Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

.

Crispy

I feel... young!
Patron
Staff Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2008
Messages
1,877,133
Location
Future Wasteland
Strap Yourselves In
I actually consider all the homosexual innuendo and aggressiveness in the game to be a part of its combat. Good thing I have a high natural AC!
 

Goldschmidt

Learned
Joined
Oct 27, 2019
Messages
486
Location
Swen Vincke's bedroom (Ghent)
I didn't see any interesting takes in PoE. I saw bland expositionary walls of text about shit I didn't care about.

You know what kind of fantasy gives you an adventure? Classic pulp, the works of Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Borroughs, etc. Those are good fantasy writers because they don't dwell on pages upon pages of dry worldbuilding, but have their protagonists go on high adventure with great action and deep mystery!

PoE's main fault, however, was not the boring setting (BG1 is also extremely boring, but at least it has D&D rules) but the bland over-balanced ruleset that made combat feel like a chore rather than fun.
Comparing American pulp with a literature masterpiece as Lord of the Rings which I would assume has dry worldbuilding as well in your opinion.

There is nothing wrong if your personal interest lies in games where classes are not balanced and players seek the ultimate broken build that allows to annihilate the game through all of its shortcuts. Doesn't mean every game has to be like that.
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
Patron
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
34,156
Location
KA.DINGIR.RA.KI
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Comparing American pulp with a literature masterpiece as Lord of the Rings which I would assume has dry worldbuilding as well in your opinion.
Unlike the boring derivative dross that is PoE, Tolkien actually put effort into his worldbuilding.

And yes, American pulp brought forth better literature than Tolkien, who wrote a great book but his copycats ruined fantasy.
 

Maxie

Wholesome Chungus
Patron
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 13, 2021
Messages
7,965
Location
Warszawa, PL
is obsidian going to get larian's engine and still be unable to meet any given deadlines crying crocodile tears that evil publishers are unfair because they tell avellone to stop smoking narcotics in the office and get the fuck to work
 

Crispy

I feel... young!
Patron
Staff Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2008
Messages
1,877,133
Location
Future Wasteland
Strap Yourselves In
Tolkien actually put effort into his worldbuilding.
This is, of course, true, but let's not accuse Josh of not putting any effort in. He did put in effort, but Josh's problem is that he sort of thinks of himself as being a modern-day Tolkein, at least for CRPGs, but he's closer to a Terry Brooks (and I'm actually a Terry Brooks fan).
 

easychord

Liturgist
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
182
Location
UK
Are you saying that Obsidian are famous for jumping on bandwagons? (and totally not under delivering or making something tiresome)
 

Shaki

Arbiter
Joined
Dec 22, 2018
Messages
1,663
Location
Hyperborea
It took him weeks to think up "duc".
As cringe as Warhammer can be, they have very creative titles such as "Arch-Heresiarch"
It's not that hard to come up with names for things
Bruh, Warhammer is probably the worst possible example. They're guilty of thousands of offences similar to the "fampyr" you quoted, they were always lazy, cheesy and unoriginal af with names, it's part of the charm of the setting.

Even the Arch-Heresiarch you mentioned, is just straight up ripped from Christian theology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heresiarch

90% of WH40k names are ripped from theology, cheesy use of Latin (fucking Ferrus Manus, Sanguinius, seriously?), or changing things ripped from real world and other fantasy settings by 1 letter, (orks, pretty much EVERYTHING surrounding Necrons, niggas are straight up robot egyptians)
 

Fedora Master

STOP POSTING
Patron
Edgy
Joined
Jun 28, 2017
Messages
31,052
99.99% of people will never have heard the term Heresiarch though. Also "auto-martyr" for self-destruction. That's at least original. Changing around a few letters is not.
 

Shaki

Arbiter
Joined
Dec 22, 2018
Messages
1,663
Location
Hyperborea
99.99% of people will never have heard the term Heresiarch though. Also "auto-martyr" for self-destruction. That's at least original. Changing around a few letters is not.

Yeah, a lot of original things in the setting, like leaders of Necron dynasties - phaerons. Definitely never heard that word before+M
 

Desiderius

Found your egg, Robinett, you sneaky bastard
Patron
Joined
Jul 22, 2019
Messages
14,778
Insert Title Here Pathfinder: Wrath
Microsoft would almost certainly much rather Obsidian use settings it already totally owns or creates something it can own and exploit instead of paying WoTC for their setting

MS writes checks with several more zeroes than WotC does. If they want it they can get it.
 

StrongBelwas

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
515
MS writes checks with several more zeroes than WotC does. If they want it they can get it.
This is quite true if they want it, but if you're Microsoft, the value of getting a D&D license is marginal compared to what Larian gets out of it. You don't need the attention, you have the PR Machine to generate yourself (And you'd rather have your own franchise to control and strip mine for value instead of using someone elses.)
 
Last edited:

Pocgels

Scholar
Joined
Nov 15, 2016
Messages
166
PoE 1 just bombards the player with the watcher stuff way too much and too early. Should've let the player live in the world a little more, and provoked the imagination. That way when you get questions, there are answers, rather than throwing it all on you. Kind of like how the DM's handbook tells you to do it. I love morrowind's setting but on my first playthrough, I certainly didn't read "the History of the Empire, vol. 1 - 6" when Caius Cosades suggests it the first time you meet him. (I did end up reading them eventually)
 

scytheavatar

Scholar
Joined
Sep 22, 2016
Messages
623
Are you saying that Obsidian are famous for jumping on bandwagons? (and totally not under delivering or making something tiresome)

Did you miss Josh Sawyer cursing at Feargus for trying to squeeze DOS2 elements into POE2? Or Feargus bragging about how Avowed was going to be a co-op game but Obsidian was too incompetent to make one?
 

Desiderius

Found your egg, Robinett, you sneaky bastard
Patron
Joined
Jul 22, 2019
Messages
14,778
Insert Title Here Pathfinder: Wrath
MS writes checks with several more zeroes than WotC does. If they want it they can get it.
This is quite true if they want it, but if you're Microsoft, the value of getting a D&D license is marginal compared to what Larian gets out of it. You don't need the attention, you have the PR Machine to generate yourself (And you'd rather have your own franchise to control and strip mine for value instead of using someone elses.)

They don't want to strip mine, they want perpetual value like they had with DOS and have with Windows. They could buy Larian itself.
 

HeatEXTEND

Prophet
Patron
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
4,120
Location
Nedderlent
I love the POE setting because it is coherent and offers something fresh.
huh?

a literature masterpiece as Lord of the Rings which I would assume has dry worldbuilding as well
Well....it kinda does. I started reading it again a couple years ago and what starkly stood out was the meandering descriptiveness in places just goes on and on and on. Compare this to Dune and it becomes a bit funny.
 
Last edited:

easychord

Liturgist
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
182
Location
UK
Are you saying that Obsidian are famous for jumping on bandwagons? (and totally not under delivering or making something tiresome)

Did you miss Josh Sawyer cursing at Feargus for trying to squeeze DOS2 elements into POE2? Or Feargus bragging about how Avowed was going to be a co-op game but Obsidian was too incompetent to make one?
The first is about Divinity 2 having full voice acting? But both Divinity games had co-op play, and it is a feature expected by the yoof of today. Really, it is not a good idea to be dead set against all the things that bring people joy.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom