TMTVL

The only experience I have with dual-wielding IRL is kung-fu, so I don't think it's really in place in a WRPG. Still, my two cents are that you tend to be able to attack quite a bit faster, yet blocking becomes a bit more of a challenge. Also, we use either dual straight swords, or dual sabers, which are about an arm long. I believe in some Japanese koryu there's dual wielding, where they use two hand-and-half swords (the famous katana), yet I haven't really seen any of these styles, so I can't vouch for their effectivity. I'm also not really up to date on western fencing after the Roman Empire.

PnP DSA only gave "experience" the first time you encountered and defeated a specific type of enemy in the adventure. Then again, in DSA it wasn't really "experience," they were adventuring points. I also remember fights taking 8 hours to fight in 3rd edition, so you weren't going to put much effort in raising your fighting skills anyway, a combat avoided was a combat won where the players and the GM were concerned.

What's it with all this anime talk? I thought this was gonna be a WRPG. OT: Classes should be somewhat balanced, preferably all having a moderate "power level" so we don't have fighters who are useless at high levels and wizards who barely survive past level 1. Also, supernatural powers for all classes sounds fun, reminds me of the swordsage (and ilk) in 3.5 D&D.

'Wild' Illusions? Cast invisibility and become engulfed in eels? Sounds fun. Maybe even play with the GUI or the screen in general if something happens to the main character? Seems like it could offer some fun possibilities.

I wonder if Druids will be the shapeshifting type...

My favorite puzzles: how far can I get without attacking an enemy? How far can I get without any items (money included, if it can be dropped)? Though before solcing any of them, it's usually a good idea to solve the big one: how do I beat this game?

If a stupid PC answers a riddle correctly, because of metagaming, story-wise you could just see it as the guy being lucky.

I'm actually good at these games when I take my time, making good use of everything I have in my arsenal, mainly because I like "utility" spells in concept. But I play these games for the story, not the copmbat. The combat is pointless, I've got load & save, I'll win eventually. Even without load & save I'd win eventually, but it'd feel more fulfilling. But I'm not gonna like P:E as much as, say Way of the Samurai 2 or Academagia, because of the Real TIme With Puase tactical combat. It's why I like Arcanum more then Baldur's Gate.

Prestidigitation of Eternity. Also, Soulless seems kinda fun, but more in a side-scrolling platformer way.

V:tMB and Deus Ex weren't isometric. Having three dimensions of space to align paths in makes for a different pathing challenge when compared to the 2.5D plane which P:E will (most likely) have.

Red guard: "My two brothers and I guard the three exits of this room. One of us speaks the truth, one of us lies and one of us speaks truth sometimes and lies at others." Blue guard: "You may ask three questions of us to find out who is who." Green guard: "The one who tells the truth guards the exit that leads to safety, the one who lies guards the exit that leads to death." PC: "And the one who tells truth half the time?" Red guard: "He guards the exit that leads you astray. You have two questions left." Player: "Wait, that counted as one of the questions? You bloody cheaters!"

Soul & Sorcery. Or Swords, Souls & Sorcery. Or Souls, Swords & Sorcery. Or maybe focus more on the party mechanics, ehm... Heroes of Souls & Sorcery. Or in keeping with the temporary title: Souls & Eternity. ...Actually the last one kinda seems like it could work. Nevermind. ...Way of Souls/Way of the Soul.

Ooh, I know: Project Eternity: Van Buren.

I just hope that guards will see me running for my life and make a sensible choice. "Hm, that poor little hobbit is being pursued by the half ogres we suspect might have ties with the local criminal underworld. Let's block his way to tell him about how I used to be an adventurer like him."

I'm almost* never disappointed when it comes to videogames. I either haven't played many games (very likely), or just have low standards (also very likely). And before anyone asks, no I haven't played any of the Call of Honor: Modern Battlefield games. I don't particularly care much for First Person Shooters. *Almost: Dreams to Reality. That was horrible.

As long as I can get haste and invisibility, I'm good. Maybe a few extra utility spells, like mud to water or something, but those have more of a niche use.

A real tower. Not one of those standard RPG towers where you've got enough room to battle two balrogs at the same time, but a tower that's really cramped, where your characters have to walk single file. It'll also give you a reason to keep your fighters supplied with bows and arrows.

On the other hand. My character doesn't have the freedom I have. I can climb trees, jump over creeks, do tons of stuff a videogame character can't... Because I'm not a videogame character. I can eat delicious food I made myself. I can play fun videogames, I can hang out with my friends and so much more my character can never do. Also, my world has more realistic graphics and more in-depth interactivity.

The Fallout/Arcanum travel system is pretty cool, but I don't have any problems with the Baldur's Gate 2 system. BG1, well... It has a lot of wilderness. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if it had a few less waypoint in between big important places.

I've been replaying Arcanum and Fallout. I'm also thinking of playing through BG2 again. The IWD series I don't like all that much because I like having companions with character (ToEE had a really interesting combat system, so I'm willing to forgive it). PS:T I didn't really like because the combat system was really out of place in a game that could have been my favorite game ever, if it had no combat, or a turn based system. That leaves BG1, which had kinda interesting companions, but BG2 just did it all better. If you want my opinion of Fallout 2, you're gonna have to wait. It's too big for me to work my way through until I can get a few months off work.

I'm more of a cat person, but animal companion: yay. I'm thinking of the wizard/sorcerer familiars from BG.

Master mages who have hidden away and know spells of great power is a more universal take on the theme, I suppose. It can be done with any class with any type of combat/non-combat ability, but techniques and spells of great destruction tend to be the most fun.

...Like in Arcanum?

Arcanum had a fixed party size: you couldn't have more followers then cha/4, minus one for Educator, plus one for training in persuasion. Except for the followers that don't count towards your limit (dog), or creations/summons/mind controlled slaves. Also, you don't HAVE to take certain party members because of their class. It's not a sin to lower the difficulty and playing a game is more about having fun then about being the best at it.

You do realize I'm not going to eat dead party members if you're gonna do that to them, right?