Tuco Benedicto

Feel free to dislike it all you want, but using a "real time with pause" system doesn't turn a RPG into an "action RPG". It's just a different approach for what still is a tactical combat system at its heart.

Care to point it? I'm genuinely curious now. By any chance it was something reagent-based like for the old Ultima games?

Any variation of the difficulty setting (easier or harder, it doesn't matter) based on increased HP/damage is very lazy design in my book.

Well, that's exactly how a "goal driven" exp system is supposed to work. No one said it needs to be necessarily a wordy quest written on your journal.

Well, that's more "cartoony", as you said yourself. As I already explained, when I say "stylized" I'm talking more about stuff like Another World, ToEE or Darklands (which is also very old and "pixelated", but that's not the point now so ignore that, I'm talking about the overall style). EDIT: and yes, as Ogrezilla said, I'm hoping for this game to look as pretty as possible. The point is what someone finds pretty. Personally I care more about the overall style and (possibly) very nice animations than about the level of detail on 3D models.

That would be my assumption as well (and I'd like to point that ToEE characters are in fact silhouettes, as I suggested in the previous post). Ironically I would be more concerned about the game's "prettiness" if they attempt to scale the detail up, as stylized characters are easy to make pleasant to the eye, while over-detailed one need some actual talent in 3D modeling to shine.

Yeah, about that... i must admit that if the camera is going to be far enough, I would actually prefer highly stylized characters (let's just say "silhouettes") over models that try too hard to be detailed, failing in the attempt. I'm not saying exactly like this... ...as I would expect more details on armors etc, but that would be pretty much the idea.

Do you mean something like a World of Warcraft guild tabard or similar?

That's actually a good point you make. You made me reconsider my initial endorsement. Unique items should have their own "uniqueness" unaffected. Being able to interchange the model/skin between items would drive the supposed "distinctive personality" out of these items. What can I say? Let's just hope they are not going for exceedingly cheesy stuff in the end game. Something that for some weird reason happens *systematically* with RPGs. I would like to reach the final part of this game without having my party wearing crap like this: and more stuff like this:

According to what principle? if the game on the hardest setting it's -let's say- twice as hard, that experience bonus shouldn't make the game easier. Just reward the player a little more, to a minor extent. And I'd like to point that, as I already stated, I'm not very fond of that suggestion, but your objection sounds a bit baseless to me.

I'm not sure what you thought it was supposed to be rude in my reply exactly, but whatever. If you enjoy to feel offended over nothing I'm not going to stop you. I just pointed out that no, what you were saying and what Sawyer said weren't the same thing at all, so the "Like Josh, me too" introduction wasn't very accurate.

Who are you talking to, exactly? Because I already stated quite clearly in this thread that I don't care at all about how others play the game as far as it's optional and it doesn't affect the game design on my end.

Not entirely. The challenge is fun to overcome, but then being gratified with some reward for the accomplishment doesn't hurt. I can agree that giving more exp isn't necessarily the best solution, anyway. Thief was a great example of game design in that sense. It had a a lot more objectives to complete if played on hardest settings. One of the general additions to the game was requiring not just to complete the main goal, but also escape the scene of the crime. It also added extra goals and required for the player to gather more treasures on the level. On top of that you weren't allowed to kill anyone and there was a limited amount of NPCs that you were allowed to knock out. Also the AI was better. The best way to handle a difficulty setting I can remember of, Thief played at Expert wasn't just way more challenging. It was also a lot more fun, varied and rewarding that played in easy mode. A very gratifying system for the experienced player.

That's me with lava pits.

Well, I suck at RTS too, but that's not what Josh Sawyer said at all. He said that he sucks at playing RTS but despise that he still play them exactly because he enjoys the mechanics. He didn't cheated to follow the story. That's me at DOTA 2, by the way. I like the game, I'm quite terrible at it (more inexperienced that criminally incompetent, actually, but still...) and yet I still enjoy it for what it is.

