Lv99Wizard

Such a mechanic will frustrate the vast majority of players and be interesting to only a very few. I'm not sure that would warrant it even being an option in the hardcore modes. It's certainly interesting though and might increase the longevity of the game.

I honestly think it was just a diagram to represent how many levels have been achieved. I really doubt there will be a massive statue extending from level 3 to 13. That would be super boring. And how exactly are you going to fight a statue 100m+ tall in an isometric view? It would look silly, like attacking 10 giant toes. I hope the dungeon will have a lot of variety, personally, because 13 levels is a lot.

What self-respecting wizard *holds* their grimoire? Obviously, it will be suspended in mid-air by tendrils of magic.

This is an excellent idea for a project with infinite money. But in reality, I don't think it would be a good allocation of resources. If Justin Sweet (for example) was to submit some portraits for free to Obsidian just to showcase his skills to the world, that would be awesome. Someone should tell him.

the DA:O and NWN UIs have a completely different feel to the IE games. The IE games had perfectly good UI's so I hope those are emulated, with the possible inclusion of a minimap, but I'm really on the fence about that. I really like the intricacy of the IWD2 interface with it's Greek motif. The one thing that's really important is a resize-able dialogue window. I really want the ability to maximise that when necessary (and read back previous choices) and minimize it in combat (to 1 or 2 lines).

Seriously? (I can't find a P:E facebook) I really think that should count towards the next mega dungeon level.

Man if random people just started pooping on my work (even though I actually know what the eff I'm doing since it's my chosen *career* and they're nobodies) I'd be a little mad. Also, a name is literally the least important aspect of a race (and pretty much anything) in a new fantasy setting. I can't think of anything more petty to cry about. Such a thing literally doesn't exist. You couldn't even Wish (lvl 9 Spell) for it. edit:had to replace some mean words.

I think that, because technology has advanced so much in a decade, it will be a lot easier/quicker/cheaper to implement the creative ideas and iterations that P:E (and the mega dungeon) will go through. So, I don't think that 8, 9, 10 or more levels will impact the size of each individual level. Obsidian have all the monies and about 18 months to make it happen. This mega dungeon will be huge and awesome.

Excellent update. I'm playing "dream the impossible dream" as we speak. That screenshot is awesome! It definitely recaptures the feel of the old IE games. But! I was really hoping to see a character I know it's really early and so on but characters in P:E won't be the 2D sprites like the previously were. I was really hoping to see what 3D characters would look like...Maybe just before the end of the kickstarter?

I like the Endurance/Health idea personally. Blocking a mace strike with your shield will obviously take effort but won't do any damage. Having your endurance then regenerate seems perfectly sensible to me. If, instead, your character actually gets hit by the mace then the damage taken shouldn't heal without spell/potion/salve. What's important is that you don't have to deplete endurance points to cause damage.

Would having cover mechanics just devolve into the party hiding while the mages throw spells at people? That's probably a worst case scenario though. It could work.

Otiluke's Resilient Sphere was also sweet. Send your weakest party towards the enemy. Let them surround him/her. Otiluke's resilient sphere followed by every AoE spell you had centered on the cluster of hapless enemies. Good times.

More classes = more awesomeness. I never tried playing a Bard in the original IE games but chanters sound very interesting. Especially this part: "chanters are able to recite their chants while occupied with other activities"

Web and/or Entangle. (Followed by the brutal cascade of Skull Traps/Glyphs of Warding/Fireballs.) That was the beauty of that system, no singular spell was perfect alone but there were Earth shattering combinations.

How is "promising an expansion of P:E" not expanding the game? What kind of cognitive dissonance is this? Facebook likes are completely free but it's far more important than that. It allows the presence of the project to explode, driving up the potential backers in KS and PayPal. Wasteland 2 wasn't an enticing reward to me personally and I was totally hoping for a screenshot that Fergus has been teasing all week. For those reasons, and not the ones alluded to by the OP, I found the update underwhelming. Also, I wish they would do portraits (like the dwarf ranger they first showed) rather than concept art.

