Pillars of Eternity - Thoughts & Impressions

[DArtagnan]

I think it really depends on what they consider to be "veteran". I've completed all of the IE games and some of them more than once, but I was always satisfied with just playing them on the default difficulty. ToB for instance was already tough as nails without increasing the difficulty further.

I'm sure plenty of people finished those games on Core difficulty, but I doubt they were the majority.

I really have no idea what they mean, but I would guess Core difficulty is sort of what they're aiming for.

I agree BG games weren't easy on Normal - which is as it should be. Back in the day, Normal difficulty actually meant "not easy"

But Core rules used the 2nd Edition ruleset - which I always found appropriate, as a veteran PnP player. I find immunity to critical hits and friendly fire to be sort of cheating - and I don't enjoy that.

I never completed BG2 or the expansion, it must be said.

BG was plenty difficult, though, especially that last fight - ouch

That said, D&D suffers quite a bit from the bad Hit Points design - where the first few levels are essentially a fight against the dice. You WILL die in even the most trivial fights, because the dice have mood swings.

That's an area where PoE is much improved

However, I'm not looking forward to the final fight in PoE. I know Obsidian's position on final fights - and it's loathsome. They ALWAYS go over the top here, without exception.

 

[JDR13]

I agree BG games weren't easy on Normal - which is as it should be. Back in the day, Normal difficulty actually meant "not easy"

And how I miss those days.

I'll be playing PoE on the normal difficulty. It doesn't sound like the combat is refined enough for me to want to invest that much into it. I'd rather be able to simply enjoy the story and atmosphere more, and concentrate on roleplaying, rather than having to worry about min-maxing and constant micro-management.

But Core rules used the 2nd Edition ruleset - which I always found appropriate, as a veteran PnP player. I find immunity to critical hits and friendly fire to be sort of cheating - and I don't enjoy that.

I don't quite remember how critical hits worked, but you were definitely susceptible to friendly fire on the default difficulty in the IE games. I've killed many a party member with errant fireballs.

 

[DArtagnan]

And how I miss those days.

I'll be playing PoE on the normal difficulty. It doesn't sound like the combat is refined enough for me to want to invest that much into it. I'd rather be able to simply enjoy the story and atmosphere more, and concentrate on roleplaying, rather than having to worry about min-maxing and constant micro-management.

That's most likely a wise decision.

I'd do that too, except much of the enjoyment for me is from the tactical challenges - and it's the best way to see the results of a smart build setup and such.

But I'm sort of considering postponing my playthrough until the expansion - as I'm almost certain they'll be implementing scripts somewhere down the line.

 

[DArtagnan]

I don't quite remember how critical hits worked, but you were definitely susceptible to friendly fire on the default difficulty in the IE games.

Really? You could be right.

But you were definitely immune to critical hits on Normal - which is precisely because of the stupid early level D&D design. You'd simply die all to often - and Core rules always meant a lot of extra reloads.

I'm sort of OCD when it comes to difficulty levels, though. Well, not so much anymore - but I definitely used to be

 

[Aubrielle]

(Re: something a couple pages back)

Dart is telling us there's no such thing as a 10/10 game, and if there is, it's wrong, because no game is perfect, and if you think it's perfect, you're wrong, because there is an absolute to the universe and when you find it, it's really cynical.

Call me a PoE fangirl if you want, because I think any tiny flaws the game may have can't pile together high enough to knock a point off for me. 10/10.

I don't know that I've ever given a game 10/10.

 

[HiddenX]

-> source

Obsidian producer-magician BAdler posted some very interesting news on the Obsidian forums:

Hey, everyone.

We couldn't be more happy about the success of Pillars of Eternity. You guys have been great with your feedback and support! Again, thank you very much.

We've been working hard on fixing bugs and stabilizing the game for 32-bit users. The 1.02 patch will be released shortly – hopefully before the weekend.

As a token of our gratitude for your past and ongoing support, we wanted to share some exciting new things we have in store for Pillars of Eternity. These features are scheduled to appear in the 1.10 update, which is currently slated for early summer.

First off, the big one: We are introducing turn-based combat. There will be a toggle for this at the start of the game, just next to Expert and Trial of Iron. This feature is very much the work of Tim Cain, and it makes Pillars of Eternity play a lot like the RPG classic The Temple of Elemental Evil.

Second, this will require an overhaul of the attributes system. We were never really one hundred percent happy with the current incarnation of the attributes, and this will give us the chance to balance it further while also introducing two new stats: Initiative and Action Points. These two stats are only available when playing in turn-based mode.

