IndiraLightfoot

Let me pretend I am Obsidian's emissary: "Your welcome, good sir!"

For this kind of game and this kind of game world it can never be too early to speak of an expansion. Why? Because it is in fact a world we're speaking about. It's like wondering if JRR Tolkien really should have mentioned to his son that the story actually continues after the mines of Moria. Of course, it did, it was already woven into the saga fabric from the beginning. I have the feeling that the guys at Obsidian didn't just hatch this world a fortnight ago. They've been letting it stew for years, throughout their entire gaming lives. Tolkien too took his time first, like decades.

This is where I fit in. And I have played lots of CRPG, but they have almost always been Tolkienesque/D&D in character, so Wasteland 2 and Kickstarter are just happy news to me. Also, I have no use for all those material things, I've become almost entirely digitalized. I soon consist solely of zeros and ones, I mean it. So, for me I did switch to this pledge tier: Backing Obsidian and getting PE, PE xp, Chris' novella and Wasteland 2 is more than enough for me.

To me Obsidian's news of an expansion in the works says one thing: Devotion. And we need to have a little faith in them.

To each their own, I guess, but my thief barraged enemies with arrows and other missiles while Grease slowed them down. Clearly, an underestimated spell.

Remmirath says more or less what I feel about the subject. Add to that Umberlin's very important suggestion that lower level characters should be intricate, varied and complex as well. I prefer them weak in many aspects, but that holds true for higher levels as well. I hate it when the party seems to mow thru most encounters. Irvin Borsk's party in MotB, that's the kind of encounters I expect!

I love dog companions, but I didn't like those wardog mutts in DA O. Here's the coat of arms for dog handlers within the Obsidian Order of Eternity:

You guys clearly have a better understanding of all the pledge tiers and such. However, I'm curious: Are there guys that actually put those 500 dollars or 1000 dollars just to be a name on an end-game credit scroll? I just doubt that's the case. I mean there seems to be great stuff in those pledge packages: Collector's editio, art books, novellas, signed copies, art books, you name it. This got me thinking: What if there are guys who don't care about those things, perhaps they don't even can afford a full digital PE right now, but they are loyal fans to Obsidian and want nothing more than seom in-game nod? Then OE could create some add-on for that group. Say, for 8, 15, 20 dollars, you get to appear on some stone, on some tree (like a lovers' carving), in some book, on some scroll, the sky is the limit, really. For a bit of imagination and some typing OE can harvest loads of vanity dough that way. As long as it brings in more money for Obsidian's project, I'm all for it!

I didn't even think about that! I just thought up a way that doesn't take any real effort and that could drum up some money and which would appeal to customers as well, like a ledger in game or something. So that is a reward among other goodies along with a collector's edition? Hmm, I'd say OE can pull in much more money this way by opening the floodgates just a little more.

She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes, She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes, She'll be coming 'round the mountain, she'll be coming 'round the mountain, She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes, She'll be ridin' six white horses when she comes, Oh we'll all come out to meet her when she comes, She'll be wearing pink pyjamas when she comes, We will kill the old red rooster when she comes, We'll all be shoutin' "Necromancer" when she comes, She'll be comin' down a road that's five miles long.

Welcome all new members! And I shamelessly plug here for my recent thread about a new pledge tier for our great order. Also, there will be pets for some of us, at least for those of us with heavy purses. Here's my take on that (coz I love dogs): Or it should have been... LOL! I haven't a clue on how to upload an image on this forum. How do I do it? Help!

In my book, it's been part of eastern Scandinavia for almost a millennium, but there are lots of misinformed people out there who think otherwise.

I tend to agree with this sentiment, but not entirely with its logic. Here's my take: Kill it with fire. Put a sharpened cross through its heart and bury it at a crossroads. Then pour in a crucible of molten lava (Whence it came, I haven't the slightest). Finally, place a monolith on top, an obelisk with glyphs of warding would be even better.

Agreed, this is a non-issue.

Okay, I just had a wild idea: What if you could toggle some kind of good/lawful mode for your character's combat so that if the PC vanquishes a monster or an enemy of whatever kind it can be "incapacitated" instead of "killed". No need for fancy new models for incapacitated vs dead I reckon, just a mouse over and you'll see the message. You can still mug them/loot them. This function could also be turned on and off for different encounters and different environments (like a town). And through some variable/flag incapacitated enemies can later come back for revenge ("See what you did to my malar bone! Now I'm gonna crush your face, maggot!") or unexpected thank yous ("Now I am a reborn troll! I just kill elk and deer. No humanoids at all, unless wendersnavens count as humanoid as well."

Kiitos, Jarmo, for pointing that out! My bad, what I meant was that multi-component vector models that can be zoomed in 3D areas are a hazzle in that regard, whereas smaller models give the devs much more freedom and flexibility in the weight department for animations and weapon models and such.

Shades & Adhin, well put! And as for obese characters, it would be quite nice to have this choice in this isometric game, since with 3D models that aspect is rather difficult concerning standardizing the rest: animations, weapon models, etc. Here's your chance Obsidian, take it! Imagine a mighty monk with some weightyness!

Good point, HarHar! That reduces the feel of running between question marks and exclamation marks on some FedEx-quest galore or something. And this reminds me of something that must be regarded as breaking the mould since many years back: What if PE had plenty of layers of interaction for the players? I'd love to have new content opening up by me being nosy and curious. If you ask questions to a mere "commoner", or if you read too much in some "lore books", there comes interesting and varied rewards for that: new quests, new leads, more RP, and not just some item or some gold or xp. I'd hate for PE to have read lore book, get achievement thing, like in DA O or Diablo III. That makes me shiver! Preferably, nothing is called "commoner" or "lore book", it should be named and more intricate than that, criss-crossed with seemingly incoherent layers of culture inherent to the game and that can be played by me as a player. If you rush through and left click like a maniac, you should get stuck. This game should be more meaty and mature than that.

