Elidar

I am really looking forward to trying it out. I am sure it will be a wonderful experience!

Wow! Just... wow! Amazing work, guys. The environment really feels alive. It's great to see such commitment to making the world look amazing. If that is how every area will look like, I am sure this game will be included in the golden pantheon of every RPG fan. Now... Besides the excellent implementation of environmental effects there's something that I’d like to suggest to better improve the immersion. Particularly the characters. More particularly their idle animation. What I saw in this short video was amazing (I am ready to repeat it over and over again), including character animation and the way they look. However, it seems to me something was lacking. All three characters were just standing doing nothing. Why not make them more alive, self and world-aware? Perhaps adding some idle animations to them will make it even better looking? For instance, a dwarf could lean on his ax; the girl could look around, start stretching herself and so on. Plus something that always seemed odd to me was the fact that in most IE games the characters always held their weapons in hands even when not being attacked, for example being in a city. This seems a bit odd. Perhaps if they were to holster them, put shields behind their backs, etc., it'd look more natural. But again, these are just suggestions for future improvements. Perhaps I am ahead of myself and all that had been already thought about by you. In any case, great work! Keep it up!

Love the update! The lore bit is interesting, even though a bit out of place since some bits and pieces are not entirely clear due to lack of lore part in general. I am sure when everything's done we'll have a good time reading all those interesting details. Oh, yes, the screenshot looks absolutely stunning! Keep up the good work!

Great update! The music is stunning and I am very glad you allowed it for download. Anticipating new awesome music pieces and looking forward to tomorrow's update! Keep up the good work!

Sorry! You have been added! Yay! Thank you kindly!

In the IE games, there was a 'select all' button that became quite useful for those easier fights where you didn't feel the need to stop and assign everyone a unique action. For example, you come across a group of about 5 Orcs. No need for micro-management in such a situation. Simply click "select all" then point your curser at one of the orcs, and your entire party will just start attacking the orc you clicked on until he dies, then they'll automatically move on to the next orc, then the next, then the next until there's none left. Thank you, but I am quite aware of this option as I've played all IE games. I was making a different point.

Err, guys, I never recieved my new title as a member of the OO on the forums. I understand that you've got a lot of people to go through, so I am just reminding that I am anticipating to see it soon.

What I'd really like to know is if there's going to be something like in BG, Icewind Dale, etc., meaning scripts or some kind of AI based sets of behavior for certain classes during combat? While I am looking forward to being able to control the whole party, I also don't want to go too deep into micro management for some easier fights and in case of a difficult fight I also would like to see my companions being able to handle themselves without me telling them their every single move.

Great article and great replies with concerns. Now a few things that are important for me personally: - Ego-stroking. While I don't have a problem with this, I feel that I also don't want to see companions that do nothing but praise you or support your actions. Real life example: If you're with a friend somewhere and he/she says something stupid or out of place you may agree and, perhaps defend their opinion to a point, but afterwards, when no one sees you'll say the truth "Are you freaking stupid? What was that?!" and so on. Now why am I saying this... I'd really like to see reactive companions, but I want them to have personalities. I'd like to see my companion disagree with my actions if they go against his code or beliefs and I want him to show his/her resentment for my actions, behavior, etc., perhaps to the point where they'll leave the party as was in BG series. At the same time I don't mind if a companion likes what I do, say, etc., and says so IF it corresponds to his/her beliefs. This makes them alive and makes you as a player attached to diverse and interesting personalities. For me personally I'd rather have a clever non-combat (or a weak combatant) NPC who would tell me I am an ass (IF I am really being one or IF he/she dislikes me for whatever reason) rather than an able-bodied and seasoned fighter that will tag along and nod no matter what I do and behave. - Approval. I really enjoyed reading posts that asked to conceal or change the existing approval/disapproval mechanic. For me it totally breaks the immersion. Someone mentioned DA: O and I'd totally go against such implementation where you're forced to balance between what NPCs like and dislike in order to attain max approval that gives those companions some decent bonuses. I say make a system where approval or disapproval of an NPC builds up upon your actions/conversations with them/your behavior, like BG series, for example, but don't make it obvious to the players and please no numbers. Totally kills the whole feeling of epic adventure. I’d really like to have conversations where I need to think carefully what to say and when, because it’s not obvious that an NPC will like or dislike what you say. Besides, I think that as of recent RPGs the possibility to reflect your own beliefs (for the character or your own) onto your character became very limited indeed. I’d really like to see options where you could express those beliefs in dialogs, especially when conversing with your companions. Otherwise everything looks really solid and thought out. Looking forward to seeing this implemented in P:E.

