Pillars of Eternity - Preview @ PC Gamer

I like it so long as the offset isn't that I need to do 8 million Fedex quests to get my characters to the appropriate level. I'm playing BGEE right now and wiping out the entire species of Ankeggs for the XP. Frankly, its boring, but each one is something like 1400XP, so its worth it. I like combat that makes sense in the story, not combat for the sake of getting XP.
 
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Fantasm said:
You do raise some valid concerns about the game systems, and one concern I have is that Sawyer and Avellone sometimes come across as the smartest guys in the room, and unwilling to really take in feedback. They've worked really hard on these game systems, and I hope they do some serious iteration on it to get it right, even if it means drastic changes to what they first envisioned. But I don't have a warm and fuzzy feeling that they'll take feedback seriously if it goes against their "vision".
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There is a big difference between giving feedback and being pissed off that PoE is not a clone of D&D...
 
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Hot topics on official beta forum:
"No Bad Builds" a failure in practice? 34 pages of posts
Hot 667 replies
17712 views

Poll Do you want experience from combat? A little more than half say yes, so far.
31 pages of discussion
Hot 617 replies
13076 views

Pretty disappointed, this launches in December?
28 pages of discussion Hot 549 replies 19854 views
No experience from combat-26 pages Hot 506 replies 9230 views

More like BG2 please
22 pages, etc.

Health & Stamina, failed design?
On "Degenerative Gameplay" - Fixing the Incentives for Healing and Scouting

The armor system needs work, etc.

So it's just not me….this time :D

P.S. Guys I want this to succeed. I wouldn't have paid $140 if I didn't have high hopes for this game. There are some valid concerns in what we've seen so far. My hope is that the game gets delayed so they can take the time to fix the issues.
 
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This happens if you are marketing your new game as IE games successor...
 
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crpgnut said:
My hope is that the game gets delayed so they can take the time to fix the issues.
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And I already told you it will not be delayed watch the video from last week.

There will be no delays because they can not afford it. ;)
HiddenX said:
This happens if you are marketing your new game as IE games successor…
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I think the smart thing is not to compare your new kickstarter game to anything as buyers will make huge assumptions on what your game should be like.

The only downside of that is you will then earn less money.

Update: People need to realize the Beta version is more like a small demo, and probably has nothing to do with the final product in a few months. At least I hope so.:please:
 
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crpgnut said:
P.S. Guys I want this to succeed. I wouldn't have paid $140 if I didn't have high hopes for this game. There are some valid concerns in what we've seen so far. My hope is that the game gets delayed so they can take the time to fix the issues.
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Did you replay the game since they updated it?
 
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HiddenX said:
This happens if you are marketing your new game as IE games successor…
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Quite so. I don't have beta access, but I just 'assumed' that even if the rule-set was new, it would play like an old IE DnD game: XP's for creatures, interesting choices/compromises to get a useful party (i.e. no homogenization of powers, taking on powers that are not always useful etc). I assumed that this was given. I must say I am a little disappointed by what I am hearing now. I hope they pay attention to the comments in the forums.
 
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azarhal said:
Did you replay the game since they updated it?
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I'm playing since 278, yes. I've only got a couple hours in azarhal, so my concerns are based on a small sample size. I have 3 maps or so to complete and I may change my tune. I hope I do. This one is a dirge :'(
 
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booboo said:
Quite so. I don't have beta access, but I just 'assumed' that even if the rule-set was new, it would play like an old IE DnD game: XP's for creatures, interesting choices/compromises to get a useful party (i.e. no homogenization of powers, taking on powers that are not always useful etc). I assumed that this was given. I must say I am a little disappointed by what I am hearing now. I hope they pay attention to the comments in the forums.
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I had to see the thread with people complaining about the missing combat XP to realize that it didn't give any. That's because I still leveled up anyway.

There is plenty of choices/compromise to get a useful party. There is plenty of options to make a really crappy one too (full rogue party should be crappy enough for everyone who wants a bad idea). I have no idea where people are taking the "homogenization of powers": not a single spells or class ability is shared among classes. The IE games are way more homogenized than PoE is.
 
