Osvir

A psuedo-introduction thread, because psuedo makes everything sound cooler! I believe that "Everything" is "Material". Reading some on the P:E Wikia I see relations between this board and what is being said there. I don't know if it is one way or the other (we are inspired by the Wikia or the Wikia is inspired by the forums). If the Wikia is inspired by the forums then your username and how you write here is also possibly an inspiration to characters and the world itself in P:E. So who do you see yourself as in P:E? Or as an inspirational material, what type of character would you be? Are you one of the Gods, one of the Companions? The bar owner? Are you the jester? How would you see yourself? Let me explain, when I went theater class we did some Commedia Dell Arte which is about putting on a "mask" and acting on the mask. The mask doesn't necessarily have to be like the picture seen below (there are millions of different masks, what kind of mask are you?), it could be a person, you put on and act on a different body language than your own really (Method Acting). We had one class where our homework was to go out to town and research, watch people and find one person to imitate (body language) then twist it up a notch making it hilarious and exaggerated (could get really awkward too if not authentic). A casual step forward could become a long slow motion awkward step forward. It was super fun to work with. Basically this is a thread about everyone. If you are imitated into P:E and exaggerated/twisted/tweaked similarly as explained above, do you have any "demands" on how you would wish to be presented or do you give Obsidian free reign? Getting to that awkward part where I haven't thought out ways I see myself and getting to that awkward point of presenting myself (which feels rather awkward)............. So... thinking about it a little bit, how do I see myself? As a Chanter, Cipher, Druid, Wizard or Monk. Tinkering and thinkering, friendly and passionate. A philosopher, necromancer in a sense, a Socratic individual (Socrates had to drink a vial of poison because his philosophy was not welcome, he was executed for his ways, I'd say that could be seen as "necromancy" in the eyes of the people who wanted him dead e.g., authority). Socrates was also believed to be a mad man by everyone, yet he is one of the most important historic figures for us today in philosophy. Irony right? I absolutely love to travel, Druidic and nomadic in that sense that I love the land. I intend to travel Europe next summer. When I was in Boulder, Colorado last spring I hiked a lot in the mountains and camped out as well. Boulder, Colorado is absolutely gorgeous, and they've got some pretty sweet rock climbing spots. "So Crat Es" in Latin translates to "So was the art". I like cryptic and deep riddles~information. Something that is more than meets the eye, something that can transform from one thing to another and/or deconstructed and then constructed again. I want to have an open mind and an open heart, often deciding to be positive before reading anything. A title in the Forum saying "Mini-Game", I can decide if I'm going to think "Not going to touch that blegh!" or "Oh! Mini-Games, I already get 11 ideas by the title itself!!". I've taken apart many computers just to put them back together just because I was curious. Self-aware and conscious what I am writing, how I am wording and how it is structured (where I put comas and parenthesis as well). I edit a lot post-posting because I notice structural failure when I've posted (In a sense it is like "production complete" and then I can work on polish/details). As long as the post isn't posted it is a work in progress, and there is a sense of relaxation and "rewarding success" when you've actually posted. A post is like a program, you won't notice some bugs until you've actually released it (because you didn't have the same mindset or whatnot pre-posting). I was asked once by a stranger (who felt like my sister) what my superpower was, and I told her "Kindness". I only want good. I stand with two feet on Mother Earth, and not with two feet in a country. I feel we are all family and friends on one planet, a floating big ball in space. I'm definitely a Chanter, being singer-songwriter. I like everyone here on the forums and think everyone has interesting points, thoughts and ideas Alignments A mix of Chaotic Neutral and Chaotic Good, trying to be True Neutral. Sometimes gets bitten by Chaotic Evil (in essence, being a selfish jerk), though I dislike being bitten by it and always feel bad about it (it happens you know, sometimes you've got a good day sometimes you've got a bad day). I feel strongly for having honor and a sense of duty, but not enough to touch Lawful Good. Osvir is a well thought out screen name, which started on a roleplaying board as "MaskedMan", wherein Os Vir literally translates to "Bone Man". It's my "Avatar"/"Alter Ego", like a character in World of Warcraft is (otherwise I would display my real name, I have told Obsidian my real name because they tell us their names, just felt it respectful). Os by itself can translate from Latin to English as "Mask", but seems to be more related to "Speech", "Mouth", "Lips", "Bone", "Source", "Mien", structure and presentation. Os is also "Opening", "Effrontery", "Impudence" and "Countenance". Vir can be "Lover", "Husband", "Virility", "Soldier" and "Manhood". ^I relate who I am to these, which is pretty funny and coincidental to me, been using the screen name Osvir for a couple of years now and I relate to the Latin translations. I'm a crazy and confused individual from time to time, and do weird things, but I'm not harmful, I don't bite (hard ). I'm just human like all of us. In video games I always play the good character for a more Passive Story Playthrough, and an evil character for Hack & Slash Action Playthrough and laughs. Laughs for both actually (Good/Evil). Who are you?

