Larian Studios Forums General Suggestions On future games (things i'd like to see)

No, i am not going to say "better story"

(Partly because a "light" mood makes you take the game less "seriously", meaning you unconsciously cease to mentally scrutinise every single bit of data you come across. I have come to realise this can be a saviour, especially in my age, where it is reaaaally hard to stumble upon any an aspect or concept that will trully blow you away.
Partly because the better, more solid, more proof-tight a story, the more you have to cut back on interactivity or open ended gameplay. And all the consequences i as the PC will have to work out of, or move along with.
And yet again because so many trully, spectacularly goofy, lolzy things i have tried out in D:OS? I'd never have even considered doing them elsewhere. Different underlying tones)

So that 15d20 disclaimer aside (how do your saving throws fare?), this is what i would like to see:

+ Interactivity expanded on dialogue:

I would like the next game to not have the typical by now " NPC speech" above and "1/2/3 responses" below. Instead, i would like to see something more akin to Ultima Underworld(s), Daggerfall, Morrowind, old RoA.
i) Let me have a multitude of topics i can discuss with each and every NPC, each and every time. My choice. They never "grey out", they never "disappear" as dialogue options. If i forgot something, i need the option to ask about it again.
ii) Let the responses differ according to race, sex and allignment/reputation. Some of the replies (according to the criteria above) will be generic, some will provide clues, locations, rumours i can/should follow up on. Your way of giving me a "quest". Your way of providing me the "lore" of the game. Plus the jokes/silly comments/etc you will add in between.
iii) This could be further enriched by having said "quests" split up in different NPCs/topics. Shopkeeper 'A' mentions noises in the park up his street, but since mentioned park is at the other end of said street, he couldn't be bothered checking. Loiterer 'B' that habitually stands around the park will tell you (if you go to him, no Q marks) that indeed, three figures did seem to be in an argument, one of which he swears is 'X' person of note. Whom, assuming you track him out, will hand out some juicy info to you (the actual quest now begins, the actual journal entry is now scribed).

+ Difficulty "slider" being more than stat bloating and/or AI enhancement:

Depending on which we chose, on top of said bloating (which i think we can all agree is bad, but i can understand why it is a last resort of sorts) and AI enhancement, other gameplay elements could be enhanced, or introduced anew, ie entirely absent on easier scales:
i) Rogues will need to work for their poisons, snares and blackjacks, or blinding powders. No auto-"magic" hotkeyed ability that executes said skills. They now have to craft them (which obviously means you provide the materials in a semi-immersive way from the beginning). Same for their stealth mechanic. It is a magic ability, so naturally, 'x' or 'y' reagents or preparations need to be made for it to be performed.
Mages will need to scribe runes, collect their own reagents and so on. Maybe a casting minigame a-la Arx Fatalis?
Melee-oriented types will have some basic moves and will need to "unlock" better moves through tomes or scrolls of knoweldge (said moves being unlocked by default on "easy" for example). They need a stronger hilt (crafted) before they can bash with their weapon. And so on.
You make materials plentiful but not abounding, it instantly adds an element of extra tactics, inventory management and overall organisational skils. We kinda love those, it's why we play RPGs. You add a more severe inventory weight limitation or minigame on top of it, it adds even more to the whole.
ii) Reputation/alignment really matters. No more cheesing your answers according to best loot or best XP. You now have to stick to a side consistently, with all the consequences this will entail, and work on maxing it out. A quest that could be given to any PC before has now extra prerequisites. You will either have to backtrack and raise said prereqs, or move forward (on tougher content) to make up for lacking them.
iii) Which nobody does because they fear the (self censored) current market;
Permanent curses. You just took down a minor deity? It cursed you prior to dying. A mere minus one on 'x' or 'y' secondary skill. Permanent. To be made insignificant a bit later by receiving an 'z' boost elsehwere. And to be made more "immersive" by your not instantly receiving 'z' boost. Rather, you'd have had to endure for a couple of levels(?)/areas(?) prior to it. The same can be applied further. I play a mage? Say i chose Necromancy. For each extra tier of expertise, i get this or that debuff in my reputation, this or that penalty in my physique/endurance/stamina. Permanently. True C&C!
I can finally summon three archdemons, but my physique is so frail, i can barely walk (reduced walking speed, susceptibility to diseases), half the town won't even talk to me because hello? Evil, and most party companions will refuse to even travel with me. I can however raze the whole damn town if i so chose to. Permanent. And of import. Both the good and the bad.
iv) At highest difficulty, food and drinks are no longer mere buffers, but also a necessary, inescapable means of sustaining myself. Every 24 ingame hours i have to eat and drink.

