Adam Meyers

This is exactly what I feel. I want a serious RPG, not fantasy- themed softporn for 15- year olds who have never seen a naked woman in their entire lives. It's so tragic when games almost subconsciously repeat the same silly, immature sexual objectification of women because it's "always been done that way" in the male- dominated field of computer games. When people put thier thoughts to it, I think most would prefer a realistic portrayal of women in games. This is more important than people realize, as it sets the tone of the game. It's this sort of detail that determines whether you treat your audience as intelligent people or 15 year old horn-balls, whether you attract a more mature audience or immature one, whether it's more welcoming to all players or just dude-bros, and whether it's a 'turn your brain off' or 'turn your brain on' sort of game. Some of the most serious, artistic games in the world have been hurt by having an immature depiction of women in their games, as it breaks realism and intelligent analysis on the part of the audience (oddly, these games are often the games to back off when they reach an actual, appropriate time for sexuality. Apparently, they just keep underestimating their audience right and left.) I want to see realistic depictions of females and female armor, etc., because I want to see this game become what it should be. As the OP said, there are good, appropriate, or even necessary times in a story, theme or game for things like attractive characters, sex scenes, or even fan service. The question here is whether the game will treat itself, and us, with enough intelligence to tell a truly gripping story, or whether it will undercut itself artistically and intelligently by distracting us from deeper, better subjects with a quick "Look, elven boobs held in by nothing but a few leather belts!" every time we turn it on.

I'm a big fan of RPGs, especially tabletop ones, due to their extreme player freedom. If someone came up to me and said they wanted to run a game where we owned a blacksmith's shop I'd probably say no, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try and open one whilst simultaneously questing to save the world. In an average campaign I'll hire brigands I was supposed to fight, run animals through a dungeon to trigger traps, build my own town, or spec a character out as an expert distiller just so I can start an organization of rum-runners, all while questing through dungeons and battling monsters. On a spectrum ranging from strict RPG dungeon crawls on one end and 'The Sims' on the other, a lot of modern games keep pushing toward the middle. However, there's only so far an AAA mega-hit can push things- Skyrim has lots of options, but still it's what I CAN'T do that sticks out to me the most, and while Fable always marketed their games on your player freedom, their "Run a Kingdom," "Own a shop," and "Have kids" were almost in name only, as they always came with very few options and very little interaction. Project Eternity will and should focus on glorious old-school RPG-hood, but since the lack of cutting-edge graphics and engine frees it up from the budgetary limiters of games like Skyrim and Fable, I can't help but wonder what extra options could they make available beyond the usual stab-and-grab? We already know there will be a customizable house, companion romances, and the ability to bypass combats with diplomacy, but how much of that uninhibited table-top feel will they try to capture? What sorts of things have you always wanted to see in a computer RPG, but until now never have? My wishlist for Project Eternity goes something like this: Be a pirate. Own and run a store, or otherwise make 'merchant' something you can actively be. Own and run a fortress. Join and rise to the top of an organization, then still have an active use for it in the game (as opposed to Elder Scrolls, where once you run an organization it might as well not exist anymore.) Court, get married, and customize a house. Maybe even kids who get older with in-game time. Have unorthodox character build options, like one focused on crafting, that's also a viable character choice. Make diplomacy, intelligence, crafting, etc., open up now game options rather than just be an alternative to punching people in the face. Interact with animals, followers, or hirelings. So what's your wishlist for in-game options?

I like the idea of crafting in games, but I think it could be handled better than it usually is. Sometimes it's superfluous (as you only make things you don't need or can easily buy or find,) or it's too labor-intensive (it's a must-have to get the best equipment in the game, and so takes up a lot of time scrounging for materials, etc.) I'd love it if we could find a third option, one that was included for and focused on fun and enhancing the game experience. Is crafting something that is independent of class, build, and level-advancement, so everyone does it equally? Then I'd love to see crafting be used for unique, rather than powerful, things like extra bits of fun equipment not found anywhere else, upgrades to already-found equipment, frequently-used potions, and maybe a quest or two where you have to aid a master crafter make those super-powerful weapons. Is crafting something that must be invested in as part of a build, with alternate crafting options (alchemy, blacksmithing, etc.?) Than I'd love to see crafting be a true potential build-focus, where instead of just supplementing your 'true' build with extra options, you could actually make crafting an intricate part of your approach to the game. Something like using alchemy to make and use powerful bombs and healing potions, using blacksmithing to improve your equipment before a fight, with fun, new options like using sculpting to create statues you can animate with magic to be grunt soldiers, or opening a shop in your house that added depth to the game with extra quests. I don't know what would be completely outside the scope of this game, but I always thought I'd love to see a modern RPG where we were truly given free reign, able to sail ships, craft siege engines, run a shop or fortress, make powerful items, etc as we saw fit as central options, rather than superfluous add-ons. I'd love to see this game not only let us be a fighter, thief or mage, but also an alchemist, a builder, an enchanter, or artisan as an equally-viable and alternate build option. I'm not that familiar with New Vegas crafting (as was mentioned above,) but maybe you could even have a mechanist crafting character, where they really do take whatever strange things they've found and turn them into useful items. Perhaps that's only a pipedream, and it's obviously very inspired by the 3rd party Artisan Class from Pathfinder, but still it seemed appropriate to bring up here. More information on crafting and enchanting in the game would, of course, be appreciated.