Pshaw

Graphics do matter to an extent. We're still looking for a modern game even if it's still a low budget one. As much as I love the BG series I do expect a bit more customization for the character models than just changing the tunic and hair color on a barbie doll in this game. Will the game be bad if that's all the character models are? Of course not. However I don't think making the character models more like NWN2 or DA:O is unreasonable. Even if once we're zoomed out they don't look that different I'd like to be able zoom back in for dialogue and or cutscenes if at all possible and see my character.

I voted gameplay, but I honestly think story is more important after the gameplay is passable. I don't need to like every system or mechanic in the game but it needs to reach a playable point before I can enjoy the story. I for instance like NWN2 a great deal and had lots of fun playing it when it first came out. However the clunkiness of the combat and the camera following makes the game feel like a chore to play. I do enjoy the story but I can't even play the game long enough to really dig in to the story before the gameplay starts to ruin it for me. So gameplay is the most important to an extent because without it the basic fun and smoothness I won't be able to enjoy the story. The story on the otherhand is most likely to get me to want to replay the game and what I'll remember most about a game once it's over. As such I'm glad to see the poll is 50/50 because they really are both equally important.

The problem is that she is writing fanfiction, she doesn't write stories to write a good story, but to have her fantasies about romance. She cares little about the world the story takes place in, or about writing a good plot. That together with Gaider's love for Twillight bring us...... wait for it....... DA2! And I never said anything about ME3's combat, just that the Story Mode would serve better in DA2. And if you don't see a problem with a writer in the game industry hating combat in games that involve combat, maybe RPGs aren't for you. Fanfiction really doesn't concern me or effect my enjoyment of the source material that spawned it. So we'll just have to disagree there on what it implies that she's writing fan fiction about a world she worked on. Although really it's simply no more than writing down 'what if this happened...' rather than just letting your idle thoughts stay in your head. I've certainly imagined different endings or plot twists to games I enjoyed. It never meant I disrespected the source material. As far as the DA2 comment goes like I said, the game was a disappointment. However it certainly wasn't a hentai dating sim as so many people want to claim. Moving on. No, I don't see any problem with a writer not enjoying combat in a videogame. She's a writer. She's not a designer. She doesn't want things to break the flow of her story anymore than a novelist would want you to have to run a quarter mile in between chapters. Quite simply put she's a part of a team and it's her job to write and others put together the game. I'm sure if she had complete control over a game it would be more like Heavy Rain however since ME3 clearly was not Heavy Rain I'm not sure how much her personal preferences mattered in terms of affecting the development of the game. Finally understanding her in that regard doesn't mean I don't like RPGs or that I don't like combat in them. As I said I greatly enjoyed the combat in ME3. I also pretty much base my enjoyment of JRPGs off the combat system rather than the story since 90% of the game is the combat. 1 last comment and I'll give this thread a rest. I just don't understand this passionate hate for romances in games. I mean even you seem to hate the idea of romantic fan-fiction but I imagine you'd have zero problem with a group of fans getting together to write a handful of better endings for the ME series. It doesn't matter though, I know I can't change minds in this regard. I just hope the developers will have a bit of an open mind regarding the topic and consider giving those of us who enjoy romances in our games something to enjoy as their have been many many good posts about how to do them well through out the the unoffical romance threads and the one that came before them. If not I'll still enjoy the game it'll just be lacking an emotional element that I see no reason to leave out.

Making a game like BG2 would probably cost around 1-2 million. That is probably why this is where the initial goal for the kick starter was set. Now when you talk about the costs of modern triple A game, as other have already said, you need to take into account the costs of the graphics and voice overs and advertising. All of these things cause prices to sky rocket. It's been said by Square that one of the reasons they haven't remade Final Fantasy 7 is that the costs to remake it with todays graphic standards would be absurdly high. All those areas you explored were fairly large so to render them all out in full would take enormous amounts of money. This is why so many modern video games adopt the narrow hallways instead of open worlds. However Obsidian knows what they're doing. They know how to keep a game on buget which is why they're doing the painted backgrounds and not anything fully rendered. It's why they don't have plan on having extensive voice acting. So the game will get made and still be able to have high quality. Just don't be expecting a game that's fully rendered and would need a new video card to play at full specs.

