Nakia

The length of the game will depend on how the player plays the game. Some will rush through the main quest others will take their time and explore every nook and cranny. In this day and age a budget of 2.5 mil is not a lot. Yep, quality > quantity. Although I would like a quantity of quality quests.

"It's not my fault that evil god made me do it." So our souls will govern what we are capable of doing, of being. This game gets more interesting all the time. Wonder if they will have a god as much fun as Sheogorath? Now there was a "god" worth following.

I remember the first time I played IWD II. It was horrible as I couldn't keep anyone alive. Then I found out I had the difficult slider set all the way to 100% difficulty. Later I played Morrowind and was fine, got killed by a mudcrab. Then came Oblivion and I went into shock at how easy it was on normal difficulty. Up went the slider. Since this game is a spiritual successor to the IE games I will be very disappointed if it isn't difficult. Tanks in the front, ranged, then magic users. Pause. Tell you characters what to d. Try running away and luring enemies to your party I did that a lot in IWD II. Ah, nostalgia. Don't forget to save often.

We know there will be classes. What they will be called we do not know. We know there will be magic users. We know there will be people who use ranged weapons. Various types of weapons have been mentioned have been mentioned so I think we can assume that there will be people who can use them. We are simply calling the Warriors, mages, thieves or similar names as a convince. A warrior by any other name is still a warrior.

Please, please, please no TES type characters of you can do everything. Maybe something along the lines of DA:O where you had limits to what you could do. Something resembling powers for each class might work. If they have hybrid classes such as Paladins or battle mages fine. Rangers or Beast masters would be able to control animals even summon animals or shape shift but none of this "I am a warrior but I can cast fire balls." Please keep it limited. Every one has a soul but some people have different talents. I have a voice but I can't sing. We all have limits to what we can do and be. Some people have a gift for math and some for creative writing. There are some people who do have a multitude of talents but they are rare.

Thanks for the update. Sounds quite interesting and dare I say, different. Yay for armoured mages. About time, those silly robes and Gandalf outfits annoy me. Robes are great for relaxing at home but adventuring needs a more practical outfit. Good work, guys. Have a snack:

Traps are pretty much standard fare in RPGs and they do get boring unless part of a puzzle. The only interesting ones I have come across were in a game called Return to Krondor. They were combined with lock picking. You had a lock picking kit with different instruments. There a variety of different locks and you had to use different instruments to pick them. Using the wrong instrument could set off a bomb or gas that could cause you damage, sometimes seriously.

Romance is a low priority for me. I would rather have fun companions who interact with the PC and each other. I am not against romance but would like to be able to avoid it if I wish. If resources and time permit fine but if choices need to be made then a lot of other things take priority.

I use the term house as a generic term as I am assuming the developers did. If that house is customizable it could end up anything. I have no idea what is easier for Obsidian to do make an expandable residence or make different types of buildings for the different classes. Since the "house" has been promised as a stretch goal it seems logical to me that it will be something intricate and not just a Breezehome tossed in as a sop to players.

If we hit the 2 mil stretch goal we have been promised a house which is customizable. Instead of a lot different places maybe they could concentrate on making that place customizable for the different types of classes.

I would like to see things like the above too. The more different ways you can do something the more interesting the game in my opinion.

I choose BG I style. I also do like the TES type map but that means you have a smaller area to explore than the BG I type. As for random encounters they can get very boring. I would rather have fewer random enounters that have some interest to them and the same thing over and over.

I love puzzles and riddles but agree they should be mainly for side quests. Depending on the difficulty I think there should be an in-game solution to be found. Hints could be given. Maybe one of your party able to suggest a solution. Maybe the puzzle could lead to a less combat oriented path with an alternate rout that would have difficult combat.

The TES games contain many non-combat spells. Illusion with charm. The ability to conjure up light. Open locks and many more. If any thing in my opinion there are too many spells. I do hope that PE will have a variety of spells. Maybe different sub classes of magic users will focus on different types of spells. Since we are harkening back to the old games I imagine we will get a good selection of spells including these non-combat spells.

I think the date of release should be flexible. I do not want a buggy game. I want the developers to do the game right and not be pressured to meet some set in stone release date. Obsidian has given us an estimated date. Stress on estimated.

I am sure we will have a lot of mysterious things so why not a pub? Maybe some of the quests could be funny ones for a change of pace from the regular lash and bash dungeon crawls. I find a little humour makes a nice change. It should be a surprise though. You go expecting something horrible but fine some thing fun. I love surprises.

