CheeseGraterSuicide

Their last update said, "Our next design update will be in two weeks and will focus on lore and story elements." So yeah, next week.

At least one other element from PST I'd like to see in PE is some planewalking. Perhaps that's out of scope for this project, but maybe they'll set Avellone loose with the expansion. I can dream, can't I?

To be more specific, I was referring to IRS tax form 1099-K, which online sellers have had to start filling out since last year.

I'm sure Obsidian knows what they're doing. I was just trying to get an idea of how much might be taken out of the 4.1 million. Yes, this sounds like a fair summary of everything I read. Thanks.

So I found the question of taxes and Kickstarter somewhat interesting. I Googled around, and found out that Amazon immediately files a tax form to the IRS after a Kickstarter campaign is completed, and the money IS eligible to be taxed. As far as how much is taxed, some articles claim leftover money is taxed after the first year. Others say not. Some say it all depends, and none of it may be taxed whatsoever. So yeah...it's a bit of a legal maze. Bottom line is, anyone with a Kickstarter might want to have a good accountant(s).

How I name my characters depends on the game, and my mood. If I feel like being serious and roleplaying a bit, I'll take the time to give my characters appropriate names that often have a bit of meaning behind them. If I'm not feeling serious, I'll give them super stupid names that might be humorous to the average 12 year old.

I've typically interpreted backstabbing as something that takes finesse, not brute force. Sure, you could technically have a rogue using a giant sword to "backstab" with, but I don't think it fits the theme of stealth. I think it makes more sense to imagine a rogue making strikes with precision, like purposely shoving a shortsword up and under the ribcage to maximize damage. Quite literally, a "back stab". Which is precisely why a dagger or shortsword might deserve bonuses to backstabbing. These weapons would be ideal for this task. Plus, daggers are usually pretty worthless in RPGs, so giving them such an advantage would help keep them viable. They would have the highest bonus, followed by shortswords, and longswords would either have no bonus at all, a penalty, or would be impossible to backstab with outright. This need not be a bonus to damage though, perhaps just a bonus to hit.

Here 'tis Thanks

Thanks, Jason/Leon. Do you also happen to have a recording of the Obsidian PnP D&D game? I missed the last half or so. Obsidian said they have a recording of it, but I don't think they've put it up anywhere yet.

Yeah, I hear that. I like how Brian Fargo put it: "Are they getting the band back together or getting the brand back together?"

Heh, well it's entirely possible. I do remember seeing the Battle Chess Kickstarter awhile ago and thinking, "Thats odd, I thought Interplay owned that IP."

It would at least be nice if NPCs went to bed at night. I typically play rogues, and it's fun to do a little burglary while everyone is asleep.

Starwars, perhaps you mean this interview with Eurogamer? "Eurogamer: I always felt that, prior to Bethesda's game, Troika's Arcanum was probably the closest thing to a Fallout sequel. Chris Avellone: Umm... Well, the weird thing is, of all the games I've ... Eurogamer: You've never played Arcanum?! Chris Avellone: Well, look, in all the conversations I've had with Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, we've never discussed it. It's always been that way. Eurogamer: The RPGCodex would be pretty cross with you, Chris. Chris Avellone: I think they're going to be cross with me no matter what I do, and I've learned to live with it as long as they provide me with detailed critiques, because past all the profanity they'll spit out, they've actually got some good information on why certain systems are broken, and which ones aren't. Those are actually worth paying attention to, so I value those guys." But yes, this is all speculative. Hopefully Chris will address this.

It is true that much of the text is too tiny to read without going full screen. It's quite readable then, though. I'm not sure how to fix that. I found a few examples after a quick search on Twitch. I found 2 decent videos of Arcanum itself, which I'm not sure are in HD, but are readable enough in full screen. http://www.twitch.tv/scab_/b/335139922 http://www.twitch.tv...ice/b/329092556 But here's an example of a nice HD broadcast: http://www.twitch.tv...ing/b/277639070

Twitch.tv supports 1080p broadcasting. I have seen some old IE games streamed from there with perfectly readable text. Obsidian would just have to have the proper hardware and setup for it.

Chris did an interview with Gamestar.ru where he said this: "Lack of balance is the great destroyer, and while it's been in a number of recent titles, it's not a recent development. Lack of combat balance and any need for tactics - so much so that the combats are so easy that you don't have to do much to win or vary your combat style - is pretty crippling. One RPG in the past I've never played because I'm aware there's one low-level spell that makes the critical choice with your character progression in the game meaningless because that spell is overpowered." After I read that, I wondered if he meant Arcanum (magic in the game is generally considered overpowered). But who knows? Anyway, I hope he does stream it, and I also hope he at least tries out playing a low intelligence character. I tried playing as a simple-minded half-orc once, and the dialogue is hilarious. People actually treat you like an idiot and take advantage of you, and your character doesn't know any better. Best dumb dialogue ever.

Hi, just joined the Order and I'm checking in. CheeseGraterSuicide, Mangina Coordinator of the Obsidian Order.