Lord Wafflebum

^ Well said. DA:I I think is an example of a game with romances that exist just to show they represent the whole spectrum of sexual orientations. I mean, its nice that those are available, but it feels forced. Also in Bioware games everyone tends to be single and looking. I'm fond of how OE handled romance in F:NV. Your companions simply weren't interested in you, or they were in relationships with someone else. I thought that was a great way to get around having a romance mechanic in the game, but making it fit in story-wise. I'm playing through Witcher 1 right now and find that nudity in video games is especially unnecessary. I don't think it adds anything meaningful to the game. Now with nudity in DA:I I'm concerned it's going to become a trend. At least in Dragon Age you're actually developing a relationship beforehand tho...

Mostly. The way it is now kinda clutters the screen, but it doesn't bother me. Ultimately I'm indifferent.

Typically I couldn't care less about the numbers being adjusted for balance, but as I play the beta more I find myself paying a lot more attention to that stuff (despite the fact that my original intention was not to get into the math). I agree with Sensuki that it would be a tremendous help in understanding BEFORE I start playing how my party's effectiveness will change so I don't spend the first hour or so utterly frustrated. Backers vs devs have very different perspectives on the game's development. Whereas you (the devs) see the changes as they're made, our only points of comparison are previous builds and our perspective has a much more radical change due to that. Giving us the details of the changes would help some of us see much more clearly how things were changed. I can only speak for myself, but it would help greatly for me to have less emotional reactions to things if I knew ahead of time how the formulas changed. I've been struggling to give feedback on this build because I don't actually know where my issues are stemming from. @Bester Rumsteak is no troll. I understood what he said as that he's concerned if too many resources are diverted to beta releases the overall quality of the final release will be lesser. If that be the case, then he'd just as rather not have further beta updates so-as to divert those resources into making the final product better. @Rumsteak Based on what I've seen from the devs, I get the distinct impression that these guys are spending a lot of their personal time getting the beta updates out to us. I may be wrong, but I doubt Adam's work schedule is 2pm-10pm. I daresay they put in as many hours as most medical doctors. I doubt they're sacrificing development time to get the betas to us (more than what they planned, anyway), they're just sacrificing their sanity.

Fair. I know there are just as many people that love it as hate it. I like how they did it in F:NV where it was a toggle option that could be completely ignored if one so chose.

Good point. I'd assume creating a mod program like the GECK for Fallout has got to be fairly resource heavy tho? PoE doesn't have the same lego-like aspect the Bethesda games have (albeit very complex legos). An easily accessible modding experience might just not be realistic for PoE, unless I've missed some interview that says otherwise?

Ugh. @Any Mod: Can this thread please be locked? It's become so bad and makes me so angry I can't stop reading it. Besides, it is way too off topic and is trying to justify piracy which has to be against some sort of rule (maybe just decency?).

Heh, modding is already being done. Bester and Sensuki are leading the charge there to make their own changes to combat to show OE what they feel combat should be like. I know Sensuki has mentioned a couple times they're very responsive to him when he asks questions. They're ALREADY supporting folks who want to mod the game and only the beta is out. I'd say that's pretty great of them.

I feel your pain, my friend.

Some people contribute to the game fiscally and some people contribute through hard work on feedback and testing. Both are equally valuable and deserving of in-game recognition if the devs so decide, no?

There's a weather mod for F:NV that adds random radiation storms. They're very lethal if you don't seek cover quickly!

If I saw characters named Sensuki and Shevek arguing in a tavern in-game I would laugh so hard I would pee all of my pants.

I, too, like the added survival aspect. Frostfall and Realistic Needs & Diseases are must have mods for Skyrim for me, and I played on hardcore mode for F:NV for every playthrough except my very first. I think it just adds so much to the game. One must plan before venturing out! I doubt it's a feature they can add in now that they're mostly focusing on bugs and balance. I would absolutely LOVE to see this as a play option for the expansion and/or sequel.

Some men are longer than others

African or European?

Bethesda builds pretty incredible game worlds, but their stories tend to be weak. I'm still waiting to hear the announcement, "Bethesda Studios is pleased to announce Fallout 4, written by our friends at Obsidian Entertainment."

Insects don't count. I realize that yes, scientifically, insects are part of the animal kingdom. I'm thinking more like a honey badger. Humans have been at the top of the food chain for far too long. My life will NOT be complete until F16's engage attacking flocks of winged honey badgers on a regular basis.

I'm going to spend the rest of my life working toward making this statement false. This is where the rise of flying four legged animals begins. Tell your friends.

I typically loathe super hard difficulties, but when I play the Mass Effect games (don't hate) I'll eventually do a playthrough on Insane. I don't get anything special from it, other than a meaningless achievement, but I do it because I love those games so much and have spent so much time mastering every aspect of the game that I want the game to give me all it's got so I can rub it's face in it and so everyone knows that I, in fact, am it's daddy. Then when I beat it I can stand up and scream, "WHO IS YOUR GOD NOW?!" and my neighbors quietly whisper to each other outside my house wondering if they should call the police.

Maybe the ground in the PoE world is just super absorbent?

Even if some bandits slaughter a bunch of women and little baby children, my conscience will be clear knowing I did not murder anyone even if that decision resulted in said bandits murdering a bunch of innocents I could have protected! I typically try to do pacifist runs through a game because I enjoy that particular challenge. I'll be the first to admit that when it comes to some people, NOT killing them does more harm than good. I just like to see how things play out if I don't kill anyone. To quote Batman, "I'm not going to kill you, but I don't have to save you." With a more adult theme to this game I'll be very interested to see where pacifism takes you.

No, PoE and Path of Exile are two very different games. PoE is more like Baldur's Gate, whereas Path of Exile is more like Diablo 2.

@Nakia If you think they'd like it I assume they're into games like the dragon age series or similar games. I'd argue to them that this game is a spiritual successor to the games that eventually evolved into games like neverwinter nights and dragon age and the such (for better or worse). Isn't an homage to the 90's/00's games that gave rise to modern RPG's worth at least checking out?

I think we'll have to disagree on that. My opinion is that it would be a waste of time and resources to create. I've been a huge proponent for making the easier difficulties more accessible to the general public, but I think this is unnecessary. With the way the beta plays now the only people this game will alienate are the ones that don't really want to play a game and should instead invest in some audio books.

I can't imagine that demographic is so large that it justifies reallocating enough resources for an almost complete game to implement.

Stephen Spielberg oversaw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Analogy defeated.