Game News Divinity: Original Sin has sold 160,000 copies, already approaching profitability

[Athelas]

My first time through the game, I missed several of the quests; among them the Siamese Twins/Halfogre Island conspiracy. On my second play-through, the one I used to write this guide, I discovered that quest, and became quickly caught up in it. I really wanted to find and punish the wicked gnomes. I wanted to rescue or at least avenge the sexually abused human women, and I wanted to do something about the enslavement of the unfortunate halfogres. Unfortunately, the game gives you no option to do anything about any of these things ever. What you get to do is listen to a smug gnome give a very poor X-filesish summary of why you can't do anything about any of it, and then nothing. No option to outwit the gnomes, betray the gnomes, anything. Despite having the ear of two or three of the most powerful men on the gameworld, you don't have the option of mentioning it to any of them. The programmers just assume you're going to be satisfied with "Ha ha, can't do anything about it! Those wily gnomes. Wasn't that a funny plot about kidnapping, rape, and racial enslavement?"

The 'conclusion' to this plot came at a time that I was starting to get frustrated with the slow and tedious movement interface of Arcanum. When I killed the gnome conspirator and the game penalized me because his alignment was 'good,' that was really the final straw for me. Folks, it isn't good to engage in slavery, rape, breeding humans as farm animals, and political sabotage. It's not even funny. It's a pretty darn serious plot, deserving of a resolution. If you're going to allow room in the game for evil characters to kill innocent people, you're going to have to allow room in the game for good characters to care about pursuing things like this.

So I stopped playing. Not in protest or anything; it just wasn't worth slogging through the awful movement screens, tedious combats, and ugly graphics anymore.

Someone should show that to Tim Cain.

 

[nikolokolus]

have never read jack vance, I started to and I recall really liking what I read but can't remember why I did not finish reading it. I know the D&D magic system is somehoow based on his writings, are there specific books that people prefer or that should be read in some order? Are they good?

The three Lyonesse stories, which are a sort of spin on Cornish legend, are pretty good. The Dying Earth novels: Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga in particular stand out. There's others, mostly in the Sci-fi genre, and some of them are really good, but I always gravitated to his more fantasy stuff. The Dying Earth stories don't have to be read in any particular order, but the Lyonesse trilogy is ordered as such: 1. Suldrun's Garden, 2. The Green Pearl, 3. Madouc.

 

[Morality Games]

Yep, they should continue with Divinity series, making some expansion packs and sequel to Original Sin. Of course it would still be awesome for them to create more "serious" setting preferably some SciFi or Cyberpunk. Oh and I just ordered collector's edition, so I will be playing really soon.

Truth be told, one of the smartest things they could do is set the next game in a desert stretch of Rivellon and turn it into a Dark Sun spiritual successor. That way the can maintain the tone and spirit of the Divinity setting while introducing post-apocalyptic elements and preventing their catalogue from getting stale.

Someone should show that to Tim Cain.

Eh. That represented a high point in the storytelling for me. The amount of effort and detail that went into that quest and the anti-climax was reminiscent of 19th century sensational novels and helped reinforce the sheer scale of the world as well as the feeling of despondence and gloom pervading the setting and its inhabitants. Has all the signs of hand craftsmanship that stop Arcanum from coming across as an assembly line production like, uh, well any of the Dragon Ages, really.

I would compare it as the difference between John Carter and the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

 

[felipepepe]

Of course the quest had to end there, what he expected? The entire point of it is to be unsolveable.

He wants what, go to Bates, hear him say he can't do anything because the gnomes have X, so you go to gnomes, steal X and Bates help you stop them? Well, now you have a main quest of a RPG, and one that has a solution. You lost all the charm.

 

[Drowed]

Of course the quest had to end there, what he expected? The entire point of it is to be unsolveable.

He wants what, go to Bates, hear him say he can't do anything because the gnomes have X, so you go to gnomes, steal X and Bates help you stop them? Well, now you have a main quest of a RPG, and one that has a solution. You lost all the charm.

Yeah, but some people just want to be a hero. I don't think some people can interpret a quest as a way of discussing/experiencing an issue/topic, most think that quests are tools to show how awesome their characters are. They're so badass, you know, that they can solve all problems - bring the right to where is wrong, justice to where there is evil, etc.

And if they can't do that, well, that's "bad design". Or so they think.

EDIT:
This kinda reminds me of the revolt caused by the quest in the Tenpenny Tower with the ghouls, perhaps the only quest with an interesting ending in Fallout 3. It was funny to see the revolt of the people who helped the ghouls to find their place there, as it was the "right" thing to do, only to later see that all humans were killed in the tower. "How dare they, how come my fair and loving idealized ending could not be reached"?

 

[AstroZombie]

I disappeared from the M&MX and Blackguards threads too when those were released since I had no intention of playing them, and taking further potshots would be a crazy waste of time. It's called moving on. Though I've enjoyed the times I've been called Rogueway, I'm not the kind of person who sticks around to slam something I have no interest in playing.

So you're only interested in slamming things you'll never play before they're released?

 

[Drowed]

So you're only interested in slamming things you'll never play before they're released?

Man, you're arguing with Roguey.

Spoiler

Quoting myself from the D:OS giveaway topic:

 

[Lerk]

Dragonlance...loved it as a teen, DM`d a long running campaign with AD&D 2E, so I could go for that.

I did make the mistake of starting to re-read the original trilogy recently. My God, I wish I hadn't, fucking laughably bad writing. Even Raistlin, who my younger, naive self thought was total badass.

