Shadenuat

Wizard with a sword is replaceability, not flexibility. And if one will place fighters position in jeopardy (like how famous kensai/mages did in BG2), the whole class system goes down the toilet. Every class replacing other class because of tailored "build" is an MMO route.

I would much rather prefer developers spend their resources on fleshing out the unique class abilities which are there to make a choice of taking that class in a party or not. Instead of creating some sort of clever workaround for a wizard to go into melee, adding two more dialogue lines for him about found books on Ancient poetry, some more when you find magically sealed passages or another interesting spell like levitation to cross pits or swamps would be preferable. Class adaptivity is much more based on off-combat content, than on multiple ways to bash crap out of monsters. (Heard they want to make lockpicking a universal skill too? Meh).

The whole idea of class system is to exchange flexibility for strategic and tactical clarity (pawn - moves forward, captures diagonally; mage - wears only robes, throws fireballs) and also teach dumb players to play coherent characters (not Elder Scroll like wielders of destruction magics in heavy plate who can sneak-kill a fly by prowling behind it and hitting with two-handed hammer). Yeah, I don't like mages with swords.

While I share Sea's concerns I don't believe adventurer economy should be abandoned completely in D&D inspired game. Finding treasure and getting rich is parth of it's myth, when we stumble around dungeons carrying swords we are carrying the mantle of Indiana Jones, or all the adventurers from the past searching for pots of gold in dark forests or golden idols in jungles of New World. Getting rich is one of the main motivators in these kinds of stories, and by taking it away, you kinda change the story we're playing. Come on, six dudes in plate mails traveling across the land to find a source of or ? In my opinion, adventurer economy is boring because search for treasure is *boring*: - There is too much of it. - It's usually just abstract coins which everyone accepts. - Or it's just ton of junk you sell to get more abstract coins. - Level scaling. And to fix that: - There should't be too much of it. - It should be interesting and have backstory for it (not ruby, but Cursed Ruby of Guy Whos Names Are Usually Found on Covers of Conan Books). - Selling junk should't be the main means to get money. - **** level scaling.

Game is't turn-based so DA:O or Arcanum like buffs would do just fine. Personally I think Arcanum system (maximum amount of supported spells is calculated from your INT, and they drain your stamina every few seconds) would be more interesting because in P:E stamina serves a purpose of additional HP bar, so maintaining few buffs and getting your stamina cut by percentage or drained every second will put spellcaster at a risk, and taking risks is always good. The streamlined version would probably be something like this - you just click on buff, and it works on it's own (like aura). However, buff is another spell from your spellbook, which means it replaces possible Fireball or Web spell till you rest and change arcane tomes. The short-duration buffs could probably be just tied to per-encounter system and usable only in combat.

Some classes should suck at melee, artillery/utility one just makes most sense (losing in brute force, one gains a fair advantage of having magical or utilitarian skills). Think of it as pikemen/cavalry, just on smaller scale. This is the fun of class-based systems on tactical level - units with great strengths and great weaknesses. Stop thinking about that on personal level ("duuh, I don't want to play wizard who sucks in melee") and try to imagine the strategic layer behind playing whole party.

No! I want to know if MCA will **** the sheep or not!!

Nah. I could name a few builds which do not rely on magic anyhow but kick major ass. Not to mention you can do a pacifist run, although that would require some meta knowledge (but what game does't). The game is unbalanced, but not in a way that only mages are powerful, although they are the most powerful out-of-the-box. Also, people seem to have some unnatural predisposition towards classes even when they are playing completely classless game. Nothing's wrong with playing a fighter who uses Temporal to speed himself into slashing machine, or thief with gadgets, or gunslinger who casts Entangle spell on his targets, or any other hybrid, really.

Elves are awesome in Arcanum. Arcanum is probably one of the few, maybe the only, game where elves are actually pretty damn cleverly done and play a major role in the plot. Generally, all races are. In Arcanum, races just have their *place*. Everyone *belongs* where he is. It is hard to explain and something which needs to be experienced. Half-elven gamblers in fancy suits, dwarven engineers, half-ogrish body-guards for weak (but rich) gnomes, orcish cheap labor in the factories... just to name a few examples. As for MCA clicking things, maybe he's just a bit nervous as LP's in new to him (is it?). I also noticed he constantly moves the cursor when reading dialogue (I usually just leisurely relax in my chair drinking tea and do not touch mouse at all when reading dialogue, for example).

