Original Sin - Update #8, Single Player, Talents and Traits

Myrthos

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The Kickstarter for Divinity: Original Sin is now at $375K, which means there is only #25K to go in order for it to reach it's goal. In update number 8 they talk about single player, somebody else dropping in and out of the game, traits and talents and more.
Party-based
You start the game with two avatars in your party. Let's call them Roderick and Scarlett for now. Obviously when starting the game you can name and customize them. And yes, you can also play this game with two men or two women, it doesn't always have to be man/woman.
Roderick and Scarlett are the true heroes of this tale, and they'll always be in your party, but should you feel the need for reinforcements, you can recruit two extra party members.
Split up
Except in a few special circumstances, your party doesn't need to stay together. Sometimes the game will ask you to gather your party first, usually only when going from zone to zone, but our zones are very big (think Divine Divinity big).
But in one zone, including its houses, cellars, and dungeons, it means that you can control Scarlett to explore an underground cave while Roderick buys some fresh fish on the market. (Each hero's henchman will follow his master.)
For example
Because Divinity: Original Sin features a turn-based combat system, this can lead to pretty interesting situations.
For instance: you switch to Scarlett, and in the cave, she encounters a friendly community of unfortunate ghosts, and has lengthy conversations with them, trying to understand why their souls aren't floating towards the Hall Of Echoes.
You switch to Roderick and, shopping around, realize he doesn't have enough gold to pay for his fish. So you try your hand at stealing. Lacking the necessary skills and talents for conducting successful theft, another shopper catches Roderick in the act and calls for the guards. Roderick is a bit short of temper and he's also on a mission to save Rivellon: there's no way he's going to put up with such foolery as going to jail, so he resists arrest and draws his sword.
Turn-based combat starts on the market, and several guards, as well as some market-goers that feel up to it, join the fight. Roderick has a high initiative, and in your first turn, you manage to conjure an earth elemental to even the odds a bit before any of the guards can even make their move. But there are a lot of guards...
Read more at their Kickstarter page.
More information.
 
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This game oozes with great features.
 
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I guess name recognition is everything with kickstarters. This game sounds every bit as good or better than games like project eternity, torment, shroud, etc.

I just can't understand the underwhelming response and funding. At this point I would pull my funding from all my other kickstarters to fund this one if I could. I know everyone has different tastes but there really should be more interest out there and a feeding frenzy here at the watch. They seem to be addressing just about every issue I've read over and over here about what's lacking in modern RPG's.

As I said I know it's all personal interests and the like but I'm baffled that this game isn't soaring through 1,2,3 million and beyond in funding.

I only had time to watch about 20 min of that video but it needs to be plastered everywhere. I've heard some complain that their videos are too long and such but if you watch them you get a very clear idea of what this game will be. I've followed other kickstarts for a full month and wasn't really sure by the end what the were making so I guess I don't understand the video is too Long complaint.

Anyway, sorry for the rant but I sorta kinda like this game.:)
 
I just can't understand the underwhelming response and funding. At this point I would pull my funding from all my other kickstarters to fund this one if I could. I know everyone has different tastes but there really should be more interest out there and a feeding frenzy here at the watch. They seem to be addressing just about every issue I've read over and over here about what's lacking in modern RPG's.

The problem I see with Original Sin (and the reason why I'd never plede 100+ $ to it as I've done with others) is that it doesn't have anything that sets it apart. This problem actually permeates all the Divinity's. There's some humour, some world interactivity, combat is some fun as is character building (huge number of skills but many balancing issues).

If you liked the IE games, or DnD games in general, P:E is your best bet. Torment is great if you're into story. Shroud is for fags people who liked Ultima Online, or who just have a crush on RG. With Original Sin, right now, I really don't know what kind of gamer I'd recommend it to (I know who not to recommend it to though due to it being turn based generic fantasy). There are some novel elements like drop-in multiplayer and the stat driven banter that I'm unsure about how it will play out.
I've liked DivDiv very much, disliked BeyondDiv very much, and have never played DKS (due to old hardware when it came out). If they just meet their funding goal and ship a decent game, I'll be happy and pick it up. The stretch goals really aren't things that would make the game much better for my taste.
 
