Nakia

I also think we need to take into consideration that PoE was developed by a small team. I believe the Max number of people working on the game was 25, something like that. Not a large team for this day and age. There are advantages to this but even if 5 of those people were involved in quest writing could they possibly anticpate all the things we players can think of to do? I think OE did a pretty good job of giving players choices maybe too good a job because we keep coming up with if we can do this why can't we do that? I agree getting Aelys out of the room would have helped the role playing aspect. Or an option to tell her uncle the truth. I don't remember there being one.

Shopkeepers have unlimited funds; Camping? Hokay, I love the game but it isn't perfect, yet.

Yes, I think the stash is like a bag bog holding. I think of it that way which helps accept it. Some have suggested thinking of it as an invisible mule that will carry all you stuff without complain g. Unlimited ammo is handy I guess but I do kind of miss having all those different arrows, bolts whatever. Not too much though. Anyone can carry anything but I stick most of the loot in the stash until I can sell it. Just keep things the party can really use in the inventory. Extra food, potions, scrolls and maybe an extra weapon if it is special. Traps that I might use also. Since I never cared for any inventory in any game I have played the unlimited stash is fine with me. I am happy with the way OE handled the inventory and hope they don't change it.

Cantousent has pretty well covered things but I will add a couple of things. There is a learning curve to the game and remember there will be a new patch coming out soon maybe even today. Some hints for combat. Have one fighter as a tank. He or she will need to stand up to melee attacks and will be an excellent protector of your ranged members. Have an off-tank more mobile but able to give support to your tank and take damage. Endurance is very import. Put three points of athletics into all party members. Give your tank some points in stealth this way he can move up close to the enemy undetected. At the moment I think the consensus is that survival is not very important. A few points in lore also make it possible for non-casting party members to use low level spells which can be handy. Welcome to the forum and the land of Eora.

Personally I think every view point of Raedric is valid. This is a work of fiction, a fantasy and a game where conflict, intrigue and challenges are needed to hold the player's interest. When I step into the story as a role player I do my best to set aside my own moral values, political viewpoints. I don't succeed completely but I try. While I am playing the game the world of Eora becomes real and my choices and judgments are measured by the constrains, rules and lore of the game. Even in real life good and evil are not so black and white as some would like to think. I do not consider Raedric evil because to me evil is as morality is a conscious choice. I know that a certain act is wrong but I choose to do it. Raedric is trying to do what he believes is right for his people. He may be wrong and he may seem cruel but he is not evil. Which side your character chooses is also a moral choice. If you feel that Raedric's actions are evil and you believe he should be stopped that is your decision to make. I have played both sides depending on my character. This whole discussion has modified my initial reaction to Raedric. Good job people it isn't easy to get me to change my options.

I like the fact that PoE is a story oriented RPG. How can you truly role play if there is no reason to do so? There plenty of games available for those whose main interest is combat and leveling up but not so many for those of us who prefer to step into a story and act out a chosen character. We have seen more this year for which some of us are extremely grateful. PoE has a very deep story that raises more questions than it answers which I fin stimulating and refreshing. Also as Sannom what is the point of leveling up if there is no content for it? When I was playing Oblivion without mods to make it harder my Breton Mage was so powerful at level 16 I had to use the console to decrease her stats in order to have a challenge even playing on the had difficulty. I do wish PoE was more modable so that we could all get what we want.

I will try and avoid spoilers or use a tag if needed. Cantousent is on the right track. However Act II is in some ways the meat and potato of the game. There a lot of side-quests that if you XP, loot and just plain role playing fun. First play I accidentally rushed through Act II on the other hand you can always return to areas you have visited so maybe it doesn't matter.

Those would be nice. In Defiance Bay I do have trouble remembering where those I have visited are. Especially Odra's Gift area.

Actually PoE tends to surprise me as to accuracy. I have checked out their base weapons before enhancements and found them accurate. Armour is a little more iffy but I think that is partly if not mainly due to programming and computer limitations. Headgear is the only thing I have found to be poor due to the fact that the first thing any combat fighter invests in is head gear not just melee fighters but anyone going into combat the second thing is hand protection for sword fighters. I did question their staff fighting animations and checked it out to find they were correct and I was wrong. Afraid I fell for the Hollywood depictions and I should know better. Never fall for what Hollywood thinks is right because it probably isn't. Anyway as gkathellar says combat in fantasy land is only an approximation. The argument regarding engagement and disengagement will continue. I am eagerly awaiting the new AI scripts. I am really curious as to how they, OE devs, handle them.

The walking corpses in the graveyard have souls that animate them but their brains have rotted so they have no intelligence. The Hollowborn have no souls that is the whole point of the game or at least the main mystery of the game. Intelligence is formed by the combination of brain and soul which for me brings up an interesting point. Ogres are intelligent in PoE. Dragons also so what makes the Kith unique? What makes the Kith the Kith? PoE is a fascinating game that raises more questions than it answers. I love it.

