1. ...lords could use any primary weapon as a secondary weapon too since they are so good at duel weapons.
2. ...wizardry games went online.
3. ...you could convince the the trang and umpani to join forces and fight the savant.
4. ...the savant was harder.
5. ...characters (rpc's) will go anywhere you take them.
6. ...there were more gadjets.
7. ...after you unlock a race from an rpc (trynnie, umpani, trang, android and rapax) you could use the race in a new game.

if anybody else can think of something cool or if i have any info (other than spelling) wrong, please tell me.

8....Sirtech is still around and currently developing Wizardry 9. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

You CAN get the T'Rang and Umpani to team up if you rescue Rodan and Drazic, and haven't made either side mad at you. They just don't show at the end battles, guess they couldn't get by the landslide...

9. ...if you could fill the 8 slots with any NPC's or RPCs you wanted

10. ...Allow 8 designed characters from the beginning.

Similar to Might and Magic 7, story or quest related RPCs could come along but as non-fighting observers, providing their colorful comments and game info when appropriate.

11. you could recruit rattkin rpc's.
12. mook were a bit stronger and rapax were a bit smarter.

13. Finish the story about the Rapax Queen and the Assassins (I imagine they could be made pretty tough to beat!)

14. you could increase or decrease the amount of experience per kill with out increasing or decreasing difficulty.

15. Private Sparkle wasnt so freakin' annoying!

Really, very interesting to know. Where does it say this???

WARN BEFORE YOU SPOIL. I'VE JUST LEARNED TO DAMN THINGS I HAVEN'T DISCOVERED FOR MY 2ND TIME ROUND MAINLY BECAUSE I SCREWED UP THE UMPANI STUFF WITH RODAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ 07-20-2003, 06:00 PM: Message edited by: SecretMaster ]

If I am the culprit, SecretMaster, I sincerely apologize. I should have had a spoiler alert, or even better, said don't do this until you have finished all quests for the Umpani and T'Rang that you want to do first. It would be hard to do this in any way without spoiling it. I guess I should have said there is a way to make an alliance without giving any details. I recently had to backtrack quite a bit when I did something too soon (rescued a certain Sgt). You can finish almost any game even if you do things out of sequence, but it might not max out your experience. I'll be more careful if my details were too explicit without a warning. It seems to happen here.

Its all right dude. I kinda figured that would happen since both of them go "Its to late, now there can be no peace" if you screw up. I also want to investigate a room I never got to from a certain key dropped by a certain king.

Bout the Rapax Queen thingy never being finished, I never found her, then again, I never really did explore the rapax castle and rift to well, nor did I explore the camp where the king is.

16) class-less character development.

It was something my wife and I came up with the other night when talking about our latest parties. We're long-time fans of role-playing games (paper and computer), and found quite a bit of enjoyment in those systems that had open character development - where all skills were open to everyone (eg GURPS or Arcanum)

So, we were thinking, why not in Wiz? Say, at character setup, in the upper right corner, you had a list of tickboxes for which skills you wanted available. You could pick from any of the spellbooks, music, engineering, criticals, stealth, etc.

On the right at the top would be your race stats and bonus points listed, which would adjust as per the skills you open. So, for example, if you add criticals, your speed and senses are adjusted up to the minimum bonus points available adjusted down (if necessaary).

At the bottom would be a list of restrictions or new abilities. So, for example, if you open stealth or criticals your character cannot wear heavier than the leather armours, or if you open both you cant wear more than suede. Or, other examples, opening the priest spellbook allows you turn undead, and the alchemist spellbook allows you to mix potions.

The more skills you open, the higher the xp required to level up. eg an additional 10% per level for each spellbook, 5% each for stealth, locks/traps, pickpocket, music, engineering.

And, you can pick where to put your 25% bonus on any skill - only one, but your choice!

Really, this exists implicitly within the balancing of the current 14 classes. So why not open it right up?

How bout a dark priest of a thieving cult? He's got the priest spellbook, stealth, lock/traps, and a 25% bonus to dagger.

Or even just little tweaks, like a ninja with the psionic spellbook, or a ranger without spells - just a bow/tracking/mythology specialist.

Imagine the possibilities!

That's cool. I'd like to see a dark Monk or Priest, or whatever. An alchemist Valkerie. A Gadgeteer Ninja?

[ 07-22-2003, 12:59 AM: Message edited by: Ziggurat ]

Actually, IMO, it is the limitations and character differences that make Wizardry 8 so strategically rich. Matching the right weapon or combat strategies to the right character creation and development.

"Opening it up" is a good idea (Morrowwind, I believe, does that. Daggerfall certainly did), but I strongly prefer differences that are balanced (this one has that, but not this) but not available to every character.

