Ulfgeir

Very cool! Nice to get some answers to those burning questions.

I just checked out the new English translation of Unbended Crafting 101, and I gotta say, it sounds amazing. I really like the direction they're heading in. It sounds like crafting is going to be a truly epic activity in Unbended.

Awesome. Thanks for the insights/translations, guys. I love a good weapon/armor crafting system. Although, item number 6 has me a tiny bit concerned. "The game is centered around you crafting your gear, so it will not break the game immersion" - SX255 If the game is centered around crafting custom gear, does that mean loot-grinding in general, and hunting for elite armor set pieces will be less emphasized? It seems to me that if you can custom craft just about any kind of armor you want, the value of unique armor pieces gathered via loot would be lessened somewhat. Any thoughts on this? One of the things I've always loved about Sacred 2 was the near-limitless loot grind and the desire to complete elite armor sets.

I just found my grave next to Thorin's! I'm the "Master of the deadly balloon sword." Bit of an inside joke between my D&D friends and I. Very cool, I didn't realize you could drag the map to see more of it at the bottom.

I know I've expressed doubts about this project from time to time, even though I really am a very big fan and wish Studio II all the best. But since all the new updates have been made to the website, and everything looks so much more professional, I've decided to put my money where my mouth is and lend my support. As of today, I'm the proud owner of a new gravestone in Aetherra!

In Sacred 2, they seemed to have a male and female representative for each of the three basic archetypes. So the Shadow Warrior (my personal fave) and Seraphim were the melee/warrior experts. The Dryad and Temple Guardian were the ranged experts. And the High Elf and Inquisitor were the magic experts. Maybe they'll follow a similar formula for Unbended. So far we've got The Gambler - probably male ranged expert. The Blademaster (this one looks awesome!) - male melee expert. The Crystal Mage - female magic expert. So I'm guessing they might have a male magic expert, female melee expert, and female ranged expert still on the way. I'm really looking forward to the characters they're going to reveal. So far, the background stories for the existing characters have been really interesting and creative.

I've noticed some MAJOR updates over at the Unbended website. They've done a massive graphical redesign, added two additional character classes, listed the team members working on the project, added a new 5 Euro donation option, and a bunch of other very welcome additions. Check it out, it looks beautiful.

Has anyone heard if a console release is being spoken of as a possibility? Maybe as an eventual stretch funding goal? I bought Sacred 1 on PC, Sacred 2 on PC two different times, then Sacred 2 on Xbox 360 two different times, and once on PS3. I'd love to see this new game come to the PS4, even if only as a digital download. I've heard they offer some great self-publishing options these days for independent game developers.

Very cool. I like the look of the map so far, and it's always good news to hear progress being made. I really hope this project is a success.

I agree, "Un" does imply a sort of negativity. Torchlight and Risen are good examples of similar projects being done successfully.

Anyone else have some ideas for names we could toss out there? Maybe the devs will take notice and poll the community for their collective opinion. I came up with a couple more possibilities. UNYIELDING SOVEREIGN LEGACY

I hate to bring this up, because it would probably be an enormous pain in the butt to make a change at this point, but am I the only one who thinks the name "Unbended" is kind of insane? Maybe "Unbended" sounds awesome in German, I have no idea. I'm not even sure what the translation would be. But in English, it sounds horrible. At the very least, it's terrible grammar. At worst, it could conceivably hurt the marketability of the game. I understand they had to come up with something new and unique, but did they even consult someone who speaks English before they made their final decision? They've already got the website URL locked down and everything. It's a shame the name is so poorly thought out. Why not hold a big community contest, in which several optional names are proposed and voted on? The winner being adopted as the new name of the project. Heck, I'll propose a couple of similar (and grammatically correct) options right now. UNBROKEN UNBREAKABLE HALLOWED, SANCTIFIED, NUMINOUS (all synonyms of SACRED)

I'm glad to see that progress is still being made. I really do wish them all the best. From what I gather, their current fund raising efforts are primarily aimed at doing the pre-production work necessary in order to have assets they can show on a proper, full-scale crowd funding website. So in essence, they're crowd-funding right now in order to finance a larger, more professional crowd-funding effort, which will then actually finance the game proper. Which is kind of weird, when you think about it. Have they set any kind of goal (specific or general) for how much money they need in order to launch their proper international crowd-funding campaign?

I haven't seen any options for making small or custom donations to this project. Maybe I'm missing it somewhere, but all I've seen are the three "Early Supporter" packages in the amounts of 29, 99 and 299 Euros. If they had a smaller, less risky 5 Euro option, I might consider that. And as for Kickstarter, I had no idea that it was unavailable to European developers. Thanks for sharing that info. It might be helpful to their cause if the developers included that information on a FAQ page at their website. People might be more understanding if they knew that Kickstarter is not an option.