Nobear makes a lot of sense to me. I am an armchair student of HEMA and doubt very much that one could reload a arquebus or arbalest while moving. I tried to find a video showing disengagement tactics but could only find one when fencing with a rapier or foil. However sword fighting is very intricate and not just a matter of chop and bash. The fighter is trained to study the opponent and be prepared for weird and unexpected moves. Actual mortal combat is a matter of kill or disable the other guy before he can kill or disable you. ​ I think it might be possible for an experienced fighter to get in an attack of opportunity if an opponent tries to flee. It all depends on the roll of the dice I guess.

Dream on my friend.

I hope it never does have BG style mages I like what OE has done in PoE.

All dialogue checks are based on your main character.

I usually try to have two or three hired adventurers at the keep to send on those party member quests. I like to play with the pre-made party members so try to keep them free in case I need that particular member. Turn base confused me and I appreciate those who understood it and have explained it. Defiance Bay can be daunting there are so many side quests available. Just talking to named NPCs can reveal a quest (not the Backer NPCs but others). It is a major area in the game.

Thank you, BAdler, we Backers have been a bit spoiled and do appreciate hearing from you guys. I'm looking forward to both the new patch and the Expansion. As Doppelschwert said we do have a passion for this game and it does make us impatient for news. It may sound like complaining but it is the complaint of love.

If a romance is included it should be optional. In BG SoA I tried very hard to choose friendly but not romantic options and still ended up involved with someone. The same thing happened in DA:O. I simply did not feel that the romances were optional. PoE gives me a lot of ways to roleplay. We have a variety of races each with their own culture, various backgrounds available from slave to aristocrat and then all the classes. Each choice I make affects who my character is. The godlike would cause a special problem IMO. The moon godlike is the most attractive to other kith, probably the fire godlike would be next but the death head and nature godlike I think would need a quirky romantic interest or another godlike. As already said paladins first loyalty should be to their order although this might make for an interesting romance with conflicts. Priests have or at least should have a love interest already, their deity. There too some interesting conflicts could be written in. All this would take a goodly amount of time and resources and I agree with Cantousent would be best used to flesh out the relationship among the party members. Your party is a team, their lives depend on each other and this does create a bond even between Eder and Durance who are natural enemies. We who do not wish romances included except as an optional DLC or mod have been asked to explain why but I would like to know why romances should be a mandatory item. To add interest? The inter-relationships of the party members would add interest. Edit: I didn't see 4ward's post. There is a possibility there of course and as long as it is your main character that initiates the dialogue and it is clearly optional that might be the solution. Maybe.

The game is not an Open World or Sandbox game such as the TES games are. I think the answer to your question is the Final Battle == Final Ending.

You will find that there are those who advocate min/maxing and those who don't. PoE allows for a variety of play styles so what is right for one person may be wrong for another. Also what is fine for a hired adventurer may not be good for you main character as attributes do affect dialogue choices in the game. I suggest reading carefully, thinking about what you want and then making your decision. No you don't get more attribute points but you can find items or enchant armour to get get better stats. My current priest started at 17 might but now has 19 but that could change when I change equipment. You can also buff your character with food before a combat or a dialogue.

I am currently playing a Priest of Berath and she is my support melee combatant so I think a priest can be pretty powerful at least the main character one who gets some additional talents as the Watcher. The way PoE is devised I think all the classes can be built to be pretty powerful. So as antousent said just choose your favorite class or try one of the new ones.

When we role Play we do bring our real life experiences and views to the game. We are probably laying a role that differs from our RL selves but our basic values, likes and dislikes have their influence. Sometimes we step outside our personalities in order to express a side we usually repress or simply to get rid of stress from our mundane world. The world we live in is not a simple one. Science constantly proves this. This is part of the reason we do have disagreements about role playing games and even in other types of games. Our realities differ according to our cultures and our life experiences. Romance is an emotional state and we do need to relate to it. I could accept having my Ork in Skyrim marry because orks are not humans and in fact just barely humanoid. My imagination allowed me to accept his marrying another ork but would not allow his marrying that gorgeous Nord woman. It might have permitted me to accept his marrying another male but not a human woman. Romance needs to be acceptable to the individual or be so well written that we can accept it. If the romance makes us feel uncomfortable we are not going to like it, we will be unable to accept it. Thus the arguments arise.

The word romance actually dates back to the romantic languages, Italian, Spanish and French. It was used originally to describe stories written in those language, stories of epic events and epic heroes. PoE IMO is a romance. It is a beautiful word and should not be trivialized.

VO in combat well it is a fantasy game so why not?

Cantousent, I will concede that you make some good points. I haven't played every RPG there is so there maybe some good romances but of the RPGs I have played there aren't any especially for women. I have seen a few mods that were fairly good even those written by men. Even in Skyrim I had my Ork Warrior male marry an Ork Warrior female and it worked fairly well until Beth made a patch that broke my game. But who needs romance when playing an Ork?

Yeah that is actually an ideal Romance implementation ...so you are clearly a Romance iconoclast ..basically a hater I will go even further. If there are going to be romances for us female types hire a female creative writer over 25 and have her do at least some of the writing. Better yet hire three women, one under 25, one 25 to 40 and one over 40. !!!