Kjaamor

Aesthetically I prefer the original UI, mainly because I think large boxes (say 8x2+) tend to look ugly although I also agree with Fiebras than the unused space is in and of itself a design decision. I dislike both the shared inventory (aesthetically and functionally) and the tab system, which I feel serves to make the items within more mundane. A sword within the bottles just looks cooler than a sword within the swords. And while I know you were joking, I think the tab system inherently feels like I'm using Firefox or Excel and I'm not sure that's quite the vibe I'm looking for in PoE. Of course my preference for existing inventory was already on the table, as it were. Still, keep up the good work!

The current death system is acknowledged as a placeholder and the next beta update has already been confirmed as containing death scenes and the like. Also, I've never played Titan Quest, but from that video its gameplay looks absolutely terrible.

FYI the concept of the sewer section was that you were overwhelmed and had to escape, not that you were employed as vermin control officer for LA. To that end, the section performed it's role generally well. The problem with the sewer section, although nowhere near matches the hyperbole you describe, is that it was too long and would've benefited from being shorter and possibly more difficult. Being overwhelmed can be very exciting, but being lost in an unpleasant area tends not to be.

The money is a pittance, I'll be using in-game NPCs rather than blank templates anyway, you could do it in IWD and suicide attacks will still involve going back and forth from the inn which if you're abusing the game in that way is your own problem. I have to say I find this to be a total non-issue whichever way it goes.

I'm forever trapped in the Chaotic Evil of thinking that Planescape's approach gets undeservedly high praise.

Personal preference would be to have the Ranger be a primary DPS character and if the animal dies, then to lose a proportion of their DPS. The current build effectively leaves the Ranger a medium DPS front line character by way of their animal companion. I don't agree with the suggestion of increased micromanagement in a class with, in my mind, inherent simplicity in...er...mind. (Edit: First of many adjustments to mitigate my failed alcohol save)

Oh, well spotted. I had hithero imagined that Sensuki was going to fly over to my house and force me to install his creation at gunpoint. Thanks for the heads-up. I reiterate that this is not something that will greatly affect balance in and of itself and has since been implemented in the game anyway. That said, mods at beta stage strike me as a very bad idea. One that threatens the game balance far more is the mod for infinite camping supplies. What happens to balance when half the beta testers are playing with infinite health (whilst also vehemently denying this)? This is an aside from all the other issues that modding or editing a game can bring up. There's already been a quick chortle in this thread saying "Who would be so stupid?", but a quick look around these forums - mentioning no names whatsoever, not necessarily in this thread and with the greatest respect possible - tells me that there are a substantial number of people who are stupid enough to do just that. This isn't a go at Sensuki, 95% of whose proposals I agree with, I'm just trying to express my concern both primarily for modding at this stage and also secondarily for requesting the transplanting of mechanics from other games people like rather than letting this game build itself well. And it's pretty unrelated, but for the record, D:OS had some of the worst inventory management I think I have ever had the misfortune to use. EDIT: Also, polite apology to Sensuki for the first post following his update being a go at mods generally, which seems a bit of a ****ty reward for hard work.

If the Wasteland 2 release is on Friday, then it might be in everyone's interests to give a bit of a grace period between that and the next beta release. Certainly I can imagine many of our beta players also buying that, and it would take something astonishingly bad from Wasteland 2 to make them test a slightly-adjusted version of the beta they have already been playing over that. Give it a week at least, perhaps a fortnight.

There is a definitely a market for this, so well done for giving the people what they want, but I can't deny being rather disappointed that this is likely to put further nails into the coffin of the PoE inventory system, which I happen to really like. I think it would be a definite overstatement to suggest that this mod will noticeably affect the balance of the game, but I worry that it sets a precedent for other mods that are popular concepts that serve to unbalance the core system. ...and we're back to the Enhanced Editions.

And, as the saying goes, my aunt could potentially have been my uncle were she in possession of a set of testes.

