Stretch goals

The stretch goals seem a little underwhelming this time around, though probably more realistic. I guess they learned their lesson from the previous KS.
The stretch goal I am most interested in is the "undead origins" one.

From the comments on the KS page:
So on the day/night cycle (Swen here again) - what we're trying to do at the narrative & scripting level is really complicated and my head is too small to even contemplate adding yet another extra dimension of complexity to that. The impact of your origins combined with at higher level of freedom than the already insane amount D:OS gave together with the option of multiplayer = complex development, and until we tame all of that, we won't add an extra layer. Perhaps for a next game, but definitely not for this one.

While I would love to see day/night cycle and NPC routines myself, I don't think it's happening.

Any word on how many companions will be available? I know you can recruit up to 3, but I wonder how many will be available to choose from? And do you "unlock" (as in find, or they become available after a quest) these, or are they available right from the start?
I'd like to see stretch goals that increase the number and variety of companions if possible, and maybe the option to customize their appearance and skills (for co-op purposes).

Any stretch goals you guys'd like to see?

Originally Posted by wiretripped
Any word on how many companions will be available? I know you can recruit up to 3, but I wonder how many will be available to choose from?

I think just those three but they are going to be extremely detailed due to the origin stories and AFAIK they will be getting full voice overs, too.

I'd like to see stretch goals that increase the number and variety of companions if possible, and maybe the option to customize their appearance and skills (for co-op purposes).

Well, sounds to me like you are underestimating what they are trying to do with these companions. They are all going to have their origin stories, their own history, their own motives and goals etc. - They're not just (more or less) braindead followers as in most games. Larian's plan here is to really bring the companions to life and give them their own personality.
Another fully fleshed out companion would probably add months of extra development time.
I'm perfectly fine with "only" the three companions because less companions will mean more focus and thus deeper, more fleshed out companions. IMHO depth > breadth/variety.

Any stretch goals you guys'd like to see?

Since I'm getting my 4-player cooperative mode AND what seems like a more serious and immersive story, my only remaining serious problem with D:OS is the random loot.

If they manage to implement hand-placed loot, then this looks like the ultimate party-based fantasy CRPG done in a traditional style.

I'm usually not too keen on this kind of throwback to old-school tradition, but I think what they've done in terms of cooperative gameplay warrants my support.

Apart from NWN, I don't think there's a fantasy CRPG out there with this level of intricacy and depth when it comes to cooperative multiplayer.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
If they manage to implement hand-placed loot, then this looks like the ultimate party-based fantasy CRPG done in a traditional style.

Nah. The "ultimate" would have day&night+NPC cycles/schedules, a dynamic weather system and even changing seasons (all with gameplay implications like dedicated night content or impassable mountain trails in winter!).
Oh well, hopefully one day when they get around to making that legendary "very big RPG to dwarf them all" or whatever Swen is calling it .

Originally Posted by Moriendor
Nah. The "ultimate" would have day&night+NPC cycles/schedules, a dynamic weather system and even changing seasons (all with gameplay implications like dedicated night content or impassable mountain trails in winter!).
Oh well, hopefully one day when they get around to making that legendary "very big RPG to dwarf them all" or whatever Swen is calling it .

I don't really get why people think day/night cycles are so important to their fun - but to each his own

I'd like it for immersion, but it makes very little practical difference to me. In fact, I tend to find it very annoying when developers turn day/night or weather into a gameplay thing. It's the kind of thing that sounds cool in theory, but would take a huge amount of work to integrate into gameplay in a satisfying manner.

Originally Posted by Moriendor
Well, sounds to me like you are underestimating what they are trying to do with these companions. They are all going to have their origin stories, their own history, their own motives and goals etc. - They're not just (more or less) braindead followers as in most games. Larian's plan here is to really bring the companions to life and give them their own personality.
Another fully fleshed out companion would probably add months of extra development time.
I'm perfectly fine with "only" the three companions because less companions will mean more focus and thus deeper, more fleshed out companions. IMHO depth > breadth/variety.

I get that it'll be a lot of work, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see more.

Though, they could work around that by giving you the option to customize the companions to an extent. Name and skills should be doable, and an origin. And then the race options would probably be restricted based on the chosen origin. If they're doing full voice-overs, then I guess being able to pick your gender is not worth the development time/added cost of voice recordings.
But really, I'd rather not have the voice-overs and more flexibility in customizing my companions.

Originally Posted by wiretripped
I know you can recruit up to 3, but I wonder how many will be available to choose from? And do you "unlock" (as in find, or they become available after a quest) these, or are they available right from the start?

You start the game with a full party "right from the start" (or at least early enough to be considered that). Also, if I read previews properly (and they are accurate) seems like the origins they have are the potential party members of the game. You basically select who you play among them (and if they have more than 4 of them, probably who you get to play with too).