That's very true jezz. I'm bad at explaining and I don't want to do what I'm trying to explain injustice. I don't want my explanation to be a basis of prejudice, that's why I am referring you to judge the source information yourself rather than judge my words. EDIT: What animes have you seen? *interest piqued*

Off-Topic too.. Knowledge. Read 1 page of a book and say it's bad then you've got a pretty lame argument as well. If you read the entire book and say it is still bad your argument is more valid, interesting and taken more seriously. One of it is an inexperienced statement (because you haven't seen it all, hence inexperienced) the other is legit feedback. Watching 1 Anime and thinking it is bad and judging all anime as bad because of it is also a lame argument. To not be misunderstood I am not saying "You don't like, just watch more", I am saying "You want to be on the same page and have something interesting to say about it? In essence: You want me to care what you are negatively saying about the anime or your opinion to matter in an intellectual/academic discussion? Watch more". It is possible to read 1 page and legitimately think it's bad, but it holds nothing against reading the entire book and still think it's bad. You have... 0.1% knowledge of the series whilst I hold 90% of the series (don't know too much about the author). It is called prejudice and a famous quote to follow: "Don't judge the book by its cover". Like I said to someone else regarding anime you, Mandragore, look at Anime and think "Blegh!" instantly because you've already decided your opinion and you will not be swayed, because you've decided to have a negative attitude regarding it. That's that really. If I would write a book instead, with only text, I might trick you into falling for the story and you'd be "WTF this is awesome!!" but the second your retina captures and calculates the information known to you as "anime" you decide that it is bad. Possibly because the little knowledge you have of anime and manga is mostly pre-occupied with the mainstream suck that is Naruto and Bleach. I love Naruto and Bleach but comparatively to what's out there in terms of manga and anime, Naruto and Bleach pretty much sucks. It is all in your head and how you decide to interpret the information given to you yourself. To go back on topic, with manga in mind, this manga (I am a Hero, link below to text-wikipedia) could be an inspiration for a God of the Undead. A God who is raising the undead slowly but progressively throughout the game. A sense of urgency. Example: Every 10 minutes of gameplay someone turns into a zombie in the world~ kind of like you being in a village, doing some quests, returns and the town is under attack by the turned (zombies). It would stop when you slay the God or do some quests to stop it (related to necromancy/doctor/science/soul vaccine). I am a Hero which started 2009. The Walking Dead started 2003, so "I am a Hero" is most likely inspired by that (I am a Hero is a "realistic" manga, there's no super humans,. In my opinion the Walking Dead comic has nothing on "I am a Hero" manga.

BGEE uses shift click and it works amazingly well Will probably be using it, or learn to use it. Wanted it when I originally finished BG. Seeing the path (in the form of a straight line like SC2) would work as well.

I never discuss Berserk, because discussing Berserk doesn't do it justice. I only talk about how good it is I feel that if Obsidian thinks any of it seems interesting enough for P:E they ought to watch it/read some of it (research). I noticed that the 25 episodes were all uploaded to YouTube (right hand featured videos). EDIT/P.S: I'm part of a manga community, and the only discussion we have about Berserk is "When is the next chapter coming out?".

Mostly UI enhancements, it's practically the same game. There's an expansion (The Black Pits) and it generally looks better in my opinion. The journal is way sweeter than before, they are also using the BG2 graphics for BG1 (you can get this with mods). It feels smoother somehow and I can't entirely put my finger on it... there's some new artsy cutscenes that are just beautiful. They've fixed glitches, bugs and other tiny improvements to make the game run better on a modern machine. Content wise (what you see) not very much has changed. You can zoom in pretty close and you can zoom out as well, which would've been more interesting if there was a resolution option you could adjust somehow... cus it gets pretty pixelated when you zoom in. Don't know if the screen resolution can do anything about. It looks as if the paper dolls have been touched up a little bit but I don't know, it's small details what we see. Internally it's like a cleaned up office space. Looks like modding is going to be way easier.

