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

[Quillon]

Well, looking at twitter it seems their marketing trick worked at least.

 

[Once more unto the Codex]

Political affiliation [and] where you live...aren't particularly related.

On which planet?

 

[Fry]

Political affiliation [and] where you live...aren't particularly related.

On which planet?

Uh... kinda misses my point when you remove the taste in video games bit.

 

[Roguey]

"Geek chic" is a phrase I've seen used that works for me. Photogenic attention whores who don't have what it takes to climb the social ladder in more normie circles becoming big fish in a smaller pond.

 

[Fry]

"Geek chic" is a phrase I've seen used that works for me. Photogenic attention whores who don't have what it takes to climb the social ladder in more normie circles becoming big fish in a smaller pond.

Are you talking about the voice actors or cosplayers?

Whatever, applies to both. In some ways it's nice that people who would have simply been failed actors in decades past have found a way to pay the bills while still (kinda) doing what they enjoy, but I can't find it in myself to watch a bunch of theater nerds play TTRPGs. Good luck to them and all. If we're going to have voice acting in Deadfire, it might as well be professional voice acting.

I just don't think the players Obs marketing is aiming for in this case really exist. Dress it up however you like, but PoE 1&2 are games for people who really like systems. Anyone else is going to be disappointed.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Precisely why this Critical Role shit is so offputing to me. I see they have people like Felicia Day and Will Wheaton involved, and I find them both to be incredibly creepy, fake and cynically playing into geeky audience to land geeky roles. Noped the fuck out.

I've seen that hot redhead from True Blood (claims) to be heavily into tabletop and I'm more inclined to believe it, a girl that looks like that, is a decent actress, actually has a career, doesn't need to play the "lol i'm so nerdy" card.

 

[Roguey]

Whatever, applies to both. In some ways it's nice that people who would have simply been failed actors in decades past have found a way to pay the bills while still (kinda) doing what they enjoy, but I can't find it in myself to watch a bunch of theater nerds play TTRPGs. Good luck to them and all. If we're going to have voice acting in Deadfire, it might as well be professional voice acting.

PoE's voice acting was inoffensive for the most part, but Peak Voice Acting was back during the Black Isle days when they used actors I recognized from cartoons.

 

[Fry]

PoE's voice acting was inoffensive for the most part, but Peak Voice Acting was back during the Black Isle days when they used actors I recognized from cartoons.

Maybe not offensive to the ears, but quite a bit of the VO was either amateurish or just didn't fit the characters. That's probably a direction problem more than an acting problem.

 

[agentorange]

I just don't think the players Obs marketing is aiming for in this case really exist. Dress it up however you like, but PoE 1&2 are games for people who really like systems. Anyone else is going to be disappointed.

Are you sure about this. I think that you are vastly overestimating the average purchaser of video games (or the consumer of just about any medium for that matter). PoE sold over a million copies and I know most of those people are not those types who spend their time analyzing the depth of mechanical systems, I doubt even a fraction of them do so. Broadly speaking video game players could be broken down into three categories: the largest group are those who simply play and get some superficial enjoyment from a game (most of these people will probably not even finish the game) akin to watching TV, then there are those with a general knowledge and appreciation of certain genres who may be able to discuss some mechanical qualities of the game, then the smallest category are niche enthusiast circles devoted to certain genres wherein talking about the systems is as enjoyable as the playing of the game itself. I didn't watch the video but I would imagine it is aimed towards the second category, who incidentally are the most likely to fall into the sort of "culture" that arises around certain genres, in this case RPGs, because they are somewhat invested in the genre, to the extent that they would go the length of advertising it to others (the Geek chic thing Roguey described) but not to the autistic extent of the third group which precludes being part of any popular, fashionable faddish culture. The Codex is naturally part of the third category, and having discussions here puts one into a bubble where it can be easy to think that the average person dedicates the same energy into dissecting RPG game systems.

 

[Felix]

I don't care about system. I enjoy PoE just fine.

Thanks for asserting my taste to me.

 

[Fry]

I don't care about system. I enjoy PoE just fine.

Thanks for asserting my taste to me.

Hey, do what you want.

I'm genuinely curious what you get out of the game, though. Do you just put it on a lower level and get into the story?

 

[agentorange]

I never said I was part of the first group, I simply recognize that our little bubble of enthusiast discussion here doesn't extend to everyone.

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

PoE's voice acting was inoffensive for the most part, but Peak Voice Acting was back during the Black Isle days when they used actors I recognized from cartoons.

Fallout, brought to you by the cast of Gargoyles! I didn't even realize they used Tony Shalhoub and fucking MacGyver, too. These days it feels like every RPG is voiced by the English dub cast of Fullmetal Alchemist, interspersed with occasional appearances by the cast of Farscape.

I just don't think the players Obs marketing is aiming for in this case really exist. Dress it up however you like, but PoE 1&2 are games for people who really like systems. Anyone else is going to be disappointed.

Are you sure about this. I think that you are vastly overestimating the average purchaser of video games (or the consumer of just about any medium for that matter). PoE sold over a million copies and I know most of those people are not those types who spend their time analyzing the depth of mechanical systems, I doubt even a fraction of them do so.

This. Obsidian is aiming for the vast storyfag audience here, just like it always does.

 

[Urthor]

It's funny people bring up analysing systems, because Pillars of Eternity without a doubt has some of the most concealed systems in all of video games in presenting "what makes up dps output" to the user. You actually have to graph outputs in excel pretty sure before you realise the relative impact of talents vs stats vs gear, it's super unclear how to go about min maxing unless you've done a lot of work breaking down the damage formulas, as opposed to the MMO system of "just equip purple/orange gear."

