Solo v.s. Party

[Samsword]

My personal choice would be to play a solo character. But have NPCs maybe follow you around. I love the character interaction of party-style RPGs, (I particularly enjoyed the Baldur's Gate series.) You can do so much with the story. (betrayals, romantic subplots, etc.) And I definitely think Book II needs a lot more character development, especially from other characters besides your own.

I even think that when NPC's are in your party, you could even equip their items, and set their AI (ie: Attack Strongest, Attack Weakest, Heal Wounded Ally.. etc.)

But by having the game "solo." The game still revolves around "your turn," and only the AI would have to be upgraded, rather than having to remake the whole game engine.

[solistus]

Party-based RPGs are a dime a dozen. Spiderweb Software has been pumping out great ones for years. There are very few good solo play RPGs around these days, which is what attracted me to Book 1.

[JMAN123]

I'll echo the statement that solistus above me said, which is indeed, that solo RPG's are very hard to come by these days, with most rpg development being in a team-based fashion. Had Eschalon:Book 1 been a party RPG, I may have felt less inclined to purchase the game.

[krisklef]

Not a strong preference either way, but probably come down on the side of solo for the simple reason that party-based is really only fun if you control all of the party, and that means an incredibly enriched tactical situation: fun, no doubt, but I enjoy the emphasis on adventure and storyline in Book I.

One thing I would NOT enjoy would be a party of NPCs that you cannot design, who come and go with the story.

[TNoyce]

I have played a fair number of RPGs in both styles. I definitely prefer to play solo. Replayability is also someting I look for, though very few role playing games that do well. Although the Diablo series was not terribly deep in terms of story line, it did offer a lot of replay value due to the character variations you could create. It also allows for a much more enjoyable multi-player experience, where the characters can be planned out so that they compliment, rather than duplicate, the required skill areas.

I also find it frustrating to have spent several hours honing character skills based on my character concept, only to find out that a critical encounter, or quest completion, requires a skill that I do not see any reason for my character to have learned. For example, I don't see a mage spending a lot of time, effort, and money to get exceptional arms and armor skill.

Rather than in-game NPCs, I'd rather see true multi-player. I know this is difficult, as it would require major restructuring, and a client-server architecture. I personally find it much more enjoyable to play a multi-player game with friends. Otherwise, having depend on a bad NPC battle AI, or having to make all the battle decisions, does not appeal to me.

[BasiliskWrangler]

I am going to unsticky this topic as well. The decision has been made to keep Book II solo.