Wish list

I HATE turn-based!!! I like the pause and do real-time, but turn based I just can't stand. So thankfully we'll never see it.
I don't like the desert or jungle. I prefer the north or midclimate areas, I like the medieval feel of things. I just don't like the feel of the desert or jungle, though it would be nice to be able to go to such places in the game.

Now, I'm gonna add a wishlist of everything that I want, it does include ideas of others, but I have so spit it out or I'll explode. So here it is:

- I want to be able to actually travel. BG had it right, you have to explore areas and travel, unlike BG2, IWD, IWD2, and NWN. I hate the way those ones work. I love to explore, areas and to travel; which can sometimes get anoying going back and forth which is why you have a map like in BG to make things easier when you want. Also, lets not be rooted in one main town or city like in IWD, IWD2 and NWN. Give me the choice to go to other towns and cities, not work from one base of opperations. I want to be able to travel from village to village visting the taverns and inns with my party.

- open-ended play. I love having good side-quests which allow simple adventuring, roleplaying fun, especially for a mutli-player campaign. Yes, epic quests and and stories are good, but other quests like for treasure, artifacts and stuff are great. I like to be able to have adventures that don't have the saftey of the world hanging in the balance. I want some good side quests, and sure add some long ones where you have to stop by villages to re-stock and stuff, and you have to plan the way (and not just have that on hte main campaign).

- a good story. Without a good story there aren't good main, side quests or dialogues.

- good, realistic dialogues and NPCs. Lets see characters with personality, NWN had very few half-decent NPCs, change that. Realistic diaologues that change for classes and races. A halfling shouldn't call another one short, and if so; than the other one shouldn't be offened. Elves and dwarves don't like each other, lets see that reflected in the dialogues. Half-orcs aren't very well liked, lets see people turn away from them, towns and inns refuse them entrance for example. As Cunctator just said, lets see classes not trust each other and react realistically to each other. I want the dialogues to reflect realistic reactions to the races and classes.

- lets see more class-specific quests and stuff, and prevent certain classes from being offered quests.

- I heard somewhere to make mages weaker, no. In the Forgotten Realms, mages are meant to be feared as they are powerful once their trained. Don't go making them uber but make them powerful. Also lets see some cool spell effects, not the same effects used over and over again with different colours (*cough* NWN *cough*). Also, allow powerful mages to make their own spells, enchant items permainently, and make powerful potions. And have lots of spells, not just attacking and defensive spells, but practical ones, like teleport, telekenises, light, levitation, flight, and other nice cantrips that mages have.

- I'd like to see you be able to put in orders to smiths and mages for special items. YOu are supposed to be able to do that, for the right price of course.

- do the creatures right. They are D&D Forgotten Realms creatures, not your own stupid pathetic ones, do them right. In NWN the orcs, goblins, ogres, giants, trolls, dragons and lots more were messed up. Do them right, and make sure that the dragons are HUGE and uber powerful, only one or two person in all the realms can take on an adult dragon by themselves, and your character isn't one of them!!! Like that stupid uber ancient red dragon in NWN whose supposed to be dying of age yet you can of course take him on. Again as Cunctator said, no uber powerful charcters and few powerful magic items.

- that brings me to my next point, magic items are rare in the Forgotten Realms, make sure that they are. Most people should have a couple magic items if any.

- magic the random item thing realistic, like goblins not having magic items and locked chests having something worth being behind a lock.

- oh yes, before you go making your fun creatures like the gelatnus cube, lets see the more basic animals. Say like, sheep, cats, mice, and HORSES for example. Lets see some horseback riding for once, and do it like they did in the game Sacred where theres a riding skill; the better you are the more horses you can ride and the more effective you are on a horse.

- curency. Do it right for once in your lives!!! In the Forgotten Realms a night at an inn doesn't cost 5 gold! 1 gold will pay for a couple nights all meals and drinks included. It wouldn't kill ya to have silvers and coppers to add to the whole feel of the Forgotten Realms

- Z axis is a must, no question about it. To have rolling hills and other wonderfull landscapes in the Forgotten Realms you need the Z axis. Not to mention if we want thieves running along rooftops, levitation and flying spells, falcon scouts, flying creatures, climbing walls and cliffs would be nice seeing as it can be quite anoying to have to go around a cliff when you could just climb it. So lets see a climbing skill there aswell

- I'd also like to see swimming, haven't you ever got to a point where you sit there and think to yourself, "Hey, to finish my quest I have to cross this river, but the only way around it is a long journey. Why can't I just swim across it?". Lets see swimming and a swimming skill and restrictions with armour, races and classes

- lets have hiding in shadows not make you invisible, that's just stupid. lets have it something like in the Thief games where you have toi actaully hide in shadows and stuff.

