Osvir

I only have one input into this thread: I want to document Quests myself in a blank non-auto-updating journal. I want to immerse myself into the role of the "journalist" (figure of speech), or perhaps the "scholar". Though, to be honest, this is not a way I will always play when I play Eternity, but it'd be a way I'd definitely play at least once or twice if the "feature" (if it can be called as such) is made for Eternity. The idea: No auto-updates in the Journal. When you talk to someone who has a Quest you don't get a message or a blinking icon signifying "You have a new entry!" but instead the Player gets to write all of this him or herself. So if I'd talk to a guardsman and he talks about "Ye, tharr be some piratess about yarr, said to be in' disguise them be" or whatever, I'd have to analyze the situation myself and then jot down my own thoughts into the Journal instead of having the game give me a pre-written text which will always give me more information and intelligence and thus make it easier for me. Additionally, some Quest givers could even tell you the first time you talk to them "Ye just go that-a way" and if I forget to write it down and talk to him again "So where was it now again?" he might answer "Fool! I told you already, now be on your way". So I pay the consequence for not paying attention as well (And might miss some quests due to it if I'm not paying attention). For a bit more ease, however, the Journal could be something that you could open during talking with someone or when you're in a dialogue screen~ making it easier to write stuff down. This is an idea which tributes towards the old ways of gaming, where there were no walkthroughs and you had to bring out your pen and paper to figure a lot of things out. Many adventure games, and some in particular (such as Myst and Riven) require this more of this focus. It's also a great way to get engaged further into the game and to further touch that "roleplay" element and even allow some Player narration.

What pretty much others have said, but "Multi-Classing" or "Dual-Classing" in Eternity is a somewhat... can't find the words right now but... It'd call it "Multi-Role", a Fighter can act as a Ranger (but isn't at all as good as a Ranger). A Wizard can act as a Fighter, but isn't as good at it either etc. etc. So basically what Eternity allows is the Player to mix-and-match different roles, but not in a standard "Multi-Class" or "Dual-Class" kind of way. I suppose you could possibly build a character to be 50/50 in two different roles, and thus it'd be a "Dual-Class", in an abstract kind of way.

This isn't entirely directed at you Monte Carlo. I'm wondering "Why?", what's up with the negative attitude regarding this? Is it envy? Is it insecurity? Is it because others can and you can not? Because I am getting this feeling it's rooted somewhere around there (and not at all in the perceived "amateurs!"-comments), that this is something that only some could do and not everyone. "It's unfair, I also want to have a finger in this" but can't, won't or is too insecure for it. Am I wrong? Ask this question instead: Why wouldn't Obsidian benefit from this? A) Script, send out to community, give the community a deadline to decide "If you haven't found anyone by 2 weeks, then we'll carry on with the original plan" (And they could time it well enough that it wouldn't interrupt any schedules) B) Let the community decide (and Obsidian holding their original plan on the side in case the community would fail miserably) C) Community decides "This sounds really good!" -> Give to Obsidian (And I mean, if this community would like it, then I bet it'd be up to par) D) It could be a fun community event altogether too. It doesn't have to be "American Idol" hah, but maybe more like a Kareoke party amongst friends. How much time would Obsidian have to spend on it? Not much, sending out the "Audition Script" pretty much, which could be an actual text in the game. As for money, how much would they have to spend on it? 0. 0 moneys, volunteer 100%. No one should expect to get paid anything (except a name in the credits, and I believe that's where this all boils down too, again, the whole "That is unfair!"-dealio). Did I hit the mark? EDIT: Did I mention the marketing exposure? Did I also mention that Obsidian could, theoretically, ask gaming channels on YouTube to, for fun, audition themselves and in turn promote Eternity in doing so? If Obsidian would do some sort of "Community Audition" like this, it's possible that it could get more exposure in gaming media as well, not that it is exactly "starving" in getting exposed right now but if you see a gaming news story with some sort of headline saying: "Contribute with your voice! Get a chance to be in the credits!" doesn't that news headline tingle an interest (in the general populace) more than "Here's the Eternity Voice Cast"? you know you better run run run run ruuun on sentence revolution

