TheTeaMustFlow

I would most appreciate a rather natty Chapeau of Magnetic Inversion, old boy. They were awfully good in Arcanum, don't you know. Or any other kind of awesome hat, what? Also: Tea, magitech monocles and imperialism.

What I like is where you have to beat some challenges using a combination of dialogue and combat skills - take Sion in KotOR 2, who you could weaken significantly in conversation (eroding his will, a serious problem for a Sith Lord more or less held together by it) during the fight, and could be difficult if not impossible to beat otherwise.

Taking as a definition of Grimdark: `Not only is the world awful, but it can't be improved` (eg. 40K or 1984), I'd have to say no. What I'd like is a World Half Full type setting, where the world is pretty crap, but not without hope - Fallout is one of the better examples, as well as anything `dark` done by Bioware. For a serious RPG, neither min nor max Grimdark work: In `boot-stamping-on-a-human-face-forever` works, we tend to get Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy, and a happy mario style world cannot be taken seriously, and either is bad for Willing Suspension of Disbelief, which is utterly critical. Give us some darkness to curse, please - but give us an option to light a candle. Or a flamethrower. Flamethrowers are good too.

As a rule, unwinnable encounters only work if 1) they have a good reason to be unwinnable 2) We get to actually play through the encounter Good reason, in this context, basically means something way out of your league - like an eldritch abomination or a god in the flesh. Or just utterly overwhelming numerical superiority. One of the best done (almost) unwinnable encounters was the first fight against Ser Cauthrien in DAO, not least because it was theoretically possible to win (although it required massive leveling and good tactics, or essentially cheating), and the enemy you fought was one that had any right being so powerful - the antagonists lieutenant (also his best fighter) and her battalion of elite soldiers, backed up by several mages. You actually fought the encounter and, for the most part, got your backside royally kicked and taken prisoner. You also did get the opportunity to get even later as you fought Cauthrien again, when she had far less troops behind her. An example of most certainly how not to do it is the first fight against Kai Leng in ME3, where you go from easily beating him in something not worthy of the name `boss fight` to him owning you with the almighty power of the cutscene. That was worse even than a similar situation in KotOR (released nine years earlier), where the same thing happened, but at least you were fighting a sith lord, not some ninja wannabe. And I've only ever seen one example of getting beaten solely in a cutscene work: Jade Empire. If you've played it, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, cease, repent, and buy the game immediately. You will be enlightened in the ways of the good writing and the foreshadowing.

I never really liked the 1500s stuff. Stick with medieval, IMHO - maybe with some later elements. Like Top Hats and Monocles. Because the Chapeau of Magnetic Inversion was what made Arcanum awesome.

It's probable that the class options will exist for magic knight builds. Yuan-Ti, despite their awesomeness, seem impossible outside of a mod (I think D&D have copyright on them or somesuch). But maybe we can hope for DLC that adds more options. And forget not Rule #1 of the Obsidian RPG - the Modders Will find a way. Personally, I'd like a race of incorporeal beings that possess specially made suits of plate armour. I remember making such up as villains in a PnP campaign, and hilarity ensued. Particularly when the Fighter tried on the `treasure` he found.

Personally, I would like having complete voice acting (protagonists accepted), but the money and time could be better spent. I would like major characters to be fully voiced though.

Some of the issues suggested don't (from what little we know) seem to have any relevance to the PE world. Like Tech VS Faith - I'm not seeing a reason so far for religions to have any opposition to technology. In real life, religious opposition to technology (which was and is a lot more nuanced than common knowledge suggests) was mainly based on contradiction of doctrine. Since in PE the existence of Deities seems proven beyond all reasonable doubt, why should technological development change that? And disease - given that we've got healing magic that can mend a great-sword wound in a moment, that might suggest disease to be something less of a problem. Also, I've never really liked misogyny being a massive theme in fantasy. Not least because a female mage can reduce you to dust just as well as a male one.

I'd like to point out that were PE to espouse, say, the stances of Randian Objectivism (not, incidentally, an ideology I support), you might not have such a dismissive attitude. And though Obsidian has a better record than most publishers at approaching political issues with tact and neutrality, you can't say for sure there won't be any political stance espoused, because as mentioned above, they haven't said anything​. In fact, unless my eyes deceive me, that seems to be the title of this topic - `I wish we knew more`, not `aaah! Leftism! Getitoff!`. In my opinion, any political stance, in any game, from any side, tends to detract from enjoyability as the game never approaches the issue in anything near realistic detail. While I can't actually think of any games that actually espouse a right-wing viewpoint, I know that the heavy-handed use of such in, say, Heinlein or Rand can be offputting. The filibustering in Starship Troopers annoyed me even though I broadly agreed with it. Looking back at previous posts, I don't believe anyone asked for PE to take sides, or tried to make anyone else `apologise` for their viewpoint, or claimed any `special status`. Here's what the OP (by my judgement, one of the more... insistent posters) said: All anyone has asked for is neutrality and info. Not protection of viewpoints, nor damnation of them. No one's even said that they might `overlook` this project because of it's political points. Argue with what people have actually said, not the strawman.

Definitely some good suggestions here. Haven't got any real problems from a gameplay standpoint, though I don't like the lore idea where a wizard is defined by a powerful soul, which suggests that wizards are born, not made by skill and effort. Never been a fan of that kind of concept. Also, we most definitely need evil druids. Smug evil elven druids for me to massacre with an elephant gun. While burning down the forest. And selling them insurance.

