Pillars of Eternity Beta Discussion [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Duraframe300]

Infinitron Sensuki

SA is in its block phase. Can you guys update us if Jlsh posts something again?

 

[Sensuki]

What the fuck have they done to the balance in this patch. I have taken no damage at all yet

banal

 

[Bubbles]

Why should combat be challenging if you don't get xp for it?

 

[mutonizer]

There is no balance with anything, that was my point earlier. They are currently in the same phase DnD Next was when they started adjusting things in their system, without changing the monsters to cope. Once the basics will be ironed out and in a freeze state, then they'll start handling monsters/encounters/items and whatnot.

The only balancing you can find in PoE currently is between characters of your own party and that really is the only way to test anything and this needs to happen fast as I mentioned, because re-balancing every single encounter in your game on 4 different difficulties isn't something you can do overnight.

 

[Infinitron]

They're halving and doubling.

 

[mutonizer]

They're halving and doubling.

Yea I heard, which is a problem in itself since only people who don't understand shit about a given system, care about quantity more than quality or have no clue what encounter design means, would use this. But ok, they're using this, fine...still need to get started on it at some point and that can't happen until they freeze their basic mechanics and it's way too unstable for now.

 

[Sensuki]

They're halving and doubling.

They're Derpa derping.

The smart thing to do would be to actually think about what the problems are rather than trying random fucking nerfs and buffs.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

Derpa Derping.

 

[Sensuki]

mutonizer was it you who said that multiple pauses in a row breaks combat sounds ?

 

[Hormalakh]

I guess this is a symptom of waiting "until the end" to finalize core components like the attribute system

 

[mutonizer]

mutonizer was it you who said that multiple pauses in a row breaks combat sounds ?

err, nope. I don't use or have tested pause much personally.

 

[mastroego]

So all the flavor and logic are taken away to make room for Spreadsheet Balanced Superformulas and now it's down to desperate random attempts?
To this I will say lol

 

[Abu Antar]

Did other encounters get nerfed? I remember the spider cave being ridicilous in v278 on hard. (I liked the beetle encounters.)

 

[Derek Larp]

[...] trying random fucking nerfs and buffs.

At least with this method the probability of the game being perfectly balanced at release becomes certain

Spoiler

as development time approaches infinty.

 

[mutonizer]

Did other encounters get nerfed? I remember the spider cave being ridicilous in v278 on hard. (I liked the beetle encounters.)

Irrelevant really. Dots and effects are not finalized, mobs are not balanced with the new attribute system, combat mechanics still too unstable to test anything properly outside of a confined environment.

They put mobs in there for show, what they should have done is put testing dummies with DT/Attribute variations with on/off toggle for specific abilities you want to test/simulate and the like. Once that's done you start working on an encounter generator to check things out in a more complex setting, then you apply what you learn to how you design encounters. Hopefully they do that internally...

 

[SymbolicFrank]

Geeesh...I swear every time Mr. Sawyers writes something or talks, the only thing I see is an awful GM nobody wants to play with because he sucks balls, so he ends up being a game designer to make sure he got his way.

How is that even remotely close to the IE experience is beyond me...

Nah, he just wants to win. That's what the game is designed to accomplish: us grudgingly acknowledging that the only way to make it into a good game is to have him do whatever he wants.

Because he's making sure that any other way sucks balls.

 

[Zed]

gonna be interesting to see how they balance the game for 40+ hours or whatever. also consider item impact. although I heard they want BG-like "low power" uniques because OP weapons would be too much fun.

 

[mutonizer]

gonna be interesting to see how they balance the game for 40+ hours or whatever. also consider item impact. although I heard they want BG-like "low power" uniques because OP weapons would be too much fun.

Lot of work, that's for sure.
In games like these, dialogs and story is of course a factor, but well designed and properly balanced encounters are also something that matters a lot, especially in the long run as people test the game replay-ability with different builds, higher difficulty, etc. Add to that Ironman mode and you need to be REALLY careful.

 

[Semper]

What the fuck have they done to the balance in this patch. I have taken no damage at all yet

last i checked there was something seriously wrong with the bb toons and their attribute calculation. there health points skyrocketed, literally like a 300% buff.

 

[tuluse]

last i checked there was something seriously wrong with the bb toons and their attribute calculation. there health points skyrocketed, literally like a 300% buff.

Wasn't this supposed to happen? Health gets boosted to 4x and then stamina and health damage are equal.

 

[roshan]

I guess this is a symptom of waiting "until the end" to finalize core components like the attribute system

I think they did finalize the attributes, it just turned out that Sawyer's design simply sucked, and still does to this day. And until now they are sticking to the utterly stupid STR adding to gun and spell damage decision.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

The system would make much more sense if Sawyer turned all character classes into Stand users.

 

[Once more unto the Codex]

I can see combat xp being the third rail that it has become but I never in a million see why might increasing gun damage has become one. The ship sailed on gamism the day the first fighter in D&D slayed a dragon while wearing a full plate armor while carrying 4 full sets of full plate armor in his backpack.

 

[J_C]

Oh boy, waiting for this game is like sitting on a rollercoaster. I am optimistic and happy when I see the updates the devs posted about the beta, and get all when I read this thread about how they fucked up.

 

[Sensuki]

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/68...-derived-stats-during-cc-attribute-selection/