Quests, Characters, Items And More

[Lord Lierdan Firkraag]

First of all, Obsidian, thanks for everything you have done to the RPG world. I am 29 now and a lifetime fan of your works (back and then). Project Eternity is a dream for me, still i can't believe it's happening. We have waited for so long.Well, i'm very excited. Can't wait to play. This post may be unnecessary or useless, i don't know, i just wanted to write to you, so pardon me. Oh, and excuse me for my lacking english. Here we go.

 

You will read a lot of "in Baldur's Gate this was bla bla bla". Don't get mad. Sorry for this but that game is my gold standard. (whole saga)

 

I am a big fan of D&D and it's character kits/alignement system. I hope PE will have a similar system. Barbarians, fighters, humans, wizards, sorcerers, thiefs, dwarfs, orcs, elfs and sub-classes... It's a nice long list to read:)

 

My biggest concern is the difficulty level. You know, in these days, games are easier to play, dumbed down for childrens; no dialogues, no choices, no stories to listen. Easy quests, lineer story-line etc. I hope there will be a lot of challenging battles, mind blowing puzzles, hard-to-see clues, a lot of stuff to dig in. If a gamer can solve the puzzle in 10 minutes it won't be an epic moment to remember. We wanna argue about it in forums, try theories:) And anyone remembering Kangaxx? Demilich with a creepy mausoleum? I remember, i tried a month just to find a way to awaken him an failed. An enemy (and a puzzle) like him will be epic too.

 

Just a reminder; Baldur's Gate 2 had over 290 quests and we expect more:) This is a very important element. Replayability. Lots of quests, lots of sub-quests, tons of thing to do and freedom in accomplishing things. But not only quantity of course. In BG quests was interesting, some of them were mystical in some ways and connected. Fulfilling rewards are one thing but ancient myths, cults, hidden cities underground, secret passages, georgeous stage designings... Those are just a few of the things made quests replayable.  

 

Remarkable, colourful, one-of-a kind characters (NPCs). I missed them. It has been decades, we haven't seen any guy like Minsc or Edwin or Korgan. They had a unique biography, a history. I think i don't have to explain myself longer. This is crucial. Crucial in anyways. We need a lot of unique (NPCs). Not 6 or 7 of them but "lots" of them.

 

I don't know about you guys but i still remember the stories behind the items in BG. For example; Moonblade, Lilarcor... And the artworks they had? I think that's a very important element too. When you put a story, a history behind a sword, when you give it a unique design and artwork, it becomes unforgettable. No matter it's useless or what, it becomes a part of the game that makes you satisfied. This is something i could never found from other RPGs.

 

I think it's enough verbosity:) Only a few things left to say. Graphics are important but not that much. Replayability and unique characters are the keys to win the heart of an RPG fan. I am not expecting a high-end graphics engine, not expecting unbelievable effects. I will be satisfied if it works steady.

 

Ok. Thanks for everything again. Hope you read this.

[mokona]

I don't know about you guys but i still remember the stories behind the items in BG. For example; Moonblade, Lilarcor... And the artworks they had? I think that's a very important element too. When you put a story, a history behind a sword, when you give it a unique design and artwork, it becomes unforgettable. No matter it's useless or what, it becomes a part of the game that makes you satisfied. This is something i could never found from other RPGs.

I would rather Project Eternity had one, and only one, magic item with an epic history like Excalibur than carry around five or ten or 100 trinkets. I'd be willing to accept a few such memorable magic items if each was unique and a quest in its own right. Edited April 7, 2013 by mokona

[J.E. Sawyer]

We won't have alignments in PE, but we will have almost everything else you've suggested.  We will probably not have 290 quests and we're not going to have 20 companions, but we do want to have many quests you can complete in many ways and at least 8 companions.  We would rather do a smaller number of well-developed companions than have several dozen with less individual attention given to them.

[Osvir]

I'm a little bit curious about the cavalry scenario depicted at your instagram (thoughts related to Quests in P:E), and taking that for a spin in discussion here (because I feel it is an excellent example of several different ways of approaching a quest):

From your (Sawyer's) instagram:

1. http://distilleryimage7.ak.instagram.com/32e1fd98a15211e2b23122000a1f98cf_7.jpg

2. http://distilleryimage1.ak.instagram.com/757fe2dea14b11e29f7222000a9f130b_7.jpg

 

So the cavalry is coming and some guys are hiding in the cellar, one guy is jumping out the window.

In P:E, what kinds of different ways could you approach this scenario, if something similar where to be in it?

Some quick-fire thoughts on that particular scenario:

- Hide in the cellar as to avoid detection.
- Everyone jumps out the windows and escapes, leaving the tavern to its fate (the coward's choice)
- Hide casually in the tavern, hoping not to get noticed (depending on reputation, cavalry might not do anything to you except "initiate provoke dialogue" or whatnot) or simply a sort of "Aragorn approach" (sit in the corner of the tavern and enjoy a good mug of mead)
- Heighten your chances (Safe): Tip the tavern owner some money so that he won't give you away (Perhaps you have to pay him money to even be allowed to hide in the cellar to begin with).
- Heighten your chances (Riskful): Threaten the tavern owner, though that might make the owner tell the Cavalry that you're hiding in his cellar (Keeping a Rogue character, hiding in the shadows in the bar could perhaps be intimidating and make the owner not dare tell on you?).
- Attack the cavalry head on, because you're playing an aggressive gung-ho party. Bar fight!!

- Poison the mead secretly, everyone who drinks it dies.
- Poison the mead, tell the owner to give that specific batch to the cavalry (Cavalry guys dies, or they notice something is strange and initiates slaughtering sequence, unless the Player intervenes).
EDIT:
- Is there a sewer escape? Leading into a deeper (more dangerous) area? etc. etc.
- Would the cavalry guys throw down torches and stuff? "They are here! Burn it down!!!" or, would they head down and face you in the small space of the sewer and be taken down one by one?

1 event that could take place (all I could think of):
- Cavalry guys are being rowdy, foul to the people in there. Giving the Player an incentative to care or not to care.

Furthermore:

Will I be able to use other elements to progress quests? Such as:
- Pay some beggars in a town to gather information for me.
- Pay some beggars/mercenaries to annoy some guards so I can slip past them
- Tip off a town crier to spread false rumors about something (making conspirators or whatnot shake their boots)
- Initiating and progressing quests indirectly. Basically not being some physical brute fighting his way forward but rather an intelligent "mastermind" who unravels plots by using "weaker" minds to do your bidding (I'm thinking Breaking Bad in some ways, but general "Ganglord" hierarchy. Being able to order someone else to do your bidding whilst you sit back and watch it unfold) <- This perhaps for late-game scenarios, when the Player has a ton of money and doesn't know what to spend it on, and/or in a way to build some territory and (if possible) their own Faction.

Edited April 11, 2013 by Osvir