rjshae

That Titan was ineffectual. It made only three attacks during the battle and spent most of its time looking confused. I hope that was just done for demonstration purposes. Looks good otherwise.

If you consider being asked for help to not be a reason, or just lack any desire for adventure, then I suppose that is true.

Not to throw cold water on this, but didn't they already say they weren't going to add new spiritshifting forms in PoE2?

All of the Druid spiritshift forms thus far have been mammals. Perhaps then a walrus head with large fangs?

Apples and oranges. Presumably the castle is using composite armor of granite and magic shielding, making the whole stronger than the sum of the parts. Perhaps though it would be more vulnerable to magically enhanced cannon shot? Dunno.

A noble who can pay to build a castle can probably also afford to hire a powerful wizard's guild and cloak the castle in magical defenses. Perhaps those are mixed into the masonry during construction, but it would seem realistic to see some glowy runes and magical barriers around the fortress in strategic locations.

This? They'd have to travel to Germany for that, and wrong time period anyway. A caravel would be more like the small kind of ship that they want. Or maybe a Schooner, both of which are period style ships. They can surely view the many photographs available on the web, which provide a number of useful details. Agreed, a caravel would be a better fit, although most of those had more than one mast. The lanteen sails might get in the way of the deck view though.

They could also take a look at the Ubena von Bremen, which is somewhat similar in form (albeit without the gun deck).

It is a little ugly to the eye. The hull doesn't curve naturally from stem to stern, as if they took the hull and stretched it out in the middle. Plus there's almost no vertical curve to the hull. One almost expects it to handle like a barge. A clinker-built look would probably be more interesting, as would exposing the inner frame along the deck sides.

I thought that at first too regarding the party size, then I realised the sixth 'person' is Maia's animal companion. Assuming we can multi-class our companions however we want, I wonder how well walkpathing will work with an all-Ranger party and six animal companions? Not that this scenario is likely.

I have to think that a Wounds system will actually make things more complex for players, and maybe more confusing. Is this wound serious enough that I need to rest? Which wound is particularly damaging to what combat tactic? Should I reload an easy fight to avoid that one wound? OTOH, a wounds system does give combat damage more of a sense of realism, in contrast to an abstract Health counter.

Personally I'd like to see both: an expansion to the existing content and a sequel. A sequel would probably be easier to sell though.

A little variety can be a good thing. This setting is more like the Age of Exploration than the Middle Ages. For example, on Earth the wheellock was a 16th century invention, which is post-medieval.

Resting too frequently should lead to random back-tracking encounters and improved enemy preparation. There should be a trade-off.

I'm looking forward to seeing the new skills system. The conglomerated skills approach in PoE just never felt right, regardless of how mathematically correct it may seem.

Plus it depends on how worthy are the items designers are going to put into NPCs for us to pickpocket. And ofc if there are scrolls/spells/unique equipment that buffs stealth/pickpocket. That's easy enough to fix: just have a minimum Pick Pocket skill level for success, then determine what can be picked based on the skill level. A low level only shows a few easy to pick items, but a high skill will recover more valuable objects. Hence save scumming becomes pointless since your skill level doesn't change (unless you expend a helper item).

Today's Bliss deserves a hug: http://www.gocomics.com/bliss/2017/06/20

Some spell-crafting easter eggs might be fun. They can put some (non-obvious) hints in lore books and in the material descriptions. Finding the right clues and combinations will then allow the player to unlock an entirely new, unique spell, perhaps with a little help from an arcane master or some such. At least it would make the lore more interesting to read.

Not if it's an Orlan Paladin with daggers... and little bells on the ends of their shoes.

They're on track to make ~$1.5 million. Hopefully it's enough.