Eternity Avowed - Obsidian's first person action-RPG in the Pillars of Eternity setting - coming February 18th

[AwesomeButton]

Well, one of her non-answers amounts to admitting that all the abilities in the ability trees are combat related, because it's not fun to have to choose if you want your character to be effective in combat or out of combat.

 

[Alienman]

Wow, the Cohhcarnage guy's favorite game is Pillars 1.

 

[Lacrymas]

Very strange choice for a favorite game.

 

[Viata]

Either he never played any other RPG or he has one of the worst taste in gaming.

 

[Alienman]

Very strange choice for a favorite game.

Yeah, I got to check it again to see if I misheard.

 

[Tyranicon]

If this is the same guy, he used to have better taste:

 

[Viata]

So either he is a liar or it took him more than 5 years to give PoE 1 a try.

 

[Alienman]

Okay, when he is asked what his favorite crpgs are when it comes to story Pillars 1 is one of the first he mentions, and that game showed him what a great story could be in this medium.



He went with the diplomatic option. Go to 02:31:20. There about.

 

[Tyranicon]

Okay, when he is asked what his favorite crpgs are when it comes to story Pillars 1 is one of the first he mentions, and that game showed him what a great story could be in this medium.

Does this man suffer from some kind of chronic insomnia?

 

[Butter]

Okay, when he is asked what his favorite crpgs are when it comes to story Pillars 1 is one of the first he mentions, and that game showed him what a great story could be in this medium.



He went with the diplomatic option.

I think that's OK given he's interviewing an Obsidian employee, but obviously he ought to be laughed off the Internet if that's his earnest opinion.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Carrie Patel is a walking talking dumpsterfire.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Either he never played any other RPG or he has one of the worst taste in gaming.

Yeah, the cheque cleared. Like this is some big fucking mystery. You're not exactly cracking the Da Vinci Code, guys.

 

[Yoomazir]

If this is the same guy, he used to have better taste:

They are people who are "gender fluid", Cohh is "favorite game fluid".

 

[Silverfish]

I can't wait to hear more about what this game won't have.

Quality.
Fun.
Interesting gameplay.

Dialogue that doesn't make you want to gouge your eyes out.

 

[Roguey]

Well, one of her non-answers amounts to admitting that all the abilities in the ability trees are combat related, because it's not fun to have to choose if you want your character to be effective in combat or out of combat.

This was one of the design tenets of Pillars of Eternity. Different pool for combat and non-combat progression.

Avowed also doesn't support pacifism, so allowing people to build a character who is outright bad at the core gameplay activity would be daft.

 

[Quillon]

Different pool for combat and non-combat progression.

Cohh specifically asks about non-combat progression, Carrie talks about combat skills not affecting non-combat stuff for some reason, she doesn't mention a different tree or anything for non-combat progression, she says its complicating and can't get into it just yet which is to say it'll be an afterthought feature at best, else it woulda been very easy to answer such a basic question I mean how tf are you making content for this game without a determined set of non-combat player skills, if there are such skills.

Then again Carrie seems to be out of her depth at every turn so, great game director choice Fergie.

 

[Roguey]

Cohh specifically asks about non-combat progression, Carrie talks about combat skills not effecting non-combat stuff for some reason, she doesn't mention a different tree or anything for non-combat progression, she says its complicating and can't get into it just yet which is to say it'll be an afterthought feature at best, else it woulda been very easy to answer such a basic question I mean how tf are you making content for this game without a determined set of non-combat player skills, if there are such skills.

The first dialogue option has that purple arrow next to it so there's something special going on there. Since she's a protege of Josh Sawyer I imagine they're using the Sawyer Method:

Basically I think that most designers are overly concerned with what's come before when they sit down to write CRPG mechanics. When looking at mechanics that typically go into CRPGs, it's pretty hard to reverse-engineer a plan of intent. The conclusion I'm usually left with is that they wanted the system to "look like an RPG" on a UI screen. They have classes and stats and skills and skill/talent trees and a ton of derived stats when probably not all of that is necessary.

I believe that game designers, whether working in the RPG genre or otherwise, should establish what they want the player to be doing within the world. That is, they must ask themselves what they want the core activities of the player to be. Within those activities, the designer can find ways to allow growth over time in a variety of ways. How they want that growth to occur and what sort of choices they want to force the player to make -- that's what should drive the design of the advancement/RPG system.

Instead it usually seems like most designers sit down and say, "Well what are the ability scores going to be?"

 

[Gargaune]

effecting

Affecting. Effecting means something else. I'm not trying to be a dick, it just sets my ass on fire every time because it's getting so widespread.

 

[Quillon]

The first dialogue option has that purple arrow next to it so there's something special going on there. Since she's a protege of Josh Sawyer I imagine they're using the Sawyer Method:

Then she should have started answering with "yes there are non-combat skills...we'll go into it later" instead she comes across as not sure if it actually exists, as she does with most other things.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Cohh specifically asks about non-combat progression, Carrie talks about combat skills not effecting non-combat stuff for some reason, she doesn't mention a different tree or anything for non-combat progression, she says its complicating and can't get into it just yet which is to say it'll be an afterthought feature at best, else it woulda been very easy to answer such a basic question I mean how tf are you making content for this game without a determined set of non-combat player skills, if there are such skills.

The first dialogue option has that purple arrow next to it so there's something special going on there. Since she's a protege of Josh Sawyer I imagine they're using the Sawyer Method:

Basically I think that most designers are overly concerned with what's come before when they sit down to write CRPG mechanics. When looking at mechanics that typically go into CRPGs, it's pretty hard to reverse-engineer a plan of intent. The conclusion I'm usually left with is that they wanted the system to "look like an RPG" on a UI screen. They have classes and stats and skills and skill/talent trees and a ton of derived stats when probably not all of that is necessary.

