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Well met, Adventurers! As we mentioned in an earlier post, pricing changes are coming to our store. Why did we decide to make these changes? Several reasons: first, and most importantly, we got feedback from our players (both directly through comments and through watching what is and is not actually being bought), about what items they wanted to see at what pricing. We listened to these comments and made changes we think make sense, while still making business sense for the product. Second, as you know, we recently added new content to the game and will be adding more in the future, and this new pricing system works better with the new content. It doesn’t make any sense to charge more for a bundle, for example, than it costs to purchase the items in that bundle individually. Hopefully, you will agree that the new pricing system is much more logical and equitable. Chests are now a bit easier to get with in-game gold, and just about everything else that had been purchasable with real-world money has been made cheaper, bundled together in a single-priced package, or both. For those of you who already own some or all of the content that has undergone a price change you will not lose your content. Nothing will change, you can keep right on smashing goblins and seeking treasure cards as you did. This change only affects future purchases. The full list of price changes is below. If you have any questions or feedback for us, please talk to us on our official forums. And now to take down the Runelords!

I personally believe that some old and new RPG's lack certain aspects of realistic cities. I personally would like to see standard daily routines on many of the NPC's throughout the city. Some of these elements have been added in past games (like Skyrim, BG2, assassins creed) but not to an accurate enough extent. I understand that some of you may disagree with me and may believe this to be a hindrance to aspects of the game. However, I believe it will add a certain beauty and also certain gameplay elements. Possible NPC time Cycle. (For this to work, a lot of citizen NPC models would need to be made) 5am - 7am (sunrise) Middle/lower class citizens begin to wake, head to work and set up for the day (market stall owners, farmers, blacksmiths, criers). Drunks should be sleeping in the odd alley in the slums of the city. The general city atmosphere is quiet 7am - 10am The rest of the middle and upper class citizens should be waking (some escorted by private guards) and heading the their respective jobs. Blacksmiths, bakeries, government buildings and all establishments should be opening by 8am. Taverns should have very few people in them, just the odd patron. The general atmosphere should be noisy and busy. The streets should be at its fullest (Like peak hour traffic in an city on earth) 10am - 5pm The odd poor boy should steel from a stall in the markets The odd man should shout "I've been pick-pocketed!" Criers should be yelling out the cities events and news (like in BG2). Shop keepers should be yelling out to buy their goods (like in BG2). Citizens should be generally active thought the city. 5pm - 8pm Everyone should be closing up shop and heading home. Taverns should start to get crowded. The odd cloaked figure should be wandering the street. 8pm - 11pm Taverns and brothels should be making a roaring trade. The odd whore (not sure if they will be added) should be wandering around the middle class streets near/around city guards. The odd citizen should still be around The odd cloaked figure should be wandering.. The odd drunk should be wandering.\ 11pm - 4am Should there be a local thieves guild this should be their most active time. The odd Tile should fall off a roof. Drunks should be sleeping in the alley. Cats chasing Mice. The general atmosphere should be pretty quiet. Gameplay Features automatically Added Assassinations: This gives certain NPCs a cycle that you can base a killing around. Should I eliminate the target while sleeping? Or on the way to work? ect ect. Waking someone up: Should you finish a major quest, you may chose to wake up the NPC you are collecting your reward from. This may result in them slightly disliking you. This may have an effect on a future quest down the line that is related to that NPC. Meeting certain people at certain times. There would be quests, in which you could only meet a certain person at a certain time of day. You may need to meet them at home at 9pm, or at 6am early before too many people are around. 24/7 Stores There would be some stores in the city that could be open 24/7. But these stores should charge a little more in price. So if your desperatly need some bandages, or, a black robe, or a knife ect ect, you have no choice but to buy from a 24/7 store and spend a little more money. I feel as though this would be a great addition to the game. Please add your suggestions and constructive criticism. Cheers Bhaal_Spawn