We are excited to share more details on this in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!​

I suppose it doesn't come as a complete surprise. After all, this is what Tim Cain said to mindx2 in our Codex PAX East interview:

Tim: I love turn-based games. This actually goes back to something Chris was saying, when I worked on South Park… right when I arrived there it was a real-time game and one of the things I was asked was to make it turn-based. It’s easy to turn real-time systems into turn-based ones, so I’m just throwing that out there [as he looks towards the other team members].

[laughter]

Tim: I’m familiar with a lot of these systems in Pillars and how to convert them. Again I’m just saying that…​

Thanks, Tim!

 

[JDR13]

I've been gaming for over 25 years, and I've never played a 10/10 game. For me, that's not something that could objectively exist.

I don't have a problem with other people saying something is a 10/10 for them though. I just never agree with them.

 

[DArtagnan]

(Re: something a couple pages back)

Dart is telling us there's no such thing as a 10/10 game, and if there is, it's wrong, because no game is perfect, and if you think it's perfect, you're wrong, because there is an absolute to the universe and when you find it, it's really cynical.

I've never said there's no 10/10 game - I've said perfection is impossible to achieve. But that's the real world - not fantasy land where you and Fluent like to dwell.

I have no problem with fantasy land and pink bunnies - it's just that it's not very useful for communication purposes.

J/K

Ok, so I can't establish objective truth anymore than anyone else - but I CAN state that water is wet and expect most of you to agree. Not all of you, clearly, but MOST of you.

Nah, you two are just emotionally driven people and that's ok. You're emotionally invested in the game right now - as in, you're in love with it. Very much like being in love with another person, you're blind to the flaws that WILL eventually reveal themselves.

The only issue with letting your emotions get in the way of rational thought is that this is a site with a lot of people trying to communicate with each other. Since we can't register emotions and we can't give our emotions away - we have to make do with words instead.

With words, you can translate the rational and specific into whatever emotions or exaggerations you want. But I think it's important not to confuse your own emotional investment with something everyone must share - because we're not ALL capable of being blind. We don't ALL fall for the same people.

That's not as bad as it must seem. It just means we're different, is all.

Saying PoE is perfect is really no different than saying your loved one is perfect and expecting other people to agree.

Call me a PoE fangirl if you want, because I think any tiny flaws the game may have can't pile together high enough to knock a point off for me. 10/10.

I don't know that I've ever given a game 10/10.

I think it's cute that you get so invested, but I don't think it's about being a fangirl.

You're only a fangirl if - when the flaws become evident, down the line - you STILL insist they're not there.

That's what separates the fangirl from the rational girl. The willful ignorance part

Being in love is wonderful. It's staying with the wrong person after the love part is over that's the problem.

 

[Drithius]

Tim Cain is awesome.

Looks like I won't be playing anytime soon.

Edit:Wait a sec.... it's April 1st....

Blah.

Tim is still awesome.

 

[Thrasher]

Source, the "troll central"

 

[Archangel]

Combat is a huge clusterfuck as soon as you are fighting with whole group vs 6+ enemies. When effects start flying and current order icon is so tiny, actions happen all without synch I don't even know which character is which and what each of them are doing. I am pausing every 2s (or more often) and trying to figure out over and over what is going on. And this is after 25h of playing the game, one would expect I was used to it by now.

But the fault is with game systems and its UI.
What would help:
1. Each party member selection circle has his own major color instead of all being same
2. Current action or next queue action being displayed on portrait where we can see it.
a bit harder to do:
3. Whole combat slowed down and damage deal by attacks lowered.
almost impossible to do:
4. turn combat in turn based.

 

[lostforever]

Tim Cain is awesome.

Looks like I won't be playing anytime soon.

Edit:Wait a sec…. it's April 1st….

Blah.

Tim is still awesome.

Fuck, I feel for it lol. I wanted this game to have turn based combat so badly :lol:

 

[Orákulum]

Combat is a huge clusterfuck as soon as you are fighting with whole group vs 6+ enemies. When effects start flying and current order icon is so tiny, actions happen all without synch I don't even know which character is which and what each of them are doing. I am pausing every 2s (or more often) and trying to figure out over and over what is going on. And this is after 25h of playing the game, one would expect I was used to it by now.

The combat feels fine at the start, but as the game progresses, the amount of micromanagement that is required to not die becomes quite ridiculous, even on medium difficulty. Icewind Dale did a great job of streamlining that combat system and making it feel more impactful, but PoE throws most of that work out the window and obfuscates the combat through hidden rolls and mechanics that I think most players won't have the patience to fully research.

