I'm not too fussed on which one is more 'powerful', it's that if I played a magic-type I know I would be regretting not playing a tech-type, and if I played a tech-type I would regret not playing a magic-type. :D And I'm too gutless to try going for both and winding up ineffective at both.

Well in some cases the more moral choice will be one or the other.....so it'll be easy for you to pick the right(or wrong) option. :)

Ineffective AND cursed by exploding failures as magic screws up around Tech and vice-versa! :P

I loved how Virgil kept trying to heal me after I had gone the Tech path too far. Seeing him fall down from fatigue after trying to heal me ONCE was pure comedy gold :D

I wish the game was less unrealistic with this though....why can't tech and magic coexist under some special circumstances or in regards to certain individuals is what i'm asking. Lol.

Because then that would throw the balance of the game out the window?

At a guess I think they took inspiration from Shadowrun. Every single person starts with an essence stat of 6. The more tech you implant the more that figure lowers. Someone healing a person with 6 essence will have an easier time than someone healing someone with an essence of 0.1 which is possible to get. Below 0 is also possible but it's called Cybermancy and healing magic won't work.

I'd still like to be able to play both at once, even if it meant being penalized in some other way.

It's a question of choice and consequence and a good way to get people to replay a game.

Either that or it's Elder Scrolls syndrome rearing its ugly head. I know for a fact that in Oblivion I could be a spell-slinging, lock-picking, sword-swinging guy and not suffer penalties in any area, thus becoming a god-like entity that could break into any home, kill everything except those dreaded essential characters, and fire any spell I choose. I got bored with the game after a while since there was no challenge.

I rather like being able to multiclass, as long as the game remains a challenge in other aspects that is.

Multi-classing is great as long as there are penalties to balance out the positives, i.e. don't get all the feats of one class, some feats/skills are cross-class and they get less of a bonus, etc.

You can, you just won't be able to use half the tech devices and your spells will fizzle a lot (and maybe you can't learn higher level ones, I don't remember offhand).

The whole lore of the game is that the two can't co-exist though, IIRC it's even stated somewhere that the current balance is unstable and eventually the world will slide one way or the other.

Sounds good...except for the environmentalist crap thrown in(one is anathema to the world...usually tech...also seen in silverfall) and thus must go eventually.

fuck you guys, I just spent 2 hours reading that damned "goblins" comic when I should have been working on homework.

... seriously, you guys are so inconsiderate.

Well this thread has allayed one fear that the game wouldn't differ enough to warrant more than one playthrough, I'd still have the problem that I'd have to choose which one to start with though lol. As long as the choices aren't black and white though it should be okay since I can just take the other option in a subsequent playthrough then, and the charismatic swordsman option seems like a good start especially if I can choose to specialise later.