Gorbag

Nope. Nothing Oz-related since Return to Oz. Besides, yes, rape does exist and some people crack jokes about it. Examples prove it, they do not disprove it being wrong. Back to the Codex subject, I don't hate the Codex as a website. For all its rampant puberty, it's a good source of information, its interviewers usually ask the right questions and its reviews are honest, although somewhat heavy on the subjective side. Ok, "a hint" was probably too weak. It's more of "telling somebody that something happened".

Rape content as a depiction someone getting raped: no Jokes about rape: no Hints about rape as a fact that happened or is about to happen: yes It's not really the same thing. Aside from that, how this subject managed to crawl in the "Paul Kirsch will write the collector's book" topic is beyond me.

A game like that wouldn't rack up high sales marks. It might result in a dedicated community, but that would be a niche market within a niche market. I'd add that content-mods don't often measure up to the quality of the original game (NWN not included). If you produce an original game of very high quality, chances are mod content would clash soundly into it. This should not be taken as an insult to modders, I mean you have a one-guy mod and then you have Obsidian Entertainment. There's only so much a fan could do in his/her spare time.

Ok, the beach screenshot caught me unprepared. THAT water... (just to get this out of the way, 3D acceleration turns it green, right?). Seriously, I'd also like to know if the areas we've seen are painted over and complete, or if there is any further work to be done. (edit: typo)

What do you mean "side boob"?

Portraits look good enough to me. The blue barbarian guy in the first backer portrait is my personal fave so far, although I'm not sure I would trust him (looks fishy).

That's kind of the reason why we are all here. What's there to defend?

Alright, here goes my take on "Romance - the stone". Try not to kill me, please: Manzez, R., Troll A man with a cat brought news to the net that folks may not wed and no sex will be had. Wind came to the troll, who screamed "Oh, the gall!" his kin did he call, the culprit to murder. The man with the cat remained where he sat with nary a fret he willed the troll dead. The troll was foolhardy with the maker to argue, he gathered his party, but ventured no further. Thanks to SqueakyCat for this fine opportunity to make a fool of myself. EDIT: @IndiraLightfoot: I got a Golden Axe flashback for some reason.

Be ye followers of me, know that "might" and "magic" are but mere words in the greater balance. Those who strive to disrupt the balance by clinging to words, shall be guilty in my eyes. And the guilty shall inherit the Hound.

Cough...Tolkien...Cough... Serbia btw. Naah, none of these is exclusive to one continent only. And since they appeared and went worldwide so long ago, I don't think their origin would make a significant difference today. I guess europeans just dig this particular kind of RPGs. Oh, btw, just southeast of you, man.

One self-contained stand-alone game isn't a bad thing even if it later turns out to be the first installment of a series or saga. If it proves to be successful, Obsidian writers can tie the events in this game to some unforseen consequences or a greater plot (or not). It's been done before and it works just fine if done right. Imo that's the way to go, given the current uncertain situation. Too many hints about future plots that never happen would only piss players off, especially those like me, who tend to wonder "what it could have been if..." And I echo the opinion about installments having distinctive and satisfactory beginnings and endings, regardless of their place in the greater plot, whatever it may be.

I think you are half right. Magic should be magical - in a low level campaign. But magic stops being magical when your characters gain enough levels to be able to stop time and summon planetars out the wazoo. And if you don't get to play around with such high-level abilities near the end of the saga, then you don't really progress and everything stays the same. Maybe abilities shouldn't go this crazy, but that's a different thing. What I mean is that it's just normal in-game evolution - you go from being awe-struck by a +2 weapon to being godlike 20 levels later. So I agree with Hiro Protagonist II about ToB - the loot is fine for a full-sized high-level campaign, it's just that ToB shouldn't have been an expansion. As it is, it hits you with everything it's got way too fast and it's over before you get to try out much of it. To be clear, I like how the loot is handled in all three (yep three) Baldur's Gate games. And since PoE would be a low level campaign, I wouldn't mind seeing something in the vein of BG1 at the beginning and going just below BG2 in the mid-late game (i.e. BG1 with a bit more variety in the latter part of the game, when your characters' abilities build up a bit).

Just to name a few: BG1 - Portalbendarwinden, Melinkamp, Albert and Ruffie, the kid with the drowned cat, and the chanters in Candlekeep garden (God, I can still hear them in my head), Silence from the shop of Silence ("Is ye friend or is ye dead?")... BG2 - pretty much all citizens of Athkatla, from the street kids ("My mamma works in the Copper Coronet. What's a slattern?"), to the noblemen/women ("I don't usually speak to the likes of you, but hello"), to prostitutes ("Well if ye wants to go strapping with this nab, you'll first have to give up the socket-money."). Also Dradeel ("You have lots of time for reflection while waiting for the endless waves of bad-doggie werewolf monsters that chew your toes while you're asleep."), the beholder from Shauagin city, the Lesser demonlord from the underdark ("It is most amusing, daughter darkling, the child of Bhaal has murdered you."). IWD2 - the captain's mom (the way she talks... Ravel, is that you?), the two mercenaries in the pallisade boasting about their vermin extermination activities ("We made five gold!" PC: "I can pull five gold out of my stool."), Boghrob the giant ("They'se da ones wat smashed up the ice castle and they killed me brudda..."). PS:T - Dhall, the black abishai, the elderly hive dweller, Reekwind, Adahn, O, Ingress, the Starved dogs barking, the floating skull near the portal in Curst Gone (I also love Coaxmetal, but I don't think he counts as a minor character).

I don't think any cooldowns aside from animations and casting times would be necessary. And it's not really so much abut per rest vs. per encounter as it is about casting times. IMO the system would balance itself pretty well as it is: Spells with short casting times are much like attacks - you can disrupt them once by being devious (e.g. wand of M&Ms) or lucky, but that does not make much sense in the long run. In this regard, I don't find it fair to attach additional cooldowns to such spells but not to ordinary interrupted attacks. On the other hand, if your mage has a sucky concentration and is standing toe-to-toe with a fast thief who can disrupt him/her constantly, then trying to cast the same spell over and over again isn't the most viable tactic with or without cooldowns. If the spell has a longer casting time, however, any successful form of interruption would have severe consequences as the mage would have to do his/her hit animation, regain stance, select the spell again, do his/her casting dance, shout "vita mortis whatever" and wait for the effect to trigger, all the while hoping to not get interrupted again. That seems fair enough. Attaching an additional cooldown will make it too punishing. As for losing/retaining the spell, I think it would be best if it's made into a matter of difficulty, but if that's too hard to implement, I don't mind dropping the "lost my spell" mechanic altogether. Meta-spells, on the other hand, (if there are any) should imo work differently than the regular concentration/interruption routine.