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Now that the graphics are so much better why can't we have portraits be of the actual player model. I always hate having to choose a portrait that doesn't look like my character, so I would love if we could just take an in-game picture and have that as the portrait.

Now that the graphics are so much better why can't we have portraits be of the actual player model. I always hate having to choose a portrait that doesn't look like my character, so I would love if we could just take an in-game picture and have that as the portrait.

The question came up during this Q&A Josh Sawyer and Bobby Null and they mentioned that they aren't currently planning to enable customization for multiclass titles. However, they did mention that they welcome further suggestions (which can be added to Heijoushin's existing thread - http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/91412-care-to-guess-the-names-of-the-other-multiclasses/ - if you're so inclined) and that they might reconsider if there's enough of an outcry against the titles that Obsidian comes up with. I assume that they might also reconsider if forum-goers express enough interest in the feature, so I've decided to dump another poll into these boards and see where that takes us.

Devs-- Thanks for making this game. It brings back the texture and feeling of the games I loved so much, like BG2. However, it seems that you missed the opportunity to incorporate some of the best elements of games over the past 8-10 years, most notably advanced/highly customizable AI for the characters. While some players want to micromanage each NPC within each battle, many others do not wish to do so. As it stands, combat becomes laborious. Even (due perhaps to the work of modders) BG2 had highly customized AI options. PoA has none? Please consider a patch to remedy this. This is PoA's only failing. Thanks, Daniel

Hello, I do apologize if any of this was asked before on the forums. I did a search, nothing came up with clear info I was seeking. Before I go and buy this game~ am just curious on a few things. 1. Hairstyles Since its an rpg game and one of those that looks like you can spend many hours playing. Any chance the elf females can have long hair? or is it the generic shoulder styles named "long" ? 2. Armor Have only seen a few videos, but looked like every single class was in chainmail or plate armor..there are no robes or clothing you can wear? Had hoped to make a healing focus druidess in a robe or dress.. backline support type. 3. Combat This one has me excited a bit! if what I saw was right.. in one of the videos I saw the game looked like it auto paused after all the characters did their action. so you could re que up actions and hit play.... Is this one of the options you can have the game do? cause I would just.. hug the dev team forever if thats the case. 4. Respawns Here is a huge one for me..I like to take my time in rpgs and not just feel like a drone stuck in forward mode. Will monsters in the world and dungeons (aside from bosses) respawn? if no.. well that is a huge deal breaker for me..sorry, Don't like rushing to the end and walking through blank maps. 5. Romance Is there any of this in the game? if yes.. can the female main character interact with male npcs? or is it the typical male protagonist focus. 6. Modding Will it be moddable? Easily or steep learning curve? Thanks to anyone whom can shed some light on these things ^_^ visually the game looks neat.

Just a small thing - the variety of portraits is far too small for the number of races that are available. Something akin to Shadowrun Returns' system (race and gender-specific portraits, 3 or so base for each race/gender combo, and lots of variations on the base portraits) would fit very well for this game IMO.

Just thought it would be great if we could customize our Stronghold's flag and cloaks of our units rather than being presented with ones ingame. I'm thinking something like standard medieval two-colored flag and unit cloak where we can select the two colors, plus one from a preset of symbols for the center of it both. Maybe a preset of flag/cloak types or something more ? Thoughts?

We have several sort of brainstorming threads in here now, for various things (wondrous items, creatures, factions, etc.), and I just thought it might be fun/interesting to brainstorm some traits. Since we don't know exactly what all mechanics will exist to be affected by traits, or exactly how they will work and be affected by things, the general idea of how a trait will work is what I'm going for. An idea that can be adapted to mechanics, even if it has to be less vague until we know more specifics. They can be more like backgrounds (as in Arcanum), or simply character qualities (like in Fallout). I personally love the Shadowrun PnP style of having both positive and negative traits (Edges and Flaws), separately, that one must balance out in a given character. So, here are a couple from my mind (Keep in mind that I'm separating them into positive/negative effects, a la Shadowrun; If you have 5 points worth of positive traits, you have to balance that with -5 points of negative ones, in that system, just for example. Many of these could be paired into a single trait, like in Fallout): Clumsy (detriment): You tend to fall more often than stumble. You generate more noise than the average person, while sneaking, and you suffer a penalty to disarm and knockdown checks. Your attack rolls below 5 result in the fumbling of your weapon, costing you one attack's worth of delay in order to retrieve it. Keen Aim (benefit): You are particularly steady-handed and sharp-eyed when it comes to combat. Your base range with all ranged weaponry is 15% greater than other people's. Arachnophobia (detriment): Arachnids instill a terror into your very marrow. Whenever you are within 30ft of an arachnid, your panic results in penalties to both attack and defense (does not stack with multiple arachnids). Whenever an arachnid enters your melee engagement radius, you will automatically target that arachnid, and cannot offensively target anything else until that arachnid is either dead or once again outside of melee engagement (you can still move/flee and target allies/yourself with abilities). NOTE: Obviously, this one would only be possible if arachnid enemies were at least fairly common throughout the game. Silken Voice (benefit): The very sound of your voice is soothing. Those who converse with you tend to be calmer from the start, and slower to anger or agitation whenever emotions are sparked.