Yeah that was also my main concern with this but I'm sure the artists et al at Obsidian could come up with a solution. Maybe just simply map the Tab key to put the overlay on/off. Very much like how the map works in D3. You get all the information at a glance, queue up party orders, remove the overlay and then concentrate on the action.

Why? If it fit's the setting why not? Do you something better to offer? Because there is a limited budget and it would be much better to have a great story and a lengthy gameplay time rather than two classes which only you want. If the 2.5mill stretch goal is hit, there will be 7 classes. That's more than enough for a game.

What about archers? Or a spell which temporarily dampens the effect in the vicinity? Or sneaking in with the thief first? Or, of course, luring monsters back a room. I envisage the bonus to be in different locations in every room so there shouldn't be a great need to back track too far. This is similar to engaging monsters on a bridge except it also applies to spell casters. You raise some interesting points but I think they could be easily overcome with the right balancing.

This is an excellent option which many people will really enjoy and will not impact those who don't use it. Not even in the slightest. All of the stated concerns are fiction.

I had an idea back in the IE games which would have spiced up tactics during combat. It involved certain bonuses to magic damage (for example) based on where the caster was standing. So, if they were in the Vale of Shadows and the mage casts a necromancy spell in a room it would do X damage. But, if they cast that same spell from/near the sacrificial altar in that room, the spell would do X+Y damage. To generalise and integrate this with the little lore we know so far - what if the soul energy collected/pooled in certain areas of the map I will refer to as "soul fonts". This would make them more tactically valuable and incentivise the player to try to reach that point before casting. Of course, they may be well defended so that tactical choice would be important. And they could be occupied by an enemy caster (or the caster could be racing towards the "font" which would make them massively more of a threat). I envision a spell or ability which would give the player a "heat map" type overlay to show which areas are good for casters and which are not. This information would not be visible until the activity is used. This could be extended to other classes - for example a fighter would rather engage on solid ground rather than knee deep water - although that could be too tedious to implement. This mechanic opens up many possibilities and could be implemented in various ways. The distribution of soul energy could be pre-defined or random, static or dynamic, or even a mixture of these depending on the environment. It would require strong planning skills, scouting and would add variety to encounters. So, even though you managed to take out those 10 lizardmen + Shaman in the last room, these 10 lizardmen + Shaman are sitting on a soul font. How do you propose to deal with it? I'd appreciate some feedback. (What I mean is, I want to hear from anyone who agrees :3)

But this idea of certain spell levels being locked out has evolved from D&D 3rd/4th ed magic rules, doesn't it? I read on the forums that system has "encounter abilities" as well as "per-day" abilities. So it isn't exactly untested. I was a big critic of this initially (because I played dragon age expecting a BG experience and couldn't even finish either of the games). But honestly, I think this system can achieve the challenges of the IE games while at the same time innovating the genre with grimoires and so on. I'm actually quite excited to see the finished product. And Obsidian haven't even bribed me with anything to say this. Cheap-skates

I put down "by deducing their location from lore" but it's a very hypocritical choice because I always use guides and walkthroughs when I've actually played IE games. I feel so ashamed

I generally agree that randomization wouldn't easily fit in my perfect P:E final product. I do think it is necessary to have a chance of random encounters upon resting in a dungeon. It will also work well, I think, in the endless paths. Maybe the entire dungeon or maybe (more likely) on just one of the levels. That way, there is always the element of surprise on level 3. Or maybe even randomise the random level so you never know when to expect it. That could be fun.

I'm actually being won over by the recent revelations regarding this. It seems like the devs are really trying to focus on tactical gameplay but also innovate how that happens. Particularly the grimoire dynamics. That will be very interesting indeed to play with. I don't want a carbon copy of IWD with a different story overlaid. This is a brand new world with new mechanics and a new type of magic system. Fundamentally, the fact they are implementing a per-rest recharge for certain spells is the most positive announcement. People could always mod every spell to be per-rest if they wanted to in the final product. Quit your belly-aching, you got everything you've asked for.

I think it is a travesty that there are so few like (~6700 currently) considering that it's free and has a direct benefit to the finished game. Just another reason to add to the list of why I hate facebook. It has failed me in every conceivable way. If I had 10k to pledge, I'd make a character called Blark Suckerberg - a lawful evil dwarf.