Well, I think we agree on some things and disagree on others. I also think traits giving stat bonuses is a bit dubious. Neat in theory, but in practice, it tends to encourage people to roleplay in a certain way to gain certain bonuses. And also, some bonuses are way better than others. I don't think it's a huge issue, but I hope they affect dialogs and stuff more so if there's stat bonuses, that won't really be the biggest consideration. I mean, the player's moral concerns should be the biggest consideration anyway, but some people need a bigger push.
Awful, awful decision to tie stats in whatever form to dialogue choices. A logically reacting world to your RP choices/words/actions is what should matter in an RPG, not arbitrary stats. What do we disagree on? :p If you think my logic isn't sound and I'm missing something, do tell, that's what discussion is all about.
I really don't think the origins are going to be gimmicks. They're going to have huge impacts on the game. Maybe not every single area will have unique things for each origin, but they very well could. If the demo was any indication of how origins and race will affect quest possibilities and character reactions throughout the game, we're in for a highly reactive world. I'm sure Larian has more money to spend on D:OS2 than D:OS1, not event counting the kickstarter, since D:OS1 was so successful.
They don't need to have huge impacts and unique possibilities in every zone. Manage the scale. They just need to have some tie to the main plot or at least some major side one. Just having them to unlock more dialogue options is a cop-out. They need a place in the narrative somewhere to justify having them.
Another way to deal with your concern of combat being balanced with or without combat talents in mind is to make a bunch of entirely optional, very difficult fights. So someone with a shitty build for combat might have a really hard time winning these fights, but they won't need to win these fights to get through the game. The arena will be a good place to do this, as well as various sidequests, maybe somehow marked as "challenge quests" or something with a disclaimer to explain that these are quests with hard as hell fights only for the most hardcore. Probably people will still complain about that, but people will complain no matter what.
If we have difficulty options that isn't really necessary. I do prefer more people play and enjoy this game and well-made RPGs in general. Even with all my trash-talking the talents D:OS is actually a well-made game. That's why I want it even better. D:OS is the best RPG to have come out of Kickstarter and I'd like Larian to continue.