Hit F7 for quick save, F8 quick load, F2 to order companion(s) attack the chosen enemy or any object (like locked door). I understand keyboard is a dark forest in a time of hitting A for Awesome, but trying all the buttons before smacking first seen enemy can really help when you play games you're not familiar with. P.S. Don't give Chris any spoilers on what he missed or about anything dangerous ahead. That would just ruin all the fun.

Bring magic back into magical things. Some possible tricks, for weapons: - Unusual circumstances you find weapon at (classic example: sword in stone with a STR check). - Positive properties of magical weapon could only be learned empirically (classic example: you cut things with nice elvish sword, but when you meet orcs it starts burning of white light on itself and makes them flee on each strike). - The same can go for negative properties too (an evil companion would be burned by blessed weapon and drop it on the ground). Of course, not every weapon should be an intelligent soul cursed into twisted metal form with a bag of scripted effects and tricks to bite the player in the ass (if he's too lazy to actually read important discriptions on the items); but a few artifacts of conciderable power which have their own place in the gameplay would really help to get away from +1 swords.

For once I'd wish they make something clever and utilise mouse controls instead of one-click mixing, maybe like in Might&Magic VI-VII. Oooh, all the colored shiny bottles you put one onto another, to get even more colorful and shiny... ...or explode your whole party.

In Arcanum, you could destroy any door with weapons or spells, but guards and NPCs instantly aggroed on you if you do it, the same for lockpicking spell which was "too loud". You could even crack safes with dynamite. Items also detiorated inside bashed containers. So unless you've played somebody who was okay with slaughtering whole city full of police, you either stayed on right side of the law or put points into lockpicking (and sneak, because if somebody seen you lockpicking, they'd call guards too).

For me this thread is about admiring real, working pieces of war equipment because of them... being real and working. It's not about making game 100% mirror of specific time period from real history, but about showing stuff in it which I believe could work in combat. It does't really matter if it's unnecessary ornated, like Warhammer art, but if it looks like it was made for the purpose of killing ****, not just for designer to sublimate on his Cloud's swords, I will like it.

It's last one on the bottom right. Pfft, did't you know?...

Will all armor fit all characters? Race-restricted armor was p. cool in Wizardry, for example. Will larger creatures miraculously follow party through small doors, or will they be stuck in it? Will you be able to use doors as choke points or the same as above will happen with regular creatures? In DA:O that made me rage when enemies somehow teleported and ran past my fighter guarding door, ignoring any possible collision. ...yeah, doors. I guess I can make a design question out of anything. When you'll make chairs I'll try to think of something of how chairs could be tied to combat system as improvised weapons. Maybe I need to relax sometimes.

Turks knew the fun of good saber fighting like nobody else.Their weapons were superb. Persians were't too far behind either: When I'm imagining elvish cavalry I always want to give them these Cut stoopid mortal humans heads on a ride.

And what ideas have you came up with to do that? Your example has weapons with three general ranges of reach (dagger, sword and spear), are you going into reach modificators territory, like Codex Martialis?

Why so many players today see things like time limit as something which harms their way of gaming instead of supporting it is an interesting topic on it's own.

I just wanted to say that Myron is one of my favorite companions ever, and I am not the only one who believes he is good. His complete "me being me" attitude with great place in the story of the world he lives in and weakness in combat made him unique. Myron is not a character testers and players will favor at first, but he is the character which made Fallout 2 be remembered fondly over the years. These sorts of characters are a risk, but they can be great investment in what a game achieves overall.

In combat heavy game it would make sense for everyone to be in their prime, so 12 years olds with buster swords are out, even if that one is actually a squire who started sword training when he was 5. Also concider mature themes and such, even in Game of Thrones series they hired 22 years old actress to play 14 years old Meera Reed, you know (even if what she only does is hunts frogs).

But will we be able to ride them? Please make next thread about spears.

He's just using PSI probably, aura reading or something. It's a flintlock. The ball is to hit people when you're out of bullets/reloading. A halfling psionic with a gun serving in city police. Feels like a work of... ...yeeeah.

