Game News Divinity: Original Sin Kickstarter Update #4: Singleplayer Video, Story Feature, New Rewards

[Jaesun]

Yeah. More on skills will be in future updates. A lot of people have been asking about that too.

 

[CyberWhale]

Not sure, what the "new" video is supposed to show.
I mean the game looks very good and i am aiming at 40$ - but they should fucking get their shit together and show an example quest or something. Equiping shovels and brooms is not what i like in an RPG.

They have actually shown quite a lot. The only perplexing thing is that they have done that better a year ago than during this kickstarter campaing.



And there is also this...


They still need a hook. Something that will catch people's attention. Something like that sidequest in the first video but more associated with the main storyline.

 

[Black]

Maybe rename it to Bald Uhr: The Original Sin.
IE tards would again throw their money blindly.

 

[BobtheTree]

For some reason, I find having conversations with yourself hilarious.

Damn, I knew I shouldn't have watched the video. Now I really want to back it.

 

[Zeriel]

Heh, if only Bioware had made all their joinable companion dialogue chosen by the player, I'm pretty sure romances would have never caught on. Oh, the paths never travelled...

 

[jagged-jimmy]

They have actually shown quite a lot. The only perplexing thing

I knew at least the 1. video and fail to see any stat/skill based non-combat interaction. So i am waiting for the update on skill usage.

 

[Murk]

Even the intimidation or charisma check in dialog with the guard when they teleport?

Seems pretty typical of the usual "stat check" -- and stats are used against the two PCs as well when one disagrees with the other regarding what to do, like when they return to the guards after investigating the guard tower.

Isn't that basically what you meant? Stat-based skill/ability use with NPCs and with PCs. That's how tabletop RPGs work.

 

[RK47]

How can Torment/PE swim in a pool of cash with one fucking picture and this barely gets founded with gameplay videos and shit ? where is justice ?

a) People aren't interested in the concept, especially since it's so clearly defined so they know exactly what they're getting/not getting rather than filling in the blanks in their heads
b) People aren't interested in some non-gaming-celebrity-personality Belgium nobodies

Yes. I'm really sad with all the hype-swallowing going on.

 

[Gruia]

the writing didnt impress me. I want something wittier and funnier. The writing should be completed by now, right? If that is the best of it..
eh, im sitting at 40 and will probably enjoy to run it with a girl friend. But don't except too much from it

But i am still trying to promote it any way i can . don't tell my friends ))

 

[Mangoose]

Jesus fuckigc hrist whiners. Hurr durr writing is not sufficient to my monocle neanderthal tastes. And why isn't there specific information that I specifically want to see in video form yet? I know there's only been 1 video but you gotta cater to me. Me, me, me!

Surprisingly Roguey not shitposting.

I agree that they could use a stronger hook for marketing purposes though. Turn based with up to 6 controllable characters, attacks of opportunity, flanking, elemental spells that depend on/affect the environment, all that is a big hook to me. Though I can't say what we be most popular for their entire market.

 

[Severian Silk]

Game looks visually very good. Except for the paths, buildings, etc appearing so spacious and wide. A result of the game needing a rotatable 3D camera I guess. Drop-in-drop-out multiplayer is intriguing. I wonder how that will end up. Third-grade "Larian trademark humor" and other eurodouchebaggery are not what I consider funny. This is one difference between DOS and Torment/PE, and it's a big one.

Verdict: Probably won't buy because of the general tone of the videos and dorky devs, and despite the combat mechanics seeming OK.

[edit]

I may reconsider if there are some good third-party modules made for it.

 

[J_C]

Verdict: Probably won't buy despite the combat mechanics which seem OK.

GET OUT!

 

[Zeriel]

"These loser game developers aren't nearly cool enough for me to buy their game."

I am speechless.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Have they talked about adding a grid to combat? After seeing how good a grid looks in recent turned based games like Chaos Chronicles and Conquistador, i would love to see Larian doing the same, tho my favorite turned based fantasy combat game doesn't have one (ToEE).

 

[Mangoose]

This is one difference between DOS and Torment/PE, and it's a big one.

What differences? I'd say that the Divinity games are similar to Torment/MotB despite the action gameplay. Div2 had a good variety of C&C in its sidequests along with skillchecks. Hidden areas/quests, riddles. And again despite the difference in gameplay style, all the Divinities and Torment all have really bland and boring combat, lol.

I assume we're talking about gameplay (considering dialogue w/skill checks to be gameplay).

Not "literature"-"quality" of writing and plot, because we aren't try-hard 'highbrow' storyfags here, right?

 

[Gruia]

Not "literature"-"quality" of writing and plot, because we aren't try-hard 'highbrow' storyfags here, right?