Sounds like things are moving along, which is good. I just wish the whole thing felt a bit more cohesive and transparent. Right now, it's still a bit of a mysterious project. We don't know how much money they actually need to see this project to fruition, the size of the team they hope to assemble, or how long they project the development process to take. I'd really love to see them nail things down to a more solid and clearly laid out plan, and preferably in the format of a Kickstarter campaign. On the one hand, I really want this project to succeed. But on the other hand, I just don't feel comfortable sending money off to a mysterious Paypal account, with promises that a game "kind of like Sacred" will be produced from this money "sometime in the future." They need to understand that in a situation like this, we're not just the fan community anymore... we're potential investors. And just like any other investors, we need to be presented with a clear, concise proposal that spells out exactly what they need from us, and what we can expect to gain in return for our involvement. Right now, all we have are vague teasers and hints. Which is fine when you're dealing with fans. But they need to start thinking of us in terms of potential investors instead. They need to pull back the curtain and show us the hard numbers.

It definitely sounds like they're building an interesting world with a fleshed out culture. I really like what I'm hearing so far.

Wow, the Gambler seems like a really cool character. Very unique. One of the things I've always loved about Sacred games are the highly creative characters. The Gambler seems like he'd be a great fit. And from what I could gather from Google Translate, his back story sounds pretty awesome as well.

I'm extremely excited about this new project. It sounds like these ex-Ascaron devs are actually trying to give Sacred fans what they want. The part about the open-world design in particular is a huge plus for me. But at the moment, I'm a little hesitant to donate. Here's why... 1.) The original website for this project was shut-down pretty quickly, and now they're popping back up at a completely different URL. This was apparently for legal/copyright reasons, and was accompanied by a full refund of all donations. Something like this makes the whole project seem kind of shaky and not very well thought out. 2.) All the relevant info is in German, with English translations slowly appearing on the website. The English translations currently in place are rife with spelling and grammar errors. This doesn't seem very professional, and once again, makes the project seem kind of shaky. 3.) They're asking for direct donations via Paypal. For a project like this, wouldn't it be more appropriate to start a Kickstarter page? I'm a lot more comfortable making donations via Kickstarter, as I'm sure many other people are as well. Once again, doing this through Paypal makes the project seem kind of shaky and not very well thought out. I hate to be a downer. I love Sacred I and Sacred II, and would LOVE to see a true successor built on an open-world design. So I really want to be on board with this project. But I think they're going to have trouble getting the money they need until they address these glaring issues.

Yeah, same here. I'm in the US and noticed a day or so ago that the Imp was no longer working. At first, I thought it was just some strange glitch, but when the problem persisted I decided to check on here. Definitely strange. Part of me was hoping they might be making some changes to the game so that the expansion could be released for the Xbox version. But I suppose that's too much to hope for at this point. But hey, at least the game is still on their radar to some degree. They've got people doing something to it, even if it's something we don't like.

I thought my head was gonna pop off and explode when I saw an article about this. Sacred 2 is still my go-to game. I've owned it since release, and every time I try to break in a different action-rpg, all I end up doing is wishing I were playing Sacred 2 instead. So to hear absolute confirmation like this, that they not only have fully intention to bring a sequel out, but also direct it at both the PC and console markets...wow. *POP*...roll...roll...roll...*BOOM!*

The best way to learn what skills are most useful for your style of playing, is by just creating a few (or several) different characters and trying them out. That's what I've done. I've probably logged in the neighborhood of 300 or more hours with this game, and played around with at least 20 different characters. Granted, I abandoned most of those characters before they got higher than level 10, but playing with them for awhile was a great way to see what works and what doesn't. Oh, and by the way, even after all this time with the game, I still love it, there are still achievements I haven't managed to earn, and portions of the map I've never explored. This game has nearly endless replay value. Welcome to the party!

Aw, come on. Where's the fun in that? I don't have those achievements yet either (they sound really tough), but I'm sure it'd be more satisfying to earn them on your own. By the way, this is totally off topic, but I just saw your location. I actually have family out around connersville and brookville. Small world!

I realise there may not be much mainstream demand for it, but I'd definitely pay out good money if it hit Live Marketplace. As far as I know, there's not even a US version of the expansion for PC, is there? Just an english UK edition.

Same thing happened to me, but I'm good after a password reset. I'm glad it's just some kind of forum glitch. At first I thought my account had been hacked.

Woe is my sense of spontaneity in the sublime sovereignty of Sacred 2. I want to be something different. To play a sparkling new class! But every time I try it, I fall upon my...bottom. I hover above the fields of (soon to be) bloody glee, with a laugh and a whip of my wicked tail. But always, dear reader. Always! I burst from his casket with a wail. Shadow Warrior. Dear, Shadow Warrior. How shall I compare thee? Thine whistling twin hammers. Thine lecherous gold eyes (which all the ladies do dig). None stand in thy rank as equals. None can likewise dance a jig. All the classes seem boring, and all the Arts a chore. Till I fill your comfy zombie knuckles, and ride my hound of war. (sigh) Is anyone else hopelessly hooked on playing one particular class?