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Old 03-11-2001, 02:39 PM   #41
Maestro_v69
Elite Waterdeep Guard
 

Join Date: March 5, 2001
Location: NJ, US
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Memnoch, maybe they will put in that Tarrasque you talked about a few times in the old forum. Think that will be enough of a challenge? Heehee, that would be quite a battle, if it was possible for you to win.

Hesperex, cool sig. Looks really sweet. Did you design that yourself? What kind of program would you use for that type of thing?
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Old 03-13-2001, 02:06 AM   #42
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Old 03-14-2001, 09:39 AM   #43
Memnoch
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Today's update from Bioware. They've got a solar (a type of celestial) which is really cool!



Kevin Martens (Lead Designer)
Thieves progression in the expansion: Thieves can gain 17 levels in the mission pack - from 23rd to 40th. They gain numerous high level special abilities. They have numerous unique items. This is as much as any class and more than many.

Thieves, yes I am saying that the thieves don't cap out at 6.1 million. I changed the thieves XP chart so that they hit 40th level at exactly 8 million. This means that they gain 17 levels, in addition to all of the things that I mentioned previously, like abilities and items.

Dual wielding and thieves: I played through all of BGII:Shadows of Amn with a straight-class, dual-wielding thief. He used short swords and daggers. Combat remained fun through to the end.

In my experience, the thief was fun to play, even when he dual wields. This was echoed by QA and by other fans who enjoyed the game with a straight-class thief. I will continue to play this character through Throne of Bhaal. If it is ever not fun, it will be tweaked. QA, both in-house at BioWare, and at Interplay will do the same.
Dave Gaider (Senior Designer)
Continuing romances: Right now, in order to continue a romance plot from where it was left off, you need to import a saved game or final save from BG2 and have reached at least a certain point along that character's romance track in that game.

We haven't finalized this decision, yet, although it would seem strange to start a romance 3/4 of the way through it when there's been no lead up.

You needn't have gone completely through the romances in order to continue with them in the expansion (as if you had completed them). You just need to have gone through a good portion of it.

We recognize that a lot of people had problems with Jaheira's romance...so her requirement for the expansion romance will be pretty light (before the point that some encountered the Dermin bug, in fact).

Retuning to old areas and strongholds: The 'other Holds' addressed? Addressed how? Each of the strongholds is a series of extra quests specific to a class. Once you've completed them, there's very little else to do there (which is something to consider for the future, giving something like the strongholds more functionality...but that's beside the point, currently).

The same applies to BG2, itself. It's about story and character progression. As your character's story progressed, you left Baldur's Gate and now you're leaving Amn. Nostalgia may lead you to want to return to these places...perhaps you didn't complete all the quests your first time through...but doing so would be quite anticlimactic, I'm sure.

As for the abyssal stronghold, it's a bit hard to explain. It's not a stronghold in the sense of the class-specific strongholds/quests of BG2, if that's what you mean...it's much more integral to the plot. It will make sense once you go there.

New monsters: Well, we've revealed that we have a solar, at least. We have a fair number of new creatures to battle, for sure.

An arcane selling magic items: Personally I've never liked having merchants replete with magic items. I could see an arcane having quite a selection, though...but to many people who don't know what an arcane is, the difference is negligible.

Scrolls showing up in a different color if you already have it learned: You know, that's a really good idea. I've had the same problem, myself, and I always seem to end up buying a few scrolls I already have in my spellbook. I'll pass that on.

Dual wielding and thieves: OK since you feel the need to drag out the poor dead horse for yet another beating, I'll give you the short answer.

1) Dual wielding is a class ability for rangers. They are the only class we feel the need must be able to dual wield well.

2) Yes, I understand according to the dual-wielding rules in the 2nd edition rulebook, a high dexterity allows for lesser negatives when dual-wielding. We attempted to implement this rule...and it ended up being pointless to do anything but dual wield. So we used our judgment to come up with a different system.

Do regular-class thieves come out with the short end of the dual-wielding stick? Probably. Fighter-thieves and Swashbucklers can still dual wield well, however, so we feel the option is still available to those who want a dual-wielding rogue. And that is why we won't give any special abilities to the regular class thief...why should they get the same bonuses as a ranger?

