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imatechguy

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Everything posted by imatechguy

  1. No good answer for this one as no matter what choice is made there will be backers upset. I do appreciate you folks at Obsidian for bring this up and asking for input from the backers, so thank you. For myself I would prefer to have all the physical items arrive together, I chose the Collectors box tier for a reason. I've got a digital version I will use to play anyway. Besides, as others have said I'd rather not see the extra money spent on costs for multiple shipments.
  2. Much like PoetAndMadman's post on the first page I'd like to see something in a Firefly or Farscape like setting in a modernized version of Freelancer on steroids.
  3. I seem to be missing the Kickstarter badge as well. I would appreciate getting that sorted out when one of the mods, or whomever is taking care of it gets an opportunity. Thanks.
  4. That would be nice and something very close was almost a reality in The Broken Hourglass thanks to jcompton. Unfortunately the game was never finished.
  5. Very difficult to answer with just one thing because I have a pretty good sized list, but presumption driven reputation/influence changes are probably one of my major pain points in a game. The thing I'd like to see is the removal of presumptive influence/reputation changes from both the general game and from my companions. Why must the companions I've surrounded myself with and chosen to travel with constantly have to make motive checks on the things we do? Worse why do they insist on doing so in front of the mook I'm trying to scam? While I realize there will at times be perceptions of intent made by an NPC that I cannot and at times should not be able to influence, however for the most part the game and especially my companions should not presume my motivations. I'd be okay with a dialogue where large shifts could occur depending on intent but that dialogue shouldn't limit me to the typical Lawful Dumb/Stupid Evil type of replies. Saving a town from a small horde of undead doesn't mean I'm a "good", not assisting them doesn't mean I'm "evil".
  6. I don't think there's even any need to make enemy composition high-level responsive to your decisions. Just have a lot of variation in enemies and enemy combinations as a usual part of the game. True, if there is a good variety of tactics, enemies and enemy combinations then there is not really a need for any high-level decision making. However after multiple playthroughs, think 10+, it will be difficult to ignore the fact that I know bad guy #5 in Boss #3's lair is just around the third corner to the left and a fireball lobbed just so will probably take him out. Of course I reason this out with the logic that if this was my 1st playthrough I'd still know because I would have scouted it out before moving in. But this just saved me the time/tediousness of moving slow while scouting on yet another playthrough. It's human nature and technically it's a valid point. However even if I have and use a scout, just like I did on the 1st playthrough, I never can recapture that sense of wonder, danger and thrill of discovery found in the first time playing the game if the enemies are always the same and in the same places. So if Obsidian goes to the trouble of really diversifying the enemies why not take it a small step further and have those enemies be a little bit more reactive. Use relatively simple things that a towns person would notice and relate in stories like comments about our gear, our companions and their gear, survivors of battles telling stories about what happened, tales of those battles seen by the townspeople we've saved from the town pillaging bad guy hoard #4. The more we play the better intel the enemies can acquire so the first couple bosses might think a PC a fighter type because they wear heavy armor. Half way or so into the game they start figuring out the PC is really a mage and change underling composition accordingly. I think it would help greatly with immersion and replayability at hopefully small cost. Counters for armor and weapons most often equiped or used to kill enemies, what class abilities have you used in view of npc's, etc. EDIT: cleared up the thoughts in a few sentences.
  7. I think this is a good conversation to have but I think everyone is focusing on the result of the "breakage" not the root cause. I think Lephys started to get there in his posts on the first page. When it comes to combat there will always be builds that are better than others; some at specific tasks others in a more general sense. But when you have a handful of builds, and especially a single one, that is orders of magnitude better than all others and devastates all enemies then I propose the flaw is not in the class or build but is actually in the enemies. While the class or build in question may be more powerful than others to me it points instead to a lack in variety and/or tactics of the enemies. If I play a mage with a penchant for fireballs and I'm going after Boss #2 he shouldn't have a bunch of regular swordsman standing around in large groups with no fire resistance gear as he patiently waits me to arrive at his place for the big confrontation. He should have some mage-killer types sprinkled around the place and the whole crew shouldn't rush me in a big gaggle just begging to be set on fire all at once. By the same token if I'm a swordsman that approaches combat like a blender set on puree then Boss #2 should have a completely different set of underlings with different tactics to come at me. If I don't normally run with a rogue type then there should be a lot of traps hastily thrown about maybe many aren't even hiden since I'm probably not going to be able to disable them. If I typically have a rogue type, or am one myself, then the traps could be more strategically placed and better disguised. I am not saying the game should meta-game our characters stat/skills and I realize there is no way to code in different tactics and enemy compositions for all build/party possibilities but some high level decisions can be made based on how I/my party typically approaches combat and at least the boss type characters should adjust to that. If Obsidian can do that then there shouldn't be a need to meticulously balance the builds so none are overly good because the variety in enemy classes and tactics will do that for them.
