Quetzalcoatl

Dodging could be an animation sequence, parrying too. Leaping into combat too. Instead of "Combat Log: Edér dodged the attack", you'd also be able to see it. Or swords clashing. The Player doesn't need to have control of the "dodge", but the animation would. You misunderstood the gist of my argument. If it was an animation, that would mean the player would be penalized. They couldn't move/attack/cast in the time it took to play the dodge/parry animation. It would come at the cost of responsiveness.

If you have such high graphical standards, maybe this game isn't for you? Your post isn't even about the real-time aspect of the game, it's only about visual representation, so your topic title isn't really accurate. And they can't have dodging animations, because dodging depends on your stats, you don't dodge out of the way like you would in an action game. Following your suggestions would mean making an entirely different game.

Do people really like the character sprites of Baldur's Gate? They look significantly worse than other games using character sprites released around the same time and even compared to other IE games (compare the Baldur's Gate character models to the drastically better looking ones from Planescape: Torment).

You're talking about a system where you could make characters with the mental capacity of animals (3 CHA/INT/WIS) and they would have the same dialogue as a character with 18 CHA/INT/WIS. And a system where your physical strength determines the accuracy of your attacks is far from realistic. Didn't I hear somewhere that Tim Cain's hopes for low INT dialogue have been omitted from the game? I wouldn't know since I don't have access to the beta, but from what I've seen low INT in this game isn't supposed to make as you as dumb as an animal like it did in the old rule sets. It seems more like the INT for the average human. You're talking about a system where you could make characters with the mental capacity of animals (3 CHA/INT/WIS) and they would have the same dialogue as a character with 18 CHA/INT/WIS. And a system where your physical strength determines the accuracy of your attacks is far from realistic. And you are talking about putting a feature into a game that was already huge, a feature that outside of F1/F2 was not seen anywhere. You got no case here, only empty talk. Planescape Torment and the 3rd edition Neverwinter Nights games did fine with factoring mental stats into dialogue. Armor class doesn't make sense either. It's not very realistic to have the same stat control damage evasion, damage negation and damage reduction. The armor system in this game seems to be much more realistic.

I wouldn't know since I don't have access to the beta, but from what I've seen low INT in this game isn't supposed to make as you as dumb as an animal like it did in the old rule sets.

You're talking about a system where you could make characters with the mental capacity of animals (3 CHA/INT/WIS) and they would have the same dialogue as a character with 18 CHA/INT/WIS. And a system where your physical strength determines the accuracy of your attacks is far from realistic.

It was none of those things. BG1's writing wasn't particularly good. Says you. Millions of fans enjoyed BG1. Pointing out that something is popular is usually an argument AGAINST why something is qualitatively good. You might as well claim that a shallow action RPG is better than the Infinity Engine games because it sold more.

It was none of those things. BG1's writing wasn't particularly good.

Accidentally double-posted. Mods, delete this post or the previous post. When did I imply such a thing? The problem is that I didn't find the supposedly funny BG companions funny, but obnoxious and annoying. I just copied the first few quests I could find (they were listed in order of when you encountered them), but I can list quests from other parts of the game if you like: Zombie Hunting North of Wyrm's Crossing 800 ex, 150 gold Speak to Wenric in front of the house in the area north of Wyrm's Crossing. He will offer you 150 gold to kill 20 zombies. Explore the area and kill 20 zombies. Return to Wenric for your reward. The Mountain Bear North of Gnoll Stronghold 150 ex, Boots of the North In the southeast corner of the area north of the Gnoll Stronghold, Jared will beg you to fight the mountain bear that's coming after him. Cross the bridge and defeat the mountain bear. Return to Jared and if your charisma is high enough, he will give you some special boots. Angel the Cat North Baldur's Gate 500 ex Speak to Petrine, an orphan standing outside her uncle Bheren's house in North Baldur's Gate. She will tell you that her cat has gone back to her uncle's house and she will ask you to get the cat's ring for her. Enter Bheren's house and you will find Angel upstairs. Take the Angel Skin Ring from the chest and give it to Petrine.

