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

[CptMace]

Choices in Tyranny made sense. Even if you're not familiar with the chorus and the simili-spartan army (forgot the name), you understand the options you're asked to choose from. How would you present the companions through this system ?

You met Aloth in Gilded Vale, a small town which happens to be a destination of choice for settlers in the dyrwood. It appears that, Aloth has some problem regarding the manifestation of a woman who eventually takes control of his body from time to time. Do you try to help him out and seek the help of an animancer ? Or do you... huh... do nothing. Hum. ?

Eder, veteran of the saint's war, was troubled by the disappearance of his brother. Word is, he may have fought on Waidwen's side during the war. Have you helped him seek answers and try to uncover the truth about his brother's involvement in the war ? Or have you.. done... nothing. Nothing at all. ?

It doesn't work, really. Needless to say, the paragraph available by hovering over the hyperlinks doesn't help giving a fuck.

 

[Parabalus]

They've missed a cool opportunity - making Aloth, Eder and Pallegina's class be a result of your choices in PoE1.

They will likely get talents/abilities tied to those choices, leave class unlocked just gives more options.

I don't think this reasoning works this time. PoE gave you choices and options, it's time for some consequences. You take the story companions for the story, there is literally no other reason due to the existence of hired adventurers, so you can safely experiment with the story companions.

In my "canon run" I didn't even speak to Eder and Aloth, should I make the argument the game doesn't give me options since they won't be in my game at all? No, I made the choice and now I'm in for the consequences.

I'm not sure what choices in PoE1 should affect the class though, the consequence doesn't really make sense to me here.

Aloth wizard specialization being different because of Leaden Key /Islamyr? I don't really see a connection.

Eder possibly becoming priest/Paladin because of Eothas cult? Maybe.

Pallegina remains a paladin with the order differing on the ending, doesn't that happen already?

 

[Efe]

maybe choice is not taking aloth to an animancer but whether keeping it a secret or not. which shows up in game as extra reactivity from a certain animancer who helps the party if he has heard of aloths patient notes.
think of it like tv series and their "previously on blah blah"

 

[Parabalus]

maybe choice is not taking aloth to an animancer but whether keeping it a secret or not. which shows up in game as extra reactivity from a certain animancer who helps the party if he has heard of aloths patient notes.
think of it like tv series and their "previously on blah blah"

That's the expected level, if they don't implement that and some talents/abilities they really are a failure.

 

[Maculo]

Choices in Tyranny made sense. Even if you're not familiar with the chorus and the simili-spartan army (forgot the name), you understand the options you're asked to choose from. How would you present the companions through this system ?

You met Aloth in Gilded Vale, a small town which happens to be a destination of choice for settlers in the dyrwood. It appears that, Aloth has some problem regarding the manifestation of a woman who eventually takes control of his body from time to time. Do you try to help him out and seek the help of an animancer ? Or do you... huh... do nothing. Hum. ?

Eder, veteran of the saint's war, was troubled by the disappearance of his brother. Word is, he may have fought on Waidwen's side during the war. Have you helped him seek answers and try to uncover the truth about his brother's involvement in the war ? Or have you.. done... nothing. Nothing at all. ?

It doesn't work, really. Needless to say, the paragraph available by hovering over the hyperlinks doesn't help giving a fuck.

I would argue that the actual choice for Aloth is whether to destroy the Leaden Key or have him assume Thaos' place. Similarly, for Eder, it is more how to deal with his brother's death when you reach the final stage/level, just before you meet Thaos. Eder can either become a governor or become a key member of the night market, which helps followers of Eothas escape persecution.

You can complete the companion questions relatively early in the game, whereas both of those happen at the very end. Furthermore, I cannot say to what extent the companion quests factored in.

 

[CptMace]

...

I was reacting to Lacrymas' message, where he goes as far as checking whether the player met the companions or not. That's what I originally meant : a canon version for the most part, then wait and see how they deal with story outcomes.

