IcyDeadPeople

I haven't found any role playing games yet that did multiplayer well, but the co-op in Divinity: Original Sin looks really promising. Also interested to see how the co-op will work in Shadowrun Returns. In the few MMOs I've tried, the PvP can be fun, but the multiplayer aspect of the game always seems to result in a rather lifeless game world compared to single player RPGs, and enemies with crappy A.I. that just stand around waiting for players to approach. The Secret World was somewhat interesting because there were a lot of puzzles that were challenging to solve, even when teaming up with friends.

Since this is primarily a party-based game, I hope we will also see some interesting synergies, where perhaps a mage can cast fire on an oil trap set by a stealth character, etc.

It's fine that you don't enjoy crafting, but why do you say "go play a blacksmith RPG" or an "alchemy RPG" etc? Personally, I love RPGs that allow you to play very different kinds of characters each time, and crafting systems can be a great way to develop an interesting character concept. For example, in Skyrim, I first played a Dunmer kleptomaniac, who was frequently in and out of jail in all the cities of the game and not very knowledgeable at all about crafting, other than tanning a few hides and constructing a tent for camping. Then I played a 2-handed Nord barbarian who was of the opinion that sneaking around, using ranged weapons or magic spells was for cowards. This barbarian focused solely on the 2-handed weapons skill and smithing, but certainly never crafted any "phat lootz." I think the highest I ever got my smithing skill was up to 30, barely enough to forge a simple steel sword. But it was fun because my character made it, and it was part of my concept of that character that he knew a little about smithing. Then I played an Argonian tribal shaman character who specialized in poisoned throwing spears and illusion magic. The Skyrim alchemy system turned out to be quite fun, sort of like a gambling mini-game where you collect a lot of animal organs, herbs and minerals, mix 2 or 3 unknown ingredients together and sometimes you get an interesting potion or poison and sometimes you get jack. Again, this was part of the RP for this character who was very knowledgeable about the deadliest poisons brewed from exotic plants. Even then, I never got my alchemy skill up above 40 or 50 or so. Personally, I have never enjoyed playing overpowered characters in any game, I just like to play very different characters with each playthrough and having various crafting skills with a deep crafting system is a great feature to enhance the role playing environment and add replay value. EDIT: Of course if there is the potential for mod tools as one of the stretch goals, perhaps a crafting system can be added by modders if there is none in the vanilla game.

Wow, very glad to hear your thoughts on this. Leveling up and progressing in an RPG always seems to be the most fun when you really need to pause a moment to think about the various paths or future perks and how they relate to your concept of your character, instead of simply going with the +2 longsword, or some sort of obligatory generic "class gear" with a passive boost.

Wow, that's great to hear, hope they pick up the story.

Congratulations on reaching $1.6 million in funding! I suppose there are probably some very happy Mac RPG fans somewhere out there today. Personally, I'm totally OK with Steam DRM and I use a Windows laptop, so I'm not concerned about Linux, OSX, iOS or DRM-free versions. Just hoping for the possibility of official mod tools!

*duplicate post