- interactive placables, to help kill powerful creatures we should be able to use features of the terrain to kill creatures, like; stalacites, giant icicles, boulders etc. And maybe even be able to throw rocks, bottles, chairs and tables and stuff would be great. Oh, and when a mage casts a fireball on a small house, it shouldn't remain unscathed, allow us to use our sourraounding in fights or objectives

- something else that would be great would be the ability to make setup a camp. ie collect forest debris, stones to make campfire, hunt for food, flint stone to start fire, tents etc. It would really enhance the realistic feel, and stop abuse of resting.

- fighting styles, so that a huge half-orc barbarian doesn't do a jump-kick like I've seen all too often in NWN. Each class should have a set of fighting styles, and animations (ie a thief slouching instead of walking with perfect posture)

- customize the characters more, in their appearances, animation (as previously stated), hair and skin colour, eye colour, more races (ie drow, duergar etc), more voices for each race and class, more phenotypes like (ie muscular, skinny, very skinng, wiry, fat, very fat etc), adusting heights which vary from race

- more customizable skills, in NWN and such your character needs to be high in level to have customized skills, I think there should be more feats and skills that can define your character. There should be some minor skills and feats meant specifically for customization, little things such as swimming, climbing, camping, riding, and other practical skills and feats that don't make your character that much more powerful, but define his character and trade.

- lets see some more deity specific cleric spells and abilities. Not for a three like in BG2 but for many more deities if not all of them

- as in some NWN mods lets see you be able to sit in chairs and sofas, even lay in beds. I want to be able to sit at a tavern or inn table or bar stool, and drink my ale

- more emotes for characters, that will definately increase player interaction and roleplaying

- as in BG and BG2 lets see less people on the streets at night, and those shady characters come out. Maybe even have the peasants return to their homes or go to the taverns (this was something I was thinking of doing the a NWN mod)

- overall more class specific abilities, and quests. Like have rangers and druids be able to ask animals for directions or for advice is solving quests, heck, have them give them quests. Bears, wolves and such shouldn't attack rangers and druids on sight, they should get more than just temporarily charm the animals, they should be able to negotiate and calm them down; declare themselves as friends. Have the dialogue skills be worth something and bring in bribing for guards and such. Just give the classes more specific, practical abilities and interation with NPCs and their environment

- less hacken slash unless its in a hostile area (ie the Trollmoors). We all want more adventuring puzzles, interesting quests and such.

- allow spells and abilities to affect the area around us more. Like as I said before, have fireballs damage buildings, trees and that ilk. And be able to push boulders (depending on the strength of course) over cliffs so that you can set up those kinds of traps. Speaking of which, lets see some more interesting traps like snares, pig snares, vines that block the road, collapsing roofs and floors things like that

- have spells do more than damage, if fireball explodes right in front of you then you go flying, you don't just stand there and take it, especially if you're a halfling or a gnome! Or if a giant or dragon hits you, its flying lessons again. Have the spells and abilities affect the characters realistically.

- have people be able to hide behind bushes and in tall grass and stuff so that they can track creatures and such, and have creatures leave tracks to follow (ie grass padded down, tracks in the snow, dirt, mud and such)

- realistic trading and prices, weapons and armour don't cost 10,000gp, or even 10,000sp. As I said before, make the prices true to the Forgotten Realms. Have the prices vary from store to store, or if you saved a village you get things free, or discounts for reputation. And maybe have you start your own shop in multi-player?

- bring back the bountry hunters, but make them have to track you and have you be able to hide your trail, persuade or bribe people into not telling them your location.

- and I say again, class-specific quests that untilize their skills more. No BS thief quests like in NWN, but make sure that their skills are utilized

- Don't just make a good path, allow people to follow their alignment, instead of having evil people do good things to follow the main quest and such

- here's another cool idea pockets of holding, like those Jarlaxle has

- in order to increase realise, bring the AI up a notch or two so that NPCs react realistically to your actions. And so enemies aren't stupid. Also bring back morale, goblins aren't brave creatures, if you slaughter their biddies then they will piss themselves and flee.

