Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity [BETA RELEASED, GO TO THE NEW THREAD]

[Zed]

It's nice to see them draw inspiration from Scandinavian folklore. There sure is some spooky stuff to find there.

 

[Ninjerk]

Imagine if to kill it you had to actually drag it to a graveyard.

 

[2house2fly]

If Sawyer cared about racial politics as much as he cares about sexual politics he would have called it something less offensive, like the War Of Urban Trees

 

[Arkadin]

The Wichts remind me of Haitian zombies, at least in so much as a zombi is a "body without a soul". Not to say that the wichts can be ordered around by a sorcerer to do chores on his plantation, but it still sounds cool.

 

[Arkeus]

Hehe, somewhat amused at a non-colorblind going on "you have to be careful about colors in text because of colorblind people". Obviously, Josh had to respond.

 

[Osvir]

In an attempt to start a conversation.

Next topic: Journal

What are some of the features people are looking forward to with the Journal?

Some of my own pointers & ideas, also posted at Update #62 over at the Obsidian Forums:
- I think it would be awesome to have a "Blank" Journal and Quest Log, and hey even the Description being "Blank" on found/dropped Spells, Weapons, Armors etc. etc.
- Obviously a suggestion for an Option (a choice), so I am not asking for it to be hardcoded into the game and "must" be like this. I just think there's a charm with doing your own annotations as you go along your quest/journey/in-game events. But instead of having a notebook and a pen next to your computer, do it in-game in the Journal.
- No automatic updates.
- Basic Idea: A self-written diary, instead of an automatically updated hand-holding go-to Quest Book that notes everything for you.

I'm kind of thinking about my journey to America and when I went on the roadtrip across the continent (From Woodstock, New York to Oregon, mostly on the I-80, Portland, up to Washington, down to California, East to Michigan, down to Ohio, then home). Never did my "Journal" update automatically, I had to do my own search and my own quest. I believe that P:E could benefit from this "adventure/traveling"-mindset, that you are entering an adventure and not just a casual game that will both tell you and save all the information about it for you.

I'm thinking about World of Warcraft mostly here, you go to a Quest giver and you don't really need to pay attention to anything he's saying. Just click "Accept Quest" and find what you need. When you are done, you can simply click the "Reward" button and that's it.

What I am suggesting is that you would have to read what the Quest giver is saying, and then write it down yourself in your in-game Journal. Baldur's Gate allowed you to edit the Quest descriptions in the Journal, but it was still Automatic in the same sense as WoW.

Now, games like Might & Magic (the early kind) didn't have this form of hand-holding. If you found a Quest Giver, you had to write down what he said on a piece of nearby paper. That's a great experience that I believe can easily be translated into the game space. The Player has to think a little bit for themselves.

Again, only as an Option. Click "Turn Blank Journal On" and you get what I suggest above, or Click (or leave it as is, default) "Turn Blank Journal Off" and we get a standardized Journal with automatic annotations. EDIT: Not to forget the mention like games like Myst (different type of game, but it gets difficult to finish it if you don't have an awesome memory and/or pen & paper).

Enough advocating for this though... what do you think?

 

[Haba]

I think I need a drink.

A stiff drink.

 

[Sensuki]

We're still talking about the exact process/circumstances under which soulless children become wichts, but soulless children are absolutely born in a persistent vegetative state and the overwhelming majority of them are either killed by their parents (directly or just left to die) or they die before leaving infancy despite attempts to care for them.

Some more light on how wichts are created/rarity.

 

[Ninjerk]

I think I need a drink.

A stiff drink.

I've got something stiff for ya

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

I think I need a drink.

A stiff drink.

I've got something stiff for ya

 

[Haba]

I've got something stiff for ya

A tall stiff drink, not a shot.

 

[Comrade Goby]

Souless are disabled children. Problematic?

More like true to life.

 

[Ninjerk]

I've got something stiff for ya

A tall stiff drink, not a shot.

It's more like a highball with a really wide and sturdy base.

 

[Sensuki]

There have been a lot of comments on the plausibility on the creation of wichts so...

Based on a lot of the questions people were asking here and elsewhere, we (the designers) got together and worked out the details of how wichts are created. I think the majority of you will be satisfied with how they (and their lore) are presented in the game.

The important thing to keep in mind here is that the implication of a universe with souls (especially ones that transmigrate) is that the soul is actually the person. A body is just a vehicle the person is driving around.

This is correct. Animancers and philosophers question to what extent the physical body plays a role in defining a person, but the soul is the essence of an individual's consciousness, memory, and personality.

 

[MicoSelva]

I admit I wasn't following this particular topic very closely, but wasn't the extreme rarity of wicht creation the issue, instead of the plausibility of them being created at all?

 

[Sensuki]

Something like that, it was mostly the discussion at Something Awful which made them develop it further.

 

[Roguey]

Spoiler alert: wichts are created through the act of rape. A double rape, actually. First the mother gets raped to produce a soulless baby, then when the child comes of age, it's raped in a ritual to transform it into a wicht.

 

[Surf Solar]

Did you just make that shit up or did you channel your Sawyer master to get hold of this information?

 

[MicoSelva]

Something like that, it was mostly the discussion at Something Awful which made them develop it further.

The development is nowehere near explaining the potential existence of hordes of wichts. They still seem like a very seldom appearing creeatures.

 

[Infinitron]

Did you just make that shit up or did you channel your Sawyer master to get hold of this information?

Making shit up.

 

[Roguey]

Josh reads what I wrote, sighs, and goes back to the drawing board.

The development is nowehere near explaining the potential existence of hordes of wichts. They still seem like a very seldom appearing creeatures.

What makes you think they won't be rare creatures? In Heart of Winter, there were maybe about a dozen or so wailing virgins at most so they're fine with only using certain creatures a few times.

 

[MicoSelva]

What makes you think they won't be rare creatures? In Heart of Winter, there were maybe about a dozen or so wailing virgins at most so they're fine with only using certain creatures a few times.

I would be surprised if there were a dozen wichts in the whole world of PE, given the circumstances leading to their creation

I also don't think the PC party should meet all of the wichts in the world, or even half of them.

This means effort is put to create an enemy we should encounter 3-4 times over the course of the game. Not that I mind having rare creatures in my fantasy worlds, but I have a feeling Obsidian plans (planned?) many more wichts in PE than that.

 

[Rake]

What makes you think they won't be rare creatures? In Heart of Winter, there were maybe about a dozen or so wailing virgins at most so they're fine with only using certain creatures a few times.

I would be surprised if there were a dozen wichts in the whole world of PE, given the circumstances leading to their creation

I also don't think the PC party should meet all of the wichts in the world, or even half of them.

This means effort is put to create an enemy we should encounter 3-4 times over the course of the game. Not that I mind having rare creatures in my fantasy worlds, but I have a feeling Obsidian plans (planned?) many more wichts in PE than that.

Souless persons can be artificialy created. i can imagine a wicht production factory some place where slavers sell children so someone can extract their souls and then throw them away. Depending on their age some of these children could survive long enough to become wichts.

 

[MicoSelva]

In before wicht factory is only available in the game after modders restore it 5 years after PE release.

 

[Arkeus]

What makes you think they won't be rare creatures? In Heart of Winter, there were maybe about a dozen or so wailing virgins at most so they're fine with only using certain creatures a few times.

I would be surprised if there were a dozen wichts in the whole world of PE, given the circumstances leading to their creation

Given how Wichts are, it wouldn't surprise me if children of Wichts are also soulless. This could greatly improve their numbers.