One thing I noticed in the newest Shadowrun Returns (another isometric game) update is that they've opted to make a plethora of different, individual character portraits to choose from, THEN went on to make variants of each of these. I just thought this was an excellent idea, and I implore Obsidian to consider this if they haven't/aren't already. Basically, instead of seeing that one portrait and going "Aw, man! That face is AWESOME! But, if he JUST didn't have the hood and arcane tattoos! I'm a Warrior, not a Mage!", you'll see that same face with 3-or-4 different variations. Maybe one has a helm on, or a topknot, or scars/piercings, etc. While it IS more work for the art team, it's less work than entirely new portraits, as you only have to create the foundation portrait once, then go from there in a few different directions. Anywho, this was basically just a suggestion to Team Obsidian, but I'm never against hearing others' thoughts on the matter.

I found a video of how will be this game and it looks awesome, the waterfall, the lights, the herb, all looks perfect, but characters seem too simple to me. I want to ask if they will be in 3D and if when zooming they will be detailed like in Dragon Age or, conversely, simplistic like in Starcraft 2. And, finally, if the level of detail is realistic enough, would be possible customize their appearance with a face editor, body details, eye color and hairstyle?

I've mentioned Weapon perks before, but I thought it warrants a more in-depth explanation. What are these exactly? In short they'd be similar to character feats (D&D) or perks (Fallout), only attached to a weapon (not all of them would be beneficial, however), e.g. 1) Harder to parry against (Flamberge); 2) Tiring to use (Greatswords); 3) Light (Smallsword); 4) Can misfire (Firearms); 5) Can be concealed (Daggers); 6) Ignores armour (Firearms); 7) Increased critical chance (Rapiers). How would it be decided which weapon has which perk? Here are a few methods : 1) Some would be attached to a certain weapon type (or subtype) automatically, e.g. - all weapons categorized as Greatswords would have the Tiring to use perk by default. Flamberges (being a subtype of Greatswords), however, would additionally possess the Harder to parry against perk. 2) Others would be a result of training (or lack of one), e.g. - a character proficient in the use of Greatswords ignores the Tiring to use perk attached to them; - someone not skilled in the proper use of rapiers can't exploit the Increased critical chance perk they possess; - a particularly skilled combatant can add perks to a weapon, e.g. adding the Harder to parry against perk to rapiers. 3) Crafting could add or remove perks, e.g. - forging a Greatsword from a rare metal results in removing the Tiring to use perk from it; - conversely, crafting a weapon from poor quality materials could add a detrimental perk to it (or not add the default beneficial one). Perks would also allow the players to quickly asses weapons' strengths and weaknesses.

Hello all, Just a thought that would add a lot of detail into character creation... What if we could choose the race of the parents and grandparents of your character, to produce a more diverse character? Ex - human and elf grandparents, human and human parents = 1/4 elvenkind. Thoughts?

I know it is really early to talk about this aspect of the game, but I've been playing some of the older games and I wish that some of these shortcut keys were a little bit more logical and made playing real-time easier, not harder. One example is the quickcast in Baldur's Gate 2. It was not a logical approach, and I really doubt most people would use keyboard shortcuts for quick-cast. Anyway, I'll talk more about this when we have some engine mechanics fleshed out, but I really wish that the shortcut keys would be implemented in a way that allows for "RTS-like" play. Like I said, I can't give a good implementation of this right now, but when I see more of the mechanics, I think I can give a better layout. Also, please allow us to utilize Shift+click, Alt+click, and ctrl+click.