Infinity engine games were far easier to understand what was causing your numbers and I do hate how un-transparent all of the PoE game mechanics are.

 

[Iskramor]

You guys need to come up with a better term than hipster for these geek & sundry people. I realize the term no longer means skinny jeans, cigarettes and easy access to drugs, but in no universe does it apply to anyone playing or watching dungeons and fucking dragons.

Aw, c'mon now. What would the Codex be without a parade of saddos who've likely never been 10km outside of the Belarusian village they're posting from calling anything from California "SJW hipster" with no idea what either or those terms mean.

Political affiliation, where you live, and taste in video games aren't particularly related.

Obsidian writing teem disagrees. Tools song aenema exist for a reason. Also hillary clinton.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Anyone else is going to be disappointed.

Because they are too proud to play on Story Time.

This. Obsidian is aiming for the vast storyfag audience here, just like it always does

What is interesting for me is if the landscape nowadays has changed too much for an isometric game, even with all the voice acting, idle animations, updated character models, etc, to attract the current storyfag crowd. In a post-Witcher 3 world.

A world where every triple A company is going for a "cinematic" feel, where the viewer sits on his couch, controller in hand, and stares at the screen, breathing through the mouth, and only occasional twitches of the controller stick fingers signal he is still alive, while his prettier, smarter, bolder self conquers the world and ascends to godhood.

Infinity engine games were far easier to understand what was causing your numbers

The basic mechanics, yes. Stuff like attacks per round, speed factors, casting times, damage types and others are not particularly emphasized in the manuals, and are not explained in the games even in passing, apart maybe from loading screen game tips.

 

[Urthor]

Yes but they were far easier to grasp intrinsically even if it wasn't explained. Attacks per round "two attacks is better than one duh," casting times, fire vs trolls, that is the easy part of the equation to understand. What isn't easy to understand is finding the tiny part of the tooltip that says fortitude, comparing it to the tiny part of the enemy statistics that say fortitude, and guessing whether their fortitude number is high enough to give your save the shits, because there's no reasonable comparison or ability to understand the metric.


I imagine it's largely because the tabletop nature of Infinity Engine games meant that the mechanics had to be reasonably comprehendable, it's far easier to understand those than the calculations for a Pillars of Eternity fortitude save. To this day I still wouldn't know which priest spells to cast if I didn't look up forum posts saying which are the best priest spells, and just blindly casting them.

 

[Parabalus]

Infinity engine games were far easier to understand what was causing your numbers and I do hate how un-transparent all of the PoE game mechanics are.

They were easier because there was nothing to think about - you can't screw up if you aren't even given a choice in how to develop your character.

 

[Jimmious]

Infinity engine games were far easier to understand what was causing your numbers and I do hate how un-transparent all of the PoE game mechanics are.

They were easier because there was nothing to think about - you can't screw up if you aren't even given a choice in how to develop your character.

Also imo, IE games were easier to understand for people like us(?) that were into AD&D. THAC0 for example was not the most clear mechanic for someone that had no idea..

 

[Prime Junta]

Mark my words when 8 may come there will be no other city except nekataka.

Dude, they always said there was only one city in the game, which is Neketaka.

There will certainly be other settlements -- villages, keeps, strongholds, what have you. We already know about two as a matter of fact -- Tikawara which is in the beta, and the Principi sen Patrona stronghold they spoiled in one of the preview articles. Others came up in the crowdfunding but of course THERE'S NO PROOF that any of that is in the game.

 

[AwesomeButton]

#deadfiremodding

Just discovered the best combat music for PoE and Deadfire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmrN-nWVtmM

Infinity engine games were far easier to understand what was causing your numbers and I do hate how un-transparent all of the PoE game mechanics are.

They were easier because there was nothing to think about - you can't screw up if you aren't even given a choice in how to develop your character.

Sure, the IE games, where every build is viable, as opposed to PoE... hm, wait...

Or is it?

 

[Ruzen]

Fuck me. Remembered how bad is the combat music in the Deadfire. I hope they are just first designs or something else. The first game had very decent combat music.

Spoiler

 

[Parabalus]

Infinity engine games were far easier to understand what was causing your numbers and I do hate how un-transparent all of the PoE game mechanics are.

They were easier because there was nothing to think about - you can't screw up if you aren't even given a choice in how to develop your character.

Sure, the IE games, where every build is viable, as opposed to PoE... hm, wait...

Or is it?

Making a good fighter in IE games - put points into 3 physical attributes, dump the rest as needed. Proficiencies? All weapons have good options, No-Weapon Class-Left-Behind game design (and you don't know in advance what you're getting, so 1st choice is gut). You need basic literacy to put points into physical instead of mental attributes, it's impossible to do anything wrong.

Making a "good" fighter in PoE - what role do I need fulfilled? How will I allocate attributes, there are tradeoffs now since I can't have everything I need? I can pick 8/25 abilities, what will I go for? I can pick only 8/40ish talents, do I shore up my weaknesses or play to my strengths? What is even a "good" fighter, since the class can now be custom tailored to my party's needs?

I'm really curious how you think the former is easier to fail at than the latter. Failing your fortitude check on mindlessly clicking the reroll button, that might do it.

 

[Infinitron]

Felicia Day is or was a real RPG geek at one point. I know oldschool Ultima fans who were friends with her when they were all teenagers.

 

[Lacrymas]

Was she only in Hong Kong? She has a pretty recognizable face and I had to google why she was in the game, but I don't remember if she was only in HK or in Dragonfall, too. Anyway, yeah, she never struck me as a poseur.