I had massive freeze lag stuff stutter lag thing slowdown and choppy music etc. etc. had some issues myself... this is what solved it for me. 1. First of all, there is a "Redist" folder coming with BGEE (bedjeeee!), open that and run all of that: * dotNetFx40_Full_setup (I recommend finding the 4.5 instead though) did not work, for me, from folder had to google/download it * dxwebsetup * PhysX_9.10.0513_SystemSoftware (I think there's a newer one for this one as well *shrug*) did not work from folder or when I googled it "See 2" * vcredist_x86 2. Then update your Graphics Drivers I've got Nvidia so that took care of ^PhysX for me. 3. Restart computer. 4. Play. EDIT: Also, it looks the same but also great, I rushed through Beregost and got slain by an Ogrillon. I recently finished Baldur's Gate (the first one) so I'm not entirely interested in re-playing everything for a couple of new companions, I'm interested in the modding and it looks way way more organized and cuddly than in the original libraries. Tested out the Black Pits real quick and it seems awesome :D

Paprika! :D okay derailing the topic, sorry. Putting it back on track: Paprika has lots of material for surreal abstract weird wtf Gods. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx9RgTiIKDE A Mind altering God hmm?

^I agree it's utterly crap. Well, until you tap into a certain mindset (like regarding anything, of course). Luckily the guy uploading these videos has been kind enough to tell the "Time mark" in the descriptions so you can skip it (If you go to YouTube to watch it instead of watching here)

^No comment, you have no idea. It is related to the thread because it's an Idea Pile of Gods and these anime episodes presents 4 Gods and an Ascension of 1 God, hence related. Also no offense taken but I can't value your thoughts on Berserk as credible, unfortunately, as you haven't seen the entire show. And that's that, if you would watch it all I'd take your opinion more seriously

Lockpicking is like... I've got a key in my inventory, I press the key, drag it over a door and now I have a "Put the key in keyhole and turn, then turn handle"-minigame. Is my character retarded? My Rogue is supposed to be good at picking locks, not me, let him handle it. I feel that it needs to be a natural part of the game and not some sort of "interlude" and it's own game by itself. Yes, Inventory Management is a mini-game in a sense but it's more like "Folder Organization" on your harddrive, it's not "hacking into computer" exactly. I can think of one thing that would be fluid, effective, and integrated. You press "Thievery", hover over the chest, a small "bar" that you need to drag by Right-Clicking (left or right). Simple, fast, easy with a risk of failing ofc. * Photoshop ~* Here you go, conceptual (would need to be less apparent ofc), attachment.

WARNING WARNING! Berserk is very disturbing. Just saying... really... I also dare you to tell me that anime and manga is bad *shakes fist* I dare ya! oh not really, here's a hug Start with this one: http://www.youtube.c...znK1mLQ#t=1061s Then this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvybffkW69o If this is a no-fly post (too mature/disturbing) then I'm sorry. EDIT: The "Event" *shudders* this is also the episode that made me start reading and watching Berserk (bought the entire boxset, still working on the Manga lol, the Manga is one of the oldest running. Since 1980 something). Tried to watch it and even read it and I kind of said "Blegh!" every time. Saw this episode on TV and wondered what it was, laughed when I saw during commercial the Berserk logo. This is one of the best stories ever out there period for so many reasons and you wouldn't understand it unless you engaged yourself and watched it. It's about 25 episodes (20 minutes each).

I think it's standard/modern in RTS games and it works very well. I'd like to call Baldur's Gate a RTwP sRPG (Real TIme with Pause Strategy Roleplaying Game). I think that Baldur's Gate is definitely an inspiration to heroes in various games (WarCraft III and StarCraft II specifically).

I'd like to see that is the Grimoire the only tool to cast Magic? What if there is a savant, or a "gifted" one. Wild Magic, someone who is born with innate ability but can't control it and is afraid of it xD True, yes I understand what you're getting at. And I like the wording of "nature is the highest authority" for a Druid.

Good question. It all depends on where in the nick of the wood you're at. One place might hold prejudice towards Dwarf's, but none against Barbarians so by just strolling into a room as a dwarf gets you a pounding (regardless if you follow any barbaric way). Another one might be favoring humans and hate Barbarians, which is where you pretend not to be a Barbarian and can later prove the people wrong with a shocking (intelligent & sophisticated) revelation. I don't think it is necessary for anyone to automatically know what class/profession you are, but as they find out or you share some traits with someone perhaps they react to it. A Paladin would be an easy one to spot, if he wears his Order's banner/colors. Likewise as I stated earlier is that a Paladin doesn't necessarily have to be a part of a Holy Order (not talking about the player character by the way, but Paladin's you encounter in the world) but could be a White Knight in Shining Armor. I see Sarevok as a Paladin, just as I can see him as a Fighter/Mage-esque type, a Fallen one (i.e. Dark/Death Knight). In Fallout: New Vegas you could wear the colors of a faction as well, which marked you as "One of those" getting different reactions from different people. I also think that the "anvil" heavy Grimoire would be distinct feature to notice the Wizard by as well, pretty much a given that the wielder is dealing with the "Dark Arts" for anyone who views Magic as such. Another NPC might get excited as they see a fellow scientist.

