For what it's worth: My take on the attributes

[WebShaman]

To be honest:

 

I don't understand why the "traditional" stat system was scrapped.

 

You know, that which we all know :  Str, Int, Wis, Dex, Con, Chr.

 

Six stats that pretty much are the foundation to every RPG there is, really.  Doesn't matter what one calls them, they are pretty much standard, and more importantly, TRIED and TESTED!

 

So why try to re-invent the wheel here?  It obviously is not working well, peeps are mostly just confused, and again one has "dump" stats and basically pretty useless stats so far (sure, one needs the dialog stats, but that is about it atm).

 

I've played much now, and I keep coming back to this, especially during character creation, and combat (and dialog, of course).

 

I am not seeing the pay-offs of changing a system that I intimately know and enjoy (D&D).  Instead, I am getting the opposite.  It is tiresome, cumbersome, and confusing, to say the least!

 

I have no idea why someone decided to change this - but I wish that they hadn't.

 

As such, I am bowing out of discussion based on this part of the game, because I definitely don't like it.  It just doesn't seem to be coming anywhere close to what the traditional system offers.

[Gromnir]

 

 

am gonna repeat this again, 'cause we ain't seen an answer yet:

 

how on earth is folks deciding that the current abilities is poorly balanced?

 

given the lack o' combat mechanics transparency, how is folks deciding that might outshines intellect or that perception is a dump stat for all builds?  is this a gut feeling kinda thing? is there a thread wherein combat mechanics/numbers has been parsed and we simple didn't see it? 

 

is a bunch o' threads speaking to ability score improvements, but Gromnir is still not certain how primary and derived stats affect gameplay, at least not with any certainty. how can folks be so convinced o' improvements if the only thing they gots to base conclusions 'pon is wiki links and gut feelings?

 

am genuine confused.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Because we can comprehend the concepts behind them and how they affect certain builds. We don't need to wait to know that almost all conceivable builds have a major need for MIG. Which is why I have suggested giving the healing influence of might over to RES.

 

 

 

Probably shouldn't discount how much people will make decisions (at least initially) on what *sounds* good, whether or not the implementation gives commensurate effects in-game.

 

which is the problem. folks is acting as if they know what is the actual benefits of taking 1 point of might over 1 point of perception. you don't. Gromnir doesn't. perhaps the obsidian developers know, but they ain't giving us an easy way to discover the actual relative benefits. activated abilities and spells would appear to be the method by which enemies dish out the pain. now, if Gromnir has a ranger who sends his animal companion to attack the most dangerous enemy in a group and with our high perception we could virtual guarantee that the enemy never activated an ability or spell, that would be a very powerful limit on enemy power, no? unfortunately, from the combat log, which retains only a very brief amount o' info, we can't tell what we is or isn't interrupting or how interrupt percentages work or even what is the kinda actions we is interrupting. interrupt, particularly for our ranger who would appear to be doing most o' her damage via her animal companion, would seem to be a very powerful ability... but that is just a guess, 'cause we don't know how it freaking works.

 

might Sounds like a good choice for mostest characters. for mages or other characters who perhaps focus on aoe abilities that don't need to hit a particular foe, intellect actually strikes us as probable the bestest ability, but as a practical matter, we don't know how much intellect increases aoe size and duration... heal/buff priests would seem to greatly benefit from intellect, but again, am not certain how much they benefit. 

 

it seems as if folks is reading descriptions o' abilities and deciding that might is a clear win and perception is a dog... and folks could be absolutely correct, but Gromnir don't see any reasons for such conclusions other than gut level feelings.

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

ps the reason d&d ain't used is 'cause it has obvious dump stats. at the moment, people believe that perception and resolve is dump stats, but they could very well be wrong. in d&d, a mage benefits not at all from strength. the obsidian developers did not wanna make obvious dump stats. if all abilities were genuine useful, there wouldn't be dump stats.

 

again, am thinking most o' the complaints 'bout abilities is based on lack o' understanding and inexperience with the new system. the problem is that even as we get more experience, the lack o' detailed understandable feedback from combat (again, logs is very short and not as detailed as we think obsidian believes) makes it near impossible to get a grasp o' what is actual going on in combat and how each ability contributes.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Gromnir

[Leferd]

My guess is that these combat feedback logs and descriptors on character sheets is relatively low priority for the devs as they are devoting their resources on stability and other more glaring UI issues.

 

Additionally, balance will be be tweaked and reworked up to the point of release, thus they aren't ready to devote too many resources on graphic numbers feedback until we are further along in the beta.

[Gromnir]

My guess is that these combat feedback logs and descriptors on character sheets is relatively low priority for the devs as they are devoting their resources on stability and other more glaring UI issues.

 

Additionally, balance will be be tweaked and reworked up to the point of release, thus they aren't ready to devote too many resources on graphic numbers feedback until we are further along in the beta.

given problems such as disappearing quest logs and disappearing equipment, am agreeing with you that combat feedback is a low(er) priority. that being said, we will note that all the folks making claims 'bout lack o' balance w/o any feedback from which to base such claims strike us as... odd. 

 

also, obsidian could very easily give far more detailed written descriptions o' how abilities and combat works via a message board update.  we would rather have detailed in-game feedback, but in its absence, some illumination from developers might prevent them from knee-jerk altering ability balance when all that is genuine required is explanation.

 

HA! Good Fun!