I know that I am odd in this regard, which is why I make no claims that my view is in any way representative of the population present on these forums or elsewhere. This is a personal rant, and I say rant because it comes entirely from an emotional need I posses for which I have no logical explanation. I'm posting it here because if I don't, and this game fails to reach the admittedly high bar I set on this topic, I'll have only myself to blame for never having tried to make a difference. This way when it doesn't meet my requirements I can simply resume grumbling to myself, and I'm only out my donation money instead of potential years of self-loathing and regret. Here's what I'm looking for in a RPG (or any game, really): A very large part of why I play RPG's is for their character customization - it's not the only consideration, but it is almost always the deciding factor in buying a new game (of late, the only "new" game I've purchased is Skyrim - with which I was disappointed in the character customization options, but it was better than average). Story matters, but I find the stories in most games weak in comparison to most books, so that's a secondary concern. What I have apparently become addicted to is creating unique and interesting characters. This falls into two roughly equal segments: visual and mechanical. Visual encompasses both the physical appearance of the character, as well as specifics to what sorts of items and spells that character is "allowed" to use (ex: if I make a character who's theme is "fire mage", I voluntarily do not use any spells that do not fit that theme - ice or water being the classic examples, but it can be more, less, or differently limited depending on the complete character concept). Visual also encompases most of personality with regards to character creation (things like voice selection can be involved as well, as can weapon preferences, skill selection, and even feats/abilities on occasion) - this means that my characters face (or portrait, or general physical appearance) must fit the concept I have of them in my head. I cannot explain why personality is so important to me, but it is absolutely crucial - If I cannot fit a character's appearance to their personality that character doesn't get made and I go back to the drawing board (for this reason, it drives me crazy that it's basically impossible to find or make a smiling face/portrait/etc in any game... Would it kill developers to have a "Default Facial Expression" option/slider? Why must my character frown/stare blankly at everything? I know the models are capable of smiling). It may sound like I'm requiring a high degree of graphical fidelity here - nothing could be further from the truth. I require only as much graphics/artwork as is necessary for me to "see" (as in visualize/imagine/personify/etc) my character in whatever format the game presents him/her - often, high fidelity graphics get in the way of this, as they add details that are not present in my mental image, whereas lower quality graphics leave those details open to the imagination. The other side of the coin, mechanical design & customization, encompases everything you probably think it does: Classes, Racial Bonuses (though not looks), Attacks/Abilities/Spells, Stats, Skills, etc. My design goal with any given character usually follows this pattern: Think of an interesting combination of mechanics, then design a character (visually) to match those mechanics. This leads to characters that have looks, personality, and abilities all revolving around a core theme - they (usually) have one or two "signature" abilities upon which their entire character concept was created. I'll create them with this in mind, then play it out to the final extreme or until the concept proves flawed in some way I didn't originally notice (if it's viable but I've misplaced a point somewhere I'll either re-create them or use console commands to correct the error, depending on what's available). In some cases it works the other way around, wherein I'll create a personality or visual style that inspires a slightly different mechanical perspective that I deem worth exploring. Characters created based on mechanical innovations become more and more interesting as the game progresses and they gain access to the full scope of their potential ("growing into their destined role," if you want to dramatize it... which of course we do, this being an RPG forum), but characters based on a visual style or personality are the most fun to work with in character creation and during plot defining moments (these tend to be the ones I don't actually play, just design). With regards to the actual mechanics of the game, and how classes/abilities/skills/etc interact with each other, it should be obvious that I prefer a highly flexible system. My ideal would actually be a classless system, but a decently done classed based system can be almost as good (restrictions are necessary to make character customization interesting - it's the working around and manipulation of those restrictions that makes mechanical customization fun). That said, multiclassing is basically required. It can be left out if the primary emphasis is on abilities/spells/feats and not class mechanics (to employ a simile: The classes are like differently shaped container for legos, where a roughly equal number of uniform legos, or feats/skills/abilities, can fit into any given container). If the emphasis is on the parts that make up the character (the feats/skills/abilities), rather than it's shell (the class), and these parts can be interchanged fairly freely between classes (with some exceptions) then multiclassing isn't required, but is still beneficial. It's my opinion that this "focus on the parts" view is simply good game design - it detracts nothing from those who don't care about character customization, but will keep people like me (assuming there are others like me...) buying as many expansion packs as you care to produce. When you do make expansions, adding classes is a pretty common theme - however, if these classes are insular (not subscribing to the "focus on parts" view), then you're only really adding one or two play styles... if you've done it the way I'm suggesting you've potentially exponentially increased the number of available character customization options (and therefore play styles) while achieving all the same benefits that adding a class normally accomplishes. Now, by the fact that I've taken the time to both think and type all this out in great detail, you can probably infer how big a deal it is to me, but just in case let me underline the point: I still play NWN2. Not only do I still play it, It's practically the only game I play. My computer uses video card drivers specifically selected for their compatibility with it. I have over a hundred characters created (since the last time I had to do a reinstall... a bit over a year). I've essentially memorized the dialog for the entire game (not so much on the expansions, as I prefer to start at level 1-3 and don't really care for SoZ [side note: MotB is a work of art, give Mr. Zeits my warmest and sincerest regards for that please.]). I've also modded the game with Kerendin's PrC Pack, which adds 49 classes (and is still in active development), and Races of Faerun which adds something like a dozen races, as well as complete overhauls like the "OC Makeover SoZ Edition" and Wulverheim (these last to add some variety to the game while I play through yet another character concept). Neverwinter Nights 2 (with mods) is the closest thing I've ever found to satisfying my craving for deep character customization, and even it is horribly flawed (by my standards). I'm not asking you to fulfill my every wish with Project Eternity, what I'm really asking for (more like begging for) is a replacement for NWN2. I am so damn tired of that game in every regard except character customization (and I think mathematically I may be approaching the point where I've done all feasible combinations of mechanics). I'm desperate for something with enough character customization to allow me to put away NWN2 for good, something with a fresh plot and new as-of-yet unmemorized dialog, new character interactions that give me more fine tuned options for defining and expressing my character's personality (the city watch / thieves guild segment of NWN2 kills off 90% of my character concepts unless I just grit my teeth and act completely out of character - it's destroys immersion and could be the subject of a completely separate rant all by itself). If I were a rich man I'd throw buckets of money at you just for that little consolation, but I'm not and so all I can do is give what I can afford in a desperate gamble, hoping that the people who gave me NWN2 can give me something to replace it. It feels good to get all that off my chest, as it's been stewing in and ever-expanding pool of frustration for some time now. If I had the time and skill I'd make my own game, if I had the money I'd pay someone to do it for me, alas I have neither. The only good that's come out of this is that I've discovered my skill addiction obsession can be put to productive use by churning out NPCs for my DM to put into our far-too-infrequent D&D games. That's not quite as satisfying, but it's kept me away from NWN2 for about a month running... Though after writing this I can already tell that streak isn't going to last the week (if it weren't 4am it wouldn't last the night). As I said when I started - I needed to say this for my own reasons, and even if it doesn't have an effect on this game it's still acted as a pressure release for me (and maybe it will influence something else down the line - who knows). That said, thank you for taking the time to read it and I do hope it leaves an impression (other than one of mild insanity - I know I got that one across but I hope some of the subtler points made it as well).