^For some classes a certain attitude and personality is required. A Paladin who isn't a fanatic in the "Holy Order" can still be a Paladin in the "Holy Order" that's not what I am saying, but the guy/gal would still be devoted to the God or else they can't be in the Order. Metaphor: I'm an NPC on the forums, and Adam and Josh are VIP's, quest givers or even PC's. Being Developers, from my perspective where I'm sitting, is part of their personality, even though I value their skills and persons differently they both share that same trait, it is part of who they are to me and why they are developers. You are the only one limiting the character design really. If it says that Paladins in the Holy Order are fanatical, does your Paladin have to be fanatical just because of that? What if NPC's were afraid of Paladins, and at first glance seeing your character they are afraid but as dialogues develop they find trust in your character. Likewise, if it says that the Barbarian is dumb and not very intelligent, does your Barbarian have to dumb? Will Forton be monastic and peaceful just because the churchly NPC Monks at their temples/churches are peaceful? Does Edair have to be a bully and an **** just because he is a Fighter? Does Cadegund have to burn down heretics just because there are groups of Priests in P:E that could do it? How does the NPC's look at and generalize the Classes of P:E? I am not discussing Character Creation, but the worldly aspects of classes. What kind of Prejudice will Classes have in P:E in the eyes of others?

I lost track of this thread. Going to read up on it, meanwhile just want to post this link to the Classes and Party Builds thread that I unloaded loads of thoughts on classes. I think that what I wrote there might've been more fitting here. Some quick notations: Summary of what I wrote in the other thread. Fighter: Often the Hero archetype. I would like to see it as "Champion" or "Soldier". I'd like to have a more definate title for this Class, something that you can tie to the world, like the Wizard or the Paladin are part of the world, could the Fighter be a Gladiator-type of character/background? "Fighter" being... broad and not really something would call someone else as a "Profession". Imagine someone saying, "That guy is a great fighter". Are they talking about my Fighter, my Barbarian, my Rogue, Cipher, Ranger, Paladin, Priest, Druid, Chanter, Monk or Wizard (seeing as all of them can be close-combat fighters)?? Rogue: Associated with the Adventurer archetype (the risky, good guy bad boy or just a bad boy, a devious charmer or a naive charmer) Wizard: Scholar-type, Deckard Cain, the Librarian Barbarian: VIking, Pirate, Bandit, a vulgar person, a hearty and lovely person with a strong open soul. Laughs out loud and chews with an open mouth. But can also be a silent, Frankenstein type, character. Paladin: Dark Knight, White Knight, Royal Knight, Crusader Knight etc. etc. a Knight in Shining or Corroding Armor. Chanter: A Churchly choir boy/girl. Not necessarily a Bard. Messenger of God (be it inner or outer). Priest: Agent of God, Sword of God, Intention of God, Action of God. Jeane D'Arc. Monk: Servitude to God, Prayer to God, inner or outer. Ranger: A Cowboy, farmboy. Look it up on Wikipedia or read more in the thread I linked first. Cipher: Psionic, Infiltrator, Assassin, Spy, Ninja. Druid: Tree-Hugger, hates Authority, dislikes the "Matrix" or whatnot. Hermit, isolated, solo. Doesn't work too well in a group, arrogant, prefer to Lead rather than be Led (which is ironic as they dislike authority).

Queuing movements sounds like an awesome way to handle some auto-pause management, it'd really feel like a psuedo-turn-based game. Perhaps there could even be a limit as to how many times you can qeue movements depending on a difficulty? You could queue live or in Pause mode, this way you could pause, queue movements, watch the onslaught. Pause when needed. More like observing your actions. Or queue live. Final Fantasy XI had an interactive macro system that was great, unlike the Gambit system in Final Fantasy XII or in Dragon Age: Origins, in Final Fantasy XI you got to write and figure out the scripting yourself and it was all accessible from start (and not some "collectible" mini-game for Tactics, that kind of sucked, I want all the chess pieces to be available from start. Gambits and Tactics frustrated me to no end because it wasn't all available at the start, you had to spend resources and time on it which sucked. Why did they do that? Anyone got a good answer?). I had a similar idea on a different forum, where you'd direct how you wanted to tackle a situation (basically tell your Rogue to sneak up and take down an enemy from behind with a non-lethal approach and you'd see it happening as well). Basically you'd have a 100% success rate in "Directive" Mode, but the second you press "Un-Pause" you'd be back at Square 1 and now there's dice rolls involved. However, that might be a tad bit too much preparation (Imagine preparing an attack for 30 minutes and seeing it succeed only to fail at first dice roll when you actually "Activate" it, it'd be frustrating I'm sure). Queuing sounds much better, but as aforementioned, I'd prefer if it was limited to how many times I can queue actions. Something I could adjust in an Options screen perhaps by either a custom value or premade values? E.g., 1 Queue, 3 Queues or 5 Queues or even a value I could adjust it by putting a number myself (let's say "105 queues" excessive and not necessarily needed but it'd be possible). Would you be able to change a qeue and switch it out in the queue? E.g., I queue 5 actions on all my party members in Pause mode, unpausing I quickly realize that I am going to have to do another move on my 3rd action (preparing a spell to be cast sooner than I expected) could I switch around and manage which action that hasn't been utilized yet in that case? EDIT: "qeue" into "queue", thanks for spotting Barimaeus and telling me (you learn something new everyday ) Also great suggestion/thread mrstark.