No he was talking about quality writing and plot, and we ARE storyfags

 

[Black_Willow]

Game looks visually very good. Except for the paths, buildings, etc appearing so spacious and wide. A result of the game needing a rotatable 3D camera I guess. Drop-in-drop-out multiplayer is intriguing. I wonder how that will end up. Third-grade "Larian trademark humor" and other eurodouchebaggery are not what I consider funny. This is one difference between DOS and Torment/PE, and it's a big one.

Verdict: Probably won't buy because of the general tone of the videos and dorky devs, and despite the combat mechanics seeming OK.

[edit]

I may reconsider if there are some good third-party modules made for it.

Dear Sir, please remove yourself from the premises right into the Outer Space!

 

[RK47]

Truly a discerning connoisseur of gaming.

 

[Mangoose]

Not "literature"-"quality" of writing and plot, because we aren't try-hard 'highbrow' storyfags here, right?

No he was talking about quality writing and plot, and we ARE storyfags

Then please, the door, and not kindly.

Writing and plot is only meaningful (with respect to gaming) when it is used in interaction with gameplay. In that case, it is not the quality of the writing that is important, but the quality of the writing's interaction with the gameplay, whether that is gameplay affecting the plot, or plot choices resulting in gameplay consequences, or of the similar ilk.

This is the defining area that video games have over other mediums of storytelling - interaction with the audience. And if you care more about simply the quality of the writing in a vacuum, then, simply, you aren't thinking about the true merits of a video game.

In fact, I do subscribe to a version of storyfaggotry - in that I enjoy the stories that spontaneously appear due to complex gaming mechanics clashing with one another.

And by the way, Torment wasn't good because of the quality of its story, but the freedom in which it allowed you to define your character, and the variety of ways you can affect the storylines of NPCs. It's the choices and reactivity that are important.

 

[Mangoose]

Have they talked about adding a grid to combat? After seeing how good a grid looks in recent turned based games like Chaos Chronicles and Conquistador, i would love to see Larian doing the same, tho my favorite turned based fantasy combat game doesn't have one (ToEE).

I'm not sure if they are considering it. But they did explicitly say that ToEE is an inspiration, so the gridless combat may be intentional.

 

[Zeriel]

I wouldn't go quite that far, I think you can have good games that are highly linear and whose quality arises from how engrossing that linear storyline and gameplay is, and you can also have really good games whose merits are a more sand-box style of choices and reactivity. They're enjoyable in different ways. HERESY, I know.

 

[Mangoose]

I wouldn't go quite that far, I think you can have good games that are highly linear and whose quality arises from how engrossing that linear storyline and gameplay is, and you can also have really good games whose merits are a more sand-box style of choices and reactivity. They're enjoyable in different ways. HERESY, I know.

No, it's not heresy, it's dumb. Those linear games would be better served as novels, comics, or movies. You're only engrossed because you can't think outside of the box of IT MUST BE A VIDEO GAME, or you don't have the attention span to read a book. /shrug

A game with a linear storyline can be a good game, if its gameplay carries it. But then, that's the point - the gameplay always carries a game, and the storyline (in a vacuum sense) is simply the "icing." If you care about the toppings more than the fundamental ingredients, your result is a flawed product. That is the point I'm trying to make. Discuss the merits of quality storyline in a vacuum all you want, but to say that "oh ho ho the gameplay looks good and the mechanics look solid but the storyline looks third-rate SO NO BUY LOLOLOL" is fucking retarded from a strict gaming point of view, and any designer of real games doesn't need to hear that kind of feedback from the wrong target market.

 

[SCO]

That's like, your opinion man. LOL

 

[Zeriel]

I'm not disagreeing that his reasoning is retarded, I'm just disagreeing that the only type of game that can be good is well... any one type. You can have games with flawed design that still are worth playing and are enjoyable (see: any Obsidian game ever).

In other words, I'm not expecting Divinity: Original Sin to have a story that trumps Torment 2, and I'm not expecting Torment 2's combat to be anything but ass. I'll play both, and hopefully enjoy both. My guess is I'll inevitably play Divinity: Original Sin a hell of a lot more over time because modules and multiplayer offer considerable replayability.

I do want to skullfuck that guy for suggesting that the deciding factor in what games you should buy is what the developers are like, though. I like Larian, but even if I thought they were douchebags that should have no bearing on how I approach their game. Personality cults are utterly evil. Witness Richard "I made a 10-year-old MMO demo" Garriott walking away with over a million dollars, while these guys who have made the closest thing there is to a Ultima 7 successor struggle (well not really, but bear with the exaggeration) to hit 400K. If God exists, he fucking loves irony.

 

[Black]

we ARE storyfags

Who's this "we" you talk about?