Jobby

Looking good love the environmental art as per usual and can't say that i'm too offended by wraith boobies lol, I have slight concerns regarding the Might stat and will hope that magical and physical damage are revised at some point but as the philosopher Jagger once said "you can't always get what you want". I do have a question regarding monster models, can they be scaled to create a greater diversity of models? I remember Marts Monster Mod for Oblivion did this and it really added to the game imo.

Where was the death threat? I found it amusing

To be fair I think you are being a touch argumentative, or haven't read my post fully. I also don't propose that this is the "perfect" method or balance simply a suggestion, regardless I'll try and explain my thoughts: Constitution Resolve fairly equal combat relevance for all classes. Dexterity Perception Strength - Geared towards fighters Intellect - Geared towards casters Surely the vast majority of these "broken bridge" moments can be solved with resolve dexterity and perception which again have relevance for all classes. I don't think Sawyer ever stated that Intellect would be the prime conversational attribute, I was merely commenting that if it was then there could be problems, I don't think that by giving perception, resolve (and perhaps also strength through intimidate) greater uses in conversations you are unbalancing constitution and dexterity. Given that dexterity essentially affects your Thac0 which was the most important stat in D&D it shouldn't require much balance. Considering constitution defines your health/stamina and possibly blunt damage received that in itself should be reasonable justification not to dump it, especially if casters have opportunities to get into the mix by conjuring weapons. I truly hope that puzzles are not solved by your chars intellect as opposed to the players themselves therefore I don't understand this point, perhaps I misunderstood. Finally regarding Cyphers I do reckon you have a point here but surely some kind of balance can be achieved within the abilities of the character? Or could a particularly weak cypher with high intellect use a crossbow to replenish his special abilities? (not sure if it needs to be melee). Finally a boxing metaphor, a clever boxer can beat a stronger one through counter punches/points/timing however the "raw" damage he inflicts will always be less, critical hits aside (counter punches).

My first playthrough of BG1 was horrendous, no prior knowledge of D&D or attribute rolling therefore a 14str fighter who was very charismatic and rather wise lol, it took me a second attempt to complete the game during which I did kill Drizzt with the wand of summoning without looking at a guide which gave me a huge feeling of satisfaction . Back on topic though, I have no problem with the second city having better gear than the first if it makes sense from a gameworld point of view however I would like to be able to travel mostly anywhere from the start of the game which would make a linear progression of items in shops impossible as the gameworld shouldn't be linear like a JRPG. Anyway regarding equipment seeing as we are working within a +1 to +3 scale perhaps the different tactical opportunities differing status/elemental effects and damage types provide should outweigh the need to upgrade everyone's equipment to +3s meaning that interesting unique items will have differing levels of viabilities for different playstyles/party compositions. Most importantly they do not become meaningless as soon as a "better" weapon comes along and will always have a "niche" use, I'm thinking of the blade of roses or the dragonbane gear from BG2, this seems like it could tie in well with the additional equipment slots certain classes get. So to summarise I would like to see interesting unique items in shops that are priced exorbitantly high, can't get past that trolls cave? perhaps 30k for a flaming sword+1 now seems like a decent buy etc..

I'm all for limited gold, makes sense and can help to balance the economy and end game gold levels, I think it is ridiculous that stores should level up with the characters though, this provides balance at the cost of immersion in my opinion. I'm all for stock changing occasionally but there should be a fairly consistent variety of items available at all times, whether or not an early game player can afford them is another matter, if you choose to scrounge every penny and rob every poor bastard that you see then perhaps this could create a real justification for an evil/selfish playthrough. I do agree that in most cRPGS money is far too easy to acquire and becomes a meaningless number by mid-game, but I don't want stores to only stock junk (thus making money meaningless) and I don't want them to level up with the player/chapter (limiting the value of money). It should be a hard earned resource that requires a degree of thought into how you spend it and the player who spends hours stealing it/acquiring it through reputation losses should be rewarded by being able to purchase better gear.