The Embraceable God, a.k.a the Facehugger God. No matter how grim, dark and mature the world might be, I suspect there should be some good Gods as well. Every Greek God practically has a Yin perspective and a Yang perspective (It depends on how you look at it). Aphrodite could be a gluttonous, morbid presentation of Lust, rather than a graceful sexual thing it'd be darker and grimmer (even more so than God of War). Athena could be a Goddess of senseless War & Destruction, without little remorse of the onslaught of her passing in her chariot. Likewise she could be the opposite, a strategist and a good friend, a wise Goddess that teaches a lesson rather than punishing. Final Fantasy VI has an interesting demon entity (Phunbaba).

What is a Priest? What is the purpose of the Priest? I kind of look at the Priest like an "Exorcist" whilst the Monk is more monastic and European. The Priest prays to an outer God whilst the Monk prays to an inner God. There could be spiritual inner Gods (micro Gods within each and everyone) and outer Gods in the heavens or on a mountain or something (Tower of God). Micro cosmos fighting Macro cosmos, a brand new way to look at "Heaven versus Hell". Nirvana versus Earthly life, the purpose is to end the loop of loops for a Monk, to stop reincarnation (making the soul stop traveling from one being to another. Achieving "True Death", the Dusties are pretty Buddhistic). I read this cool philosophical meme or whatever it was: A man ran up to monk and yelled in his face: 'I WANT HAPPINESS!!' The Monk smiled, looked at the man and said: "First you must remove the 'I', for that is the Ego" "Then you must remove the 'want', for that is the Desire" "Now what are you left with?" The man looked back at the monk with a smile: "Happiness" It is a simple demonstration of what a Monk is to me. A Teacher, but also a Student. Some Monks search fanatically (and in doing so, fruitlessly) for answers within themselves, whilst others just "finds" it within themselves. The flow is strong in this one. European Chanter, Priest or Monk is pretty much same thing, and difficult to separate for me. Ofc the Chanter is a Bard more or less, but also a churchly character, chanting the Gospel of Man or something, an oracle and a prophet. Gospels in particular. How do you separate the Priest and the Monk? Perhaps the Priest could be an Agent of the God, spreading the word of God (with shotgun) (Jeane D'Arc springs to mind for some reason) whilst the Monk is more of in Servitude to the God. Perhaps even something like this: Priest: Agent of God (E.g., carries out "His" or "Her" will) Monk: In servitude to God (Inner or Outer) Chanter: Messenger of God A Doomsayer could be a Chanter as well, just as much as a Bard could be one.

Lol that was exactly what I was going to suggest :D Dionysus is my favorite Greek God, I scored 5/5 or A in every school test about Greek mythology for some reason (I can't recall everything now but when I start reading about it slightly it all comes up more and more). A playful God that doesn't care much about anything but playing, a childish God fer sure. And in this childishness a ruthlessness. Baldr is also an interesting God, possibly inspired by Dionysus and Akilles I'm sure. Doesn't seem to come through in the wikipedia link (I confess, I skimmed it) but he was very popular among the ladies, and immortal to all harm except one thing that his mother had forgotten to ask for protection (his mother asked every thing in the world and universe to not be able to harm Baldr, all except one mistletoe bush where an arrow was crafted from by Loki to shoot Baldr. Yeah not at all like how Marvel portrays it right? ). Saint George and the Dragon is an interesting one as well, not really a God *shrug* Gods based on the 7 sins and 7 virtues for inspiration. Adam and Josh, find information on Berserk please, there's 5 pretty mean Gods (there isn't much known about them but just seeing their appearances and their implemention/presentation into the Berserk series should spring to mind some inspiration). Ah nevermind, here you go. @PayPal: Will it be possible to selflessishly donate to Obsidian without getting any more rewards but in faith of the project or for simply wanting to provide more (even though extremely minor) money and resources for the game. I mean, if I would send you guys 5 bucks a month til the project is finished you'd get about a petty 100 bucks extra, now imagine 100 people doing that, or even 1000. I mean, we all want a great game and provides resources in each our own way. I kind of want to pay P:E as a project, other than paying for it when it has released of course, not because I want rewards or because I want to invest money into it and call it 0.0001% mine, but because I believe in this project and want to help in whichever way possible for it to be as enjoying for as many people as possible a piece of art.

