Ink Blot

Do it now and get us that much closer. You can always lower it before the deadline if you want. Or, as of today, you can just add 25 bucks to get beta access.

I like a good dungeon crawl every now and then, so the dungeon sounds appealing to me. Especially if it's: A) got a good story attached to it with some fun and challenging areas. B) completely optional if it really hasn't got a lot of main plot related story to it. C) doesn't drop a whole lot of overpowered equipment on the player. Crafting? Cool, as long as this: custom upgrades that can't be accomplished by other means doesn't mean you must craft in order to get the best gear. I'm actually kind of happy about this at this point. It's only half way through the funding drive and I really don't want them to jump the gun and announce something that's going to be really tough to deliver - and deliver well polished - if the funding goal is met. My understanding is also that they're taking time to discuss this amongst the team before adding it to the project. I think this can only be a good thing in the long run, and I'm betting we'll see something within a few days (maybe a big announcement for the weekend?)

Agree with the 'smarter' aspect. Icewind Dale did this, if memory serves. The more times you sold a specific item to a merchant, the less he paid for it. As for unlimited money, I'm kind of torn.On the one hand, I absolutely see the reason behind a merchant not having unlimited funds. On the other, all it seems to is force tedious travel to other merchants to unload your loot. And I don't like tedium. Not sure I like this idea much, but there may be some potential here. This is an interesting idea, but again, you could just run to another merchant to sell your loot. Unless of course the other merchants are out of funds. But this leads to either the tedium of merchant hopping or eventually all merchants running out of cash if they don't replenish. And that's not really a good option, IMO. If they do replenish, then you just get into the 'rest for consecutive days' syndrome to replenish the cash supply. I like this last one. I see no real harm in that, especially since it could lend itself to some cool story-related incidents. What if two different nobles wanted that Helm of Uber Sex Appeal and, while they each offer a great reward for it, the other will be really pissed if you give it to his rival? And maybe he'll send out some of his 'employees' to have a 'chat' with you. Things like that have some real potential. As for overall economy, I can't recall a game that's done a stellar job with it. Most games you get to the point where you're swimming in so much cash that you can afford anything you could possibly want to buy. Either that or you're so flat broke you just can't afford anything. I'd love to see some good balance with respect to this, but I think it's pretty tough to do. Other ideas? How about daily/weekly/monthly maintenance costs for upkeep of your party's gear and equipment, beasts of burden (assuming they're in-game), membership fees to any organizations you may join, upkeep of your house (maybe you need to hire guards to be sure your stuff isn't stolen or your house isn't destroyed). I don't know. Might be too much bother to be any kind of fun though.

Just watched the backers count roll to 50,000. Nice! Now only a short stretch to 2.2 million.

Start with? No. But I'd be fine if you gained some special ability (or abilities) if it relates to the story path you choose. As noted by others, the whole aspect of the souls in the game I think lends itself well to uncovering some abilities that the character may not have access to at the start of the game. Although I have to agree I don't want them to relate to some kind of 'chosen one' aspect. I'd rather see it as something that occurs to some people in the game world due to different circumstances. Something that's not really common, but not unheard of either.

I personally feel this is paramount. While I won't balk at Obsidian having to take more time than they first thought in order to finish the game in a polished fashion, I don't want Project Eternity to turn into an internet meme like Duke Nukem Forever. The only thing I can say about the state of the kickstarter is that the most consistent thing I've seen posted on various forums is they didn't give enough detail about the game itself when the kickstarter first launched. I'm not sure I agree with that, mind you, but that's the criticism I've seen most often. But to be honest, more and more stretch goals would make me worry rather than make me more excited. This game is currently slated for release in Q1 or Q2 of 2014. That's not a lot of time to fit in a bunch more features and content than currently planned, I think..

Hmm, besides the IE games, I've played a few that I like to varying degrees. I must ashamedly confess I've not played the Fallout games yet, although I own them. Just haven't gotten around to it. I really need to, though, since I own all of them right through to FO:NV + all the DLC. Shame on me. Anyway... Divinity 2: I enjoyed it for the action game it really was, but not a favorite of mine. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with for the new game in the series, Divinity:Original Sin, since this one is going to be an isometric turn-based RPG with mod tools. Eschalon Book I and Eschalon Book II, by Basilisk games. Old school style isometric RPG with a third installment in the works. I really enjoyed the first two games and look forward to picking up the next one. Neverwinter Nights: played the hell out of this. Not so much the stock campaigns, but spent a ton of time on a couple servers and played dozens of really good community-made modules. Probably the best value for my dollar of any game I've ever bought in terms of time spent playing. Neverwinter Nights 2 plus the expansions. Obsidian game. 'Nuff said? Also played a number of pretty good community made modules for this one. Dragon Age:Origins: I love this game. The sequel... not so much. I know I'll never play DA2 again, but I'll probably run through DA:O again in the future. The Witcher games: I liked the first one better, but still enjoyed the hell out of both of them. Nox: great little action RPG that I picked up on GOG last year. Hadn't heard of it before that, but it was a very satisfying purchase. Risen: I've not played the previous Gothic games, so don't have those to compare it to, but I quite enjoyed this one. Picked it up for around 5 bucks at a brick and mortar store a year or so ago, and really liked the game. Has its rough edges, for sure, but more than worth the 5 bucks. Alpha Protocol: Again, Obsidian. I didn't get around to grabbing this game until it was on sale on Gamersgate for about 7 bucks. I'm really surprised at the poor reviews many people gave it. I thought it was a helluva lot of fun and deserves far more praise than it gets. A real overlooked gem, IMO. Avadon:The Black Fortress: I've not actually finished this one. Currently still going through it while also doing a run through PS:T as well. This is the first Spiderweb game I've tried, but I don't doubt I'll be back for more. Pretty good game (so far, at least). I've got a ton more games in my backlog that I need to get at, such as Divine Divinity, the Drakensang series, Realms of Arkania games, Ultima 7, etc. etc. But, as the saying goes, "So many games, so little time".

