Just went through the Halls of Artifice the first time. A great place, splendid looks, markedly distinctive from the images before. Spoiler Artifice and the Halls of Artifice are marked as a tier 5 area, yet there is not a single fight in there. At least I only met friendly Satyr guards out- and inside. A few rabbits outside, one neutral Will´O´Wisp, nothing else. The 3 first rooms, wealth, food, youth... Great looks again. Yet - I was not tempted in the least to stay in any. Wealth - after all the whole stuff is just decoration. I could not even pick up one golden chest or treasure pile to stuff my inventory. Are we that much wiser than the greedy pilgrims? I doubt that... "Das schwarze Auge" / Realms of Arkania had in their first game "Schicksalsklinge" / Blade of Destiny a ruin with a cellar filled with gold coins - cursed gold coins. Pick them up and you can´t leave the ruins anymore... I would have found something like that better - after all if there were real gold on the floor (e.g. perhaps some gold ingots, gold coins, silver ingots) a player might show his true greed and not be that much distand from the greedy pilgrims anymore. And then lock the exit and let him proceed back out only if he empties his pockets from everything picked up in the wealth room... Food feast: A feast for the eyes and this time one can pick up apples, potatos, lettuce. My avatar had around 1000 AU´s when leaving... There are fish and pork in the game - yet the fish and pork on the tables were only decorations and not takeable. Decorations even that did not yield a decsription when moving the mouse over it. Anyone can understand it made my heart bleed that the ton of weapons I picked up at Hephaestos and in the side rooms are just "rusty" and none is made of Bonesteel 2.0? When Boreas crumpled from his throne I was reminded of the dead King falling from his throne in Conan the Barbarian when he took the sword from the skeletal hands. "Crom!".
I like the area then way it is now. No need for cursed gold from other games. If you attack any creature , they area an area 5 fight then. except for the rabbits.
