rjshae

My initial sense on this XP issue is that in the end the rewards are the same and you'll end up at the same class level; it's primarily a difference between whether you receive immediate gratification for your actions or a delayed reward. If Obsidian wants to cater to gamers who like continually slaying random monsters, they can always implement things like achievements (100 XP for slaying 500 bloodbugs => gain 'Royal bloodbug slayer' title) and bounties. In that case, the net difference will be that you'll be actively seeking particular creature types (or group types) rather than just killing everything that moves. Shrug. Any issues with their approach should come out during play testing, at which point they can modify the XP reward system accordingly. I'm sure that most of us won't be disappointed.

I think you're reading waaaayyy too much into that.

Woo-hoo! Plus cats and beards.

How about something comparable to this gadget in the corner of the screen?

It's possible that the split Stamina/Health approach may allow the designers to make first level characters more plausibly robust against puny creatures. I guess we'll see.

Grappling animations would be difficult to implement between creatures of significantly different size ranges. If it were limited to humanoids and humanoid-shaped creatures, that seems more do-able. They could just show a wrestling cinch hold with some back and forth movement. Grappling would definitely give more value to small weapons like the dagger.

That is a nice idea. But will we be able to tell when the dwarf is in a good mood?

Again, nice pics. One can almost see the Troll's breath...

Wait, you have to choose at least one group to kill in order to vote? This poll is dumb.

It's been mentioned before that they could show a sky shot in a side panel (along with the date and time).

My problem is I suspect this game might end up taking itself a bit *too* seriously. It's high-fantasy. Which needs to be, just now and ten, light and shade. Which is where we probably have irreconcilable POVs on what constitutes fun. The whole point of a CRPG is to be fun by simulating a distinct unreality. True. The designers will never be able to please everybody. In the end it's a judgment call. I trimmed the troll bait at the end of your message as unworthy of discussion.

Stamina is what causes you to manage your in-battle resources; it's like fatigue/bruising/minor injuries during a football game, becoming an increasingly significant factor toward the end of the match. Health is what causes you to get hauled off on a stretcher. A similar approach is used in Champions and it works very well.

I agree, but the guide would likely need to be unusual in nature to safely traverse this dungeon. Perhaps a friendly spirit of some type?

Why isn't there a "Obsidian knows how to make games; let them decide the best way to allocate the money" option?

The company advertisement is traditionally in the opening credits; everybody is comfortable with that so I don't know why they would change the model and risk hurting their reputation.

Wow. I guess movie-style posters aren't necessarily ideal as a backer item.

Wererats might be a bit of a handful for a first level character.

I too want to have fun, but in a game that takes itself seriously. I.e. a game that feels like it is trying to simulate reality.

To me it also speaks to the importance of reputation in the gaming business. Having prior successful titles makes it easier to get kickstarter backing for new projects. Backers would know that their money is a relatively safe investment because (hopefully) the people involved will want to maintain their high reputation in the business. Having the reputation and resources of an experienced company like Obsidian behind it also helped.

My guess is that X% of whatever they spend would go to QA, so it would scale with the income.

In video games, romance = sex scenes/fade to black and implied sex Yes and it seems just a tad anticlimactic and unsatisfying. Would it work if they take the Hallmark card approach: throw up a fuzzy romantic watercolor with a thoughtful poem and some tasteful music?

Evil-looking six-legged rats with forked tails and glowing red eyes...

I vote (d): let obsidian make the call. But there's no such option, so the poll results are questionable.

You guys are going to love trekking up 10 levels of undead-infested dungeons just to lick your wounds. I hope there's a teleportation system.

Personally I'm interested to see how this approach will work out. Pretty much every other RPG-style game out there rewards slaughter for its own sake. How well will it function now that the reward system has significantly changed?