But alas me lad, someone had to write the walkthrough first And for a community like the Kickstarter community, we're probably going to be the first to discover these things. I mentioned this before with the Pendant from Dark Souls. There's excitement and stories to be shared of findings and whatnot, the first who enters the world of Eternity will be Explorers and Discoverers, Colonizers (Modders) and Adventurers of various forms. Cartographs etc. etc. etc. In Suikoden for instance, there were many characters I used a walkthrough for (Cus I wanted all of the 108 of them, gotta catch em all ya know), but there were also characters that I stumbled across that were really hard to get according to walkthroughs, but I found some of them without using it. There's a random element in it, you might think you're playing the game just as you want to, but really, you're doing something secret-y designed for the game. Then, when someone shouts "THIS CHARACTER IS REALLY HARD TO GET!!" you'll answer casually "Oh, you mean this one? I thought it was canon!! Wooo! Propropro!" or whatnot TL;DR: I kinda went out of my way here with the post, the point is written in one sentence right underneath the quote. EDIT: See, this thread posted here on the Obsidian Forums, Pillars of Eternity General Discussion, is exactly the whole thing I'm talking about with (which I now shall call) "The Pendant Complex". "Someone finds it first". So this whole "metagaming" dealio~ whatever, there's some excitement in the hunt too

This... this is actually really good. But we'd still need some sample script or whatnot to follow, like a template or audition script. A Community Audition Script that everyone can play around with, then the Community decides who sounds good and who doesn't. And anyone going into it will have to take the risk themselves of getting bashed hard in the face by the cruelty of "Internet". Good idea Bartimaeus.

I don't really see the problem with volunteer voice acting, I mean, if it's up to snuff and the volunteer actually has good gear and all... why not? It doesn't cost Obsidian anything... volunteer, after all. Well, the only thing they would have to do would be to send out scripts to these selected few. Otherwise, probably lots of opportunity for volunteers to add their voice post-release as well. Perhaps even allow in the files for modders or Voice Actor Wannabes to, potentially, make the game entirely VO'd. And some selfish promotion while I'm at it: A) "I've" got a Studio (It's my dad's studio, so that might be a lil bit of an arrangement in itself to borrow it). Otherwise, renting a Studio is fairly cheap in Sweden (I think it ranges from about $200 to $500, depending on how big is it etc. etc. not hourly costs but total costs for 1 session). I'd pay for this myself of course. B) My voice got a wide range of "sounds", this is something I've practiced. I don't have any of it recorded, but I hope I am believable enough: - I can do a pretty good Smeagol/Gollum imitation - Pingu the Finnish Penguin () - Pingu is pretty high pitch, and to balance that is that I can go pretty low pitch too So if Obsidian would be interested in this, a creature, some character with a weird high-pitched voice or a low-pitched barbarian voice (I did an Orc Cleric Voice and I managed, with Audacity, to make it sound like a Grunt from WarCraft 3, almost identical ^^). Even if it's only a sound set, or a short dialogue line or whatever and they don't want to spend too much money on it. Just... feel free to use me. I also went to school for theater, if that's a merit *shrug* I sing a lot and have been doing so for quite a long time, so I'm pretty confident and sure of what my voice can do and what it can't do. All I'm saying is that there are free assets to use here. Maybe not me if I'm not trustworthy, or credible, or whatever Obsidian feels about it (I don't honestly care much what the fans think, because this is entirely up to Obsidian whether they want to use this or not), but I can't help but feel that there's an untapped "mineral vein" here that could be used. A voice is expensive, I've both heard and read, and if it's outsourced it's expensive as ****. So why not?

Weeeeell, the sad part about Loghain (which I never recruited on my two complete playthroughs), is that he's one of those "Last moment"-companions. I can't say much more than that as I've never experienced playing with him but that's one of the reasons why I never got him... you get him "too late", but it's also depending on how the Player wants to experience their story. I dunno if this is canon or mod but there's a similar thing with Sarevok in Baldur's Gate... people talking about how they recruited him. Is this a mod or canon? Regardless, "Last moment"-companions is something I hope Obsidian avoids.

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Bump! 2 days, now 195'000 views.