So wait... you're upset that the game had a game in it and wasn't just a interactive movie? I have to kill dozens of enemies to reach the next bit of dialogue in a BG game as well. Also despite her apparent distaste for gameplay the gameplay in ME3 was incredibly well done. They combat was probably the best out of the 3 games. Also I don't see what the lead writers preferences have to do with anything. I mean to hear you say 'yaoi fangirl at that' just implies some absurd level of distain for a person you don't know. It's not unlike people saying, 'oh, you play video games? I'm sure your a 40 year old virgin living in your mothers basement with no friends and no life.' It's a complete cop-out. Her enjoyment of fanfiction, yaoi, or a combination of both have nothing to do with her ability as a writer. I think the story and world of mass effect were told in very convincing way. Granted it's just my opinion, but it's got nothing to do with her personal life only on the games. I'm willing to accept it if you thought the story sucked in the games but it's got nothing to do with her hobbies.

Ok now you are trolling. I ignore the other two, but with these ones no one with a brain should take you seriously. You don't have to like their storylines, but Tali and Merrill had their own problems that were not linked with the main character in any way. Tali had the difficoult relationship with her race and her father, Merrill had her quest for the Eluvian. I hate Merrill and I consider her a childish emo girl that does nothing else but cry around and complain that no one wants to help her, but this is just a personal judgement. Facts are that romancing her is totally optional, her storyline goes on with or without you by her side. Yes,and the main story was a mess consisting in mandatory side-quests.But you and others will undoubtly keep deluding yourselves that romances don't detract from more important things. DA2 wasn't a great game. It wasn't unplayable either. But in the end a game being bad that includes romances doesn't mean it was bad because of them. I mean the game has sword combat and a magic system for crying out loud, clearly you can't do both in 1 game and still have a good game! So let's be honest DA2 was a disappointment for many fans, myself included, but it had to do with the game being rushed and the swap to a pseudo mass effect play style in order to try and broaden the appeal of the game. DA:O was a fine game that had romances in it. The same goes for the ME series and BG series and yes to an extent Planescape Torment. Yes it's true that Fall-from-grace couldn't touch you and things with Annah only lead as far as a kiss but that doesn't mean they weren't romances. Everything about the dialogue showed how they felt about the Nameless One even if was never said outloud. In the end having romance options in game and having good game with interesting characters are NOT mutually exclusive. If there is a team out there that can do it in a way that would change the minds of all the doubters it's this one. So I save give them the chance to do so.

Ok now you are trolling. I ignore the other two, but with these ones no one with a brain should take you seriously. I disagree. Merrill was simply OK, but then again that's about as good as any of the DA2 romances got. So she might simply be getting a pass due to the low bar the game set on this front. I personally thought Tali was a good romance. It wasn't an instant romp in the sac or anything like that. She served with you the entire first game without developing a romantic interest in Shepard. Her character was interesting and believable and I always liked the Quarian peoples story in general. She also says it best herself in the game at some point where she says, "A young woman gets rescued by a dashing commander who lets her join his crew then goes off to save the galaxy? How could she possibly develop any kind of interest in him?" Also it's kind of a big deal in the mass effect universe for an alien to be trusted enough to be asked to serve on an alliance military vessel. Even more so for a Quarian as they they're pretty much space pariahs that nobody trusts to begin with. So that relationship developed pretty naturally in my eyes.