Over all just make the envrionment realistic, characters and their abilites interact realistically with each other and their environment, stay true to the Forgotten Realms, have good story, quests and dialogues, and keep attention to detail. I second most of the ideas previously stated aswell, its difficult to think of everything all at once. Maybe if previous games *cough* Neverwinter Nights *cough* weren't so crappy then maybe we wouldn't have so much to say....

[ January 18, 2005, 23:39: Message edited by: Rolsuk Fryulee ]

 

First of all NO MONKS!!
When I was 11 years old and I bought the 1st edition players handbook, I thought it was STUPID to have monks in a European setting. Nothing has changed. If they want to have an Oriental setting for an expansion (a great idea I think), then they should have monks there.

Second, spell durations and ability durations should last as long as stated. If I'm a sixth level cleric, I should be able to get six hand-to-hand attacks off before my spells fades. It seems spells and abilities last 1/2 to 1/3 as long as it should.

Third, subraces. Everyone LOVES drow.

Fourth, NPC banter. It made BG2 kick ***!

Fifth, Making your own stronghold. It's everyone's dream.

Sixth, Flying and levitation. It would make being a dragon disciple NOT a waste of levels.

Seventh, better choice of avatars. The elf females aren't that great. It seems that you HAVE TO HAVE SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOUR POINTY EARS STICK OUT.

 

Nothing wrong with monks in a "European" setting. It's no less historically accurate than say, wizards, pit fiends, or orcs, which are also not often found in the archaelogical evidence of that region.

Plus, there were no monks in the first edition of D&D anyway. There were only Fights, Clerics, Thieves, and Magic users

 

I'd just like to see a longer (and perhaps slightly better) single player campaign. I thought NWN's OC and HotU were actually very promising storywise, just far too short. I remember really getting into the game with the OC, and then it was all over. BG2 was great because the game seemed to last forever!

 

You mean there weren't Shaolin priests in the Dark Ages in Europe?

There weren't any Shaolin priests (that's what a D&D monk is really supposed to be) in any European folklore that I ever heard of. That's what D&D is based on - European Folklore. That's why I don't think monks are appropriate for a European setting. The only monks they had in Europe or European folklore were religious scholars.

Otherwise, why not have machine guns, phasers, and the Borg in the game too?

By first edition I'm referring to the hard-bound edition of Player's Handbook available around 1979-1982. If you're referring to "Chainmail," "Eldritch Wizardry," and some of the soft-bound books under which the very first "Dungeons and Dragons" titles ever published, you may be right. I didn't get a chance to peruse any of them very thoroughly.

[ March 08, 2005, 08:11: Message edited by: noldor372 ]

 

Does this mean you cant have any type of being that didnt exist in medieval europe? hmm let me think...

D&D is based on it yes, but its F-A-N-T-A-S-Y! NOT R-E-A-L-I-T-Y...

As for having BORG that aint a bad idea noldor, ok Im done ranting now...

 

Slayer, it looks like you read my post, but didn't understand it. You might want to read it again, but try not to get so upset about it. It's just an opinion (hence neither right or wrong).

I realize that having monks makes the game more appealing to children and the not-quite-so-intellectual, so it's not going anywhere.

 

I was talking about the red basic players handbook from circa 1984. The one that advised you to always carry a lamp and a ten foot pole.

Hmm, monks appeal to me......and I don't think it's too big a deal for a monk to have wandered over from Asia. It's about as far as a Barbarian would have to come, assuming that Barbarians are nomadic tribes out of the steppes of Russia and Mongolia.

 

I think the idea of a lone monk in Europe isn't that bad. It's going into a storekeeper's inventory and finding more "monk-only" magic items than items for any other class that I find stupid and annoying. If they're only a few, they're interesting, foreign, and exotic. if they're all over the place and there's tons of magic items that only they can use, then they become commonplace, dull, and mundane. I think it comes from too many players screaming for magic items for their monk.

First edition seems to very loosely refer to anything before "second edition," which was released in 1989. Unless they deleted the monk class later on, it should be in there.

