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Nirth: Thanks, I will help!
This article was linked today in the DRM discussion thread on Obsidian's forums. It suggests that a DRM-free option will be available if they hit 2.4 million in backing.

However, the report has some errors (one of them being that he says there will be 5 races available at 1.1 million, when it's actually only 3), and I've not seen anything at all mentioned anywhere that DRM-free hinges on funding goals.

So, I have grave doubts about the accuracy of this report. But it's there, for what it's worth.
Backed.

Kickstarter, you have taken too much of my money this month. ;__;
See? I told you guys TET would be all over this.

GOG RELEASE IMMINENT! START PLEDGING, YOU PLEBS!
Post edited September 17, 2012 by lowyhong
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SimonG: Obviously that is region dependent and I can only comment on the situation in Europe. But any "capitalist market" usually has a strong consumer protection status established, as those are healthy for the economy and therefore also for the corporations.
Western Europe. In Russia, corporations don't give two shits about state contracts unless you bribe the Federal Security Service into maybe putting the matter on their backlog. Then the corp starts wiggling and bribes someone in your organization, and the matter is considered settled (note that the settlement in no way involves the corp actually fulfilling their contractual obligations).
37,568
backers
$1,490,900
pledged of $1,100,000 goal
29
days to go
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Nirth: Thanks, I will help!
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Coelocanth: This article was linked today in the DRM discussion thread on Obsidian's forums. It suggests that a DRM-free option will be available if they hit 2.4 million in backing.

However, the report has some errors (one of them being that he says there will be 5 races available at 1.1 million, when it's actually only 3), and I've not seen anything at all mentioned anywhere that DRM-free hinges on funding goals.

So, I have grave doubts about the accuracy of this report. But it's there, for what it's worth.
This is what the "updates" page looks like:

(list of stretch goals)
2.4 million and beyond: coming soon

We've been listening to your feedback, and have the following announcements:
DRM Free: We are looking into it! Please check back for updates.

The writer seems to have the idea that the announcements are tied to the stretch goals, and I guess it sort of looks like that (the first non-bold text under the bold title), but that's not what's going on, as far as I can see.
Thanks to this new Obsidian Project I've started again Planescape Torment (bought on Gog, obv..)
Info update from J.E. Sawyer on the Obsidian forums:

Project Eternity is still early in development and we are still working on many of the cultures, factions, and ethnic groups of the world and debating many of the system concepts. However, there are certain fundamental things we want to let you know about the game and the setting for Project Eternity.

Your Party
The maximum party size is the player's main character (PC) and up to five companions for a total of six characters. This does not preclude the addition of temporary characters in special circumstances. Companions are never forced on the player. Players can explore the entire world and its story on their own if they so choose. We feel companions are excellent sounding boards for the player's (and other companions') actions, but the story is ultimately about the player's personal conflict among the larger social and political complexities of the world.

Formations
A key element of the classic party-based tactical combat that we are developing is the use of party formations. As in the good ol' games, you can arrange your party in a large number of set formations. You can also construct your own formations if you want to get fancy. When moving companions, you have the ability to rotate formations for more precise positioning.

Character Creation
At a minimum, players will be able to specify their main character's name, sex, class, race (including subrace), culture, traits, ability scores, portrait, and the fundamental starting options of his or her class (gear, skills, and talents). We have not worked out customization details of character avatars, but we believe those are important and will be updating on these specifics in the future.

Companions
In Project Eternity, companions exist for both narrative and mechanical purposes. Companions are designed to have a driving interest in the player's central conflict. Their personalities and motivations open plot branches and generate conflicts for players to resolve over the course of the story. They are highly reactive to the player's actions and to the world around them. Additionally, companions exist to give players strategic management options in party composition that expand the party's capabilities in exploration, combat, and quest resolution. It is no coincidence that there are at least as many companions as there are classes. As stated above, companions are not required to play through Project Eternity's story, but we feel that they can add greatly to the experience.

The Set-Up
The player witnesses an extraordinary and horrific supernatural event that thrusts them into a unique and difficult circumstance. Burdened with the consequences of this event, the player has to investigate what has happened in order to free themselves from the restless forces that follow and haunt them wherever they go.

The Nature of You
Your character is not required to be of any particular race, cultural background, sex, class, moral outlook, personality, organization, etc. The premise is that you are a victim of circumstance. How you choose to deal with your situation is up to you. You can bear it with stoicism and restraint or fly off in a rage at anyone who gets in your way. The world will react to your choices, but the game is designed to give you the freedom to play your character the way you want to.

Races
We are still developing the races of Project Eternity, but we are creating a range that encompasses the recognizable (e.g. humans, elves, dwarves), the out-of-the-ordinary (e.g. the so-called "godlike"), and the truly odd (?!). Races and subraces differ from each other culturally, but the races also have different physiological factors that can contribute to friction and confusion between them.

Within even the recognizable races (including humans), we are creating a variety of ethnic subtypes and nationalities. This world's races did not all spring forth from the same place, and millennia of independent development have resulted in distinctive and unconnected groups. For example, the dwarf ranger below is originally from a southern boreal region that is quite different from the temperate homes of her distant kin to the north.

Additionally, Project Eternity's world contains some isolated races and ethnicities, but transoceanic exploration and cultural cohabitation have heavily mixed many racial and ethnic groups over time. This mixing is not always... peaceful. At times it has degenerated into genocide and long-standing prejudices are ingrained in many cultures.

***

That's all for today's update. We'll have more information on the world and systems in the near future. Please give us your feedback and thank you for all of the ideas and support you've given so far!

