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

[catfood]

Escape from the Friendzone DLC - $15

Damn, if only MCA had the balls to add the posibility to get LJBF'ded by a party member. The tales of butthurt would remembered for years to come.

 

[Infinitron]

tuluse Here's the deal. The NWN series caused massive butthurt among IE fans. Many people never gave the second game in the series and its expansions a chance, because the first was so different from what they wanted.

So to lots of people out there, the last IE-like game was IWD2.

 

[Infinitron]

Escape from the Friendzone DLC - $15

Damn, if only MCA had the balls to add the posibility to get LJBF'ded by a party member. The tales of butthurt would remembered for years to come.

Mira?

TBH you actually get LJBF'ed by Avelline in DA2.

 

[tuluse]

But I think that *is* the overarching and understood appeal. Also, NWN games were not IE games.

I know there weren't, but it's still an isometric RTwP game, which is the main thing Obsidian has been pushing as the "cool" aspect of their game.

tuluse Here's the deal. The NWN series caused massive butthurt among IE fans. Many people never gave the second game in the series and its expansions a chance, because the first was so different from what they wanted.

So to lots of people out there, the last IE-like game was IWD2.

I guess, I still think Obisidian could sell their game a lot better than they have been doing.

Do a video with each of MCA, Cain, and Sawyer with my idea, just listing things they are planning on putting in the game that no publisher would let them get away with.

So far their pitch doesn't sound like they want to make a game free from publisher influence, it sounds like they just want publishers from the 90s back. Which I guess is fine, but I was expecting a bit more divergence from the status quo, at least in terms of pitch if not product.

Maybe Fargo should start a marketing company where he designs kickstarters for mid-sized developers.

 

[catfood]

Well I wouldn't know because I don't play shit games.

 

[evdk]

Post the update, Infinitron

 

[Infinitron]

UPDATE, with new Josh video: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity/posts/316398

Update #9 - The power of MODES and Godlike races: Our $2.3M Stretch Goal

Update #9 · Sep. 26, 2012

We love giving players options: character build options, personality options, story options -- all the options you might want to play around with. We recognize that many players also want to play the game their way and have an experience that matches their particular RPG tastes. RPG fans share a lot of common ground, but on matters of visible mechanical feedback, complexity, and the overall level of punitive face-punching a game provides, there's a big spectrum of opinions. In a lot of cases, it's not too hard for us to provide options to turn an individual feature on or off, so we want to make that possible when resources permit us to do so.

Additionally, even among the ranks of RPG superfans, there exists a subset of players who can't get enough challenge. They want all of the difficulty features set to "I am pro." Collectively, we've worked on a bunch of these challenge modes in the past and enjoyed the results. Project Eternity seems like a very appropriate place to highlight suites of these difficulty options as distinct gameplay modes that players can opt-into at the beginning of any game. We've come up with three modes we'd like to support, which also includes the ability to turn many of their sub-features on and off on an individual level in an ordinary game: Expert Mode, Trial of Iron, and Path of the Damned.

Expert Mode will disable all of the common ease-of-use / in-case-you-missed it gameplay elements like the display of skill thresholds, influence/reputation modifiers, and similar "helper" information. In a fashion similar to Fallout: New Vegas' Hardcore Mode, Expert Mode will also enable more punitive and demanding gameplay elements, in and out of combat. We're not saying we're going to have weighty gold (for real, we're not saying that), but if we did, you can bet that would be automatically turned on by Expert Mode.

If you guessed that Trial of Iron is like Temple of Elemental Evil's Ironman Mode, you guessed right. When you start a Trial of Iron game, you have one save game that persists for the entire campaign... or until you die. And if you die, your save game is deleted. Enjoy!

Path of the Damned is a spiritual successor to Icewind Dale's Heart of Fury mode. In our encounters, we like to turn individual combatants on and off based on the level of difficulty. If you come into an area on Easy, maybe casters are replaced with weak melee enemies. If you come in on Hard, maybe the casters are augmented by a tough melee enemy or two. With Path of the Damned, that goes out the window. All enemies from all levels of difficulty are enabled and the combat mechanics are amplified to make battles much more brutal for everyone involved.

The first question you may have is, "Can I enable multiple challenge modes at once?" Yep, you sure can. They have to be selected at the beginning of the game, but if you want to play with two or all three at the same time, you can certainly can do so. If you're not quite sure you want all of the elements that come along with a given mode, this funding level will also cover implementing the ability to enable and disable the individual sub-features.

Along with these modes, we also want to introduce the Godlike races. These folks have been described previously as being similar to the humanoid "planetouched" in D&D: aasimar, tieflings, and genasi. That is a good high-level description of them, but they are viewed differently by various factions, faiths, and cultures in the world of Project Eternity. Godlike were "blessed" before birth by one or more of the meddling deities of this world. Though their appearances vary, they are unmistakeably otherworldly when anyone gets a clear look at them. Sometimes, the reaction they get is overwhelmingly positive. Many times, the reaction is overwhelmingly not. For better or worse, the physical "gifts" that mark them as Godlike always come with supernatural blessings (and curses) of their own.

The first question you may have after reading this may be, "Hey, what about the other races that have already been funded?" Those races are in the process of being fully designed and concepted -- and they can't be summarized quite as simply as "sort of like planetouched". We'll have more for you on those guys in the not-too-distant future. Thanks again for your support, your patience, and your questions.

