Loki Ador

Remember BG : a room at the inn was priced at around 1-10 GP. Not to mention the plate armour at 10 000 GP. Carrying 10 000 GP is just not realistic if we give gold the value it would have in the Middle Ages. All the more so as wealth was measured by land ownership rather than gold filled chests. So, if GP have the value they should have, then their weigh is not that important any more.

The idea that gold should have weight arose because some players felt it was wrong their character would carry millions Gold Coins without feeling any encumbrance. But, as many posters have mentionned it, the very idean of traveling with thousands of GP (regardless of their weight) is ludicrous : Gold was an extremely rare comodity in medieval europe (the setting that is supposed to inspire PE)? In this regard, a single coin was very valuable. A game that was quite realistic in this regard was Dragon Age : 20 gold coins was a very substantial amount, and the best items in the game would not cost more than 30 gold coins (which was a very big amount). Considering that a gold coin would weigh from 5 to 10 grams (A "Louis d'Or", the standard gold coin issued in France in the 17th century was supposed to be 6,75 grams), that mean that carrying a fortune of 100 gold coins would be less than 1 kilogram... Therefore, my question is : do we need the bother of extra inventory management features just to account for 1 kilogram in your equipment ?

First and foremost : Planescape Torment. Probably the most daring, thought provoking RPG ever made. The most compelling storytelling, the most intricate characterization ever implemented in a RPG. Then : Fallout 2 Finally : Arcanum These are the three games that brought me to PE

Finally someone who has some understanding of the way business and companies work.

Having been myself a gamer for a long time, I would be curious to know on what you base this claim. Indeed, the existence of difficulty settings for video games has been a recuring feature for quite a long time. As for difficulty settings making the games worse, well, they were present in Fallout 1, 2 and Baldur's Gate

You realize some people have other things to do in their life than reloading and trying to get better at a game ? If some people feel like doing so, good for them if it is their enjoyment. Other don't. Yet they will accept funding the game, or buying it, thus contributing to its success, provided they are offered an option that allows them to play it the way they want.

I do not like the idea of permanent death triggered by combat. It makes such an important event far too random, especially considering that there will not be so many recruitable companions in PE. Indeed, BG1 had very numerous companions available, it was henceforth easy to replace a fallen one. In such regard, a PC being randomly vaporized during a fight could make sense as the loss might be compensated by recruiting another one. However, with so few companions (7 if all stretch goals are achieved, as far as I remember, for a 6 companions party), permanently losing a companion would be frustrating. Companions in Planescape Torment could not be permanently killed in combat for this very reason. Now I understand that some people would actually like that. In this regard, I think it may not be to hard to implement as an option: just a switch the player can toggle to enbale/disable permanent death in combat. In general, the game should be highly customizable in terms of difficulty adjustment.

So basically, since they do not speak english, screw them, their loss ? Well, also Obsidian's loss for losing potential customers. The franchise's loss for losing the possibility to expand its fanbase beyond fluent english speakers. And our loss, as it would downsize the PE community on the internet, hamper the isuance of sequels, and fail to demonstrate other developpers that breaking the mould of big publishers can be worthwile. Well, at some points, if it is your stand, so be it. I happen to be relieved that Obsidian Management has a broader point of view.

It might not be true in Denmark, but in other countries many people don't speak English sufficiently well to play a game in it. And why do you think we danes can understand sufficient english to not needing translations of everything ? because were exposed to english every day, on TV, on the internet, in games, in books, in comics, etc. You will only become better at something if you expose yourself to it. Point taken, people will make sure to tell that to their governments. Now, let us move from national education policy issues, and focus on the game, as people will not play it to learn another language (if it was the case, most of the people on this forum would not play it as they actually already speak english well enough). As PE is meant to be text intensive game, it would rebuke people whose mastery of english is not sufficient, thus reducing the customer base and the impact of the game.

Calm down, pal. Such statements and ways of categorizing people in a not-very-respectful manner will not make for a serene discussion.

Unless the reward is meant to offset the greater difficulty. I see it as a bonus for playing on a higher setting. But then, why should the game reward players with an inner mechanism that was meant to make the character stronger, and thus the game easier ? Some players feel the need to be rewarded for playing in hardcore mod (although I cannot really understand why, but, well...), but providing more XP is not the right way to do so. Maybe some dedicated achievements ? Or something like an in-game item that would have no specific power but would only be attributed to players that complete the game in higher difficulty modes ? Such as the ring of a king, that would have no magical power but would be cool anyway ?

This piece of poetry should become the moto for every backer !

The 2.2M target is about adding a full region, whole faction, along with quests and game content. It is BY FAR the biggest stretch goal set so far. Localization are just a side effect.

28 Favorite RPGs : Fallout 2, Planescape Torment and Final Fantasy VII First cRPG: Zelda on Game Boy (quite a long time ago !)

