Melhelix

Just genned my GOG key and redeemed it. And now for the waiting. Eight and a half hours to go!

Haven't checked in in a long time... so welcome to all the new faces! Glad to see all y'all here. :D

I liked being able to haggle the starting contracts of companions in NWN's OC. Especially because at the very start of the game gold is so dear, so smart hiring decisions were a must (who to hire, can I haggle them down to a lower price in order to also afford potions, etc.) I actually would have preferred if that was carried out throughout the campaign with companions costing increasing amounts as their skills increased, with discounts if you had traveled together previously (maybe also price hikes if they kept getting killed and resurrected) instead of the "nope, we've all been paid by someone else to obey you, no worries" that ended up occurring. So, yes, love your idea, especially with all the extra depth in it. Anything to make companions have a sense of identity and worth.

Regardless, it looks awesome. I for one am curious to see if soul-harvesting will be a viable nefarious npc route. Mad scientists are always snazzy no matter the setting. I am also really impressed with the thought and detail in that image, the transition between cobblestones seems to imply this may be a newer addition to the crypt, or simply a far better maintained section. The color scheme of the walls echoing the floor tiles is another nice, subtle touch that just ties everything together and lends the setting a stronger "feel". Also, are those levers sprinkled around the room? Do we get to try and alter the ominous device with a lever puzzle?! Ooooo. The possibilities! Think of the explosion if you get it wrong! Muahahah.

^That parchment log is really spiffy.

One of the things I use MOST in rpgs is the dialog window. I am constantly pausing a game and scrolling back through reviewing the responses, discussions, reputation changes, etc. A journal is all well and good for a quick synopsis but nothing beats a dialog window with a full recording of what actually was said. Especially a re-scalable one so I can fully enlarge it, dominating the entire screen, read through everything, and then shrink it back down as opposed to wearing out my poor mouse's scroll wheel. Please, please don't lock the dialog window into a specific confined size. It's not just a combat log! (Although, combat logs are also really, really important.)

Six People Walk into a Bar: The RPG

Personally, I like food and drink in games, I think both Eschalon Book II and Oregon Trail II did a nice job of it. Eschalon as a rather standard "you must manually eat and drink as an individual" and Oregon Trail for an interesting "you must supply food for a group and here's an optional fun way of procuring it (hunting, random events, fishing, etc) but the consumption is automatic." I could definitely see needing to consume food and drink implemented in a similar fashion to the different sub-categories of the Modes, something a player can toggle on or off depending on personal preference.

What I'm hoping for are player-made choices that have consequences, both immediate and delayed, both superficial and plot-line shaking. Things that combine to create a dynamic epilogue full of a plethora of options. I don't mind if a game says go to Zone A (lvls 1-3) then Zone B (lvls 4-5) etc, I don't even mind if it is solve quest chain 1, 2, 3 in that order by talking to people X, Y, Z. I also don't mind if a game is far more open world and is all like, go wherever you want, if you are constantly dying try somewhere else! But what I really, really adore and what always stands out to me in games are the actual player choices with ramifications. From the way a conversation is handled, to how a quest is solved, or if a quest is abandoned, or if you killed someone, or even if you sold someone something. Even little tiny things like, "Aha! The town NPCs notice and react when I'm not wearing clothing! Or if I'm armed! Or if I just broke into their house!" Even if the choice is in the character generation and the NPCs take notice of your stats/religion/race/class/traits etc. Delayed consequences can also be really enriching to a story and add to the replay-ability. The moments where I go, "oh no! If only I had known Y was going to happen! Wow, X really mattered (and it was 3 hours ago)! I want to play this again and see what happens the other way." The epitome of this is of course multiple endings that describe your character's impact on the world around you. Essentially anything the dev-team can add to make it seem like the player's choices actually mattered is beyond amazing in my book.

Coyote Stories, collection of Native American mythology/folktales dealing with Coyote. The grouping is mainly Washington/Idaho/Oregon, so it's hilarious (to me) every time Gartersnake and Seagull show up.

Man you guys all rock. I missed so much of this and the DnD game. Thanks for posting!

Maybe the soul then belongs to the demon in all future iterations. The demon can call in the debt at any life-time in the future; which would really suck if the person was not aware of their past lives and was all, wait I did WHAT?!

Huh. This all seems very different from the start of part one of this thread. Back then the focus was primarily on well written, personable relationships, and now it seems to have distilled and fermented into yes/no, good/evil absolutes. I find that interesting.

Welcome to all the new folk! By the way, I thought this was snazzy:

Do you mean Kickstarter campaigns in general? Because Pebble, a watch, made $10,266,845 back in May. As for proving themselves I will say FTL has been an absolute joy to play. I see a bright future ahead for Kickstarter.