Sooo I'm afraid they went for the badur's gate formula here, at least for the most part. There's gonna be a canon version, which is that the PC met and journey'd with Eder, Aloth and Pallegina. Regading stuff like Pallegina's deal, we have yet to see how they handled it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they actually decided to either ignore it, stating that it doesn't concern deadfire anyway, or have some flavour at some point, yeah, the deal with twin elms fucked us up maaaan.

 

[Maculo]

...

I was reacting to Lacrymas' message, where he goes as far as checking whether the player met the companions or not. That's what I originally meant : a canon version for the most part, then wait and see how they deal with story outcomes.

Sooo I'm afraid they went for the badur's gate formula here, at least for the most part. There's gonna be a canon version, which is that the PC met and journey'd with Eder, Aloth and Pallegina. Regading stuff like Pallegina's deal, we have yet to see how they handled it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they actually decided to either ignore it, stating that it doesn't concern deadfire anyway, or have some flavour at some point, yeah, the deal with twin elms fucked us up maaaan.

My bad, I see what you mean. I'll go autistically screech elsewhere.

 

[Sizzle]

They'll probably stick to BG2-style canon. So, the party in PoE1 consisted of (or at least included at one point) - Eder, Aloth, and Pallegina.

 

[Once more unto the Codex]

They’ve stated that Pallegina’s Paladin subclass depends on the ending of her side quest in PoE. They’ve also indicated that Aloth differs significantly depending on the ending to his sidequests (iselmyr and Thaos). Unclear about Eder.

 

[fantadomat]

on deadfire release day Infinitron should make it so that only deadfire avatars are available and everyone will be given a random one upon logging in.

We will become all blacks Vailias in the name of progress and equality.

 

[Infinitron]

Secret Code #11: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/95782-worldofeternity-funny-business-speculation/?p=1980106

Hey there little buddy, finally found you hiding in the bottom-left of this particular Gamestar cover image:

DeYvu8

Note: It is a different cover from the others that were featured in the print editions. Only the "digital" cover seems to have a clean look at the code.

 

[Lacrymas]

They have said that if you haven't met the trio or they are dead, they won't be in the sequel. I gave that as an example of how "giving more options" is not a good argument in this context as it's not a new IP and the consequences have to materialise sooner or later. The choices having a metagame factor is not an indictment, all story choices that lead to mechanical changes will have a metagame angle, but devs shouldn't shy away from that. Only if it makes sense, though, Aloth being a Wizard/Fighter depending on his connection to Iselmyr makes sense.

 

[CptMace]

Pretty good news. Disregard my uneducated posts.

 

[frajaq]

Oh yeah wondering if a Kill Literally Everyone Run (well besides Lady Webb) would have funny consequences for PoE 2

 

[santino27]

That would lead to meta gaming in poe1. Hmmm so I better break the deal with defiance bay, or pallegina won't become a fighter in the sequel, and damn they're way better than paladins and some other nonsense.
You're right though, it is time for consequences. Pallegina for instance, is ought to have some strictly different outcomes to her story.

Thing is, it's very obvious at this point that these choices won't have much but flavour as consequences in the sequel. They went for the lvl 1 pc for the very purpose of welcoming new players who have no clue what happens in the first game.
I don't see them asking the player if they went to see an animancer for aloth's problem through the pregame choice generator®, it wouldn't make even a little sense.
Sooo I'm afraid they went for the badur's gate formula here, at least for the most part. There's gonna be a canon version, which is that the PC met and journey'd with Eder, Aloth and Pallegina. Regading stuff like Pallegina's deal, we have yet to see how they handled it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they actually decided to either ignore it, stating that it doesn't concern deadfire anyway, or have some flavour at some point, yeah, the deal with twin elms fucked us up maaaan.

They could just have a set of choices that they decided were the default for new playthroughs, and they'd therefore only present the new player with a handful of other choices. (i.e. since this is a new play-through, we're going to assume 75% of what happened, but let you answer some questions to customize the oehter 25%)

But I doubt they'll do that. If nothing else, it would penalize people who HAD played POE1, but on their second go-round of POE2, wanted to fully define a different world state.

