rjshae

Well, but then the dead body's inventory would appear every time you mouse over it... that would be quite inconvenient, wouldn't it? Nope, because you "move the mouse over the corpse, right-click". But they could add an option to control- or shift-mouse-over in cases where that is preferable.

Hopefully this hasn't been discussed before... One of the elements of CRPGs I find tiresome is the modal dialog box used for looting a corpse or a container. You have to click on the corpse, possibly scroll through a menu and select the looting option, relocate the mouse to the dialog window, grab the items you want, then relocate the mouse and click on the close button. It requires at least five steps, each consisting of single-handed mouse positioning/clicks. When this is done over and over it can grow very tedious. Wouldn't it be nice if we had popup, mouse-sensive interface that functioned more like a graphical menu? You move the mouse over the corpse, right-click, and the menu pops up showing the loot items in a graphical array. You then click on the items you want and finally move the mouse well outside an area surrounding the popup to make it go away. The number of required steps drops to three and the last does not require a precise mouse positioning. (The shift key could be used to hold the popup open so you can click and drag, then make it close when you release the key.) What do you think? Please be nice. Thanks.

It's only overreaction if you start posting USING CAPS or GIANT FONTS! with different colors! Usually an indicator of a single-issue fanatic.

With a single-character game I enjoy supplying a big chunk of the character skill. But for a party-based game I just want to be the element supplying the decision making. That makes character specialization more significant and opens the game up to a wider range of players (including those players that are intelligent but not quite so coordinated).

Who needs a glowing aura? It's pretty obvious. Generic no-name bandit? Don't loot. Named miniboss NPC? Loot. And if one of the twenty no-name bandits had a randomly generated gem? I guess you'll miss it.

Not me. Perfection is the enemy of good. I'm just hoping they'll give us the table-top feel and atmosphere of the Baldur's Gate series, but push the envelope with new capabilities, refinements, and options.

Constantly finding the same mediocre equipment on dozens of corpses could get old really fast. I think that's probably why they don't do it. Yes it's useful to collect equipment at low levels for conversion into cash, but after that it's not terribly productive. It reminds me of the old gold-box series of games where you'd get a humongous list of ordinary loot frustratingly intermixed with a few rare items of value. Perhaps there is a useful middle ground? Bodies with higher value loot could be flagged in some way (with a glowing aura?) so that you know which ones to pillage. (The equivalent of checking the bodies for treasure.) You can then safely ignore the other bodies if you so choose. It might also be nice to have a tie-in with the appraise skill for successfully identifying high value loot.

How true. I also trust them to make common sense decisions on what suggestions to include and what to leave out. The limited budget will inevitably force some compromises. Hopefully the end product will sell like hotcakes and they can give us great sequels with more cool features.

Rage? I think not. That seems like a reasonable approach for a CRPG.

Retracting my comments.

We do need some sort of big goal and I seem to recall Feargus I think saying that they have been discussing it quite a bit, though I can understand wanting to be completely sure on what you want to do and all that. The funding plot does seem to be following the classic S-curve. It is tailing off quite a bit, so they may need to do something to expand the audience share. Maybe target non-English speakers in Asia and Europe? Add some translations of their notices? I dunno.

I want sentient weapons that I can threaten to melt down/smash/destroy if they get on my nerves. BG2 had a sentient sword. So it has been done before. I'd like a sentient sword that isn't a complete twit.

Sweet! Undead dungeon crawls can be a lot of fun. Hopefully they have some variation in form and function so it's not just armies of clones.

In a fit of whimsy: Frobin's diabolical weed whacker. Everready's folding pocket greatsword. Helm of undergarment viewing. Glasses of steaming. Boots of arse kicking. Cloak of episodic melodrama. Whip of frothing. Portable boot licker. Bag of holding vegetables.

Hmm... how about: More movement options (climb, swim, ride, levitate, pass through walls). Dynamic auctions for high end magic items. A non-linear ship-based adventure where you can travel from port to port, raid part of the coast, hunt for pirates and escort merchants (or hunt for merchants and escort pirates, as you will). Gritty, grimey locales like those featured in Copper or Deadwood, but with a medieval look. Real environmental effects. Raging fires that sweep through a city; storms that make archery impossible and chill to the bone; thick morning fog; thick cloying mud after a rain, &c. A secret society that hunts down and slays rogue wizards. True-to-folklore fey with a Seelie and Unseelie court. Elves that really are supernatural beings; gnomes that are earth elementals rather than short dwarfs, &c. Changing terrain, including seasonal effects, piles of goods that change from day to day, collapsing buildings, areas that become haunted because of something you did, &c. Plausible villains. A detailed (but not too detailed) system of weapons and armor. An underwater adventure. Too much?

