Hormalakh

I really like the idea of pockets and packs allowing for different inventory sets. I think we all can agree that inventor space should not be unlimited, but allowing for more "cases and bags" to be utilized would be good. Perhaps you can purchase more packs or pockets so as to add items to it. I don't think that we should allow unlimited ammunition in packs however. Perhaps 90 (Baldur's Gate) was too little, but adjusting th ammo packs and not letting them be infinite should be possible. Also in BG2, they allowed for potion cases and scroll cases, I think these should be found in game and used. Key rings. These things were all very important. You might not want to start with every pocket unlocked either. Maybe you have to purchase key rings, scroll cases, and potion cases. The final thing I wanted to mention was that I really hated the case inventory screens for BG/BG2. I think if you tried to open up your scroll case, you should have the same type of inventory screen that you would for your character. I like being able to see all my items at once and being able to find items quickly without having to scroll forever. Inventory is the one place where I want to minimize my time spent playing the game. Please think of innovative design mechanisms fo ra strong inventory system. I'm begging you Obsidian.

The only game that I've had experience with crafting is Arcanum. I haven't played many of the new RPGs (lack of money, and honestly, these forums don't really have glowing reviews about them in any case) and so I'm not really sure how crafting has been implemented in newer games. I guess FO:NV is the only game that I wish to play and that crafting is involved in it. I haven't really read much from the devs about crafting and enchantment. Are there any mechanics specifics that someone out there can provide? I also am interested in opening up the discussion towards crafting mechanics that you guys have enjoyed in the past and that you'd like to see implemented in this game. What are some crafting elements that you've enjoyed and some that you don't think should make it into the game. From what I understand with Fallout:NV, it seems a lot of the crafting is directed at ammo creation and a few weapons, "potions". One of the crafting mechanics that I really enjoyed was Arcanum's crafting mechanic of both having to upgrade your technical skill in a field and also having to find schematics to help create new items. The fact that there were 8 fields of study made it impossible to become an expert in all the fields, and would only come in multiple replays of the game. I would like that to be done in PE as well. From what I understand with Fallout:NV you only have survival skills, explosive skills, and science skills that much matter. I'd like it to be a little more involved than that. Baldur's Gate 2 also had a nice "Cromwell's smithy" mechanic where if you found certain otherwise useless items, cromwell the blacksmith could make some legendary items for you. I never really used any of them (most of the epic items you had to kill bosses for: e.g. Holy Avenger), but that was a good mechanic too, although very much less involved. I'm not even sure you could call it crafting. Anyway, what things have you guys enjoyed in previous crafting mechanics? What would you like changed? Any interesting ideas that you think the PE team might want to explore?

No, I do not enjoy slowly whiting down some boss's bloated HP reserves, better it be done quickly. Give me my save or die. A difference of opinion then. I'm sure this game will cater to both our needs. This is one case where "if I don't like it, I don't have to use it" really works.

It works well for me...

I thought it was fun. Nah I'd rather my fighters and mages wittle down his health and make it a fight worth remembering. Do you like watching sport games (if at all) where one side crushes the other in the first quarter, or a really-close game where it's anyone game? Risk can offer excitement and games should be exciting! Instadeath is good for the peons and really annoying level 1 enemies that you can't be bothered with.

Urgh Arcanum's is quite annoying as well. If you critical fail, you have Magnus (a companion NPC) going "Oh you're not going to defeat enemies like that...". After the 50th time hearing it, it makes me want to kill Magnus after battle.

I remember beating the dragon Firkaag with two malison spells and a finger of death. That was quite unsatisfying.

No, you're right: they can penetrate a mage's arcane veil. What we're talking about is whether mages used guns as well (or enchanted them) and what the implications are for that scenario. If guns are known as "mage-killers" then I'd doubt there be many mages who would be willing to enchant weapons that mean their own destruction.

@PsychoBlonde I always find your thoughts very intriguing! Keep the comments coming: they're always welcome! In either case, the devs need to make sure that they have a strong explanation for things like this, regardless of whether or not we learn about them in-game.

^ Right but my point was something else entirely: namely that magic changes the world in much more intricate ways than we can imagine: therefore it might not be a stretch for this world to be at the Renaissance era without a printing press.

I've mentioned this before in another thread (Of Muskets and Magic) but it seems to me that whenever magic is involved, it can pretty severely hamper technical innovation. Much innovation is due to a perceived need that must have been filled. When you have magic solving those problems for you, you're less likely to create a new invention to fill that need. If you are in need of cars, but teleportation magic exists, why build something that requires much more innovation (in infrastructure, engine efficiency, fuel source, etc) and not stick with what you have? Teleportation is clean, renewable, and friendly to the environment. This message brought to you by the Green Mages ™.

Arcanum.

I'm all for this armor conversation, but I just wanted to say that I was pretty disappointed in Josh for only addressing Earth in his post. The martians who have pledged in Kickstarter are people too. Not cool Josh, not cool.

Cloth absorbs spells better. I like it.

I remember in BG2 that most multiclassed wizards could wear armor, but this affected their spellcrafting abilities. Perhaps something in that vein would help with those against plate mail wizards. Nothing that is so severe, but perhaps some sort of drawback like: - decreased concentration - more likely for spells to fail - slower casting time - certain schools locked out - increased cost of casting - decreasd accuracy of casting Each of these might have a place. Perhaps a class perk could be to remove this drawback at higher-levels allowing wizards to cast spells in plate armor, making the decision have more consequence. Perhaps there could also be certain spells crafted against wizards who wear certain types of armor. In would seem to me that since this world has mages who wear heavy armor, other mages (who do not wear this armor) have developed and researched spells that combat this: perhaps spells that bend metal or make it brittle (more likely to break that plate armor). Something to that effect would also be an interesting twist. ---------------------- In a completely different line of thought, I have noticed that the main issue most people are having with mages wearing plate isn't that mages shouldn't wear it: it's that fighters and those classes become particularly useless in battle because one of their defining traits has been taken away from them. Thus, in reality the problem isn't wizards per se: it's the fighters lack of versatility. Therefore, it seems to me that fighters here are the problem. Fighters should not be described as "swords + plate mail + full tank of HP" but rather a group of people who are masters in the art of combat. If this means that fighters have certain in-combat abilities (cleave, bash, coup degrace, stun, etc) that NO other class has access to - and to allow these abilities to begin from level 1, then fighters continue to have a deeper role to play in combat. Thoughts?

