Looking freaking awesome! Can’t wait till alpha starts! Keep up the great work guys! Happy holidays to everyone!
Yup you are right! My bad.
A nerfed character isn’t a bad thing. We’re not playing online so there is no one to compare with. There is no competition in having the need of the best build right from the start. The most memorable memories come from playing with a nerfed character and somehow managing to work around the supposed weakness and still beat the challenges presented. During the first few playthroughs you always make mistakes. Rarely those few runs are meant to create those awesome templates that we all eventually come towards and play with. Sure finding out that your vitality is on the low side is annoying, but also a challenge at the same time. Why not simply keep investing in dexterity so opponents can’t hit you to begin with. Or find another solution to deal with your weakness and still come on top of the victorious hero. Being nerfed makes the hero in my opinion a true hero in the end instead of dealing with the most optimal skills/builds and in the end everything is just a boring walk in the park.
A nerfed character is definitely not irritating or frustrating. Unless you did such a bad job that you are simply stuck and can’t beat a certain boss to progress. But really… We’re all experienced enough to make at least half decent judgement calls on the first playthrough as not to entirely gimp the character into oblivion.
I simply wouldn’t want a re-spec method that allows for entire redistribution of trees and skill points. Maybe something like Torchlight 2 could be done that the enchanter allows a maximum of 3-4 levels worth of skills to be re-specced in case you really messed up big time. Perhaps a simply buy-back of 9-12 points of your own choice. It would be enough to re-do an quite a bit of skill+upgrades if you find it useless and want to try something else. But to avoid people constantly using the respec the price to do so should go up quite drastically with each use. Or have it set to some sort of in-game timer, because the enchanter needs to regain its strength before attempting another re-spec.
I can see the value in limited respecs. But when you can re-do your entire character it basically gets rid of the entire motivation and point to creating new builds and growing into them and getting attached/invested in the char. You’d get an abomination like D3 where you can alter your character entirely.
I think a mix between the two is great. TL2 has a great combination of permanency and specialization.
I would like there to be permanence to give my character a feeling of purpose and development, but I would also like to still try out certain skills here and there/fix mistakes if I can.
I don’t like the idea of full “respecs”, but something that allows experimentation with less of a penalty other than “Well, I misclicked that skill… guess I have to start this character over…”
I’ll see if I can come up with something…
I rather liked Torchlight 2’s respec system. Several of the skills lack detailed descriptions and so the limited respec allows a player to get a quick feel for what they are investing in. Overall I like the idea of respec systems even though I almost never use them for anything more then experimentation.
Answer: Who cares if it’s pretty - I wanna know what does it do? ^^
Awesome update.
I can’t say much more than that really. I have nothing to look forward to in 2013 so… I’ll look forward to this. I’ll help generate interest, I know there are plenty of arpg fans just not satisfied with what’s currently on offer
keep up the good work
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Looking good Louis.
(no one at the tavern better make fun of my leather caster pants – monsters, I don’t care what they think)
That’s unoffending - this is how it used to be. 
One medal/ornament only - the last slot is for the crafted talisman - see Accessories.
You know, it looks better, it looks alright, when you have the complete set, but I only had enough gold for the pants. When I rest up a bit, I’m going back. I am. And, I’ll be able to afford the torso piece and the helmet too before long. These pants have better armor than what I had and have +5 to Spirit. When you are fighting in the dungeons, you have to be practical.
Thanks for the link. I wonder what these medal/ornament and talisman will do? I am really excited to know special power they will hold.
I think Crate should allow us to try several different ways of reclaiming or not reclaiming attribute points in the alpha or beta, then let us vote on it.
Looks great! It’s got a nice anti-shiny quality that I appreciate. Really suits the setting and story. Fantastic work guys
an interesting analysis of the mechanic. hadn’t thought of that. the one thing i like about the breakdown mechanic is you don’t feel like those crap items are impeding your loot quest as much.
in a special function component drop scenario you’re always wondering if instead of white drop #umpteen jillion, you could have gotten that last piece of crafting material. same white drop instead becomes part of the crafting materials you require.
also there’s the possibility then to pick up cluttery white drop and then salvage it if you need space for slightly less cluttery blue drop and so on… or sell it for a pittance if you have a somewhat less productive farming session.
so yes extra UI step, not so good, but to a degree it’s player elective which puts it in a gray area. perhaps false choice, but still offers options for consideration.
this may just be b/c the picking up everything part appeals to the pack rat in me. the salvage step also appeals to the pack rat in that it lets me reduce the big bulky stuff into more compact stacks of common components.
opinions may vary.
particularly nice if i can magically whisk it away to bank storage.
ps: that’s one sexy index array 
re: skill/attrib respec.
I like in concept that characters be mess upable and stuck learning to live with their idiosyncrasies. but, i’d like being able to recover from mistakes. (ie: clicked the wrong button or something)
respecs are certainly more conducive to experimentation and risk taking.
as a compromise perhaps allow softcore respecs and ironman locking.
We’re derailing into Crafting now? Not that I mind.
In my opinion the crafting aspect of all games has taken a really hard hit. It used to be a niche of players that enjoyed crafting and playing an artisan in games above anything else. Crafting systems that were complex and diverse were no longer being developed. Instead everything is done for you. There is no longer any fun to be gained from it as a crafter, because it has to appeal to everybody for some odd reason.
I loved gathering materials. I loved trading with other people trying to obtain the materials I needed. I loved the interaction with guild members and the occasionally outsider that were willing to farm bosses for mats. In return I’d pay them for their effort or give them first pick on some powerfully enchanted item. Being a crafter was not just about puzzling and figuring out what mats in which quantity would create the item you want. It was also about the social aspect. I never laughed so hard when in DAoC a sword was made and gave it to a friend to enchant. But his spell failed and exploded in his face. On the other hand I really hated visiting merchants at the moment that they’d spawn new materials with a dozen competitors seeing who could buy the entire stock first. And then waiting for 20-30mins for the next spawn. Ugh that was dreadful as experience. On the other hand you did get to know other crafters, became social/friends, shared secrets of the trade.
In my opinion we should go back to diverse and complex crafting systems. Something that appeals to the niche and not to the masses. Crafting should once again be viewed as a stand alone, alternative way, of playing games. Not some weak addition to it.
An excellent post and one I fully agree with.
Why do i get the feeling that you are describing crafting the way its done in mmo’s? Guilds, trading, material farming, that sounds like a mmo to me and not a single player game. I like to have the multi-player aspects in a single player game, for co-op, but certainly not for crafting and for gods sake not in GD. On the other hand it would be interesting to have an original crafting system in GD, that would produce rare unique items, but it wouldn’t take you away from the game.
Even in singleplayer games crafting could be better then instant available recipes without any depth as it is now.
As a fan of crafting in games, I am definitely giving it a lot of thought. What we end up doing though will depend on time and resources as much (if not more, haha) as my enthusiasm.
I agree to that!
Stay enthusiastic about it then!
If you guys include a crafting system, just make sure its interesting and it worths it.