Tried to read all 23 pages but unfortunately the inane physics/biology arguments got the better of me (no offense to anyone it's just a bit of a dry read in one sitting) so apologies if I'm re-hashing previous posts. I have to admit after a bit of thought I do like Sawyers proposed tenets of character design and agree that there are serious flaws in the D&D system in that many of the attributes have no purpose whatsoever resulting in identical "ideal" builds. I also understand that a reasonable balance would be much easier to achieve if one stat governed damage however I still feel that magical and physical damage are too different to determined by one attribute. My views on the proposed attributes and their effects without (imo) superfluous things such as carry weight: Constitution = health/stamina, (both/or either) again logical, more useful for some classes than others but in no way a dump stat. Resolve = duration of effects/(aoe?), great idea, applicable to all classes, perhaps more useful for some than others but regardless it can be utilised by all. Dexterity = accuracy, once again useful for all and can logically be applied to spellcasters/archers/fighters assuming you still have to hurl that ball of fire/acid/ice after conjuring it. Perception = critical hit chance, another great idea and can be applied to all classes (again assuming casters need to "aim"), logical and sound in my mind. These are the stats i am happy with (actually delighted with tbh) for the two remaining stats i would personally propose: Intellect = raw magic damage Strength/Power/Might = raw physical damage Whilst this does create at least one dump stat for pure mages/pure fighters it is still a far more balanced system than D&D whilst remaining fairly logical and allowing for a diverse and distinct number of builds, to add to this, hybrid caster-fighter classes should allow for tactical opportunities that outweigh the negatives of having to split your "raw" damage between two attributes. I add that I have not covered defensive abilities, imo these could be distributed between any of the four attributes i declared myself delighted with without being unreasonable or illogical, a sketchy outline of what i think may work follows: Constitution = health/stamina, nuff said, for balance could also include blunt damage if required to make full plate tanks more durable. Resolve = sheer force of will to remain standing (stamina damage?) Dexterity = deflection / AC Perception = deflection / AC I also have not covered non-combat attribute relevance and I realise that a lack of intellect could make pure fighter builds less diplomatic, in that regard all i can suggest for balancing that would be to consider perception/resolve based dialogue options that may achieve a similar outcome to intellect ones. Finally regarding guns/crossbows. Guns - "raw" damage output should not be determined by any statistic, they already exist outwith standard weaponry by being able to pierce the arcane veil, if balancing is required dps can be increased through dexterity (re-load / accuracy) and crit hits through perception. Crossbows - awkward bastard of a weapon to logically define, I'm not buying the (imo) weak assumptions of strength having any relevance through a steadier aim I again would propose that damage is defined by the mechanical contraption and dps by the accuracy/critical hits/re-load time. This may make overall balancing a nightmare but also adds further incentive to not pump strength/intellect to max values, by allowing weak characters to easily utilse weaponry that should not require any degree of strength to use. Perhaps big guns/crossbows could have a strength requirement (with accuracy penalties imposed as opposed to being unusable if the requirement is not met). To summarise my uncharacteristically long post, I agree with the basic principles of what Sawyer has suggested but i do feel certain classes should have to some degree "core attributes" thus differentiating them as people who have chosen their profession (class) based on their natural tendencies/abilties.

Yeah that title had me confused too lol, but yeah certainly a feature I'd like to see, I wouldn't image it would be too hard to implement but then again I'm not a programmer. On a similar note seeing as Tsuga mentioned the guard it would make more sense if they appeared regardless of whether you had goaded someone into a fight or attacked them for no reason, clearly this would make an evil playthrough harder but I'm sure it could be balanced with more logical rewards

Don't see the purpose personally but I'm not fussed either way, however it does annoy me when the biggest exp gain is almost always the "good" option, I hope this isn't the case

Fair enough, perhaps the scale of the game and only having 2 companions at a time made it feel less dense, good to hear though and thanks for the response

I do recall enjoying the companion quests in FO:NV however my only gripe would be that once you had helped them to resolve their issue that was their interaction pretty much over, Presumably the PoE NPCs not being voice acted will have a bit more to say about everything? Including interjections and ideally disagreements with either your course of action or other NPC interjections?

