maggotheart

They just gave The Bards Tale away for free to everyone who backed Wasteland 2. I found it to be a cringeworthy bad game and now I'm a little nervous about the project. I'll definitely be waiting to see if they deliver before I'd consider funding anything more.

Neither Dak'kon or Neeshka are immortal (or shouldn't be as both were regular members of their races unless I'm forgetting something). The other maybe, but I'm not sure I'd be jumping at "Morte, Ignus, Vhailor and FFG travel the planes looking for TNO in the Blood War" game either. What is the narrative hook outside of trying to tidy up the ending of the previous game and put a bow on it? Arguably I'd imagine a sequel like that would lessen the impact of the first game, to be honest. Hrm I had the impression that Dak'kon was immortal because of how much time it is implied he has spent with TNO, but in the lore Githzerai definitely have limited lifespans. Maybe had something to do with his vow. Anyway, those concerns could be solved with some good writing, I'm just saying it was not a completely closed storyline like many seem to claim, and personally I would enjoy a game focused on the Blood War and plane travel, which could include a quest for redemption by a petitioner (TNO).

Everyone always says that PST storyline was closed and finished, and that there was no opening for a sequel. The main character is immortal and was banished to the lower planes, and all of his companions (experienced planeswalkers) are also immortal and vowed to track him down at the end of the game no matter how long it took. That seems to leave the door open for a pretty awesome sequel in my mind. Despite the fact that this Torment game will not be a sequel and there seems to be some pretty transparent marketing hype going on, (and they do deserve to be called on it) I don't see why it couldn't be a good game. If someone with some credibility says they want to make a cRPG with deep writing, I'm on board with that.

I would like money to be a valuable resource and have to pick and choose what I am able to buy.

What is a 'Torment Game'? Fargos answer was pretty mushy. How is it a sequel? It sounds fun as described and I'm definitely interested but it seems like they're just springboarding off the built-in fanbase for PST in order to sell a completely different and original game.

If there is one thing I hate about Arcanum, it's critical misses. Shouldnt they be trying to improve on the old formulas, rather than try to copy them exactly, flaws and all? Yes they should, but critical misses aren't a flaw What is and what is not a flaw in the old systems is debateable of course, I'm just saying that the idea of doing exactly what the old games did because it's meant for fans of the old games is wrong. As for critical misses, I'm hearing a lot of suggestions for improvement on the idea in this and other threads (adjust the frequency, adding it to weapon types or melee abilities and so forth) so even if they get added to the game I don't think we would see them in the same form as those old games because they had a flawed implementation. Edit @ Rostere: Funny the first couple of times, annoying after that.

If there is one thing I hate about Arcanum, it's critical misses. Shouldnt they be trying to improve on the old formulas, rather than try to copy them exactly, flaws and all?

I'd like to see some nice secondary effects on the gameworld as a result of faction conflicts. Example, faction A asks for your help in wiping out faction B. If you do it: 1. bandits or monsters move into the area (because faction B used to patrol it) making it much more dangerous. 2. the cost of widget X increases in the region (because fewer traders come into the area) 3. some faction B refugees get together and stalk the party, ambushing them sometime later in the game 4. some faction B refugees flee to another town, causing crime and problems for the other town 5. some unique items become available in a faction A shop 6. Faction A asks for your help in wiping out faction C 7. Faction D takes advantage of Faction A's weakness and suprise attacks while you are still there so depending on whom you support and the actions you take, you get different safe areas, wandering monsters, quests, items, prices and faction territories. It doesnt have to impact the main storyline quests at all, just what is going on in the background as you play the game.

These updates are really fantastic; I don't see why there would be any regrets. The more I hear, the more assured I am that they know what they're doing and that PE is going to be great.

Should there be such questions, all can be answered because magic.

I'm not a fan of having NPC merchants become unavailable or only buy and sell certain stock. In Skyrim, when I needed to go to a shop and it was nighttime, I would just push the wait button and sit there until they opened again in the morning. Not very immersive at all - to me, it was just inconvenient and annoying. And having merchants only buy and sell certain things has always been frustrating to me in games, leading to me spending my time running around searching for the merchant who will buy my widgets instead of being off adventuring and having fun. In my view realism should take a back seat to a good game experience. (If anyone has played the Witcher with its 'radiant AI', this is a great example of how annoying those mechanics can be)

I think this overcomplicates the system, especially when we will already have separate progression for combat vs non combat skills. It's true that from a realism standpoint, it doesn't make much sense that my combat skills would progress when I have been solving objectives using my non-combat skills, but personally I would rather have a streamlined system (one XP pool) than an overly realistic one. From reading the interviews, it sounds like the goal will be for every class to be viable in combat and non-combat, which will allow the player to decide how he wants to solve an encounter: in whichever way seems the most fun and rewarding that is within the capability of the character. Splitting the XP pools seems like I would then be forced to consider which aspect of my character I want to progress when faced with each encounter, rather than simply using what skills I have however I want to use them and then making those decisions on levelup. I'd rather not inject metagaming into every single encounter. The new system seems to just want to eliminate grinding, which is fine by me, and if they add in enough sidequests, the party could be fully realized without ever feeling the need to just go slay random mobs for XP.

I generally don't enjoy puzzles unless I am playing the genre specifically (I liked Grimrock ok). Puzzles shouldn't block me from being able to progress the main storyline, the more optional they are the better. They should be logical and integrated into the world around me... though when I think about it, are there really any 'puzzles' in real life? I can't think of any off the top of my head. Even something like the pyramids that were designed to foil grave robbers didnt really have any 'puzzles', just some traps and hidden passages. So it seems to me that in order to be logical they must also be necessarily fantastical (magical talking sphinx or wizards teleporter mazes).