+ More customisation options:

To some it still sounds silly, to others it brings up pictures of the Skyrimtards on Nexus. Neither. It is an RPG, the more i can "fashion" my character to my desires, the easier for me to RP it.
i) You gave us primary and secondary colours in all things wearable in D:OS. Next game, allow us to dye them. Both. If i want to be a monochrome mat black, my problem. No extra animations needed for this. And trust me, it matters. A lot.
ii) Weapon and armour could be a bit more..up to us?
The default D:OS "glowing brightwood stick with lit bulb on top", commonly known as magical staff: Why does it have to have a lit fire/living lightning on top of it? Yeah, kiddies love that stuff. Ok. Make it an option for the next one though. Please
All extra weapon/shield effects toggleable.
iii) If deeper crafting, option to chose between meshes for armours and weapons. Be it because attributes can be transfered, or because most things being craftable, the choices will be provided for us to pick what we like most. Whichever works best for you. Kiddies love their uber looking tentacle-attached hardware, others love something plain and simple.


Will probably be editing this for a long time to come, got more to add, lol, but that's it for now..
Apologies for the wall of text

Sounds like it adds elements of tedium and busywork. I'm not interested in needing to spend 20+ minutes preparing tons of consumables before I can venture into the wilds to slay an orc. Original Sin was perfectly playable without NEEDING to use crafting. I would be less interested in an RPG where crafting - particularly on that scale - is required to do basic things.

That is especially true when a single decent-sized battle at the same level can take 20 minutes all on its own.

There has to be a balance between immersion, reality and fun.

Name me the RPGs (pre 2000) that you played and found their mini-games and preparation mechanics (travel, pre-combat, pre-dialogue, resource accumulating) to be a chore please. So i can have a framework by which to (re)evaluate your statement. Opinions and onions, but 'boring', 'needing', 'tedium' and 'busywork' have the broadest of spectrums

That 20 minutes timer you arbitrarily put in the discussion is obviously not particularly helpful in terms of my forming a response..elsewhere we call this a strawman. More than happy to pre-suppose you exaggerated for emphasis, but perhaps prior to dismissing such a system you should consider whether it adds to the tactical element of any situation. It being the one prior to the strategic. Goes beyond combat and can in fact be all encompassing. You could additionally consider how, being on the highest difficulty slider, it would be anything but obligatory.

On a shallow level: While i love being able to abuse the hell out of everything in D:OS, i could for example love it even more if telekinesis (should read: "Abuse Me") and stealth/invisibility (-//-) had some criteria that would need to be met prior to being appliccable to each and every situation a direct solution cannot not be easily found. Helps one think a bit more, look around see if maybe one missed something. Helps one appreciate things further (having introduced the notion of cost vs reward); makes any exploit/cheesing a feat, or inversely, indirectly lead to what it is one's supposed to be doing instead of it. Not a 'click and done' affair. RPGs are not the local Dry Cleaner's.
And most of all, systems of this type allow for a progressive expanding of your capabilities as a PC (in ways deeper than 'Fireball 2'), since this being an RPG you will naturally begin by collecting more/spending less, to eventually move on to enjoying more/caring less.

Right now, to enter a scenario, be it one involving interaction, combat or travel, i just click. And usually once. I personally (obviously) think that adding systems that enrich transitions between two or more scenarios add to a game's overall wealth and depth.
And again personally, my interests are a touch beyond what is commonly found "playable", no offense meant. Dragon Age Inquisition was "playable". Drank half a bottle of Jack Daniels and actually managed to play it for almost two hours. So just as with your generalising of "chores" above, so here as well i'd need a bit of a clearer definition towards what you'd consider "playable". Or not ^^

p.s. Not offended, i remember you from the Codex, so am aware of your usual 'tone'. Am thankful for the input

I haven't played any pre-2000 RPG's that I can recall. That does not invalidate my opinion. Different people can indeed have different opinions on what makes things fun.



"We" do not all play RPG's for the joy of inventory management and organizational skills. (Especially not D:OS-style inventory management.)

I'd rather spend more of my game time exploring and interacting with the world and less time in menu screens managing and crafting things. I should think that position is understandable enough that I do not need to list a resume of pre-2000 RPG's with pros and cons to justify that view.

You misunderstand me yet again

I did see your point the first time; But it is based on an overly broad and general principle. One unaffected by secondary factors such as the extra elements mentioned above, as they do not affect said principle. Which is why this was not a resume contest, but rather my honestly enquiring as to your experience with such factors. Judging prior to having any empirical experience can only take you thus far.
Even theory, no matter how general or broad, needs anxioms to be based upon. TLDR, was looking to establish a common ground. Which unsurprisingly, i see is lacking.

No one talked about overly long, tedious or "boring" elements. No one endorses logistics and the accounting thereof within games and most of all, one at least in particular proposed a bit of 'salt & pepper' if you will, and that optionally. On what i suppose you'd feel comfortable labeling as 'insane difficulty'. One most would eschew in any case, and as such by unaffected by it, yes?

As for the "we".. my fault i suppose. I do tend to neglect that despite a history of over thirty five years of computer role playing games, our criteria must by default be formed on the latest titles, and those latest titles alone.