Seems like a solid update. I am really happy about the diversity you guys are giving the players. Even if some might not actually go for different modes it is always good to have the choice. Personally I feel it's going to be very excitig, especially with the ability to turn different modes' features on and off at will. Keep up the good work!

Elidar, The Guardian of the Obsidian Order added the extra $8.

Agree totally. I grow tired of seeing a lot of bulky, impractical armors and rediculous weapons that if used in real life would only slow you down, make it impossible to move or do anything. Worse even, might kill you if you make a wrong move. So, yes, please keep equipment sensible.

Also as a follow-up to what I said earlier, I'd like to see my companions to actually try and stop me from going to old graveyards and tombs. Literally. That's how I see it: - through dialog where some or all of followers tell the PC that they are not going to that cursed tomb and won't let him/her to do the same (in case we have gone through a lot and became friends and еhey don't want to lose their leader/friend/etc.). And that's where the fun begins: you have to really convince them that you know what you're doing. And I'd go for something more sophisticated than just some kind of speech test or the like. So if you fail to convince them they'll just drag you away from the tomb (perhaps even with a tender smash on the head) and that's it. Or if they don't really like you that much for whatever reason they could just say "go ahead" and stay outside leaving you all alone in this dangerous endeavor. Might be just my dreams, but I felt like sharing.

Undead are a frightful sight and should so remain. I understand that most of us are seasoned RPG players and when we see a skeleton or a zombie animated by necromancy we say something like "Let's bash some skulls" or something like that. But really... If we ourselves saw a walking corpse in reality, I believe our first reaction would be to run the heck away and hide somewhere far-far away, because a walking dead corpse that is approaching you (be it zombie or skeleton or any other type) is actually terrifying and dreadful. So my take on this - make 'em rare, make 'em scary. Let them be something of a nemesis for those brave or stupid enough to venture into cursed crypts and ancient graveyards. Make them tough and challenging enemies no matter how strong our character/party is. Most games feature undead as cannon fodder, well, I'd like to see a difference for a change and meet something that will scare the hell out of me and make me reluctant to even send my PC + companions into crypts unless I really feel bold beyond any common sense.

I'd rather they didn't do this at all as it would quickly become an all or nothing design decision. If you have 5 party members with you then surely one of them will have the required stat/personality/class/race to open up whichever option you wanted. This dramatically reduces the effectiveness of your own characters stats on dialogue, who cares if you only have 10 Intellect when your party mage has 18, who cares if your Dexterity is 5 when your party rogue has 20 etc. If they are going to allow party members to speak for you then if would need to be in every conversation, everywhere because if it isn't it will detract in an obvious way from your immersion because somewhere else, a short walk across the town someone is willing to listen to PartyMember2 instead of you so why isn't this guy who is standing in front of you. I'd much rather have dialog depend on my Main Characters stats and let partymembers interject if they have something to add to the conversation. If my Intellect isn't high enough to open X dialog option perhaps my partymage could comment on an alternative on occasion. This way the designers can choose when they think it is appropriate. Otherwise I am sure there would be plenty of people telling new players to choose X party combination because it has the best mix of stats/races/gender/whatever to get the best options every conversation. Perhaps you misunderstand me. When I say let that party member deal with those situations, I mean not getting every possible outcome. What I have in mind is you can assign them to deal with certain situations, but that doesn't mean those will come out in your favor or in any good way. Simple example: Let's say you have... erm... a fairy (possibly and odd race) who is good at talking people into something. However, we know that in certain mythologies fairies are a devious species, who like to trick others into near-death situations or just fool around making you look like a fool, etc. Now... let's say you told Tinkerbell (yeah, I know, cliché, but that's not the point) to deal with, well, let's imagine shopping. So, you want to buy some nice enchanted ring from a local wonder shop. So Tinkerbell flies in the shop and because she's so little she can practically steal the ring, rather than pay for it. Meanwhile you and the rest of the party wait outside. But remember that fairies are devious? So she steals the ring and brings it to you, but instead of receiving a decent bonus (like +1 to armor class or something else), it turns you into a frog and now your companions have to find a way to turn you back without killing that little winged rascal. That's just one scenery. Another one may be that she wasn't actually that devious and actually agreed with the trader to sell it for less, but then took it, flew away and forced you to chase her through the town before dropping that ring in the sewage to make you look like an idiot. And here you are, panting near the sewage drain and cursing the little b****. She's there laughing at you with the rest of the town, etc. I mean make this interaction interesting, make it diverse. Not just... "Hey, my intelligence isn't good enough to solve this riddle, you are smarter, go and do it!"