How much play time will Book II have?

[Zorlac]

Like a lot of people, I've been patiently waiting a very long time for Book II. I have a couple questions.

1. How much play time will Book II have? I tend to take longer than most because I like to soak it all in and look for side quests. Book I took me 31 hours with a pure magic user. Will Book II take a lot longer than I?

2. Will the Basilisk servers be able to handle the load when the game is released? Almost everyone has high speed internet these days. Will Basilisk be able to handle 100 cable modem downloads at the same time when the release gates swing open? I plan on being one of those that hits "download" a minute after it's released. Does Basilisk make the same profit if we order from Steam? I know they could handle the load, but I want to maximize your profit so you can spend it on Book III

[Randomizer]

Book 2 will take much longer because it will be bigger. There will be 3 map regions so expect at least twice as long as Book 1.

[BasiliskWrangler]

[1] The test that we are running now is going to be timing the gameplay up through a critical part of the main storyline- this will give us a baseline on what an "above average" gamer will experience. From there we should be able to extrapolate how much total game time there is. Overall, yes, I believe Book II will offer a longer game experience than Book I.

Here's an interesting point that all players should understand: in Book I, most of the side-quests that you run across are generally in a "linearly difficult" progression- meaning, by the time you get the quest, you should be able to complete it based on your character level. Book II is not the same! There are several side-quests that you will come across that you'll have very little hope in completing with the character you'll likely have at that time. You're going to have to learn when to back out of a difficult quest and return to it when you are bigger and badder. This will be the main way the game will be longer- it will be rather hard to run the main quest straight through without building up your character through side-quests, and some side-quests themselves will prove challenging without further character building.

And yes, as Randomizer pointed out: there is also just more land to explore overall. It's a bigger world. It will take a bit more time to see everything.

[2] We are going to try to work out a timed release with a few file hosts (like Gamer's Hell, Atomic Gamer, GameZone) so when we formally release it we'll have several download options immediately ready.

[nottorp]

Here's an interesting point that all players should understand: in Book I, most of the side-quests that you run across are generally in a "linearly difficult" progression- meaning, by the time you get the quest, you should be able to complete it based on your character level. Book II is not the same! There are several side-quests that you will come across that you'll have very little hope in completing with the character you'll likely have at that time. You're going to have to learn when to back out of a difficult quest and return to it when you are bigger and badder. This will be the main way the game will be longer- it will be rather hard to run the main quest straight through without building up your character through side-quests, and some side-quests themselves will prove challenging without further character building.

Ah the good ole' Might and Magic memories. Where's my preorder button (Linux version please)?

Edit: yes i know the Linux version will come later and that's when I'll buy

[CrazyBernie]

You won't see any pre-orders until the downloadable version is available. Then you'll be able to order all three on one disc (See the purchase page on the main site).

[kopema]

There are several side-quests that you will come across that you'll have very little hope in completing with the character you'll likely have at that time. You're going to have to learn when to back out of a difficult quest and return to it when you are bigger and badder. This will be the main way the game will be longer- it will be rather hard to run the main quest straight through without building up your character through side-quests, and some side-quests themselves will prove challenging without further character building.

Will there be an indication of how difficult the quests are?

(Personally I like games that can be played strategically, rather than roleplaying a rat in a maze by banging my head against walls until I find what the author decided was the "right path".)

[BasiliskWrangler]

Will there be an indication of how difficult the quests are?

(Personally I like games that can be played strategically, rather than roleplaying a rat in a maze by banging my head against walls until I find what the author decided was the "right path".)

No, but you don't have to worry about going down a long path that you can't complete. A lot of the quests are balanced for your character at roughly the time you'll receive it- just a few are likely to prove to be a bit hard for you at the time. You'll know fairly quickly if it's something you should try to tackle or not.

We really strive to keep the world open and flexible, so you don't have to find some "right path" that we've hidden in the game. There are multiple ways of achieving goals and to get from point A to point B, not just one. Just like Book 1, you are told what you need to do- you just figure out the best way for you to do it.

[Zorlac]

[1] Book II is not the same! There are several side-quests that you will come across that you'll have very little hope in completing with the character you'll likely have at that time. You're going to have to learn when to back out of a difficult quest and return to it when you are bigger and badder.

This is how RPG's were in the old days! I remember things like this in Questron and Ultima. You went to an area and thought to yourself "I'm going to come back later when I'm ready." This is so great BW. I can't wait for this game to be released.

[Saxon1974]

[1] Book II is not the same! There are several side-quests that you will come across that you'll have very little hope in completing with the character you'll likely have at that time. You're going to have to learn when to back out of a difficult quest and return to it when you are bigger and badder.

Now this makes me smile!

I think this aspect is missing in so many games now and its a key element to making a player feel he has accomplished something. Once your powerful enough to go back and clean out that bandit cave that kicked your butt earlier its a great moment!

What fun is it to level a character when a game gears encounters to your level?

[MyGameCompany]

Will there be an indication of how difficult the quests are?

(Personally I like games that can be played strategically, rather than roleplaying a rat in a maze by banging my head against walls until I find what the author decided was the "right path".)

Book 1 had some of this too. I remember on my first time through, early on I tried to go south to the Salted Coast, and the pirates kicked my butt. So I left that for awhile, and when I came back later, I was able to overcome them pretty easily.

I really like that, and am glad that Book 2 will be doing more of the same.

[IJBall]

Will there be an indication of how difficult the quests are?

(Personally I like games that can be played strategically, rather than roleplaying a rat in a maze by banging my head against walls until I find what the author decided was the "right path".)

Book 1 had some of this too. I remember on my first time through, early on I tried to go south to the Salted Coast, and the pirates kicked my butt. So I left that for awhile, and when I came back later, I was able to overcome them pretty easily.

I also found it to be true with the Barrean mercenary cave quest that you get in Blackwater the first couple of times I played E:Book I - I think most people get to Blackwater by about half-way through E:Book I. Well, as soon as I got there, I accepted all the quests in Blackwater. I was able to get by the mayor's assassins by picking them off one-at-a-time. But I couldn't handle the Barrean mercenary cave when I tried that, so I think I went and did other things like Vela, and then came back and took out the Barrean mercenaries much later on.

Of course, on later play-throughs, I discovered the great utility of Hide in Shadows, which makes taking on the Barrean mercanary cave a heck of a lot easier.

Anyway, I do think stuff like this is an important aspect of CRPGs, so I'll be on the lookout now for quests that are 'over my head/will need to come back and tackle later...' when I first play through Book II!

[TNoyce]

I much prefer this idea, to the 'auto level' concept most of the newer titles insist on.

In my opinion, by the time you've leveled a few times, killing a rat should not be a risky endevor. I also never liked the idea of diminishing experience, simply because the monster you were attacking, was
too low a level. If the game insists on encounters with low-level monsters as a matter of course, I should still get the 4 or 5 points of experience I received initially. Granted, higher levels make this less appealing, but I hate having to slog through enemies, and not get some credit.