Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity Original Sin - Beta Bonuses from conversation traits = Bad

I disagree completely. Traits are the games reflection of the personality of that character as displayed by your choices in conversation. They are the way the game interprets your -roleplaying- or the character you are trying to portray. Individuals of certain personalities/temperments may have different aptitudes than others and this is reflected in those traits.

The problem you're having is deciding whether you want to roleplay or 'rollplay'/metagame. You need to make a decision. If you want to roleplay than the mild bonuses from the dialogue shouldn't matter...view them as natural aptitudes you didn't fully explore. Not everyone becomes an expert in all the things they are naturally talented at. If you want to metagame then...do so?

Why simplify the possibilities because you lack self-control?

As for the post above: Stop thinking of them as incentives. They aren't incentives unless you're trying to metagame. They're just natural aptitudes of those traits. Presumably your character at development already had these traits...you just didn't reveal them until you decided to have dialogue with people in the game. Once they're revealed the game then -reveals- some of your natural aptitudes. It can serve as a way to direct you towards new paths that you may not have anticipated.

If you aren't planning your character out from the beginning then it wouldn't matter. If you are planning your character from the beginning then you already are metagaming and you should just abuse the system because you're already trying to. This concept of 'half roleplaying/half metagaming' is not conducive to a happy life. You will never be satisfied. What happens when you find out certain quests/dialogue choices could give you something that your specific build needed to be the best at what it does later on? Does that mean it should be available to someone who roleplayed the way you chose to?

There's no possible way that you are 'underperforming' in combat because of small trait bonuses. It's far more likely you built a horrible team or are lacking tactical analysis. Or maybe hard isn't for you.