Pillars of Eternity Beta Discussion [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Infinitron]

They're new, and Crispy is just being annoying

 

[Zed]

Crispy has a point. There are obvious patterns in ground textures. Pretty bad IMO.

 

[Jaesun]

It's supposed to be:

"Old and Busted" "New Hotness"

Get your memes right there obsidian.

 

[Grunker]

Here is the tragedy of my life: I've realized that it makes no sense to play games (esp. RPGs) until they've been out for about a year and the developer (or the fanbase) has patched the most egregious problems. But by the time a year has passed, PoE will cost $5 and I'll feel stupid for having bought it on Kickstarter for $25 or whatever it was that I paid. O tempora, o mores!

my sentiments exactly

i will, however, be making an exception for poe... pretty sure i won't be able to patiently wait for that to get patched

 

[Infinitron]

STOCKHOLM — January 14, 2015 — Paradox Interactive and Obsidian Entertainment today announced that Pillars of Eternity, the role-playing game (RPG) inspired by timeless classics and funded directly by dedicated fans, has a firm release date set for March 26, 2015. Pillars of Eternity will be available at retailers worldwide, and eager fans and backers will be able to experience the game they have been promised.

“Everybody at Obsidian has been dedicated to ensuring that Pillars of Eternity is the game we said it would be ever since we launched the Kickstarter campaign,” said Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian Entertainment. “The community has been incredibly forthcoming with their feedback, and we want to thank all of our fans for being so engaged with the game’s development – and for giving us the time to implement their suggestions and ensure Pillars of Eternity is a game we can be proud of. We’ve used that time well, and the results will be worth the wait. The end is finally in sight, and our journey is nearly complete – at which point yours can begin.”

As the game nears completion, a selection of never-before-seen content from Pillars of Eternity will be revealed via a live stream, hosted by Josh Sawyer, the game’s Project Director. Sawyer will take viewers on a journey through the world of Pillars of Eternity to show what has been accomplished since the release of the backer beta. The live stream will air Thursday, January 15, at 1pm PST (21.00 GMT), here: www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive

“Joining Obsidian for this process has been very rewarding,” said Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive. “We’ve always known that, given the opportunity, the developers would be able to make Pillars of Eternity into the game we’ve all been waiting for; we’ve got several backers of the game on our own team. That’s just what we’ve done: we’ve allowed Obsidian to dedicate their attention completely to the creativity and quality of Pillars of Eternity, while we’ve offered our honest feedback, enthusiasm, and full support by handling all the other facets of launching a game that go beyond development.”

Pillars of Eternity is an RPG inspired by classic titles such as Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment, which features an original world and game system that evokes and improves upon the traditional computer RPG experience. Funded via Kickstarter in late 2012, raising $4.5 million through both backer pledges on Kickstarter and Obsidian’s own website, Pillars of Eternity has been a project of passion both for the development team and for the loyal fans who have made it possible.

 

[Diablo169]

The new screenshots gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. please don't suck

 

[tuluse]

"firm release date"

 

[Forest Dweller]

muh brofists

Notice how he's hesitant to merge when it's a developer making the thread.

 

[DosBuster]

Great. Game releases when I'm in the middle of the ocean, well, I guess I will have lots of codex rage to catch up on then.

 

[Bubbles]

Crispy has a point. There are obvious patterns in ground textures. Pretty bad IMO.

Top right and bottom left corner here are surely not final:

Spoiler

 

[Sensuki]

May as well post these here i guess. Interesting companion design details

We originally talked about each of the companion designers handling two characters. That shifted a little, so I wound up with one character and Olivia Veras took another. Eric Fenstermaker, Carrie Patel, and Chris Avellone each wrote two.

Companion designs shifted around a bit before they were written, but not tremendously. I did the original high-level design for companions, but some of those were either replaced or modified. Edér went from a fighter to a rogue and back to a fighter based largely on how companions were expected to be spaced out. Ultimately, we decided it was more important for the player to have access to a really durable front line character than a single target offense character -- especially since you encounter Aloth very early as well.

