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Myrthos

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On Wednesday the 13th and Thursday the 14th of August I'm trotting of to Gamescom again to look at some demos and interview people. Besides that I also expect to be entertained big time and be paid in all sort of goods for writing about games. Then again I have that excpectation every year and somehow I never receive much. I simply cannot be bought!
That, or I am doing something wrong :)

To prevent me from looking like an idiot with nothing sensible to ask I reach out to you, our dear readers of this wonderful place, to help me out and provide me with some questions I could ask.

Here is what appointments I have at the moment:


  • Interview with Larian Studios' Swen Vincke
  • Blackguards 2: demo and interview with producer Kai Fiebig
  • Ghost of a Tale: demo and interview with developer Seith
  • Raven's Cry: demo and interview with CEO Tadeusz Zuber
  • Interview with Ali Emek of Logic Artists (Expeditions: Conquistador)
  • Dragon Fin Soup: demo and interview with Ash Monif
  • The Witcher 3: demo and interview with someone (they never told me who)
  • Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms, demo and interview with head of development Peter Nagy
  • Jagged Alliance: Flashback, demo and interview with Thomas Hentschel Lund (Founder) and Andreas Jes Sørensen (Developer & Community Manager)
  • Pillars of Eternity, demo and interview with ??
  • Legends of Eisenwald, demo and interview with one of the devs.

As I also want to spent some time checking out the show itself, that about fills my calendar.

So…. Do you have questions you want me to ask, or things I should do? Comment on this post and let me know the question(s) and for which game(s).

More information.
 
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Wow man!

Very impressive list of impressive studios/game developers!
1) Could you please ask Ali Emek (Logic Artists) about their next project - I haven't finished Expeditions: Conquistador but I was very impressed with the game and its tactical combat - or will there be any DLCs or expansion packs or mission packs for Conquistador?
2) I would also love to know how many guns will be there in Jagged Alliance: Flashback. In Australian mag PC Powerplay - whenever they mention Jagged Alliance 2 they refer to it as gun porn (especially JA2 mod ver 1.13). I truly hope there will be heaps as their trailer "promised"!

Have fun at the convention and please bring some good news!

Cheers!
 
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Getting the latest sales numbers for D:OS from Swen would be very interesting. Last we heard was 250K, but that was 3 weeks ago.
 
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Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms

In Kult: Heretic Kingdoms attunements were the major form of skill progression. Various weapons and armor would have an attunement that would unlock after a certain amount of experience was gained in using the item. Is this the same or have attunements changed? If so, how?

How has the Dreamworld changed since the days of Kult? Is it still possible to switch realities to heal or escape a bad situation?

Which ending is canon for Shadows? Did Alita choose the godhood or did she give it up to the other member of the Inquisition, Carissa?

Also, on planet Earth Wednesday the 13th is typically followed by Thursday the 14th, so explain the magic used to subvert Thursday into Friday because I need this power at work! :biggrin:
 
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Probably you'll not get a reply.. but it'd be really interesting to know some sort of systen specs for TW3…… so that we can start planning our system upgrades!

Edit: According to rumors the Titan 780 Ti will not be enough to run the game on ultra setting.... :[
 
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In Blackguards towns were a static background with very little to do in them but click on the "floaties". How has town interactions been improved in the 2nd game?
 
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Also, on planet Earth Wednesday the 13th is typically followed by Thursday the 14th, so explain the magic used to subvert Thursday into Friday because I need this power at work! :biggrin:
Just checking if you were paying attention :D
 
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  • Interview with Larian Studios' Swen Vincke
I'd like to hear about a roadmap of sorts for further development of DOS. For how much longer do they plan to support the game with new content updates? When can we expect the final patch? When is the game going to be 'complete'?
And when is the next Kickstarter campaign going to be launched?


On a more peripheral note, I would also be interested to know if they are still doing non-gaming related stuff like their edutainment software and jingles for TV etc. - I was surprised to hear that DOS was their only project since I found it hard to imagine that they could sustain the whole company from those revenues alone. So the question is if it is their only gaming-related project or really the only one in an overall sense?


  • The Witcher 3: demo and interview with someone (they never told me who)
Similar question as with Larian: When can we expect the inevitable Enhanced Edition to be released? Do they already have plans for the Enhanced Edition? What are these plans?


Other than that: Have fun Myrthos! :) … And make them buy you lots of drinks. If that fails: Just steal their drinks with your pick-pocketing skills :biggrin: .
 
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First of all, I wish you a lot of fun on GamesCom and in Germany in general!

Somehow needed to say that, had to welcome you to Germany, even if I have nothing to do with gamescom and don't even live in Germany myself anymore. ^^

I guess one thing, while not related to RPGs, I would check out for sure is the Oculus Rift, at least if you didn't do so before.

About blackguards there was this thread before: http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24901
But I am not sure if it's still in the works. Considering the boxed release of Blackguards 1 I'd like to know if they will do anything different with the boxed release of Blackguards 2.

One additional thing which might be of interest is Book of Unwritten Tales 2 by King Arts (also KS financed) which should be present at gamescom. The first game was a great homage to RPGs.