I can't believe that adding rideable mounts would add absurd levels or resource requirements, as you seem to be implying through reductio ad absurdum. They would basically adding a set of extra graphics, animations, AI, and sounds for each of the player companions, with the distinct possibility of graphics and animation re-use for the mounts and movements. It's nearly the same set of requirements needed for implementing mounts for enemy combatants. As for other priorities, well we all have different preferences; I'm quite sure that many will not get all of what they want. I'd like to see climbing, swimming, and levitation, for example, but those too would require extra graphics and animation.

I wouldn't mind an approach that actually rewards the player for taking smaller teams on specific quests. That way the party size cap seems like less of a limitation. There's probably a number of ways to do this. One could, for example, split the team for performing simultaneous quests. Another is for the patron to reward the PC for keeping the number involved small. A third approach would be to divide earned party influence by the size of the team; the smaller the team, the more closely knit they become and the faster the player's influence rises with those involved.

Yes, the ratzilla battle was a lot of fun. I must have gone back a half dozen times before the party was strong enough to win the final boss battle. Even then it was close and it took nearly all of my potion stock. I think it was the tactical aspects of the fight that made it so enticing. I know people like to rail against DA2, but man that high dragon fight in the Bone Pit side quest was one tough, bad-arsed fight! Quite the memorable encounter. (Maybe not for some, but it was for me. )

About the only achievements that seems worthwhile are based upon elements that matter within the game world: a good or bad reputation, favor with a particular storekeep or guild, the patronage of a deity, the addition of a useful contact, and so forth. In that sense they are more like the perks in HERO/Champions system (or the disadvantages from being widely known). I wouldn't mind seeing a list of those types of achievements as part of the journal so that, in a particularly long game, I can use them as a reference for things I could potentially take advantage of. Otherwise, achievements in CRPGs like the Mass Effect series just seemed a little silly.

Perhaps they should call them careers, rather than classes? Like they did in the old WFRP game. Multiclass characters would then be interdisciplinary careers. What would be a nice feature of multiclass characters is if they had some unique options available only to those with specific class combos. Like the prestige class paths, but less blatant. Might be more trouble than it's worth though.

They really need to add a "Fix my pet peeve" option to this game.

You'd be annoyed to have to travel to the stables near the town exit where you'd have to travel to anyway? Hmm... I don't have a lot of sympathy for your issue. But they could always pop up an options dialog when you exit the map that allows you to choose the rental option.

You never see dental problems in these games, or at least I haven't. It might be entertaining (in a dark sort of way) for somebody to have bad teeth that needs frequent attention. Maybe a dwarf who likes to bite off more than he can chew? As the game progresses his grin grows ever uglier.

I like it when games include special abilities that are particular to giant creatures. Like the ability of a fire giant to perform a sweep with a club and inflict damage upon multiple combatants, or huge loam elementals that can pound the ground and knock everybody off their feet. Those types of abilities really distinguish the size aspect, which otherwise is just a larger object to whack.

They've already done some talking about speeding up map transit via various means, so there may be rent-a-horse locations available that provide instant travel. Hmm... in contemplating this is horse rental system in a medieval society, I could see a need in certain more advanced regions for a merchant transport guild. To rent their gear perhaps you need an associate guild membership plus a suitable deposit (and bribes). After you've gone through the hoops to join and paid their relatively hefty initiation fees, you obtain a writ that allows you to lease the services of a wagon team with driver from any of their stations. But you've had to sign an agreement that prevents you from competing with the guild by lending the wagon team to others. If you carry anybody else in the wagon, the driver takes note and you have to pay an extra fee. The wagon team horses are no doubt unsuitable for use as mounts. They would be strong beasts that move at their own plodding pace, although they can be made to gallop for brief periods when they are under attack by bandits. Perhaps that can be one of the hazards of the trip? Occasionally you get ambushed and must protect the wagon team, or else you'll have to walk the rest of the way (and leave some heavy gear and supplies behind). That would breath some life into the transport concept, rather than just having it be a button click. Just having some fun with the idea.