eimatshya

I don't necessarily think that side quests need to be connected to the main plot in all games; I just don't like it when the main story makes it feel like you shouldn't be doing the side quests. Fallout 2 is a good example of a game that's mostly sidequests with little effect on the main story. The main story has you just wandering through the wasteland looking for something you have no idea how to find. As such, doing a lot of random stuff along the way doesn't feel wrong. You don't feel like there's something more important you should be doing because you don't have any clear idea where your main quest should take you. Fallout: New Vegas is another example, depending on how you play. If you do what the game seems to want and go chasing after Benny, then doing side quests feels incongruous. However, if like me, you decide that you aren't eager to tangle with someone you thoroughly owned you during your last encounter, you are free to just wander around doing whatever you want.

Yes, you are *able* to forgo the side material, but that isn't the problem. The problem is that the side material often is incongruous. The main story tells you that you are racing to prevent some grave danger, but then you have all these side quests where people want you to rescue their daughter who's been kidnapped or something (this is a general example; I've never played Skyrim). Putting off the "urgent" matters in the main quest to do random tasks has no effect on anything in the main quest. Everyone's just waiting around for you get around to stopping them. This is a problem because it shatters my immersion in the game world. If I do the side quests, I can't enjoy them because I know that there are important things I'm supposed to be doing, and realizing that these tasks are patiently waiting for me to do them, when they should be progressing with or without my involvement, breaks my sense of immersion in the world. If I don't do the side quests, then I am always bothered by curiosity about what I'm missing. Either way, I'm unhappy so long as the side quests are out of sync with the main narrative. BG2 is a good example of the opposite. In Act I, all the side quests make sense because they are just ways for you to make enough money to go after Imoen. As such, doing all these random tasks doesn't disrupt your immersion in the story. That is the point OP was trying to make.

Yeah, I too find it distracting when games give you a main story that presents the player with some sort of urgency, and then gives them a bunch of sidequests to do that have nothing to do with the urgent matter that is patiently waiting for you to get started on. The Tomb Raider reboot had that problem. The story made it sound like you had to hurry to rescue your friend, but then the game kept giving you random tombs to explore that had no connection to anything. I wanted to explore the tombs, 'cause some of them were kind of neat, but I didn't feel right doing so since I knew that my friend needed rescuing. I had the same problem in Dragon Age: Origins. The main story sets up this sense of impending doom where you're one step ahead of this advancing army of monsters that's going to raze Ferelden unless you gather the support to stop them. But then the game gives you all these little side quests to do. I never felt right about doing any of them because my character should be focused on the imminent threat. As such, I missed out on a ton of content because it was out of sync with the main narrative. So, yes, if P:E's core narrative gives the player a sense of urgency, I would like to see the game be more like NWN2 or BG2 in terms of how it handles side quests. And welcome to the forums!

I'm fine with not having quest markers, as I think they do detract from the immersiveness of the game world. However, if there aren't any quest markers, I'd like it if the directions you're given are recorded in your journal for reference later on. It's very annoying when someone tells you where something is, but then you forget what they said and can't get the directions again.

Yeah, I don't really get the people who've been grousing about being "misled" or "duped" by Obsidian. During the kickstarter they were very open about their intentions for the game, and they had a ton of updates where they talked about the mechanics they were going for, and it seemed clear to me that they were taking a more modern approach to systems design. I don't know how you could read those updates/watch the videos and not understand that they would not be recreating the IE system. They pretty explicitly talked about things like cooldowns, HP/Stamina, non-combat skills, and objective-based experience. I don't see how you can complain about getting swindled when the devs straight-up said that they were going to be taking a different direction with the mechanics. Personally, I think P:E feels like an I:E game (more than I'd like it too, actually, since I don't like Squad-Based RTwP combat). So far what they've shown us looks like exactly what I expected, and if I could do it again, I would still pledge my $148.

I'm OK with the game not having a manual. Modern games don't really have decent manuals anymore, so I'm acclimated to playing a game manual-less. That said, I did really love reading through the manuals that games had in the 90s. The Fallout 1 and 2 manuals, for example, were great fun. I'd be fine with having to refer to the manual to understand gameplay elements, as I actually find that much less immersion breaking than having the game explain stuff to me (I've been replaying Alpha Protocol, and while overall I love that game, the pop ups tutorials really do take me out of the game).

