Game News Pillars of Eternity II Early Gameplay Trailer + New Screenshots

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

why are so many of these RPG's developed around the idea of 'Gods'? especially since they seem to be largely developed by atheists? I get tired of the whole dead gods, son of a god, am I a god? type themes, etc..

Gods, like all mythical beings, offer a quick path into the tropes that motivate/occupy the human psyche.

Alternative answer: humans have evolved to need gods, and when we can't make ourselves believe in them, we push them into fiction or otherwise sublimate our desire for them.

okay, this makes sense. good answer.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

why are so many of these RPG's developed around the idea of 'Gods'? especially since they seem to be largely developed by atheists? I get tired of the whole dead gods, son of a god, am I a god? type themes, etc..

Because most atheists don't believe on God not because they think it is cool to not have an afterlife and become dirt after dying but because they can't swallow the bullshit people try to sell all the time as religion, bullshit that offend even the simplest of the common sense. I'm an atheist but if there was actually a God, it would be great, I just find hard to believe on the next fraudster wannabe cult leader after easy money.

you answered the question why a person might be an atheist, which I understand. I would not say I am an atheist, but more like agnostic. In any event, my curiosity was more why atheists would so often keep making stories centered around gods and offspring of gods. I guess I am okay with it sometimes, but it seems to be sort of over represented in RPG's in my view.

 

[FreeKaner]

Naga's on the second screenshot look absolutely identical to BG and IWD. They created their own universe and therefore can design creatures however they want but NO!! Nagas, forest trolls, ghouls, giant spiders, ogres. Shame!!!

Because D&D invented Nagas, trolls, ghouls and ogres.

 

[GloomFrost]

Naga's on the second screenshot look absolutely identical to BG and IWD. They created their own universe and therefore can design creatures however they want but NO!! Nagas, forest trolls, ghouls, giant spiders, ogres. Shame!!!

Yeah, but the first kickstarter was built on the promise of a spiritual successor of Baldur's Gate. Guess how people would've reacted, if there were none to a few recognizable monsters.
Even here on the Codex, people were incredibly butthurt over the fact that kobolds were called xaurips. Oh, why can't I have proper kobolds, now I have to call them by this stupid made-up name!
All while simultaniously bitching about the "fantasy language" Sawyer created and the names of the gods etc.

From an economic point of view, going for the iconic stuff was the right thing to do, even though it was also the more/most boring thing to do.

Well hopefully this time in sequel they also going to make combat encounters and locations design as intense and interesting as in BG. But in all fairness creature design or graphics are not POE's real problem.

 

[GloomFrost]

Naga's on the second screenshot look absolutely identical to BG and IWD. They created their own universe and therefore can design creatures however they want but NO!! Nagas, forest trolls, ghouls, giant spiders, ogres. Shame!!!

Because D&D invented Nagas, trolls, ghouls and ogres.

LOL what??? Does a name Tolkien mean anything to you?? DnD appeared in 1974, Hobbit was written in 30's.

 

[FreeKaner]

Naga's on the second screenshot look absolutely identical to BG and IWD. They created their own universe and therefore can design creatures however they want but NO!! Nagas, forest trolls, ghouls, giant spiders, ogres. Shame!!!

Because D&D invented Nagas, trolls, ghouls and ogres.

LOL what??? Does a name Tolkien mean anything to you?? DnD appeared in 1974, Hobbit was written in 30's.

Tolkien invented none of those concepts either. Naga is Indian mythology, ghouls is Arabic mythology, trolls is Norse mythology and Ogres are French/Etruscan mythology. What Tolkien invented was primarily elves, orcs and the concurrently iconic wizard.

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

Tolkien didn't really invent elves either, they're part of old German fairy tales for example.
What Tolkien did was kinda redefine them.

 

[GloomFrost]

Naga's on the second screenshot look absolutely identical to BG and IWD. They created their own universe and therefore can design creatures however they want but NO!! Nagas, forest trolls, ghouls, giant spiders, ogres. Shame!!!

Because D&D invented Nagas, trolls, ghouls and ogres.

LOL what??? Does a name Tolkien mean anything to you?? DnD appeared in 1974, Hobbit was written in 30's.

Tolkien invented none of those concepts either. Naga is Indian mythology, ghouls is Arabic mythology, trolls is Norse mythology and Ogres are French/Etruscan mythology. What Tolkien invented was primarily elves, orcs and the concurrently iconic wizard.