Having "custom" characters, where you can mix and match skill availability with some sort of point system is possible, but is more necessary for single character game. For a party based game you can just mix different characters with the skills you require. Need locks and traps? Include a Rogue, Gadgeteer or Bard. Think of it as not a custom character, like in Morrowwind, but a custom party. In Wizardry 8 it is the party you play, not the characters. Combining diverse characters into a coherent, balanced and powerful whole is where I, personally, find most of the fun!

Having characters with known capabilities allows lots of strategies to be shared with other players. It allows apples-apples comparisons that would not be feasible with custom characters.

So in a sense Wizardry 8 already does the custom thing. Certain aspects of the characters are fixed, but you can put whatever you want in your custom party.

[ 07-22-2003, 12:12 PM: Message edited by: EEWorzelle ]

EEW - I dont believe that class-less character development and strategic party development are an either/or proposition. Perhaps the history of computer RPGs has trained us to believe that - you are absolutely correct that single-PC games really need that richness to make up for the lack of party dynamics. However, I feel that the strategic decision-making could only get more complex and subtle if you had more control over the character *classes*.

another thing for my wish-list (again building on another computer RPG I've played):

17) random weapon creation

The first time I ran across this was playing Divine Divinity. Virtually every weapon in the game is unique, with a huge variety of damage ranges, stat bonuses, skill bonuses, etc, making replay even more varied. Of course, there are still certain guanteed, truly special unique weapons (a la Fang).

I just wish they hadent made some of the best items in the game random drop. I would rather have to do some long quest, or pay an obscene amout of money than kill the same creature hunderds of times and still not get the item.

Well, i like it. Its nice to find a new powerful object in your 15th game (stave of 12 stars, in my case). The problem is that we are spoiled from the boards or walkthroughs, and want them in our first game.

I'd like it when the game contained about 20 different very powerful items, and you could get say two random ones each game (but fixed at games start, otherwise you'd reload for hours to get the ones you want)

I think the game would be even cooler if you can...

18 - Change the camera angles of the game so you can see your own characters
do everything.
19 - Show an "Instant replay" in a different angle whenever a Critical hit or
Instant Kill occurs similar to EA's NBA Live when a dunk is performed.

Not that i would play this game all the way through 15 times, but the lightsword is usually only dropped once every 200 or so battles with the buccaneers. Thats just insanity.

Yes! You know, I was thinking it would be good, also, if there was a way to choose which two or three would be somewhere in the game. I know that's sort of the opposite of your point, in a sense, but it would allow party creation to rely upon a certain weapon being there. I think (as an optional play selection) it would enhance replay value.

For example, say there actually was a good axe in the game, but only in one game out of 20. Given the poor alternatives, one might never create an axe-wielding Gadgeteer or Ranger, or even Dwarf Lord or a Fighter specializing in axes, since the odds are that you will just be disappointed.

Just a thought.

excellent idea. or perhaps, to keep the surprise factor, perhaps the game could link random loads to skill levels or equipped items. that way, there's an increased chance, but not certainty, that the Most Excellent Axe drops... or alternately, if it will certainly drop, perhaps it's random which chest/encounter it drops from...

another wish list idea

20) if you hold down the control key while walking/running, you move THROUGH friendly/neutral NPCs (ie guards in trynton, rapax, etc.), rather than getting pushed down the hall, off the bough, or into the lava...

[ 07-28-2003, 06:58 PM: Message edited by: sultan ]

21. ...you could create custom voices for your characters

20a) If Wizardry would borrow the "yell" command from Might & Magic to tell NPCs to get out of the way. Woulda made Trynton much easier to navigate.
22) A truly open-ended world instead of being ringed by mountains everywhere.

23)It would be nice if there was a boat you could ride around in. It sure would save a lot of time walking. ie. Northern Wilderness to Trinton.

Wouldn't it be cool if...

...Taverns/Inns featured songs like in the Alternate Reality series? Remember those karaoke sing alongs we all used to have in front of our Commodores and Ataris back in the 80s while playing "AR: The City" and "AR: The Dungeon"? Okay, maybe I'm the only fool who actually enjoyed singing along with those things, but they DID provide a nice break from the action, and every so often I'd stumble upon a new song, and that felt like a great reward (I'm easily amused, as you can tell.) Maybe in Wizardry, we could hear our characters singing along in the voices we chose for them!


And wouldn't it be even cooler if...

...Gary Gilbertson and Philip Price actually FINISHED the next five games in the Alternate Reality series? But that's a topic for another forum, I guess.

thanks for your ideas. i was thinking of e-mailing some to sir-tech (or whatever company) for wiz 9.

plz keep sending your ideas!