Another game would be Zpocalypse. They mentioned in an update 2 months ago that they want to be at gamescom as well. Especially interested in impressions of the game. This was a failed kickstarter which will hopefully succeed the 2nd round.
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...lypse-survival-post-nuclear-zombie-apocalypse
 
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Probably you'll not get a reply.. but it'd be really interesting to know some sort of systen specs for TW3…… so that we can start planning our system upgrades!

Edit: According to rumors the Titan 780 Ti will not be enough to run the game on ultra setting…. :[

I don't think that's too surprising given the fact that it is still nearly impossible to run The Witcher 2 with reasonable framerates when you have "uber sampling" enabled.
So I'd take those rumors with a grain of salt. Yes, maybe it will be impossible to run the game with crazy settings on high end hardware but it will certainly run just fine if you tune it down a few notches w/o losing too much image quality.
I wouldn't be too worried about it. After all this game will also be released on consoles so it can't be overly demanding.
 
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About blackguards there was this thread before: http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24901
But I am not sure if it's still in the works. Considering the boxed release of Blackguards 1 I'd like to know if they will do anything different with the boxed release of Blackguards 2.
I'm sad to say it's not in the works as they haven't replied to any further e-mails. I gave Myrthos the questions so he can use them in his interview instead.

This is why I don't bother with larger developers they never respond.:-/
 
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I'm sad to say it's not in the works as they haven't replied to any further e-mails. I gave Myrthos the answers so he can use them in his interview instead.

This is why I don't bother with larger developers they never respond.:-/

Ah :(
Maybe they are just slow though. Had to wait over 2 months for a Let's Play permission (you are not allowed to do Let's Plays of their games without one).
 
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Hi there,

It'd be really nice if you could ask the following questions to the Raven's Cry guys:


1. Will every character, who uses a sword/sabre/rapier,dagger have a scabbard for every weapon in the characters possession?
2. Will the muskets have slings?
3. Will every character, who uses pistols have holsters for every pistol?
4. Will the ships be fixed and will they look like ships from the 18th century and not from the 19th century?


5. Will it be possible to use human shields in combat?
6. Will it be possible to use civilian as human shields in combat
7. Will it be possible to kidnap civilians and use them in order to escape combat situations?
8. Will it be possible to hide bodies?
9. Will dead bodies simply disappear or will they stay forever and serve as an gameplay element?
10. Will it be possible to throw used pistols and other objects?

11. Will it be possible to use used pistols as a club?
12. Will it be possible to bribe city officials?
13. Will there be wanted posters?

14. How does the quick-travel looks like (is it a teleportation or something more fancy)?
15. Is it possible to get a letter of marquee and be a privateer?
16. Is it possible to sack cities?
17. How does the boarding works?

Last and most important question: Will the game be really released October 14th or will it delayed. (I hope for the latter as the latest video only shown an alpha)

Questions 1-12 are very important PLEASE ASK THEM! Thank you very much and have fun @gamescom.
 
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Don't you think that these are a little bit toooo specific? ^^
Was almost expecting
"Will it be possible to use bodies of kidnapped civilians as human shields in combat in order to escape combat situations?" ;)

What difference does it make if these ships are from 18th or 19th century? Isn't the game based in a fantasy setting anyways? Or do the ships currently break the logic of this setting, like using technology which would be used in other situations as well? (serious question)
 
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Check Paradox Development Studio for their first tactical RPG, Runemaster (think release is at the end of the year but not much has been shown yet)
 
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"Hello, my name is Myrthos. You might remember me from games such as Divinity: Original Sin." Yeah, they'll be in awe. Just don't marry anyone there no matter how much they beg, OK?

Getting the latest sales numbers for D:OS from Swen would be very interesting. Last we heard was 250K, but that was 3 weeks ago.
This for sure!

I'm also curious if they know roughly how many people are getting, say, half way through the game. If the achievements are any measure (and they might not be), it isn't many. If it isn't very many, is that a concern for them or did they expect low numbers?

Edit: According to rumors the Titan 780 Ti will not be enough to run the game on ultra setting…. :[
I know some game announced that they were future proofing their game by making the "ultra" settings beyond what current technology can do. Was it Witcher 3? Well, whatever the case, I'm sure the "high" settings will still look plenty awesome.
 
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I'm also curious if they know roughly how many people are getting, say, half way through the game. If the achievements are any measure (and they might not be), it isn't many. If it isn't very many, is that a concern for them or did they expect low numbers?

I am pretty sure that the achievements are quite representative, though players not using steam might have a more "hardcore" average finish rate. But I doubt it makes more than a 5% difference total.
But I also find the second question extremely interesting. Was wondering that for several games now. Avadon 1 for example has a rate of just 35% for "meet the king", the first achievement you get after the first couple of hours. And as Jeff stated in the AMA he will probably keep future games a little shorter. Probably as a result of that (but I think he didn't explicitly named this reason).
 
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Your list is pretty good. If you can add Lords of the Fallen and Hellraid to the list all the better. I want the hear the gameplay impressions from a fellow RPGWatcher.
 
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