rjshae

Not having a level cap means more development costs. I'd be in favor of a temporary level cap that can be lifted as sequels become available.

Rather than a D&D-style bard, how about a class that blends music and entertainment with healing? They can heal the body and soul through their music, but their knowledge of physiology, toxins, alchemy, herbalism, and disease also makes them dangerous foes. Perhaps they use something equivalent to the asklepios as their symbol?

I'd like to see a dungeon that is self-sustaining. A "normal" dungeon or underdark should have an input of energy and an output of waste. Something must exist to maintain an active the dungeon or at some point it will all collapse on itself at the next earthquake. How does it get rid of fallen debris and prop up the structures? Maybe there's a vicious race of mole-humanoids that hate the light and are constantly working to build a vast network of robust tunnels and mine the world for its resources? A mega-dungeon of undead that exists just to consume living organisms would soon run out of targets. Would the undead then just stand around performing repetitive tasks? Some of them would need to be working to maintain the structure, which would imply at least motivation and some intelligence. Are the undead just types of worker bees that know just what to do, or is there a central controller that performs planning. Perpetually doomed to an underground existence, maybe this intelligence seeks to lure in fresh bodies to increase its army of corpses? Maybe it knows a way to transform the surface into a form where the sun is permanently hidden. A realm of utter darkness... bwahahaha...

Early on I think they mentioned that humans would come in different varieties. I took that to mean they would implement human races in a manner comparable to the Elder Scrolls series, which has Bretons, Imperial, Nord and Redguard. Not sure if they will implement multiple varieties of elves, dwarves, and godlike, but presumably they would.

I think 48 fps is what they are using for high frame rate 3D movies. Hopefully 60 will be more than good enough. Speaking of 3D, that computer display technology may be more prevalent in 2014, when this game is set to be released.

While I like FoW, I'd also like enemies to be allowed "shouts" that draw in other combatants within hearing range. One of the flaws of BG is that you could move forward in small increments and draw in only a subset of the combatants, allowing you to steadily whittle the enemy force down without exposing yourself to significant risk.

It's made of little bacteria called midichloria mitrochonrii. They surround us, penetrate us, and bind the universe together.

People don't count him cause he dies. If you could have kept him in your party all the way through, yeah, he'd be the rogue pick no doubt. Yes, Yoshimo was an enjoyable character. Hmm, I wonder what they will do with PE if the story requires that one of the companions gets killed off?

Yes, if they do reach the Adventure Hall level, then it's not a big leap to a co-op mode. But they would need the budget for it, which may not happen during the first release. Maybe they can do it as a post-release add-on, once the economics permit it?

Historically, Paladins where essentially knights, some of whom later became seekers of holy relics. They were lawful in the sense of being the champions of the king and were perceived as "good" because of their chivalric code. In this view they were not all that different from samurai. I don't think you need an alignment system in order to be able to model a character like this. But perhaps you need a system that modifies their soul-based powers depending on their ethical choices and loyalty.

Perhaps (evil?) rituals should be made available, which could be spells that involve drawing upon the souls of others. It takes longer to cast a soul ritual since the target is presumably at least somewhat resistant, but rituals can be much more powerful than a normal spell since they drain the entire soul rather than drawing upon a small amount of the caster's soul. The sacrificial soul would need to be helpless and it would require a special apparatus to drain the target's soul (such as a pentacle, unique materials, and a custom blade). Not normally for use by a kind-natured person, of course.

To me, during combat rogues are like spies, scouts, infiltrators, and fifth columnists in warfare. Their role is gather intel, disrupt the enemies logistics and lines of communication, and perform hit and run attacks. If the designers come up with a wounds system, then backstab could be done away with and, instead, attackers can be given a significantly increased chance of inflicting a wound during a sneak or rear attack. (If they have multiple attacks then they can inflict multiple wounds.) Rogues in particular should be able to treat a flank attack as a rear attack when an enemy is being melee attacked from another side (as they are experts in exploiting distraction). My $.02 worth.

An 'Engineer' was generally focused on building structures; I don't think they would necessarily be experts of firearms, bombs, alchemy. Maybe 'Tinker'? That would then include rogue-like specialities such as open lock and disable trap. Drakensang had a couple of profession classes that were adventure-focused: sapper and prospector.

Yes, they could do with fixing the first level vulnerability to house cats.

Broken souls must be like Limberger cheese; smells like stinky human feet.

Back in the BG series, experience growth was relatively slow and it felt like an accomplishment to reach a new level. Since then, D&D v3.5 rules came out and level up began to feel almost like a cheesy accomplishment that didn't require much effort. That has become the trend in modern games: leveling up after every few battles. I have to wonder how this will be handled in PE? It sounds like Obsidian wants to return to the style of the BG series, which would seems to entail a return to slower level progress. If they do allow a more rapid level up, I hope they tone down the power growth rate so that lower level monsters remain a challenge for longer periods. What do you think?

It wasn't just the Baldur's Gate series. In every party-based fantasy RPG I've played, I added the bard character for novelty but soon wanted to remove them. Bards just feel like a leaden weight. In Oblivion on the other hand, I really enjoyed playing a Bard because their versatility gave a lot of options for game play. To be worth picking up as a companion in PE, I think the designers need to do something to give them a little edge.

Ugh, please don't spend resources on bards. A class that is second best in just about everything.

To me the secret of balancing multi-class characters is that spell power increases geometrically while other abilities increase linearly. That means a multi-class spell-casting character needs extra bonuses, such as is provided by a prestige class in D&D v3.5. But I think the game could accomplish the same thing by providing multi-classing benefits that are unique for each combo. In the case of a Paladin, they could simulate that class with a fighter-priest multiclass plus extra abilities that simulate a Paladin (or whatever they call it).

Agree with LadyCrimson, but also what I really like to see is a lot of tactical variety that requires more thought than just running up and bashing foes. Those situations are usually easier to implement with mixed groups of enemies than with single foes, but a single, powerful enemy could always gate in some allies and complicate matters.

Wow, this forum sure does attract some diverse opinions.

A spear will kill you just as dead as a sword. But with a spear you would probably have to rely more on the shield for defense, whereas a sword is useful for turning an attack. Probably why the Romans eventually bested the Greeks (that and sheer numbers).

Bard? These are more like Psions in D&D. Yes we know; I should probably have said quasi-bard. If you think about it a little, a mind mage would still need a practical career. Since they understand people very well and are able to alter their moods, entertainment seems like a possible choice. That would also provide a useful cover; people who would be unnerved at the abilities of a psion cipher would be more open to an entertainer. Other likely choices would be orator, merchant, or spy.

Byzantine infantry also used both spear and long sword with shield.

Yes, a nice addition... assuming the goal is reached. Like an enchanter, though, they may not be that helpful in certain circumstances... such as with undead. I wonder if these guys (and gals) will roughly be this setting's bard class? I mean they're undoubtedly good with people, they have some bard-like magic skills; all they need is some instrument playing and lorecraft to cover up their true nature.