Bard's Tale IV - Patch Plans

I've played a few hours and am having a good time. It does need the patching and optimization. As a big Bard's Tale fan, I'm not sure why they don't start you in the Adventures Guild and let you make a party right away? Also, class selection seems a little lacking. What if I wanted to make a paladin or ranger right away?

Seems weird running around with one character after the opening scenes when you first enter the sewers. Think I may wait for a few patches to start playing again.

They've tried (from what I've seen and heard) to make this game very accessable. The only problem is they sold the game to a base of hardcore old fans who didn't expect the level of handholding and simplification early on. I will try to judge the game on its own merits, even if it seems very far removed in many ways from the original games.
I think this strategy has some telling flaws. You need new players to buy the game, but you're angering your backers who will write your first reviews, and many of them will be unhappy ones. Since a game needs to sell well early on, bad reviews can really hurt sales. And that keeps new players away.
 
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This seems to happen on as many games as it does not. Release day is poor or very poor, issues get fixed, and then for those who waited (which is what I almost always do) it is as if the release issues did not exist.

So when I read about frame rates, crashes, and keys not delivered while I feel bad for those who jumped in on day one, they don't affect my anticipation at eventually playing the game.

I am still looking forward to this.
 
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I've been playing for awhile and enjoying the game. It's a bit rough around the edges at times, but in terms of actual bugs the ones I've seen have all been graphical glitches. They can be somewhat jarring but don't effect game play at all. If you could deal with DD2 on launch, you could probably deal with this (DD2 had fewer jarring graphics bugs but more broken game play bugs).

Of course if your on fence or your just more patient than I am, it never hurts to wait for patches.
 
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It makes sense, unfortunately.

They have to get this on the market by September to make the Christmas rush. They need the cash of the early sales now to patch it. They sold Bard's Tale remastered separately because it was finished with some polish surprisingly (the first game anyway, and with a bungled first attempt). If Dungeon Lords is any example, people will buy this type of game based on the name alone.

The game itself, well it needs to keep to modern expectations. The fun of watching your first level characters die spectacularly and often has not been a popular design choice since players were out with pitchforks after the first IWD. Dice roll mechanics were removed from Elder Scrolls in favor of twitch play at the same time (also a common complaint on EQ).

I've enjoyed watching the gameplay from the videos so I do look forward to this. Much more so than the last Bard's Tale. Let's hope they can survive the the initial launch complaints to patch this up. Few people retract their initial complaints though, if W&W on GOG is any indication.
 
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I dont think ive bought a game at launch in a couple years. (Well i have bought them to support a company but not played). Im not one to replay games multiple times so i always like waiting a good 6 months or so for things to iron out.

I bought pillars of eternity at launch and jumped in...had a bug where a door couldnt be accessed. They patched it in a couple days but i dont want to feel like a guinea pig while playing a game...i get it has to go this way, but being a dad my game time is limited so i imagine its less painful for someone who has many more hours of weekly gaming time.
 
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I'm not a blobber guy is why I can wait. I'm a single-character, open-world, first person guy. Other games can wait for a year or more to drop in price or be bundled. I've also become somewhat of a survival gamer too, so I snap those up quick now. I'll end up buying Bard's Tale IV someday and I already bought the remakes.
 
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First off, I enjoy the game, but I am also looking forward to patches.

Regarding skipping cut-scenes: It does not seem to be consistent. Some are simply unskippable. I skipped some with space.
 
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Still waiting for grid-based movement. I had thought this was in by default, but now it seems it's part of "legacy mode" for some far-off patch. Odd priorities…
 
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So far I can skip them all with right click.

Me too. I restarted the game because I chose the warrior portrait without realising my bard would look like a guy in full plate the entire game. Not ok. All the cutscenes were skippable with space and/or right click...
 
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Are you sure? I've read in multiple reviews now that skipping cutscenes isn't possible.
Might also be a difference between different kinds of cutscenes.

It worked for the first cutscene but going by what I've read from others right click seems a more reliable way to do it.
 
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I certainly couldnt skip Rabbie's speech (the one he delivers when reaching the guild house below).
 
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I had no trouble skipping the first cut scene of the game at least, have done so 10+ times already.

While a bit late those patch notes do show that they are working hard on things and with some time the game should be a great experience.
I have truly enjoyed watching the game getting streamed so am pretty sure I will have a great time when I do finally play myself too.
 
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For me, my biggest gripe at Character creation was the lack of choice for avatars; some had only male choices and some only female (like elves), WHAT!!!! That is AMATEUR!!!!
 
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Well, I was much too optimistic when I thought this game would run on my intergrated Intel HD 4000 graphics with lowest detail and somewhat acceptable 20 fps ;) What I got is single digits. I rarely have access to my desktop PC, so running some games on my laptop is the only way to go ;)
 
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My biggest grip is the inability to make places on the map. It is very difficult to find places esp those that have no markers. My second biggest grip is the stupid abilities button.
 
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Is there an easy way to measure the Fps? I would be interested to see what I get considering people real power rigs have problems.
 
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Is there an easy way to measure the Fps? I would be interested to see what I get considering people real power rigs have problems.

Better not. Enjoy the games just as you've been doing. Once you install a FPS meter then you'll start giving it too much importance. Like the case in this game, it's not a shooter or an action game, who cares if it's 25 or 55 FPS?
 
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I do find that once FPS drops below a certain threshold, it becomes distracting, even in a non-twitch game. I do think they've made a mistake in making such a game demanding on the hardware.
 
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