Domigorgon

I want a new Vampire: the Masquerade game.

Agreed. The endgame should reflect your efforts up to that point and pose a challenge appropriate to your class and party. The original Fallout, along with Planescape - Torment, are probably the best examples of this. Researching the Super Mutants' sterility, or getting Coaxmetal to forge you the Blade of the Immortal, allowed you to defeat the Big Baddie through conversation alone. But it would also be cool if characters you helped along the way came to your aid, like Drizzt did in Baldur's Gate II when you fought Bodhi and her vampires. But I have faith in the team; I'm sure they've already thought these things through and will not disappoint.

"Ye gods!" "Oh goddess..." "Thank the Powers!" Are these the phrases you are looking for?

I get the feeling that the most recent update throws many of these good ideas out of the window. Project: Eternity will basically have a D&D-like pantheon, sans alignments. So much for that.

I'd love to have unlockable extras in the game (i.e. they unlock when you finish the main quest or something like that). The Longest Journey, an adventure game, had an unlockable "Book of Secrets" which included concept art and voice-over outtakes. It would be neat if on a second or third replay you could turn on commentaries for each character and/or area. Of course, none of that is really necessary and the effort may be better spent elsewhere, but hey, so long as we're thinking wishful here...

Since you mention Baldur's Gate 2, there are at least two more instances where you get "drugged" (magically or otherwise). Number one, a certain NPC betrays and drugs the party at one point in the game, which moves the plot forward. Two, if you follow a quest of a certain landowner (who later turns out to be a red dragon), you mistakenly slaughter innocents believing them to be monsters (all because the said lord/dragon has cast an illusion spell on you). Just thought I'd point out that something along those lines has already been done.

How about... no villain? For example, imagine that your enemy is a harmful philosophy/ideology that has entrenched itself into your society (think nacionalism/Stalinism with magic to back it up). Kill a figurehead/leader of the cause, and it is easily replaced (an ideological hydra). Maybe there's some malevolent Power behind it, but it is (for the time being, until your character is of epic levels, at least) untouchable/transcendent. Of course, to drive the story forward, the game would require villains as points of focus, but they need not have to be irredeemable. Even Sarevok could be convinced to join your cause and, if handled properly, change his alignment.

This.

I would like the ability to 'turn off' (dismiss) a spell (one with a duration) if I (as a mage or priest) cast it. Especially if it's an area-of-effect type of spell (Stinking Cloud, Entangle, Web, etc.) that also affects my party. Say the enemies are dead, and the spell still goes on for a minute. It's only my party that is going to get stuck/damaged.

The problem with modding communities is that modders do these things in their free time and are not paid for it. Big projects usually fail (i.e. stay unfinished), because they are rarely organized well, and everyone contributes only when they feel like it. Most people give up and move on as real life kicks in. But smaller projects (i.e. one-man jobs) are usually more successful (simple weapon/armor mods etc.). Baldur's Gate modding community basically did many small mods that were then brought together in "The Big Picture" and "BG Trilogy". I, too, prefer mods that do small changes (and give you a chance to easilly remove them if you don't like them, resetting things back to normal). Big mods (with lots of new content, possibly whole new campaigns) never seem that good to me, no matter the effort involved. It may be a good starting point in a career, sure, but it's still shoddy. Not saying this is always the case, but usually it is. People start modding games with big (unrealistic) plans, and then it all gets lost in modding limbo. I'm still hoping for Rogue Dao Studios to finish their NWN 2 Planescape mods, but hope is all they've given me in the past couple of years.

