TCJ

I've no idea about class, but I can guarantee I'll play human. Actually, if all these RPG games had nothing but humans (as a playable race) I'd be happy because the other races have never interested me. Elves least of all.

I think men are discriminated against! If a woman isn't in a high position, everyone cries foul, but if a man isn't in a high position nobody cares! Either that or they just don't speak up for fear of the rolling pins.

I've had more fun with the BG series than any other game, perhaps save one. Can't say anything about PS:T because I haven't tried it, but I have a feeling that I wouldn't enjoy it as much. EDIT: Originally I was wondering if someone wanted to try transferring the BG games to the Unity engine or something.

I'm not the one who designed that in the first place, but Obsidian. I'm also not the one who backed off from that creative vision at the first intersection, because of a VERY loud minority. And finally I didn't make a thread trying to discuss the *very important* issue of feminism being present/included in the game, which apparently seems to be one of the top issues along with romances instead of actually talking about game issues or design, look up in the topic title it's right there before you "lol" about it again. If that's really the original concept art, then, no offense to the artist, but it looks absolutely awful. No visual appeal there at all. Actually, when I saw that, I thought it was some fan's cheap attempt to photoshop the artwork to make it look... "fantasy".

I don't like excessive violence. What BG1/2 had (minus the chunking) was fine for showing what needed to be shown -- that someone got hit. I could even be okay with the lower settings on Fallout (small pool of blood when dead), although I think they could have decreased the amount a little bit. If extra-gory options are included, they should certainly include a slider bar for. I play an RPG because I enjoy the character development, trying the various choices. Gore does absolutely nothing to enhance the gaming experience for me and it's certainly not why I would support a game.

If they keep them within the bounds of those in BG2, fine. Anything further (like seems to be so popular these days) and it's too far and is just a useless distraction for a, eh, certain types of people. If there's a danger of going there, then I think it'd be best if Obsidian dropped the whole idea of romances like a flaming, burning, smoking, boiling, hot potato. People have just about every movie that ever comes out these days to get their taste of all that, so, please, keep it out of a game!

I think someone posted somewhere that a companion can take three months to write? I can't provide a link because I don't remember where I saw it. But if that's true, eight companions will eat up two years... or one year each if they have two writers. That doesn't leave them a lot of time for other stuff. However, assuming that three months thing is accurate, does it really mean that they are focusing on nothing but that one character for that time period, or they might switch between projects somewhat? If it were me, I'd do the latter to help maintain interest, but then again, I'm just a hobbyist, so maybe that's not the best method.

If done right, closing the door behind the party in some manner after they enter can be a lot of fun. Anyone can get through something easily if they can keep going back for equipment, health, and the like, but how about trying to get through it just on what you have and what you find inside until you find an exit? The exit doesn't necessarily have to be at the very bottom of the fifteen levels, but it would be nice if you couldn't just run back every time. Perhaps have it so this happen when you're on a higher difficulty?

In BG1, the more companions the better because none of them really spoke much or had anything more than an exterior. They were there to provide options for different classes and abilities. Adding more of them really didn't take much effort (in my opinion), so why not go for it? In BG2, with the focus being on trying to actually develop the NPCs more, having less characters worked, although many times I felt that 15 of them were still not enough at all. I think the reason for that is because some of them I disliked so much, I never really considered them for use in my party anyway, and that cut the number down quite a bit. For the longest time, I did wish for a lot more though... but that was before I actually tried modding the game and making my own. Now that I know just how much work adding a fleshed-out personality to the game is, I'm more appreciative of the few that were in there. In short, eight should be enough. Would I like to have more? Sure! But I think that would be an unrealistic expectation for the initial game. I do think that the expansion likely will add another companion or two and that, if PE2 is ever done, that one might have some additional ones and bring back a lot of the old ones (less work for those since the personality is already done, at least).

I'm not surprised that BG1 and BG2 are at the top of the list. I voted for those as well, in both my favorite game and as the one I'd like P:E to be most like.

I would like failure to take the character in a different direction rather than just stopping the quest dead in its tracks. It's like taking the wrong turn on a trip... that doesn't stop the trip, but it sure makes it more difficult.

Whereas NWN2 forced you to have a character who looks fit AND is ugly no matter what!

Sure, why not. I was bored of drow after the short episode in the UD in BG2. One or two around? Fine. A whole society of them? They'd have died off long ago.

I could see XP being rewarded for going through conversations if you are using particular skills (successfully) for that conversation. It would be an incentive to make a well-rounded character. Other than that, I see no point in giving XP for talking unless it's quest-based or a random thing like Noober.

You mean drow?

I didn't read the whole thread, but this pretty much says what I was thinking. They both look very average. Nothing about them that stands out one way or the other, and I'm perfectly happy with that.

I'm assuming that this is what Obsidian means when they say they're making a mature game - that they're spanning the spectrum of moral choices that the protagonist has. Hopefully it's that and not a bunch of vulgarities, needless gore, and sex scenes. If they made it "mature" with the latter, then I would be very, very disappointed in Obsidian.

I wonder if Obsidian would be willing to give some tips to a few key modders so that some tools could be ready by or shortly after release point? That is if they aren't going to work on any tools on their own.

Thanks for the title.

Trial of Iron on the first playthrough? Are you kidding? I have a hard enough time surviving my umpteenth playthrough of BG2 on core rules. I always forget what I have to do to win certain battles until I go trial and error again. So Trial of Iron? No. Trial and Error? YES!

Yeah. Eight dollars was just the starting amount, but I'm sure a lot of people probably added on to that additional eight. I know I did.

Five pages isn't bad for something a random person decided to start up a month ago.

I think that in other games, healing magic is not only a convenient way to keep your party going, add a certain aspect of strategy, and save trips to the temple or save time by not resting, but it's also a way for the game to explain away the fact that you can't just naturally heal a gaping gash from a sword in a matter of a few minutes and continue marching miles and miles. However, in P:E, it's stated it doesn't exist (and I'm fine with that) and that healing is done much the same as we do it in real life: doctors, medicines, and time. The problem is that if a person takes a gash from a sword, in game the player wouldn't be expected to stop and rest for three weeks for everything to heal nicely, but they'll likely be running about taking on new quests. How is that part explained in view of the lore? Are wounds to health considered to be somewhat superficial until the entire health bar runs down, thus saying that they've only gotten scars and bruises? Do stats get lowered as health goes down to simulate that this person is NOT healing immediately and that they are currently affected by crippling wounds? Or is there some other way? Right now I just see a hole in the lore vs. mechanics. I suppose we could just say, "It's a game, so don't over-think it." But if there's a reasonable explanation for this that hasn't been posted by the developers yet (or that I haven't seen), I would like to know about it.

I noticed that too.

And if they don't hit 4 million, what are they doing with the money, going to Vegas? Heh. I think they'll probably just enhance minus the live instrumentation or the commentary or something like that.