I came here with a different purpose but when I saw Merlkir's post I had to react to it somehow... BERRRRSEEEEEEEEERRRRK!!!!!!!!! <3 Back to topic, some Wizard stuff and magical wear/armour and whatnot... COATS!:

So why aren't we discussing the glorious gloriousness of RTwP that can (with the right options) act as both Real Time and Turn-Based? Furthermore... in the PCWorld Interview (scroll down to the bottom) with Obsidian (Adam Brennecke, Josh Sawyer), Adam, mentions that it would be easier to mod rules (just for comparison and relevancy thereof: Environments are difficult to mod in)... so with that said... Eternity would allow someone to, potentially and with a lot of work done to it, mod in Turn-Based conceptual rules So what is superior? The one stuck in Turn-Based or the one with Real Time with Pause and a future (potentially) Turn-Based Mod? EDIT: Was that a cosmic table flip I heard?

The tabletop game is just Numenera, the cRPG is Torment: Tides of Numenera (TToN). @Topic, again: First of all *slowclap* @Helm, very good post and right on spot. I've talked about this before in another thread. I hope TToN gets great reception and is a great experience, but I am concerned that we'll get a "This is nothing like Planescape!!" because of Turn-Based and it's a "Spiritual Successor" to the same game. Why? Because whether the game is Turn-Based, Real-Time, Top-Down, First Person, 3rd Person, Driving Game or whatever... it determines how you, the Player, experiences the game world. It is how you move in the world, how you interract, how you prepare and how you deal with combat. It determines your mindset and mentality when you tackle the game in overall. Suffice to say it affects a lot. "Shadowrun" and "Shadowrun: Returns" is an excellent example of this in my opinion. Albeit Shadowrun is a primitive game nowadays, it still had the freedom of movement, Shadowrun: Returns does not. Don't get me wrong, I love Turn-Based games but they do restrict in a way that Real-Time does not. You are always "locked" on a "square" or a "hex" or whatever you walk on in Turn-Based games. I believe it'll be a great game, but I have this 50/50 BioWare feeling going on... ya know... "Dragon Age is a Baldur's Gate spiritual successor" deal.

"No rest for the Avellone"

@nikolokolus: Yes, characters with dialogue and story and goals etc. etc. Recruiting characters from the Adventurer's Hall is going to be fun on a playthrough or two (though I'm going to opt out of recruiting altogether when I play on Hardcore just because self-imposed difficulty, so if I lose... let's say Edair... to permadeath, I wouldn't be able to replace him whatsoever). @Pshaw: It's in the PCWorld interview, environments are kind of "It's difficult, even for us" but rules, items, questlines (according to Adam in the interview) should be easier(?). We'll see ^^

Don't know if anyone else has added this but here ya go: Joystiq Article EDIT: Nothing new~

Hm, a very good point Pshaw. Bring out the Modified Hammer! *the ground cracks, light and sparkles appear everywhere, an explosive force is sent out and out comes two small little goblins dragging a large hammer out, with thick metal plats having been screwed into it with big nuts & bolts* Thank you.... now... begone *as the words have been spoken, the little goblins disappear in a puff of smoke, and so does the crack in the ground* Will it be possibile to mod Companions into the game you think? :D

But isn't this something we encounter in every game? Not necessarily what I am suggesting, but things we miss and things we might oversee or walk right past. Items, characters, side-quests or whatever. Not everyone plays a game 100% and looks underneath every stone. Should there be signs telling us what's "right" and what's "left" so we don't take the wrong path that we absolutely don't want to go? But your assessment is right, the idea is pointing towards "If you'd done something different a long time ago, you would have gotten something here". Which is exactly the point... "what" exactly was there previously? Wouldn't you be curious? I do get your point, and one idea to solve that could be to see this "secret character" or whatnot run away during the "big battle" or whatever it is that makes the character run away. Preferably, perhaps, into Od Nua. This gives the Player (if they notice him/her running away) an incentive to actually follow the character, but then if you would choose not to follow then it's all on you when you do get there later. Then it's "If you had followed this character then you'd found something here". In a way it's the same thing as "If you had done something different..." but it's not the developer's fault, it's the Players fault.

When Kickstarter gets too mainstream we'll start going to Kickstopper. EDIT: Great post I just couldn't help myself with the quote

Correction: The video was actually around 185'000 (185'430 or something) as I posted this OP.

