JFSOCC

yeah, effect trade-offs could be an interesting idea, although it would make consumables more situational again.

I've been on the fence for a while about how I feel about consumables in games. There's been some debate about potions which I mostly agreed with: Either you have an overpowered effect and the consumables become game breaking, or they fulfil a use which you can otherwise get using abilities of your characters, in which case they get unused. Consumables tend to be wasted if the intended effect is either useless, underpowered, or not applicable; or if combat is likely to resolve successfully without the use of consumables. Many consumables will either be too specific in application to be used broadly, or the intended effect is not certain to be worthwhile using a one-off. So here's an idea (but feel free to post your own): How about the consumables in this game, rather than having their own effects, boost the effects of specific abilities you have. Soul abilities affected by food or potions for instance, while class tools affect (class)skills. And I'm not talking about just buffing the effect, but possibly changing it. For example: say a "Day potion" will have different effect if you consume it for your defensive fighter, who's engagement ability now also deals damage over time to undead, your offensive fighter whose attack target can no longer use stealth, or your rogue whose attack temporarily blinds his target, if his target was in the dark. A player would be able to tell which abilities could be affected by the consumable using a colour scheme for skills/abilities and potions. For instance a purple coloured potion can affect any ability which has a purple icon. There'd be broader use for consumables and they'd be tactically interesting because of the different effects on different class builds. Consumables which boost or alter abilities which you already possess rather than give you something completely new and separate. Something which has nothing to do with your playstyle. (Currently consumables will always have only one type of use) thoughts?

No, that's a bad question. The question is "How do I make combat fun and challenging both?"

fair enough

I wonder if silent kills are going to be possible on any but the weakest of opponents, since it's unlikely that you're going to insta-kill any enemy, and equally unlikely that an alterted, engaged enemy won't call for help. Maybe if a rogue deals the first blow, you have 15-30 seconds to kill the guard before he can call for help. It'd be a rogue special ability.

What if part of the damage dealt to summons is also dealt to the caster? or alternatively, what if part of the damage dealt to summons is dealt to the caster's stamina, and each summon requires a stamina upkeep?

I know it is a terrible stereotype, but my rogue will be wearing black, and a hood, and a cape. Black with dark purple, and silver trims. Two daggers, one with a handle made of white agate, and one with fire opal (dark blue) Anyway, personal fantasy aside, I very much don't like the motley assortment of clothing for a rogue, it feels mishmash. With the second image, much of the clothing seems cumbersome to stealth. You don't want much frills, but you do want it to be stylish. After all, a character whom loves wealth is expected to show it off a little. Anyway, subdued colours, yes, but rich in quality and work. The images above don't do anything for me.

How about this: Summons turn hostile after a while. For instance after no enemies remain. (other than summons) Now their use is a tactical choice, too strong, and you'll have to deal with them after your other enemies are defeated, too weak and they're useless. You can summon as many as you want, but unless the enemy is harming them, you're going to have a problem if you summon too many. That ought to solve the balance issue, make players balance it themselves.

True, but it's typically highlightable even on the other side of a wall and such. Thus allowing the player to go "Ha-HAH! The characters can circumvent their own perception restrictions via MY birds-eye view! MUAHAHA!". Of course, once they've seen it, that's fine, I suppose, to show you "where they remember it being." Especially with switches and the like -- things that you need. I was just thinking, in terms of the "let's walk around and then search around with the mouse-cursor to find spiffy lootable things" system. "Let's just highlight everything in this room that I haven't even walked around fully yet" just seems kind of self-defeating. I think it's probably fairly easy to only mark loot or levers or buttons which have been "detected" Just add a boolean to denote it. I too think a key to mark detected loot seems a fine solution.

I think the game should be difficult enough that using consumables is going to get you through combat which you would otherwise fail. I'm sure those with great RPG combat skills could still do without them, but the general combatant should be constantly wanting to use it. It should be a challenge not to use it rather than vice versa.