@Jojobobo: The game has the party based mechanic in mind, it isn't intended to be a single character game. Bioware said that it would be possible to solo the DA:O on easy, but that it would be impossible on harder difficulties and that you'd need a party. Heck even on easy it could be difficult to solo in DA:O. I don't expect much but I kind of expect to see something similarly. However, as I've discussed my "Armor as an Upgradeable Asset similar to a Skill Tree" in other threads I'm thinking that a solo gameplay (with those Armor mechanics in mind, check the "Wall of Text" in my signature) you could give the Paladin several different roles on a single player playthrough (and gain more experience to be able to give that Paladin more than 1 role by him/herself). Giving the Solo Playthrough the ability to play a Paladin/Fighter in one situation, and a Paladin/Wizard in a different situation. I'm looking objectively at the different classes as professions and how to place the classes into the world as definitions beyond what weapons they use, what does a Paladin do for a living? Why is he a Paladin and how come? Why is someone calling that guy a Paladin? Why would someone call my Fighter a Fighter and not a Samurai? Taking Paladin as an example I do believe that it is originally something that's inspired by the crusaders (in essence; not a nice guy, but blinded by devotion. I think that's what the wikia says as well). A little bit of a repeat and trying to draw better connections. Paladin: Likewise I can see the Paladin (who is not part of a Holy Order) calling himself a White Knight, or even a Dark Knight. Paladin could be a collective "name" for several different archetypes and doesn't necessarily have to be a Soldier in some sort of Organization or Religious thing. Mechanically someone could be a Paladin, but roleplayingly the guy could be related to being a Royal Knight as well (without any religious devotion to it) or even a simple farmer who believes in the Light of the World and fights for it. The title "Knight" in many games past has had this role. Fighter: A Fighter could be anyone, an apprentice in the Paladin Order but dropped out before and became a Soldier, a Footman. The Fighter is related to the Hero Archetype for many reasons, most profoundly for being the Main Character in most non-class based games. Many classic games for the SNES and other similar RPG's and games generally have the "Fighter" up front as your character. I think I've seen 1 RPG where the Fighter class was actually named "Hero" but I can't remember where, it was slightly tweaked accordingly. As I said before, the Fighter sounds like a profession, like a job a la "Fight in this boxing ring to earn some money"-dude. This, in my opinion, sounds like the most difficult to define. "What an amazing fighter...!" *gulp* comparatively to "Oh he's such a rogue". You can't really use "Fighter" in the same way and it is a broad title with more meanings to it. A Barbarian could be a great Fighter, a Rogue, Cipher, Ranger and so on. Fighter relates to "Fighting" and the only thing I can think of per definition is a bully. Someone who likes to fight just to fight, which is why "Hero" might be a better class title. To be honest I'd prefer if "Fighter" was changed to something more defineable in the world, something that the Fighter actually could be called out on. "Soldier" does work. I mean, if my "Fighter" saves an entire village, whether he is a Soldier or not (coming from a farmland or something, grown up with butchering the livestock and such) I wouldn't be surprised if the villagers said something like "You're such a soldier! Such a champ!" or military men "Do you have any prior knowledge to the military, soldier?". Champion might be a better title than "Fighter" as well. I'm not suggesting that it should be changed, just that I think it'd be more interesting if changed. Ranger: A Ranger is pretty far away from being simply an "Archer", a Ranger is a farmer and a woodsman. Probably herding some cows (A Cowboy is a Ranger). Ever heard the term "Lone Ranger"? <- Cowboy. Red Dead Redemption. Before I wouldn't have been bothered about the implementation of the Ranger and I would have honestly said "Oh the Ranger is a Master Bowman and shoots arrows of great power to destroy everything and everyone wooozaa!" but then again I've grown up and I'm more interested in the tidbits of authenticity to the world. Wizard: A Wizard more of a scientist and scholar. Knowledge is Power. I'm thinking about the Librarian type from Warhammer, for some reason it feels as if the Librarian is some sort of "Archivist" (I only know of the one from the PC game Dawn of War and not the actual boardgame-thing or any lore). The Wizard is an Architect of the Soul. Physicians of the world, these are the people that come up with conceptual ideas for the future and also guards the present. Every Wizard has an interest for the Dark Side/The very deep depths of Necromancy, life and death. Some go further than others because they can't resist, others have a stronger Soul capable of resisting