Entropious

I chose "No" since what probably is meant here are 17th century "Pirates of the Carribeans" types of pirates. Do you know about those Somalian pirates? Actually, the general picture throughout the Middle Ages was very similar, with most of the worst pirates on European and African waters being Muslim, both white and black. So if piracy was to be somehow included, I'd opt for this profile.

Just no vampires, please. Or if they have to be present, give me the traditional Strigoi (strzygi).

Actually, there is an even simpler way. For each point beyond the "average" of said attribute, for example, Will Power, points would be deducted when gaining Insanity Points (if the effect would garner very few points, you would be left totally unscathed). I would be very much against any immunities beyond that, so as to not make the mechanic too complicated. I would, however, be a supporter of divine intervention (very rare, very hard to get, devoute and sincere priests only) being able to reduce possessed Insanity Points or even cure of an already existing insanity. Oh yes, and one thing I forgot to add. Once a very high level of Insanity Points were gathered by the protagonis, he or she would gain an insanity, a permanent, debilitating madness, randomly selected from a "secret" list. For example, agoraphobia, where the character would "enjoy" severe negative penalties when acting in an open space. So, I've just read the new update, and it seems that the Soul System, or however else you'd like to call it, would fit in pretty well with the general mental (or, if you prefer, spiritual) well-being of the protagonist.

Yes, all those concepts are quite appealing, however, a simple, yet effective mechanic would have to be introduced, something along the line of certain beasts, spells, effects and plot-driven events earning the protagonist and X number of Insanity Points (of course, this numer would be hidden from the gamer). Once a certain threshold is met, the effects would start, very subtle and sporadic at first, but with time growing more severe.

...Or someone who has actual, dialogue-based "conversations" in his head once his state turns really sour. Imagine a whole quest based around the question of "Whether I'm completely insane or is something actually in my head, or worse, in me?"

Not quite, since the Wild Mage's spells going wild can't open up a portal to another dimension and disappear the entire neighbourhood with a *plop*. Let's faces, in existing magic systems any so-called "dangers" (if any present) were illusionary and minor. I'm talking about exponential risks, when one actually thinks about whether looking to the occult for a quick, easy answer (and yes, magic should be powerful) is worth it. That is also why I am a fan of minimizing "magical" weaponry. Make it extremely rare, non-buyable, but powerful.

Recently I started wandering when, if ever, would a RPG finally pick up, in a meaningful way, the notion of the protagonist's sanity and the general deterioration of ones minds when faced with death, murder, horror and the supernatural. I know it may, at first glance, look a bit too "Lovecraftian" but such a mechanic is actually not too hard to implement at all. I would just point out to the near-forgotten game Eternal Darkness and its simple, yet brilliant idea - the sanity meter. The more a single individual encounters something completely out of range of their perceptions, especially if he or she is harmed by it in any way, the meter slowly goes up, eventually introducing some spontaneous and sporadic effects - whisperings, omens, hallucinations and the likes. What does the forum think? Should the mind of the protagonist, and its state brought on by sights, sounds and experiences beyond role playing, be somehow reflected?

It is quite obvious that most of the monsters will be drawn from one mythology or another, so the question which stands is: which one?

Sorry, but I just had to chose "Sierra", since it's been such a long time since a game was created where you actually sometimes encountered unintended and unforseeable consequences.

I believe a very similar topic existed before, but I shall repeat myself for the sake of publicity. To me, what the Warhammer setting oferred in terms of magic was a perfect set-up. There is no mana, memorization, or other nonsenical barrier brought up as a kind of "game mechanics armour" which were designed not to allow mages to become one-man-armies (a task at which they utterly failed). Mages should be able to cast their spells when they want and however often the wish BUT each and every casting, depending upon the power and nature of the spell, should carry with it an innate danger, either short-term (for example, harming the caster or those around him) or long term (getting cursed, daemonic possession), Not only would such a system make a player think twice about casting a spell, it would also give (FINALLY) a story-based explanation why exactly to people distrust and often hate mages. Of course, in the case of divine magic I have other ideas entirely, but for now I'll let it rest.

