rjshae

There's something of a similar flavor with the old world fencing and sword-fighting schools, in the sense of having "secret techniques". I don't think it necessarily needs to be oriental in flavor.

Inventory and looting has been discussed at great length already. There's a trade-off between realistic completeness and simpler game play, which needs to be taken into account.

In an interesting sign of things to come, there was a (now cancelled) Kickstarter project to build modular parts for a castle using a 3D printer. The level of detail on this already looks pretty good. So... assuming somebody does decide to move forward on this, would dungeon parts be next? Followed by print-your-own figurines? Just one slight problem though: purchasing a 3D printer and the "print" cartridges. Perhaps instead it will start at local hobby shops where they print your parts to order?

It's fairly certain that a game like this will have some type of pop-up map, whether a reduced scale image or an artistic illustration. I think though that the area maps don't have to exactly follow the style used in the IE games. In particular: The explored areas of the map don't have to be placed in the corresponding locations on the area map. Instead, the explored area can be centered in the map image. The full area doesn't need to be be constrained by a rectangle. It would be better if the boundary of the area was uneven. These have the net effect of leaving the true boundaries of the area uncertain, and making it feel more open. For dungeons especially, an obvious rectangular boundary makes it look more contrived. A particular example of this was in NWN2, and it made the areas feel very contrived. Any other concerns?

Awakening magic items Here's a notion I had for an alternative approach to item "identification": Say your character finds an item with some mysterious magical powers. Now in D&D to use an identify spell to try and find out what those powers are. But, in PE, where magic is drawn from the soul, suppose that the nature of the powers becomes immediately apparent to the PC. Instead, the powers are "locked" from access and you will need to find a means to "awaken" those powers. That is, the powers are visible in the item description are visible but inactive and you need to forge a link from your soul to the magic in the item. Such magic item powers could be awakened by frequently wearing or wielding the item. They could also be awakened by casting a related spell into the item, which can cause a synchronization with the power, causing it to be activated. (This may be an area where a Chanter's lore becomes useful.) Finally, for those without the right skill or power, the item could be taken to an expert for them to find the appropriate means. At any rate, what you have is the possibility for a more extensive system of triggering an item than just casting an identify spell. What do you think?

I think that the types of sudden shifts in scale and angle described by the OP would have limited usefulness and may be disconcerting. Changes in mood and atmosphere can be accomplished by other means: sounds, music, colors, illumination, timing, or cut-scenes.

Lazy work for hastily assembled concept art? The very nerve! They should have spent weeks and a big chunk of the budget getting the image just so. You should be an art critical; you at least know what a color wheel is. LOL.

I like the level-0 light spell in D&D v3.5; it frees up a hand and doesn't require walking around with a stash of flammable torches. This worked very nicely in NWN2. Hopefully they will have something comparable to that in PE. At a higher level, perhaps they could have a magical light that illuminates the surroundings but doesn't give away your position?

If the developers were spending a lot of time here, I'd be concerned. Development often takes dedicated focus, and I suspect that following a forum board, with all its vagarities of opinions, may be an unhelpful distraction. Frankly, I'm surprised they have been posting as many updates as they have, since other KS projects post a lot less frequently. (But I'm certainly not complaining about what they have presented. ) In a certain sense, a logical target audience for the KS updates may be the people who actually didn't contribute to the KS (as was pointed out in this Gamasutra editorial). Updates are probably useful for generating buzz, and perhaps for performing a sanity check with the KS contributors. My 2cp worth.

I think the OP did present some of these for the warrior and the red, red rouge class. For wizards, perhaps there are unique spells and rituals, unusual crafting recipes, or special methods for building your spell books? Chanters may learn to play unusual instruments that allow them to perform specific songs in ways that provide unique benefits.

Real torches imply 3D shadows; from characters, furniture, objects, and walls. I suspect that isn't going to happen; we'll get a glowing, flickering halo instead. What I would be interested in seeing though are different light sources: various torches, lanterns, hooded lanterns, oil lamps, and candles. As for a poorly lit night scenes, they could potentially use varying color saturation. Areas near light sources can display normal colors, while darkened areas can be displayed using a more monochromatic view. (Like a, say, blue-tinged black-and-white view representing night vision.) That would allow them to provide some illumination even in the darkened areas. I'm not sure how do-able this approach is though.

