rjshae

It doesn't look like you're a backer, so why worry? Wait to read the reviews and see if the game sounds to your liking.

Actually I'd prefer some imbalances during combat because they create interesting tactical situations; as long as those imbalances even out over the long haul. I.e. a class that is weak in one combat should be strong in another, making you think about how best to use each character. Absolute balance is kind of boring.

I don't think it's quite that bad. But with D&D being the historical baseline by which all others are compared, it was only natural that newer systems would try to correct the limitations and imbalances of D&D.

I just hope it's not going to feel like the bland, neutered skill system in DA:O.

One might explain it way by saying that the morph reshapes the gender-specific features. I.e. both males and females reshape into a singular animal form. After all, human gender characteristics aren't necessarily in the same form on other animals.

Note that all the developers said was that this is a "cat" form; there's nothing about a werelion or a werebobcat. But I agree with you about the genderless appearance.

AFAIK, they still get familiars as one of their starting abilities. Right, I'm aware of that update, but they haven't been mentioned since then, and we already know that some of the other classes' abilities have been changed in the meantime. I'm skeptical that they would do away with something so well established and unique to the flavor of the Wizard class.

Mmm-mmm, women's volleyball...

It's entirely a matter of how much you advance at each level. Yes, if you're used to a game like WoW, 12 is pretty low. But this isn't WoW. The early gold box game Pool of Radiance had a level cap of 8. Baldur's Gate had a level cap of 7; then 9 with the Sword Coast expansion. 12 seems pretty decent by comparison, plus we'll be getting the expansion later on.

I wonder: can druids gain combat talents for fighting in demi-human form? I.e. can they specialize in shapeshifted combat rather than focusing on particular weapons and martial styles?

AFAIK, they still get familiars as one of their starting abilities.

Heh. Well the "YOU'RE" is wrong, anyway.

Presumably non-Celtic priests, although the D&D ones always seemed somewhat Christianity-oriented to me.

You're suggesting that druids, modeled after the celtic priest class, shouldn't get any priestly spells? That doesn't make sense. Some overlap in function is fine for game-play purposes, particularly since you are limited to six characters. The classes only need to be sufficiently distinct to feel unique; they don't need to be completely different in every aspect. The latter approach is too clinical.

Some posters should be flayed into a throbbing mass of pain with a burning strip of barbed wire, then boiled in molten sulfur for their hyperbole.

Hopefully, they are at least contemplating what to do with the expansion... and where to take the story.

I'll be happy just to get a non-defective disk and a well-bound instruction book. If the box is large I'll end up dumping it to save shelf space. The DVD will go in my media book and the rules book in the game drawer.

Well....if class only determines how you fight, not who you are, then every non-combat aspect of character customization should be completely independent from class. Is it? I see how this approach gives you more freedom to roleplay different kinds of cahracters, so I agree it might be a good way to do things, but it will make some instances of class-specific restrictions even less tolerable than before. For instance, mage robes... the damned things have been in almost every game, and nowhere do they make the least bit of sense for an adventuring mage. If PoE will let my mage wear a sensible outfit, then I'll know they thought this "class is only about how you fight" through to the end... Every class will be able to put points in any class, but each class has a set of skills that receive a starting bonus. Thus your rogue would get a head start in, say, a Stealth skill. As long as he keeps putting points in that skill at every opportunity, he will always be better at it than a class that doesn't get a starting bonus in that skill. My understanding is that any class can use any type of weapon or armor in this game--they just might not be particularly good at using it. If there is a mechanic for item enchanting in this game, I suspect that this may have some class limitations. Or at least prerequisites that can only be satisfied by specific classes.

Orlan, I dub thee Half-Pint.

booooooo hsssssss

Mmm, I'll bet Jump to Conclusions is a first level spell that you can enchant into your keyboard. Material components: a thread and a post.

Saw the first episode of The 100 last night. An interesting premise, and different from what I was expecting. The flavor is a little bit of 'convicts deported to Australia' meets Lord of the Flies. It may be good, or it could be terrible.

I'm predicting it's going to tank.