Amentep

I like the solid looking UI myself, but I also appreciated a game like Lionheart allowing you to turn off the UI (which in its case was kinda funky but cool too). But I'll live with whatever as long as its a useable UI - function over form.

I'm not passionate about it, but generally speaking I haven't liked the arenas in games. They're usually easy enough to ignore unless they get tied to the main quest (which I think DAO and JE both did).

I think I'd have liked Darklands if I'd ever had a chance to play it back in the day.

While I thought they were fun to see once, I really didn't like the PST spells - the big ones (ala the Final Fantasy Summons). I did like their glowy icons better than the BG/IWD drawings though (but that's because they were glowy looking) (or was it the actual spells that was glowy? Anyhow I approve of glowy things).

Paladins and Bard-likes?

I think it depends on the situation; if the beggar hasn't broken any laws I don't see why it should come back to us. If the beggar does break laws or crosses a faction then I think that should affect reputation with the faction at least.

Oh yeah, I forgot about Melf's Minute Meteors was a good one in BG2 You know, I don't think I ever used Smashing Wave; I think I always used Thorn Spray as my primary level 4 Druid attack spell in IWD/HoW and Insect Plague as 5th level in IWDII.

I like the idea of intelligence gathering as something that one has to work at and isn't just books and expository notes.

Contingency made most wizard fights a lot easier in BG2. I've always had a fond spot for Flesh to Stone and Wail of the Banshee. Cloudkill and Horrid Wilting were good AoA spells that also had continuous damage IIRC.

Actually one of the earliest RPG computer games had food mechanics in it (which is why I hate it so much...wish I could remember the game but its lost in the haze of Apple IIe / Commodore 64 era gaming). So for some people this isn't a case of innovation but a "return to PROVEN gameplay". I'd imagine there are earlier games that actually have mana systems or crafting or a number of other things that we don't typically associate with the IE games.

But it is a system that is relying on your intelligence, not your characters (which is ultimately my objection; I want my character to be doing as much of the stuff as possible, not me). If that is the case, then don't use any party tactics. Don't direct combat. Because you'd be doing that, and not your character. Don't get me wrong - I know what you mean. But mental faculty is practicly impossible to simulate in a game in any excpet the most broadest and simplest terms. Yeah, I know you can't divorce yourself entirely from the character, but I think there are some ways of designing puzzles that gives in game, in character explanations. Maybe not, maybe its too much. I'm not going to hate a game where I can figure out a riddle because of past knowledge either.

The trouble with that is, the TSR folks had already done all the heavy lifting on planescape lore before Black Isle got a hold of it. There wasn't much left to do. Of course the Planescape cant was lifted from older english phrases and idioms, so a lot of TSR's heavy lifting had been done for them too. One complaint people have about the PS cant is that it can be gone overboard on - "I catched a skeg of that greybeard. After the well lanned man's serenade, the bally sod went to the ant-hill to wigwag with the jink monger about holdin' out on him. Berk's asking to bite the iron, if'n y'ah ask me..." and so on, so its always something you have to play carefully with.

No I don't; in an RPG I want as much as possible my character stats to effect the result of the game. Yes there's a certain element of "myself" that can't be taken out, but the advantage to ABC questions is that you can scale the answers to the PC's intelligence, not rely on my knowledge of what walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon and three in the evening. Note that I consider riddles to be different from passwords; I think passwords have a different problem, specifically that while you may have to find them in-game the first time around (lets say the password is to complete a quote from an obscure magical theorist) this "problem" in game is then solveable from then on (unless the quotes randomize, which even still would only have a certain number of permutations before the player could solve the problem without actually finding the answer). I'll use the sun-temple problem in BG2 as an example; you had to place certain items in certain places to open a door. If you used the wrong item you got attacked by a flame based magic attack. There were scraps of paper that told you the order to use the items. After the first time through, though, you never actually had to find the papers (or use magic fire protection), you could work on your previous knowledge and pass through the section quicker because you use knowledge in your possession that isn't in your character's possession. I'm not sure that's the best way to be designing a stat reflective RPG.

I am confused (again) too. In the most recent update there is this future style artwork and something about the year 2526 and big corporations and stuff...huh? So is it set in a SciFi universe?? on the frontpage it looks like dungeons and dragonos style?! I gather its a bit like the later Wizardry games where you had spaceships, robots and high fantasy. In fact it seems like there are two worlds a high fantasy world and a high tech world and the plot of the first game is a high techer stranded on the high fantasy world. I'm also gathering that this character is the protagonist of the first game (or is he just central to the plot - I dunno!)

I just wish there was more point to drinking in game than just to get a drunk icon and stat effects (or even addiction). I've longed for a game that would force me - if I was searching for information, quests, whatever - to actually go and drink and talk to people, buy others drinks, etc. Give real meaning to those pubs. Then you end up with a reason to drink (beyond getting drunk) and if properly applied some areas of choice and consequences (because hopefully drinking past your limit would have some real in-game meaning).

I'd have no problem with this as long as they're assigned an appropriate share of the loot (maybe even allowing the player to negotiate percentages when hiring them). Otherwise they'd never have anything to buy with because the PC would be hoarding all the resources. But the likelihood of that happening is low, I'd think.

I actually liked IWD second best of the IE games (PST being best). But I don't think them mentioning Arcanum or Fallout or even TOEE is just to show that some of their developers worked on those games either. And I think they've actually mentioned enough things about lore and creating interesting joinable NPCs that its not going to be just a dungeon fighter.

But it is a system that is relying on your intelligence, not your characters (which is ultimately my objection; I want my character to be doing as much of the stuff as possible, not me).

They were also different games in different times with different expectations. However subjective quality is subjective. I actually didn't like being forced to be a Bhaalspawn either. So yeah no real difference. In both games I dealt with aspects that I considered sub-optimal and enjoyed the game for what it was rather for what I hoped it to be.

The ideal IMO would be to allow you to control it or hit an "auto level" button for those of us who feel the character shouldn't be developed by the PC.

Perspective has nothing to do with RPG. Games don't become less of an RPG just because they aren't isometric, turn-based or rtwp. Has nothing to do with what I said. I didn't mention third person camera. I mentioned third person shooter. What about the Bioware formula? While a lot of Bioware games follow similar patterns, they've done so to greater and lesser success (IMO).

I'll be honest - I have a problem with starting over from the beginning and trying out different characters for a few hours. The idea that I had one really awesome roll a few times ago made it harder to get started because I'd be all "If only I'd thought of this character when I had those numbers...now I must GET THOSE NUMBERS." Hello, my name is Amentep, and I'm a character creation addict...

Separate kickstarter then? This would cannibalize their current kickstarter and, moreover, make the inclusion in this kickstarter confusing as all hell. I meant AFTER this one ends (and wasn't 100% serious, hence the smile-thingy)

I like it! But, yeah...internet.

Separate kickstarter then?