Seconded. It doesn't need to be something as strong as the Tarrasque because I doubt we'll be reaching 'max power' or anything by the end of this game. I think they want to leave a bit of room for growth for expansions/sequels. I have no doubt that they could come up a legendary threat that while not viewed with god like power would still inspire an epic battle and a real feeling of accomplishment when defeated. I think those bosses that lurk in the wolrd that are harder than the final battle in the game are always fun. They make the world feel bigger than whatever is going on in the main story because even though that is what's most pressing to your characters story out there in the world there are bigger threats that have nothing to do with you.

This is a good thing. As much as I loved PS:T this game should do its own thing. This project, at least for me, was always presented as the a game from the minds that brought you PST and BG. So I always saw it as a studio with the skills and know-how to bring us another amazing RPG without the need to follow in the footsteps of any of their previous games. I want to explore a setting with new themes when it comes to PE. Now I would like to see an indirect sequel to PS:T but even then the most I'd want to be kept from PS:T is the setting and maybe a nameless one cameo. I wouldn't even want the story to strictly move along those same themes because we already have a great RPG that does that. One that many of us have played more than a few times. So rather than have more of the same I'd much rather it explore other themes only with equal care that the subjects in PST were treated.

I don't mind replaying a game the same way I've completed it before. However the more things I cannot do in 1 play through the more motivated I am to replay it. To that end the things I'd really like see to are... Multiple victory paths: They've already said this will be in the game so I'm thankful for that. I will absolutely do a play through with a character that tries to talk their way out of everything and another that uses stealth as much as possible. So for me that's at least 2 play throughs. Mutially exclusive content: I think these sort of things not only make common sense but add replay value. I do extra play throughs in order to join different factions each time, romance a different party member, see different endings, or even just go for different outcomes in the same quests. I good example of the latter would be the Urn of Sacred Ashes quest in Dragon Age: Origins. It was the same every time in terms of what you did but the outcomes varied depending on if you sided with the cult, against them, killed the dragon, and who you told about the ashes afterwards. I also find it odd when you can just join every faction in sight and nobody seems to mind. In an elder scrolls game you can end up the head of the mages, thieves, fighters, and assassins guild. Surely once you've done that you might as well declare yourself king, because you're probably the most influential person in the region. That just seems silly to me. Personality and choices matter: I loved my first Baldurs Gate 2 play through when Anomen tried to kill me. Needless to say it affected how I chose to play in future games. I like it when your companions or NPCs really react negatively depending on how you deal with them. Sometimes it's fun to play it reckless sometimes it's fun to play it safe, I think both sorts of choices should be available. Companion incompatibility: I touched on this with Anomen but I personally feel that not all companions should be willing to work with each other or the main character. If you're off slaughtering innocents even if your paladin isn't with you while you do it he should probably leave the group. Certainly you shouldn't then be able to earn their trust/loyalty while you're doing things they're completely against. Make us have to replay in order to fully access all of our companions dialogue and backgrounds.

This is a big reason why romances do not work. Equity. Soon, all npcs must be bangable because the player must have equitable choices. Frankly, I hope OE avoids this pitfall entirely. If not, the entire slate of npcs will be little more than contestants on some fantasy dating game show. If equity is the issue, then Dragon Age: Origins has the right concept. Two straight pairings and two wild cards. Not quite fair, but reasonable given the demographics. Well, need I say more? Romances = bad. Yes you need to say more :-p Even if you think the romances in DA:O were bad (which is simply a matter of personal taste) pointing out 1 bad example of romances in games doesn't mean they're all bad. It would be like pointing to a poorly written fantasy book and saying that the whole genre is bad and shouldn't be attempted. If we can trust OE to make us a great RPG in every other aspect I don't see why we can't trust them to implement romances in an above average way.