Link to thread. Thumbnail at the bottom (the Dwarf Ranger mentioned). I like.
will it have thac0

limited timed quest

spells used per day

permenant party death

character alignments like chaotic evil to lawful good

Dice rolling your starting stats

pause and play gameplay

FREEDOM to the point of killing quest givers

and hard difficulty
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Coelocanth: *Stuff of interest*
Yay, details! Obviously it's still pretty vague, but it's still nice to get some actual info about the game. The Set-up kind of sounds like a merging of Baldur's Gate and PS:T. The most interesting thing is the Races though, because I'm really glad they're taking cultural differences for non-human races into account (remember Magnus and the city dwarves in Arcanum?). I wonder what the Godlike are like? Er, besides gods. I also really like the concept art he provided. Nice style, and it feels Dwarvish without just being a standard Dwarf. It looks like they're doing a good job of handling fantasy races without it being cliched.

It might be a good idea to make an update about making updates. Somewhere else on the forum, Sawyer mentioned that making an update takes longer than you'd think, since it has to go by pretty much every team member. It might be a good idea to bring that up.
Post edited September 17, 2012 by Gazoinks
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Elmofongo: will it have thac0

limited timed quest

spells used per day

permenant party death

character alignments like chaotic evil to lawful good

Dice rolling your starting stats

pause and play gameplay

FREEDOM to the point of killing quest givers

and hard difficulty
Since you're naming licensed and trademarked elements of D&D for over half your list I'm going to say, "No, it won't have most of that."
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Elmofongo: will it have thac0

limited timed quest

spells used per day

permenant party death

character alignments like chaotic evil to lawful good

Dice rolling your starting stats

pause and play gameplay

FREEDOM to the point of killing quest givers

and hard difficulty
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orcishgamer: Since you're naming licensed and trademarked elements of D&D for over half your list I'm going to say, "No, it won't have most of that."
Elder scrolls has spells once or more per day and similarly dark souls which has a limited number of spells to cast instead of a mana system

and Fire emblem had permenant party death

and Fallout had limited time stuff
Post edited September 17, 2012 by Elmofongo
My own thoughts on these questions:
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Elmofongo: will it have thac0
They're using their own system (which I like. I enjoy D&D, but I'd rather have a new system).

limited timed quest
I hope so, this'd be great.

spells used per day
Please no. I never felt it really worked with gameplay, because it basically results in narcoleptic parties, as you rest after every encounter (especially early on) or have completely useless casters. I'd rather have something like Arcanum's Fatigue system.

permenant party death
I certainly hope so. There will presumably be resurrection methods, of course/

character alignments like chaotic evil to lawful good
God, no. I hate alignments, they limit roleplaying. That being said, if they're implemented like in PS:T (that is, your alignment changes depending on your actions, instead of being pre-set), it'd be fine.

Dice rolling your starting stats
I prefer point buy, but rolling is good too.

pause and play gameplay
Already confirmed.

FREEDOM to the point of killing quest givers
They've talked a lot about freedom and reactivity, so this is a good bet.

and hard difficulty
Difficulty will presumably be adjustable. If not, I'd prefer medium-hard. Hard enough to have a challenge without discouraging experimentation.
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Gazoinks: My own thoughts on these questions:
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Elmofongo: will it have thac0
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Gazoinks: They're using their own system (which I like. I enjoy D&D, but I'd rather have a new system).

limited timed quest
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Gazoinks: I hope so, this'd be great.

spells used per day
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Gazoinks: Please no. I never felt it really worked with gameplay, because it basically results in narcoleptic parties, as you rest after every encounter (especially early on) or have completely useless casters. I'd rather have something like Arcanum's Fatigue system.

permenant party death
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Gazoinks: I certainly hope so. There will presumably be resurrection methods, of course/

character alignments like chaotic evil to lawful good
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Gazoinks: God, no. I hate alignments, they limit roleplaying. That being said, if they're implemented like in PS:T (that is, your alignment changes depending on your actions, instead of being pre-set), it'd be fine.

Dice rolling your starting stats
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Gazoinks: I prefer point buy, but rolling is good too.

pause and play gameplay
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Gazoinks: Already confirmed.

FREEDOM to the point of killing quest givers
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Gazoinks: They've talked a lot about freedom and reactivity, so this is a good bet.

and hard difficulty
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Gazoinks: Difficulty will presumably be adjustable. If not, I'd prefer medium-hard. Hard enough to have a challenge without discouraging experimentation.
I was gonna say choices that will affect the story in your way , but I assume the freedom statment is the samething

agree with the limited quest since it encourages you doing on quest at a time instead of accepting 5 quest at once thus cluttering your journal
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orcishgamer: Since you're naming licensed and trademarked elements of D&D for over half your list I'm going to say, "No, it won't have most of that."
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Elmofongo: Elder scrolls has spells once or more per day and similarly dark souls which has a limited number of spells to cast instead of a mana system

and Fire emblem had permenant party death

and Fallout had limited time stuff
Uh huh, your list is like a lawyer's wishlist for a trademark/copyright lawsuit. Especially calling it "thac0", seriously?

They've finally broken their code of "we actually don't know what the fuck we're gonna do" and made some shit up, you can pretend that's the real list and like it's what they planned all along with the rest of the internet, or be like me and ignore it until they actually do it or announce that they've given up.

Whatever, I still gave them 20 bucks, maybe I'll get a game this time that's playable sometime in the first month of release. My 20 bucks is still on critical failure, but I figure that way I win either way.