I don't think it degrades immersion much if an inside of an inn is a bit larger than the outside. After all, it'd be rather cramped were it realistic, and then players would complain about how cramped it is (it would impair strategic positioning and characters might get stuck). But, yeah, NWN2 did overdo it at times (Moonstone Mask comes to mind). Dragon Age as well.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. :D

I think you're onto something here. If Obsidian really doesn't fear to tackle mature themes, then maybe they should give the player ample oportunities to do some really vile stuff. Most roleplaying games don't let you do much on the evil side aside from lying, killing, and being an **** (KOTOR comes to mind, where you could become a Sith Lord from simply behaving like a spoiled brat - if the proverbial spoiled brat was given Force powers and a lightsaber). Fallout 3 also wouldn't let you kill kids. I never even tried doing that until I read somewhere that you couldn't. I mean, killing hundreds (thousands!) of anything that moves is OK, but not one single kid? Not even Princess from Little Lamplight? On that note, most games don't even bother to include kids (probably because they all agree that there is no point to include anything that you cannot kill). I'm veering off-topic and I know it, but I would like to point out that it would be grand if Project: Eternity could (at least in some small part) allow us to play sophisticated archvillains (Xanatos) rather than just another chaotic evil butcher. I always found that aspect somewhat lacking in most video games. As for the sexism thing... I am constantly reminded of the 'female armour' as discussed in some previous topics. Should the devs strive for realism, I hope they avoid armour cleavage and chainmail bikinis.

Actually, one thing we haven't considered much is that Project: Eternity can and probably will draw lots of inspiration from actual history. I mean, even GRRMartin admits he was inspired by the War of the Roses and just added dragons and stuff. When the team announced the setting, it became obvious that it is rather analogue to the colonization period (with some early renaissance flavor). Drawing lessons from history makes fantasy books more believable.

Moby **** indeed.

So you admit you've only watched the TV show?

Steven Erikson, author of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I'm only half-way through with the first book (out of ten or so), and already I find the setting awesome (something like a cross between Faerun and Tamriel/Morrowind). It's a high fantasy world (mages can level whole cities in minutes), so maybe that's not quite in keeping with the low-level nature of Project: Eternity, but then so was BG1. And epic levels (and spells) came later in BG2 and Throne of Bhaal. Anyway, I like the concept of gods in Erikson's books, because humans don't necessarily like them meddling in their affairs. Mages prefer the gods to stay out of their way. I think George R. R. Martin will have an influence, whether we like it or not. I think he already influenced Dragon Age: Origins before the TV series brought it to the mainstream attention. So when Obsidian says they can handle mature themes now, I hope they go the R. R. way. Just don't overdo it. Terry Pratchett is too ridiculous to be taken as a full-frontal influence, but his handling of certain fantasy tropes is a good example to follow. I'm thinking of terms and plot devices like 'narrative causality' (the Planescape setting sort of recognized this through the Rule of Three, Center of All, an the Unity of Rings concepts) - an unseen force that makes characters do what the Story demands of them (the valiant hero must save the princess, etc.). The wizards and witches of Discworld can sense these forces at work, while normal people cannot. Thematic magic comes to mind when I speak of Planescape and Discworld. The witch Lilith specializes in Mirror Magic (standing between two or more mirrors, she becomes more powerful and can 'look' through any reflection anywhere). Planescape - Torment had the character of Ravel Puzzlewell, whose theme was brambles and vines (in keeping with Sigil's razorwine, perhaps - the appearance of which she may even be the cause?). Elves of the Discworld excel at mind domination and glamor (illusions which make them appear beautiful and exotic, when they are quite the opposite in their true form). I hope to see some thematic magic at work in the world of Project: Eternety, and something that is not more of the same-old "elemental conflict" (fire, water, earth, air). Tolkien is an obvious influence, without whose input Project: Eternity (and D&D for that matter) would probably not exist. But instead of the Lord of the Rings, perhaps the devs should look to Silmarillion for inspiration. I would love for P:E to have an abundant mythology to browse through as we find books and notes (world creation, understanding of magic, gods, forces of nature and of mind, etc.). I'm sorry; I understand this wasn't a single writer, but gods forbid that devs should look to just one for inspiration.

