Ink Blot

Not sure I'm following you correctly, but the highest level you can get for a rolled adventurer is one level lower than your main at the time you roll it. So there's no 'best point'. If your main is level 9, the highest you get is level 8 and so on. Or perhaps you mean the least XP difference? That would be hiring when your main has just hit a level instead of being almost about to hit the next level. For example, if you have 1 XP more than level 9, then that's the best time to go for your level 8 adventurer (basically only 1 level apart) as opposed to if you're 1 XP away from level 10 (basically 2 levels apart). Hope that makes sense. *edit* As you get to higher and higher levels, this will become more and more moot.

Yes, Mechanics governs your chance to find hidden objects. The max is probably 10+, depending on the gear you find. Don't want to get into spoilers in the General Discussion forum though.

Collector's Edition as well. Came in a cardboard box, and was surrounded by bubble wrap inside. Pristine condition. I'm in Canada.

Okay, got mine yesterday (Canada).

Where you at? United States?

You can just do it from the menu, can't you? *edit* To clarify: start up the game, choose Load, and you get the option of either loading or deleting each of the saves that appear in the list. Obviously all you need to do is delete the ones you don't want.

Oh man, Defense Against the Dark Arts? That never ends well for anyone who takes that position.

My order status also still says Shipping Soon, although I actually received my goods over a month ago. So don't bother checking the order status on your account page. It seems it's not updated.

Which isn't much different in the full release, so you probably chose wisely.

I'm just surmising, but from your comment about '90 percent of the time clicking through dialog', it seems you don't like this aspect of RPGs? If so, then this game isn't for you. There is a lot of dialog. As far as the graphics go, I actually think they're damned good. But this game is designed to pay homage to the old IE games, so the isometric view, multicharacter party, dialogs, and graphics are all part of the design goals. I backed this on Kickstarter and was not terribly impressed with the end result, but that wasn't due to the graphics or dialog. I just didn't enjoy the game mechanics. Without more info on what you like in a game, it's tough to make any kind of recommendation though. *edit* Oh, and overall, the game gets high praise form pretty much all sources. Professional reviewers as well as players, for what it's worth.

Where did you get that impression? Unless I missed something completely in the OP's post, I don't see where he mentioned he bought it again. Thortxu: I agree that the handling of the physical goods could have been better, but Obs did give everyone a digital copy so they wouldn't have to wait to play the game. And while I was disappointed in the game itself, I'll still back their projects because the quality is there as well as the 'Obsidianness'. I just didn't like some of the design decisions. So it's unlikely I'd back as high a level as I did for this one, but I'll still toss 'em some money on any upcoming kickstarters.

Pretty much this. I also don't understand all the angst some people display at the thought that other people are having 'badwrongfun' in their own single player experience.

Hmm, I actually thought this was a joke when I read the title and the OP. Go figure.

Having the roleplaying option is fine. The implementation is highly questionable though, IMO. Wouldn't it be more logical (in game terms) and more roleplay-friendly if something like Perception governed your chance to find hidden objects? And wouldn't it be more believable roleplay if going slower just increased your chances of finding hidden objects, but moving at regular speed didn't actually preclude you from finding them? And perhaps one of the skills gives you a boost to your chances. To me that makes more sense than having it rely solely on Mechanics and stealth. Whatever, as noted, if you're a player that wants to find everything (or most things), you'll just be in Stealth mode all the time anyway and this game mechanics adjustment will be meaningless.

The problem, IMO, is that the only traps that are going to be an issue to your party are the ones that are less than 4 levels below your Mechanics skill - exactly the ones you need to have a chance to find. Which means you're going to have to be in Stealth mode anyway. I can certainly see your point, but I don't agree that it's of much use. However, if they separated finding secrets and traps from the Stealth mode, it would help a lot, I think. Tie it to Perception, with a bonus if you're in Stealth mode and possibly a further bonus for Mechanics (or maybe even Survival).

I'll certainly defer to the in-game experience, as I've not played since the patch. But yeah, it still seems pointless to me. I mean it's great to be able to detect them out of Stealth mode, but if you'll likely still be in it all the time if you're at all interested in finding secrets (not to mention the traps you don't find out of Stealth mode will be deadlier to your party).

If you're referring to this: A character does not need to be in Stealth/Search mode to detect traps that are 4 Mechanics difficulties lower that the skill score. then, no. It says quite clearly that you can detect traps 4 or more Mechanics levels lower than your character(s) possess if not in Stealth mode. Secrets and higher level traps still require you to be in Stealth mode (thus making this change kind of pointless, IMO).

Oh, rest assured, I've made my share of comments on her television habits. :D

I tend to not like male portraits in most games I play, and I also have two daughters, so I almost always play female characters (I'm male). So my party is all female. Wife thinks I'm crazy enough because I'm 50 and play video games. She just rolls her eyes at the characters.

I like both, and used to far and away prefer RTwP. But having played a number of TB games over the past year (D:OS, Wasteland 2, Expeditions:Conquistador, etc.) I think I'm actually at the point where I prefer TB. But, like I said, I still enjoy both.

Yes, that's been my stance all along as well.

Well, the reason there aren't romances in the game now is because the Obs writers said they don't really enjoy writing them in the first place. (I believe Avellone said that, at least).

To be fair, I can see what you're saying, and I agree with it in principle. To an extent. Personally though, I find romances in games tend to either fall into the BioWare "Here, let me buy your affection with gifts and/or just being nice to you - oh, now you want to jump in the sack with me? Cool" category. Or they're incredibly juvenile, awkward, or stilted. I can't offhand recall any that didn't make me roll my eyes at least a little bit or just plain make me laugh out loud (and I really liked some of the characters in those games). I'd far rather have Obsidian pour any resources allocated to DLCs go to many other things before romance.

I'm having trouble recalling the romance options in IWD and IWD2...

Hmmm, I could see a pretty interesting talent chain for that pooping DLC: Cow Flop: sets a trap that slows down opponents as well as has the possibility of nauseating them for 10s (Fort save). Road Apples: gives the character 5 ranged attacks, much like grenades, that can be thrown for poison damage on a successful hit. Montezuma's Revenge: player sickens opponent with debilitating craps, causing them to double over and void bowels for 10s. No other actions possible for opponents if attack is successful. Coiler: a small AoE trap that causes prone and sickened status (Will) Air Biscuit: a large AoE gas attack that causes sickened status for 15s (Fort).