IndiraLightfoot

"If you're looking for the right kind of fantasy zeitgeist and a feisty blight, hire Zeits!"

Necromancer is hands down the best choice here, folks. Nothing to see, please go home... Seriously tho, I really doubt there will be more classes announced before the end of the KS campaign. Many of the choices in the pool looks really promising. There were tinker gnomes in Dragonlance, and often races of shorter stature get handed that role (GW 2, for instance). Too predictable, I reckon, I want to see a grimy, more starking mad tinkerer, I reckon.

Cantousent, well put! Subtle humour is precisely what I was after. And sure comedy has its place too. But to me, I'm after some kind of suppressed epic fantasy, if you know what I mean? Sometimes it can be down and dirty, but more often it is a bload-soaked tapestry woven with strands and layers of history, intrigue and, best of all, NPCs that have great stories to tell (or at least they lure you into them). The fabric should be as important as the fighting and the encounters.

This would make a difference of many fans out there and send an important signal to the gaming industry as a whole, so I wholeheartedly support the ideas here.

First of all, when I say Mood I'm not talking about the clothes designer Mecca on Manhattan. No, I mean the mood of the game, of the world. And obviously that mood is not one mood necessarily, but several. However, here I'd like to discuss the general mood of it, the feel that permeates its very fabric. With writers like Chris Avellone and George Ziets onboard, I trust that it will be a wonderful mood, but still there is the small matter of what kind of mood. How often do we want comic relief? In NWN2 vanilla there was a lot of jokey bits and pieces. Less so in the great MotB. I'd prefer if the giggly stuff isn't pervading the game. Nor do I want a tonne of nods to other games (at least not in any obvious way). To me, CRPG-wise, Planescape and MotB are among the best as far as mood goes. And given that this is a source of inspiration for the team, I'm very excited and I do hope for a similar mood. However, the setting is slightly different this time: Perhaps it's some War of the Roses, or that Umberto Eco-book about the detective monk that we should picture? Even if the cultural refences won't be all that Western/European throughout, it is clearly som pre-Renaissance world in the making here? Is that good? Do you guys want feudal conflict and religious fanaticism/inquistition? As far as pen-n-paper go, I would love it if the team borrowed some of the more nice moods from Ravenloft and Call of Chtulhu, obviously first freeing itself from the neo-gothics in the first and Lovecraft's modern occultism in the second. What do you guys want to see?

The words of Bobby Null on paladin class: "Of course the balancing of classes is subject to change, but this is what Josh and I discussed last night. In a nutshell: Party Buffs/Centered AOE DPS/Self Healing/Good Martial Ability. Party buffs will be the Paladin's commands. The centered AOE DPS will most likely take the form of a soul-based, short-range (or centered) AOE, and the ability to heal himself/herself. This is above and beyond the Paladin's martial skill, which will be good, but not as good as the Fighter or the Barbarian. Of course, the player will be able to tailor their Paladin to suit their playstyle should they wish to enhance/specialize certain aspects of the class." It was just posted in another thread!

Thanks for that info, Bobby! I Will paste it over to the paladin discussion in game mechanics as well.

No, Niko. You've got the install order of NWN2 right. And the autoupdater will update itself first of all, then do your list as you wrote it. It did work for me.

Lol, DocDoom2!! Wasn't exciting to see those jumbled letters swirl around and then have the name of a demigod appear?

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This stretch goal is not a dream, not a possible goal: it is mandatory and compulsory, do you hear me!?! I'm extremely ecited about this and have even started recruiting friends of friends of friends to make money trickle into Obdidian's pledge pot. Do whatever it takes, good folks! This stretch goal must be met!

What about the counting of time in the game? Clocks are definitely a possibility given the devs fantasy time-fram, as it were. Will this be a more time-driven world, where various cultures react differently to time? In towns, time matters the most. In the castles and manors of the well to do time is also an integral part. But perhaps not so much elsewhere. And calendars: What about weekdays, months, seasons? Usually, this is a variant of our own system today (in fact, there are several at work on this planet). If time passes in towns and villages, so should surely seaons and holidays come and go. What kinds to you want to see? NWN2 started with a village harvest fair, for instance. I think it would be neat if time played more of a role in this game than other CRPGs. I'd love to see characters ageing a bit. When I pick an age I want it to matter a bit at least, although I want it to be a fantasy setting, so no uber-realism, please! Perhaps souls are more or less affected by various gods depending on season and time. Like a full moon gets lycanthropy-stricken people hairy chests and an urge to howling at the moon. It could affect the quality and even presence of spells as well. Druids would be most affected by this, as could be wizards, holy warriors, ciphers and mages.

It will be interesting to see if OE does release paladin as a stretch goal, coz then they would need to really make it a class on its own, free from the reigns of D&D and other RPGs. Perhaps a paladin has forged a bond with a certain god that guides his hand in smiting and even imbuing the paladin's soul in her/his holy weapon, and so forth. You know, a black guard would be like a knight selling her/his soul to the devil/evil god/whatnot and a palid has "sold" his soul to a good and lawful god. Something like that.

Lovely idea, Monte Carlo! And it could actually work with recruited companions as well, false info and all.

Darksun was actually quite good, so agreed. Elerond: When I saw that I shivered and wished that I was Alan Turing.