I had wanted to edit the Misandrist Madam a little, but I was called away. Small addition: During her time, she's managed to convince/manipulate three women into joining her cause, Each of these women has her own reason to follow the Misandrist Madam. Each of them have suffered abuse at the hands of men. It is they who have been shielding her from persecution and investigation. It is they who scout out locations rich in targets, and it is they who will participate in the ruse to lure men away to her. These three women are unknown, but they fight for the MM, whom they've come to fear and worship. Whenever they "save" a woman, they will attempt to make them join their cause. Initiation requires a woman to cut off the genitals of a man.

Misandrist madam. A monster which looks like a woman and hates men. It is NOT human, but can effectively conceal its nature to all but the most observant. The Misandrist was created when a victimised soul failed to get closure before her death. The Misandrist is an intelligent undead creature which tries to trap men by their assumed character flaws. For instance, tricking men by flirting with them, isolating them, and then killing them. It is not uncommon to find men dead in their bedrooms having bled out when their genitals were bitten off. Anything "Typical male behaviour" might set off the Misandrist Madam. From cupping a feel, to whistling, to even paying a compliment based on looks. The Misandrist madam has already made up her mind. Men are evil. And she will continue to see everything they do in a negative light. Any man who shows anger probably beats his wife, any man who smiles at her is probably a lecherous hump only interested in her body. Any man who is nice to her is trying to manipulate her. The Madam will first attempt to subtly ruin a male's standing amongst his peers, sometimes she will change tactics and try to seduce him. This change in tone can be very surreal and herein lies the key to recognising the Misandrist madam. Once exposed MM will flee, as she depends on surprise. She will run and scream for her life. Shouting things like "You filthy rapist bastard" or "This man hit me!" attempting to fool others into attacking her victim for her. The abuse is directly related to the abuse which led to her creation, very real abuse that went unresolved. The Misandrist Madam is not unknown in society, although she has yet to be dealt with. Rumours abound of women "getting back at" abusive men. She's viewed in different ways. Some of her victims truly are misogynist men who deserve to be confronted with their behaviour, and she's inspired some women to stand up for themselves when previously they could not. But the Misandrist Madam is incapable of fair assessment, and many of her victims are innocent of the crimes she accuses them of. Women have nothing to fear from her directly, but she might still go after their male friends or family, certain that they've brainwashed this innocent woman of thinking nothing is wrong, or having cowed her into refusing to admit any wrongdoing. The Misandrist Madam stalks places men of low standards frequent, bars of ill repute, brothels, gambling dens, approaching off-duty soldiers. A player may encounter the MM when she helpfully distracts a guard on one of their missions, leading the guard to his doom while the player can choose to take it as a blessing and move on, or investigate. She can encountered in a place of ill repute, coming on to a male PC, trying to lure him away. Or the player can encounter her after seeking revenge for one of her victims, investigating the crime spree, or searching for a missing man. She can be defeated through combat, or the player can investigate the crime that led to her creation, which may, if they're very lucky, resolve her horrible tale and allow her to let go and move on.

hmm, reflection time. What degenerate ways do I play in? Well, for one, I always give the best equipment to my character, even if my companions are horribly under-equipped. They can get what-ever is left over. This often means my character is much stronger than the others. I tend not to move on from an area unless I'm sure I've done everything I could. I don't want to miss content I don't have to. This usually means I reach the level cap fairly quickly in a game. I hoard consumables. From potions to ammunition. I'd pick melee combat simply because I don't want to buy arrows. (I lose them, after all) Sometimes I finish a game having used none of the consumables. In some games I've noticed I only use consumables to clear inventory space or because another is lying on the floor and I can only pick it up if I decrease my stack. In that case it's "Ok, no money out of my pocket" I actually enjoyed doing Old World Blues a lot at level 8, because it was too difficult not to use even the consumables. I really had to manage what I had, and holding on to these items was a challenge. I have at times abused (especially in stealth games) the "alertness level reset" You damage someone, you flee, you return later when that npc has reverted back to being neutral or in a lower alert state, and re-engage. As long as the game saves the damage you've previously done, you should be able to slowly take out some harder targets. Luckily many games don't allow for these shenanigans. I hope that an alerted guard will not say "Guess it was nothing" and return on patrol after encountering the corpse of a friend. That makes no sense. I think this ties in with allowing players to screw up and fail. If you've created a situation where you can no longer succeed, you can always choose to reload. It's not the responsibility of the game to make sure you can always proceed. lastly, while I don't like to think of myself as a min-maxer, I do tend to max out one stat, often persuasion. which has sometimes resulted in being able to bull**** my way past more encounters than would be realistic.