FTR Olivia Veras is an area designer that they hired in late 2013.

 

[J_C]

May as well post these here i guess. Interesting companion design details



FTR Olivia Veras is an area designer that they hired in late 2013.

Wait, does this mean that we have 8 NPCs we can hire? That....doesn't sound much. Especially compared to the BG series.

 

[Havoc]

Question: I didn't follow the development process (even when I donated to the Codex fund raise or Kickstarter - I took the boxed ver.), so I know very little about the game, just so I don't spoil anything for me. Can you play an evil character? I'm thinking of playing a ruthless dwarf or a pragmatic human wizard.

 

[dukeofwhales]

Wait, does this mean that we have 8 NPCs we can hire? That....doesn't sound much. Especially compared to the BG series.

Yeah they're going for more involved, Torment-style companions rather than the (many) blank slates of BG or the middle ground of BG2. Personally I would prefer a few more, but at the same time there are still NPCs I've never actually used in a party in both BG1 and 2.

 

[Duraframe300]

May as well post these here i guess. Interesting companion design details



FTR Olivia Veras is an area designer that they hired in late 2013.

HA

I didn't put this together, but

A: I suspected Josh cut back to one companion
B: I thought about Olivia doing some additional narrative work (aside from what comes with the area designer role) whike checking Obsidian portfolios recently.



Anyway, looking forward to both Carries and Olivias charachters. Wondering if Obsidians luck/know-how continues in finding decent writers.

 

[Ziem]

Here is the tragedy of my life: I've realized that it makes no sense to play games (esp. RPGs) until they've been out for about a year and the developer (or the fanbase) has patched the most egregious problems. But by the time a year has passed, PoE will cost $5 and I'll feel stupid for having bought it on Kickstarter for $25 or whatever it was that I paid. O tempora, o mores!

thats not the worst part

the worst part is dodging spoilers for a year
while reading forums

 

[Bleed the Man]

Wait, does this mean that we have 8 NPCs we can hire? That....doesn't sound much. Especially compared to the BG series.

That's known since the kickstarter campaign, shouldn't be a surprise by now.

 

[J_C]

That's known since the kickstarter campaign, shouldn't be a surprise by now.

Not for me. That's not too much. Sure, you can make your own party, but it is not the same.

 

[Bleed the Man]

Not for me. That's not too much. Sure, you can make your own party, but it is not the same.

I think the possible benefits (basically, the chance to get more NPC content and development) from having a "smaller" quantity of companions outweights the negatives, which are basically that there's more classes than companions, and this is fixed with the possibility of making your own party.

Although I've never been a fan of the Baldur's Gate companions. The ones from the first one have little to no personality, and the ones from the second one I wish most of them stayed quiet. I love BG2, but I hate the party interactions.

 

[Sensuki]

Looks like there's now gonna be no Rogue companion though :S weird.

 

[Abu Antar]

Looks like there's now gonna be no Rogue companion though :S weird.

Well, all classes were never going to be represented by story related party members.

 

[Arkeus]

I think the possible benefits (basically, the chance to get more NPC content and development) from having a "smaller" quantity of companions outweights the negatives, which are basically that there's more classes than companions, and this is fixed with the possibility of making your own party.

Hopefully it doesn't end up like NWN2 where there were few companions and half of them were...not so great.

 

[Sensuki]

Well, all classes were never going to be represented by story related party members.

Yeah but the Rogue is a "Core Four" class, and one of the most effective classes in the game.

 

[Abu Antar]

Hopefully it doesn't end up like NWN2 where there were few companions and half of them were...not so great.

They were good in MotB. In general, the writing of the NWN2 OC wasn't that good to begin with compared to other games developed by Black Isle/Obsidian.

EDIT
Sensuki That's true. Do you know the classes of all companions?

 

[Infinitron]

Canon main character confirmed to be Rogue.