Player Dimension: Hero or Group?

[S-man]

I will vote for single hero here are my reasons
1: creating more than one adventure is a bit of a chore.
2: a well made rpg can have followers which can be balanced to reflect the game.
3: By having a hero with followers having to build a balanced party with a limited number of followers, you are trying to make due with what you find as the journey goes on which is something I think was great about the bg series (you start with no one and over time assemble a working group to solve the problems).
4: party interaction and trying to keep all party members with different outlooks etc.
5: Followers can be tied to subplots to make the game more interesting, and provide plot hooks.  Given the SIZE OF RB, that would be cool.

[Speculator]

I think the developers have made clear it''s the party that is the hero , followin games like ToEE and Icewind Dale. I for one prefer that. The whole story of DnD in my eyes was adventuring together , pooling your skills and power's.  Essentially relying on each other , not having one leader we all follow. Hope the developers stick with what they said.

[Tharagavverug]

You can solo and the main story assumes a central "main char", but you get to create a full party of up to 6 characters. Of course, you can decide to solo the game, but it's not recommended unless you know how to cheese the system 

To address S-man's points one by one:

1: creating more than one adventure is a bit of a chore.

You consider it a chore, others consider it great fun. We promised full party creation in the Kickstarter and we will deliver it.

2: a well made rpg can have followers which can be balanced to reflect the game.

Followers like in Baldur's Gate with their own companion quests, romances etc take a lot of work to create. We would rather use the time and effort to create more sidequests that can be enjoyed by all players, without the need to recruit a companion.

3: By having a hero with followers having to build a balanced party with a limited number of followers, you are trying to make due with what you find as the journey goes on which is something I think was great about the bg series (you start with no one and over time assemble a working group to solve the problems).

By creating a full party from scratch, the player can tailor the characters to his liking. He can also create his own challenge runs, for example a full 6 wizards playthrough or a 6 fighters playthrough, which you couldn't attempt in a game without full party creation.

4: party interaction and trying to keep all party members with different outlooks etc.
5: Followers can be tied to subplots to make the game more interesting, and provide plot hooks.  Given the SIZE OF RB, that would be cool.

Again, it's a matter of effort and logistics. We only have so many people working on the game, and so much money to finance it. Do we invest our time and resources into companions, or do we invest them in more sidequests?

Player-created party members have backgrounds in RB, so they sometimes offer their opinion on things even if they're not the active talker in a conversation. A bit like Wizardry 8 where your characters would often comment on things.

[Sapistas]

I, for one, believe it's cool that the game gives you a full party creation. Not that I think it's better than the "main char who finds companions" style, just there are a lot of those out there and none of this.

[daveyd]

IIRC there are probably going to be some premade characters early in the game that you can recruit to your party if you want... But they won't have extensive backstories or lots of unique dialogue; comparable to the NPCs you can hire in ToEE . They'll just be there for people who find creating a whole party of 6 a bit tedious.

Also there's a 7th party member slot reserved for temporary companions that may join you for a quest.

Of course if budget and time were infinite having well developed companions would be nice to have as an option, but I'll be happy enough creating my own party and developing their backstory and personality myself.   

[Braveheart]

So, I wonder, is the game built for a Hero with Party or also a Solo Hero?

Generally, for a whole party but technically it should be possible to play with a single hero through the campaign (not sure about some puzzles though).

That is really concerning to me when you said that? What? with the D&D rules playing solo and completing the campaign should be impossible !! You have to create a party or else you wont be able to defeat even 10 goblins on the battlefield much less dragons!!! lol

Are you saying that through out the campaign you would encounter only 1 enemy if your playing solo? Because when you play solo no matter what class, you won't be able to handle multiple enemies, even if your level 10 and your enemies are half of that. And I don't think your game is designed for solo play when you show multiple enemies. You've already shown groups of enemies roaming on the map, you play solo and get ambushed your F*****. It's almost as if you have to be 20 levels higher than the mobs to handle them.

[Tharagavverug]

So, I wonder, is the game built for a Hero with Party or also a Solo Hero?

Generally, for a whole party but technically it should be possible to play with a single hero through the campaign (not sure about some puzzles though).

That is really concerning to me when you said that? What? with the D&D rules playing solo and completing the campaign should be impossible !! You have to create a party or else you wont be able to defeat even 10 goblins on the battlefield much less dragons!!! lol

Are you saying that through out the campaign you would encounter only 1 enemy if your playing solo? Because when you play solo no matter what class, you won't be able to handle multiple enemies, even if your level 10 and your enemies are half of that. And I don't think your game is designed for solo play when you show multiple enemies. You've already shown groups of enemies roaming on the map, you play solo and get ambushed your F*****. It's almost as if you have to be 20 levels higher than the mobs to handle them.

That's why HobGoblin said technically. There are people who successfully solo'd Temple of Elemental Evil and the entire Baldur's Gate series, even though the games are designed to be challenging for a full party of 6. I have no doubts that someone will attempt to do the same with Realms Beyond one day.

[HobGoblin42]

Generally, for a whole party but technically it should be possible to play with a single hero through the campaign (not sure about some puzzles though).

That is really concerning to me when you said that? What? with the D&D rules playing solo and completing the campaign should be impossible !! You have to create a party or else you wont be able to defeat even 10 goblins on the battlefield much less dragons!!! lol

The game allows you to play with one single character, that's what I meant with "technical".  Some quests/puzzles and almost any encounter are designed for a party of six, therefore the chances to finish the campaign solo are minimal.

[malax]

I guess Halflings can acheive the campaign but not solo, they need their own Gamji companion,.. at least to make cook