Pretty much any setting can be converted into a PnP game, although some will be easier than others. As WorstUsernameEver pointed out, you'd have to rewrite Eternity's mechanics to fit the constraints of pen and paper gaming (sort of like what Sawyer's Simple System did with Fallout's mechanics). Although given the game's DnD roots, maybe just using OGL for the mechanics and creating new classes and powers would be the way to go. Anyway, as it's topical, here's a blog post from Green Ronin that talks a little about the process of adapting Dragon Age into a PnP game: http://greenronin.com/2013/06/ronin_round_table_math_the_sil.php#more

I have no problem with your approach to spelling (that is, using the orthographic conventions of the language inspiring each conlang for flavor purposes). It's not the way I would do it, but it's not my game, so do what you think is best to convey the feeling you're trying to capture. I would like some sort of pronunciation guide, however, as my knowledge of Irish spelling rules, which are complicated and full of exceptions, is moderate at best, and my understanding of Italian orthography is even worse. I do like to know how the author intends for me to pronounce a word. Thanks for putting so much thought into your conlangs, Josh. Most fantasy writers seem to just throw a bunch of weird sounding words out there without any sort of systematicity (which always torpedoes my immersion in the fantasy world).

Honestly, I have enough trouble monitoring the health of all six of my party members at once in the IE games. Doing away with HP bars would not be an improvement in this area. As other posters have said, I can see how this could work in a game where you only control one character (there are lots of FPS games with such a system), but I can't see how this wouldn't be confusing in an IE style game.

Well, I've never played an Obsidian game I didn't like, so I'm not particularly worried about such an outcome. But since there's a first time for everything, I guess I would just uninstall PE and keep playing their old games. It wouldn't be that big of a deal to me since I've bought plenty of games that turned out to be boring or downright awful. I suppose the failure of such a high profile Kickstarter project could have repercussions for future KS game pitches, though. Still, I think such an outcome is pretty unlikely. Obsidian has a great track record when it comes to this kind of game, and they seem to be planning to make exactly that: a game (as opposed to a movie with interactive portions, which is how Bioware keeps getting itself in trouble). So, I don't see any reason to be pessimistic about the future of PE. I'd say, best case scenario: it will be amazingly great; worst case scenario: it will only be decent.

Interesting read; it's always neat to get more insight into the devs' thought processes. Thanks for posting.

I generally find them to be a bit annoying; they rarely sound the way I imagine my character sounding, and they usually force my character to periodically yell out stupid things that I definitely do not want my character saying. But they're pretty easy to ignore. If I can't tune them out, I can pretend that some passing lunatic got excited by our battle and shouted some inane stuff at us as he ran by just off screen. So, while I've never understood why anyone would go to the trouble of making sound sets for the PC, I don't really have a strong opinion on the issue.

Really, the ending or endings should be dependent on the story leading up to them. Since we don't know anything about the story it's hard to say what kind of ending I would prefer. In general, I like to have the conclusion to an RPG be a response to the choices I've made as protagonist. As such, I imagine I would like to have multiple endings or at least multiple ways the ending can unfold based on my actions over the course of the game (e.g. ME 2). But again, when it comes to the tone of the ending (tragic, bleak, happy, darkly humorous, etc), this really depends on the tone of the rest of the game. If up until the end, the tone of the game has been one of heroic success in the face of seemingly inevitable failure, then the game should allow for a similarly themed ending. If the game has been a grim struggle against a harsh universe that is infinitely greater than the protagonist, in which the only thing the player can truly effect is his/her character (if even that), then a bleak ending in which you can't fix anything and get squashed is to be expected. For all its faults, I thought Dragon Age: Origins did a great job with its ending, allowing the player to end the game in the way that best fit the tone of their adventure. You could sacrifice yourself to save the world, someone else could sacrifice themselves to save the world (and there were a couple options as to who this would be based on your decisions up to that point), or you could make a Faustian bargain so that no one would have to be sacrificed, which of course leaves a big question mark hanging over whether resorting to forbidden sorcery would lead to big troubles down the road. And of course there were a bunch of other little things that changed depending on your actions, like which non-party NPCs would come join you for the climactic battle. So all-in-all, the game did a great job of feeling reactive at the end. Being completely ignorant of the tone and plot of P:E, I would say that I would like to see it take after DA:O in this one aspect.