If companions only purpose is PC, it's hard to respect them. It worked better in Planescape because of the novelty and how the fundamental concept of the Past had ties to everything around you there. And... Planescape cast is just better written. P.S. I hope characters in P:E won't follow PC "because souls". There are already weapons and combat techniques which work better "because souls", so... yeah.

Would be only fair to state this one on a judgement on what Obsidian provided. SWTOR2 This is one where your enemies are more interesting than your own companions, for sure. It is partly because game had a lot of content cut and we could't explore characters enough, but generaly, the issue boils down to an idea that Exiles crew does not have character as itself, but just mimics players actions (Virgil type). And while this is supported by an interesting concept and plot, in the end, it does not really matter, because the idea just makes companions more forgetable. Lot of them, exept droids and Kreia (and Mandalore, I think), are gullible and are tied to the past. You know, that thing that companions in games always live in the past will haunt Obsidian for some time, and not only them, but a lot of others. It's kinda neat once, maybe twice, but when every person you meet has some past troubles that need to be resolved you really start to wonder how the heck did they live without you all that time, if their only future is to follow you afterwards without any new agendas. Up tenfold for Bioware with it's cast of daddy/mommy/sister issues... that's why people like Mordin the most - he is the only one absolutely bound to idea, and achieves it in the end (or not, but really, you gave him that, did't you?). So yeah. Gullible, controlled, living in the past characters. Give me a break. NWN2 Oh don't even let me out here. There is a reason gals adore Bishop. And it's not just because he is a bad boy, not really. I think that's because he is the only one in the whole party who has a brain and thinks for himself, and makes decisions. And values his own life. Ammon Jero is the other passable dude there. Everyone else, writing quality aside, follows a set of rules which for some apparent reason forbids them *thinking*. Characters as bullets, pawns of the plot, moving forward without having a second thought on the nature of what happens with them. Mostly unkillable and player dependant. Let's do without unkillable and plot-dependant this time. And Elanee. **** Elanee. **** KnowGirl. And Grobnar, yes, can do without him too. I know it's the hardest thing, to do classic archetypes well, but these are no excuse. NWN2 MotB Damn, what happened? The gap in a writing quality between NWN2 and MotB is so enormous you'd think I am playing another studio's game. The weakest as, "overall", for me was Gannayev, although weakest here means he is better than anyone from previous campaign. MotB has a character cast which is just absolutely reverse of KOTOR2. Which means - everyone has a clear goal, everyone is very different in what they want, approve or dissaprove, and even if somebody is living in the past, it's Planescape-deconstruction-180*-MCAdrunkExtravaganza. Some mommy issues (twice), daddy (once), but very tolerable. The weak chain - Safiya and her over-the-top obsession with main character, almost biowarian so. Sudden, thousand years old love reveal. Cute, but cringeworthy. Alpha Protocol I remember Sie because she was so ridicilous, and Albatros and pink haired girl, because pink haired girl was tied to Albatros, and Albatros is a bird name. There were't any companions per se... Spy Movies are't my thing. I thought this game had the most forgetable and comical characters. Fallout: New Vegas So after AP, it's like they said "Okay, screw this, let's return to a way of writing where player does't actually have to mash buttons and can explore characters again". Thanks Bethesda. You are about as fun as a hiking simulator, but you once again pressed Obsidian writing into a standard dialogue-tree form, and it's... ...great! Not as great as MotB, but in the right direction. They have stories, they are acting on their own again. Veronica is my personal favorite, because she is everything I want a companion to be - a thinking person with it's own agenda and not living in a past. Unlike, say, Boone or Ganon. Another goddamn revenge/suffering from years ago. Just how do these people live, really, immoveable, forgotten in their past, sitting on a chair or in a sniper nest... will they die and would not reach their goal if player won't stumble on them, forever? I wish them all be like Veronica or Cass. Living, thinking, trying, changing. Dungeon Siege 3: Err heh... uhhu huhum... yeah, well, they are't *bad*. I just fail to remember much about them. So yeah, characters I don't want to see: - Ones who mimic player to suit him better and be useful - Ones obsessed with the past without believeable life in the present and watching into the future - Ones who are pawns for the plot in a sense that they never asks themselves why are they are following it and what's happening - Ones whos family I can't meet alive and well