Divinity Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition

[Jezal_k23]

That sounds immensely shitty. I had no such issues during my playthrough. It really was introduced by the latest patch? Damn.

 

[Mangoose]

To echo a sentiment from Kevin Saunders, a few thousand in a game that costs millions to make is a rounding error.

You cant't round to a specific number of $37,256. A rounding error will have at least 1 less significant digit. Every digit in 37256 is a significant figure.

Again, learn to math.

 

[Blaine]

First of all, Roguey's referring to the amount of money that was still needed to reach $1,000,000 at the moment the Kickstarter ended, which would be $3,462 (if the figures being bandied about are accurate).

Secondly, you haven't got a clue what you're talking about regarding rounding errors. In pure math, significant figures hold sway, but it's entirely permissible to round numbers up for simplicity's sake, aesthetics, or for any other reason when the situation warrants. Large amounts of money are actually a good example. It is quite feasible to round the figure under discussion up to the millions place (or the ones place if using scientific notation), thereby producing a rounding error. $1 million expressed in scientific notation is 1.0 x 10^6. Less the shortfall, the total raised by Kickstarter's end was $996,538, or 0.996538 x 10^6.

A rounding error is simply the difference between the real value and the rounded value. The rounding error in this case would be 0.003462 x 10^6.

Finally, compelling me to take Roguey's side in even the most indirect and innocuous of ways is absolutely disgusting.

 

[agris]

When is that patch being released that adds back all the cut content?

 

[HiddenX]

Hottest review of D:OS so far...

 

[msxyz]

When is that patch being released that adds back all the cut content?

Last word is that they're playtesting it. It's supposed to add more companions with backstories and rebalance rangers and fighters. I've stopped playing D:OS entirely waiting for it to appear. Supposely, this new patch requires to start a new game.

 

[Infinitron]

The reason he says they met the goal is because they allowed Paypal to continue (a week or two) after Kickstarter ended, and allowed those Paypal donations to continue to count to the Stretch Goals.

The Kickstarter update where he explicitly says they went over one million dollars was on April 29th. Three days, not two weeks. And of course the previous update where he said they "hit the one million dollar stretch goal" (which might be considered an ambiguous statement, but says nothing about them not hitting the one million dollar funding goal) was on the same day as the livestream, the 26th.

Anyway, this is a dumb argument, because Larian felt they had to apologize for dropping the NPC schedules. Meaning they felt they were commited to them. There is no reason to make excuses for them, when they themselves don't think they deserve them.

 

[Roguey]

https://twitter.com/LarAtLarian/status/509415097102786560

will the D:OS companions patch be coming this month?

It's in final testing so I would say yes.

How ominous.

Going to be funny if the companion/co-op dialogue patch comes without the big balance pass. Larian stopped supporting Dragon Commander after two months, though far fewer were playing at the time. Outside an expansion pack, it doesn't make sense to spend too much more effort on fixing D:OS since there was a huge player drop at the end of August, and now it can't even break a concurrent 10,000. Soon it won't even be able to reach New Vegas numbers and all will be as it should.

 

[Blaine]

I'm getting close to level 6 now, at which point I'll

Spoiler

head over to take on the level 6 orcs in their beach encampments

. Combat has continued to be satisfying thus far, and easily handled with tactical planning. Save-scumming is kept to an absolute minimum, especially outside of combat (I accept the outcomes of arguments, pickpockets, lockpicks, etc. no matter what). I will occasionally reload a horribly botched combat, but this is more because I'd rather go back and apply a proper strategy than to save XP lost to deaths or whatever. It's pretty rare that that happens, though. I've only done it twice, and only one reload in each instance.

That's a bit of an issue I have with this game: There are guards posted at all of Cyseal's gates who warn you if your level isn't high enough for the monsters in the general area outside the respective gate, and indeed there's practically a paint-by-numbers trail of enemies suitable to levels 1-6 (and I'm assuming also 7-10 throughout the rest of the fog of war) to trace across the map. The character progression mechanics are definitely "zero to hero" in D:OS, as you gain a quite significant HP and damage boost each level in addition to ability points and the occasional attribute point or talent point. Now, higher-level enemies are far from impossible to defeat, although fighting level 4s at level 2 is incredibly tough; low level totals obviously exacerbate the phenomenon. As well, it's pretty easy to scout ahead and/or flee if necessary, but even that's part of the problem. The enemies' levels will be an obvious clue that there's a different direction you might as well take first.

Still, it's far, far better than level scaling, but to blatantly lay out a level-appropriate path in an open-world game defeats a bit of the point of it being open-world. Not a game-breaker by any means, mind you.

Also, the itemization is pissing me off a bit. I've gotten fucking six +Bartering necklaces, six +Loremaster rings, and a bunch of other shit destined to be sold to the vendor besides. This isn't unexpected or unusual, and you don't need (or even want) optimized gear to play or enjoy the game... but the thing is, opening yet another chest to find yet another randomized pair of an unidentified bastard sword and an unidentified ring, I shouldn't be 90% sure they'll be going right to the vendor—none of whom are selling anything else I need at the moment, either, nor will they until next level-up. They might not be selling anything I want or need then, either. Once again though, this is a matter of taste and not a game-breaker by any means.

