[New stretch goals for companions and wilderness areas?]

More stretch goals would be cool, but I'd rather see the time spent on making what we already have. You guys already have a 'fox' load of stretch goals to include, but perhaps stretch goals towards an expansion, or even post release content, would be worth considering?

[Talent trees?]

I'd prefer feats, it would fit much better in an IE style game and IWD2 had something similar.

[[Wisdom]Using this dialogue option is a better choice.]

I personally like the stat/skill indicators in front of dialogue. I wouldn't miss them too much if they weren't included, but it is handy to know which skill will be used to carry out a certain dialogue. For example if [bluff] is indicated and you pick the dialogue but fail at bluffing then they just dont believe you. Or with intimidate, they are not threatened at all by you.

[Identifying unknown items in PE]

Like with discovering the fire damage by attacking, say a weapon gives 30% magic resistance, only when that resistance is actually triggered, after a few spells (30% chance to reveal the property, since it has 30% chance to be effective) has been cast on the character wielding the weapon, is the effect revealed.

 

The game log could show a message along the lines of "character x revealed a new property of item y".

 

Convoluted? Maybe. But it would make the item immediately usable, but with its abilities hidden until discovered. That way, you wouldn't know you've found a truly epic item until you've discovered all its abilities. An item could have some descriptive text along the lines of "your feel a tingling sensation while holding the item", that would only disappear once all properties are discovered.

 

There should be an option to bring an item somewhere to identify it, in case you want to make sure there are no curses on it. Also, named items, and items with non-discoverable abilities (like spells), would need to be identified for full use.

 

For a long sword +1, you'd know once you've put it in your hand that it's a very finely balanced sword. At least if you know how to handle a sword.

 

Wild ideas.

 

Loving rjshae's idea.

 

 

Another option could be that you may have to quest to discover an ability of a particularly powerful item. For example if you found 'Flame Tongue', you would know it was a exceptional longsword, but you would have to find an old tome or research the weapon further in order to discover the phrase that causes the blade to become wreathed in magical flames.

 

For abilities like that you would not really find out by chance, unless such a phrase was inscribed upon the blade itself. Even then the phrase may be inscribed in some strange ancient runic language, thus sowing the seeds for a quest to find someone, or someplace, from where you can learn what the inscription says.

 

Of course how you'd actually code something like that into the game I have no idea.

[Identifying unknown items in PE]

To give item identification any depth, I think they would need to provide more than one set of descriptive information for every magic item. For example:

• Unidentified -- it looks like a well-made sword and is very useful for opening envelopes.
  
• Qualified -- it is unusually well balanced weapon and has some magical properties, giving it a 5-10% better chance of striking a foe and inflicting around 4-8% more damage. The weapon seems to hum slightly when you breath upon it.
  
• Identified -- this is the long lost sword of the winds. It improved attack odds and damage by +9%, while gaining a +24% to critical attacks against winged creatures and air elementals. The wielder gains a +1 to Parry and once per day it can cast gust of wind.
  

You get a Qualified result after using it for a period, or by studying it with a low Lore skill. Identified requires a much higher Lore skill, either by a player or from an expert using various identification techniques.

 

I like this idea, a two step identification method would be cool, and prevent you 'having' to memorise identify spells. Perhaps certain conditions could trigger an items abilities, thus identifying them through use. For example you would notice that your sword inflicted deeper wounds when fighting goblins etc, recognising it as a 'Goblin Bane'. Or simple enchantments that grant a bonus to hit would be conveyed as your blade striking much truer than a normal weapon, but not knowing if its +1 or +3.

 

But for the lore and full identification of an item you would need a high lore skill or to seek someone out to research it for you. I completely agree with being able to use unidentified items and gauge some ability from that through use. It would be fun and a nice change from the usual identify mechanic.

[Baldur's Gate Trilogy Fans Unity]

I'm probably one of the 'younger crowd' here at 23, but I grew up playing BG1 and 2, IWD 1 and 2 and have played PST since. I've also played the NWN, DA and ME games, along with the witcher. Personally, I enjoy the newer Bioware games , and they are fun in their own right, but personally the IE series will always, for me, be the more enjoyable games. I don't get all the hating other studios that is so prevalent in forums, and that's probably why I don't generally go on them.

 

There's a certain level of storytelling that exists in the IE games that doesn't quite come across in newer RPGs in general, perhaps its because a large amount of the budget is spent on making a reactive 3D environment, something that could otherwise be spent on other aspects. Add in Voice acting and you limit the amount of player choice you can put in. The IE games don't need this, creating an equally, if not more beautiful world through the amazing rendered and hand-painted landscapes, and have largely text based dialogue, so have a lot more budget to spend on other aspects of the game such as player choice and deeper storytelling.

 

Just my thoughts on the matter really. I would agree that IE games are better RPGs, but there's no reason there can't be a place for the 'new Bioware' games too. People will always try and apply their favorite genre to the new technology that becomes available, but you can lose some aspects by doing so.

I suppose that's why PE has made as much as it did in the kickstarter; IE style games allow you to present RPGs in a way that just isn't possible in the more modern formats. They are just better at handling all the different elements of an RPG.

 

I'm really looking forward to PE! In the meantime best do another few run-through's of the BG series!

[Romance and friendship?]

Personally I would love well made companion friendship and romance paths.

 

I felt the romance/friendship paths in BG2 were very well done, and give a great example of the type of thing seen in the IE style games. Many of the characters developed a deep relationship with the PC depending entirely on the path you chose to take and how you reacted to both the companion and the world around you. These did not always lead to romance though.

 

The romances that did occur always brought out a new side of the character, one that reflected that character maturing in response to your actions throughout the game and how you chose to interact with said companion.

 

*BG2/TOB SPOILERS*

 

 

 

My personal favourite was Aerie's romance with a male PC. throughout BG2 and TOB she grew from a wingey, scared girl into quite a strong personality. Whilst it was a romance, and the PC and Aerie could eventually 'marry', it felt more like it was just a natural progression of the PC's relationship with a very deep, well developed character.

 

My male wizard's friendship with Valygar seemed equally as important to companion development, and through dialogues with the PC about events they had been through, as well as both of our thoughts on various topics, lead him from being a magic-hating kill-all-mages type character to one that would eventually bring about fairer treatment of magic-users by his son, who became the leader of the cowled wizards (explained in the end-game).

 

 

*SPOILER END*

Essentially you could directly influence a companions development as a person by how you reacted to the world, sometimes certain companions would strongly disagree, and sometimes you could change their opinion on matters. None of the friendships, or romance paths, were ever forced upon you, or integral to the story, but you often got to learn alot more about a certain character by befriending them, and often influence their view on the world, watching them grow in response to your actions.

 

Just my thoughts on the topic.