anameforobsidian

Reposting because I am an idiot and did not see this thread. More Godlikes: I want them in this order: Eothas, Wael, Woedica, Rymrgand, Abydon, Skaen. Abydonlikes could be iron-skinned fighters granted extra DR. Sun Godlikes would have a radiant aura (or vessel damage). Ice godlikes could slow in a radius, etc. Mist godlikes get higher deflection. A monster companion / playable race: RPGs have a long history of this already. Vithraks and xaurips are already well defined as not (entirely) evil. Tons of Short Quests: I love the little encounters in BG. Like the slime mage, the dead dog, the wizards on the top floor of the magic shop, etc. A lot of these make maps more interesting. A large dungeon: Yes the megadungeon was a pain in the ass for them to make. But it also held a great story. Furthermore, it was one of the most creative areas in the base game. Giving a 2D artist an assignment: draw something cool and in character for the world and we'll make a dungeon out of it could lead to some great maps. If they're worried about it polluting development, say it'll be DLC upfront. Display Racks in the Stronghold: They've already been thinking about this one from what I can tell. Characters in Stronghold: I'd like it if they sent you on short quests, or talked to you instead of just selling you stuff. As many new monsters as possible: Make em weird and plentiful. Yes I want to see crabsnakes, viscous spheres, sirens that are bird on top and lady on the bottom, and one very angry Cassowary. Also fluffles devourer of Paladins.

Writing a necromantic class would require too much reactivity to do adequately. People do not like necromancy in PE. No one likes necromancy. Also, there are no other planes to summon monsters from. I think we'll probably get a druid or chanter subclass and that will be the end of the matter.

It needs Caen's Cairn.

I honestly have a hard time thinking of a class that sub-classes wouldn't be good for. Most of the classes have a dual-nature already in the game. One area could be strengthened over the other fairly effectively in most of them: Barbarian - One subclass could focus on carnage and damage, the other could get even more health and shouts Chanter - Chants vs. Summons Cipher - Melee Cipher vs. Mage Cipher Druid - Transformation vs. Spells Fighter - Engaging tanks vs. melee DPS Monk - Active wound user vs. Passive tank Paladin - AoE focus, healer focus, leader focus, or tank Priest - Damage vs. Buffs vs. Healing Ranger - Arrows vs. Pet Rogue - Lots of DPS and Fragility vs. sturdier vs. lots of tricks Wizard - Control vs. Direct Damage vs. Gish

Hey I was close! I said fighter / monk would be a brawler. I wanna make a bingo card.

They announced horses as a $10m stretch goal (joke in comments). So let's see.

Feargus said there's supposed to be a content update on Tuesday, so I started thinking more about different pieces of content I'd like to see: More Godlikes: I want them in this order: Eothas, Wael, Woedica, Rymrgand, Abydon, Skaen. This could be relatively cheap. Yes they have to implement dialogue when appropriate, but Godlikes from some of the lesser gods probably wouldn't come up that often. Plus, I can already see what classes some of them would favor: Abydonlikes could be iron-skinned fighters granted extra DR. Sun Godlikes would have a radiant aura (or vessel damage). Ice godlikes could slow in a radius, etc. Mist godlikes get higher deflection. A monster companion / playable race: RPGs have a long history of this already. Vithraks and xaurips are already well defined as not evil. Tons of Short Quests: I love the little encounters in BG. Like the slime mage, the dead dog, the wizards on the top floor of the magic shop, etc. A lot of these make maps more interesting. A large dungeon: Yes the megadungeon was a pain in the ass for them to make. But it also held a great story. Furthermore, it was one of the most creative areas in the base game. Giving a 2D artist an assignment: draw something cool and in character for the world and we'll make a dungeon out of it could lead to some great maps. If they're worried about it polluting development, say it'll be DLC upfront. Weapon schools as well as individual feats: I think it might be neat to take a specialization in a weapon group at low levels and then specialize in an independent one at high levels. Display Racks in the Stronghold: They've already been thinking about this one from what I can tell. Characters in Stronghold: I'd like it if they sent you on short quests, or talked to you instead of just selling you stuff. As many new monsters as possible: Make em weird and plentiful. Yes I want to see crabsnakes, viscous spheres, sirens that are bird on top and lady on the bottom, and one very angry Cassowary. Also fluffles devourer of Paladins.

