Jarmo

Yea, I think I'll have to plot forward a bit. Quit the tech guy and started again with a slightly evil elven magic lady. It's pretty neat to just harm-harm-harm to bits the annoying people standing in my way. The music... it's great, but there's only so much of it and after 20 hours the constant strings start to get on your nerves a bit. Free play... I'm not sure either. Most of the locations, at least, are findable by just finding them on the map. Not sure if this applies to the mountain crossing to elven lands and then the river crossing south from there and reaching caladon by land route..

Have to pipe in and add the whole module series is absolutely fantastic stuff. A strong contender for the title of the best CRPG I've played. Well worth getting NWN just to play that.

That absolutely and it also depends on whether you're given a choice or if the stronghold is just dumped on you regardless. If there is a choice, I'd rather it's not like a) the right choice, you win b) the wrong choice, you lose Because if that's the case, I'd rather there's no choice and you are plagued with the keep, like it or not. Then it's about whether you maintain it properly or just ignore everything. If it's the one, then things will happen, if it's the other, then other things should happen. Like... if you tax everybody to death and don't build anything and just ignore everything, then maybe a band of rogues could show up and ask if they can settle in, give you a share of their highway banditry income? Or maybe a necromancer would need a base for her experiments? A dozen free zombie guardsmen for you to seal the deal.

The problem as I see it is if you can get the same kind of things without a stronghold as with it, just fewer of each (fewer items, fewer quests). A stronghold, and the position that comes with it, would in reality mean all kinds of opportunities. Some of these opportunities will be simulated by taking prisoners. In reality, it IS a unique opportunity to have your own lands. Why then shouldn't it offer unique content compared to a mercenary company living on the road? No, actually I can see the point of having something for the no-stronghold playthrough. A few minor quests rising from the fact the player isn't managing the hold. Maybe reuse the content, the ogres you'd have met and eliminated as the stronghold dude, are now instead terrorising a small village and a band of mercenaries is required. Or maybe there's a captured noble in the strongholds dungeon (maiden in the tower?) that needs rescuing? Couple of minor missions is enough for the alternative history to be interesting enough.

**Hint** I'll pay more attention if the books have illustrations...

EDIT: Actually it sounds about right, though I guess the game could be bigger than 10 GB. Largest game downloads right now are a bit over 30 GB. 50 GB for PE doesn't sound impossible, breaking 100 GB's would probably give some free press for being the biggast eva. (but going past 50GB would likely start limiting purchases and I kind of hope it stays below that)

Just finished playing Arcanum (for the first time) and I skimmed through all of the ones I came across, stopping briefly on interesting bits. Read maybe half or a third of the newspapers and then only the headlines (except later a few arronax articles which I read completely). 20yrs ago I'd have read them all. Gone spoiled.

Oh, just noticed a villager also could put Dernholm in my map (though after getting a ghost mine quest involving dernholm), and the smith pointed out Tarant, so it's not quite as linear as I thought, which is good.

Yeah, I'd prefer there was a way to travel safely between cities, even cities the plot doesn't take you to yet. Coach or caravan would be just great. ----- Anyway, finished the game. Pretty awesome all in all. In the end, I could have used a bit more hand holding. Never managed to find the guy I was going to meet in the inn in the beginning, and later, when Virgil took off, never managed to run into him again either, guess I was supposed to, but didn't. What's good, is the stuff that was left undone and the quests that broke down, didn't stop me from going forward and finishing. And now I started it again, I'll try to avoid the main plot this time, see if I can find the towns regardless. The last character was melee/magic half elf, this time I'm going to try out those schematics. Should also try a slightly evil mage to get the other companions and stuff. Not sure if I'll finish the game a second time, but I think the "free play" is more fun now I know how to play...