As of v278: Cipher Cipher Cipher Cipher Cipher Cipher Snarks aside, looking at what the classes are conceptually like and having played around with their ideas: Slot 1: Fighter It is clear that the Fighter is the only dedicated tanking class, and I think conceptually the optimal party needs a dedicated tank. Slot 2: Fighter I also think the game intends you to benefit from an off-tank, to help create a wall when the tank is overwhelmed, or take the pressure off if they're low on health. In v278 I used a heavily armoured Barbarian recruit who performed the task well, and originally I was going to suggest a Paladin for the role, but I think running a Two-handed fighter who switches to sword and shield when the moment requires will probably provide the most consistent bang for buck in both categories, with added flexibility. Slot 3: Paladin Performs buffs and dps, and can help out with the tanking if things get really bad. Slot 4: Cipher Even when they are appropriately nerfed, I think the Cipher will still be a must have for their repeated use spells, and combination of dps and crowd control. Slot 5: Chanter I haven't tried out a chanter yet, so this is a bit speculative, but since the dps of my party sits almost exclusively on the front lines more buffs are always welcome. Slot 6: Priest/Barbarian The last one I have to provide myself with two options for because I don't know where Obsidian are going with the priest. At present, I would regard them as being of minimal worth when your front line is fighter-led, but they could just as easily become absolutely mandatory depending upon the importance of their stamina replenishing spells. It also depends upon whether the chanter is able to perform the stamina boosting role alone. If the Priest isn't mandatory, then Barbarian almost in protest at how bad wizards look in this game. Having heard some of Josh's opinions regarding the Quadratic mages of D&D, I'm inclined to think that their inadequacies are not a bug but instead a feature. Conspicuous by their absence: Rogues: I'm not convinced from what I've seen that the damage spike the rogue is meant to provide is necessarily as effective as the sustained dps of an aggressive fighter. Also, you lose the tanking capabilities. I think Rogues are a class that the system is inadvertently nerfing. Rangers: Similarly, while the Ranger concept is good, the reality is they have two places on the battlefield where they can be hit, and I am wholly unconvinced by animal companions on a mechanical level. To effectively dps the animal must be present, but if the animal becomes engaged the Ranger is in a lot of trouble. I get the sense that this will only get worse the further into the game you go. I've chosen a melee-heavy party, but if I did go ranged then my dedicated ranged people would be fighters, rogues and ciphers. Druids: I've not played the Druid yet, so I can't say with certainty that I won't fall in love with them, but I've never liked the way shapeshifting works (occasionally shapeshift to perform a role that another class could do better) and I prefer to avoid limited spells. Priests: As I say, it depends upon the implementation. Right now, a well-defended Fighter in a party with good CC will have enough Stamina coming in that health is the bigger problem. I can imagine that when the defence bugs are ironed out, Stamina may become a huge issue for all front-liners at which point the Priest becomes mandatory. Wizards: I don't like how they play, and I don't think they will ever change to an extent where I want to use them. If Aloth is still in the game his chances of making my party have taken a massive hit with the beta. Their spells are limited, they're difficult to aim and as often as not end up doing more harm than good, and the general PoE combat speed mechanics mean reliance on slow casting puts you in a vulnerable position. BB wizard is carried by the other party members during my playthroughs while the Cipher runs the show with his magic.

I would be so happy if that turns out to be any good.

To be honest, they could make a Fallout 3 that was set in middle-management accounting and I would still pour over it. The setting itself was, while enjoyable and well put together, pretty far down the list of things I wish they would replicate from the original two Fallouts.

While I agree that unlimited range and blind enemies is a substantial problem, I would argue that a focus that ticks down to zero not only serves to address the problem but also better suits the original concept of the class - the idea that attacking builds power to unleash spells.

I've mentioned this in multiple other threads, but if this is to be the master thread, I'll copy and paste it into here, too. The Cipher: "Whispers of Treason" + Out-of-combat resets focus + Ability to see the enemy before they see you = Hideously overpowered. I did both Spider caves without taking a hit (apart from the undead spawn). I'm fairly sure that qualifies the above as needing a bit of a nerf. A successful nerf, in my eyes, would include: 1. When out of combat, Cipher's focus ticks down to 0 rather than resetting to full. 2. Whispers of Treason is easier to save against 3. Whispers of Treason has a shorter (or in fact any) range. 4. Mobs can see an unstealthy party from at least as far as an unstealthy party can see them. 5. Debuff/DoT spells should, unless part of a specific scripted event, reveal the party/caster to a group of mobs.

Could it be that part of the reason for this power boost is that in Dyrford Crossing the majority of external enemies have relative vulnerability to crushing attacks? And are a Monk's fists crushing?

As an absolutely dyed-in-the-wool grognard, can I say that I really like the inventory system of PoE, and that I actually prefer it to the system of BG? I like the limited options (although to be fair, for all people are citing those eight bars to the right, there are also the quickslot bars to the left) because I feel it offers genuine decision-making impact on which items to keep, and I like the stash because it provides a convenient dump for all things I don't need but might like to sell. I am also profoundly impressed by the way any character can reach an item (or chest, say), and from that menu directly send things to another party member, or to the stash. So not every one of the Grognards dislikes it. . EDIT: (and the D:OS inventory system was horrendous)

While we're on the subject of Ciphers... "Whispers of Treason" + Out-of-combat resets focus + Ability to see the enemy before they see you = Hideously overpowered. I did both Spider caves without taking a hit (apart from the undead spawn). I'm fairly sure that qualifies the above as needing a bit of a nerf.

Ciphers are broken. If you don't mind the break, read on, but it will spoil things for you.

This. A Cipher can clear the map without taking a hit, apart from to enemies that have been made invincible by save/reloads increasing their deflection to unreachable levels. That isn't easy or difficult, it's just a mess.

I actually like this feature, but it irons out some of the concerns I had with the IE games where the party "talker" would be dragged around out of formation or forced to speak to foes toe-to-toe when it clearly was not in their strategic interest. I am willing to make excuses to keep immersion for the sake of the gameplay aspect.

...and now we go our seperate ways with opinions, because for me, my cat feels more like an IE game than D:OS. And I don't even have a cat.

I would describe myself as being addicted to it rather than having enjoyed it, but if ever there was an example of degenerative gameplay, then it was spending two hours waiting for a random number generator to roll maximum sixes.

Having read your post, I agree with your wider sentiment, if not the specific examples you cite. For me, in a single player game, there is nothing wrong with having class+race A be more capable on a general level than class+race B. We're not alone in this school of thought. ...but this ship has sailed. Obsidian are creating a game according to their philosophy, and one of the philosophies of the game is that all classes should be reasonably well-balanced. Even if the forums were unanimous on the issue (and let's be clear, they certainly aren't) it is highly unlikely to change the design philosophy of the game in this respect in any meaningful way.