I really like the sketches. Keep what works.

I can see why they're doing that, and the possible benefits. However, I worry that they could make itemization less interesting. There are 6 primary stats and 5 defenses (deflection, fortitude, reflex, will, concentration). There are going to be 9 armor slots. (head, necklace, cape, armor, gloves, rings, belts, grimoires / class, boots). What's going to be the challenge? Always equip the highest primary stat item and move on. Weapons don't have this primary because many more derived stats are devoted to only one or two slots.

The per encounter per rest emulated DnD 4e; there were no per encounter abilities in Baldur's Gate. Also, this game is very specifically made and targeted at a niche. Beyond the fact that there's no reliable data out there on preference; even if there were, it would have to target fans of this niche. Pillars was successful in large part because it was a competent effort targeted at a niche.

In the MMO interview, they said there's a subclass named Black Jacket, so I don't know if they're too averse to two word names.

I've really liked a couple from the comments: Rogue + Ranger = Bounty Hunter Monk + Druid = Ascetic (better than Hermit, which was my choice) Wizard + Druid = Thaumaturge (I actually like this better for Wizard + Priest, but Hierophant is really good there too; maybe Hierophant could be moved to wizard + paladin) Rogue + Barbarian = Pirate Paladin + Ranger = Cavalier And another of my own: Barbarian + Ranger = Savage / Wilder

Campaigns that end stretchgoals see a fairly noticeable drop in money. They still get it, but the fanbase is less excited. And don't forget that the fanbase is advertiser and beta-tester, as well as financial backer.

Funnily enough, Smashmouth also works as a name for the class.

Not quite; you can skillfully let your rage show while maintaining discipline. I know this as a teacher.

I was quite a fan of health / stamina. It encouraged me to rest far more than losing spells did, and combined with limited resting supplies, it encouraged me to get that really good dungeon experience where my beaten up characters had to face one last fight before they could sleep.

Injuries sounded like they were on knock out and from scripted events only.

We can't learn spells via others grimoires ? Grimoire inscription is out. The spells you learn via level up can be cast regardless of grimoire. If you don't know a spell, you can cast it from a grimoire, but you can't learn it from one. Additionally, some grimoires add bonuses to spell-casting. Say whaaat? I really liked the Endurance/Health thing... Resting isn't out is it? Or revised as well? (Did you mention it? This caught my eye and I skimmed the rest) Edit: Speculative suggestion: Wands and staffs, being able to scribe one or two scrolls onto them... tattoos? (A substitute for a multi-classing Wizard? I.e. Wand & Shield, Dual-Wielding Wands, Two-Handed Staff etc.) Health is gone, it's just endurance now. If you get knocked down you get a wound. If you get four wounds, you die.

This thread could be a while since there are 55 combinations and only three are known. I went through and made a list, here are my favorites so far: Barbarian Barbarian + Chanter = Skald, Barbarian + Druid = Beastmaster, Barbarian + Paladin = Zealot, Barbarian + Priest = One Eye, Auger, Ravenpriest Chanter Chanter + Cipher = Mindsinger Chanter + Druid = Valar, Chanter + Rogue = Bard, Chanter + Paladin = Standard Bearer Chanter + Priest = Hymnist Chanter + Wizard = Namer, Cipher Cipher + Paladin = Inquisitor Cipher + Priest = Oracle Cipher + Rogue = Illusionist Cipher + Ranger = Mind Hunter (Lore Reference!) Cipher + Wizard = Animancer, Druid Druid + Priest = Hermit Druid + Ranger = Stalker Druid + Rogue = Predator Druid + Wizard = Wildmage Fighter Fighter + Monk = Brawler (Khelgar!) Fighter + Paladin = Templar Fighter + Priest = Knight Fighter + Ranger = Woodsman Fighter + Rogue = Thug Monk Monk + Paladin = Divine Fist, Martyr Monk + Priest = Mendicant, Flagellator, Stigmatist, Monk + Rogue = Shadowdancer Monk + Wizard = Scholar Paladin Paladin + Priest = Bishop, Paladin + Ranger = Hereward, Wild Hunt Paladin + Wizard = Arcane Knight Priest Priest + Ranger = Friar Priest + Rogue = Snake Handler / Holy Roller Priest + Wizard = Philosopher, Alchemist Ranger Ranger + Rogue = Poacher, Scout