Drow or the equivalent in this game? That would probably be the one thing that would make me pull my pledge. Ye gods I hate them.

I'd probably go with A. If it doesn't est up too many resources to implement and they're implemented as a way to speed up travel times on the world map, then I'd be fine with it. Otherwise, I have to agree that they just don't seem to fit well in 2D isometric gameplay.

lol - not bad. I voted, after thinking about it and seeing that epic items are going to be in the game anyway. I chose an accessory (that way it has the best chance of being useful to any class), and want to see some cool lore attached to it. I'd still like to see it with some kind of drawback and/or limited uses.

I like this kind of idea a lot. Oddly, as powergamerish as I am, I'm really not a big fan of epic level play, so an epic item doesn't do a whole lot for me. But something along the lines of an epic item that has some drawbacks to it? Yeah, that would be cool.

Voted yes. I'd love to be able to create my own party for later runs when I've had all the available NPCs in my parties.

Sorry, vampero, I was away from the rig for a bit. Looks like sollus steered you in the right direction though.

All. I think I probably played through IWD more than any other though. I've gone through that at least 2 dozen times.

Vampereo, have you asked for advice on the GOG forum? I've got all the IE games running on my Win7 64 bit rig. Modded them with widescreen mod and a bunch of other stuff for some of them as well (BGT for the BG games, fixpacks and IWD tweaks for the IWD games and PS:T). Hell, I even have ToEE evil running with the Co8 mod. My rig's a bit older than yours though: Core i7 920 Win7 Pro 64 bit SSD drives and HDDs 6 gigs RAM GTX 560 Ti My screen res is 1920x1200 Maybe it's a crossfire issue in your case?

You should still be able to use the weapons. Not even being able to equip them is silly. Sure, have a STR requirement for a big weapon, but if you don't meet that requirement, don't make it so you can't even equip the damned thing. Make it so you have a penalty to hit and damage which is higher the farther away from the STR requirement your character is. With armors, don't have a requirement per se; rather have a movement penalty if your STR is less than the baseline to use it efficiently. The farther away your STR ism the more the penalty until you get to the point where you can't move. As for other don't wants: I agree with about 90% of what's been posted already, so won't bother making a redundant list. Although I will say that in the end I agree with WillWorker in that I hope Obsidian just makes a game they want to play and don't let fan opinions sway them too much. Oh, and yeah, I wasn't really a big fan of Minsc and Boo either.

Icy, did you see the thread on the GOG forums about modding the game? It a pretty good and easy to follow guide: http://www.gog.com/en/forum/baldurs_gate_series/baldurs_gate_2_essential_mods/page1 If you have any troubles, there are plenty of good folks on the GOG forums that can help you out as well.

Nice update. Happy birthday, Chris. Don't worry, you don't look a day over 400.

Played them all and constantly go back to them year after year. Can't even begin to guess how many time I've gone through them all.

I agree with Hoverdog. Don't want minigame for lockpicking, and I see no fun increase for the player by breaking a lock picking skill down into sub skills. What I'd like to see is as others have mentioned: several ways to get through a lock. Lockpicking, bashing, spells. All are good. As much as I love playing Thief/Rogue type characters, I don't want a game where you feel you must have one in the party. If containers are bashed, I wouldn't mind seeing a percentage chance that something fragile inside breaks (So you'd still get the gold and that magic dagger, but the potions of invisibility and healing are shattered).

I'm very excited about this project, and I expect Obsidian to deliver on what they promise. I have every confidence they'll deliver on what they say they will though. I think the only expectations that need to be curbed are those that are requesting a whole lot of different systems/mechanics/options. So many people have requested so many different things be in this game that there's no way it can all happen. But again, I have confidence that Obsidian will take the best ideas into consideration while still staying true to their vision of the game they want to make.

I'd prefer if any resources were to be spent on the Order being in-game, it were on background lore only. A legendary 'shadow' order kind of thing. Maybe with something more if sequels are made. As for merchandise, i said I didn't care one way or the other. Although if merchandise were to be something that's available, I'd hope some significant portion would go towards funding the game and/or add-ons (i.e. an expansion) after the game ships.

Ah, thanks. I was under the impression from the Help topic that one could do it oneself. I've requested the title: Incorrigible Mountebank of the Obsidian Order.

Okay, noob question, as I can't seem to find it. How does one change the member title on the forums? I've looked in my Account Settings and can't see it anywhere (looked on the help page as well and still no joy). What am I missing?

Okay, upped my pledge to 168 bucks. I wish to be known as: Incorrigible Mountebank of the Obsidian Order.