Ieo

And this is why Planescape:Torment has such a cult following for being the best in re plot and immersive depth. I think the main male PC showed the most skin. There was no actual nudity anywhere in the game besides, I think, a statue? Content first.

I like the Baldur's Gate text box for the dialogue, but I'd prefer the combat stuff to be in another tab or something for less textual clutter (and easier to scroll back through quest dialogue for review).

That's a fair opinion, but I doubt the inclusion of DRM 'allows' games to be made--it's a higher-level business decision that has to do with protecting subsequent IP rights. I'm sure there's licensing to use extant DRM systems and different other costs, like online registration and activation systems that require server maintenance. Not to mention that there is a HUGE variety of DRM and some forms are far more insidious than others; I am not against DRM per se, but I'm not touching SecuROM with a---any length of pole. I tolerate online activation or registration for most things because those are one-time. A disc-check on the physical copy is easy. Or a key tied to one's payment. Steam is unique in that it's both DRM and a distribution system, but the DRM is constant-checking (well, Steam must be running) judging by what others have said, so I personally think that's less ideal than any one-time system. So while I don't believe DRM has anything to do with 'allowing' game development, the other argument is that companies will want DRM to protect future interests and maintain profitability. However: THIS project is being crowdsourced. (I kind of think Kickstarter pledgers, especially those at a certain threshold, should get a DRM-free digital download on a point of faith for having invested. Everyone else afterwards can be shepherded to Steam or whatever.) Don't get me wrong, I'll still most likely pledge despite this initial imperfect digital offering, maybe even do the box version, but I'm hoping there will be more information about stuff before the Kickstarter end.

I posted something about romances in the 'tropes' thread, but thinking more about it here... What I'd like to see: PS:T levels of party interaction (breadth and colossal depth) but no outright romance options for main character. Inter- and intra- party romance lines with main character serving as counselor. We'd need at least two relationship counselors to help with the dialogue, though. Hey, it could be therapeutic and terribly enlightening. Not to mention I doubt any other game has tried something like that. In all seriousness, there are issues in both quantity and quality that can bog down a game depending on how much content is devoted to this type of relationship. Devs risk exclusion if they concentrate on, say, 2 appropriately nuanced romances--orientation, races, age, "alignment" if there's anything like that. Devs risk shoddy quality if they try to cast the net wide enough to cover all the bases, so to speak. Neither are any good, and though I suspect most will favor quality over quantity, I'll add that game players often like to play something 'representative' besides a good ol' creative role-play. Hacks aren't a decent way to address this, either (e.g. changing the main character's sex flag might open a romance option, but all the text is written for the opposite sex--kinda breaks immersion). Can both be done? Yes, absolutely--I truly believe it's possible with sensitive writers and substantial feedback testing, but this along with all the other game content falls under the project management trilemma: "Quick, cheap, good: pick two." So thinking about all of that and the realistic limitations placed on software development like this, I keep coming to the conclusion that it's better to leave openings for player imagination on their own terms (maybe mod opportunities) but flesh out a tremendous setting with a goodly number of freaking awesome party members... much like in PS:T.

Those are all trappings from traditional D&D, IIRC. I thought the latest D&D rules broke absolute armour limitations but still made them affect performance? I don't know. I stopped paying attention to D&D rules since, well.... possibly Baldur's Gate.

Hear, hear. I really liked Grace and the Brothel for Slaking Intellectual Lusts--intriguing stuff. And in another thread, someone posted that chainmail bikinis were fine if they were forced on male characters too; that reminds me that The Nameless One had only a loincloth. But I digress.

Thanks for the info on Steam. Well, maybe if it can be completely shut down during playtime... I don't know; still not ideal, but I'm also not going to say "There's nothing we can do about it, alas" because DA:O didn't have any DRM and it still did well enough on the market. (Uh, but then EA added SecuROM to the sequels, so... lol?) I should also add that my concern with DRM centers around the fact that the current kickstarter levels without physical media specify Steam PC only. Thus I'm wary to pay, essentially, unless it was worded more like "a digital copy" which covers a lot of bases, including Steam. Hmm. I guess I'll wait.

I'm curious about this too, and it's the only reason why I haven't dropped money yet. Steam in itself is a form of DRM, right? Is it possible to download a game from Steam and the uninstall Steam to play the game? (If not, then there's no way I'm doing Steam.) So then we're looking at the physical media and other download options, like Amazon digital content or whatever.