Sui generis is attempting it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuOzmyED5qA#t=603 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqaRqih7Cuw Huzzah! Loving it :D EDIT: That's what I've been talking about regarding Eternity. Would've been awesome to see that sort of combat in Eternity, except that it's all scripted combat instead of ARPG combat. Don't know if I'm using the right term with "scripted" there but I think you get it. In essence: Clicking an enemy would make the character perform the actions that you see the Player performing in Sui Generis. Sui Generis requires Player Skill in this sense, but clicking the enemy would require the Character Skill to defeat an enemy. What I've seen from Witcher 3 as well, it seems it is attempting something similar.

You can play a solo character, but it's going to be difficult on higher difficulties. I imagine you could finish the game with some difficulty on Casual/Easy with a Solo character and lots of reloads. But as you climb in the difficulty options it's probably going to get tougher and tougher, but that doesn't mean that people will try it and perhaps even be successful even at the highest difficulty. BioWare said that Dragon Age: Origins should be near impossible to finish on Nightmare and Soloing, yet people managed to do just that anyways. So we'll see.

Hah! Don't tell me what I like in video games. Episode 3, in my opinion, is the best Penny Arcade Rain Slick game. It is the one part that is furthest from "crap", in my opinion. It made me laugh out loud and I enjoyed it a lot. The combat was fast-paced and the story made me just want to get more story, one of those games that kept me playing cus I just wanted more. It was good fun to play. So no, I don't think "they'd be better off if never made", cus if they had never been made then I would never have enjoyed Episode 3 (which I think is the best in the series). P.S. Final Fantasy VI is the best Final Fantasy. Now you should know what I think about "looks" in video games (for your indulgance: I don't give a damn)

That's the thing (I underlined), you wouldn't be "supposed to" do it. A Conditional Companion is the same thing as an "Optional Companion", just like all the other companions is "Optional", but with some Conditions to them. You aren't "supposed to" get all the Companions in the game, not even in Baldur's Gate are you "supposed to" do it. That's entirely up to you who you want. The wonderful thing, in my opinion, with Conditional Companions are that they are usually more significant due to their conditions. For instance, in Suikoden, many of the companions or party members you recruit you get fairly easy, but then there are those who you have to get by fulfilling some requirements, and then they appear. They are more memorable and often times the best characters in the game. They are like "Secrets" and often loaded with some mysterious and/or awesome plot. EDIT: I also want to emphasize that it is not "punishing" in any way at all. It is just a design technique for adding "secrets content" or "hidden content". Not "easter eggs" (which I think are different), but plain good ol' secrets.

We stand by two different opinions here, and I respect yours, but I don't think it is garbage. I am curious though, where do you get your opinion and experience from? Why do you think episodic content is garbage if you've never experienced it? And if you have experienced it, which game that released episodic content made you feel that way? Episodic garbage means they've mismanaged funds and are hoping to complete the game with funds from a piece of a game that in essence puts the entire game in danger of never seeing an end or getting very poor quality completion. I don't care what they say or promise, the moment the word "episodic" comes in I am out and that's the end of that nonsense. Example: look at the Peeny Arcade game....episodic, was shut down after episode 2. Penny Arcade is 4 episodes bro. Episode 3 is actually really good (Episode 4 was a bit of a disappointment, I haven't even finished it). I do not think it's the best example to make either, in fact I think it's a really bad example to make, mostly because of the nature of the game (it is a comical and, honestly, kind of below average game with below average mechanics) and that Penny Arcade aren't even video game developers (they are closer to be "journalists" and webcomic comedy), which means they hired a low-cost studio to make games for them. I remember them writing an article on their site saying something like "Video games costs a lot to make" and explaining why Episode 3 might never see the light of day (Thanks to Zeboyd, it did, in a different and much better format). No ill againt the developers of the two first Penny Arcade games but... they were pretty bland in comparison to many more serious games. They made me laugh, chuckle and facepalm in a comedic fashion, which is the exact reason why I played them. Not because I thought "THESE GAMES ARE SO GOED!", but because I support Penny Arcade and wanted some light entertainment. If Obsidian, or BioWare, or maybe Blizzard, would release episodic games (Oh.. wait! StarCraft II! Scratch that last one), then I imagine the game itself with it's plot would carry itself very well. Regardless if it is episodic- or full game release. EDIT: I suspect you haven't played StarCraft II or that it isn't your genre even to begin with so *shrug* really~ seeing as it isn't a complete game and all by your standards.