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

[Shadenuat]

personally I'd dump everything in a lake with a sack of bricks

Including people who designed it

It's really not optimal design of a IE successor when IE fan playing your game feels completely alienated instead of crying of joy and replaying beta 7 times.

I had more fun in D:OS playing tutorial dungeon than playing whole PoE beta. And I hate a lot about D:OS.

But that's all emotions ofc.

 

[Frusciante]

I also think that people complaining that the magic in PE isnt fancy enough need to step back and remember that this is the low/mid levels we have seen. Think back to BG1. I didnt recall magic knocking off my socks there either (even towards the end).

There was a lot of cool utility spells to play with, that were kept useful even in the epic levels of Throne of Bhall. Stuff like Knock, Protection from Evil, Protection from Petrification, Charm, Identify, Sleep, Invisibility, Clairvoyance, Dispel Magic, etc... all these are all on Lv 1-3.

PoE not only doesn't have ANY non-combat spell (which is fucking lazy, as it reduces magic to "damage & buff"), but the fact that spells don't scale with the spellcaster level means they will all be useless in the end-game.

As of now, people need to recognize that this system is SUPERIOR to the IE games. More characters have crap to do. That is a good thing. Instead of multiple classes dipping into the SAME arcane or divine magic pools, we now have classes with their own diverse skill sets. That makes classes more diverse and party composition more impactful.

Bullshit. Yeah, all classes have different spells and abilities, that all do the same stuff: buff you or deal damage. Even worse, they all do the same shit outside of combat. Your mage can go around picking locks, sneaking and passing Might tests. There's no difference outside of combat in playing a traditional Rogue/Wizard/Warrior/Mage/Priest/Barbarian party or simply 6 Barbarians. It's one of the most retarded thing I ever saw in a RPG.

Ok buff, debuff, damage, heal. How many more flavors are there then? This is like every crpg ever.

 

[tuluse]

Reddit so far is saying everything is fine but combat is a clusterfuck. Is this just because of bugs or inherent issues with the system?

There are a lot of bugs and things that aren't specifically bugged, but not working right. Visual and auditory feedback is a mess right now. It's hard to tell what's happening and who it's happening too.

 

[felipepepe]

Ok buff, debuff, damage, heal. How many more flavors are there then? This is like every crpg ever.

You didn't read my post at all, did you? (Nor ever played a decent RPG) How about turn invisible? Unlock doors? Identify items? Summon familiars? Charm NPCs? Reveal the Map? Reveal traps? Anything that makes a mage a fucking mage, not a "DPS".

Seriously, even Skyrim had stuff like Light, Telekinesis, Invisibility, Water Breathing, Clairvoyance, etc... You hear that Obsidian? FUCKING SKYRIM HAS BETTER SPELLS! Oh god, what has the world come to?

 

[Infinitron]

 

[tuluse]

You didn't read my post at all, did you? How about turn invisible? Unlock doors? Identify items? Summon familiars? Charm NPCs? Reveal the Map? Reveal traps? Anything that makes a mage a fucking mage, not a DPS/SUPPORT MMORPG Role.

Seriously, even Skyrim had stuff like Light, Telekinesis, Invisibility, Water Breathing, Clairvoyance, etc... You hear that Obsidian? FUCKING SKYRIM HAS BETTER SPELLS! Oh god, what has the world come to?

You knew like a year ago there weren't going to be utility spells because they render skills useless.

 

[bonescraper]

Ok buff, debuff, damage, heal. How many more flavors are there then? This is like every crpg ever.

You didn't read my post at all, did you? (Nor ever played a decent RPG) How about turn invisible? Unlock doors? Identify items? Summon familiars? Charm NPCs? Reveal the Map? Reveal traps? Anything that makes a mage a fucking mage, not a "DPS".

Seriously, even Skyrim had stuff like Light, Telekinesis, Invisibility, Water Breathing, Clairvoyance, etc... You hear that Obsidian? FUCKING SKYRIM HAS BETTER SPELLS! Oh god, what has the world come to?

Even WoW has them. Levitate, Walk on water, Waterbreathing, Slow fall, Conjure food, Conjure drink, Summon PC...

 

[mastroego]

Seriously, even Skyrim had stuff like Light, Telekinesis, Invisibility, Water Breathing, Clairvoyance, etc... You hear that Obsidian? FUCKING SKYRIM HAS BETTER SPELLS! Oh god, what has the world come to?

/thread

 

[Shadenuat]

ropekid

Btw, rounds.

That is why combat feels a lot more chaotic and what made IE games more controlled - in PoE everyone recovers with it's own timing and speed, and add interrupts to that, and it's hard to predict when anything will go off.

And yeah druids are STACKED with DPS, their whole level 1 is filled with damage and damage over time, you only get good heal on spell level 3, meaning druid is a shitty replacement for cleric and you won't get your heals before character level 5.

 

[felipepepe]

You knew like a year ago there weren't going to be utility spells because they render skills useless.

Cue the "Josh Sawyer wants to end FUN!!111" thread.

 

[Osvir]

Chaotic_Heretic

Did you build a Godlike Aumaua Druid Shapeshifter yet? Or a Necromancer Chanter? Or a Wizard with "Illusion" magic instead of "Power" magic? Did you use some imagination or did you go min-max all the way? Because I mean, if you are allowed to min-max (and that's working for you) and I can play with roleplay stats (and that's working for me), then we both get what we want? Right?

