Ninjamestari

The threat mechanism might actually work if done properly. For one, the threat levels should represent the combat situation, so you couldn't build up threat in advance in order to make an enemy completely ignore a much deadlier foe that enters the battle. Maybe the threat levels could be tracked for the last 5 seconds or so to make your foes react into changing situations better. Distance should also be a factor; especially melee oriented fighters should prefer to attack enemies that are close to them. An archer might try to avoid the attention of your melee fighters by focusing on your supporting characters and spellcasters. Critical hits with ranged attacks might cause some enemies to hunt down the archer (an ogre might be rather mad after getting an arrow to one of his eyes, trying to direct his anger to the party member responsible) or things like that. All in all the goal is to make enemy NPCs behave more intelligently (not all of them, a stupid ogre should fight like a stupid ogre, not like a master tactician), and more realistically.

Companion characters should have lots of interesting features besides combat abilities; your companions should affect a lot of things you can do in the game. Maybe that old wizard isn't that great in combat, but he might know a lot of secrets he's willing to teach you, help you summon extraplanar entities to make deals with, open up questlines, maybe he'll use those insane divination spells of his to grant you information which might give you a unique approach to some story situation. He might be able to detect magical traps, identify your items, craft you wands, write scrolls and brew potions as more directly useful abilities. My point is that there are other ways to make a companion useful and balanced besides balancing their combat efficiency. The main problem with crpgs these days is their heavy focus on combat; everything is shaped and defined around combat. Even though I might be repeating myself by saying this, I think that combat should only be one part of an rpg. I feel that one part dialogue and character interaction, one part exploration and one part combat is a rather good mix. If the game content is versatile enough, then combat balance becomes a moot point when it comes to companions and character classes.

I don't want the game to bind me to the computer, I want to be able to leave with a moments notice without losing my progress. Thus I definitely want to be able to save at will. As far as resting goes, it should be restricted to inns and camps anyway to enhance immersion, making rest abuse less of an issue. I definitely don't want to see another NWN2 5sec rest in the dungeon and full spell mayhem type implementation. Regardless of how resting is implemented, I absolutely want to be able to save at will.

I like the idea of restricting resting into certain areas, such as inns and places where you can stay warm and such. Maybe your characters would also need nourishment every now and then in order to rest. Getting to that inn after a long journey on the overgrown forest road should feel as much a relief to the player as it does to the character. That gives you a completely different mindset when you approach the NPCs inside the inn while you order some food and drink. Talking about food and drink, you could have some kind of mood/nourishment variable that would partially determine how much you benefit from resting for example, which would make that relaxing ale a good idea (too much drink would obviously have a reverse effect). Maybe your thief might even persuade the local tavern wench to help the party relax in other ways. EDIT: oh, and perhaps you might want to try a game of dice or cards so that you can afford a better room? Your thief might have some tricks up his/her sleeve to help you tip the odds in your favor. Resting in wilderness areas might require you to construct a camp, a fire or something. You might need special items such as bedrolls or you might just get penalties for a lousy resting place, such as catching a cold for resting outside on a rather cold and rainy night. Your race and stats might affect the amount your character needs to rest in order to fully recover his stamina. As far as hitpoints go, I don't think you should be able to passively regenerate wounds without some special supernatural or magical trait, and even if you rest those wounds should be treated properly. Perhaps a first aid skill that you can use to bind your wounds in order to let the character heal during the resting period. Food could contribute to that as well. I absolutely abhor the instant regeneration after combat that the Dragon Age games have. It removes another layer of difficulty from the game, which is managing the health of your party. I liked older games where it wasn't enough to win the battle; if you took too much damage you'd be too wounded to continue to the next fight and you'd be forced to retreat, regroup and recuperate before continuing your journey.

A good role playing game offers a lot of versatile content; if the thief who sucks at combat feels like a dead weight to your party then the content simply isn't designed properly. The reason games like Dragon Age and MMOs have molded rogues into a damage dealing combat role is the fact that there isn't any content besides combat in those games. Exploration, Sneaking type quests, secret areas, tricky locks that lead to greater treasure, situations where you need that silver tongued rogue should be plentiful. The only way to make rogues interesting is to design enough content for them, no amount of dual wielding combat badassery is going to do that. I say that if you want to be a dual wielding finesse fighter, roll a fighter, not a thief. It's easy to make rogues more useful by adding secret passages and ambush points. You might start an encounter by charging in with your fighters while your thieves flank the enemy. You might encounter an enemy camp full of sleeping bandits, and now it's time for that thief of yours to slit some throats, lay some traps and maybe misplace a few of the bandits' armaments. Maybe cause a distraction by setting the enemy horses loose and scaring them away, start a fire so that your party can attack a confused enemy. EDIT: ok, maybe it's not easy to script but it's the only real way that works. Just think outside the box and forget direct combat and you'll find lots of ways to make rogues both interesting and valuable party members.