Definitely would support spell customisation. Let my enemies fear the power of my Teacup Storm! Doesn't seem hugely likely though, alas. We can dream. And Mod.

How about one elven group takes inspiration from the Imperial Elven Navy of the Spelljammer D&D Setting, which somewhat switched the human v elf dynamic - the elves turned from isolationist smug hippies to expansionist equally smug British-Style Imperialists. How about having the elves actually do something other than exist to justify the universal elfin superiority complex. That, or let us smite them heartily, of course.

I would like it if companions had a bit more of their own opinions, and actually acted on them. One of the things I really didn't like in, DA2 was that, virtually no matter what happened, the party had no real divisions despite loyalty to Hawke (the PC) being the only thing putting them together. The Pro-Mage Extremist kills an innocent in front of the Guardswoman and the Anti-Mage Extremist - and yet they do nothing, despite hating the mage and hating the PC. If you try to keep a group of wildly diverging mindsets together, either there should be some other force keeping them together (like the threat of Apocalypse common to many games), or swords should eventually be drawn.

As per usual, I humbly suggest that we do take a leaf out of the most sacred book of Arcanum. That game, though it did allow your character to increase massively in power, often made you choose between what kind of power you got, as you only got one character point a level, and couldn't get attribute and skill increases both. While your ability in all areas did increase greatly, there ended up being a significant tradeoff between offensive and defensive power. For example, my Technologist character, by the late game, could confidently rip most anything apart at a distance with her trusty elephant gun, but was still quite vulnerable if powerful or many enemies got up close. While there was a feeling of being more powerful than most enemies, being mobbed by smaller ones or torn apart by bigger ones was still a worry - in my experience, nothing would withstand constant pounding, friend or foe. Or the epic level 3.5 D&D campaign I ran, where the party, while definitely far superior, was still threatened by enemies five or so levels below - our absent-minded lvl 25 elf sorcerer frequently found herself killed by lvl 18 Assassins. Returning to the original question, I definitely think we should be able to at least reach equal terms with all significant active NPCs within the game in terms of personal power. Or at least the `normal` ones. We should be able to win the duel with the evil general, or have the party slay the dragon king, albeit with difficulty. The only things that should be able to curb-stomp the PCs should be the Gods (which I gather rarely turn up to personally do some smiting), the Sealed Evils inna Can (because keeping the Can sealed is probably the objective), and suchlike. That, or wave upon wave of mooks. Incidentally, I'd like it if, should the party get curb-stomped, that we actually get a chance to play that and feel `legitimately` curb-stomped: for example, losing the fight with Ser Cauthrien and her battalion of soldiers at Howe's estate in DAO didn't feel too bad (not least because it was theoretically possible to win). `Losing` to Kai Leng on Thessia in ME3 was the second most annoying part of the game, because he hadn't come with some significant advantage and `won` through a cutscene, beating me only because THE PLOT DEMANDS IT!. TL, DR: Characters should become visibly much more powerful but still feel vulnerable. Should be able to equal most major NPCs. No Cutscene Curb-stomps.

Though I don't much care for the trope of being the Chosen One, I would like the main character to develop some unique/special abilities over the course of the story, so I don't just feel like Generic Hero Guy #24601.

Judging by previous forays into class issues by games, I must dissent. Class is a really, really complicated and difficult topic, and I've never seen it represented well, not least because devs aren't generally political theorists. I've rarely been given the choice to have my character make the argument I would make (probably because I'm a Libertarian, a quite small political school, and with few representatives in gaming). As a rule, I think most political problems are ones games should avoid. Racism, say, is a topic almost all of us can more or less agree on. Class ain't, and it detracts from the fun when the game seems to shove one or two specific standpoints in my mouth.

Definitely like this idea. Possibly during major missions (like say, storming the Evil Ominous Castle of DOOM), you could have as many as you want, but more companions = more visible group = more attention = more people making a fuss and trying to smash your brains in.

Good old Britain - England, to be precise. To be more precise (and to my eternal shame), Essex.

I really liked the `weapons of legacy` from D&D 3rd edition. These were basically items, often with long histories, that levelled with you, but you had to make some sacrifices for (loss of hit points or spell slots for example) and you had to complete certain rituals, like going to the grave of a previous owner. But what made these really fun was that you could be the one to start this legacy by doing something awesome. My absolute favourite was one I got in an D20 Modern Urban Arcana PnP setting... The Department 7 Team had the edge of surprise over their prey. But that was about it. The enemy in question was a demon of great power and influence who had been coordinating crime in the bowels of London for decades. To make matters worse, it was surrounded by its entourage, a group of insane cultists, armed with mad zeal, grim skill, and big shotguns. This was going to be difficult, The Reverend Karl Von Hohenheim-Stuttgart knew as, muttering the 149th Psalm under his breath, he raised his enchanted H&K G3 and fired the bullet that would begin the deadly confrontation... ... And instantly end it, as a Consecrated 7.62mm High Explosive round scythed into the demons head and reduced it to paste. Seeing their `god` killed so suddenly, the cultists dropped their weapons on the spot. But from that day onward, a little of the demons power resided in the gun that had destroyed it - and even a little of its intellect, if not its malevolence. And from that day forward, the might of the `Equaliser`, as the rifle came to be known, increased and increased, as more and more of the enemies of Righteousness, Law, Morality and Earl Grey Tea met their doom under its fire...