Barbarians were originally named for the Barbary coast of Northwest Africa, but the Mongols did make it all the way to Eastern Europe. I think the "berserkers" were based on Norse raiders, so the barbarian character class is another fusion of several ideas. Definitely a great class though.

Maybe I should rephrase myself a little. I don't think asian-style monks should be COMMONPLACE in a more or less "European" setting. That means few or no magic items specifically for them. Monks didn't carry much anyways,as they seem to have something like a vow of poverty.

I think this is starting to drift off topic, but if someone wants to start a thread somewhere else and continue "the great monk debate" there, let me know...

 

Ah, so neither should elves, demons, dwarves, halflings, magic users, hobgoblins, any kind of orc, dragons, katanas, and so on down the line.

 

What game do you think this is Rastor?

Actually there's a reason to include monks. I really enjoy killing every stupid monk I see in the game. Killing that idiot Balphazar in the end of BG2:ToB was particularly satisfying.

[ March 11, 2005, 00:52: Message edited by: noldor372 ]

 

It is not impossible to believe that a couple bands of monks came over from the "Asian" part of Faerun, and then set up their own schools. They would have their own craftsmen, artisans etc., probably a temple for training and worship, and some but not all might sell their weapons, or somebody could take the items off a dead monk and sell them in town. If you don't like monks, don't be a friggin monk. And avoid places where monks hang out, like the above temples. There could even be a special kit "Monk Killers" ooh and have realistic weapon and armor sizes. A halfling shouldn't be able to weild the hammer or wear the armor of a frost giant he just mutilated. Have him get it fixed in town, for a price depending on size and item type. And,while this may have been said before, better and more realistic romances with more choices in dialoge outcomes and of course, partners. I should be allowed to have a harem, darnit! Ooh and a psion class. Further, make it more realistic. An uber-evil bad guy shouldn't tell you his plans for world domination, he would smish thee for yer arrogant and rude interruption, not go on and on, giving you a chance to be devious and think of ways to bring him or her down, unless of course they're really dumb,but most aren't. At most you should find a journal about his plans or be able to torture his evil minions for the answers, if you are so inclined. BTW, you don't always need a reason to take over the world, sometimes you just wake up and think: I'm going to bring about Armageddon. FUN!

[ March 15, 2005, 16:24: Message edited by: Ravynn ]

 

I'd also like to see the Arcane Trickster prestige class added. The others just aren't all that impressive to me.

 

I don't love Drow. Quite frankly, I'm sick to death of them. But subraces would be pretty damned good, especially if they're customizable... You can sit there and breed various races together, roll stats around... then perhaps people would at least stop raping the drow so damned hard.

If NWN2 is going to have a toolset like the first, then you're pretty much guaranteed that the visuals are NOT going to be next-gen, and the engine will probably suck as badly as the first one did.

First edition D&D monks were restricted pretty harshly by the vow of poverty idea, and it was a good balance for how ridiculously powerful they could become.

 

There must be Drows!
Despite being all bad and stuff it is good to be playing an anti- hero!

 

Don't make it another NWN

Ah but just one thing: If The compagny takes all those great idea, it'll take like 17 years to complete the game, and you'll need a hell of a computer and perhaps even virgin blood to run.

And remember NWN 2 is a sequel to a sucky game, at best it'll be an ok game.

(Rant)

And no, not every person loves drow, personaly I hate 'em and I enjoy killing them with the most cruel ways... I mean most poeple who love drow are men, while in Drow society being male is like a curse, you're WAY inferior. You don't have a future being a male drow. And anyway elves are sassy, and AFAIK drow are elves with dark skin and a bitch goddess.

(/Rant)

 

@Ofelix: Well, drows are not exactly elves. They've got demon blood in them. They are way cooler. As you could see in the War of the Spider Queen, the Drow male could excel in many things. Wizardry and Melee. Anyway, about the bitch goddess. No one really likes her. But there is always Alternatives like Vheraun or Eilistree.

My question is that, why are party members called Henchmen? It sounds highly likely that they are in the party only to profit and not a common goal. Just like that in NWN. Mercenaries do not command the same amount of respect and bonding to the PC like a normal non-henchmen, party member.

 

I think the term 'henchman' dates back to the original D&D where you would always go into town and hire a henchman NPC to accompany you into the local dungeon.