When did I imply such a thing? The problem is that I didn't find the supposedly funny BG companions funny, but obnoxious and annoying. I just copied the first few quests I could find (they were listed in order of when you encountered them), but I can list quests from other parts of the game if you like: Zombie Hunting North of Wyrm's Crossing 800 ex, 150 gold Speak to Wenric in front of the house in the area north of Wyrm's Crossing. He will offer you 150 gold to kill 20 zombies. Explore the area and kill 20 zombies. Return to Wenric for your reward. The Mountain Bear North of Gnoll Stronghold 150 ex, Boots of the North In the southeast corner of the area north of the Gnoll Stronghold, Jared will beg you to fight the mountain bear that's coming after him. Cross the bridge and defeat the mountain bear. Return to Jared and if your charisma is high enough, he will give you some special boots. Angel the Cat North Baldur's Gate 500 ex Speak to Petrine, an orphan standing outside her uncle Bheren's house in North Baldur's Gate. She will tell you that her cat has gone back to her uncle's house and she will ask you to get the cat's ring for her. Enter Bheren's house and you will find Angel upstairs. Take the Angel Skin Ring from the chest and give it to Petrine.

Then I assume you agree with me? Otherwise you would've mentioned arguments to the contrary rather than personally attacking me. It's not exactly a secret that the quests of the first Baldur's Gate weren't much to write home about. Though I guess you might think otherwise if you count characters like Minsc among the best written RPG characters.

Methinks people overly associate open-world games with MMO's. What's the difference between doing a quest in BG1, and doing a quest in DA:I? It's not isometric, and there are fewer map transitions. Seriously. I'm not going to tell anyone to like DA:I, but at least dislike it accurately, please. Anywho, while I think DA:I is great, in its way, I feel that PoE is also going to be quite great in different ways. Quests in BG1 are actually real quests where you talk to people to get it and and to turn it in and get cool conversations. Yes, Baldur's Gate really set the standard with its amazingly complex quests: Nessa the Cow Candlekeep 50 ex. Dreppin, in the north part of Candlekeep, will ask you to get an antidote from Hull for his cow Nessa. Speak to Hull in front of the gates to the keep. He will tell you that you can have the antidote if you fetch his sword. Enter the barracks and take the antidote from the unlocked chest and give it to Drepping. Rats in the Storehouse Candlekeep 50 ex., 5 gold Reevor in front of the storehouse on the east side of Candlekeep will ask you to clean out the rats in the storehouse. Enter the storehouse and kill all the rats. Speak to Reevor again for your reward. Phlydia's Book Candlekeep 50 ex., Lynx Eye Gem Phlydia in the top left corner of Candlekeep will ask you to find her book. Just to the east, Dreppin will tell you that her book is in the hay behind him. Find Phlydia's book in the hay and return it to her. Crossbow Bolts Candlekeep 50 ex., 10 gold Fuller in the barracks in Candlekeep will ask you to buy some crossbow bolts for him. Buy some bolts from Winthrop in the Inn and give them to Fuller to get a reward. Hull's Sword Candlekeep 50 ex., 10 gold Speak to Hull in front of the gates and he will ask you to fetch his sword for him. Enter the barracks and take Hull's sword from the unlocked chest and return it to him for a reward. Firebead's scroll Candlekeep 50 ex., Potion of Healing Firebead Elvenhair in the inn in Candlekeep will request that you retreive his Identify scroll from Tethtoril. You will find Tethtoril walking around the library. He will give you the scroll. Return the scroll to Firebead and he will give you a potion of healing.

You have understood it wrong they aren't called Elder lions (or wolves) because they are old but because they are older less domesticated race/species of lions/wolves who grow larger, tougher and are less afraid of people. I would say it is sadder still see that those cultists use those giant beetles as their front door guards. And still nobody would call them Elder lions. Elder comes from Dragons or Vampires because such creatures power increases with age. With normal animals their power decreases with age.Elder is the opposite of how they should be called. Actually, being older would mean they're more powerful. The fact that they've lived so long means they survived fights with other lions who were rivals for the position of leader of the pack. Their age is a testament to their strength.

