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Ok, I think you all know already one of my desires for the new game, since I've talked about it here recently, but I'll go ahead and repeat it.

I want a huge map, with all the territories from DS1, Yesterhaven, LoA, DS2, and DS2BW, and whatever new areas are developed for DS3 and its expansions, all in one map, so that your character/party can travel over the entire continent (and yeah, there was a Cataclysm, etc, with cataclysmic effects, but if we're talking about the difference between an entire Age and so on, surely the "half-life" of the residual "radiation" would not leave most of the continent barren for that long a time; deserts are interesting environments, but the Vai'lutra Forest, Redwood Gap, the Cloud Forest, Greilyn Isle, and the territory around Glacern and Fallraen and Snowbrook Haven and so on are also interesting environments, to say nothing of the Volcanic Caverns). More environments make things less monotonous. The Plain of Tears seemed to drag on forever, with little break in the scenery from the blasted desert wasteland environment, unless you went into a structure/cave/ruin/magical oasis.

I also think that all the monsters and items from all the games should be available in the new game, with but few exceptions (certain spells, which I'll discuss below).

I'll grant that some of the spells are redundant, and some are (in my experience) pretty useless, but I do like variations on things like electrical damage, ice damage, fire damage, etc (so, for example, DS1 Multispark and DS2 Multispark are both good spells, as are the DS1 spells Lightning Bolt, Storm, Lightning Storm, and others like this, and Encase, Ice Storm, Icefury, etc). The DS2 thing, where you've got Lesser, actual, Greater, etc, seems redundant. Make one spell, and let the damage, radius, and duration increase with level and/or intelligence, not five spells each with a limit on how much it can be developed before you have to buy a new spell.

I also want to see Nature Mages able to deal the same sort of damage Combat Mages do. In DS1, Cyclone of Fire was probably the most potent spell. Why not duplicate that in the form "Cyclone of Ice" and have it ice-based for Nature Mages, doing the same amount of damage, but in a different form? "Game balance" is a tired excuse for this sort of prejudice, especially if you're going to have PvP involved (and I do think that PvP should be an option).

In DS2, the electrical damage spells were taken from Nature Mages and given to Combat Mages, which I don't like. Combat Mages already had a couple of main types of power they worked with (Fire and Death), and by taking the Lightning spells from Nature Mages, they have been reduced to basically Ice spells. Some of those are pretty nice, admittedly, like Encase, Greater Encase, etc, but what's with the limitation to only one sort of power? Okay, so there's also Ripple, which, I believe, is Non-Elemental, and that's cool, but there doesn't seem to be enough Non-Elemental magic in the game for Nature Mages to make up for the loss of Lightning magic.

I still want to see something like a paint option, so that armors can have their colors changed relatively easily, without having to resort to picture editing programs and modding in order to get the look you like with the color you like. I really like the style of the Tribal Armor in DS2, for example, and it certainly blends into the jungle well, but once you're out of the jungle, you might like it to have different colors (I certainly would, even in the jungle --- the camouflage doesn't actually prevent the mobs from seeing you, after all, so while it blends in with the environment well, that blending serves little purpose).

I also still think the lesser armor rating allowed to mages is unfair. Why should a robe not be as protective as Battle Plate, in a world where magic is a given? If you're looking for a way to make it make sense, just think "illusion." Battle Plate can be made to *look* like anything you want (even the stereotypical chain mail bikini), with illusion, so just assume the robe is battle plate made to look/feel like a robe. See above about "game balance" before using that excuse to object to this. It was the D&D game which first popularized the idea that mages and metal don't mix, at least in terms of modern Fantasy. Tolkien had Gandalf in mithril chain, for example, and wielding a sword (and yes, Gandalf was actually an angel or demigod or something like that, and not really a "mage," but this is only one example).

Increase the size of the inventory, and increase the number of items that can be saved in a storage space. Also, add the backpack from LoA and retain the Storage Vault from DS2.

I don't like the auto-drink potion suggestion, sorry. I am a huge fan of Elys' work, but that's one aspect of her Succubus mods/modlets that I find annoying (at least until you've nearly maxed out your character), in part because it doesn't distinguish *my* potions from those of other members in my party, but also because potions get used up too quickly. Example: You're just about to kill the mini-boss, all of your characters are getting pretty low on both health and mana, and they auto-drink, and then the mini-boss dies, and you have plenty of time while you're going through all the loot that just dropped so that the potions were wasted. Okay, they're not that expensive, but still, unless you find a vendor out in the wild, come upon a mana bush or health bush, or want to go back to town, you may not be able to replace them before you need them.

I do like more options for character appearance and race. Being able to tweak the character's appearance in terms of eye shape and color, hair length and color, facial shape, skin color, height, weight, body shape, etc (and not just by clicking through a limited number of pre-designed options, but actually changing the character in a custom manner --- I'm sure most of you have seen a certain other game, which I don't play but which allows this sort of thing, and I won't defile this site by mentioning that game's name here). Elves (of various sorts, mind you, not just the one type), Dryads, Dwarves, Half-Giants, Humans, all of those are good and should be in the new game, but additional options would be good as well. Elys' DS2 Succubus included Nymphs and Vampires and other options, which are worth looking at. SJR's DS:Abstraction has Amazons (and a nice selection of Elves, as well as several interesting NPC races). Other options might be something like Fey and Sidhe, Halflings, Gnomes, and so on.

Lycanthropy/Berserkr ability is another idea that I would like to see worked into the game. In LoA, there were spells that allowed characters to shapeshift, so it's possible to implement this suggestion, but it would need to be tweaked beyond what the LoA spells allowed (I found them pretty useless, for the most part, unless you just wanted to look like this or that creature, because by the time you were able to cast the spell, there were not really any advantages to the shift in shape other than aesthetic ones).

Flight (either magical by means of spell or item, or via winged characters like Fey and Sidhe, or by means of mounts, or better yet, all of the above).

Sea travel (and naturally, boats and ships) is another idea I like (especially if it enables or facilitates the movement from one map to another which I've suggested at the beginning of this post), and if the game designers are feeling ambitious, they could even work ship battles into the game somehow.

FIX THE BLASTED CAMERA ANGLE ALREADY!!! I want to be able to get it down to eye level. I also would kinda like to be able to look up at the sky and see how many moons there are, what position the sun is in, what stars are visible (and this could also figure in to the sea travel, as in navigation by means of the celestial bodies, which might even suggest the possibility of finding an uncharted land, where even more "secondary" quests can be found ...), etc.

Related to the last one, how about different perspective options, like being able to have the character's view (as in looking out from the character's eyes), as well as the overview currently in use?

I'm sure I'll think of something else about the time I click the "Post comment" button, but if not, something else will probably occur to me in a day or two.

~~~
Giovanna