I have to agree that the pacing at the start is kind of strange. If you want the game to hook people you need to have excitement. I also don't mind the long drawn out areas of dialogue and questing without battle. I just think that it is too soon to the start of the game. Now that I have played many hours and know what is going to happen I don't mind so much but that first play through was getting a bit boring for me and a coop friend. We were both ready to fight something after spending HOURS in town doing nothing but talking.
Something to break up the pacing a little would be awesome. I can really see some people not playing the game for long. The story has not really "hooked" you by that point in the game and you don't get to really experience any of the cool combat mechanics by the time you reach town. I think either throwing a battle or two in before town or during town is necessary just to be sure people don't get bored.
I completely agree. I'm sure that Larian will be adjusting the balance, but I also found that it hit a long boring patch too early. There's only so much repetitive chat and barrel opening that you can do before it starts to pall. Personally, I don't mind whether it's fights or interesting plot advancement, but it's good if there's something a bit meatier to keep the mood going. Others will of course disagree.