The longer the time for one playthrough the more content needed the more content needed the longer it will take to make the game. I would rather have a shorter game say 30 hours with re-playability than 100 hours and have to wait years for the game. Good story, good gameplay, good companions, interesting side quests, a stable amd bug free game are my hopes. I hope they plan an expansion rather than trying to do every thing at one go.

The only problem I have is with the estimated launch date. I do think that unrealistic. I agree with those who think Obsidian got caught with their pants down. I think they underestimated their fan base and how starved and disillusioned we are. As a backer I do not expect to tell Obsidian what to do. That would be utterly asinine. I am backing them because I believe in them. Sure I will post up all kinds of ideas. Who knows I may even come up with something they can use or at least give them a spark to something they can do. A week hasn't even passed. Give the guys some slack. Let them catch up with what happened. It is obvious to me that they were not expecting the initial reaction. They have responded to us. Remember they are on the West Coast of the USA. Take that into consideration before you start complaining about not getting information. Also these guys need to eat, sleep and relax if they are going to do a good job. All work and no play makes creators really dumb and they end up non-creative. We complain about publishers well let us not act like them. Have faith be supportive be positive. I am positive I will love this game.

Yes, it is a revolution. Congratulations to those who started, to those who supported it.

Are we blowing it out of proportion? One step down the wrong path can lead to a greater evil. Publishers have taken over developers and we are getting shoddy games. A game that needs to be patched seven times and still causes problems is not acceptable. I do think publishers are concerned about Kickstarter because it does give developers freedom to be developers. To make the games they want to make the way they want to make them. Neither do they need to worry about loosing their job. The developer retains the rights to their IP. Maybe the games won't be as big or flashy but maybe they will depth to the, be bug free and truly responsive to what players want. Maybe publishers will come to their senses and having a sense of responsibility to the customers. Maybe I dream.

I have a few games on Steam. I have firends who have legal copies of games but dislike Steam so much that they still get pirated copies justifying this because they have a legal copy. DRM does not stop piracy. That is a myth. So why argue about it. I am glad that Obsidian is providing a DRM free copy.

In a sense developers have been forced to bend to the wishes of the publishers. Games are expensive to make. The days of four or five guys getting together in the backroom to knock out a game are long gone. Players are more demanding. Just look at this forum and all the things we want. I have no details of what the actual offer was. As I understand it Obsidian would get the money from crowd funding, make the game and then the publisher would publish it. Sounds great for the publisher, they could pay for advertising and that it would be their major expense. What were the terms offered? 50/50? A split favoring the developers or one favoring the publishers? It may sound funny on the surface but is it? Maybe I misunderstand the purpose of Kickstart but I thought it was to give developers independence, the ability to make the game they want to make, the way they want to make them. Once tied into a contract with a publisher how independent would the developers be? If publishers realize that a new day is dawning maybe they will be more willing to negotiate with developers and give the developers more independence. How many of the orginal people of Bioware, Bethesda still work for those companies? I keep hearing that those are names used by publishers to hype the games. So who is currently in charge of the game? I believe there is an old saw about beware of Greeks bearing gifts. No intention to offend any Greeks. It simply means if your enemy or adversary offers you a gift watch out.

No 1) As already said a main point of the beta testing offer is to increase pledges. 2) Beta testing is done near the release of the game. It is a test not a chance to pre-play the game. The game mechanics are set and no major changes will be made. The point is to find bugs. Is the game actually ready for release? 3) It does take man power which equals cost to check the reports. Is this a true bug or something the player did wrong? What caused the glitch? Game mechanics or a conflicting software problem? 4) related to #3 a bug report is only as good as the knowledge and ability of the person making the report. Allowing everyone to beta test would mean allowing many people who know nothing about beta testing to participate. At least limit the number of amateur testers. I think that the expense and time Obsidian would need to spend on allowing everyone who wishes to beta test would be prohibitive. This is actually a low budget project. Obsidian is not going to have money to spend on inaccurate, questionable reports and even with a limited number of people involved there will be those. I am sorry for those who cannot afford who would be good at it. I could opt for it if I wished but doubt that I will. 1) I like the idea of playing the finished game. 2) I am not sure I would be that good at beta testing. It takes time and dedication an the ability to understand and explain what happened and if possible why it happened.

I won't say who I think it is but wouldn't surprise me to find out it is a publisher that I detest. Really detest.

Thank you. Good news.