Considering that the name of the company itself is a reference to Black Isle....

I still think they should come up with a look for Empowered spells. Maybe just surround players with a tint chosen from their primary colors when they cast.

I think like many changes, some are praiseworthy, some aren't. I appreciate the bravery of making changes when it was driven by bravery, but I think they should have stuck to their guns a couple times (health especially). Good Changes: Focus on content as well as systems. Focus on combat intelligibility. New Loading systems. Improved focus on factions. Companion art style. Splitting combat & non-combat skills. Getting rid of fatigue. Better companion plot-integration. Xoti's Lantern shield. Fidget animations. Highlight text. Wait and see changes: 5 party members, not my pick, but understandable. Engagement as feat / weapon property. Limited grimoires to encourage switching. Multi-classing. More VO, not a great pick. Some people have asked for it, many pushed against it back in the day. VO constrains writing. The Empower system. Proficiencies instead of focus groups (why not both?). Slower combat. Bad Changes: Going back to one regenerating health bar. I don't think this change is great, health created a lot of interesting scenarios. The falling grey line was especially cool. Fewer companions. Taking different companions increases replay. It's understandable why they did it, but I disagree with their decision. (Still gladly backing).

I wonder how this will interact with the more limited selection of spells in grimoires. It could be designed to make players switch grimoires, which is an interesting mechanic. I really like spell rationing too, but I find that in higher levels you didn't do it already in PE. I was frequently using per encounter spells for most fights in WM2.

One thing I've really appreciated about this campaign is just how active Feargus has been in the comments. You rarely scroll that far down without seeing comments from him. Even better, a lot of them have nice tidbits of information about game development. I've asked three comments, and two of them have been answered. Here are some of my favorites. One last question. Baldur's Gate 1 & to a lesser extent 2 had a ton of micro-quests. A person would approach you with a small problem, and you would solve it without leaving the map or much back and forth. (Wolves attack son, find my dead dog, gender girdle ogre, etc.) The base Pillars didn't have much of this content, but WM had some. Will Deadfire have more compared to WM, less, or the same amount? Feargus: First interesting note - a lot of those quests in BG went in to the game in the last three months of the game. Both Ray Muzuka (BioWare co-CEO) and Chris Parker (Black Isle Producer, Obsidian co-founder) noticed when showing the game off at E3 in 1998 that there needed to be more things to do. ​ In PoE 2 there will definitely be more quest content, plus we have been doing even more quest reviews and team play days to make sure all the content is working well before we get to content complete. Remove Fog of War in friendly towns. Such amazing art hard to see because it's blackened out. Makes sense in a dungeon but somewhere like Copperlane should be 100% viewable. Feargus: I will use this in my arguments to get it! This is looking ahead a bit, but it never hurts to talk about things in advance: if the game warrants an expansion, will you consider a post-game campaign, such as Mask of the Betrayer, rather than a mid-game campaign like The White March? We are talking about it. The challenge with only end-game content is it restricts the DLC to only people who have finished the game. I totally understand your example, the challenge is that Throne of Bhaal was really almost a full game instead of being an expansion. However, I do know what you mean, and we will talk about it. Tanner P: damn yeah boi. im excited Feargus: Thanks Tanner P.! damn yeah boi indeed.

Why not use real boat names like the Obsidian Cacafuego.