I've taken to grabbing up all the unused oil and ooze barrels and empty chests with my warrior and stockpiling them in Homestead so that I can autistically sort things in the chests, and have the barrels to use to cheese a few tough fights.

 

[Cadmus]

I'm getting close to level 6 now, at which point I'll

Spoiler

head over to take on the level 6 orcs in their beach encampments

. Combat has continued to be satisfying thus far, and easily handled with tactical planning. Save-scumming is kept to an absolute minimum, especially outside of combat (I accept the outcomes of arguments, pickpockets, lockpicks, etc. no matter what). I will occasionally reload a horribly botched combat, but this is more because I'd rather go back and apply a proper strategy than to save XP lost to deaths or whatever. It's pretty rare that that happens, though. I've only done it twice, and only one reload in each instance.

That's a bit of an issue I have with this game: There are guards posted at all of Cyseal's gates who warn you if your level isn't high enough for the monsters in the general area outside the respective gate, and indeed there's practically a paint-by-numbers trail of enemies suitable to levels 1-6 (and I'm assuming also 7-10 throughout the rest of the fog of war) to trace across the map. The character progression mechanics are definitely "zero to hero" in D:OS, as you gain a quite significant HP and damage boost each level in addition to ability points and the occasional attribute point or talent point. Now, higher-level enemies are far from impossible to defeat, although fighting level 4s at level 2 is incredibly tough; low level totals obviously exacerbate the phenomenon. As well, it's pretty easy to scout ahead and/or flee if necessary, but even that's part of the problem. The enemies' levels will be an obvious clue that there's a different direction you might as well take first.

Still, it's far, far better than level scaling, but to blatantly lay out a level-appropriate path in an open-world game defeats a bit of the point of it being open-world. Not a game-breaker by any means, mind you.

Also, the itemization is pissing me off a bit. I've gotten fucking six +Bartering necklaces, six +Loremaster rings, and a bunch of other shit destined to be sold to the vendor besides. This isn't unexpected or unusual, and you don't need (or even want) optimized gear to play or enjoy the game... but the thing is, opening yet another chest to find yet another randomized pair of an unidentified bastard sword and an unidentified ring, I shouldn't be 90% sure they'll be going right to the vendor—none of whom are selling anything else I need at the moment, either, nor will they until next level-up. They might not be selling anything I want or need then, either. Once again though, this is a matter of taste and not a game-breaker by any means.

I've taken to grabbing up all the unused oil and ooze barrels and empty chests with my warrior and stockpiling them in Homestead so that I can autistically sort things in the chests, and have the barrels to use to cheese a few tough fights.

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with storing shit at all, it's a waste of time and the game is easy enough. Are you playing on hard?
About the level-challenge, if you've got a mage-heavy party you can mostly ignore where the game thinks you should go. What also happened to me that wouldn't happen with lvl scaling was that later ingame I found some undiscovered areas that became easy and funny kinda..kinda also boring, but I actually liked that.

The itemization sucks cocks (as is the standard as you say) no doubt about it. It's really a diablo-level of boring randomness.
About the loremaster, I had no idea it affects the stats you see on your enemies, for example. I thought that was handled by perception.
As you correctly assess, later ingame the level difference means nothing due to the range of available spells so you really can do anything and go anywhere.

So how do you like it so far? God it's been so long since I could just cum my fanboy sperm over a game without thinking about it too much, I wish to be a fanboy and live happily ever after.

 

[Blaine]

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with storing shit at all, it's a waste of time and the game is easy enough.

Eh, tinkering with items and figuring out combos is interesting enough. It's not like weapons, armor, and accessories I'm not sure I won't need can't just be sold later, either. There's no need for skill books I'm hanging onto and potions I plan to augment later on to clutter up my inventory, either. I want to save a fair few of the basic materials for when my Crafting and Blacksmithing are higher, and when I figure out/find more recipes. I'm sure you're right, but it's interesting enough.

Are you playing on hard?

You mean Codex Normal? Of course. I wasn't initially, but I turned it up recently. The whiffy to-hit factor is aggravating, but I have Bless and a bit of Leadership and only one pure warrior (rogue rarely misses regardless, at least in melee), not to mention, most debuffs dramatically decrease enemies' ability to dodge.

About the level-challenge, if you've got a mage-heavy party you can mostly ignore where the game thinks you should go.

I dunno man, a two-handed warrior with Oath of Desecration, Bless, Melee Power Stance, and probably a haste effect on can demolish most enemies in two hits, one if I'm quite lucky, three if unlucky. Mage damage output is lower, but of course they have crazy buffs and debuffs.