Meh, I don't have a tablet of any kind, so I'm not particularly interested in buying BG a second time while my original disks still work fine.

Chanter is the class I'm most excited about, but I'll probably end up rolling a fighter for my first playthrough since it seems like I would want to know more about the gameworld before I play a lore master. I usually play as a fighter or equivalent in single player RPGs because I like being in the thick of the combat. As such, if I do play a chanter, I'll try to make him (or her) as tank-y as possible.

I have a bizarre attachment to deserts. Ever since I was a little kid, I've been fascinated by desert civilization from all parts of the globe. As such, desert areas are usually my preferred play areas in the games that have them. That said, pretty much any environment can be interesting, so I wasn't really sure what to select for my least favorite. I eventually went with northern coniferous forest since those tend to be pretty bland in most games. They can be really beautiful in real life, but I can't think of a single RPG with a memorable coniferous forest.

@OP: Honestly, I don't think she looks any more butch in your rendition than she does in the dungeon piece by Kieran Yanner. She does have more of a jaw line in the original concept art piece, though, so that might be the way to go if you want to change it (although I actually like how she looks in your version; you've got her looking like someone you wouldn't want to mess with--a real warrior-priestess). Anyway, great job! I hope you do more of these concept pieces. My vote would probably be for a Sagani piece, but it'd be neat to see your take on any of the characters.

Personally, I like the idea of having a portrait of the speaker next to their dialogue and there being several variations of the portrait (at least for major characters) to show different emotions and states of being. I thought that approach worked well in Persona 3 and gave its dialogue a nice sense of dynamism. That said, since some people seem to be very opposed to this idea, a strait-up, plain dialogue box like in Fallout or the IE games is probably the better way to go.

From some of the interviews with Josh Sawyer, it sounds like Obsidian is taking this approach, at least in some areas. He's talked about how the exact nature of the gods, souls, and reincarnation are not really understood. People know that these things are real, but they do not entirely understand how they work. *EDIT* But, yeah, I agree having the player's knowledge of the game world being as incomplete as that of its inhabitants (and its inhabitants should have an incomplete understanding) is usually more interesting than giving the players the insider scoop on how everything works.

Good read. Thanks, Sensuki.

I dislike RTwP combat (unless you count the Mass Effect games as RTwP, in which case they are an exception). In games with full party control, like the IE games, RTwP lacks the tactical depth that a well designed turn-based system allows since you can't micromanage all six party members simultaneously. That said, since P:E was pitched as a spiritual successor to the Infinity Engine games, which all used clunky RTwP systems, I think P:E should employ a similar system. Even though it will make combat mechanically tedious for me, it is what people will be expecting from a sequel to the IE games (and lots of people apparently liked the combat in the IE games). In an ideal world, I would like all games with full party control to use turn-based combat, but given the circumstances, I think RTwP is the right approach to take with this game.

You had a bit of that sort of relationship with most of your crewmembers if you decided to train them as jedi (or dark jedi). But yeah, it could be interesting to mentor a character in game. It would serve as a good excuse for you to explain your beliefs on things. I usually find it kind of annoying when dialogue choices are designed to show the motivation behind the choice because often I'm trying to roleplay a terse character who wouldn't waste time pontificating. Having a disciple, however, would give such a character a valid reason to explain their views on things.

I don't particularly care if people want to name their character something ridiculous; it's a single player game, and it won't detract from my immersion if someone else is playing their game as G@nd@lf teh Greyz. If they did implement separate slots for first and last name, I would want the option of leaving the last name blank, as I sometimes roll characters with only a single name. Also, it would be nice if the surname slot allowed for multiple words so as to allow a wider variety such as "of Karnoth" or "Son of Hakram"

I seem to remember reading about cultures that believe that twins share a soul. Sort of the opposite of two souls in one body, I suppose.

In DA:O, I loved sword and shield style when fighting ogres because you could learn an ability that resisted knockback/knockdown effects. It always made me feel like some epic hero out of legend when a charging ogre would bounce off of me instead of bowling me over like he usually would have. I can imagine how confused this ten-foot monster must have been to get out-tough-guyed by a puny human. Not very realistic of course but lots of fun. I'd like to see some sort of ability in P:E that would allow you to become similarly stalwart in combat.