[A price to being good?]

As a general trend I'd like to see evil characters benefit more in the short term but have the situation screwed when time has elapsed (you tell a goblin horde the location of a group of tree elves, they kill the elves and you get some of the spoils - later you find out you could have enlisted the help of those elves in a political coup if you'd got them on side) and vice versa for good characters (you help the tree elves out, who have nothing to offer you for now, but later then lend you aid). Also I'd like to see situations where taking the evil path increases the player's rep with a town through trickery (an example I've given before - a town wants rid of a monster that's eating it's townsfolk, you bargain with the monster to spread it's killing out across more towns and you make it look like you have slain the beast, the townsfolk reward you for your deception) than the good path (the only way to permanently get rid of the monster is through human sacrafice, you do this and permenantly solve the problem yet the townsfolk hate you). Some quests that fall into these two camps would be nice, but not every quest needs to try something clever so you could have a few where you perform a simple act of good and get rewarded for it or vice versa.

[Walking background characters]

I'd want it, and also other random occurances (muggings, crazy preacher drawing a crowd, someone dropping a bundle of stuff they were going to deliver to a merchant, etc.). Both would really help bring the game alive. Even Arcanum had guards patrolling and bystanders walking around, and that game's over 10 years old now.

[Arachnophobia, "no spiders", what should be important in P:E?]

I think games should be scary, even fantasy games, which is why the inclusion of spiders is important as it does get under people's skin. If you feel uncomfortable then it'll underscore the peril your characters are in. Plus the fact spiders are present in fantasy literature, not including them is a bit odd.

[Post release bugs?]

They've said in an update or interview somewhere they'll do patches if they're needed, I can't for the life of me remember where now though. In any case, there's no need to worry.

[Werewolves? What about vampires?]

They should only be in the game if they mesh well with the setting. Saying that medieval times were where these myths originated from, so I suppose they are quite apt. If they were in the setting inspiration should be taken from original medieval sources as opposed to the modern slant on things.

[New Game +]

I wouldn't want to see it as it makes no in-game sense as to why it should happen, I never liked that HoF in IWD2 encouraged you to start with your old team. I'd much rather have a HoF mode that worked well with level 1 players. Plus the fact it gives players an avenue to grind indefinitely by starting as many new + games as they want with the same character, and it implies that getting to a decent or maximum level isn't possible in the basic game which in my opinion it should be.

[Stronghold Prison]

Sounds like fun, I'd like to see a prison. It'd be cool to interrogate info out of your prisoners

[HoF Mode and Non-Combat Solutions]

Precisely, if it's a flat failure rate the only thing they would change is combat difficulty. Still it might be nice if they could use some out of the box thinking to change persuasion or sneak attempts - the only thing I can think of is subtley changing the layout of a dungeon or the array of enemies in it to affect sneaking, and having to make multiple hidden checks on dialogue to persuade someone where on normal mode you'd only have to make one (this would only work on non-voiced NPCs though if the devs had to slightly alter the dialogue, and would be a big development time sink compared to the simple changes you could make for sneaking so I don't know). Are these good ideas, or very bad?

[In favor of Repeatable Quests?]

I don't want repeatable quests in the game. If you do the same thing over and over again it just becomes meaningless filler, especially when you've attempted the quest before and now know exactly how to approach it again for an easy victory.

[Level cap or no level cap?]

I didn't vote as I'd want a fixed amount of experience in the game, so though there is a level cap it would be because you have all the experience available in the game as opposed to you reach a max level and then stop levelling up regardless of what experience you gain. I think that way is better as it's nice to feel like your constantly advancing.

[Are you for or against gaining experience points only for completing objectives?]

I'm for it - it worked great in V:tM~B. It also gives the devs a tight control on what sort of power level the PC and his companions will be at certain points in the game (and as such they can slightly focus where they want you to go if they don't use scalable monsters - not in a restrictive way but maybe more in a way to stop you advancing the main story too rapidly, as per FO:NV). On top of this it can be used to make players return to locations (a quest is too difficult, or the quest giver will only hire you when you're more advanced) which helps prevent the whole "I've cleared this area of quests, now onto the next" style of playing which isn't very organic.

[Gods Wishlist]

Hippopotomonstrosesquipedalius, the confused god of everything that's long!

I guess I've found my patron diety then.

 

Seriously, I'd like to see a weak marginalised god who pertitions the players for help to rise back to their former glory - might be fun. They would be the god of, well, something that used to be relevant but isn't so relevant anymore.

[No fetch quests]

I think fetch quests are fine, but to keep the player on their toes they should also through in quests that initially appear to be fetch quests but in actuality are not. For example, have a guy say he wants something fetched from a secluded area but when you get there him and all his buddies ambush you - that sort of thing.

