Dem

I like this idea. I would have done something like: "Here lies Benny. He shot me in the head. I returned the favour. -Courier Six."

Yeah, browsing through PS:T's data files with NearInfinity was almost educational. Both in how your own alignment changed (seriously, is teasing Morte really a chaotic act???), and how you had to break down your companions "barriers" (wasn't that variable called fortress_something?), to get them to improve their stats and abilities. By all means, get rid of the obvious messages and numbers, but some kind of feedback would be nice and not completely unrealistic. Depending on circumstance, feedback on whether people approve or disapprove of your actions can be non-existant, subtle, obvious or rather physical (from a punch to a kiss). Get rid of the numbers though, show - don't tell. Wow! You, sir, read my mind. Are you wizard? No, but seriously, this.

Either idea is fine, or at least there isn't anything inherently wrong with them, as long as it's thought out and well written (which is a given, as this is Obsidian).

I think the reason Dragon Age wasn't mentioned is because it's not a classical insometric rpg (sure, it can be played isometricaly, but whatever). It's UI is pretty good, though.

Eh, the UI isn't really a top priority for me, as long as it's clear and doesn't distract from the actual view.

I'm not sure if it's been said before, but, if that's the case, I'll say it again. Update#7 made several mentions of the ability to teleport, which I'm not sure I like. I can understand the appeal of it as a gameplay mechanic, not having to take thirty minutes just to get to the opposite side of the map (a la the Witcher), but I have always found teleportation to bring a lot of narrative problems to the worlds they involve. For example, I think one of the developers mentioned newfound continents in the world of PE people had difficulty reaching because of dangerous sea creatures. Well, why not just teleport there? Or, if your character finds himself in a tight spot, why not just teleport away? Or why doesn't the villain teleport away just before you finish the final blow? That's my take on it at least. What do you think?

As long as other styles of play are equally rewarding.

It's hard to give any feedback without knowing anything about this or any of the other companions. Just a well written, all around fun character is fine for me. I do have a certain preference for Chaotic Neutral characters, at least in the same way Captain Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean is CN. Out for himself, occasionally forms friendly relations with other characters, but they're ultimately secondary to his personal goals. I like those sort of characters. Failing that, could you guys just write Kreia again? Such an amazing character!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggXmKPMaHMo

i wonder how that "reputation system" would work... Fallou: New Vegas style is my best guess. Edit: Oh, you were talking about the alignment... Nevermind.

Right now, I'm actually playing a "new" (as in newly released in English) isometric RPG called Inquisitor. One of the first cool things I noticed in it was the the trees slightly moved with the wind. A neat little thing that added a lot to the atmosphere of walking through a forest.

I never really cared for the Vancian magic system, personally. I can understand if you liked choosing which spells to memorize every day, but to me it felt tedious and silly. Besides, since good games like BG and PS:T are quite unpredictable the first time you play them, I usually just settles for the combat spells anyway. You always have a use for combat spells. That said, I would prefer if we couldn't spam underpowered spells, as you described. I like it when magic is both a hard and costly thing, but very powerful at the same time. So, a spellcaster may only have the necessary "power" to cast a handful of spells each battle, but they could tip the scale entirely, so he would have to make them count.

Since this game seems to be centred around the idea of souls, specifically that they're real, more tangible things that can influence its carrier (the PC and companions, for example, have been confirmed to have special, "strong" souls) it leaves plenty of ways to portray the undead in unique and exciting ways. What are the undead in the setting of PE? Once mortal beings depraved of their souls and now cursed to wander the Earth as murderous shells? If so, what is the perception of the general populance of this? How would a sinister magic-user take advantage of them? What I'm saying is, be creative and actually explain what they are and how they came to be. Undead beings actually come with a lot of implications and that should be reflected in how the beings populating this world should view things such as death and the afterlife.

Only if those who pledge enough may come visit Obsidian studios to touch the beards.

Since souls seem to be an integral part of the world, I'd hope it would show in your class options as well. Imagine, just as an example, a Sould Reaver, who could summon the lost souls around him to fight for him in battle, bind the souls of his fallen enemies to make himself stronger, have them tell him secrets outside of combat, and haunt his nightmares while he's sleeping. Just some unque spin on the classes that fits with the world their creating.

How do you feel about them? What sorts of factions would you like to see? What are your thoughts on reputation over alignment? Personally, the multitude of factions and the reputation mechanic was one of my favourite features of NV and I'm glad this seems to be something akin to that. I would like to see everything from religious orders/sects, to merchant guilds, to mercenary bands and everything in between.

Thumbs up for reputation over alignment.

Guns are fine, if used properly. It's silly to put such restrictions on creative works.