From all the guns I've seen from the 14th century onward, the one thing I know that has to be different from contemporary guns is the exquisite detail put into each gun. I would assume that these things were not mass-produced; guns were hard-crafted and decorated with great care. I expect that unless the PE universe has a mass-production factory for these and other weapons, great detail and care must go into making these weapons look beautiful, even if it means just in the item description box in your inventory.

I'm actually replaying Arcanum (bought it from GOG). Things I've loved: - The history and lore of Arcanum. The library has some extremely amazing books. - The fact that some "quests" are riddle-like in their execution. You can't just use the map to figure out exactly where everything is. You have to actually explore the areas. - The philosophy of Stone and Form - one of the best lore items I've found in-game thus far. - The twin skulls of Kree: didn't like it's anticlimatic ending though. - Crafting. The fact that you can't become a "professor" in more than 3, maybe 4 fields makes the game replayable. (Unless you take off max level cap). - Dialogue matters. Thing's I've hated: - The main character cannot attack doors. Only your companions can do so. - Picking locks is the worst! - I don't like point-buy very much. - Experience and how it's given. I always told my companions to "back-off" so I could get the exp for hitting an enemy. - The game has a very vague sense of direction. You could pretty much travel aroun arcanum for days and not get on with the quests. Sometimes I lose interest in the game, just because of the lull in story. Having to grind to get to the level I need to move on because frankly some of the monsters will destroy me.

I have somewhat similar concerns - but perhaps some of these things truly are broken. I just hope they get the **** tested out of them to make sure that they are true to the feel of IE games.

As for the weekly updates during the Kickstarter as opposed to now, you do realize that they had been working on this idea for at least a month before even starting the kickstarter right? There was a lot of planning going on without us knowing about it. Now that we're all caught up with what they've done so far, we expect them to have just as much stuff as if a month had gone by and they had figured everything out. It's only been two weeks since KS was over. Give them time. Lots of time. And be grateful for what you get.

I failed to mention that being fun is important, but when fun is not a factor, my thoughts as written above, stand.

I didn't know what respeccing was. But now that I've heard the arguments on both sides, I'd have to say no to respeccing. Everytime I haven't done the build that I wanted to have in a game, I've just told myself "That's what i'll do the next time I play this game." Or I restart. There is a gratifying feeling you get when you are sometimes forced to do things that you don't think you can with your character, but persistence prevailed and you were successful even without an "optimal" build. That isn't something I'd get with the ability to respec my character. X-COM (the older game) wouldn't have been as terrifying and fun if my bad decisions wouldn't haunt me as time went on. Respeccing takes that feeling away from me, especially if it's a feature of a game that I don't reuse. Putting time into making a quest where I can respec, is taking time away from something else. Allowing a game mechanic to respec takes time away fro focusing on other features. These options all have money and time costs an are not trivial mechanics to implement, if they want to be implemented in-game. If you want respeccing, wait for the mod. If you want it, just download it as opposed to those of us who don't want it having to forego a portion of the game that the devs made.

Actually you misread. The update wasn't about how they've already addressed these issues. It's about what questions they think are important in ALL mechanics. Armor was the example given by Josh, but he will be doing the same sort of thought process with all the other systems. He wanted us to get insight into how this is done from Obsidian's perspective. Then he gave us questions that they intend to answer with the armor system. You can therefore get an idea of how they will be tackling the other issues as well. It's very important because it tells you what things the developers are lookign at and especially what questions they believe we as commentators can make to help guide them as they make the game. They are most likely still in end stages of pre-production right now and probably haven't actually started fully developing everything. Give it time.

I'm not denying guns being a thing. I like them and want to see them. I just posted my thoughts as I saw fit.

Could not stop laughing XD

We only know about mages being killed by guns. Sometimes. 18th century Italian flintlock pistol. Very cool looking. Maybe magic can make bullets "explode" into many pieces (like a shotgun shell) right before it hits the enemy. Firearms appeared in Europe in the 14th century, but there is little evidence that they immediately began replacing the existing projectile weapons then in use. The inaccuracy of these early guns, and the noise and the smoke they produced, would have made them less successful than bows or crossbows as hunting weapons. Improvements in gun making gradually made them more effective, however, their use in hunting, until the end of the 17th century at least was restricted to birds at rest. Shooting at flying birds required an effective ignition system, and by around 1700 flintlock guns designed to shoot birds on the wing had been developed. The flintlock did have a problem though, the puff of smoke from its priming powder often gave the birds enough warning so as to avoid being hit. It wasn’t until the invention of percussion ignition by the Scottish clergyman Alexander Forsyth in the 19th century, that there was major breakthrough in smokeless ignition. The principle of which is still used today in modern small arms cartridges. http://www.royalarmo...allery-firearms Make magical guns that are "muffled", show no smoke. This would require magic since silencers didn't exist. It would be quite the deadly weapon for an assassin/thief class. The silenced wheel-lock. This makes me think: Magic severely stagnates technical innovation. Why create a bullet cartridge, if you can just use magic to silence the gun or stop the smoke? Heck, why even create guns in the first place? You've got fireball!