long post ahead...
OK, this is going to sound more like a rant I guess, but here are my points for change:
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Different Setting
Forgotten Realms is so overused, its getting really, really old. But I guess its due to licensing reasons, that we will be stuck with the realms forever. Granted, from a marketing perspective its quite smart to use the probably best known D&D setting. He, I wonder how many players think "D&D game = Forgotten Realms game"..?
I also agree with ArcticWolf's(?) posting: No more save-the-world-plots, please.
In a setting where seemingly everyone and their grandmother has a couple of class levels under their belt or has tea with the gods, its becoming hard to believe that only my character can do something about the Big Bad Evil Guy (BBEG).
At least, make the story subtle.
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Graphics
Im not so much talking about an improvement in the graphics quality (they're still fine to me), but rather a change of
style. Id like to see some characters, items (esp. inventory graphics) and (magical) effects that are not so...comic-like. While its not as bad as World Of Warcraft, I prefered the more "realistic" look of the BG and IWD series.
Oh, and
please have different body types (height and mass) this time around. It is really annoying, that you can never play the old-frail-wizard-type or the lean-thief-type but instead have always to play bodybuilder-like characters. At least as far as human male models are concerned. We dont even want to talk about gnomes...
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Prestige Classes
Like been said earlier, Id prefer getting rid of the 3-class-per-char-limit instead of using prestige classes at all (Icewind Dale 2 didnt get "out of Hand", neither). A level cap at level 10 would in my opinion actually more fun than even more epic stuff, because Im a fan of low-level adventuring. See also "no forgotten realms" and "subtle" above.
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Editor
While the editor wasnt totally bad and people did some impressive works with it, it would be great to see an editor, that is a) more user friendly (i.e. so that you dont have to rely on third-party programms to e.g. import models, textures, sounds) and b) lets you actually change things. Im talking about changing things like Id like short swords to deal 1d4 insted of 1d6 damage. Or the evels on my perstistant world to have a CON bonus and a STR malus. Basically, more options.
Of course, people will say, this just leads to cheating by creating uberpowerfull races or items, but I think this is a case where, like in PnP, the DM (in this case the server) should have the last saying. Morrowind's editor is something Id like to see, cause it lets you change many, many aspects of the game. Granted, its singleplayer only, so there are no PvPers complaining about unbalanced this and unfair that, but Ill galdly take more freedom in my singelplayer- / multiplayer-with-players-I-know-and-trust-
supposedly-roleplaying-game than having to worry about unfair players (those will always find a way, anyway).
Finally, Id like the editor to not have pre-build rooms or at least some "blank" rooms with the option to change light effects, furniture etc, so that not every "bath room" looks 90% like every other.
Having the option to actually raise or flatten the landscape would really be great and I dont mean having staris and cliffs in one or two tile setting. This would make the game less predictable and give the community much more to work with. E.g. not everytime your characters would enter a "forest tileset" area, youd immediatly know that there will be no rise and fall of the forest floor.
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Races
I think it would be a nice touch if the developers would give dwarves, gnomes, halfnlings etc a movement penalyt, like they get in the PnP rules, though probably most players wont see it that way...
That said, I still think the "core" races are enough. No need to introduce subraces in my opinion, though I wouldnt be objected to it, either (at least not untill theyll use dozens of elf sucraces.
)
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Plot, Gameplay etc
Make the story and the gameplay so that you have different paths to solve something for different classes instead of watering down the "solution" so that everyone can use the same.
What I mean by this, have actual locks that can only be picked open but not bashed or fireball'ed. Give the non-lockpicking classes another option to get past that door, instead of having some class abilites become totally useless (e.g. rogue), becuase evryone can do anything.
Or make it so that e.g. in the official campaing, 1/3 of the quests can be solved by warrior classes, 1/3 only by roguish classes and 1/3 by spellcasters, while still having the same plot. Somehow like Baldur's Gate 2's Stronghold quests, but more affecting the whole game instead of a side quest and most be focused on the actual class. So that frex, a lockpicking char (be ot rogue, fighter, cleric or whatnot) can pick a lock to the canalisation and get some stuff done there, while only a spellcaster can walk to a portal to another are etc.
Not only would this in my opinion be nice for multiplayer parties cause theyd acutally have to rely on a team to "unlock" all quests/locations/story elements, it would also be motivating to play through the singleplayer game more than once.
I know theyre using a version of the Aurora engine, but it would be nice if theyd actually make a 3d-game this time, whith z-axis and according abilities for the chars (jumping, climbing).
Finally, put a litte...love for details into this game. Dont make the player characters kill everything without effort. Trollish vulnerability towards fire, vampires that need to be staked, lichs with phylacteries and silver weapons against werewolves are there to provide some challenge and diversity for the player, not to be ignored by the developers (like in the NWN orignal campaign).
Some not-really-serious litte nitpicking: Let the game feature some goblins who can actually speak normally instead of their "me good, me not hurt you"-babbling.
Someone said, they should have the same intelligence scores as humans, you know..?
Edit: Something I forgot:
Weapons
Why is it that since the days of Baldur's Gate (or even the Gold Box Series IIRC), the characters are stuck with the same old weapons?
Is seems always that the developers only know of the longsword, shortsword, bow, dagger, mace, club etc.
Ok, granted, Neverwinter Nights introduced some of those (in my opinion silly) doubleweapons and things like the kukri, two-handed axe and scythe.
Id like to see them continue this and make some other, previously not often used weapons like javelins, lances, two-handed clubs, mauls, picks, tridents and different polearms (ranseur, guisarme).
Its not like they have to come up with stats for those (or worry about balancing); theyre already provided in the D&D 3.5 rules in the SRD, so its "only" new graphics and implentation of the waepons into the game.
I think this would add another note of variety to the game.
On a different note: I posted this here instead of the official forums because I already have an account here and dont think anyone would listen to mine(or others) extraordinary wishes.
But why not feel free to post a link in the official boards to this threat?