It really stunned me when I saw soooo much detail in Assassin's creed 3. A dog chasing a cat ( with nice animations ) sooo many animals in the wilds. The taverns are so damn atmospheric with ppl drinking,dancing,singing,playing instruments and playing board games and so on and the cities so full of ppl of life it is AMAZING. The atmosphere of the game is incredible every one is doing something and talking to each while in rpgs ppl mostly walk,talk and well thats it. The closest to Assassins creed atmospheric cities was imho Witcher 2. I would be amazed if someone would actually make a triple AAA rpg ( which is nearly impossible ) on the engine of Assassin's where the cities would be finally crowded and HUUUUUUGE. IT WOULD BE AWESOME. It is sad that that Assassin which actually doesnt need this kind of things can afford it and crpgs do not .

In many rpgs I saw a very big problem in the size of an indoor house ( mostly in neverwinter nights 2 ). As I walked the street with my group I saw a little tavern and I walked in, only to see the Inn is actually PRETTY HUGE inside and by huge I mean really huuuuuge. I like how Bethesda solves this with TES. They just take the outdoor model of the house and on the base of this model they make the interior. Huge interiors really destroy my immersion ;/. If I remember good in Baldur's gate this problem didnt exist or it didnt really made that difference. What do you think folks ?

So what would you folks like to encounter when you stumble upon a ruined city out in the wilderness? One of my favorite troupes has to be the Death-cult residing in ancient ruins preforming horrible rituals for their fiendish deities. Players can choose to charge in with spell and sword ready or kill of a few guards and sneak in wearing their robes. They better not waste time though, or the horrible ritual to summon [insert elder God here] the Eater of Worlds! I'm really thinking somewhere between Col. Kurtz and Temple of Doom here. Another possible fun encounter would be a Necropolis in some foggy bog. Forgotten by nations and time, a lonely city deep in the marsh toils tirelessly to endure the harsh surroundings as the rotting peasants mend the defenses. Ruled by an arbitrary lich, the lifeless peasants and guards live life as they have for centuries. Raids for fresh 'subjects' are infrequent but bloody. The nearby hamlets of the living speak in hushed tones about the masses of lifeless warriors gathering deep in the marshlands. Lastly another sort of ruin encounter I would like to see is ruins inhabited by some new colony of another culture. I'm thinking of the surface Drow who dwell in Myth Drannor or the Forsworn of Skyrim in the tombs of the Dragur. Old architecture juxtaposed with another group's order makes for interesting areas. Perhaps the Mad lord of the bandits of the Black-woods declares himself King of lost Carcosa. What if the forgotten inhabitants of the city awaken to find their old homes occupied by strangers?

You know, if it hadn't been for Athkatla in BG2, I would have had pretty much zero interest in the game. I didn't care enormously for the story, there weren't many interesting choices to make. But Ahtkatla. Exploring Athkatla was enormously fun. And it showcased that, maybe, just maybe, an isometric game that "abstracts" a lot of its world is the best way to bring a city to life in an RPG. It had character (it almost *was* a character), it was atmospheric, it was dense, it was occasionally dangerous. The same goes for Sigil in Planescape: Torment of course. How exciting it was to explore just what lies in the city's various districts. How awesome was it to leave the slummier and dirtier Hive Wards and Lower Wards behind and find out that, yes... There is another goddamn district waiting to be explored in the Clerk's Ward, this one with a completely different flavor. Basically, Athkatla and Sigil were a really big part of BG2 and Torment. A lot of the games revolved around those locations, and it didn't feel like the games sold the idea of a big city short. They felt big and lively. Now, including such big areas in a game is obviously not an idea to be taken lightly. Would you like for there to be a big city in the game which "dominates" much of the gameplay? Would you rather have more, medium-sized settlements (that may differ more culturally speaking) to explore? I wouldn't be disappointed if we got smaller settlements. But I *would* definitely love a big city that you can really dive into.