oaktownbrown

After saving, quitting, and reloading from the menu screen, I had my BB Wizard's armor and robes disappear in the Dyrford Ruins. He was wearing the robes. The armor was in his inventory. My summoned Minor Earth Elemental also completely disappeared. BB Fighter and BB Cleric were still alive (and at full stamina) but weren't shown in the icons on the bottom left. I'd saved and quit, then loaded from the menu screen a few times because some member of my party always seemed to get stuck either during or right after combat in the Dyrford Ruins. Saving and reloading allowed me to move them again. I had to to reload a couple of times once in order to be able to move the character. Another time I couldn't move the Minor Earth Elemental even after reloading so I didn't use it for the next fight. Other than these problems, I'm enjoying the game and the combat.

i like the idea of a spell's radius/AoE fluctuating and its precision increasing with the character's relevant skill, abilities, etc. (i'm not sure how difficult it would be to implement, though. i realize PE can't have everything i'd like.) ideally for me, anyone too close to any elemental damage would get at least some damage and maybe some other effects (e.g., slowed, knocked down). i agree that spell damage (at least for elemental spells but probably in general) should vary based on how close one is to to the center of the spell. IIRC, i thought Betrayal at Krondor did a good job with that. i also like how your low level mage often missed his target (and sometimes hit his own party) in BaK. it made sense to me that when you were first learning to cast a fireball, your aim might be quite inconsistent. one time, you'd hit your target squarely and maybe do high damage to two or three enemies who were standing near the center of the blast. another time, you'd only hit one who was somewhat near where the fireball hit (and who, therefore took less damage than if he'd been at the center of the fireball). another time, you might accidentally hit the other members your own party directly (so they took high damage), with only those enemies who were near your party taking some damage (which varied with how close they were to the center). or you might miss everyone so no one took damage; you wasted your turn and your stamina. they probably did that in other games as well but that's the one i remember now. in any event, i'd like something like that in PE.

i mostly agree. i very much want friendly fire but i strongly prefer character skills to matter much more than player skills. to me, that's the essence of an RPG.

yes, i'm near the beginning of the game so it's not that surprising that i haven't learned that much about the history, culture, various conflicts, etc. i hope i learn a lot more as i get into the game bc the world, the lore, the culture, etc. are one of the most important things for me in an RPG. one question: when the books refer to "man" do they mean only humans, the median races, civilized people, or what? or does that vary depending on the author (e.g., some groups mean the largest grouping whereas other groups mean a smaller subset)? i'm glad that training gets harder. i wish there would have been some quests (or, e.g., a requirement for positive reputation with the faction who trained you) even at the apprentice level or even some time passing as you were becoming an apprentice. it sounds like there are interesting quests to gain the master level in various skills. that's good. but do you have to take a particular side in an ongoing conflict to complete the master persuasion quest (or other master skills quests)? if so, is there a good in-game reason why only ppl who take that side can become extremely persuasive/(master other skills) (or, e.g, is it a way to railroad ppl along one path/arbitrarily restrict gameplay options)?

yes, i'm still near the beginning of the game so it's not surprising that i don't know much about the world yet. i hope the cultural and racial aspects (and other elements of world lore) get better. the manual was really good in that respect: it added information and flavor that set the tone for the game even before i started playing. unfortunately, it's not easy for me to quickly find the information i'm looking for. i wish they would have had the manual itself and a quick information guide or something. even a good index at the beginning of the manual would be a big improvement IMO. (i'm using the PDF at Sierra's website. maybe the printed manual had an index.) i do like the little touches that make the world more interesting e.g., the street signs, windows and chests jamming if you fail to pick the lock, the newspapers, the much larger variety of shops in Tarant than in Shrouded Hills or Dernholm, etc. those are well done and add a lot for me. is backstabbing a passive ability? because i'm not sure when/if i'm ever backstabbing. does the fighting get significantly harder later in the game? i'm guessing it must if it would be useful to have several companions (other than as mules). also, is there a way to get your companions to backstab? is there a way to get them to help you in thieving or other actions?

inspired by MCA's playthough, i recently started playing arcanum. things i like: 1. ppls' reaction varies based on your reputation, gender, race, magic/tech abilities, beauty, your clothing, etc. 2. NPC's ability to resist spells (e.g., charm, stun) seems to be based on how various factors. 3. item bonuses depend on your tech/magicka affinity 4. the dialog is generally good. 5. companions have a variety of skills. i like that: you meet them in your travels, the number you can recruit is based on your charisma, and who you can recruit is based on your reputation (and your tech/magick alignment and some quests). i like that you can ask them to wait somewhere for you, recruit another follower, then later re-recruit the follower you'd ditched earlier. that's a big plus IMO. magick vs tech i like the idea of this: a world where the new forces of technology are battling the old forces of magicka. it creates an interesting world where two factions - neither of who are inherently good nor evil - have very conflicting interests. i also like the way it's implemented. you can do both but if you do, you'll never be as good at tech as someoene who doesn't use magicka. (ditto for magicka.) OK: so far, the quests seem ok. they're neither particularly interesting nor horrible. i like the idea that there is economic, political, and racial conflict. but, so far at least, that's not really implemented in the game, except as NPC reactions to the player's race and the labor conflict in Tarant. it seems like a really good idea that needed to be fleshed out more in order to work well. don't like: 1. the map and travel 2. combat. i usually used TB but i also tried RT. it's not good, even for an RPG. the only challenging fights i had were the monsters (levels 20 - 30 IIRC) at Liam's Workshop when i was at levels 5 - 16. (i was grinding bc i wanted to get teleport so i didn't have to deal with the map any more.) that was especially challenging because i hadn't remembered about the F5 key and often, after killing the one or two monsters i'd lured away, Virgil would go right to the portal and try to kill all the monsters there. "nooooooooooooo! i want you as a healbot, not a warrior! especially when we're outranked and outnumbered." even when the combat was challenging (mostly bc of Virgil's bad moves and my not realizing i could use the F5 key), it was more tedious than fun. 3. the companions seem boring. so far, they don't have much personality or much of a story. 4. training was instantaneous. really? i just pay you a few coins and suddenly i'm an apprentice? and, for many skills, there are several trainers in every town. very silly IMO. 5. it's too easy to steal a shopkeeper's entire inventory. it's even worse that no one is supspicious of you the next day. e.g., i arrived in shrouded hills and cleaned out the entire inventory of every shopkeeper during the night. the next night, the inventory is full again (so i steal it all again) and no one in the town seems the least bit suspicious, even if i do that for 10 nights in a row. you'd think the town would be a bit more wary of a newcomer who happened to arrive just before all the stores were cleaned out each night. 6. if you get caught pickpocketing or trying to steal (e.g., when breaking in), the target becomes immediately hostile and tries to kill you. further, i can't get my companion to distract them while i pickpocket them. those are common faults of RPGs but they're still a bad way to handle pickpocketing.