Zz'gashi

Met my wife playing DnD at a friends house. Would be nice to play with her.

I really don't like the term "epic level item" because it implies randomly generated loot with a different colored name. In a story driven RPG, any item that significant should have a back story and reason for appearing where it does, usually with a quest associated to it.

How death is handled really sets the context for everything else in the game, and it has to work with the save system. I think most players will load a save if they loose a character they care about, and then permanent deaths only serve as a frustration. Having story only deaths cheapens the character's lives. I'm hoping for an optional hardcore mode where you only get the autosave and everyone permanently dies from combat and story choices (but with a bleed out period, so you have a chance and it isn't too frustrating, while maintaining an element of belivability). They have said the game has a focus on souls, so maybe Obsidian already has a unique idea with an in-world explanation.

It might be worth adding Korean, Thai, or Japanese translations, but I don't think the game should be changed to accommodate any stereotypical "Asian tastes"

I think it's important that weapons and equipment look believably functional, and real life is a very good reference, but we fantasy games need an exotic element to them. Instead of making thing equipment nonsensical shapes and sizes I think it's best to make up fantastic materials and ways they are forged. I feel like Elder Scrolls's glass and deadric armors/weapons are good examples of this.

For me my highest priority is character creation options. How I view myself affects the entire game, and can give entirely different perspectives on the same events. I simply cannot ever have enough character creation options. My second highest priority is the choices and consequences. These give the differences substance, meaning, and replay-ability. I also feel like developers these days (not just RPGs) are too afraid to use consequences. They are just as powerful of a tool as rewards, and without both sides of the coin a world becomes shallow and unbelievable. Villains and victims aren't secretly out to just feed you loot. Sometimes doing good is it's own reward, and sometimes it's the much harder path. Being evil and selfish might get you more gold, but you probably won't make as many friends along the way.

As long as the characters are written in a way to make them seem believable, I will like any setting.

Achievements can be good, but it's very rare. Any decent RPG will find a way to reward players for finding different solutions to problems in-game without breaking immersion.