Originally Posted by azarhal
You start the game with a full party "right from the start" (or at least early enough to be considered that). Also, if I read previews properly (and they are accurate) seems like the origins they have are the potential party members of the game. You basically select who you play among them (and if they have more than 4 of them, probably who you get to play with too).

Thanks for the info. Then, does this mean, with the next stretch goal in mind: extra origin == extra available companion?
It would make sense as, from what I gather, it's the origins that "drive" the companions.

Some relevant snippets out of the very extensive Codex report:

However, Swen took great pains to stress that these companions were as fully fleshed out and viable as any PC: “When you're in character creation, you'll be able to select many characters, and actually all of these characters could be your main player character. They all have their own origin story.” Even so, you will be able to freely chose your PC's origin, making him the double crossing thief, the heir, or somebody else entirely, based on all the origins coded into the game. You can even play somebody with no origin at all. You just won't be able to recruit a companion with the same origin as your main PC.

Currently, only the four backgrounds from the prototype are implemented in the game, but there will definitely be more – it's just not clear how many more. This uncertainty is further compounded by the Kickstarter stretch goals, which are planned to include options for additional races (currently only human, wood elf, dwarf, and lizard are planned) and backgrounds.

From the following interview:

Kieron: I guess like, like you said, the ambition is that- we're hoping, first of all that you won't be just picking 4 characters, there'll actually be a selection. So if you play the single player game, and there's 6 or 8 or 10 [recruitable companions at the start] – whatever it is – and I pick 4 characters to play with, our hope is that these 4 characters will feel alive as a group much more than just your standard companion that just reacts to what you do and says "oh, I didn't like that" or "I did like that."

Watch: When you start the game, you create only one character, right?

Sarah: Yeeee…..eees. It's still on the table… but so far, yeah.

Watch: And you've got three you pick up or select.

Bubbles: In prison – that's what Swen said.

Sarah: In prison? Oh, I'm not sure – I think Swen has more advanced knowledge about how it's gonna end up.

Watch: The single character, you still select the background story for it, right? How does that work then, do you pick it from a multitude of background stories? Do you select key words?

Sarah: Well, right now, we're going to figure out how many backgrounds we can realistically make meaningful in the world. Right now, we have four – we saw what kind of challenge that was, developing this prototype, making sure all four backgrounds have different ways people can respond to them, different stuff to talk about with different people, different interests in the town – and then we're gonna see how many of these we can do well in a larger game. It could be that you start the game and have 15 backgrounds to choose from, and you can pick one – or you can pick neutral, [if] you wanna role play your background. There will be some where your race is completely tied to your background – so if you're from the Isle of Lizards, and used to be a dragon, then you have to be a lizard to play that [background].

Kieron: Your backgrounds may also dictate things like your race, your species, and also your gender – it depends on how easily we can separate your background from those. Whichever background you pick will actually exclude it from being a companion background.

Highlights are mine.
So, it does sound like there's going to be more than just the four. From the above, it only sounds like a small step to allow companion customiZation.

Yes they mentioned a potential 15, but they don't really know. Every origins adds an extra layer to all the dialogues, so that means a lot of extra work. That will be the limiting factor I think. They want to make the backgrounds diverse, so that there is something for everyone, but also that it allows for competitive gameplay, regardless of the combination of companions you select.

I doubt you will be able to modify the companions at the start as that would not match their goals in which they want to create different companions to choose from. You can role play them and change their abilities and also modify the tags that make up their origins to some extent, based on the choices that are made.

All origins will be unique. If you select an origin for your character, the companion with that origin will not be available for selection anymore.
If you want to be able to select from all origins, you need to select the blank slate for your character.
Also, as it is now, you are stuck to your companions once selected. You do not get to select a new companion if you don't like that character and they are all selected at the beginning of the game.

The only character that you can modify to some extent, is the character you start the game with.

I hope the bring something new to the genre besides 4 player coop, which I have no interest in whatsoever. Waste of resources to me.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
I hope the bring something new to the genre besides 4 player coop, which I have no interest in whatsoever. Waste of resources to me.

What would be less than no interest?

Huh???

Originally Posted by Thrasher
Huh???

you have no interest in 4 player co-op I have even less interest than none .

Gotcha.

Originally Posted by CelticFrost
What would be less than no interest?

That would be #DIV/0!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7UYk-pHmww

Chris Avellone (Planescape: Torment; Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2, Fallout: New Vegas) will develop and write one of the playable origin stories in the game, meaning fans of his work will get to play through Divinity: Original Sin 2, Avellone-style.

I'll know which one to avoid, then