Unless somebody came out and said the numbers we'll never really know for sure. I believe the average costs for a video game was around 1million or so when they were released. Which is probably why the initial goal for the kickstarter was 1.1mil. I know it was said that for Baldurs Gate enchanced edition to be considered a success it would need to sell 200k units, which is 4million, and they already had a blueprint to follow in remaking it. Granted that doesn't take into account the retailers cut or the publishers cut and the fact that they want make a profit not just break even to be a success. So after all of that I'd say the cost of enhancing BG was probably around 1-2million. So I'd say to make a game just like Baldurs Gate I'd imagine 1million is near the mark for minimum costs. However I'm pretty sure we're going to be seeing higher graphic fidelity than the Baldurs Gate series which does drive up costs. Keep in mind that Dragon Age 2 cost around 40million to develop and that game certainly cut a lot of corners. 4 Million is a pretty modest budget.

Here's the thing people like to knock bioware because they're a big, easy, target. Complain about some bioware games and you'll have a whole chorus of people chiming in right beside you which makes those people feel validated in their complaints and on and on it goes. In the end Bioware is still one of the better RPG developers out there. People can nit-pick and complain about things they didn't like but in the end I hope they won't deny that they're a good developer and do in fact do good things for the genre despite some of their missteps. People like to bag on ME3 endings forgetting that as a whole the ME series was pretty damn amazing and ambitious. Yes, it fell a bit flat at the end but it was far from the worse video game ending I've played in my day. Truth be told I found fallout 3 (without any dlc or expansions) to be a bigger let down than ME3 ever was. DA2 was a bit of disappointment, I'll admit it, due to the format change. Still overall the Dragon Age franchise isn't bad and Origins was in fact a pretty damn good game. Both series had really great and original universes as well and I'm looking forward to the future installments of both franchises. While I haven't got a chance to play the old republic yet I've heard the good and the bad and if nothing else it sounds like they've made some very good changes to the MMO model that hopefully others will continue to use and improve upon. In the end if you like something that is popular you'll be a fanboi to somebody. Everybody has their own little nicknames, Mac users, Windows users, Blizzard fans, Bioware fans, PS3 fans, Xbox360 fans, Nintendo fans, so on and so forth. People who try and dismiss who portions of gamers using these terms simply because they don't enjoy the same things aren't worth worrying over.

I prefer expansions to take place after the game. I think it's because I expect an expansion to carry out a whole new grand story so I want it to be completely distinct and stand alone from whatever is going on the first game. If it's the dreaded DLC I expect it to just expand the world a little bit so it makes more sense to fit in with the original campaign.

I'll usually go male caster of some sort of my first playthough leaning good then female rogue type second leaning evil. After that it's up in the air. If the game requires specific roles (tank, healer, dps) I'll probably go tank though.

I think Diablo 3 has a good amount of violence. You've got enough standard deaths and blood splatters and the like with a bit of flash here and there with the ocasional flying or exploding corpse. It hit that balance between fun to watch when you wanted to focus on it and not distracting the rest of the time.