Weird, I haven't got the quote from Feargus, but he said the other day, when the 2.4 M goal was about to be reached something to the effect of "with the PayPal pledgers, that stretch goal is already reached." And Feargus is the CEO, so I say Fear-Gus! (Apologies for the bad pun, Feargus and all)

Interesting. I of course knew that a Ziets-announcement is due anytime now, being an avid fan and all, but that stronghold is news to me. Fair enough, although I think it's been done so many times now. And I hope it's entirely optional: I mean, if I make a reclusive hermit of a cipher obsessing over ancient souls the last thing I need is being in charge over a castle overhaul and a bunch of snarky artisans.

Deep, far-reaching consequences are the ticket, I reckon! This encourages trying out new parties and a new game. "Yes please" to the expansion and other sequels keeping track of choices my pc has made, the more, the merrier! What I really disliked with a game like Skyrim was that you could complete all the "class"-specific quests in one character, coz that put a big damper on the replayability of the game. I knwo there are completionist gamers out there, in many ways I'm one of them, as I frantically and nosily scour even the mots meaningless cul-de-sacs for more lore and experiences, I'm obsessive that way - the same goes for character creation, I love taking that to the extreme as well. Both these aspects are like games within the game for me. However, completionist in the sense that everything should be completible in one playthru is utterly absurd. The consequences should continously block out all sorts of exciting aspects of the game (including duengons, lots of lore, a great number of NPCs, etc). CRPGs are not sightseeings for me, it is more like being an active part in a fantastic fantasy novel.

Sorry, for my weird topic title! My point is this: -Facebook has over 13,000 likes -Kickstarter page has 55 000 backers short of a hundred Hence: Our already big mega dungeon gets deeper, danker and damn right horrifying by two levels at once tomorrow. It's like an astronomical event - summon the druids!

True, I don't know why but i couldn't get enough it. I've played quite a few pale masters, and they were certainly not the best class, but it was like an embryotic dream for something even greater. I think Obsidian has the chance of making our dream come true: A cool necromancer class that can match druids anyday (and those are already a smashing bunch, I agree).

Or vice versa, happy rabbit. I'm in awe! Your great ideas, coupled with others in this thread, are interesting and I'm sure Obsidian take some of them to heart. What constitute a class? OE said that they wanted classes back because they are more than just the sum of repetitive practice (like in Skyrim). But barbarian really needs a makeover to become a unique class in its own right. I'd say paladin would be a bit closer to a class, but still... And yes, Ciphers' psionics are something else than spells from a grimoire. And in my mind I wish there was a necromancer class (my pet peeve) that is not a subclass of wizards. I want to go all out on the pale master vibe from D&D 3 ed. I want a necromancer with one foot in the grave, a necormancer who is partly in a state of decay or even outright undead later on. Running around with a skellie just don't cut it. It shall be someone who've read the wrong books and entered a twilight zone they never can escape from. A necromancer is never cold, but soon daylight wears heavily upon his or her very constitution. Well, and so forth.

And it will, mark my words: Just go over there and click "refresh" like 2 000 times and presto! On a more serious note, maybe I was too eager here, but I am pretty certain that PayPal ain't the problem. Those guys have already paid. Pledgers tend to get cold feet now and then (this I've gathered from staring at the Kickstarter screen for three consecutive days... )

Well, it's like 20 000 $ left till 2.5 Mill on KS, and Feargus said that Paypal is over 20 000 some day ago, so in fact we get two new classes. I may very well try out a Cipher for my first go at PE.

George Costanza:The sea was angry that day, my friends - like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli. I got about fifty feet out and suddenly the great beast appeared before me. I tell you he was ten stories high if he was a foot. As if sensing my presence, he let out a great bellow. I said, "Easy, big fella!" And then, as I watched him struggling, I realized that something was obstructing its breathing. From where I was standing, I could see directly into the eye of the great fish. Jerry: Mammal. George Costanza: Whatever. Cosmo Kramer: Well, what did you do next? George Costanza: Well then, from out of nowhere, a huge tidal wave lifted me, tossed me like a cork, and I found myself right on top of him - face to face with the blowhole. I could barely see from the waves crashing down upon me but I knew something was there. So I reached my hand in, felt around, and pulled out the obstruction. [George reveals the obstruction to be a golf ball] Cosmo Kramer: What is that, a Titleist? [George nods] Cosmo Kramer: Hole in one, huh? Hey! That is the wrong George, I want George Ziets! Or at least news of his collaboration in PE!

This is an interesting issue! I opted for a combination in the first question, sorta like in NWN 2. Some of the things enemies are wearing/wielding can be looted and then there are some stuff planted loot on them as well as some that are randomly generated. The other question I really think is harder, so I'll try to explain what I want instead: -Not too much loot, it goes for all kinds of categories -But yes please, to a great variety of loot. Many CRPGs actually have failed in this department. Obsidian, go nuts here! -The idea of trinkets that vendors and others may have use for/interest in is good. One good thing about DA O was gifts for NPCs, I reckon -Add varied valuables: several kinds of coins, as well as levels of coins, gems, jewellery, barter items, valuables of all sorts -Nothing should be treated as "vendor trash" - no grey items, filters, god no! -Some loot can be unique, but seemingly banal: a broken drumstick, a rusty musical box, a flask of tears, and if you keep them they may come in handy later in some obscure way - it must not be main quest, rather weird side quests or just fun marginal twists to the story