Sabin Stargem

I am not belittling Obsidian in the slightest. Games are iterative products, and the state of POE reflects that. The expansions and sequel ought to be far superior, since the fundamental basics are now finished. By the way: The rules are different from D&D for two reasons - the first to not provoke a lawsuit from Wizards of the Coast. The second reason is that they are built for a videogame. That is very different from Pen & Paper rules, because Obsidian can put a "face" to the rules meant for players, while hiding various technical aspects that would confuse the player. This allows them to create rules far more complex than most P&P games without becoming unplayable. The notion of "just DnDish enough" is not very realistic, and actually insinuates that Obsidian lacks the skill to make their own rules.

Should have been a pet. Oh, and the option to send it to the stronghold to be raised.

Hardly. You are missing the fact that there are fundamental differences from then and today: Rules - Obsidian isn't using D&D rules, and has had to make its own ruleset. While undoubtedly superior to D&D for videogames, they still had to develop and balance them. Setting - Once again, they are not using D&D. BG1, BG2, New Vegas, and Neverwinter Nights 2 used pre-existing settings. POE doesn't, so someone had to write the details. Technology - They are using an unfamiliar engine, with vastly different capabilities from GameBryo, Infinity Engine, or Electron. Standards - Gamers have expectations regarding quest design, story, graphics, crafting, balancing, and so on that constantly pushes the envelope. Veteran developers run the risk of being obsolete if they do not understand modern games. Assets - Obsidian had to make assets from scratch. Models, maps, music, and so forth. Baldur's Gate 2 and New Vegas drew on resources from prior games. Iteration - BG1 had various things tied up together when it was done. This meant that BG2 was able to refine upon BG1 with relative ease. Ditto for New Vegas. POE should be afforded the same understanding. Funds - $4,000,000 is chump change for any major game developer. Furthermore, Obsidian did not have the ties and connections of a publisher to aid in the development of the game. While publishers can restrict and impoverish developers, they may also offer assistance in other areas: Hiring talent, business negotiations, ties to other companies, and so on. Seriously. Obsidian is a good developer, but that doesn't mean that you can place unrealistic expectations on them. That is just setting yourself up for disappointment.

BG2 had the benefit of being a sequel to a game - that meant things like setting, rules, engine, and so forth were already established. POE 1 serves as the foundation for future iterations, that are very likely to equal or surpass BG2.

I would prefer it to be two styles: "Standard" classes which have limited selections at level up, and an "Omni" class that allows for mix and match. The fixed classes exist for the purpose of allowing the typical player to have a good selection of abilities and talents that blend well together. Omni Class allows you to customize at the peril of creating an ineffective character. Obsidian can focus on only balancing the standard classes - anyone working with an Omni Class character are intending to break the game anyways.

I don't think quality plays that big a role in the success of a game: It is awareness of its existence that dictates success, with that success offset by how much effort was required to create it. That is why things like Unity, Kickstarter, and Youtube are so important - developers can build a fanbase and leave a lasting legacy. Very different from previous generations of game development. Without an audience, the only mark that any media can leave behind is a forgotten gravestone.

At some point, the quality of an item would transcend typical standards, becoming something like Mythical, Legendary, or Divine. I am guessing that Obsidian made item quality to be considered as part of an enchantment on that account.

When dealing with realism, there are four things to consider: 1 - Is it fun? 2 - Does it offer interesting options? 3 - Would it be worth the effort to implement? 4 - Are there other "realism" features that are more worthwhile? For me, it is safe to say that this doesn't bring much to the table.

Sounds like a makework feature. Do not want.

I prefer companions to not be readily evil or divisive: In the most WRPGs, I had to meta in order to avoid picking up NPCs that wouldn't fit into my group, or use mods to ensure certain characters play nice together. If anything, I would prefer it if things slowly came to a boil before a decision had to be made about my party composition, with my stats & quests allowing for the possibility of making peace between companions.

From what I recall, Unity now allows anyone to use Pro features for free until they have sold $100,000 worth of a game that was made with Unity. Modding shouldn't be an issue, assuming that Obsidian didn't secure the assets and code. Here is a copy of what was said on Unity 5 Personal: However, there may be a bugbear: Pillars of Eternity uses Unity 4.6 if I remember correctly, so later versions of Unity may have difficulty working with POE.

Obsidian should allow the player to fully upgrade the item. Rosbjerg's situation shouldn't happen.

Teleportation,pocket plane or flying castle,those sound too powerful to our character in POE1(I don't think our hero will be able achieve more than 15 level in expansions). IMO the fast travel is enough for now,maybe we can add something as pigeon mail to get more control on stronghold? I am figuring that the stronghold could have some artifact unearthed that makes it easily accessible from around the world - but it is faulty, not well understood, and has limitations so Obsidian can "break" those abilities for when a situation calls for access to be cut off. EG: A teleporter gazebo in White March is covered by an avalanche, making it inoperable.

A White March barbarianess, with her visual design based upon the Amazon from Dragon's Crown. Make the stronghold a central theme to the next campaign, by making it easy to access from new regions - be it via teleportation, pocket plane, or a flying castle. Whatever the means, make it important - preferably with lessons learned from the Suikoden series.

I don't leave stuff in BG. I find the nearest container and drop excess items in there, go to the nearest store with my current loot, then loop back to my starting point to continue the process. The stash is one of the better features of Eternity for me, because it reduces the tedium.

I would like there to be a junk section added to the stash, with the ability to designate items as junk. So all Xaurip spears go into the junk stash once one is designated as junk. (Excluding stuff the player enchants) To reverse this, find the item in the junk section and designate it as wanted, making all items of that type go into the appropriate category. Adding a "sell junk" option for shopkeepers would also be nice. In every WRPG, I have a kleptomaniac mindset - all items must be picked up, with the non-craftable or non-unique items being sold off. To say the least, I tend to amass a huge horde of items in New Vegas, Baldur's Gate, or Original Sin. Having some quality of life features to speed things along would be awesome.

I thought Dispositions were to supposed to represent your character's personality and behavior, not their reputation. Someone who is Clever & Deceitful very often should be good at fooling people who lack cleverness.

I would think the AI would already have the advantage, simply because it doesn't have to worry about anything beyond the current battle. Giving them unlimited spells is over the top, even for me.

I don't care whether or not something is cliched. It is the execution that is important. Without that, even the greatest of ideas would be a hollowborn shell.

The game does feel rather dry. Feels a lot like Baldur's Gate 1, with better technology and bantering companions. Thing is, the situations that the player goes into either doesn't have flavor, or gives the impression of being half-baked. BG2 had presence, while POE is just...there.

I would guess a blunderbuss with a superb enchantment would be quite deadly. Get Scon Mica's roar, it reduces all enemy defenses by -5 on a hit, with +20% grazes into hits.

Looks to be every 5 turns. That means that it is 5 quests to receive taxes, with no relation to actual time. I suspect that your accountant is justified in her bewilderment.

I feel that each hireling should be called a band, company, or similar title in which you receive a bunch of troops to protect the keep. About 10 per group? Basically, this allows for the simulation of small-scale warfare, since the number of allies and enemies involved in a battle could over a hundred. That would require smarter AI, but it may be possible to add quests and assignments that better reflect the ownership of a stronghold.

The only time buildings should be lost is for quest battles - the kind where giants are besieging the keep, or cannons brought to bear. I can understand looting, but complete destruction?

I think timed quests have to be located in "bottleneck" areas, where you are explicitly told beforehand that you won't be able to do other quests if you enter the new area. Timed quests are inherently a form of railroad, so they must be carefully designed and presented to the player.