[HoF Mode and Non-Combat Solutions]

How do you think a Heart of Fury mode will work with non-combat solutions to quests? Or do you think that as HoF mode was only ever exclusively a combat related thing it will remain as such? I'm intrigued to know what people think on this, I'm also genuinely curious to hear how people think a HoF mode figure into non-combat quest routes (if it will do at all) because I can't think of any ideas of how the devs could implement it as such myself. For those of you who have no idea what Heart of Fury mode is this link (http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/552350-icewind-dale-ii/faqs/55200) might help, look under the heading "What Happens in Heart of Fury?" for more details about how it works in IDW2.

[Thoughts on Firearms]

Reading the latest interview on sorcerer's place (lookee here: http://www.sorcerers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=58248) I'm surprised guns are a common weapon of Priests. Well, surprised and excited - I keep thinking they'll be sporting weapons reminiscent of those used in Constantine. But as to their inclusion in general, yeah I am and always was all for it. Just play Medieval II: Total War - all factions bust out gunpowder late game.

[Oversexualization of females in video games]

Chainmail bikinis - pretty hot though right?

[Should a Game restrict Us from Abusing it, or should We restrict Ourselves from Abusing it?]

A game should restrict people from abusing it. It seems like the devs aren't going to have rest abuse as a thing anyway, so I wouldn't worry given the health/stamina mechanic. For pickpocket abuse, just have a legal system where you can pay for your crimes like Skyrim, but also with a reputation penalty. This does not outright stop abuse, but it's better than having a whole town turn hostile for stealing an egg which would sometimes warrant a reload. If there was a reputation penalty it should not stop you from getting in with the criminal elements of a city (maybe they have their own district with it's own reputation system), or maybe you only get approached by criminal elements when you've been caught for a crime (I always thought it was a bit stupid how casually thieves reveal themselves in rpg games "Oh well regardless of whether you're a law enforcement officer, seeing as you made that persuasion attempt I'm going to not only tell you I'm a thief but also where all my thieving buddies hang out").

 

In a broader sense, don't have any class/race/background combination too overpowered (maybe have say one race as the strongest - an obvious choice for a fighter - but another with an racial ability that a character could make use of; picking a "best" combination of race and background for a class should never be a clear cut thing). But more to the point, have all class/race/background combinations as viable on PE's version of HoF mode - I think PE's HoF mode should bring more to the table in terms of difficulty then the enemies being incredibly strong (or if not, then all classes should be able to be able to deal with these challenges in one shape or another).

[Favorite Game and Which game do you hope Project Eternity is most like?]

Favourite game? V:tM~B and Arcanum. I'd also like PE to be like both of them, not in terms of mechanics but more in terms of fine storytelling.

[Project: Name of the Game?]

How about soulcalibur? I'm sure that name's unique and has never been used before.

[What could have been done better.]

I think they did well, and I highly doubt they could have raised more than what they did. If they gave contradictory information it's because this is a new IP so it's hard to give definite answers when it's so early in development. If the crowdfund a sequel I'd imagine they will raise more money (because the release of the first game will create a fanbase) and they'd be able to give more finite answers from the off as the lore will be established, but I don't think they could have done any better with PE.

[Aumaua Race - Expectations and speculations]

I've got a feeling they'll be gentle giant types, strong but not overly aggressive. I imagine when it's been said they're a coastal race that means fishermen rather than pirates, as we know the seas are dangerous so I can't see piracy being too prevalent. I guess only time will tell.

[8 companions: is it enough?]

I don't want everyone on my party to have a unique story, it will just make the interesting stories they have to tell feel more contrived. Plus the fact if I'm roleplaying a character, I'm sure they'll clash with some of the goals of the different companions. I think I'll probably play with 4 characters (my PC, 2 companions, 1 merc) each time I play through as it's nice to have a challenge, and I find that slightly fewer characters make strategic situations more manageable anyway.

[good and bad from Arcanum]

I always thought the combat was fine - obviously it's not a strategic marvel but I had no real problems with it either. My only real thing which I wouldn't want to see translated into Project Eternity (which almost certainly won't be as location design seems to be based on the purty IWD series from the screenshot) is how samey some of the locations looked.

 

All the pros that were listed are all examples of what make Arcanum a great game, but narrowing the focus down I went for "Awesome backgrounds that really customized your character". Having almost unlimited options and customisation really helps make a game that much more replayable - I've probably started Arcanum over 80 times with different characters (well, probably - who keeps track?) and completed it just shy of 20 for this very reason.

[Magic rings - being allowed to wear more than one]

I want 10 rings, 4 amulets and at least 3 toe rings. Bling bling.

[Quality or quantity?]

If I had to pick I'd want quality. If a game's short but it is good quality then I'll replay it many times to re-live the evocative and interesting elements of the story, and I'll often lose interest in lots of quantity without substance. Still, like all people, I'd rather have both.