Update from Josh Sawyer

In addition to today's update, we've got a few backer badges for you, including one for the fantastic Obsidian Order of Eternity!

FORUM THREAD: Join the discussion on Update #9!

 

[Shadenuat]

An attractive (to a typical biowhore player) NPC that rejects you on the basis of being gay if you're of opposite sex, on the basis of being straight when you're the same.

Forever Avellone

This new unique writing trick deserves to exist, somebody post at Obsidian or make MCA know. Glorious idea.

 

[Infinitron]

This is totally

 

[Mrowak]

TBH you actually get LJBF'ed by Avelline in DA2.

Aveline - Avellone



Coincidence? I think not!!

 

[Captain Shrek]

It is not. This means seriously High magic setting probably. In which case it sucks.

 

[Infinitron]

What does that have to do with anything?

 

[kaizoku]

Bullshit. Not even remotly comparable

1. EVERYONE and their mom who wants a resurrection of old games contributed to the Double Fine Kickstarter. It offered a new perspective on games, you had hype thrown in and so on, and so on. I know several people that contributed not because they particulary were in love with Double Fine but because of the ideology.

Not really.
When I read comments on KS, I sometimes check their profiles, and not everyone has been there since the DF days (or at least backed them).

2. It entirly depends on how rabid your fans are (And Lucas Arts fans are pretty big and rabid). Remember, we're only a fraction of the actual market anyway. I mean, we're literary throwing money at people. Who does that? Do you think it would even be a majority of potential people that are interested in the game? No. You need to have at least some passion towards it.

Do you think Obsidian's modern fans would do that?

Yes, depends on rabidness and fanbase numbers.
And I for one expected to have a far greater when it comes to RPGs.
Adventure games never died, we simply stopped having those amazing LA and SO games.
RPGs didn't die, in fact they expanded in the form of popamole.
I believe there are more RPG fans (whatever the genre means anyway) now than there were, even though not everyone is willing to throw their money.
But come on... BG2, FO and PST are still the best RPGs on the charts, even at popamole sites.

Yes, I was expecting and wishing for better results than DFA, but especially W2.
This chart is interesting as it shows a slight but (what looks like) an increasing slope on PE curve in regard to the one for W2.

I dont mind DLCs if they are done separately after the game is finished and the DLC isn't just left out from the game, but I rather have larger expansions than small DLCs.

This.
But given that this is their own IP, their game and they have total creative freedom (unlike in NV), I prefer for them to not release any DLC at all. Only larger expansions.

 

[tuluse]

It is not. This means seriously High magic setting probably. In which case it sucks.

I think it was fairly obvious this was going to be a high magic setting from the get go.

Anyways, solid update. These settings sound like fun for 2nd or later playthroughs.

 

[Semper]

update 9 is so full of

 

[groke]

It is not. This means seriously High magic setting probably. In which case it sucks.

I CABN"T FUKING BELIEVE MY BG GAME IS GONNA BE HIGH MAJICK?!?!?!

 

[Captain Shrek]

Story becomes shit with very high magic setting. Especially where gods meddle in human affairs. After a while 'mundane' things in plots make no sense.

 

[Infinitron]

Let the Biodrone butthurt commence


Merin - Grey Storyteller, Obsidian Order just now

All sounds very cool. Harder difficulty modes is so not my thing... so this ain't for me. That said, I'm glad it IS in there for those who want it!
Also - great badges!

Fred just now

Nothing for me here. I don't care for difficulty modes in RPGs, I find them kind of pointless.
Why can't the next stretchgoal be customizable housing? That is to say, the more you invest in your house, the bigger it grows.
Start out with a cottage, put enough money into it and it becomes a castle or something.

 

[Captain Shrek]

I don't get it. Why are the play modes a target for kickstarter?

What is the real cost of implementing tougher gameplay????

 

[Duckard]

Wow this is actually a very nice update. The HoF style mode seems like it could be fun assuming the encounters aren't just hordes of enemies. Hopefully the other races are a bit out there.

 

[Infinitron]

I don't get it. Why are the play modes a target for kickstarter?

What is the real cost of implementing tougher gameplay????

It's a marketing gimmick, dumbass. None of these stretch goals actually cost the amount of money the Kickstarter is asking for them.

 

[Captain Shrek]

I think you are the dumbass Infi. If obsidian offered Avellone's shit as a stretch goal you'd gladly pay for it. Really how does that differentiate you from Biodrones? Except at least you guys ask for more sensible things most of the time.

 

[Mrowak]

Heart of Fury mode... You mean the one they had immense stat-bloat on fucking goblins so you had to kite them in full plate magical armour? Yeah, that's sounds promising. Wake me up when they add extra layers of tactics, and improved AI.

The rest sounds ok, I guess.

 

[Spockrock]

What is the real cost of implementing tougher gameplay????

man/hours?

anyway,
http://northharbour.wix.com/obsidian-order-of-eternity
the music is dope, where's it from?

 

[Infinitron]

Mrowak Which Heart of Fury mode are you referring to? IWD1's or IWD2's?

BTW, this stretch goal is WORKING, the money is shooting up.