There was an old article from the Onion where they had the WW1 armies getting turned back by legions of corpse eating rats. Why not take the rats out of the sewer and have them infesting a fresh battlefield? There would be swarms of giant, aggressive, blood soaked, disease ridden rats fiercly defending their 'meals' as they rot in the midday sun.

1000 gp is low IMO. Make it 200000 gp to start. Right, just something significant whatever that is, so you can't just spoil all the areas for nothing, but you can take a peek if you are willing to pay.

This seems like it should be simple but the more you think about it, the less clear the solution is. The idea I like the best so far is maps, maybe on each level of the underground or indoor area there is a hidden map you can find that removes the black FoW but keeps the grey one. The map could be placed in such a way that you have to clear the major part of the area before you can find it (the boss drops it, or it's hidden near where you leave the area). Or, in the case of dungeons the level 1 map is hidden on floor 2 and so on. There could be a map vendor (cartographer) that provides some maps - of certain outdoor areas lets say - but they are expensive, and the more you have explored the area, the more the price drops. So, its 1000gp to purchase it before you have visited the area, but after exploring 90% of the area, the price of the map drops accordingly to 100gp. So if you want the map for tactical purposes there is a cost in gp but if you just want it for aesthetic purposes you don't have to pay nearly as much.

I'm hoping for a really strong story and so I'd prefer if the main storyline was unambiguous and had one ending. Perhaps there could be multiple outcomes for the different characters in the story, or for quest related towns and areas. I don't usually continue playing after the main storyline is completed. I'll wait until I'm done everything before embarking on that final quest. So for me, I'd prefer a single, clear ending to the main storyline and rolling credits.

What do you do the next time a game like this wants to be kickstarted and nobody is willing to back it because they'll "just pirate it when it comes out"? I don't think that will happen. The same people who backed this project will still be there, plus maybe some new fans who played the game and liked it. I'm not worried about pirates and besides there's nothing you can do to stop them.

I don't like DRM, don't believe it helps anyone and I don't support games that use DRM. If someone feels that they need to play the game before deciding to put money down for it, thats ok by me as a backer. One of the great things about these kickstarter projects for me is the fact that there is no DRM. It was one of the main reasons I backed the projects. Adding DRM of any kind for anyone would ruin that for me. Please, please, please no DRM. Edit - and I'm not sure I like being labelled 'illogical, uneducated, hysterical and misinformed' just because I disagree with you.

Here's my idea: The gods are entities that are composed of the souls of mortal beings, like a mosaic. Souls with a similar philosophical viewpoint pool together to create a god, with the personality traits of all those mortals melded together to create a single entity. Some mortals are born 'new/pure', in that their souls are not drawn from an existing divine entity, but end up attaching themselves to one after death through their actions in life. Others may be born with souls that have lived before and already attached themselves to a god-entity. Those souls are drawn away from the mass that creates the individual god and allows the god a means to continue to learn and grow while also influencing the mortal world. The mortal world is a battleground between all the different gods. Each cannot understand the other, views them as a threat and seeks to be the one and only god. They do this by attempting to destroy mortals who have old souls drawn from their enemies, while converting those with pure souls to their way of thinking. Those with more followers become greater and more powerful with more opportunities to influence the mortal world. There is some mechanism in the world whereby a persons soul can be totally and utterly annihilated, never to become one with a god or able to return to the mass. Old souls are targeted for this destruction by agents of opposing gods as a means of weakening their opponents. One faction seeks to end the war of the gods by seeking a greater understanding of the philosophical divides that created them and promoting peace and brotherhood among mortals. A mortal may, through increased understanding and self reflection, detach themselves from a god and again become 'pure', which diminishes that gods power, with the ultimate goal of making everyone pure and eliminating the gods for good. This group also promotes science and investigation into the natural world. The gods hate this faction and work to stop them at any cost.

For the same reason a giant 'win!' button in the middle of the screen is a bad idea. I still don't understand why it matters.

Why?

I think this gets thrown around alot because people are trying to be polite. Also, options are good. The devs have already stated that there will be many options in the game as Hormalakh points out. I'm not sure how that's an arguable point or why someone wouldn't want lots of options.

This is pretty hard to answer without knowing a bit more about the classes. With a smaller party I'll usually spec a dual wielding fighter and max DPS and leave the other roles to my companions - it just makes the killin' faster and easier. Games where I can take a larger party I usually pick a spellcaster because I like checking out all the cool spells and effects. Rogues can be fun but I'll usually reserve them for another playthrough. A paladin can work, but I usually only play them because they have to take high charisma and make good party leaders. Cipher seems like a wild card, not sure if I'll like them or not. I generally avoid Barbarians and Rangers because theyre too much like fighters and I don't like the bonuses they get compared to what they lose. I don't like playing Priests because it's a support role and I'd rather play something more up front and flashy. I find Monks boring because they don't get any cool equips and seem too static in their growth path. Druids are usually worthless, and I've never liked bards. Again, since we know nothing about these classes all of that could change. In particular I'd like if they could do something to fix Druids and Monks, since they could be a really cool play experience if tweaked a little. Priests should play differently as well, since there will be limited healing/resurrection so they will have to do something else to be useful. In conclusion I have no idea how to answer this poll

From what I've heard, the devs are trying to move away from the traditional death-and-reload (by adding the stamina mechanic, removing healing and resurrection spells, allowing you to recruit new members and so forth) so I think trying to do something a little different with the death mechanic absolutely makes sense for this project. Depending on what they do with it, I may or may not reload when a party member dies. Adding dying wish quests or other death content would be an incentive to not reload, which I think is what they are going for.