Unscaled random encounters were/are one of the things I liked. Crash site to shrouded hills - you're probably ok unless you get unlucky. Shrouded hills to tarant - maybe 50/50 chance or less of making the run without getting killed by something overly large. It's a dangerous place and the game makes a good job conveying that. Later on, the random encounters are just a nuisance, now you are the dangerous one and the game makes it apparent. Oh. One more thing I love we're not going to see again any time soon! Being able to actually rob stores. Not just grab a random pile of cash worth nothing, but grab that awesome magic sword you cant afford! Awesome!! Breaks the economy like yesterdays sweat pants, but totally, completely awesome!

Guess the optimal solution would be to be able to name someone (a companion or just some passerby) as the castellan (or whatever is the right term). So I got a castle, well you dude can take care of it because I don't give a damn. Collect taxes and fix the roof or something, maybe hire some guards, makes no difference to me. So you wouldn't get any management decisions, you'd get notified if the keep is under attack or there's a visitor, but you could just ignore it all and let the castlemanagerboss handle everything, or step in if things sound interesting.

Well, we're not really sure, but I'd guess that the money earned from the stronghold will end up matching or exceeding the money spent on it. We don't know, but I'd guess the stronghold wont produce as much income (in pure gold) as to be profitable in games duration. Factoring in the training benefits and adventure opportunities, the adventurer might yet come ahead. If it were the case of you get more xp, more gold, more everything, it'd be a complete no-brainer. I'd assume there to be very expensive upgrade options that'll near bankrupt you, money for prestige, no hope to recoup the losses.

Maybe if you considered the stronghold a bunch of optional side-quests? It's pretty much assumed you get some reward from side quests, but no reward for not doing them... But then, not spending cash on a stronghold means spending cash on something else, so it's not a total loss.

Neat to see we get both! But if one is quicker to access in real time, that's the one not neglected. That's why Novac motel remained the base even after getting access to the suite.

Consistency is bliss. Very much appreciate it where ever when ever seen. We may have encounters like that. Hopefully not the other way around... "oh, the blue skin rats, they can only be hurt with electricity". Not with fire, not with swords, not with nuclear armageddon, only electricity, 14 amps will do nicely.

Those are in? YEAH!! :D

Tried to get into arcanum twice before and failed both times. The first time I quit after the first fight with the first wolf, the flap-flap-flap-flap combat animations were just too awful. The second time I got to shrouded hills, then lost interest and left it on indefinite hold. This third time, is ongoing and I'll finish it unless I meet a game breaker I can't dodge. Been close a couple of times already, for similar reasons. Shops with restocking and changing inventories. Basically a fine idea, but leads to frustration. You need a specific gem type to make a pair of spectacles, if you already collected all the gems and sold them, you can't get them anymore. This is despite the gem being "relatively common", it's not available in any shop in all of the world. And you can't get back to the island for no particular reason. Luckily I had an older save, so I could go back and murder and loot the spectacle guy, I didn't want to, but I couldn't know if I'll ever find the gems otherwise. Also.. I just finished an epic quest of finding a shovel. The first two towns didn't have a single shovel in them, farming towns and all but not a single shovel to buy or steal. (a funny thing, after finding a shovel from the capital I realized I had one already, just not in the inventory but in the quickbar). Other than that, it's great to visit shops and see if they have something new and interesting. Shopping in Arcanum is fun! Talking with people and just walking around is fun! I have a hate or love character and I've had people attack me for no particular reason. Even half botched one (side)quest when an important NPC got angry and had to be sliced. There's a definite element of danger around all the time! (some of the danger comes from the possibility of running into a game breaking bug, which is not all that neat). I do dislike it how the lore doesn't actually match the game. IE, there's a kingdom that's being ruined because they didn't embrace technology.. but the gameplay doesn't reflect this. Being an armored guy with a gun, doesn't actually make you better than and armored guy with a sword or spell. Exploration. Yeah, it's fun to travel the world map... but really.. you don't know where any of the towns is? Neither does almost anybody else. Even in the capital city of Tarant, there's no maps of any kind to be found? Maybe one person in each town who can tell where another town is, despite there being a railroad and ships all about. Maybe I could at least try to follow the rail tracks maybe? Come upon them in the wilderness? Character creation. One of the games where you know how to make a character when you're halfway through the game already. You know how to have fun playing a technologist once you've played one already. It's a horrid mess of a game, full of problems and bugs. But I'm having a lot of fun with it, more than most of the new rpg's I've been playing lately.