What information is available on this? For some reason ive seen little discussion on the topic. Can we expect sliders, portraits or a choice of premade faces and minimal alterations? If there's one thing modern rpgs have done right, it must be the ways we can customize our characters appearance, deepening the immersion and personalization of the game. If i missed any obvious choices, do tell.

So, now that the fund raising on Kickstarter has passed $2 Million, I thought ti would be fun to talk about player housing. Rather than just say what I want and be all narcissistic, I wanted to throw up this thread so that EVERYONE can pile up their hopes for what player housing will be like in-game. How much customization, if any, do you want in the house? Do you want your companions to never go to your house, visit you sometimes, or always stay there? Perhaps some combination that takes into account some companions possibly being adverse to living with you? Maybe they are too big to fit through the doorway? Or maybe it could be based on how they feel about you? Those you like/love you come around more often than others, perhaps? Would you like to be able to tie the house, somewhat into the storyline? Say, for instance, like in Fable, how you got trophies for killing bosses, and could put them in your home as decorations? Would you like to see the player housing ressemble Crossroad Keep from Obsidian's Neverwinter Nights 2? A massive fortress with guards, whom you can upgrade with better equipment? Special buildings that you must select, and as a result, not be able to makes others? An example being the choice of the Paladins' Temple or the Monks' Monestary from Crossroad Keep. Or would you rather just a small, more personal home, like in Dragon Age 2? Obviously, you don't have to answer any of my questions. Post whatever you think of and/or want to see (and don't want to see) in the player housing. Come on everyone. Empty your thoughts on player housing in here! Discussions like these are always so fun! =D