  8. While my knee-jerk reaction is to agree with Sensuki, I can actually see some merit to this if used properly. Perhaps a quest, plot twist or character that is supposed to be hidden to all but the most intrepid explorers has an unintended "tell" in the way the quest line originates that stands out to the experienced player this game is geared towards. Now instead of a cool reward of sorts for the few it's a quest line everyone seems to be doing. Conversely what if a support quest line for the main story is ignored by all but a few? A tool like the one mentioned would allow Obsidian to review such scenarios and decide if they should make some type of change. A tool of this sort and the two example situations would probably be best handled during the alpha/beta testing phases but could have a use post launch. Post launch such a system could be used to track frequency of use for each companion and quest completion rates. Not that this should be used to limit creativity or development of a wide ranges of companions/quests/options it would give Obsidian the chance to ask specific questions to the community about why the things that are unexpectedly popular/unpopular ended up so. My hope would be that rather than being used to limit the range of options and streamline a game a tool like that could be used to gain greater insight into players and make those niche quests/characters more prevalent. Options and choice are good, especially if they add replay value. If that can come about from a tool that allows the devs better insight into what drew/repelled gamers and why, especially when they were trying to do the opposite I would generally be in favor of it, at least in principle.
  9. A bit late but for me I'd prefer the tarball option. For those that want them Steam, Desura, et al can be options; but they're nothing I want involved in the process. A tarball may not do all the install work for you but I feel that's probably the closet Linux equivalent to a disk/dl with the game files and a setup.exe file like the windows folks will have available.
  10. When I first started reading this I thought "oh ye gods please no". However now that I've read all the posts I could go for a less clunky interface; but I do like the visual heft/substance to interfaces in the old IE games. Something book-like maybe even with short opening/closing animations and pages flipping when you choose which section to go to from a table of contents. Just throw something out there, but whatever interface they develop it should be a clear successor to the old IE interfaces. Map-able hotkeys are a must as well.
  11. Top of my list would be ME. I want to be the big bad/Evil boss/scourge of the planet. Whether I start that way or change over time I want the chance to finally tell the major boss characters in the game that as bad as they think they are I'm worse and I'm taking over right after I kill them. If I had to pick a existing characters I think would make good antagonists then I'd like to have characters like Vic Mackey from The Shield, Walter White from Breaking Bad, John Cavil from BSG or even a set of characters like Randall Flagg and Trashcan Man from The Stand (mini-series). Of course being able to go up against all of then in a struggle to control the world would be pretty cool too.
  12. I like the concept here. I have an old game, Flatout, that records every race and gives you the option to watch the full replay at the end or skip and that games pretty old so the functionality ought to be fairly easy to implement. Rather than going to the effort of doing this for every fight it might be easier to add the right triggers in for just major quest and boss fights and of course pausing would pause the record feature. Schedule the recording so it doesn't stop until the scene is over (any cut-scene included) and throw in an option to save the recording as a file on the HDD. For that matter allow users to configure it in the options. A simple Enable/Disable toggle with another for auto-saving it to the HDD. Now users can watch them outside of the game and go back to watch videos from previous runs. I think the feature might see more actual use that way than if it was generally available for any just given fight.