There are a number of rules that we haven't been able to implement, for a variety of classes. Damage vs. large, paladin warhorses, ranger tracking, etc etc. Some of these things are very important to some people just like dual wielding is to you. It's too bad that you feel that thieves are completely worthless and/or the lack of their dual wielding ability is the end of role-playing as we know it because it is not going to change in the expansion...even if you can find in the optional Fighter's Handbook that it says thieves can specialize in dual wielding.

But we favor thieves no more than any other class in the expansion...they'll get their extra stuff just like the others, but I truly doubt that giving them extra dual wielding ability will be in.

Blink spell: That would be something pretty implementable, for sure...although I'm not sure how the blinking could be done without getting some new spell animation (not that it would be that complicated).

Druids: We've got some stuff planned for druids to replace the hierophant stuff and keep them relevant in the higher levels.

Better AC for Kensai and Monks: Well...I could see giving some minor stuff to monks and kensai, but their disadvantage in AC is there to make up for their massive (and I mean really massive) offensive advantage. I personally would like to see if we could get ioun stones useable by everyone.


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Old 03-14-2001, 05:00 PM   #44
Accord
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Old 03-14-2001, 09:14 PM   #45
Charean
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Old 03-14-2001, 10:30 PM   #46
Zateel
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Join Date: March 11, 2001
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I'm going to preorder this through Amazon.com this week. BGII was simply the BEST CRPG I've ever played. I hope they do a better job with this expansion than they did with Heart of Winter.

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Old 03-15-2001, 12:00 AM   #47
Aegis Crownguard
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Join Date: March 13, 2001
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Im not trying to get away from the basis of this topic but how do you guys really feel about reaching lvl 40? I mean, ive been playing PnP DnD for a long time now and characters like elminster and the lich-king were supposed to be revered while playing. These people (or creatures) have literally been studying, adventuring, exploring, and everything else for hundreds of years. Then we come along with our big bad PC and reach level 20 in 50 game days? Dont get me wrong, i love the BG series - but i feel that you gain levels far too quickly in them. I think the main reason they did this was because the average gamer who never got into PnP DnD would get bored if they didnt level up every few game sessions. I feel that gaining a level should be more of an event rather then something you expect to attain in the "next few minutes." Just my thoughts, thanks for listening.
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Old 03-15-2001, 03:16 AM   #48
Memnoch
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Today's info. The expansion is sounding better and better

Kevin Martens (Lead Designer)
Cornugons and glabrezu: Cornugons and glabrezu both have unique animations.

Kensai and monks getting items: Kensai's and monks get special items.




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Old 03-15-2001, 06:58 AM   #49
Kellin da Mage
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Join Date: March 12, 2001
Location: Orion MI, USA
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One rule I remember and have always used in my game is this.

Elminster is exactly at least 5 levels ahead of the highest level mage in your pary.

And who said that wile your gaining levels, they are not out doing the same thing? The published stats are just a snap shot of them at the time, not something fixed in stone.

I don't know about this expantion. Around 20th level the PnP game starts to fall apart. Warrior's to hit numbers are well into the negatives, they have AC really low. Mages have 9th level spells which include the wish spell. Mean damm you can wish just about anything so where do you go from their? Clerics are about as sick and wrong as warriors in combat and have powerfull spells. At this point a thief can pretty much hide and sneek in Plate if he wanted!

In the 2nd ed AD&D the game tables end at level 20. So all the talk about the special abilities and such will be implemented from Black Isle, not TSR's version. They should be in the spirit of D&D but I think they will lean towards a more Diablo II'ish style special ablity.

We still have the mother of all evil dragons to kill, a terrask, and how many gods would not want to see a new God of Murder? No matter weather your good or evil. O life is good! Bring it on babie.

"Butt kicking for damm near any reason!!!!"

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Old 03-15-2001, 08:43 AM   #50
Larry_OHF
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Everybody here that is complaining about the game will still buy the game, so why try to convince others that there are problems with it ???


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