Someone who holds up characters like Minsc as the pinnacle of RPG writing really shouldn't be lecturing other people on their tastes.

I'm not sure I follow. The Bioware companions are very melodramatic, especially the silly ones you seem to prefer. The Obsidian companions are usually more subdued and less over the top, which is why you seem to find them boring. As for great Obsidian companions, Kreia wasn't the only great character in Kotor 2, the game was filled with them. There is also Mask of the Betrayer and Planescape Torment. The latter isn't an Obsidian game, but Chris Avellone, who wrote all the companions, works at Obsidian. The old ones are loud and fun. The new ones are just dramatic and boring.Obsidian NPCs, none are very loud but some are also not dramatic and as such interesting. You haven't explained what you find not interesting/boring about the Obsidian companions. First you said they were melodramatic and now they're not dramatic at all. Which is it? According to this interview http://www.rpgwatch.com/articles/tales-of-torment-part-1-55.html, they are in this case:

I'm not sure I follow. The Bioware companions are very melodramatic, especially the silly ones you seem to prefer. The Obsidian companions are usually more subdued and less over the top, which is why you seem to find them boring. As for great Obsidian companions, Kreia wasn't the only great character in Kotor 2, the game was filled with them. There is also Mask of the Betrayer and Planescape Torment. The latter isn't an Obsidian game, but Chris Avellone, who wrote all the companions, works at Obsidian.

And Dragon Age's characters are more well known than Obsidian's. This doesn't mean they're better. It usually means the opposite, since anything that appeals to the lowest common denominator is more popular as a rule. The new Bioware characters are boring (DAO and afterwards). None of them are silly and fun. Morrigan was memorable for other stuff, the rest are just plain and boring. I don't want Obsidian to follow Bioware modern steps. Xzar has more personally in his few barks that all the new Bioware characters together (well I didn't play DAI so maybe they got some better ones; OK, Mass Effect had some more interesting characters but also not much). No, he doesn't. You like Xzar because he has no personality to speak of (and considering the rest of Bioware's work, that's probably for the better). It's easier to focus on what's there (badly written Bioware companion) than on what's not there (one-dimensional Bioware companion with a few funny lines).

And Dragon Age's characters are more well known than Obsidian's. This doesn't mean they're better. It usually means the opposite, since anything that appeals to the lowest common denominator is more popular as a rule. And Minsc is funny in the same way Pewdiepie is funny.

It makes perfect sense that having a physically stronger body allows you to channel stronger magics. There is no rule saying magic should work the same in every setting.

I don't see what's so great about the BG2 map. It was a major step back from the BG1 map, which was superior in terms of depicting a cohesive world.

What? They are represented on the backdrop. Its a shame the icons obscures that though. That's only evident with the Dragon's Eye, which is obviously placed near the dragon's skeleton. My point was that the icons don't have any representation or connection to the backdrop, which is why it doesn't feel like a map at all. It's a beautiful backdrop though.

That's not really a map though, it's just a pretty backdrop with some icons scattered around. You could move those icons around and it wouldn't make a difference, since they have no relation to the backdrop. The PoE map actually has a sense of physicality and geography. I'm sure this game will be ruined if it doesn't copy every minute detail of the old games, right down to the blue outline around world map icons you will be staring at for a few seconds at most throughout the entire game. Ruined, I tell you.

It isn't, but that's not really the point. Animating moving water and falling leaves takes little effort (since they're 3d), whereas getting nice-looking animations for the 2d stuff obviously proved too difficult.

Those don't look all that great, to be honest. They're competently drawn, I guess, but to say the game will be less fun because it's 'missing' a couple of unremarkable pencil drawings is absurd. I think this game does have such drawings in the bestiary, though?

A spiritual successor to the IE games with no item sketches, disgusting. I'm really sad right now. The majority of the IE games didn't have item sketches. You must've been really sad playing all those games.