  13. Well said! Using this logic we can basically assume that 1 stronghold can work for all classes. You could, but not all strongholds work for all classes or types. A military keep would be of no interest to a wizard. Having different strongholds for different focuses covers more types and allows for more replay while keeping the numbers down allows for more specialisation, its getting the balance right that is the question. Personally I think giving the player an area of land that he can manage would be best. There could be a settlement that is fixed for all playthroughs (but can be built up), the player can order a home to be built (such as a tower for wizards, churches for priests etc) that utilises the surrounding resources to produce stuff and that determines the type of guards you have and how they are produced (normal guards from keeps, holy warriors from churches and golems and automatons for mages). The base stronghold stays the same but the home building and inhabitants vary. While I agree with some of your second paragraph I wholeheartedly disagree with the first. Scholarly Warriors, militaristic Priest or magic user types, Rogues interested in the "arcane" might not fit into the boxes you allude to in that first paragraph. That's why I suggested a modular approach here. With that approach they'd have to design just a few base theme structures and let the player decide the theme that's right for their character. Want a militaristic stronghold with the arcane "Library" and the Rogue Tavern? No worries, you can do that with a modular approach. They could even spice it up a bit more and have a couple different mood themes for each like a Beacon of Light and Hope, a dark and gritty, a well worn and even maybe a spooky mood. With just a few above ground themes for example: Fortress, Temple, Arcane compound and a below ground option or two I'd think they'd have most everyone covered in some fashion. With some mixing and matching of the modules in each theme combined with the mood settings there is a lot of potential for giving players freedom and variety with less effort than trying to do a stronghold or two for each class.
  14. It should definitely be something that remains relevant throughout the game and is truly an accomplishment to achieve. I like the idea of it being something to take over but I'd be fine if it was something I had to build too. I don't care about drape colors or stone patterns but I would like to feel like I'm actually responsible for creating it, running it, defending it, for projecting power from it; and for loosing it if I make dumb decisions. If I get to build it then I'd like it to be modular and I'd want to have a few different choices in design element prefabs that fit within the world and location aesthetic for each "section". I'd like to see some choice in location as well as costs that vary depending on those location and structure complexity if we get to build it. I should also have to defend it: I can't imagine some local road bandit gang, rebel warlord type are going to stand idly by while I create this thing too close to their area of operations. For those looking for something a little closer to civilization I can imagine a King, a Parliament or Counsel is going to be too please with a structure like this going up without some loyalty assurances, taxes being levied and whatnot. Of course then you have potential conflict with any existing guild or temples you might be competing with or be in opposition to. Whether now, in future expansions, or hopefully in both there is a world of possibilities opened with the implementation of strongholds.
  15. While I understand the principle behind the issue; when and where to save needs to be left to the player. I have a wife and child, I need to be able to pause/save at a moments notice no matter where I am in gaemand come back 2 minutes, 2 hours or 2 days later and pick up where I left off.
  16. I would like to see something like this implemented and I voted for the yes but keep it fun option. At any given player/party level there should be someone or something in the game world that is more powerful. I think a good implementation of this could be a recurring creature or party that creates an ongoing rivalry with the PC. Maybe they are unbeatable in this game but it would eventually be possible an expansion. As already stated everything that happens combat wise should absolutely be within the rules of the game world and without question it should be appropriate to the setting and story-line There should also be at least one or two chance for an "out" but for those players that can't read those signs, well... time to reload. I'd be fine with such encounters being either something the player has to actually seek out or an integral part of the story-line if it's done well it won't matter either way. Something that could add to the foreboding and sense of being unable to prevail in a battle is being able to run characters with a story to tell, that are maimed and grizzled veterans of previous encounters with the "un-killable". Such characters might not be easily found or it might take some doing for players to get their story out of them as a reward for players that try to gather intelligence on the un-killable creature/party.
  17. To be perfectly honest, rpm and deb would be the worst possible move they could make for linux users, it would be as wonderful an idea as the loki installer, which gave everyone an awesome graphical installer that looked great, until glibc no longer supported the features used in the installer and gtk 1 was dropped from a distribution which crapped out any attempt at running the installer as it was intended to work. That event left people wondering how to install their games through the shell commands of make self (which the loki installer was just a gui-wrapper for). In 10 years Obsidian is not going to repackage the game so you can play it on Ubuntu farting ferret, and you'll want to play the game, however dpkg will barf on a deb made on the current Ubuntu lactating lemur release (RPM has the same problems and worse given the various incompatible forks of the RPM project). So, until the open source community figures out that backwards compatibility and interoperability between distributions are important features of the consumer desktop, you should stick to asking for tarballs or Steam which will hopefully include the dependencies of the game. This, of course, is assuming Valve doesn't go bankrupt like every other company that has attempted to support consumer oriented linux. Well if we get a choice source would be best but we'll never get that; and while .tar would cover everyone I'd be okay with a binary option. However I can work with .deb or .rpm to create a PKGBUILD now if I have to and just hold onto it. Steam is not an option. Regarding backwards compatibility and interoperability... We have that to a degree, some distro's more than others, but I feel that's really up to the Dev's and each distro's philosophy, with some onus on the user to learn what options they have. I'd rather not see my chosen distro affected by those that want a pretty gui for everything and don't care about the backend, or by those that only care about the backend and eschew gui's. That's the beauty of open source, there's something for everyone and when you're tired of what you're using grab something new. If you like your distro there's no reason to change, but that doesn't mean you can't look around with Vbox/VMware or on a few extra partitions. Back on topic: Linux support = GOOD. I was just wondering what file format was currently being planned for the actual distrobution of the game.
