rjshae

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.

I like seemingly ordinary side-quests that come back to play a surprising part much later in the story, whether for good or ill. The reprise adds to the drama by making the original effort feel more significant.

Does the available selections really matter that much? The role of summoned creatures in games primarily seems to be as a damage-inflicting shield. It might be nice to be able to give them more roles than just cannon fodder. Perhaps send them ahead as scouts or deploy them as sentries while resting. They could deliver messages, search for herbal components, trigger traps, distract enemies, and so forth.

Could just have a number representing the weight in one of the corners? Or maybe a sort by weight button with the heaviest stuff clunking to the bottom.

The soul-centric nature of the game almost begs to have some tie-ins to past lives. Acquiring some of the benefits and penalties of those past existences could be a nice element; almost comparable to the Baldur's Gate experience. Shrug. Otherwise I just prefer earning character rewards the old fashioned way. Adding extra bennies without a tie-in to the story just feels a crutch.

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. The landed nobility must be horrified at the concept.

I've always thought that encumbrance should be based on the moment of inertia, but that's just physics for ya. Yes, varying inventory grid slots by item size is a nice touch. Some way of quickly seeing the heaviest items is also useful.

Yes, and you don't want to throw in so many goals that you lock up your flexibility to make decisions further down in the design process. Sure it wasn't quite perfect, but so what? Kickstarter itself is still relatively new, so the best approaches are still being worked out.

Perhaps it's become a stagnant culture because everybody who matters is wrapped up in the broken souls issue? Or maybe there's a book-hating deity who deep fries anybody that even thinks about making a printing press? Perhaps the two are interlinked somehow?

Err... ancient Rome, Greece, and China? Put those in the context of the medieval Europe and that's what you'll have.

I've played Divine Divinity and even Divinity: Ego Draconis. The first was a good game with some interesting ideas, the second... well, it was disappointing to say the least. Yep, Divine Divinity was a blast to play, and to replay. I played through Heretic Kingdoms as well; it had some good ideas and a nice look, but was far too linear. Of all the party-based RPGs, I've pretty much enjoyed the D&D releases the most. Give me v3.5 rules with BG-series writing and I'd be a happy player.

Specialized roles create more interesting tactics. It's like the infantry-armor-artillery trifecta in modern combat. I like having distinctly different specializations and hope they don't wash it down too much.

The drawback of build-your-own party is that you can't build sophisticated interactions based upon character background. That's one of the elements I really missed in the IWD releases. OTOH, it might be a nice option to start the game with a sidekick that you've known since early childhood, and for which you have some customization choices. (Like a limited selection of classes that complement your own.) The game could always kill off the sidekick later if he is getting in the way of the story.

The $65 contribution level states that it will include a "boxed version of the game". Therefore they will likely have to produce a boxed version. If they don't, then controversy will ensue... ...but they could just mean a disk in a cardboard folder, which is very cheap to mass produce.

The most enjoyable damage system I've come across was in Drakensang. Unfortunately that probably wasn't as widely played as it should have been. But I think it gave a nice balance between debilitating damage and hit point damage.

Vancian casting is just a form of conditional cooldowns. I like to see a more sophisticated cooldown system: short-term cooldowns of individual spells and long-term cooldown of the mana pool. (Yes I know that's been done before. ) I'd sure like to see spellbooks have some role in a game. Maybe weaker spell casting with much longer casting times and lower mana cost?

This brings up a really awesome question. Can linear gameplay be fun? In any story there will be plot points that play out a certain way. So for the gameplay element here we are looking at a bigger mechanic where there can be some really polar opposite feelings. Basicly Story Vs. Sandbox. I think this is one of the reasons why I love the whole RPG game world. There are so many different ways to approach it. My experience has been that highly linear games need a lot of good ideas and novelty to be interesting. Ditto for conversations. On the other hand, sandbox games can grow tiresome after a while because the challenges and opponents tend to be clones of each other. I'm sure it's hard work for the developers to find a good balance and stay within budget.

I like your idea of the perception, and perhaps the "substance", of souls varying by race. After all, in a pantheon the destination of your soul can vary depending on whom you worship. That's bound to have some impact on the cluture of a race. I could see dwarven souls being stolid and tightly linked to the clan, making family honor highly important. Elven souls may be linked to nature, so, for example, they become tortured by the destruction of their forests. A race-soul linkage could be a significant driver of cultural behaviors. It may also drive funeral practices and make protection of burial sites highly important.