Because I find the game challenging and fun with non-min-maxed stats, but it's probably still gonna need some tweaking and present attribute incentives a bit better... perhaps explaining what a "Mighty" person is a bit better in the character creation attribute section (Fallout+Planescape Torment presentation "Average" "Good" etc.)

What difficulty are you playing?

On further note, you're yelling at a sturdy building frame in progress of being built, material is still being transported and prepared for furniture, electricity and pipe planning. Please understand my metaphor. It'd be fun to see you standing outside a construction side and yell at all the workers lol. Please, upload to youtube later. Hilarious!

Yoh gat nathing. Nathing I say.

 

[bonescraper]

ropekid

Btw, rounds.

That is why combat feels a lot more chaotic and what made IE games more controlled - in PoE everyone recovers with it's own timing and speed, and add interrupts to that, and it's hard to predict when anything will go off.

Yeah, it's like a turbo JRPG where you can't even tell what's going on on the screen.

 

[SophosTheWise]

Ok buff, debuff, damage, heal. How many more flavors are there then? This is like every crpg ever.

You didn't read my post at all, did you? (Nor ever played a decent RPG) How about turn invisible? Unlock doors? Identify items? Summon familiars? Charm NPCs? Reveal the Map? Reveal traps? Anything that makes a mage a fucking mage, not a "DPS".

Seriously, even Skyrim had stuff like Light, Telekinesis, Invisibility, Water Breathing, Clairvoyance, etc... You hear that Obsidian? FUCKING SKYRIM HAS BETTER SPELLS! Oh god, what has the world come to?

I didn't even notice the absence of non-combat spells. But now that you pointed it out I'm disappointed. Damnit.

 

[mastroego]

I'm playing Torchlight 2.
Abilities are WILD and fun and points' assignment is CRUCIAL.

'nuff said.

 

[felipepepe]

Did you build a Godlike Aumaua Druid Shapeshifter yet? Or a Necromancer Chanter? Or a Wizard with "Illusion" magic instead of "Power" magic?

In Baldur's Gate: Creating a Wizard specialized in Conjuration spells = You created a Conjurer, as backed by the game mechanics. You get more spells and more resistance, while also the downside of losing one spell school.
In Pillars of Eternity: Creating a Wizard with a lot of fireballs and calling it a Pyromancer = You are LARPing while desperately crying for some depth that the game does not offer.

Seriously, giving silly names to builds does not make then interesting if all you did was select one spell instead of another.

 

[FeelTheRads]

because they render skills useless.

Or rather because Sawyer says they render skills useless.

Take Knock which I remember was brought about as an example. I don't remember actually using it much. Except when the rogue couldn't do it... or if I didn't have a rogue in the party.
But sure, when everyone can unlock... having a spell that does the same thing would be useless.
Tyranny of choice, man.

 

[Frusciante]

Who are you guys arguing with about the ability system? Everyone agrees that it needs revision. Only for some people rpg's are more then just attributes so they are a bit less pessimistic about the game.

 

[Infinitron]

Did you build a Godlike Aumaua Druid Shapeshifter yet? Or a Necromancer Chanter? Or a Wizard with "Illusion" magic instead of "Power" magic?

In Baldur's Gate: Creating a Wizard specialized in Conjuration spells = You created a Conjurer, as backed by the game mechanics. You get more spells and more resistance, while also the downside of losing one spell school.
In Pillars of Eternity: Creating a Wizard with a lot of fireballs and calling it a Pyromancer = You are LARPing while desperately crying for some depth that the game does not offer.

Seriously, giving silly names to builds does not make then interesting if all you did was select one spell instead of another.

Why is creating a Wizard and playing him as a Pyromancer in PoE bad, but creating a classless character in Divinity:OS and playing him as a Pyromancer okay?

 

[Volourn]

Because Wizards in PE have fukkin' boring spells while a classless character in DOS that has access to magic has different fukkin' options.

FFS DOS magic > PE magic]


Period.

(at least for 4 months then I decide the final verdict).

 

[Mastermind]

This game feels too much like Dragon Age.

 

[Volourn]

No.

 

[imweasel]

Who are you guys arguing with about the ability system? Everyone agrees that it needs revision. Only for some people rpg's are more then just attributes so they are a bit less pessimistic about the game.

Tweaking or revising the atrribute system won't save it. It needs to be salvaged, just like everything else in this game (other than the writing and beautiful art assests), because the the fundamental design of the mechanics and systems is pitiful.

This is meant to be constructive criticism, because I really want this to be a good game.

 

[imweasel]

This game feels too much like Dragon Age.

More like Shit Age.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Despite the butthurt here, and all the 'combat xp' / 'change attributes' / 'make more like Baldurs Gate' threads on the Obsidian forums, I reckon Sawyer will sleep soundly tonight. That moment he's been dreaming about since he first picked up a DM guide is finally here:

People on the Obsidian forums are reporting that they prefer the muscle wizard to the int wizard, as you can park him in the front line in armour and then avoid the friendly fire issues that plague int wizards.

:georgebushmissionaccomplished.jpg:

 

[Bubbles]

Why is creating a Wizard and playing him as a Pyromancer in PoE bad, but creating a classless character in Divinity:OS and playing him as a Pyromancer okay?

There are currently 5 "fire" themed spells available to a level 5 Wizard (1 level 1, 3 level 2, 1 level 3), but there are 12 empty Grimoire slots. You can't put a spell into multiple slots to increase its casts (at least in the beta), so what is a "Pyromancer" going to do with the 7 free slots? Put ice and lightning spells in them that work just as well as their 5 fire spells?

I assume the game is balanced around actually using all the slots in your book.