  18. Without either a magical item/artifact or a godlike CON equivalent score there should be no "regen" during battle. You should be too busy dodging, ducking, trying to kill the other guy and generally just too busy (physically and mentally) during a battle to start the healing process. Outside of combat the healing mechanic should be different but not the near "insta-heal" found in DA:O other similar series.
  19. Arcane - Chromatic Orb or Friends for me, Chromatic Orb could make that Shadow Dragon pretty easy and Friends was great for Buying/Selling when you were a low level character Divine - while not technically a spell, it's hard to beat one-shoting a room full of Vamps and Liches with Anoymen in late SoA or ToB, assuming you took the "good" path with him. Aerie was a hidden gem in that she could do both the Arcane and Divine by mid to late game.
  20. I like this idea and I think it would be pretty cool if done right. Perhaps making it an option like "willfull companions" in one of the more advanced modes would allow players that want the appearance of thinking companions with their own personality to enable it and players that want full control to disable it. Overall the concept is great and I'd like to see: different companions insist on different percentages of the loot based on personality and perceived skills, though there should always be a "party warchest" percentage since the player will spend that on other party members. Companions that want specific loot items - spells, a better sword, a shield; and while they shouldn't force the issue turning them down enough should create tension or a chance of them leaving the party. Companions should never let you fully strip them of equipment and they should never let you stick them with worse gear than they joined you with, outside of plot points anyway. For instance I think at some point in BG1 there were magic immune creatures so you had to have mundane weapons to damage the spawns. For something like this you should obviously be able to equip a mundane weapon on an NPC but only as long as you don't remove an equivalent weapon to what yhou recruited them with from their inventory. I'd like to see leveling up joinable NPC have a cost, and although NPC should be within a couple levels (+/-) of the Player Character when first mete they shouldn't magically gain XP in the Adventurers hall, or where ever they hang out, to always match the PC. They should gain some XP here and there as well as not always be available to give a semblance of having a live and adventuring career without the PC.
  21. Yes please. I like the idea of having access to informational sources outside of the typical books, notes and barkeep rumor script. Being able to coax them from many different NPC's and then being able to use them in conversations with other NPC's or with the target faction for additional information would be pretty sweet. It should really include chances for misrepresentations and blatant lies to make players actually compare pieces of information to determine the real from the fake when piecing it all together. If it could include alterations in both the access to and resolution possibilities of quests based on what information has been gathered that would be pretty awesome. Maybe a little ambitious for this project but it would be nice to see implemented.
  22. Simply put I won't install Steam or any other "distribution service" to play a game and I don't have windows on any computer I own so I'd like to know if those of us who are Linux users will have an installation option equivalent to what windows users that choose the DRM free GOG option. I'd just like an explanation of what the PE team and Obsidian consider "Linux support". There is no guarantee any 'doze program will run in WINE so while some may point to that it's really just a potential option at best. Thank you.
  23. I'm not sure what file type mac folks need for installation but I'd rather not have anything like Desura involved, though on the surface it looks better than Steam as an option. If the windows guys can get a setup.exe file from GOG I'd like to get the equivalent. What about those that have pledged at a level where they get a boxed/disc version? I'd be very disappointed to find out my "disc" was a platform program that I needed to install before getting the game itself. Thank you.
  24. I guess I need to rephrase to be more clear that I'm interested in delivery method more than creation method. Your links do tell me how they'll build the game but I want to know if the Linux version will be tied to Steam, will I get a tarball, .rpm, .deb, etc file to download or something else? Thank you. EDIT: typo and clarification
  25. Title says it all. As a Linux only user I was beyond pleased when I discovered this project and found that it would come not only DRM free but also with Linux support. I haven't seen it mentioned in the announcements or updates so I'd like to have some official word on the plan for distributing Linux versions of the game. Thank you.
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