km above the surface of Venus lies a place with the same temperature and pressure as Earth, coupled with the fact that on Venus the air we breath is a lifting gas, creating floating cities here would be very easy, air leaks in your balloon would be much of an issue as the pressure inside and outside would be about 1atm so the leak would be very slow, plenty of time to find and fix it. No need to worry about long cold Venus nights either as they are nearly as warm as Venus days. There are massive amounts of energy on Venus, the surface glows red with geothermal energy, the sun is 4 times brighter than on earth (mix that with all the CO2 in the air, it's plant paradise) and the winds are so strong that they could whip a floating city around the planet in about 96 hrs.(helping solve the problem of Venus long days). Another benefit of Venus is the gravity is only slightly lower than earth's, so no bone or muscle deterioration like one would experience on mars, but you'd still get an add boost to your jump height. The only real problem is the rain(that's right there is rain on Venus! what more could you need!) is highly acidic, so making things out of metal is a big no-no, plastics, ceramics, biomaterials or carbon nanotube derivatives is a must, which would give a unique aesthetic for the Venus cloud setting. [source:( NASA - http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20030022668_2003025525.pdf ) ]

Definitely 2-D Isometric, it looks like everyone wants that. Definitely parties, preferably large parties(6+), but filled with detailed characters with complex interacting stories, whom are all directly controllable( or as close to this as it makes sense for the combat/story). Definitely Turn-based, preferably with strategy/tactical elements (maybe a tile based battlefield, where positioning is important) Having lots of customisation options would be nice, no forcing the player to dress the characters in drab faceless armour because its the highest level armour, How about full character creation for each of the team members you encounter, and how about a fully customisable party transport vehicle, as well as customisable party logos/flags/mascot? Good story is a must, no need for Voice over, maybe a bastion style Narrator but no more than that, fill the world with lots of flavour text. As for the setting I think Sci-fi > fantasy, too much fantasy in RPGs, but don't do space opera, do something more grounded(get it cause it's not in space) cyberpunk/near-future/Venus cloud colonies(Mars belongs to Double Fine stay away from there and nobody gets hurt).

Yeah, me too. But I want something... deeper. I want several types of Conversation Skills (instead of a catch-all Skill, like Speech), like Charm, Intimidate, Seduce, Deceive, Outwit, etc.,Like, instead of having my companions deal with every threat, I'd rather convince that bloodthirsty rabble of Thugs to join a local youth group and do volunteer work cleaning up the city. That would be amazing, having entire pseudo-combat phase composed of battle of the wits/tongues, if you fail badly it sends you into combat or punishes you in some way. I'd like it but I've hit my quota for the day

I agree that Alpha funding is a better model, but I think a kickstarter launch is necessary to ensure that they have some sort of initial budget to work with, plus I imagine a lot of the costs would be the initial ones, it would be great to see Kickstarter + Alpha funding, it would also means cautious people or those who missed the initial funding can still jump on board once the Alpha starts to shine.

No (spiritual) sequel, Original IP. (spiritual) sequel has a limited appeal, Original IP can have much greater appeal. Plus kickstarter is supposed to about innovation, about get rid of publisher based limit (some of which can be left over in prior IP).

I love the Idea of a Diplomat class, in fact non-combat class in an RPG sounds great. How about having a Healer class that isn't designed to be mainly used in combat. Or an engineer class, who's job is to make stuff most of which is unrelated to combat unless you spec them that way. Or how about a entire dual class system, with each character having a normal class and a combat class.