Chaos Theory

I do think it's actually pretty clever/interesting how they worked Miranda's (ME2 and 3) attractiveness into her lore. Was she fanservice? Maybe. But it fit the lore, first and foremost. Her father created her, and he's the type of person who wanted to create the perfect specimen. He's not going to create an ugly, physically un-fit daughter-clone. Basically, her being "hawt" was part of the game world, and not part of the regular world stuffed into the game (i.e. "Hey, players... check out this hottie while you play!"). I'm also a big fan of the ME characters, in general. I think they did a pretty good job with all of them, even if some were still more intriguing than others, and even if the games weren't perfect (and were a little more action and less RPG than is relevant to something like P:E, etc.). -- EDIT -- Your talk of the effects of voicing versus text-only made me think of something slightly crazy: What if, even in a non-voiced (or little-voiced) game, you used the dialogue interface's visuals to signify how things were being spoken? I mean, real-time. Obviously that's already done with bolding, parentheses, italics, etc. But, what if, in main dialogues, the words were actually displayed sort of in-rhythm, as if being visually spoken onto the dialogue frame? Bah... this is probably a job for a separate, unpopular thread. You know, I was always an Ashley fan-- tough but feminine (the jock type). She had the right amount of military bearing vs emotion so as to be believable in both roles, which I think would be a very difficult thing to do as a writer trying to legitimize a female soldier/love interest. Too often they make them either like Vasquez in Aliens (way too manly) or emotional wrecks that no one would want with them during missions. Jack (the rebel type) was more like Vasquez, but... She had a great story behind her, and a kickin' bod. She also later showed her sensitive side, which kept her an interesting character whereas normally I would have given up and moved on to others. Miranda (the cheerleader type) was sort of force-fed to male PCs in ME2 as the primary companion/LI which didn't sit well with me, at least initially. While she was nice to look at, she was written too much into the "I'm hot but I have my own agenda" role that's a cliché in nearly every James Bond film. Liara (innocent, brainy type then later underground assassin or something) was the perfect example of the change in direction the post-EA BioWare games seemed to make after ME1/DAO, and I don't think even the writers knew who she was supposed to be until about halfway through the 2nd game. I never liked her, really, at all. Normally I'd go for the smart, fragile type, but Liara just never did it for me-- and it's not because she was blue. I just didn't care for her voice, her looks or really her story, which was pretty manic. She had a couple awesome scenes in ME3 though, so I give props to the writers for finally making me care about her in the end. Tali (perfect "best friend" type) was my all-time favorite character in any gaming experience. By the end of ME3 it felt as if I was losing a good friend, which is part crazy because it was a game, and part genius... because it was a game. I never had any desire to romance her, but she was attractive to me. More importantly, her story/character was just so well done and evolved much more coherently than Liara through the tri-game arc. But honestly, I probably would not have gotten to that point had she not been really the only capable engineer in ME1, which fit my party perfectly. So here's an example of a companion that became special to me solely based on their usefulness/skill set in the early stages, instead of being a possible LI or having some other personality trigger. Anyway, I like your idea regarding "rhythmic text" (trademarked!) but the difficulties would lie in cross-translations. Pauses, emphasis, etc are translated differently cross-culture. I supposed it could be done, but the liberal use of punctuation would probably make more sense.

Since I ripped on Obsidian for their Fallout: NV companions, I'll give them props for Neverwinter Nights 2. Neeshka, for whatever reason, remains one of my favorite all-time companions (I still don't get why she turned on me though), and Khelgar was the only dwarf I ever really liked in a game as a companion.

