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

I haven't played DA:I, but I'm getting a bit of DA:O feel out of this, minus the cooldowns.

 

btw sensuki, make up your mind: is hard too easy or too difficult? you complain in the same thread that hard difficulty is a joke and then two lines down complain that you have to reload because the bears are raping you with their claws.

 

In what way exactly?

The reason I am getting NWN2 is because of how spell VFX is handled. Combat can at times become a mess visually. I don't even remember much of Dragon Age: Origins combat. Could you even control your entire party at the same time?

 

You clearly didn't read my post in that thread correctly then.

DA:O combat essentially boils down to making some initial targeting and then just repeatedly spamming actions on certain characters. There's not really any positioning or re-targeting involved because of certain factors - such as the MMO Taunt feature that some units have.

The difference is that in PE you have to select an ability and target them with the mouse, whereas DA:O is built for consoles and uses an action queue against a pre-determined target.

I also get a bit of a DA:O feel from the combat stances of characters.

DA:O did have a tactical view, but it only worked at max zoom, if you zoomed in one notch further, the camera was locked on a character or something. Don't remember the specifics, I did get into a big argument about it with Nikaido and Lilura in some other thread and as a result both of them added me to ignore

I fucking hated DA:O combat, but it was more fun than Pillars of Eternity is currently.

 

Going by what some of the loading tips say, it would seem they do not intend to go back to the old skill system. Not without a lot of complaining from me anyway.

 

IndiraLightfoot is a guy

 

Yeah he's a guy. I talk to him on steam.

 

Definitely the biggest improvement in combat playability yet (speed, pathfinding, hit feedback, etc.). Who knew playing the game you're working on could improve it?

They seem to have added some new A.I. routines. I'm noticing enemies now trying to rush towards party members in the back quite often. Of course, the disengagement attack they suffer usually torpedoes such attempts. Another reason why they should scrap the engagement system. Also new: enemies attacking each other. The spiders and spirits in the ruins below Stormwall Gorge appear to be in a state of constant warfare.

 

Well, he liked NWN2 so...

 

That's what I am saying though. The people that liked the combat in NWN2 are liking the PE combat. That's a sign of something horribly wrong.

 

Sensuki
While there are some similarities to NWN2, PoE and NWN2 combats systems are not the same. The games play different both due to underlying mechanics and differences in character development systems. You are upset because you do not have as much mobility as you would like. I can appreciate that. However, just because the system has AoOs doesn't make it bad. The end all be all of cRPG combat is not simply repositioning and taking advantage of bad ai/pathing to overcome combat challenges.

 

I disliked NWN2 combat yet I quite like the PoE combat (well, I like it despite the current bugs and with the knowledge that it's still a WiP of course).

Hey guys, what if there's a guy who actually likes the IE combat... but *also* like NWN2 combat?! Mind blown right?! Surely such a thing cannot be. Well, probably not on the Codex but...

 

Hey, Korgrak's cave got a paint over pass apparently. It looks so much better.

I would say the most pressing issues that need fiixing/removing are the engagement system and VFX clutter. With those out of the way, it might end up being a game with fun combat.

 

The clutter (just general visibility in combat actually) is number one on my list. It's still way too hard to actually *see* what the fuck is going on in the game.

Still really not a fan of the talents+skill merger, I wonder if they'll change that again though.

 

At this point, I think Obsidian should add Nipsen as a NPC that warns players about the bandit Sensuki who pillaged Nipsen's wife.

 

I'm not sure you've been listening correctly. If someone asked me to describe the PE combat I would say something like imagine NWN2 and DA:O with high lethality with a touch of Icewind Dale 2 in the visual style and control scheme. Combat in PE does not even remotely play like an Infinity Engine game. There are many, many, many people saying this. Only you seem to think it's similar and that may be because you can apply your favourite play style and do okay. People openly admit that it is different however because they liked X or Y they don't mind it. I have not seen one Infinity Engine "diehard" say that they think the combat is enjoyable. That is a failure on Obsidian's part and will continue to be a failure unless (unlikely) something is done about it.

 

I know how YOU would describe it and that it may not play the way YOU play the IE games. Your desciptions and declarations are yours to make. They aren't facts or universal truths though. Also, while many do see differences (because they are there) plenty are still getting the IE feels. Different does not mean worse.

Finally, just look at the boards. People are enjoying the game. They like it. So, you can keep going, man, but you are making mountain our of a molehill. There is no failure. The sky isn't falling. The gameplay was fine before and its pretty darn good now.

 

There should not exist people who enjoyed NWN2 combat.

 

you mean in your opinion, right?
half the posters on the boards don't have the beta, and I would say its evenly split among the rest.

there are vocally opposed players like sensuki, and those who think it's "ok." nobody is really satisfied, though.

i don't agree with sensuki on everything - but i tend to agree with him on this aspect. Combat doesn't play like IE, be it by design or not.

as for failure: i'll leave that judgement for until after the game is finalized.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadomasochism

 

If there's people who enjoy eating shit (or playing Oblivion, same thing), I'm sure there are people who enjoy NWN2 combat.

 

It's going to be an Obsidian game. I have no doubt that the story/writing will be worthy of any of their previous titles. However it also looks like it's going to be a typical Obsidian game, and it's really not the publisher's fault afterall that they can't seem to get combat right.