Having people, newspapers, or books talking about your party's achievements contribute, in my opinion, in making the world more lively (as it reacts to actions made by the player) and making quest accomplishment more rewarding.

What I'm saying is that, right now, Obisidian needs to maximize the pledges for their kickstarter. You do that best by announcing interesting stretch goals to potential backers...so basically anything that extends the game many are already interested in. Linux/ Mac / additional language support isn't something you catch new pledges with. That stuff is only later interesting for potential buyers. Do they ? Increasing Kickstarter funding is a good thing, but at some point, we have to consider that: 1/ the game is already funded 2/ With already almost 47 000 backers the funding potential from Kickstarter is eroding. Take a look at similar projects : Wastelands 2 gathered 61 290 backers (and USD 2,9M), Shadowrun Returns 36 276 backers (and USD 1,8M). Tim Schaffer gathered 87K backers indeed, but there are still 20 days to go, and the kind of project he made might be more "mainstream" than the classical cRPG PE aims at being. So, now, the next growth relay for Obsidian would rather be final sales. Translations are expected to contribute to them. And, again, we have to stop focusing on the translation bit of the stretch goal : the 2.2M target is mainly about adding a new region.

Most forum users and kickstarter backers are indeed english users, indeed. That precisely the aim of localization : to help the customer stretching beyond the initial backers / forum users. The translation is not about having backers to play the game : the very fact that they pledged already means they will. PE, if it is to become a succesfull franchise, should aim beyond the 46K backers / customers. Hence the localization.

...uhh...of course it's selfish. After all Obsidian won't pay me out a share of the profit from the finished product, so why should I care for any stretch goal that solely is good for maximizing their bottom line ? I want Obsidian to make a (hefty) profit, of course -but that doesn't translate to the kickstarter -like at all. Well PE being profitable would result in Obsidian having a new franchise they can leverage on to develop new games that we will be happy to buy and play. All the better for everybody !

Agreed. You should not need to fumble the inner workings of the game to get the language you want. Language selection should be straightforwardly offered at game setup.

Anything, really. As it stands, additional languages are pretty much a non-rewarding stretch goal. Yeah, as if the Linux version (which the translations replaced) generated the crowd's enthusiasm... Why are people so focused on this localization thing (which is nothing more than a sound business decision), while the core of the 2.2M stretch goal is about expanding the world and adding a WHOLE NEW REGION ? The 2.2M goal is the best stretch goal issued so far in terms of addition to the story. the translations are just a side effect.

Let me disagree here. It's inferior to NWN2's castle in every way. Reinforcing wall is not a 'decision', it's grind-gold-and-get-your-damn-wall thing. Choosing what to patrol actually changes nothing. And it requires zero brain activity. Calm down , I was not saying that it was below/above/sideways from NWN2, as I have not played such a game. My point is that I am not in favor of having integrated castle management features (which do not make sense for wandering adventurers, as managing a castle requires continuous presence). I would prefer limitating the choices to some general orientations (grand projects, responding to some events), which gives the feeling that my character is the one in charge, that he owns the place (although he does not administer it, to busy he is with exploring the world and adventuring), and that the castle as a life of its own, instead of being another building thrown on the map to simply act as "player housing". And the degree of interractions DA:Awakening offered was, IMO, very adequate (without regard to the quality of the whole game). Maybe the choices could be more intricate or morally tearing. But they should remain out of the "castle management minigame" side. BTW, deciding on your troops location in DA:Awakening had some impacts on the ending slideshow, as far as I remember.

I am all in favour of a tutorial that is integrated to the story but skippable. Like, as some other mentionned above, KOTOR 2, or VTM

I am all in favor of having an upgradable home / castle / whatever it is. However, I am against the very idea of actually managing it in term of: -Managing troops, setting traps and defending against attacks -Managing the castle economics, even at basic level, like ensurring the food supply PE is to be a roleplaying game, not a castle management one. Let us not mix both. A game that succesfully managed to implement some sort of castle management was Dragon Age Awakening: you would take some key decision (reinforcing the wall, setting the garison in the castle of making it patrol the land), react to some scripted events (like arbitrating disputes between vassals, reacting to a peasant uprise), but nothing that would come close to an actual simulation game.

Guys Don't feed the trolls (Vattghern & evdk) Threads related to localizations have a sad tendency to get out of control because of such people. Let them spite on Obsidian's decision to make localization a (likely) threshold, the quality of the discussion will only improve.

Is that why we keep having romance threads? What can I say, European are keener on love and human relations than big guns and other attempts at proving one's manliness By the way, to OP : "Australia" is not a continent, "Oceania" is. People from New Zealand, Fiji, New-Guinea, Polynesia and others will have a hard time answering the poll !