Game News Divinity II: ED + FoV to DKS Beta Patch Released

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Divinity 2; Larian Studios

<p>Larian Studios <a href="http://www.larian.com/fov2dks_community.php" target="_blank">released the promised patch</a> to turn <strong>Divinity 2: Ego Draconis</strong> + <strong>Flames of Vengeance</strong> into <strong>The Dragon Knight Saga</strong>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Dear Divinity fans,</p>
<p>We are very pleased to announce the release of our long-anticipated (here goes) Ego-Draconis-plus-Flames-of-Vengeance-to-Dragon-Knight-Saga patch!</p>
<p>Before frantically downloading the patch though, please know that you should consider this to be an unofficial release. Practically this means that if you should encounter any problems, support may not be forthcoming quite as lightning-fast as we have previously striven our support to be.</p>
<p>Obviously we're not saying 'use at your own risk' and consequently just look the other way, but &ndash; as you can imagine &ndash; all the Larians are busy little bees again!</p>
<p>That said, please go ahead and grab the appropriate patch. We sincerely hope you'll enjoy the transition of your good old Ego Draconis plus Flames of Vengeance into the shiny new version that is the Dragon Knight Saga!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Anything unclear? For our less literate readers:</p>
<blockquote>
<div class="news_item_title"><strong>What is this? Do I need this? Can I use this?</strong></div>
<div class="news_item_title"><strong><br /></strong></div>
<p>This patch is for people who own <strong>Ego Draconis and Flames of Vengeance</strong>. If you have both games installed, download this patch to bring your game up to speed with all the features and improvements from The Dragon Knight Saga. In a graphical explanation, the patch will do this:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.rpgcodex.net/gallery.php?image=2323"><img style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://www.rpgcodex.net/gallery/2323.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="146" /></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Understood?</p>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/101424-divinity-ii-fov-to-dks-beta-patch-released.html">Gamebanshee</a></p>

 

[Black]

And Div 2 has ladders which you can use normally. And it uses gamebryo.
Should tell you something.

 

[MicoSelva]

It also doesn't suck - if we are going with comparisons to Oblivion.

 

[Sceptic]

God damn, those Larian guys REALLY like their customers.

I can't help but admiring these people.

 

[Archibald]

I`d like Larian to be our evil overlords.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Well my penis!

 

[Reject_666_6]

Brings back memories of the Witcher: EE's release. I wonder where all the people complaining are now.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Damn. I couldn't wait for this. I ended up buying DKS even though I already owned ED+FoV.

This really says somthing to the quality of the game though - because I originally torrented them all at differnt points of release, but thought they were so good I purchased them.

I almost never do this, as my extended demos usually just don't measure up to a full-price purchase.

Larian are now officially my favorite developers. Their support and obvious passion for their games are second to none. (CDPR are a (not so) close second).

 

[Cenobyte]

I'm off reinstalling Div 2 and FoV

 

[PWSteal.Ldpinch.D]

This is 'Patch 2' yes?

 

[Shannow]

God damn, those Larian guys REALLY like their customers.

I can't help but admiring these people.

Tell that to the people who bought (the German version of) Beyond Divinity.

 

[Darth Slaughter]

well, I heard larian was not so supportive of a patchs that would do such thing. They said at first that a patch would improve ED, but if you wanted to play D2ED totaly revamped, you'd have to buy dragonknight saga.

So is this patch really making it just like the "graphical explanation", or is just an improvement but not as much if buying DK saga?

 

[Admiral jimbob]

well, I heard larian was not so supportive of a patchs that would do such thing. They said at first that a patch would improve ED, but if you wanted to play D2ED totaly revamped, you'd have to buy dragonknight saga.

So is this patch really making it just like the "graphical explanation", or is just an improvement but not as much if buying DK saga?

 

[Darth Slaughter]

well, I heard larian was not so supportive of a patchs that would do such thing. They said at first that a patch would improve ED, but if you wanted to play D2ED totaly revamped, you'd have to buy dragonknight saga.

So is this patch really making it just like the "graphical explanation", or is just an improvement but not as much if buying DK saga?

Well, that part of "not supporting" this patch, it being a beta patch, and the fact that they said they wouldn't release such patch before, makes me feel this picture is a lie. I'd like to see if anyone played it already.

 

[Sceptic]

Tell that to the people who bought (the German version of) Beyond Divinity.

I know BD gets reviled, but why the German version in particular?

the fact that they said they wouldn't release such patch before

That was quite early on, and they retracted the statement a few months ago when they announced they would make the patch.

 

[DraQ]

German Untermenschen make fine unwitting beta testers.

Problem Germans?

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Tell that to the people who bought (the German version of) Beyond Divinity.

I know BD gets reviled, but why the German version in particular?

the fact that they said they wouldn't release such patch before

That was quite early on, and they retracted the statement a few months ago when they announced they would make the patch.

Yes, and this is why they're such a great dev studio. Originally they said 'No' to this patch (after all, it can only hurt sales of DKS) -> user's spoke up -> they listened (shock, horror)->now we have the patch. They were in no way obligated to do this.

Larian seem to operate like a big indie studio (which I guess they kinda are). They actually talk and listen to their community. Lets just hope Activision/EA (whatever) don't get their grubby hands on them.

 

[Shannow]

Tell that to the people who bought (the German version of) Beyond Divinity.

I know BD gets reviled, but why the German version in particular?

Was one of the first games with complete VO that also made a big fuss about it. The demo had VO and they even changed the VA for the Death Knight because fans didn't like it. In the German version I first had to download 140 mb of patches off a 56k modem with pay per minute. Then the game had no VO whatsoever. And while I personally prefer VO only for special npcs, a game that's built around VO feels dead without it. Especially shitty if the demo doesn't represent the end-product. Even if I'd liked ED, I'd never pay Larian another dime.
Together with KotOR BD was the bad experience that started me off pirating as soon as I got broadband. To avoid German versions and to "test" games first.
(Before some wanker comes and whines that that's no excuse for pirating, I'll point out that reason!=excuse and I said nothing about excuse. Fucking wankers...)

 

[Arcanoix]

And Div 2 has ladders which you can use normally. And it uses gamebryo.
Should tell you something.

Gamebryo....

 

[aleph]

What actually is different in DKS? Strangely enough, nobody really seems to know/tell.

And Div 2 has ladders which you can use normally. And it uses gamebryo.
Should tell you something.

Gamebryo....

Gamebryo, Gamebryo never changes ...

 

[AlaCarcuss]

What actually is different in DKS? Strangely enough, nobody really seems to know/tell.

I'm pretty sure there's a comprehensive list on Larian's forums - but a lot of tweaks/rebalancing. Tweaks to the stats which affects char progression. Loot placement and randomization and of course graphics and bug fixes (though most of those were included with FoV).

It's been said that DKS is a little easier than ED+FoV, but DKS on 'nightmare' (which was introduced a couple of patches back) provides enough challenge for me.

 

[aleph]

I'm pretty sure there's a comprehensive list on Larian's forums - but a lot of tweaks/rebalancing. Tweaks to the stats which affects char progression. Loot placement and randomization and of course graphics and bug fixes (though most of those were included with FoV).

If there is such a comprehensive list then it is quite hard to find. I'd hoped for a bit more solid info than just that there is some thing different with loot/stats/char progression. There has to be something more since the patch was about 4GB, that is a bit much for only rebalancing.