Monday I celebrated my 27th birthday. It was great fun and great weather. I've also been playing a lot of minecraft lately, which is why I've been neglecting these forums somewhat. I'm catching back up today.

I don't know why I forgot the disappearance of the dwarves. Morrowind was the first, and one of the very few games for my Xbox (very much a PC gamer) and I remember extensively searching for any information about what happened to the dwarves after I first got introduced to the mystery. Same thing with the vampires of vvarvendel. Self motivated quests are rare because it is hard to predict for a developer which ones will get any attention. As long as they don't worry about this and like to add to the mystery of the world, I think we'll be all right. Adding things to discover, with only hints of more, but no actual handholding is going to make the world a richer place, and I hope to see much content lacking exposition, or having only subtle exposition. (IE, rather, than "this happened", I'd like to see "Something clearly happened")

I remember having once zealously defended the coloured options for 10 pages. I know I'm in a minority, but I think that's the way to go to convey tone when it is ambiguous.

characters (either pc or npc) in well lit areas should have penalties seeing into darker areas. Whereas from the dark you have a bonus spotting those in lighter areas. No negative effects if either party is in the same area. So basically, I'd like night-blindness to be a real factor. Eyes need time to adjust.

Excellent post, previous posts on this forum have touched upon the subject, but few have managed to write it out as well as the OP does. I like the idea of breaking up the party and having each individual party member have some character exposition quests while "off duty" Where the game focuses on the specialities of individual characters to help build their character arcs, as well as demonstrate their individual skill sets better. Downtime seems a perfect moment to do this. Camp set-up can be a great time to deal with character exposition without it clunkily being shoe-horned in during party quests. For instance, as a rest mechanic, I'd enjoy it if there was something along the lines of (not mandatory) campfire tales, the player gets to act out part of the backstory of his or her companions. The better they are acted out, (game sets the player in the story) the better the results of resting. And the player learns something of his companions, or the companions learn something about the player. Resting itself needs to be improved upon and I've suggested (and others as well) to do something with it. Make it part of the gameplay rather than a restore button with risk involved. I think this would work towards that purpose.

two guys on the top look identical, the guy facing the door in that group seems to have different lighting on him than the others in the room, and his weapon seems awfully big. Their stance seems off somehow. I wonder why they're just standing there faffing about until the team comes in. The team itself seems positioned like the circle around a centre person formation you had in BG2, with one being pushed back slightly because of the barrier in front of him. I hope there are going to be different formations, perhaps you can save relative positions AS a formation, I dunno. All in all it looks pretty good, you spent attention to detail on the character design. I'm dubious about the placement of these what I am going to assume are enemies. (their heads, is this normal for them?) I'm not sure I like the big ears. But all criticism considered, I like what I see.

After witnessing a ruler commit terrible sin, you are exiled to the colonies, before you reach port a supernatural event shipwrecks you, floating into Defiance bay, where you get picked up. The event stirred something in you, if you choose to pursue it.

The ground shakes beneath you, You see a large chunk of the world torn from the ground into the sky, the part right next to the part you're standing on, it's frightening as hell. after the shaking stops you notice that you are standing in front of a floating mountain. To those familiar with the kickstarter endless paths image, they will instantly recognise it as such. After the shaking ends the player finds himself surrounded and needing to flee the barrage of falling debris. When you arrive at the nearest safe harbour, people ask you about what the hell happened, that's when the game starts.

I'm saying welcome to the forums Samurai Sanjuro, you'll fit right in!

false. But your entire team needs to die before it sticks.

I hope Obsidian doesn't sacrifice their artistic integrity to please a damn ratings board. slap an 18+ rating on it, call it obscene if you must. Steam sells all the Postal games, I don't see why they would censor P:E. Anyway, I do hope that the evil extremes discussed here are extremes in the game, because it's not going to be the tone of my playthrough.

precisely why I don't like random encounters.