Learning a secret style might be a good excuse for individual NPCs to detach themselves from the party for a spell. Or it could be something that they pick up as an accomplishment only if you let them loose for a time. Basically that would be an enticement to recruit them back into the party at a later date.

Another fundamental difference between the inexperienced lock picker and the master is the time it takes to pick a lock. Yes a master can almost automatically pick any simple lock, but he can also do it with an economy of motion and a minimum amount of noise. I'm not sure of the best way to model this. Perhaps a modifier to the skill check depending on how likely the attempt is to be detected? After all, the rogue will exercise some judgment regarding how likely he is to get away with the attempt. Maybe some type of meter showing the pick success rate against an increasing likelihood of being caught?

So you're looking at it more as an alternate reality... rather than a game? What I'm suggesting is that a NPC concept is not rigidly bound to follow a particular path, and that the NPC's path is chosen to give you a different, yet balanced experience based on the class you choose. It's mainly a concept for replay value rather than pure simulation for its own sake.

^^^^ Mmm, not exactly. I had more in mind something complementary to the PC's class and persona. So if you take a Rogue, the city refugee becomes a duelist fighter rather than a thuggish burglar. But Osvir's suggestion also makes sense; the type of character you meet can vary depending on when you meet him or her. I just think it would add replay value to not always meet exactly the same cast of characters.

What do you think of the idea of one or more of the companions being developed as a general personality concept, rather than being focused on a specific class? For example, a companion could be a mentally-scarred refugee from a city slum, seeking justice and vengeance for a heinous crime committed against his family and neighbors. However, he may have arrived at this point as a street thug rogue, a brawling fighter, or even a wild-child barbarian. Thus the companion would have a class selected from a limited set (depending on the PC type), but his portrait, persona, and even many of his stats could be about the same. Another example could be a scholarly younger son from a wealthy family who was expected to join the local covenant brotherhood, but instead may have revolted against his family and elected to become a wizard, cipher, or even a bard. Just curious really...

Well don't get your breechclout in a wad. Nobody wants to see that.

I'm hoping that the PE pantheon doesn't try to be too logical about its structure. Historical pantheons are often like extended families with strange, quirky stories, eccentric relatives, and often contradictory, emotion-driven behavior. They aren't organized like a thesaurus with everything laid out just so.

I really enjoy well-done humor, but some types of frivolity can ruin the experience of good drama. Silly deities thrown in for comic effect is absolutely the wrong thing to do in serious role playing drama. Likewise with Monty Python references and sci-fi one-liners. Toss these on the pyre of incongruous ruminations. Good humor is hard to do; stupid humor is best left for spoofs and robot chicken episodes.

I think it would be fun if there were a new companion you could add to the party once you reach the bottom of the endless paths, thereafter opening new conversation threads and side quests. But I'm not sure what type of companion you would find down there that could survive. Perhaps somebody frozen in time?

Good news: Sui Generis just made their KS goal with a few hours to go! This project should be interesting to watch. It's technically very interesting; I'm just not sure how good a game they will make. We'll see...

Yet another reducio ad absurdum argument. You are the perfect example of why options are needed; your expectation of the game is wildly different than others.It's a balancing act on the part of the developers. You want a game that has no options, but which you wouldn't play if it didn't meet your expectations. How does that make any business sense? It doesn't. If you don't like the options, don't use them. If you don't like the developers spending time on options that others like, well that's too bad.

Whine, whine whine. Where did all of the real gamers go?

It seems like this gets back to the Pareto Principle. There are options the developers can provide that make the game a different experience and satisfy a significant portion of the audience. Then there are minor nuances they could provide that make a small group really happy, but most people will just ignore. I'm not sure what the correct balance is, but I suspect it is in the single digits.

I had this crazy idea for a freedom of speech solidarity T-shirt. It makes a particular reference to the Egyptian court's recent decision to sentence seven Egyptian Coptic Christians to death in absentia. Basically, the graphic looks like the old Norman Rockwell self-portrait image, except it would show a bearded arabic muslim male painting a picture of himself. Next to it, the caption reads, "Egypt sentenced me to death in absentia, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt". What do you think? Would it get me targeted by somebody's hit squad?