Shardbearer

I'm not in favor of this option for a single player rpg. However, I'm also not one to be bothered/offended by features I can ignore.

Yeah, in the end I just hope Obsidian does their thing.

I can't speak for anyone else, but what you are describing is way too much like a romance sim, and well beyond what I imagine a well-done romance option in an rpg should be. IMO it would effect some of your conversations with that particular character and how they view you, but not even get far enough to be a big enough deal for other characters to even care about. Romance would be a vehicle to enhance connections between the main character another character. I don't even think it should progress to changing any actions or decisions, or adding a great deal of scenes to the game. For the same reason I think there should be conversation options increasing your relationship to all your companions, with romance only being a small subset. It all increases characterization.

Am I the only one here that doesn't automatically associate romance with shallow attraction and sex? I'd actually prefer sexless romance, sex is usually awkwardly done in videogames. Romance is a way to deepen a connection between characters, the type that does that should NOT be based on shallow criteria.

On one hand you say you want it to be realistic, then on the other you say it should be based on ability points spent on charisma, and chance... If it's to be done, it needs to fit into the context of the story and the characters, it shouldn't be a mini-game.

Good points, those scenarios would certainly impede some free roaming... Though with the production times of games, I'm not a terribly big fan of super big cliff hangers.

You can always tell when a writer's popularity starts outpacing the editor's power. (I'm looking at you, ghost of Robert Jordan!)

Oh definitely, it has to make sense. Since they've already mentioned wanting to be able to carry on into multiple games I would assume the world/PC will probably remain somewhat intact... maybe...

I'd think with a magic system dealing with the manipulation of souls, it would be very cool to put in situations dealing with the moral implications of research using and manipulating souls, which could somewhat tie into similar themes in the real world yet can have completely new perspectives unique to however the souls work in the PE world. Edit: For that matter, any mature implications of the magic/soul system would be welcome. i.e. is it possible to track/trace souls across incarnations/splinterings, can souls be combined/tied together, etc...what moral implications/conundrums can be derived from things like these. How do different religions react to said situations, etc. I like when a story that introduces or creates a new magic system/technology delves into all the possible societal implications. A great example would be the digital human storage technology in Altered Carbon/Takeshi Kovacs series.

It just wouldn't be right without some ROUS's. Swamps are cool.

Unrelated to the question of New Game+, One thing I love about some games is the ability to continue on in the game world after beating the main questline of the game. It's nice to be able to go clean up any possible side-quests (minus ones that may have lapsed due to urgency factors) or areas you may have overlooked or go exploring and crafting. Just like how your decisions shape the world throughout the game, so too should completing the the questline. I always found it odd when after beating a game, your character is stuck in a perpetual pre-final-mission state. This could serve as part of the epilogue whilst also being an ideal state to be able to come back to the game for an expansion or mod.

I agree with you on most of your points, however I would want it to be even less predictable. You never know how individuals may react to your actions, or how circumstances may change for nations/organizations involved. I think it'd be great if you tried to make a choice now that you'd think the people would favor but the people end up turning against you for it later, or it doesn't quite work out. The unpredictability of the final outcomes and consequences basically allows you to make your decisions regarding the situation at hand instead of tallying up "good points or bad points"

By no means is story the most important feature, but I'd probably rank it fairly high with gameplay being fun being above it. I think the challenge with difficulty levels is besides players approaching with varied levels of skill, players also have individualized tastes as to what fun gameplay is for them. I have friends that without fail will purely equate difficulty level to fun level, the more punishing the game the better for them. However, I also have friends like the OP who don't want to not be challenged, but don't enjoy replaying the same battle for a week straight either. I probably fall somewhere in the middle, but I don't think it's really fair to criticize someone for enjoying different aspects of anything than another person.

This is a matter of opinion, like almost everything else being discussed on the forums...

That's why I'd prefer there just be a variety of choices at each tier, plus as was previously mentioned, keep crafting relevant to later tiers as well.

I sincerely doubt anyone's going to be designing the nicer armors and thinking "Let's see how boring I can make this." Rather than transmutation or whatever I'd just prefer a greater breadth of possible looted and crafted armors, somewhat balanced so there are choices to be made, without an obvious "best" stat-wise.

Honestly, in a lot of the older style cRPGs I've noticed that while some armors are definitely better or worse than others, at each level there's usually a bunch that have different tradeoffs and different looks. I usually just look at the design as one of the tradeoffs.

Either way, this issue is one I'd file under "Don't tell me beforehand" I don't want to go into the game knowing too much.

Super-Hardcore mode: Everyone in PE World speaks a new language invented for the game, you must learn it before playing.

Thanks! This update sounds great!

So... Are the god-like races just inhabiting the world or will they be playable?

All I want is one kick-ass VA for the main villain, it's all I need, and it's usually the most memorable (when done well) voice in a game anyways. It doesn't need to be very line, either, but enough to just establish the voice.

I love when the main villain has a presence throughout, not like he's just waiting at the last level inside his fortress the entire time. The way the dreams were done in The Eye of the World with Baalzamon or even the dreams in BG2 I thought demonstrated the villain's sinister intent and that he knew quite a lot more about whats going on than the protagonist very well

Villains that talk a lot, not monologuing when they should be acting, but I like it when the Joker, or Irenicus were speaking/taunting knowing they were winning.

I don't necessarily want magic items everywhere but I do want a variety of items, I don't want to be throwing away 99% of my loot and sticking with the +1 sword i got in the first 10 minutes of the game.