JWestfall

There are so many great layers of juicy nostalgia in this thread. Seeing both the screenshot and a miniature replica of the what-is-roguelike debate from the old R.G.R.D newsgroup conjures fond memories from my younger years. Thank you (seriously).

Actually, as one who dabbles in RL development, I think this might be a fun fan project, after more lore and mechanics info are revealed.

Great stuff, lots of info. Thanks! Perhaps give this info as hints in the creature description, or reveal this from in-game sources (lorebooks or NPCs), or even allow statistics like this to be visible when a certain number of that enemy type has been killed (I believe I've seen this last mechanic before, probably in some roguelike games). This could all be backed up with good ol' experimentation on the player's part, of course. I second this - scalable UI + fonts. I hate having to adjust to non-native resolution just to read small text.

This was my thought - the complexity inherent in RPGs leads to emergent behaviors that can be tricky to expose without a ton of testing. D&D especially is a complicated animal (arguably, needlessly complicated), so a move towards a better streamlined rule system will likely help. "Easy to learn, hard to master" is the typical mantra for developing gameplay.

Thank you! I love the updates and transparency so far. Confirmed: Art Direction of World and Creatures coming January 1st!

Very entertaining update, it's fantastic to be able to see a game take shape like this. Love the model detail as well, can't wait to see some of the animation!

Stephenie Meyer Actually, lots of good writers have been mentioned - but personally, in this particular game, I'd love to see me some Lovecraftian horror elements. So my serious answer would be H.P. - or similarly Poe himself. While I'm at it, I'll throw out Phillip K. ****. Mostly to just tease the language filter here - but also for some good ol' fashioned themes of warped personal identity and/or reality.

Did Josh say "punch the dolphin of choice?" Because if he did, that was awesome. Also, I must say I am intrigued as to what this "event" that the PC witness could be, and why it leads to the main story conflict. I'm fine with these - they are a small look into the development process, which is something of interest for me. And Josh is amusing. Obviously, just cannot expect anything like the updates during Kickstarter - meaty stuff likely has to wait until things are ironed out, which could be long time.

Very cool indeed. I'm more fond of the reddish tinted hair - it seems to fit with the fire-priest thing. I, too, get a Brienne vibe from her - which is a good thing, IMO.

Yes, for the main quest line, I think it boils down to this - not writing it to conflict with the gameplay. From what I have gathered, PE is going to be exploratory in nature anyway.

For the main quest line, I think timed (as in, too late = fail) should be out, for obvious reasons. A cyclic time limit would be fine, e.g. get the ship plans from town before the shadowlord arrives - otherwise you need to wait until the next moon phase for the shadowlord to leave. Some non-critical sidequests could certainly be timed. In essence, IMO a time limit should not determine gross success or failure, but if there is a real (or apparent) partial failure related to missing the mark it could add to the plot movement or tension.

This sounds good - two different play styles for my two wizard slaves companions.

Could just be a sexual selection driven trait - such as peac0ck train feathers. Or a wizard did it. Personally, I'm okay with not necessarily having a reason for (as an example) elf ear size, but it would be sweet if they explored what effects (for example) elf ear size has on society. Maybe elven enemies cut them off and make ear-necklaces. Or perhaps elves equate them with beauty, perhaps dependent on gender (maybe there are "small elf ear" jokes among elven males). Maybe they are mutilated (cut/cropped) as part of a strange warrior ritual. So on. I am also in the camp of those who do not really like the "furry" races.

This is the kind of stuff I like. A hero who has had his illusions shattered, doubly cursed now with knowledge that makes him an outcast, or even actively hunted, by the society to which he once belonged. I also prefer quests/plots revolving around solving a mystery by collecting together clues and information.

I'd say somewhere in the middle - descriptive prose when it is appropriate, or to make up where the visual scene falls short. PS:T got pretty heavy at times for my taste, but sometimes it's important to set up an NPC in more subtle ways than just dialogue & graphics. I also echo that text rendering needs to be done well, and scale correctly with resolution. Even better - have an option for small/medium/large text size in the UI, to further accommodate different monitor sizes, resolutions, viewing distances and eyesights.

^^^ FWIW, I get there fine (Firefox + NoScript)

If I do participate, I expect to play as a tester should - trying to "break" the game, keeping a record of bugs, repeating the same quests, running the game with different background tasks & options, etc. Since this is just as much "work" as "play", I'll decide whether to participate or not probably only at the last minute.

Obviously generalizing here, but nudity in video games makes many people uncomfortable (unlike some other forms of media). They find it jarring, immersion-breaking, it reeks of fan service, of being (ironically) immature, and taking the place of pornography. Whatever they reasons for all of this, and whether or not this is a "good" or "bad" attitude to have about games, this is just the way things are. It sounds like a bad idea to shoehorn it into a game at this point - especially one with the goals of P:E. So - no.

If you are truly volunteering labor, I know exactly the gig Obsidian has in mind for you: Forge their signatures for the thousands of signed box editions. Other than that, I do not believe outsourcing such things as in the OP would be such a good idea, for multiple reasons that have already been highlighted.

Do not know the largest, but I believe Max Payne 3 was 30GB (or just under) download size on Steam, which is pretty friggin big. The word is that DA:O Ultimate Edition is over 30GB on Steam (but I do not have it to confirm), and of course it contains expansion/DLC. Witcher 2 on GOG is 16GB.

Whew! I was worried the whole team had ran away with all my money to some paradise location. Yeah, me too, I caught the first hour or so and haven't had a chance to see the rest yet. It sure brought back some fond memories, though.

I like both types of games. I also have enjoyed first-person shooters, action-RPGs, platformers, puzzle games, mining games, adventure games, interactive fiction games, and racing/flying simulation games. The hypothetical situation here (if PE was turn-based) cannot be answered by me due to a severe lack of related hypothetical data. I guess it would depend on how it was presented, for starters. The easy answer to the dilemma at hand, of course, is that they should make a turn-based mini-game playable amongst your party members in the game (say, inside the stronghold). That way everyone will be appeased.

I want ettins, trolls, slimes, ghosts, reapers, gazers, wisps, sea serpents, and daemons. And food-snatching gremlins. Dragons are fine, but the only viable strategy when encountering them should be to flee.

We are not investors, we are internet. Internet is not rational or business savvy. Internet is impatient, entitled, cynical, moronic savants; and internet is gloriously disdainful of consequence. Internet should not be trusted with this information.

I don't much care about the size of elves as a whole (within reason), but I am concerned about the size of their ears (relative to body size, of course). When ears start to look more like antennae, it kills it for me.