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Hmmm, here is an example of overlap: I have a first level mirror image, a 2nd level mirror image and a 3rd level mirror image spell. They're all the same spell, just more images on higher levels. Why not keep this as a 1st level spell that just increases in power as you level up? It may. This might just be a limited subset of spells for the beta. That's my guess, but it's just a guess.

It's good that you're here to counterpoint with though. I really am just posting impressions that I'm sure will change. I kinda like a few of the town encounters and those are where the game has shined for me so far.
 
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HiddenX said:
Might as a damage enhancer for mages AND fighters is completely gamy and not intuitive. But you can of course create a balanced Muscle Wizard…
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I think one just needs to view it as a non-European form of magic. Your body generates the energy foundation, which is then leveraged and amplified through magic. It seems a bit more Dragon Ball Z in style, rather than Tolkienish…

Just think of it like the fire benders in The Last Airbender series. Their spells required a lot of intense physical activity.
 
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I think I'm too old for this…
I know neither Dragon Ball Z nor The Last Airbender.

You either try to make intuitive attributes that try to simulate the reality in a simplified way (classic IE)
or
you go directly for attributes like
Damage, Area, Duration, Penetration, Interrupt etc.

everything else is counterproductive.
 
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crpgnut said:
Hmmm, here is an example of overlap: I have a first level mirror image, a 2nd level mirror image and a 3rd level mirror image spell. They're all the same spell, just more images on higher levels. Why not keep this as a 1st level spell that just increases in power as you level up? It may. This might just be a limited subset of spells for the beta. That's my guess, but it's just a guess.
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I was talking about between classes like in D&D: druid and cleric share like half their spell list for example. I think redundancy in a class is needed the way the system per encounter/rest is working though if you want to avoid resting after each encounters.
 
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Humanity is so… Seriously.

We are getting a new game of this caliber. For the first time since Icewind Dale 2 wrapped over a decade ago. A game I have dreamed of for years now. And this BS is all what so many are talking about? Where is the joy? Where is the happiness?

I've played the beta and it felt like something they just whipped up in a hurry to fulfill this kickstarter promise of a backer beta. It doesn't necessarily have to say anything about their completely parallel game build.

These games have always primarily been about story, quests, characters… And we all know that especially these things are what Obsidian does best. Who cares if you get XP for every fight?!? All this means, is that you might for once try to circumvent certain encounters, unless you really have to or want to engage. Choice? Stakes?

So far it looks like Obsidian really understood what the IE games were about and managed to deliver just that. And they even managed to modernize some stuff without talking anything cool away. How can someone not be happy about that? What's wrong with people…
 
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ChaosTheory said:
Yeah, regarding that Feargus video… For anyone who is familiar with how to read body language— Feargus knows it won't be ready on time. Looking forward to the delay announcement. I have no problem with that. They have to get it right or any further KS by Obsidian will… not be as popular.
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The vid was published on August 28th, but I wonder when it took place and whether it was before or after the release of the beta. Feargus mentions that they will ship fairly soon, within a few weeks. It's already September 9th, so depending how serious they take all the criticism it's quite possible the game will release within the next week or two. This actually makes sense. They want to avoid competing with Dragon's Age which releases on November 18th, so it will be before DA.

In an interview with Josh a few months ago he was asked if there was any chance of the release date being pushed back. He basically said that it would not get delayed as all the money had been spent. The impression I got was this is a bit of a special case. It's actually a small project and although they are serious about PoE, they are not going to spend any extra time or money. It's not a AAA blockbuster game with a 20+ mil budget. All sourced funds have been used up and it's going to be released whether it's fully ready or not.
 
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@Malkavian

Like you I like a good story and good written characters. But in a CRPG I want good game mechanics, too. Otherwise I would play mostly Adventures or Visual Novels.
 
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HiddenX said:
@Malkavian

Like you I like a good story and good written characters. But in a CRPG I want good game mechanics, too. Otherwise I would play mostly Adventures or Visual Novels.
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The game mechanics are good. From what was shown so far, PoE mechanics are as good as they were in the original IE games.

It's just that, IMHO, the other stuff I mentioned is even more important. The best game mechanics don't matter, if the rest is shit. They just support the game.
 
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