 

[Lacrymas]

Why wouldn't the devs want to encourage people to play all the games in a series, though? They are already adding the choice generator, so having just a few extra bits for people who have finished the game doesn't seem such a stretch or an unthinkable prospect. I just realized how necessary the hyperlinks are if devs' first priority is explaining stuff we already know to newbies. Can you imagine going through the ridiculous lore dumps again because they are there for the newcomes? *shudder* It's also kinda sleazy to focus your sequel for newcomers when the fans you already have made that sequel possible.

 

[jungl]

Are they ever going to explain whats the lore reason behind Eders appearance change. Eder like that dude you remember in your late teens and early 20s that could bang any woman if he wants to. Then you see them 10 years later after alchohol abuse and you legitimately feel sad for them wonder wtf happened. Except in eder case he also aged a lot so alchohol AND meth abuse.

 

[Lacrymas]

Eder was already in the late end of his 30s AFAIK, I can't seem to find what exact age was written in the guide. I think they may have drawn him a bit too handsome/young-looking in P1 for what they envisioned for him the first place. Both Pallegina and Eder have visually aged a lot, which is weird, since Pallegina is like 25, but looks like in her 40s in the new portrait.

 

[CptMace]

I don't think they focus the sequel on newcomers, but they take them into consideration. I can't imagine a newcomer go through character creation and start the adventure at level 12, that is - i think - one of the main reasons that sealed the decision to go back at level 1, t'is what I meant.
Having some extra to offer to people who played the first game was precisely what I had in mind, but I didn't think it would have been more than a bit of flavour dialogs and interactions here and there. If it goes as far as removing dead companions from the roster, it's quite bold. I mean there aren't that many buddies in this sequel.
But that's very cool.

 

[fantadomat]

Oh yeah wondering if a Kill Literally Everyone Run (well besides Lady Webb) would have funny consequences for PoE 2

The first one doesn't acknowledge it well. I massacred all of the doezens and half the city,still the knights tell me that i am part of another guild. I haven't tried fro the ending.

 

[Lacrymas]

I can't imagine a newcomer go through character creation and start the adventure at level 12, that is - i think - one of the main reasons that sealed the decision to go back at level 1, t'is what I meant.

Yet Baldur's Gate 2 did that and wasn't derided by anyone. It's a sequel, it's expected of it to have sequel-y things. Their main reason for starting from scratch again is two-fold - the various changes to mechanics and the unreasonably high level of the characters at the end. BG1 with expansion ended at 161,000 xp, which was 8-10th level, depending on class, and even lower for multi-classes. PoE's was 16. It would've taken quite a Herculean feat to figure out how to both challenge the high-level party and how to make their progression feel like progress. If White March 2 ended it at 11th level at the most, then sure. I'm paradoxically on their side on this issue, not because I agree with this reverting, but because I know they wouldn't have been able to pull it off convincingly had they started P2 at 16.

 

[polo]

Wouldn't want you on my side.

 

[CptMace]

It's way easier for BG2. There aren't feats, there's barely any customization choices to be made besides the type of weapons you want to use. Unless you make a wizard, there's nothing that different from creating a level 1 character.
I purposefully wrote "level 12" because I remember that starting from scratch in BG2 meant starting with less than 161k xp. I think it depended on the chosen class ? I don't really remember.
Yeah the overhaul of the systems is another main reason. But these things get considered at the same time, I assume. They didn't decide to overhaul the system and then be like "well I guess the PC starts over at level 1", but rather weighed the pros and cons of the whole package. It's speculation, but I'm pretty sure they liked the idea of the lvl 1 PC in regard of how easier it would be for newcomers to really own their character.

 

[Ulfhednar]

Aloth is leading the Leaden Key and cipher isn't one of his class options?

 

[Infinitron]

The Game Analists