On the other hand, I don't even think it's a realistic outcome, if you have *any* understanding of the game you are playing. If you are dying eight times in a row against what are usually called "trash mobs", then you clearly didn't learn the first thing about the combat system you are using. Especially since we aren't even talking about some quick, reflex based action games, here, but about tactical combat. And a well designed tactical combat is essentially a puzzle. So being completely incapable to manage it is just not thinking about it enough. That's probably mutual.

No idea of what they are planning in this sense, but personally I would prefer specializations/advanced classes over mere multiclassing.

Yeah, well, but that's honestly not the point of this argument. We aren't arguing about how to tell a great story (and quite frankly I don't even think we should, let's put some faith in Obsidian, they know how to handle this stuff), we are arguing if the story should be the core point of a game or not. And I'm all for "not". Even in Planescape: Torment what made the game enjoyable wasn't strictly the story (while very good) but all these mechanics about choices and consequences, the world and the characters reacting to your actions and so on. I realize that it's easy to make the mistake that many are doing in this thread and claim "Well, but in Torment you played just for the story!". But NO, actually I didn't. I enjoyed the story very much? Yes. I loved the setting, the mood, the atmosphere? Sure! I played the game because of the story? No, not at all. I played it because I was engrossed by the active role I played in it, I felt the fascination of making choices and experiencing the outcome over my companions and other NPCs, which is an entirely different thing. I enjoyed the "investigative" part about who I really was once, and so on. EDIT: Yeah, just read JWestfall quote. This man, Sawyer... He gets it. Not everyone wants a challenge, sure, but to claim "I don't care about the mechanics, I would like an autosolve option to skip content, I play for the story" is missing the point of games in the first place.

Actually, it did. And ME2 is supposed to be...? Mass Effect 2? Because it didn't use that system at all, so I'm not sure why you are bringing it to the table.

This is a matter of opinion, like almost everything else being discussed on the forums... Yeah, well, everything is a matter of opinion, to some extent, and yet not all the opinions are equally informed and competent. But let's just say that's not an opinion I'm open to negotiate, unlike many others. As a gamer I have absolutely no doubt that the gaming experience itself is for me a priority to the narrative that matches it.

Yeah, but often the problem is the opposite. You have mid tier items that look reasonably cool, in-character, and believable, and then you have the "top tier", end game stuff, that tries too hard to look "SUPERAWESOME", with the very cheesy final effect of making your fully dressed party like a wandering circus. Just to give you an example: I would like my warrior to look like a harden veteran with some good gear, not like the Dark Megalord Of Badassery With Intimidating Spikes All Over His Black Armor. I want my rogue to wear a sober, reasonable, cool looking brown/black leather outfit, not the Sparkling Red Magical Suit That Prevent Any Sound. And so on.

Oh, let's be clear, As far as it's just an option *and* it doesn't affect the design in a relevant way, I don't have any issue with people playing on Easy mode. It's just that I genuinely have a hard time understanding how people could be so easily dismissive about game mechanics in a videogame. "Oh, you know, I just like to click autoattack and have a easy win". Whatever floats your boat, I guess. Still, I can't help but wonder where's the fun in *literally* ditching a big chunk of the game. It's not like I am advocating for the most hardcore challenge (while I can appreciate it, I can also see why many don't); it's that I find games that play themselves and where my input is hardly needed one of the most annoying, mind-numbing trends in the game industry.

Yeah, I agree. It's definitely not a big issue, but I couldn't see it doing any harm, either. Or being very resource-hungry. It could be some simple side utility/skill like "reforge item" where you are allowed to change its appearance. Ideally every (relevant) item in the game should be visually appealing, and better ones should top inferior ones even in style and overall "coolness", but we all know this is more a utopian scenario than a realistic possibility, especially when subjective tastes come into play.

No, they aren't. Once again sounds like you don't even understand what we are actually talking about. No one ever mentioned "grinding levels", not even incidentally. Stop trying so hard.