I believe that game designers, whether working in the RPG genre or otherwise, should establish what they want the player to be doing within the world. That is, they must ask themselves what they want the core activities of the player to be. Within those activities, the designer can find ways to allow growth over time in a variety of ways. How they want that growth to occur and what sort of choices they want to force the player to make -- that's what should drive the design of the advancement/RPG system.

Instead it usually seems like most designers sit down and say, "Well what are the ability scores going to be?"

Tnis philosophy sounds a lot like "offer less and less until they stop asking" or at least can be easily misunderstood in such a way.

The very special thing going on ih that diaoogue is obviously a flavor answer corresponding to a certain class or background.

 

[Roguey]

Then she should have started answering with "yes there are non-combat skills...we'll go into it later" instead she comes across as not sure if it actually exists, as she does with most other things.

There ultimately might not be though.

flavor answer corresponding to a certain class or background.

Background maybe, but it's a classless game.

 

[sosmoflux]

effecting

Affecting. Effecting means something else. I'm not trying to be a dick, it just sets my ass on fire every time because it's getting so widespread.

Allow me to play doubles advocate here for a moment. For all intensive purposes I think you are wrong. In an age where false morals are a diamond dozen, true virtues are a blessing in the skies.

 

[Yosharian]

Ok I see the joke now. I'm tired, sigh

 

[AwesomeButton]

effecting

Affecting. Effecting means something else. I'm not trying to be a dick, it just sets my ass on fire every time because it's getting so widespread.

Allow me to play doubles advocate here for a moment. For all intensive purposes I think you are wrong. In an age where false morals are a diamond dozen, true virtues are a blessing in the skies.

I know a guy who in a restaurant ordered a "Cabaret Sauvignon", which sent me in shock. To my correction he shrugged and said that waiters don't understand you if you say it right. I have a feeling he made that up though.

 

[Kem0sabe]

https://www.gamesradar.com/avowed-d...-a-lukewarm-reception-during-the-xbox-direct/

Avowed director says "We're working on" the RPG's combat after a lukewarm reception during the Xbox Direct​

By Hope Bellingham
published about 4 hours ago
Obsidian's upcoming RPG's combat is only going to get better

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(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

The director of Obsidian's next RPG, Avowed, has revealed that the team is still working on the game's combat and that things have changed since we last saw the game during the Xbox Developer Direct showcase last month.
Carrie Patel, the director of Avowed, has appeared on the Dropped Frames podcast to offer insight into the upcoming game's development, more specifically, how the team is responding to community feedback, such as the game's combat that is still evolving ahead of its release.

During the Xbox event, we saw Avowed's polished combat, leading fans to compare it to a certain Bethesda RPG. Not long after this, Patel addressed the Skyrim comparisons and revealed that the upcoming action RPG is more like Obsidian's "fantasy take on The Outer Worlds" instead.
In the Dropped Frames interview, the director discusses the community's reaction to Avowed and explains: "We showed something for a showcase last June, we showed a little bit more at Developer Direct a couple of weeks ago [...] so we're getting to share more and more, but all of that is while the game is still in progress."

Patel continues by mentioning Avowed's combat: "One of the heartening things has been seeing fans call out some of the things that we are actively working on, like the sense of hitting and impacts as you're attacking enemies."
The director then goes on to explain how the footage we saw during the Developer Direct is actually "a few weeks behind" where the team is currently, in terms of its development. "It's kind of nice to always say like 'yep, they saw it, we know it, trust us, we're working on it," Patel continues.
What this basically means is that Avowed could see a lot of changes between now and when it's set to release in Fall 2024 - we just have to trust the process. In case you were wondering, Obsidian has revealed that Avowed is set in Pillars of Eternity's world, but you don't need to have played the studio's older CRPG first.

Carrie Patel was on Dropped Frames talking about Avowed.

https://twitter.com/IdleSloth84_/status/1754314121921663117

Here's a breakdown of what was discussed:

- They are aware of the vocal feedback around combat [impact]; it's something they already know about and are actively working on. The footage shown in the Developer_Direct was already weeks behind what was the current build (at the time of filming).

- Players will find themselves one foot between a grounded political story and a metaphysical story about gods and souls.

- There will be things to find in the environment (Cohh's question was targeted around loot, environmental storytelling, notes etc.).

- Classless system but skill trees will allow for speccing into more traditional 'archetypes' if a player wants.

- Companion skill trees are locked to a specific archetype, but will allow for variations.

- Different enemy attacks can impact the player (knockdown, push, unblockable etc.).

- Not discussing endings or NG+ at this time.

- Some character creation decisions will have mechanical and roleplay impacts.

- Scope is similar to The Outer Worlds (question was about playtime, critical path vs. 100% completion).

- Weapon upgrade system (not mandatory, but recommended).

- Party camp will follow you through the game (no base building).

- Similar difficulty options in their previous games (story time, path of the damned).

- Grimoire magic still in the game, just wasn't shown at the direct (can also dual wield grimoire + wand for quick magic and powerful spells).

- Can't speak much about the stat system, but the general idea is they don't want a system that corners players into potential bad decisions. Want to present a fun set of options for the player.

- Can't speak much on bosses yet, but the idea around combat encounters is to present a variety of enemies that will challenge the player and not make them feel too complacent with sticking to one play style. Want to encourage swapping weapon sets.

- Playing PoE 1 and 2 are not required to understand what's going on.

- No mini-games.

- Day and Night system is there, but doesn't affect gameplay.

- No mounts, some combat abilities affect movement (charge, etc.).

- Tease about some gear can affect things like movement.