I probably would have pledged if the alpha and beta access had come in around $75. That's the only thing that would get me to pre-buy the game. Unfortunately, they want $150 donation for guinea pigs, which is ridiculous. I just see greed everywhere I look when I visit the kickstarter page. I wonder if they're afraid that Dragon Commander is going to tank, so they're trying this to avert bankruptcy ;)
 
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The problem I see with Original Sin (and the reason why I'd never plede 100+ $ to it as I've done with others) is that it doesn't have anything that sets it apart.

I say this in the most respectful, non-hostile, non-adversarial way, but wow I couldn't disagree more with that.

Over 3 decades now I've been actively searching for games that stand out over the glut of "same-y" gameplay and in my view, DD (and it appears that OS too) definitely stands out as one of those games.
 
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I probably would have pledged if the alpha and beta access had come in around $75. That's the only thing that would get me to pre-buy the game. Unfortunately, they want $150 donation for guinea pigs, which is ridiculous. I just see greed everywhere I look when I visit the kickstarter page. I wonder if they're afraid that Dragon Commander is going to tank, so they're trying this to avert bankruptcy ;)

You have such a cheerful outlook on things, nut ;)
News at eleven: KS is not about getting good deals, although such may occasionally be available; it's about giving support to projects you are interested in, in exchange for some gifts or rewards. Therefore "greed" doesn't even make sense.
Beta and alpha access, if they are given as rewards at all, have to be somewhat limited, otherwise developers will ll go crazy trying to track feedback and supporting it during the test phase, or create bad mood if they can't do that. At the same time it's something some people covet and are willing to pledge for.
 
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I've pledged $65 but would have gone further except for 2 reasons: I'm a little low on cash at the moment and also I'll need to cough up shipping fees (I'm in Singapore) for the physical goods.

But all that I've seen of the game so far is fantastic. I love the art-style, the Larianesque humor, turn based combat, world design, dialogue system.

And I greatly appreciate their stance on not inflicting DRM on gamers and their refusal to pander to the common denominator and throw map markers and other various giant foolproof indicators to guide the slow of thinking.

Hmmm, you know what? In the end, I might just scrape together a little more cash and up my pledge. ;)
 
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Over 3 decades now I've been actively searching for games that stand out over the glut of "same-y" gameplay and in my view, DD (and it appears that OS too) definitely stands out as one of those games.

Uhm... DivDiv's gameplay was an amalgam of Ultima 7's cutesy NPCs and world interactivity with Diablo-esque combat and character building. What exactly is it that you find unique about the Divinity's?
 
I made my pledge. I finally read something that convinced me I would be interested in playing even if they don't get the last two tiers (which are two I really want). I did $65 - enough for a copy of the game. It is looking pretty cool and while I never finished any of their games I still got enough fun out of them I never felt I had wasted my money.
 
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There's one other difference between the Original Sin kickstarter and the PE/WL2/Torment ones. The latter were 'pledge or this doesn't happen' deals. Original Sin is going to come out whether the KS succeeds or fails -- they're going for polish. Psychologically that makes a difference.
 
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Uhm… DivDiv's gameplay was an amalgam of Ultima 7's cutesy NPCs and world interactivity with Diablo-esque combat and character building. What exactly is it that you find unique about the Divinity's?

From the 'tone' of your response it's doubtful I'll change your mind but here goes for what it's worth. I wrote my own review of the game on Gamespot years ago to help fill in some detail of things I'll say in this post.

Divine Divinity wasn't revolutionary in terms of the kinds of gameplay features it offered. I too saw the U7 & Diablo 2 connection. But it also had a fairly good story to tell which I compared to BG2 (though BG2's story is far better).

While most RPGs today focus on a certain aspect of RPG whether it's the storytelling of Dragon Age or the tactical combat of Neverwinter Nights 2, or the sandbox experience that is TES. But DD offered world simulation, character development/combat, & storytelling in a single game and took those features to noteworthy levels.

3 complex feature-sets all under one hood and done quite well. That's why it stands out to me.
 
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Divine Divinity is hands down the best isometric crpg that isn't party-based.
I honestly can't think of another that's even close. Just my opinion...
 
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I'm at the $65 tier myself. Currently for the digital double pack with Dragon Commander ( a really good deal I think 2x OS, so I can play coop, plus Dragon Commander which I am very interested in anyway), though I may consider changing to the box, if they clarify the shipping in Europe thingy.
 
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