I'd really like it be its own game more than be seen as like any of those others. If it had to take after something I'd really like it to borrow different things from many of the games you've listed. Despite the consistent rage against bioware I'm going to say they do get some things right. For example I love their carry over system. It's amazing that I can carry over my choices from previous games into later games. Yes, I'm sure people are annoyed that it didn't have as much impact as you've hoped in some cases, such as the saving the rachini. That said nobody else does this sort of thing at all. I'd rather my past actions on a world be referenced at the very least than have them be completely ignored in sequels I'd like a Dragon Age: Origin style ending. You had some choices in how it went down; who became king/queen, who sacrificed fighting the archdemon, agreeing to Morrigans spell, your final boon you ask for in the epilogue, ect. You also got to have an closing epilogue that recounted your choices in game and the effects of them. Also you got to hear what all of your companions planned to do afterwards, they didn't just disband into complete obscurity. In terms of gameplay freedom I hope it's much like the fallout series. Killing shop keepers and looting their goods should be a 100% viable choice as long as you're ready to deal with the consequences. Those should also be more severe than they were in fallout. People in a town should probably care that I killed their only merchant after a prolonged gun battle. Also it had multiple ways of getting tasks done. It rewarded you for taking skills like science and repair that were a bit more narrow but sometimes you couldn't complete a goal without them. You had the freedom to kill anybody that you felt needed killing. Now it wasn't all perfect, but these things I think were great and I'd love to see them again. I hope that in terms of story it takes from BG2 which I think was very well executed. I wanted revenge against Irenicus and to a lesser extent Bhodi. Your reasons for hating Irenicus were constantly reinforced so you never lost sight of your main goal even whilst out saving druids or clearing cults from sewers that had absolutely nothing to do with him. He was also an interesting villain. You understood his motivation for being what he was and it was even relatable somewhat. At least you understood how he got started on the path that led him into arch villian territory. Finally I hope the world is like that of planescape torment and morrowind. Which is to say foreign enough to be interesting and similar enough to relatable. I loved both settings, the worlds themselves were so interesting I always wanted to explore and know more about them. They were able to have their quirks that still completely fit in with the setting so they didn't seem too out of place. For example if Ignus, Morte, or Nordom tried to join my party in Dragon Age or Fallout I'd find it too absurd and it would detract from the overall believability of the world. But if the setting is outlandish enough to allow for those sort of things it leads to a more interesting game over all.

I understand that 'sex sells' and all that so while I'm in agreement with this topic I can understand why we see so many skimpy armor designs on female characters and they all have super model looks. I would also point out that it's not strictly limited to females. There aren't a ton of ugly dudes walking around in video games either. Really I will be content if they do 2 things. First no female has a waste skinnier than her head or boobs larger than it. Second they design plate armor to look substantial and not form fitting, or if it must be form fitting for the love of god no steel bikinis. If they want to do skimpy / form fitting leather and cloth armor I'll suspend my disbelief for that. I'm sure I'm not alone in this but I couldn't stand what they did to the elves in DA2. What's worse is I'm fairly sure on some level it was a choice based off of the thought that skinny is inherently sexy. It's not and was taken too far in DA2 to the point where all elves were hard to look at. Yes I was happy they were more visually distinct but I think that probably could have been done without making them a bag of bones. So please try go with a more average look for your character models, both male and female. Also I will say I like what they did with Shepard in the ME series. Namely out on a mission you were your ass kickin' gear but on the Normandy you were in your casual clothes. I think the same should hold true for more games and include your companions. Let them get covered in absurd bulky armor during the adventure but back at camp, your stronghold, or whatever the case may be give them a default casual appearance. I think it's a great way have letting the designers design an overall look for a character while not compromising their ability to look and feel battle ready when changing their gear. Anyway I'm rambling now but that's my thoughts on character models being over sexual and so on.

I've got to disagree. I've done a few other kickstarters before and this one was by far the best handled out of any of them. The updates were coming frequently to let us know what was happening in the planning stages and with the kickstarter itself and I greatly appreciated that. More than that though they were constantly changing things up (in terms of ways to dontate) and out getting publicity to generate more donations. The team was out doing at least 1 Q&A week for almost the entire process. I loved when I'd see one pop up on gametrailers or kotaku knowing that it would bring another handful of people to the kickstarter. The idea to let the endless paths dungeon grow through facebook was also a great idea as it was a way to drum up buzz without it costing anybody a dime. Then hopefully it would spread as friends shared and liked posts through facebook. All the add-ons they gave out to get more funding between tiers was numerous and varied. I know that if I had the money to spend I would have grabbed a few of those extras in a heartbeat. Certainly I felt spoiled for choice even if I couldn't afford any of it. Now in the only thing I could say is that I wish they had done a bit more planning before presenting the idea to kickstarter. I know that when I saw 'new class and companion' unlocks I was assuming a higher base amount of classes and companions than they were. I still would have donated day 1 but I was a bit let down when they unveiled the total number of classes and companions as I thought the base amount for both would have been 2 higher than it was. Still I think they ran a tremendous campaign which is why they've ended up being the 3rd most funded kickstarter to date.

