Fimbul

Drawbacks yay - restrictions nay! Mages should be able to don armor but with mali on casting. Thing is I hate fail chance on casting, I'd rather have reduced maximum cast level or increased cast time. Specials feats to be able to use medium or heavy armor in the first place would also be okay for me. I'd like to play a heavily armored warlock that may not be able to cast high level spells, but hands out magic missiles like candy.

Re-spawning is okay if the monsters stop to yielding XP rather early, based on monster and player level. I'd hate to go back and find an area completely deserted, the game world would feel less dynamic to me. Re-spawning could very well improve the dynamic and consistency of the world. I know some would argue that re-spawning is the opposite of consistency, but what if you clear a bandit camp in the woods and wildlife would have taken it over when you return. An other example would be if you clear a bear cave (bears being formidable foes at this point) near a road and whenever you'd return there would spawn some minor wild animals or bandits that sought refugee in the abandoned cave. It would be a great way to show the player the consequences of his/her actions. Those re-spawns should mostly yield less XP and loot (if yielded at all, since it isn't clear yet) and be weaker than those before them, just so that the player can't get much out of them but it doesn't seem like he/she depopulated the whole world!

That's my general viewpoint. Narration itself doesn't add much for me ... that's going to be dependent on whether I like the narrator's voice/intonation, and that's a hit and miss affair for most people. So if we're talking imagination here, I'd actually rather just have text and imagine a voice myself. Or really, sometimes, none at all if possible - I'd rather story/narrative be somehow integrated into the game itself in some way, rather than needing huge chunks of sudden exposition. eg, there's the too many cutscenes ="I'll just watch watch a movie" aspect (which I agree with) but there's also the "then I'll just read a book" aspect. It's a fine line at times. Well, if it was in the BG and IWD style with floating text, you could always mute the sound and read yourself.

A nice example where narration and atmosphere made the whole game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7VJ4lP-05A Of course there was also a good portion of awesome graphics involved, but images can build as well an atmosphere! For those who don't know Dear Esther: You walk through the whole "game" with almost no interaction at all, save that you might trigger additional narration if you visit certain places. It's actually more like a set of beautiful landscapes that you walk through while a touching story unfolds through the narration. I recall someone calling it "interactive poetry". Don't try it if you're looking for action or suspense!

Yes put'em all in! Orcs, dragons, fairies, hobbits and pokemons and don't ever dare try something new!

I prefer real-time but a pause function with diverse settings for auto-pausing is a must have! The IE games are only superficially in real time, the game mechanics still work with turns and you can actually make them stop after each one. Since PE is a homage to these games from the beginning, I presume a similar system will be put to work.

Archers often ended up being the most effective character in my parties, although I too did scarcely choose a ranger for the task, with the exception of the BG2 archer subclass. I preferred a warrior/mage class combo and gladly forwent armor and fast level-up for the extra punch down range. Ranger's should have some unique mechanics for ranged combat, to make them more interesting! Three examples from the top of my head: - piercing missile on crit - choice of targeted limb, with chance of crippling (I love this in the Fallout series) - fletching: infinite availability of certain ammo types, depending on level

Funny... I'd rather it be the other way around. I like to choose of different 'cultures' of humans rather than 'races'. In my opinion elves and dwarfs are boring because they are just extremes on both sides of the human spectrum - the agile and the sturdy. It seems unimaginative to me to choose extremes. ... let's have it the traditional way and have them coexist... serves us both!

Sound's like a trophy room to me. I'd like trophies to be added to the stronghold as I progress through the game, prisoners would make decent trophies I guess, given that I didn't decide to kill them when I had the chance. I wouldn't spend too much effort on a more elaborate prison concept, though! Maybe I should take some time reading through the other stronghold thread to check if that trophy idea got called out yet...

Quick understanding, cultural diversity, creativity and flexibility are the common traits associated with humans. They usually manifest in additional points or more freedom during character creation. Imho there's nothing to improve here.

So if people are afraid of death, you may not die in the game? It's a game! Be thankful that you get an extra kick out of it! If you're afraid of them: Fight'em, purge'em, hit'em with a stick and kill'em with fire! I personally don't have any particular fear or phobia, so excuse me if I lack a little empathy.

...meaning we are point zero on the scale to measure advantages and disadvantages in this particular context. Would feel kind of forced if humans had any advantages but quick learning or something like that. game: humans have +1 strength. random human: Well I don't feel very strong... game: humans have +1 dexterity. random human: Actually I'm kind of clumsy... game: humans have +1 intelligence. random human: Deeerrrp game: humans learn rather fast. random human: Uhm well we better DO, since we don't live as long as other races.

I too prefer realistic gear over fancy, shining mumbo jumbo. The IE games rarely had fancy effects on their weapons or armor but that was surely due to the limited graphics. I always thought of the D&D +X suffix more as a quality statement than one of magic, although it is clearly defined as the latter. There sure are a lot of interesting item attributes that could be explained in a more profane manner.

The original IE games weren't very randomized in terms of loot: Bosses yielded unique weapons, lieutenants something like a short sword +2. After two or more play-throughs you were pretty sure what enemy would drop which loot, that took some excitement out of it. I'd like to have some randomization on common magics (more than + on damage or hit modifier) but also have notorious epic and legendary items at definite places. The NWN series did better with it's variety of attributes and modularly designed items, so I'd say Obsidian already knows how to do it right.

What's wrong with the way it was in earlier IE games? It's dark, people go inside - some sleep, some roam the streets at night, some begin to work, some inns are even more crowded than at daytime. I don't need the NPCs to go shopping for milk and cheese, I'm okay when they behave slightly different night and day. But don't get me wrong, I also don't mind if there is more. I'm just a little concerned about how much effort it would take in comparison to things I deem more important.