My reference was more regarding the general re-colours you see throughout that game, they're fine in a limited and logical fashion but it gets a bit tedious when you feel like your only levelling up so you can kill red goblins as opposed to green ones and yes I'm sure Obsidian are more than capable

Haha I kinda liked the bickering, as much as we are a team it doesn't mean we should always get along, besides I loved the fact that we got to see the bitchy side of Jaheria through those dialogues, Korgain and Aerie had some interesting/amusing chat too which allowed you actually see a bit of a bite from her. Sticking with the topic of this thread though it would be great too see a NPC try to corrupt another one, with the PC being given the opportunity to interject or agree etc.. On a slight tangent I hope there are leadership/influence skills that affect the degree to which you can sway party members views or even just get them to accept each other and/or the path you take through the game, perhaps they could parallel lying/deceit/devious skills that would allow you to achieve similar things in a darker fashion.

Fairly minor issue for me as i tend to micromanage anyway but improvement would be welcome, I'm sure one of the older updates touched on this briefly though and level design does seem to have wider spaces as opposed to the narrow corridors that seemed to create a lot of the problems (I'm looking at you firewine ruins!)

Is that the same guy that carry's a can of shark repellent with him at all times just incase? Or am i in a different universe lol?

I love the idea of some sort of ancient location of power that has been colonised and re-colonised over and over again over the millennia, perhaps at some point some dwarfs dug too deep and let in some ancient evils (cliche i know, Tolkien, Arcanum), but the re-colonisation suggestion at least allows for a mosiac of cultures/histories and environments. perhaps simply the power itself was enough to corrupt all living things (not suggesting that the power is evil just that it inherently corrupts), perhaps some levels/locations have relatively recent inhabitants, i.e. necromancers lair, dragons lair, goblin fortress built around the relics of an ancient elven civilization. Perhaps underground lagoons/rivers influenced by the power become "fountains of youth", perhaps the elves are merely decendants of an ancient race that has been touched by this immortality, maybe we could have races/species who still live there who have evolved differently under different conditions.. Perhaps it could be the source of all life (garden of eden) or a site of godly wrath (tower of babel). I could go on and on and on lol, the point is it doesn't need to be a boring cave crawl but could be a place of wonderment/amazement/horror all at once and regarding the story thing I'm sure the devs have stated that there will be a self contained story arc within the deeper levels.

+ 1 vote for Spider Illithid! Though that may require too much extra writing if they have to make his presence believable within towns and cities etc i doubt the denizens of this world are quite as tolerant as those in PS:T ... although a disguise could work.

*Was

Perhaps I'm alone here but I actually miss the days of BG1 companions telling you to **** off if they didn't agree with your goals, that and certain combinations of characters would ultimately result in violence within the party, to be fair though the BG1 companions didn't have all that much writing and there was a lot of em. Given the smaller number of more detailed NPCs we probably aren't going to see infighting but that doesn't mean they should follow your every whim and command, believable/likable characters are not yes men. in KOTOR the whole light/dark side thing fits in with the universe, that and the Bastilla scenes were incredibly well written, even when you first meet her she has arrogant traits that could be paralleled to Anikin Skywalker. Not that I'm against some level of influence but make it realistic, even throw in a few twists, i.e. corrupt a good character and they become bitter and embroiled with self hatred, perhaps eventually committing suicide or attacking your party, try and save the soul of an evil guy only to discover he has been currying favor with you in order to corrupt the PC etc.. I also like Lephys suggestions regarding deception and devious methods to get good npcs to do evil things and vise versa, this could really add a whole new level to an evil playthrough, although i would like to see ramifications if you get caught out.

Agree with the OP and most of what has been said here, without getting too philosophical though, generally good and evil is defined by personal opinions, ideologies and history (Ted Bundys aside). I for example consider Maggie Thatcher evil yet many (not evil) people consider her a hero (Opinion), I consider the treatment of women in many parts of the world to be evil, again many people do not (Cultural ideologies), finally history tells us that the Aztecs/Incas were an evil race who engaged in the ritual slaughter of innocents and yet the European conquistadors who murdered an entire race are not considered so. So from that I agree with the idea of no game rules defining what is good and evil but rather a world of grey where perhaps some evil acts could be considered "for the greater good" and some good acts could be considered irresponsible or cowardly. However I do think it could be fun to have the option of the non-grey Ted Bundy approach where there a real consequences for being a psychopathic murderer (and perhaps real benefits for a psychopathic bank robbing murderer :D) If I believed it was possible to actually branch the game depending on alignment I would love it however realistically the game has to have a common end point if we are ever going to have the possibility of a direct sequel, the manner in which you get there is sufficient enough for me (Bhodi / Thieves guild BG2 option for example). I do feel though that BG2 is not the be all and end all and if it is possible to expand upon these choices then I'm all for that. Finally the stronghold will hopefully provide interesting options for evil gameplay, perhaps even full scripted storyline arcs diverging all over the place, megalomaniac dictators to altruistic leaders, in fact i would rather have this than separate quests and strongholds for different classes.