the temptations. Even Yoda can't avoid the Dark Side's call, but he resists it unlike anyone can or has the mindset for. The Grimoire (reading on the wiki) is both in real life and in P:E a big tome that is heavy to carry, and the Wizard seems to only be able to carry 1 (at most 2) or something like that, I'm loving it (<- that's Obsidian adding realism in a good way *standing ovation and bow*). Cipher: Why I deem the Cipher as an Assassin is because the Cipher has all abilities that would be best for interrogation, torture, charms, a Cipher is like a Ghost in StarCraft II (actually, the Ghosts are Psionics now that I think about it). This is why I think the Assassin role fits the Cipher more than a Rogue, whilst the Thief role fits more for the Rogue. A Cipher could specialize in combat, with few mind altering abilities, or specialize in ranged mind manipulating abilities and act more akin to a Wizard. Sasuke from Naruto -don't judge- could be seen as a Cipher as well, where he can read the movements of his opponent. I think that Cipher's should be a rare thing in the world, and mostly trained specialized agents or soldiers. Kind of like X-Men in a sense, where it is a strong power that spawns in few rare (some religious folk might even say "chosen") folk. What I meant to say that the Cipher does everything faster and better than the Rogue I didn't mean everything, but with the power to read minds they would be able to get through situations by merely reading thoughts, whilst the Rogue reads physical movements. Senator Palpatine is a Cipher, Darth Sidious (sp) is a Wizard. For some reason I feel as if the Ciphers even could be the "Unclean" and part of the "Necromancy" that the "Holy Order" fights to destroy *shrug* Rogue: The Rogue is not a master assassin per say. A Jack of All Trades type character, the "Adventurer". He travels a lot and tries different things, he's good at climbing, good at skydiving, drives a car well, is nimble and flexible, rash and unpredictable, got a good eye for precision and detail, he's 007, whilst the Cipher is the evil 006 (that's Golden Eye villain right? Or is it 005?). McGyver and Sherlock Holmes, a thinker and a physical solutionist~ resourceful and thievish. Often dashing and handsome in some way or another, but can also be the scums of the slums, dirty and unclean, slithering tongues and snakelike behavior. Druid: I see the Druid like a Voodoo Doctor, there is often not more than 1 of them per tribe. Druids love nature and hates authority, so I have a difficult time seeing Druids huddling up together and taking orders from each other, psychologically speaking I can see them pushing other people around however, as if they have a desire to tell people how live and what not to do, like any teacher they can be bad and good. Jaheira is an excellent example in my opinion, sometimes she is a great teacher of the land and the world, but sometimes she is just arrogant and stuck up. Likewise I get this vibe from her that she doesn't handle authority well, and that outright wishes to be authority (She wants to lead the group, as if it is her desire and purpose and dislikes being led by the main character). Druids would respect each other, as they follow the same path of nurturing for the land and the earth, but I have a hard time seeing it being an organized thing where there's some sort of Druid Landsmeet and they have someone or some authority deciding who cares for what type of area and so on. Druids are lazy society escapees, they live off grid in their self-sustained Earthships and people in the grid (i.e., in the "Matrix") look at Druids like they were "hippies", tree-huggers and vegan arrogant fools. It's all about perspective, and it's all about what the "Matrix" puts into the folk in the system. Town Criers are going to be P:E's form of "media" and tool for influencing the general public no? How does the Big Cities control their populations~ keep them pacified? Barbarian: Bandits would be Barbarians, vikings as well. Plunderers and organized villages, kind of like a Thieves Guild but out in the wilds, surviving off of caravans passing by. Pirates and looters. Not necessarily a hulking fat archetype, a Rogue could be a Barbarian for example. Vulgar in their manner. A Barbarian Chanter would be a vulgar and funny singer (skald). I think this is also a difficult "class" to define. A barbarian being an outcast, but unlike Druids they huddle up together. How many Barbarians did it take too change the light bulb? Not very intelligent either tbh. I hope that Classes are more interesting than simply different combat roles, but that they are titles given to people as well. I see classes as a "Way of Life" rather than "Weapon Training". When I'm writing this Wall of Text it is with mindset of creating insightful material that Obsidian can use for their perusal if they feel like it. TL;DR: Can't summarize it, sorry, but talking about implementing the classes into the world rather than implementing them into combat only. Not all classes this time though. Priest, Monk and Chanter excluded.