Mass Effect arc, for sure. They were well written, highly detailed, voiced personalities with their own stories to be told. It's tough, I think, to bond with a character unless you believe in them on multiple levels. That's difficult with non-voiced, text-based games-- but it can be done. In place of voiced dialogue, you then need to increase the frequency of conversation as it's the only way to get enough of a sample to form your own "version" of that NPC in your head and then maintain that foundation of who they are throughout, perhaps months, of gameplay. And certainly in all cases, writing becomes paramount. And if truth be told, I've found that it's important, as a male, to be at least somewhat attracted to them (female NPCs) on a primitive level. Most of the female NPCs of the ME series struck that attraction chord quite well without being overbearing. Intelligence, combat effectiveness AND physical attraction goes a long way with me when it comes to female companions. As for males, they really just need to shut up, take orders, and save my ass every once in awhile. Unfortunately, male companions have to appeal to female players, which is too bad as I often find them obnoxious or annoying whereby I leave them on the bench. As much as I love Fallout NV, probably my 3rd favorite game ever, the companions kinda sucked. Even when they were with me, I felt I was alone as they just didn't "sell me" on being real beyond the first few minutes you meet them. It's a long game and eventually they become mutes since there's just not enough dialogue. I can't imagine how tough it would have been to properly voice companions in a game that large, but it really is the only way to keep from growing distant with them. You have to realize, people play games for a few hours, then perhaps not for several days, then come back. After several months, you really start to lose the bonds you have with companions unless you can continue to interact despite time (like normal friendships, actually). Mass Effect kept me engaged, over time, with cutscenes and continued story during the down periods on the Normandy. The Normandy was basically just another play on the camp system like in Dragon Age. It helps to have that base of operations to come back to for many reasons, but primarily for reminding you that your companions are still there and still have their own personalities. In a game like Fallout NV, because it was so large and open, increasing voiced dialogue would probably have been very expensive and a logistical nightmare. But you can cheat by offering dialogue with text-only interactions, since you already were given enough voiced stuff to have a good idea who the writers meant the characters to be. This is what we see on a micro-scale with games like Baldur's Gate where we're given just a few lines of voiced dialogue to keep us going on what theme/personality this character was meant to have, yet 90% of the rest of the interactions are text-based. But frequent interactions, in general, are the most critical for remarkable and memorable companions.

I think they could at least start narrowing things by giving us the absolute minimum requirements. I've heard some pretty outlandish ideas for items, and while they sound great, I think these folks are setting themselves up for a letdown. At least figure out who all wants to make armor vs weapon vs other and let us know whether we can get uber-creative with abilities, or whether we're going to merely select from a list of potential bonuses. Can we make whipswords and 10-pronged flails-- or are we going to be limited to the standard longsword, axe, mace, etc? I was under the impression they had quite a bit of this worked out prior to their KS (hell, they even had a map!), and now an additional 9-months have passed. I could have created a human being by now! (LOL J/k) Anyway, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a bit of information.

Little disappointed here, actually. Both Torment and JA: Flashback have gotten this worked out-- and both were funded after PE. I have yet to even hear what the parameters are going to be reference the item I get to design. It's been 9 months.

Fallout NV is one of my all-time favorite games, and despite the sporadic CTD, it wasn't THAT buggy for me. NWN2, though-- that was an absolute mess on release. I mean game-breaking ****. Despite that, I still loved the game and wished they'd make a sequel.

Hey there, my only hesitation with this project was the 2D/iso plan (I like camera flexibility like NWN 1&2). That said, the scene looks gorgeous so maybe 2D won't be so bad. Looking forward to working on my item design. Keep up the good work!

Why is every update we've been getting lately, "from an undisclosed location in Mexico"?

So if the electrical chick and the water chick got together-- in some unisex, godlike relationship way-- would they electrocute each other? Just wondering...

From the PE wiki http://eternitywiki.com/Paladin "Despite their often stoic presence and explosive combat style, paladins work best alongside allies. When isolated, they can be vulnerable, especially against singular powerful foes." This tells me all I need to know. As feared, they will be gimped fighters who can nuke crowds and buff. That makes them a support class, which is silly.

As long as they're not just gimped fighters with "turn undead" or "smite", which is really all they are in D&D. I never thought their defensive stats justified their use when a fighter could DPS and tank. And now that it sounds like Priests/Clerics can wear heavy armor and there aren't apparently "healing" spells per se, I wonder what niche Paladins will play beyond pure role-playing.

Interns: These are the people who provide the tears for the rest of the team to feed on. Sometimes an intern is sacrificed to appease a producer, usually in a grim ceremony in which the heart is ripped from the chest and the empty cavity is filled with broken dreams.