 

[lostforever]

My thoughts after about 15 hours.... Bloody marvelous game chaps and chappettes!

I love the atmosphere and exploration this game has to offer so far and its up there with Gothic games but has completely different feel. The story and lore are very interesting and makes me want to learn more. I typically don’t like to read huge amount of text in games but I am reading a lot in this game so they much be doing something right.

I am IE game virgin in that I have never played BG or IWD games however I am familiar with D&D via NWN and KOTOR games. So it took me bit of time adjusting to the new rule set but I found it interesting so far and I think I can see its long term potential. I like learning and figuring out new systems so the changes they have made are welcome. Having said that, every time I face 5 or 6 enemies I wish the game uses turn based combat since I don’t feel I get much responsiveness or feedback the current system. Things seems bit too confusing…

I don’t know if it’s just my PC but the game has a washed out look to the background. I have played around with the gamma but still no luck. There aren’t any graphics options (is there any setting files?) so not sure what’s going on. Also I am bit disappointed by the graphics quality of the pre rendered backgrounds (specially out doors) for game released in 2015. I don’t know how to put it but I was expecting more here…

Pet peeve – why is the mini map bloody dark even after you have explored the areas?

So far I would rate it about 8.5/10.

 

[Morrandir]

I've played all IE games, BG trilogy multiple times and still I'm playing PoE on normal.
The challenge of combat isn't that important to me though, so I'm not an optimizer.

 

[Archangel]

The combat feels fine at the start, but as the game progresses, the amount of micromanagement that is required to not die becomes quite ridiculous, even on medium difficulty. Icewind Dale did a great job of streamlining that combat system and making it feel more impactful, but PoE throws most of that work out the window and obfuscates the combat through hidden rolls and mechanics that I think most players won't have the patience to fully research.

I don't have problems with mechanics or hidden rolls, just with how it is all presented and speed at which everything happens.

 

[DArtagnan]

I recommend using SweetFX with RadeonPro (works fine for Nvidia cards too) - to get a more vibrant and crisp look. I use it for most games, and I'm a huge fan of LumaSharpen, which gives games a very sharp and somehow more detailed look.

Obviously, it's down to subjective taste - and some people despise SweetFX.

 

[txa1265]

I recommend using SweetFX with RadeonPro (works fine for Nvidia cards too) - to get a more vibrant and crisp look. I use it for most games, and I'm a huge fan of LumaSharpen, which gives games a very sharp and somehow more detailed look.

Obviously, it's down to subjective taste - and some people despise SweetFX.

Thanks for that - will have to check it out when my new Alienware laptop arrives

 

[ChienAboyeur]

Thanks to my cat, I stand corrected:

You can (partially) hot key the quick bar.
It is achieved by hovering the mouse over the skill you want to hotkey and simply hit the key you want to associate. Neat and effective.

Gameplay changer as it removes the urge of pausing the game to put simple orders in.

So many battles are played in real time thanks to that.

Very strange that option is not publicized.

The combat feels fine at the start, but as the game progresses, the amount of micromanagement that is required to not die becomes quite ridiculous, even on medium difficulty. Icewind Dale did a great job of streamlining that combat system and making it feel more impactful, but PoE throws most of that work out the window and obfuscates the combat through hidden rolls and mechanics that I think most players won't have the patience to fully research.

Combat might appear messy for one reason over others: it is supposed to happen in real time and therefore a lot of information is expected to be delivered by real time channel.
Pausing the game interrupts the stream of information. So it gets harder and harder to follow the course of a battle the more you interrupt it.

Another source of disruption: the shift of focus caused by inputing orders via mouse (clicking on portrait and there looking for a specific skill then moving back to the target etc)
It drives to lose the flow of the ongoing battle.

The slow mode might be a convenient way to learn the interface, now there is an interface able to support real time inputs.

The level of micro management is low. Even on the hard settings, when a combat is properly engaged, this combat is meant to be short. The number of input orders by capita to achieve victory is low, maybe four or five (including orders to relocate)

Nothing that cant be tacked easily in real time. It is so low in access that I manage to tackle changes in encounter conditions (like unexpected reinforcements) in real time without ever pausing the game.

 

[Archangel]

The level of micro management is low. Even on the hard settings, when a combat is properly engaged, this combat is meant to be short. The number of input orders by capita to achieve victory is low, maybe four or five (including orders to relocate)

Nothing that cant be tacked easily in real time. It is so low in access that I manage to tackle changes in encounter conditions (like unexpected reinforcements) in real time without ever pausing the game.

Good for you. I and many others don't have SC2 level of micro control and don't want that kind of stress. You are like less then 1% of their player base.