NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT. Oh. Wait. I do. Scratch that answer.

My first loves: Ultimas 2-VI. - Civilization - Wasteland/Fallout (I can do that, right?) - Minecraft (because I am playing with my kids) - oh, man, I'm having a really hard time sticking any of the remainder in here because they're kind of jostling for attention... okay, fine, Psychonauts. Except for the Meat Circus.

These are some great questions, and it's going to take some time to get to all of them. Let me take a whack at them individually. I'll start with #4.

4: We're looking to have a variety of keys for our gates. Some of these keys will require quests. Some of them will require items. Some of them will require dialogue unlocks, in one way or another. But we're with you: we hate pixel hunting, and we want to make the process of moving from one area to another more organic than a frustrating hour click on parts of the screen.

Absolutely, especially in cases where it wouldn't make sense to do a one-time animation. For example, in PST: tearing off your arm, gouging out your own eye, and the like. Words remain a powerful way to convey information, and we plan to use that tool intensively.

Which is to say: We like to write.

The PnP rules for Numenera discourage monster grinding for XP. Instead, they focus on finding solutions for problems, for completing particular tasks, and for inventive, elegant answers. We plan to continue that. In short: 1. We want to promote thoughtful, careful play, though we'll certainly allow for crazy, slapstick play. 2. Successful non-combat resolutions with antagonists. Finding secrets. Unlocking discoveries. Well, and resolutions with antagonists, if that helps to unlock narrative. 3. We're still discussing that. :) 4. Numenera's character development relies on three stat pools, and you build your character with a sentence: I am an adjective noun who verbs (or descriptor, type, and focus). For instance: I am a charming glaive who speaks with the dead. Each descriptor, type, and focus modifies the pools. And since I don't know how much is still under NDA, I'm going to stop talking now. :)