Yes, I want to be the first axe-wielding toddler in RPG game history! Obviously strength and agility would suffer, as would charisma. Then of course you'd have to rest frequently/poopie diapers...

I bought it on sale from Steam earlier this year, and I quit after about an hour. I dunno, the controls were just really clunky to me and the whole thing seemed like a Deus Ex ripoff. But reading the gushing here I may try it again when I'm done with XCOM (which is awesome btw).

I want to save the world. But over the course of several games-- PE needs to be but the first story. Let's start small. Perhaps save a small box of kittens, and work our way up in the next game.

Their original timeframe was based on a $1.1 million game. They've since tripled that and added at least double the content. No way April '14 holds up, and it's only a matter of time until they let us know that. But I'd rather they delay than rush.

It will be considered a "bad sign" if our next update is from an undisclosed location in Mexico.

My guess is that if you want to create a guy standing in a bar, grumbling about his spouse, they would probably be happy to allow that ... If you have some NPC that will fit into a quest they have planned anyhow, they will be happy as well. If, however, you want your NPC to be a major one, someone the player will return to over and over, with massive amounts of dialogue.....uhm, I obviously cannot speak for the devs, but I think you had better have a REALLY good story in that case.....basically, they have said "within reason", so be reasonable. At the same time, though, for $1,000 you can (or could; it's closed now) design epic weapons and armor that people will likely use over and over and over, so is there a difference? I mean, I'm asking you. Isn't that the same thing? The devs said that some of the items we design will be among the best in the game. There is a certain implied longevity and frequency there. I was of this thinking too, until they announced the stretch goal which allows the player to make/enchant his/her own stuff. I think this will seriously limit the value of items we design. Basically, it's about lore at this point. Our designed items will have it.

Neat stuff... Has anyone approached you about the $1k tier and possibly making a bard NPC for one of the taverns? Perhaps as part of that, Obsidian would let you pick a song (or two) as background music? I'd be the first to help donate if Obsidian would allow it. I'm already in for a grand so I can design some armor, but for this, I'd do more.

The first time I stumbled upon Firewine Bridge in BG I was awed at the scope and majesty of the previous race(s) and what they were able to accomplish. The bridge suggested a sprawling network of roads spanning the now extinct empire. This idea was further explored by the Deep Roads created for BioWare's Dragon Age-- an ancient superproject of almost unimaginable scope. It was clear that everyone in Ferelden knew of this epic network of underground highways, but few had ever ventured into their depths. Has there been any hint by the devs that PE will have a similar mega-structure that has survived the eons? I see that the "Ruins of Eir Glanfath" may be a candidate, but it seems to me that this, rather large area is more a collection of ruined settlements, much like the Mayan ruins of today (Chizen Itza, Coba, Tulum, etc). What other ideas could be explored, without outright stealing the concept of the Deep Roads?

Oh my... While it's fascinating to know Muzyka will be designing an NPC, I have to wonder if, in a way, he wishes BioWare could have done something similar to PE?

Wow, it's going to be a long 2 years...

What I'd like to know is why they have to do this on Reddit? Why not just do this on their own forum?

What?! I thought this was a stretch goal? Naw, I think (most) game magazines want so bad to prop up a good product from a small company (see: CD ProjeKt Red)-- and then to do it without the classic publisher relationship? Baldur's Gate II is still one of the top rated games ever, so I think PE will do just fine. If anything it'll get the 'quaint' sympathy vote.

I hear what you're saying, however, the April '14 timeline was for a game around $1.1 million, which is what they had hoped for. They now have three times that, and climbing, along with far more promised features. Assuming the content only doubles from their previous plan, they are going to be in a time pinch. Yes, they can hire more people, but at some point you have diminishing returns when you look at cost vs benefit. Employees aren't just their salaries, they also expect trivial things like health care (damn them!), etc. You can only hire so many people to make up time. Ultimately it's cheaper to pay 1 person and extend them several months than it is to hire 2 people. Lights and air conditioning (time) are generally always cheaper than hiring more personnel-- unless of course you're a 3rd world sweatshop. Bottom line is that I strongly believe they will have to bump back the release date. And I'm OK with that.