They could always use "Wyrmlings" in PE1, and "Adults" in PE2 (replace with level-appropriate CR ages as necessary). Hell, that happened in PnP games all the time ... CR2 encounter would be a Wyrmling Black Dragon (0-5 years old), but a CR 13 is Mature Adult(201-400). Note that due to ability progression, colors change pretty often (I just found 2 "black dragon" encounters where the dragon CR matches the party level). Going with straight white dragon: L1 - Wyrmling (CR = Party) L2 - V. Young (CR = Party) L3 - Young (CR = Party) L4 - Juvenile (CR > Party) L5 - Juvenile (CR = Party) L6 - Y. Adult (CR > Party) L7 - Y. Adult (CR = Party) L8 onwards follows the 4,5,6,7 progression with the even level encounters having Dragon CR > Party, and the odd level encounters having CR = Party. Yeah I could live with that however they would need to be clearly defined as "baby dragons" (i.e. size and personality) as opposed to just a different level, and whilst i accept that there can be a few different colours with distinct personalities and levels of strength lets not get into Diablo re-colour territory here shall we?

I would much rather achievements were covered in game in a more immersive manner, e.g. complete a series of quests for some guild and aswel as the awesome loot receive a medal which confers some kind of rep boost with certain factions. Not some silly meaningless popup. Not all that bothered though to be honest and hopefully the boxed copy doesn't require steam and I do remember the DA:O ones being a touch annoying (though not as annoying as the game itself) I have high standards for cRPGs I'm afraid lol.

Please please please do not create a ToB for this game, if BG2 didn't end on a cliffhanger I would happily leave it there, that game was (imo) sacrelige against the greatest cRPG saga ever made. Good writing and a satisfying conclusion but godawful linear forced settings and scenarios to cope with ridiculous god like abilities (and before anyone jumps in with the obvious, only 1 out of 6 of your party could even be considered "godlike"). Not to mention the HLA's, for me the game would compare to modern day "tagged on" DLC as opposed to a fitting and appropriate conclusion to a wonderful series. Sorry.. ToB upsets me lol, back on topic I woud love to see BG1 - 2 style progression within this game, and if Dragons are involved make them game beatingly hard to defeat in PoE1, requiring ridiculous amounts of planning, preperation and probabaly reloading to succeed, I hate the concept of PoE1 having low level dragons and PoE2 having high level ones. Unless a simmilar approach to BG1 is adopted where Dragons were replaced with Wyverns in order to maintain the low level D&D progression. Finally I do feel that character importing should have at the very least more Drizzt style encounters where your deeds, or misdeeds , are remembered from the first game, that scene in BG2 could very well be my most fondly remembered video gaming moment of all time. Finally finally: BG1 - Wilderness exploration, finding your feet/heritage, struggling with (fairly) mundane events and encounters but eventually overcoming all odds to achieve your goals BG2 - Established adventurers personal tale of revenge (or the quest to rescue your childhood freind depending), finding yourself in (almost) mythological places rarely spoken of, Underdark / Sharkman land / Beholders lairs etc....

gratuitous sex and violence?

Ofc I understand that a certain degree of scaled leveling is required, i.e. BG1 & 2, not bandits in legendary daedric armour tho Therefore it should be possible to go places that make you feel out of depth, thus giving actual meaning to leveling up. To avoid going too far off topic though I'm fairly pleased with what I've heard so far and the fact the dungeon will have its own seperate storyline and lore excites me :D

I think the mega dungeon would be **** if it doesn't require leveling up for the deeper levels, most people dont want Oblivion/Skyrim scaled leveling, I'll be happy to go too deep and get my arse handed to me, only to come back later and get revenge :D