Entropious

Unfortunately, for now speculating about housing options are pretty much null, since we have absolutely no information as to the nature of the setting itself.

I'm afraid that some individuals simply seek to recompense those elements of their lives within RPG's which, in cold reality, are lacking or simply non-existing.

Perhaps, in the case of weapon and armour prices, we should stick more to historical realia. I'll give two examples. The Polish "winged hussars" armour was so expensive that one could purchase several VILLAGES for the price of one. Turkish soldiers started carrying lassoes around for the sole purpose of stealing armour without damaging it with weapons. Once a footman stripped the set of armour off a soldier, he would simply desert of the battlefield and live happily ever after. The armour worn by Roman Legionaires was even more expensive, and more importantly, was proscribed only to the Legions themselves. As one can clearly see by these simple examples, purchasing any set of armour, especially metal one, should be an undertaking in itself for a lowly character, equal to the gathering of 10,000 gold pieces in order to save Imoen. This way, one starts really caring about how much gold he or she owns. Also, weapon and armour deterioration is a must, with repair costs being much steeper than in other RPG's. In short, the adventuring business should be one always on the brink of poverty, with desperate beings doing everything they can, even morally dubious deeds, in order to fill their stomachs and find a warm place to sleep.

I agree. Until such a time that BioWare's "dialogue wheel" will have 10 sliders instead of three, simple dialogue lines and choices are still the best way of interacting with characters within a given game world.

No cooldowns please. I have nothing more to say on this topic.

If I may state my opinion, I'm a bit of a purist, and I believe the dialgue mechanics from Planescape: Torment were simply perfect. There were tons of ways in which your dialogue choices and options could be modified/altered : previous choices, statistics, items you possess, the faction you belong to...and so on, yet they were never indicated in any way. Such an attitude makes ones choices within a dialogue much more natural, since instead of thinking "Oh, this panel says that thanks to my high Intelligence I can say this, so therefore I should say this!" you'll pick the choice most fitting your own tastes and the moral compass you adopted for your character.

"A respectable portrayal of sexual orientations?" Sorry, but what you are suggesting, in essence, is once again being politically correctt in the event homsexual characters are introduced and this, by itself, puts limitiations on the developers.

First of all, I believe that ALL magical items, or those possessing any supernatural abilities and traits, should be so valuable and rare that literally no one would sell them, no matter how much coin anyone offers. To be blunt, I am completely for the idea of 99% shops selling purely "mundane" items, those produced through regular labour and other technological means. The only "magical" items which could be sold on a more or less regular basis, but still be extremely expensive, would be potions. Secondly, no "Identify" spell should be available, thus opening the possibility for a character to buy, for a hefty sum, a "blessed relic" from a priest in a temple, which later on turns out to be nothing more than a regular devotional item. I have no qualms about simply punishing the players for being too carefree with their shopping. Moreover, in order the avoid the "reload" tactic, such events should be completely random, and while X times you buy/collect/steal a possibly enchanted/blessed item it would turn out to be fake, the Y time you buy it it would actually turn out to be real. Also, as mentioned before, one would have to wait for a chance to utilise it in order to verify their "magical" potential, or else emply some esoteric sage. Thirdly, hunger, thirst and, most of all, fatigue should be introduced. You try to save some coin by buying the cheapest room in the worst inn? Been sleeping two weeks non-stop in the forest? Sure, why not, but now you suffer negative modifiers to reflect just show tired and generally worn out you are.

Sorry, but I am and will remain a staunch oponent of homosexual romances within computer games. Much too much work has to be put into it, and the target consumers for such an idea are a handful compared to the majority of players. If anything, I would dearly like to experience the implementation of the "bromance" or, in other words, the "Platonic love" concept, that is, an extremely deep, almost romantic friendship which, while being deep and meaningful, never really enters an intimate or sexual stage.

Truth be told, I would not so much like to see more and more pseudo-mature themes introcued, as giving the game a deeper, intellectual polish. I truly hope that Chris Avellone will once again introduce heavy doses of philosophy, even more so that he did within Planescape: Torment. Of course, some may argue that such an approach wouldn't be realistic when dealing with a fantasy setting of "sword and sorcery", but please recall some basic facts. If the universe is shaped more towards the Middle Ages, then both philosophy and theology where at the center of any public discourse, not necessarily just amongst the upper echelons of society. The same can be said of Antiquity, although they in turn focused more on philosophy and metaphysics. I remember a recount made by an old monk visiting Constantinople in the 11th Century. The poor fellow was complaining that he couldn't even visist the fish market without having to oberver debates on deep religious dogma. So, please keep in mind that, although the societies presented within fantasy settings may be simple in terms of technology, when it comes to their intellectual lives, especially interactions, they should be given much more thought than your usual "M'lord, I be a dumb peasant. Now kill them orcs!"

Since this product is purportedly aimed at an adult, mature audience, I see no reason to implement a tool architected in order for kids not to have a hard time completing the game and earning all those pretty, shiny achievements on their XBOX or PlayStation.

Although, admittedly, this is mostly dictated by my personal tastes, I would really like for the game to introduce meaningful romance. If any actual sex scenes were to be included, something along the lines of what "The Witcher 2" brought about would be preferred - tasteful, elegant, yet absolutely erotic and adult. However, I could really live without homosexual romances. I understand that currently the West is dominated by what is called "political corectness" or "cultural Marxism" but afters seeing the sausage fest that was Dragon Age 2, as well as the overall feel of said romances being rammed in just for the sake of gaining applause from certain miniscule communities and gaining free publicity through controversy, I give such ideas a big thumbs down.