I don't think religion should be limited to god-worship, even if gods do exist, i.e. have a tangible presence and show of power. Think of the Athars (hardcore atheists from Planescape), or any other Planescape faction for that matter. They do not believe in gods, but in certain ideas and ideals, and can get quite *religious* about them. I don't know if anyone here played Discworld Noir, a British game based on Terry Pratchett's books (and inspired quite a lot by film noir), but in that setting there is a hilarious character working at a Temple of Small Gods (a temple dedicated to gods of things like ants' crossroads, or somesuch trifle matters not particularly popular in the greater scheme - imagine worshipping a God of Cutlery and rattling your spoon drawer in his honor, or sacrificing pigeons because your church can't afford a bull...). The character is a worshipper of Errata (a play on the Discordian Eris - just google up "Principia Discordia" and you'll get the picture), the goddess of confusion. In his words, "Everyone is a worshipper of Errata... they just don't know it yet!" The point being that nobody actually bothers to worship Errata, for it is a completely disorganised religion. Like Discordianism, its tenets are whatever you want them to be. Errata could care less, and her 'worshippers' are pretty much left to themselves. It would be fun to solve some encounters through theological arguments with NPCs. NWN 2 let you choose a deity, but it didn't affect the gameplay much. Whenever I play a cleric or paladin, I sure would appreciate an opportunity to try and convert people to my cause.

Vocals, as in bards singing in taverns, was a nice touch in Storm of Zehir.

Storm of Zehir attempted to handle overland map exploration similarly to Fallout 1 and 2. Unfortunately, the random encounters occurred a bit too often for many players' tastes, and were almost exclusively generic groups of enemies with little else awaiting you but combat. Skills like Survival and Search gave you the opportunity to stumble upon caches of gold or equipment, but became just as repetitive after a while. While random encounters can sometimes be fun, there are two things they should not be: too frequent and too generic.

I like collecting clues and investigations. I loved the courtroom scene in NWN 2 which allowed my bard to use his diplomacy/perform skills. I otherwise love quests that allow me to prepare and decide on tactics, to choose an approach in which I would like to tackle them. I loved the "Glow" quest from original Fallout. It required preparation and was rather eerie. I was more frightened of radiation, the unseen enemy, than I would have been of hordes of Super Mutants.

Sorry if this topic has been tapped already, but I can't find it. I'm constantly wondering what the game will be called. Project: Eternity still seems like a project code, like Blue Harvest or Van Buren. Will that really be the final name of the game? It doesn't quite click. The word "project" sounds pretty much off for a fantasy title. Maybe if this were a sci-fi game, then it would work. Maybe the final title will be simply Eternity? I hope there's a subtitle, like Eternity: A Subtitle, and then if there's a sequel it won't be Eternity II but Eternity: Another Subtitle. I was hoping the Dragon Age devs would go this route, but of course it turned out that Dragon Age II should have been called something else entirely (I don't consider it a sequel any more than I would consider Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance a sequel to the original Baldur's Gate). I think just Eternity would work. As far as I know, there are no other titles (past, present or future) going by this name.

Fallout's smoking-in-power-armour animation takes the cake, though.

Also, I'm thinking if there are legendary weapons - don't make only longswords. I don't know the exact count, but I always felt that in Baldur's Gate I was being punished for taking halberds as my weapon of choice. By the time I got to a nice halberd, I'd sold about two of every other weapon (legendary, too). Also, if NPCs come with their custom 'only x can wear it' weapons and armor, make it possible to upgrade said custom items. Otherwise their "grandfather's sword" will last only a few levels, by which time I'll have found something better. Poor grandpa, had he only known.

@ Justin: I hope you include the "final flourish", as I would call it. Don't know what the actualy musical term is (coda, maybe?), but I'm referring to Baldur's Gate style music programming. For example, a battle starts, and music switches from "casual" to "battle". But then you defeat the enemy, and the "battle" music does not just abruptly stop, but ends with a "flourish" (a few trumpet sounds or something that signals the end of battle). I'm playing Storm of Zehir and it lacks that musical ending once battles end. The music just stops, or switches to another track, and it's a bit grating. EDIT: To clarify, I know that a normal musical track has a coda (or ending) if you play it to the end. But the point is that battle music ends mid-track, and it sounds very sudden and cut off. I'd love it if P:E had "flourishes" that fit the battle tracks and end them properly.