Nakia

What I get from Luridis' post is that there actually isn't any such class as Rangers. It is an umbrella name for someone who primarily uses a ranged weapon and may or may not have an animal companion. The only game I have played where I thought Rangers had a useful and intelligent part was Fallout/NV. As PrimeJunta has pointed out the wilderness skills are of little or even no use in PoE. If Josh Sawyer has his heart set on a Ranger class I suggest pulling it from the game and restructuring it for the expansion. Personally I like this suggestion of Prime's:

@PrimeJunta, I agree with you. The reason I mention morality is you have to build a background for the class i.e. why would someone become a monk? Why would someone become a ranger? A killing machine, an assassin, if wilderness skills are not important then those are the important skills I think. Delta Force, Bruce Willis ? The companion animal is actually IMO not a pet but a partner just as a dog in a Canine unit is a man;s partner. Another weapon but there is a bound between the two. I agree why bother with rangers when other classes can fill the void? Tradition? Because players expect someone with an animal companion? Maybe it is time to break with tradition.

In fantasy games I have never played very much with rangers. I personally don't think modern people understand them. What are they and what is their function? Scouts? Light weight paramilitary? Daniel Boone, Jim Bowie? People who understood the wilderness, who eventually came to act as conservationists in more modern times? Who were more at home away from towns and cities who were at their best out in the wilds. In fantasy I think they would have some kind of bound with their animal companions and the loss of that animal would cause a penalty to the ranger. I think they would be "free souls" not adhering to the morality of "normal" society but not being immoral either. Having their own morality. In D&D terms maybe chaotic good. Sorry for the rambling but I think the problem with creating a good ranger build is we don't understand them because they don't fit a known mold, they aren't soldiers, rogues, wizards, priests. edit: Their very name says it to me. They range even if a unit it would not be a tight knit one but a ranging unit, spreading our, stealth I think would be important, maybe having some of the skills of the assassin. Special forces?

OE actually stuck with reality with those guns. Wheellock guns where slow to load. Long bows where fast to shoot and in the hands of an expert could be deadly. Crossbows where more deadly but slower to reload. Guns of the period when they worked where great but didn't have the range or speed of bows. Bunker Hill - "Don't shoot until you see the white of their eyes."

Tell that to daggerfall. Also, even the console versions sell well. Good character creation, big worlds, and lots of junk to do is the secret to TES' success. The user mods just send their popularity into overdrive. I was thinking of Oblivion and Skyrim. The games do have the appeal of the open world and the player choice as to how to play but considering that it is not uncommon for people to max out the 255 mod limit and then merge mods so they can get more I still think that user made mods are important to the life of those games. Shivering Isles expansion, a game I loved, also helped Oblivion a lot. Morrowind has been revamped and given new life also.

I am also one of those who dislikes inventory management and appreciates have it a shared thing.

User made mods are the secret of the TES games success.

Interesting as 13-02-2015 falls on a Friday. Could someone be wishing Obsidian bad luck?

Because there is always another game to be made or a plug-in. Players expressing opinions and ideas do have some influence.

That makes sense to me.

They seem to have made normal and easy difficulty easier but made hard harder.

I have had humanoids from another room come in when the party was fighting. At least if there was an open door between the two rooms. Probably a matter of one of my party stepping into the Aggro space though.

But can he do anything else interesting except dealing good damage? Every martial character deals damage, why must wizard also do the same? In IE games, my fighters and archers did most damage, wizards disabled enemies and improved chances for fighters and archers to deal more damage. Those wizards were much more interesting. Depends on your view point. I am finding this wizard much more interesting.

D&D is copyright by Hasbro so it cannot be used without their permission so the PoE is not a D&D game and does not claim to be one. It is being developed in the spirit of those early games not as a clone of them.

I wouldn't say it was never an option. A less likely one, perhaps. And/or, it'd be less likely that they'd be able to do it as close to ideally as would be, well... ideal. But, as to why I'd write a "long" post about it? I'm pretty sure that's what discussion is for. Imagine how far humanity would have come in anything if all we did was sit around nixing options to even discuss, much less attempt. I don't want to live in the world where considering ideals alongside limitations is somehow frowned upon. I agree we would still be sitting in caves freezing if people hadn't had ideas and shared them.

I have always felt that your V.I.P. companions should get something in return for helping you out. I know they are supposed to have their own quests that you help with and that is something.

I enjoyed building my own motley crew in IWD games and I was wondering if we would be able to send those hired mercenaries back to the Stronghold.

Personally I like the portraits on the bottom. I found the ones in IE games distracting. I did have several quibbles about the IE games especially the D&D ones. The feel to me is more the depth of the games, the story, dialogue, characters, choices not the mechanics.

Bumble bees can fly why not fantasy dragons?

I will be interested in your thoughts on the Priest. I do not care for the BB priest but haven't created my own yet. Was hoping to exchange the BBpriest this go round but due to the bug wasn't able to.

The soul is extremely important in PoE. Wizards draw upon the power of their souls to create magic. As I understand it magic cannot be taught it must be given birth through various disciplines undergone by the individual. I find this interesting and novel a change from what other games have done. My current BB wizard is very powerful and dealing a great deal of damage.

I am very happy with the PoE spell system. I think it much better than the D&D system. I am still learning the Timing and targeting but my Wizard is, the BB wizard others complain about, is doing a great job this play through. I give him a range weapon and try to keep him back and movable.

I am convinced that Orientals know how to do combat far better than Westerners.

PoE is based on a 16th century world where there were some early guns. So far I have seen a blunderbuss and a pistol. I understand the guns are wheel-lock and primarily useful against the wizards arcane veil.

Beware the bugs in this game. There are many and they are fierce.