I'm most pleased that with some nice +move boots (which I've only found one pair of, and that's pissing me off) and assorted +move bonuses on other random gear, my rogue can sprint across the battlefield, haste himself, turn invisible, then next turn sneak, get behind the oft-inevitable enemy mage, and stab the shit out of him. If he can't be finished off, then trip him, and then also stun him if necessary. This classic strategy is one of my favorites. And like a proper rogue, he's a little pussy piece of shit in open combat against armored enemies, at least for now.

So how do you like it so far?

It's quite good despite the numerous flaws and quibbles. Only very rarely is there good tactical turn-based combat in RPGs this side of the 21st century, and the combat isn't all it's got going for it. The interactivity and physics gimmicks, actual secrets and puzzles, LARP convo traits, freedom to steal anything not nailed down and kill anyone, and even mild C&C (too early to tell so far) is pretty great. Also, while the humor-oriented wacky writing isn't my preference, it's not annoying or off-putting, just serviceable.

 

[Gregz]

Ah well, they're busy with the console port, after all. Can't expect them to spend much time optimizing. Well, at least I won't forget to quicksave.

Introducing a memory leak into the live version of the game is a very serious misstep. They should drop anything and everything they are working on and fix it, if they can't fix it in a week they should regress to the previous working version.

 

[Blaine]

I was being sarcastic, by the way. Those shitheads need to forget about the console port for a while and focus their energy on fixing up this motherfucking game, not to mention adding in the aforementioned content. It's by no means unplayable right now, but I don't appreciate them slinking off to fish for console bux instead just yet.

 

[Sitra Achara]

Don't forget experimenting with VR tech: https://twitter.com/LarAtLarian/status/505513995261186048

 

[Roguey]

Kickstarter update coming soon. Patch imminent?

 

[Infinitron]

https://twitter.com/LarAtLarian/status/510019579046006784

Swen Vincke‏@LarAtLarian
We just finished taping a new Kickstarter update for Divinity:Original Sin. It was hard not to talk too much, been some time

 

[imweasel]

Larian are true bros for making another Kickstarter update.

Hopefully they will give us some sale figures too.

 

[Perkel]

Thoughts after releasing Divinity:Original Sin and what comes next

http://www.lar.net/2014/09/12/thoughts-after-releasing-divinityoriginal-sin-and-what-comes-next/


It has sold well over half a million units by now– mostly from Steam, with 10% from retail. ”Break even” has been reached, our debts have been paid and we are now in the profitable zone. While not all of the money is for us as we had private investors on board, the game did sufficiently well for us to envision funding our next endeavors with it, meaning we’re pretty happy about its performance.

 

[imweasel]

[D:OS] has sold well over half a million units by now– mostly from Steam, with 10% from retail. ”Break even” has been reached, our debts have been paid and we are now in the profitable zone.

Congrats Larian. :D

A lot of the crunch was caused by our decision to listen to the feedback we received through our Kickstarter and Steam Early Access communities. While it often was tough to read through all of the criticism, it was clear that integrating the best parts of the feedback would be well worth the effort and improve the game massively. We didn’t hesitate for a minute.

Sawyer and Obsidian could certainly learn a lot from this guy.

 

[Perkel]

Wow if true:

Content is also king when it comes to the game itself. Bad content means players will have no motivation to invest themselves in your game, and if you find yourself for whatever reason with bad content, cull it. Don’t release it, even if it causes extra delays and it brings you to the brink of bankruptcy. Bad is bad and players will recognise bad. Fix your content first. At some undisclosed point in development, we dumped more than half of what we had. It was the best decision ever, even if did tarnish the end result a bit and caused a lot of extra stress.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Very interesting read. He certainly wasn't joking when he said he was going "all in" on this. Pretty brave to bet your company on a turn-based RPG (with no romances), it's great that it paid off in the end.

 

[Onholyservicebound]

I'm surprised to see people actually talking about Divinity ITT.

well..that might be a little generous, I'm surprised to see at least 50% of some of these posts are talking about Divinity.

 

[Knut]

i'm afraid to see what is vincke's vision of "rpg that will dwarf them all" after this feeble attempt.
who are those idiots that proclaimed this is the modern baldur's gate?

even if pillars prove to be mediocre combat-wise, if immersion and the writing are good i will at least replay them. replaying divinity is a waste of time in my book.

 

[Tytus]

i'm afraid to see what is vincke's vision of "rpg that will dwarf them all" after this feeble attempt.
who are those idiots that proclaimed this is the modern baldur's gate?

even if pillars prove to be mediocre combat-wise, if immersion and the writing are good i will at least replay them. replaying divinity is a waste of time in my book.

Muh Immersioon!

 

[Knut]

i'm afraid to see what is vincke's vision of "rpg that will dwarf them all" after this feeble attempt.
who are those idiots that proclaimed this is the modern baldur's gate?

even if pillars prove to be mediocre combat-wise, if immersion and the writing are good i will at least replay them. replaying divinity is a waste of time in my book.

Muh Immersioon!

Muh turn based combat with prethee spell effects purged of all interesting content!