Honestly I think it's a bit too low. I like variety and choices as well as having a full party and 8 seems a bit limited if it's going to be your main character + 4 others. Now honestly at this stage I have no idea about what sort of combat system is going to be implemented. However if they make roles important (tank, healer, ect) than you might only have 1 companion that fits the bill as tank or healer. If their alignment doesn't mesh with your main characters they might leave and you'd be out an important role and forced to replace them with a faceless NPC from the adventurers hall. Luckily I do not think roles will matter that much if you're able to complete the game solo so that is comforting to me. At the very least even though I would prefer more a few (2-3) more fleshed out companions but I understand that with time/budget restraints 8 might be all they can get out to us while still having them be fully realized. If that's the case then I accept it.

Honestly the issue with potions is solved easily with cooldowns. In dragon age origins (especially if you didn't have a dedicated healer) potions were life savers and frequently I'd have a character dying faster than they could get healed. This prevents you from just chugging them to trivialize encounters. Considering this game is designed around being able to complete solo I find it unlikely that potions will be toned down anymore than this. If you're playing a lone rogue you need a way to heal and potions will probably be your main option. If anything I'd say remove resist potions or resist stats entirely. These are the potions that tend to just rot in your inventory doing nothing. Most of the time you can do without them so you save them for when you might really need them and it just never happens.

I always enjoyed going back to New Reno in Fallout2 and just wiping out the whole town with a big laser and some power armor. That said I think NPCs essential to the main plot should have a note or journal or something similar that will point you in the right direction of the next step in the plot. Alternitively (while it might be a complete pain in the ass to program) I imagine they could just shift all that essential quest dialogue on to another NPC or give you a necromancer that could call spirits back to answer your questions for a hefty fee.

Really whatever the choice the game will be designed around it so it will work. I'd say that I'm used to combat giving experience but that doesn't mean it has to be that way. In this game it's being done without combat experience so people who choose to stealth around encounters or talk their way out of encounters aren't losing out on XP from killing everything in site. In which case I'm all for it because I'd rather have alternative victory methods than have need to get XP for everything I crush underfoot. My only concern with the system is that it will then have a set amount of experince to be gained which I'm not a huge fan of. I feel that you should be able to out level the content if you really want to grind out XP and I hope they provide a way to do that without combat XP. However I do hope if they're addressing this to help out noncombative characters that they will do something to help the evil/selfish characters as well. I say this because most of the time people handing out quests are just asking you to go do something for them for little/no reward. I'm always tempted to do the 'piss off' dialogue options when playing my evil characters but know that doing so will just mean I miss out on the quest and the xp and reward that goes with it. So instead my evil characters agrees to help out some poor shlub with some silly errand even though they'd really rather just ignore them or stab them through the throat.

I don't mind random encounters even later on so long as they aren't too frequent. It's more the frequency that drives me up the wall than the battles themselves. I prefer it if the encounters don't scale so that once you're powerful you can enjoy scattering a handful of once annoying forest monsters to the wind with ease. If there is to be a price on your head or thieves out for your cash I'd rather that sort of thing be tied into your actions as a player rather than just being a random encounter. I also like the random encounters being scaled by area like in fallout 2. If you start wander off towards San Fran too early and you'll know you're not supposed to be out there when a gang of super mutants rips you in half.

I always loved sets but the biggest problem is exactly what you're talking about, never being able to find all the pieces. I think this mainly an issue in games where loot is randomly generated and I believe it's been said that won't be the case in this game. Still I do like the idea of going out to find the gear on a quest. Alternitively I like the idea of a blacksmith telling you he's heard of a legendary metal and if you bring it to him along with other things he needs to work it then he'll use it to craft you a set and you can pick the type of set you'd like based on your class.