I see where you're coming from, but I'd like to have that Adventurer Hall for my 3rd playthru or so. First, I will merrily take on board the companions of my choice and interact with them through the story choices I make.

What a great thread and so many wonderful ideas! Thanks for your contributions, folks! I've some ideas that I haven't really processed: When characters level up (including OE's companions), some of the choices that are made could affect many questlines and dialogues and such. Normally, the dialogues check for class, race and ability, sometimes your choice of god and a few other things. But what if one's choices of skills and feats actually weren't just meaningful for game mechanics. Say, for instance, instead of just giving elves some dark vision and humans none, you can invest in that skill and the computer adjust not only change some gamma setting on screen, but it also affects all actions you make in combat, as well as it being even noticed at times. It may sound silly, but in a gloomy bar somebody recognize that you... "Wow! Reflecting eyes like a cat, have you?", "Ya actually can read that menu list? Impressive!" In this case, sight and dark vision, IR-vision, night vision, whatever, could matter. It would enhance the RPG feel overall. Oh, this reminds me, perhaps torches should make a comeback and play a significant role again for parties without carious light magic and such? Also, characters always develop and become better all the time. And any damage, and likewise for disease or poison, it can be removed with spells and healing. But what it couldn't all the time? I'm not suggesting players loose their hand or so, but perhaps they get a permanent injury that hampers them a bit in combat. Also, perhaps they get older and their eye sight gets worse. And wizards not only could acquire spells for their grimoires, they could in certain circumstances lose them as well. The page got destroyed in the grimoire, no matter its magical ward. The druid's animal companion can no longer be revived, it has to be buried under rare circumstances. Perhaps it's time for certain critical checks outside of critical hits in combat per se - sorta critical fumble for bodies, spell books, pets, familiars, items and such. Obviously, this would be frustrating for many players, so perhaps it can be turned off in some setting or difficulty mode. But I think I would like it. If the idea of fatigue between resting gets in, that is fatigue for spell power, fighting, skill perfomrance and all - then we would have a more mature kind of adventuring, where parties do get wore down a bit too. Wouldn't i be cool to have battle-scarred fighters and wizards who've become slightly bonkers? And if soul is important, priests could always run the risk of selling even more of their soul to perform high-level magic. The possibilities are endless. It's not realism I'm after mind you, it's a deeper kind of RPG-element to the game, a way of adding to the character by sometimes adding flaws as well. If it happens reasonably rarely, but still regularly enough, I think people will accept as a cool feature of the game and just reload to keep the precious PC pristine all the time. And with a fatigue system, it will very rarely be the case that the party is 100 % fit for everything. Perhaps after a food meal and a rest in a good tavern, they are, but that should be the exception. Rivendell recuperation should be rare instances, not a permanent state. I don't think this will hamper tha flow of the game in any way, but I haven't thought it through yet.

I've played most PC CRPG out there, and more or less free saving has been the case for most of them. My opinion: I think free saving should be part of normal mode, as it were. Ironman mode is in, and it has one save only. But why not add a mode in the middle ground in-between? It could use something like Diablo 2's check point system. As a modder I know it's easy to implement. A few triggers laid out wisely in the game and keep check of the party's position and direction, voila! A checkpoint save PE! I'm sure OE can add it if if enough people want such a system.

Frenetic Pony, interesting idea about familiars! Preferably small pets that can do small tasks for you. Hey, one-trick ponies, perhaps? I mean it, like a specially bred and trained fantasy ferret that does have a little skill in open locks, for instance. And who can say no to a pseudodragon?

No, Anek, you're absolutely right! Great post! I just want to add that adding small wishes for modding kit/toolset assets to stretch goals could be well be stuff that attract non-modders, coz these people have a general idea of adding modding assets means more game for them, more mods to enjoy. But in reality, what you wrote "a modder-friendly data file structure and data/scripts driven engine design" is one example of things that really matter to modders and the creative freedom that comes with it. But let's just say, we modders need catch phrases snuck in into the future goals of PE in order to whip up the attention of both devs and players.

Those two were great. However. like others have said, just some rare encounter somewhere and not something recurring in every establishment. I mean, Dragon Age Origins and Skyrim had a fair share of bards as well, and well... Hang on a minute! Each and every CRPG seems to have them, so I think Alan-a-Dale needs to be lain to rest. Perhaps a Bard class, but for a mature setting with darker themes and all, I think I prefer a break from at least comic relief-bards. Can't there be other kinds of comic relief? It sure can!

Hi! I really like the Obsidian Order of Eternity-initiative, by Farudan and others, and as you can see I've joined their ranks. So, I have an idea how to perhaps add a rank to OOE, since now we're almost entering that last week of the kickstarter and all: -If members of OOE add 8 dollars more (eight is a sacred number), or if new members to OEE add 16 dollars, there will be a catacomb-wall filled with basic tomb plaques, or perhaps a treasury register tome dusting away somewhere (the medium in-game is of course up for debate), where your OOE-name-n-title will appear in-game. The devs have already hinted at OEE being given some tangent mentioning in the game, and I know there are lots of people who would like to honour Obsidian in this kind of fashion. Furthermore, to distinguish these 16-dollar Magistrates of the Obsidian Order (title is up for discussion as well), their OEE-titles will appear in a golden colour. If the guys at Obsidian approve of this idea, we can get it started ASAP. So, please, Fionawar and Dlux, summon a meeting and channel the powers that be, and help us realize true eternity for our order. Indira Lightfoot, Apex of the Order of Eternity