I'm curious to see the modding updates and such.

I'm not drawing any connections to what I've read from P:E, I'm just drawing conclusions on what I'd hope to see. Some of them are half-joke half-serious too.

I hope and thoughts and I'd also like to say "Depends on how you look at it": Ranger: Woodsman, handles a knife just as well as a bow, but handles the axe and sword just as well. A Ranger lives and hunts secluded on their land. A Ranger is a loner, who wanders the mountains (Chuck Norris cowboy style). That's what a Ranger is. He hunts seasonally and takes care of the land in his own way, a survivalist. Good with a longbow, though the military Ranger favors the crossbow. Paladin: Crusaders of some type, a Holy Order of soldiers notable in the world who believe blindly in their own chivalry, to them they spread light upon the world. To others they only rain blood and destruction. Deluded by their own madness the Paladin are straightforward slaughtering everything in their path. They love crossbows and fire. "Purge the unclean!" -> Run! A Paladin can also be defined as a White Knight, which is related to the Hero archetype. Wizard: Deckard Cain! Stay a while and listen dammit! Priest: Gun nuts, totally gun nuts. Also: Notable for their kind smiles. They also like to burn heretics. Paladin and Priest hangs out at parties and mingles slightly but arrogantly. Druid: Tree hugging fools really, but they do share aid to the lands and take care of it. Some can be evil, seldom do you find Druids gathered up close with one another, they share the same knowledge and the same respect, likewise they share the same sense of traveling. They are never satisfied with living in society, for whatever reason. Most profoundly at it's core is always a disgust and distrust for authority. Only evil Druids manages to sway over groups of dumb Bandits and become an authority themselves. Druids are arrogant. Fighter: Is more of the "Hero" archetype. Difficult to define in place of background and into the world, it could be a soldier, a grunt, a young boy. The Fighter can be anyone, perhaps even a boy forced to be a Wizard but escaped before initation and became a Fighter instead. The "Fighter" is kind of, it isn't really a Class but more talking about a character's skill and occupation. A Job more than a title. Rogue: Could be more of the "Adventurer" archetype. Difficult to define. A rascal, daring thieving, Han Solo springs to mind. A pirate, but could also just be a wanderer, a nomad on a pilgrimage. The Rogue could in many senses be seen as a Monk, but that smug smile is hard to wipe off. A charming individual who is great at dancing, smoking cigars, kissing and sleight of hand. The Rogue can get into many places by just talking, or throw a sleep dart surprisingly precise. Good at rowdy fist fighting and unusually takes one or two hits himself before going down (though the Rogue often finds some remarkably convenient solution and always comes out on top, McGyver). The Rogue can be seen as one of the cool kids in town, popular character that likes to be around people. Which is quite different from an Assassin. Tony Stark as a Tinkerer and Person is a Rogue as well, Iron-Man is a Fighter. It really is 2 different characters, with 1 soul. If Steampunk is in this game a Tinkerer Rogue would be awesome. Sherlock Holmes is a Rogue, and handles a gun well too. Barbarian: If someone just burst out and said to you "You.. you.. you Barbarian!!" why would they call you a barbarian? A Barbarian is a vulgar person, someone who drinks a lot and swears a lot. A daring and in some weird way charming character. Strong and determined, easy-going. There's no real "Barbarian Stronghold" as being a barbarian is more of a personality thing. It's not like someone yells "Argh it's a caveman from a mountain cold icetop!!" when you see a barbarian. Cipher: Devious shady characters of society, infiltrators and spies, in many ways a Rogue. They gain this characteristics due to their ability to do everything much faster than a Rogue, in a different way. Though the Cipher is not nearly as adept at bartering or the charming side, the Cipher is also more deadly. An Assassin (did I hit the right nail? ). Often trained from young age. Few are Master Ciphers in the world, and there's two sides of them. "Jedi versus Sith" Class, most decisions in game in terms of dialogues and choices. Chanter: A churchly title, the Chanter casts on spells by singing or yelling, Monk: I hope a Brother Tuck type of Monk, a staff master because of ritualistic purposes and training. Or better yet, poi. A religious or non-religious man/woman, to an inner spiritual God or an outer spiritual God. Kind and appreciating to the world around them. Living in the flow. Is not necessarily part of the order whether a monastic Monk or a traveling Monk. Kind of like the underdog, the bottom of the bottom in hierarchy in terms of society. The Monk gets taxed instead of taxing. Everyone picks at the Monk.