It again complements the other two very nicely. Smallest in scope and length, happens completely in the city of Westgate and isn't about saving the world. Just doing stuff that's important enough for a low(ish) level adventurer. I wouldn't recommend buing the whole package from gog just for westgate (unless it's on bargain), but if you got it, it's definitely worth playing.

Have to back up this notion. Not to completely insane degree though. Low taxes is one thing, but people would also love a rich splendid ruler better than a poor fellow. In the long haul, fleecing peasants would lead to abandoned fields and widespread banditry, probably not in a few years time though. Also, low taxes would lead to merchants and enterpreneurs flocking in, maybe even affect how many new settlers you get. But then, can't make the whole game about managing a stronghold! Or actually you rather can, but not if you actually want to make an RPG. So it'll need to be pretty well simplified, can't put in all good ideas in the world (chamber of spanking for the prisoners is obviously a priority).

I disagree about it being good wizard armour. To me, that very much looks like an armoured rogue, not wizard. The hat, the rapier, the practical, down-to-earth look of it all. Definitely a rogue. Fair enough - would perhaps work better for wizards if we'd lose the hat Look, it's an awesome battlemage with his splendid spellsword!

Reminds me of one of my most fun experiences in either Oblivion or Skyrim. Was hunting this boss vampire in a cave system. One hit sneak attack into the back of the skull with a magic arrow fired from a fine bow! No chance to blah blah blah plot exposition cutscene and then megabuff and fight. Just lying there face in the mud, never saw me coming. Good times. One of the most satisfying boss fights I've ever had.

I'd vision the traditional wizard attire to mostly be for town & court use, much like a lords or kings fancier colorful clothes. For a military campaign or an adventure, all of them would prefer something a bit more rugged and protective. For a wizard, an armor jack with leather pants, gloves and boots would serve nicely. Maybe worn under the robe, if game engine permits. Alternatively, a breastplate over the robes would still maintain the wizardly qualities. (with armor gauntlets and plate boots perhaps?) Of course, we'd still meet plenty of spellcasters in the traditional pajamas, when caught unawares not expecting to face combat.

I would like to see bow effectiveness increase with levels, going from something like 20lb draw shortbows or self bows to 200 lb draw longbows or composites. 10x power difference from the weakest to heaviest. The heaviest requiring strength and spending talents on, probably made of super-expensive or magical materials. Also a significant increase in firing speed. Overall, in comparison to 2-handed melee weapon, I'd like to see archer make maintain a balance of doing... maybe half as much damage in a given time, throughout the game. The lesser damage offset by not having to spend time running about . And no 1 character doing any DA stunts like fire a volley of 20 arrows or anything stupid like that.

http://www.gog.com/game/neverwinter_nights_2_complete Comes with NWN2, MotB and SoZ soundtracks... And yeah, forgot to mention but the music was good.

Wizard robes and pointy wizard hats, with moons and stars and planets. They are a statement. Look at me, I'm a Wizard, respect my wizardness! They say I'm such a badass spellcaster I don't need no stinking armor or any weapons, I need nothing whatsoever beside my magic awesomeness! Also, when you've done laboratory experiments for a week without sleep, you're all covered with slime and smell of rats and old cheese, you can just toss the fresh and minty wizard robe over your normal attire, cover your mess of a hair with the pointy hat and you're immediately presentable in court! I'd make them high level attires, the best ones giving some bonus to magic skills, but most importantly not hindering them in any way like even the light armor would. A low level casters would need the armor protection and a sidearm, takes a high level caster to rely on magic only.