Don't ruin the nostalgia for yourself like I did bros

Once I stumbled onto Moorcock, Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Jack Vance and Gene Wolf it's absolutely impossible to finish any of those terribad D&D licensed novels.

Funny to think there was a time when I considered R.A. Salvatore a competent writer.

Eternal Champion I still have the Chaosium Elric PnP rules somewhere, will have to dig them out. As for Salvatore, I know what you mean, but compared to Weiss & Hickman he's motherfucking Fritz Leiber.

Currently binging on the Witcher series (yes, thanks to the games) and they're pretty good. Even the fan translations of the second series of short stories read pretty well.

Hmmm. Has Lankhmar had a CRPG incarnation? Someone should get on that

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Divinity: Original Sin has sold 160,000 copies, already approaching profitability

 

[UnknownBro]

They're aiming at WoD evidently... I hope...

 

[nikolokolus]

I've never seen a Lankhmar game, but I'd back it if Larian wanted to do their spin on it. City of Thieves is pretty much how I'm playing D:OS right now.

On second Thought, how about a Thieves World vidya game?

 

[HiddenX]

Already on position 17 in the player charts and trending…

http://steamcharts.com/

http://steamcharts.com/app/230230

 

[Cadmus]

Ah, so we're listing random neglected IPs Larian could rescue...

Magnum PI RPG


I want to be a Higgins

The interactivity of the engine would be better used in "MacGyver: The RPG"
upgrade your cars, create new weapons using paperclips, construct a hot air balloon out of 3 inches thick metal sheets, travel all over the world and solve quests

 

[jdinatale]

I have a question for you guys. Given the wide-spread acclaim for D:OS, and considering your own personal enjoyment of the game, do you see yourself contributing even more to their next kickstarter, or about the same as you did last time?

I know I only contributed the bare minimum to get a copy of the game, but next time I think I will pledge $60 or more. I'm still a student so I really can't afford to go higher than that, but I'd like to throw every penny I can at Larian, they rock!

 

[Excidium]

I'll pledge twice the amount I did last time

 

[Irenaeus]

Yeah. I pledged $65 and depending if the pitch is good I could push through.

 

[krist2]

Also back as nr 1 on the top sellers list (before the shotgun overpriced DLC...) as much as I like to play PD2 in coop with friends, I find their DLC policy quite iritating...

Can't pledge more at the next kickstarter, the amount I pledged for D:OS is the same as the number of the

Spoiler

BEAST

:D

 

[SuicideBunny]

I have a question for you guys. Given the wide-spread acclaim for D:OS, and considering your own personal enjoyment of the game, do you see yourself contributing even more to their next kickstarter, or about the same as you did last time?

i only gave them 25 bucks through codex because dragon commander left me rather underwhelmed, but i'd be inclined to give way more if the next one is an rpg too.

 

[Jaedar]

I pledged 65 mostly because it came with 2 games. But that collectors edition box looks rather cool, so might have to pledge for that next time(if there is a next time).

 

[Infinitron]

i only gave them 25 bucks through codex because dragon commander left me rather underwhelmed, but i'd be inclined to give way more if the next one is an rpg too.

Dragon Commander was released after the Kickstarter...

 

[Watser]

Got myself a CE box for this. I will most likely stay at the same price level unless they make it worthwhile to go higher, as there weren't a lot of things I was interested in in the last campaign

 

[Zeriel]

i only gave them 25 bucks through codex because dragon commander left me rather underwhelmed, but i'd be inclined to give way more if the next one is an rpg too.

Dragon Commander was released after the Kickstarter...

I'll never get tired of people getting zinged for this.

 

[SuicideBunny]

i only gave them 25 bucks through codex because dragon commander left me rather underwhelmed, but i'd be inclined to give way more if the next one is an rpg too.

Dragon Commander was released after the Kickstarter...

sorry, i mixed up dks and dc. too many fucking dragons.

 

[Turjan]

have never read jack vance, I started to and I recall really liking what I read but can't remember why I did not finish reading it. I know the D&D magic system is somehoow based on his writings, are there specific books that people prefer or that should be read in some order? Are they good?

Read the "Lyonesse" Trilogy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyonesse_Trilogy

Or start where it all started, with the Dying Earth books. You can get them in one big sampler. This and Lyonesse are more fantasy, but his specialty was actually science fiction with a slight fantasy vibe. Jack Vance is excellent at setting up quirky societies. He's not good at writing characters though, and most of his protagonists stay weirdly one-dimensional, but that should not deter you. Oh, you definitely have to get used to his style. His vocabulary is quite extensive. I absolutely love his imagination.

 

[Turjan]

I seriously hope they fail to get any license, a company that is doing so well by its own should know better than to get tangled with third parties

Yeah, I don't really get it either. Now isn't the time to branch out, its time to take what they've made here and make a "flawless" version of it. Then branch out.

Yep, they should continue with Divinity series, making some expansion packs and sequel to Original Sin. Of course it would still be awesome for them to create more "serious" setting preferably some SciFi or Cyberpunk. Oh and I just ordered collector's edition, so I will be playing really soon.

Word. I can only imagine that they poured so much of their brain juice into the current game that they are kind of burnt out and are looking for a change. It's not necessarily a good thing though. Ultima has been destroyed as a brand and Arcanum is nothing but Codex fan service, as much as I love that game. I hope they don't do anything they later regret.