As I have repeated so many times before, a perfect game (and there are quite a few) is first and foremost a work of art, an expression of all the longings and emotions sleeping within the designers' hearts and souls. Until a 3D model can become as beautiful as a lovingly hand-crafted picture, I'll stick to 2D, thank you.

Sorry, but should I wish for a game to be released in 2016, I'd make a donation to Blizzard.

Now here we have arrived at a vital (and extremely tricky) part of a game. The mechanics. As we already know, Obsidian has already stated that no licenses are going to be used within their product, so we can be certain of something original, or at least original enough so that the developers won't get sued. Basically, two paths are available: Path of the Purist and Path of the Mechaniac. The first one is that of a minimalist, putting as much pressure on plot decisions and plot consenquences, with any and all combat mechanics being as simple as possible (BUT NOT SIMPLISTIC). The latter, more similar to Dungeons and Dragons, is one where every single little possible feature of the game has a statistic behind it, and an overall game mechanics which oversees their intermingling and interaction. Personally, if done correctly, the second option is the preferrable one, as a lot of statistics, for example, give more meaning to various items, both mundane and magical (since they can affect a whole different set of characteristics). However, this is extremely hard to do and, unfortunately, even people currently working at Obsidian have often failed at the attempt, with Planescape: Torment being a prime example. Until I get some more details from the developers (and I doubt they would share some with Your Humble Servant) I dare not say more.

Take it easy man, the mods here are pretty reasonable, but don't push it too much, they have a job to do, and they have to kick ass sometimes to make it work, don't be on the end of the beating side. I understand you are sharing your opinion, but your opinion is offensive for most people here(yeah I know this is lame). But the mods gotta go with the crowd man. Fortunately, I don't mind being bashed. Especially not when I know I'm in the right.

...also zoophilia and pedophilia were legal in Ancient Greece. And this is not sarcasm.

And it doesn't piss off 80% of the people playing the game, once they realise (and it's pretty clear in this case) that it has been forced in by a pressure group. Additionally, one accusing those who disagree of a mental illness (so-called homophobia is considered one). By the way, I got my first formal warning. A toast!

Actually, during the Middle Ages, a single woman COULD own her own business.

My answer is this. If even a single character is made to be bisexual, trisexual or quadrosexual just because some group "demanded" or "pleaded" for it, a game stops to be a work of art and immediately becomes a product, like Pepsi. And I still consider most RPG's of old works of art, as already mentioned previously.

I would recommend placing an option of changing gender at any one point in the game, so as not to imprison a character within a single gender.

Exactly, we do not want the repetition of Baldur's Gate: a whole set of wasted potential; so many characters who couldn't be carried over, and therefore deepened, into the next game.

Lo and behold, a topic on heterosexuality has been locked down. And there's only one. Homosexuals have at least half a dozen, and they're just fine.

I guess it all depends upon: - the number of factions present, their relevance within the game, - the number of races, - what, if any, type of "morality meter" will be introduced, - what "climate" the game will have, that is, shall it be a thriller, a high fantasy product, or something more surreal and quirky, thus opening up so many options, - and, last but not least, the number of classes; we can be certain that the number of possible companions will at the very least equal those,

I know this may be a bit audacious, but I believe that, in this open and civilized 21st century, we should no longer hide behind homophobia and discrimination. Therefore, it is my highest hope that the development team will consider including some heterosexual characters within their game. I know that the majority of the gaming community may find this controversial, or even distasteful, especially since most of them were raised in a rather supressed, conservative environment, but I think that at least a lone voice should be heard. Heterosexual characters would go a long way towards enriching a game universe. That is my opinion.

Sir, are you obsessed, or just really horny? If the former, go find a date. If the latter, go find a dating site.

Just look at what The Witcher series did whis monsters taken from the Slavic mythology.