So does everyone agree now that DnD didnt "invent" any of these fantasy creatures? That was my original point.

 

[InspectorRumpole]

I watched like 5 minutes of a bearded streamer, trying to solve a mystery of who stole some fish or something from a tribal village, that looked like something out of Hawaii.

Closed the stream, and decided that that was enough PoE2 for me.

 

[Crispy]

"lol, Josh, wouldn't it be awesome if we put surfboards in?"

"Oh, dude, we totally gotta do that."

"Totally!"

 

[DeepOcean]

why are so many of these RPG's developed around the idea of 'Gods'? especially since they seem to be largely developed by atheists? I get tired of the whole dead gods, son of a god, am I a god? type themes, etc..

Because most atheists don't believe on God not because they think it is cool to not have an afterlife and become dirt after dying but because they can't swallow the bullshit people try to sell all the time as religion, bullshit that offend even the simplest of the common sense. I'm an atheist but if there was actually a God, it would be great, I just find hard to believe on the next fraudster wannabe cult leader after easy money.

you answered the question why a person might be an atheist, which I understand. I would not say I am an atheist, but more like agnostic. In any event, my curiosity was more why atheists would so often keep making stories centered around gods and offspring of gods. I guess I am okay with it sometimes, but it seems to be sort of over represented in RPG's in my view.

Because most people like to have an optimistic view of things so having a pantheon of gods with the whole cosmic drama is cooler than there is an empty void out there that will soon eat you and nothing means nothing as entropy will end everyhing.

 

[eXalted]

I will buy this.

 

[Elex]

Ogres are French/Etruscan mythology.

i'm curious about this one.

 

[Mightmagic]

why are so many of these RPG's developed around the idea of 'Gods'? especially since they seem to be largely developed by atheists? I get tired of the whole dead gods, son of a god, am I a god? type themes, etc..

Because heroic fantasy is inspired from mythology and in mythology, gods and religion are often here. it's normal because mythology is born a a time where religion was omnipresent.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

why are so many of these RPG's developed around the idea of 'Gods'? especially since they seem to be largely developed by atheists? I get tired of the whole dead gods, son of a god, am I a god? type themes, etc..

Because most atheists don't believe on God not because they think it is cool to not have an afterlife and become dirt after dying but because they can't swallow the bullshit people try to sell all the time as religion, bullshit that offend even the simplest of the common sense. I'm an atheist but if there was actually a God, it would be great, I just find hard to believe on the next fraudster wannabe cult leader after easy money.

you answered the question why a person might be an atheist, which I understand. I would not say I am an atheist, but more like agnostic. In any event, my curiosity was more why atheists would so often keep making stories centered around gods and offspring of gods. I guess I am okay with it sometimes, but it seems to be sort of over represented in RPG's in my view.

Because most people like to have an optimistic view of things so having a pantheon of gods with the whole cosmic drama is cooler than there is an empty void out there that will soon eat you and nothing means nothing as entropy will end everyhing.

sure, but couldn't a game be focused on things like exploration, war, political intrigue, etc, etc, and not be about Gods? I read about gods once again in the description and roll my eyes. One reason I don't like it is because often when a RPG has to do with gods, it means the characters have to be super high level and that often means being decked out in +8 plate mail and swinging a two handed talking sword +11 and having 850 Hp's and doing 336 damage each hit. It obviously does not have to be this way, it just seems like it often is.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

why are so many of these RPG's developed around the idea of 'Gods'? especially since they seem to be largely developed by atheists? I get tired of the whole dead gods, son of a god, am I a god? type themes, etc..

Because heroic fantasy is inspired from mythology and in mythology, gods and religion are often here. it's normal because mythology is born a a time where religion was omnipresent.

okay, another good answer. That makes sense.

 

[Daedalos]

Just more of the same, was expecting something more.

Yeah, so kind of like how D:OS 2 turned out, right?

 

[imweasel]

All of the models still look they are floating above ground or not standing correctly on the ground plane. It is like they used different perspectives for the background and the models.

You'd think it would have been fixed by now.

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

Why so many gods in these fantasy games?

FFS, if you’re going to create an epic fantasy world with a full pantheon of pagan gods, why the hell wouldn’t you make them a major part of the story? In a world where gods exist and actively intervene in mortal affairs (like in every ancient epic), your party isn’t doing something important unless you’re dealing with divinities. I actually think POE1 handles this quite well: you petition the gods for a miracle to get where you need to to and they grant it to you after you propitiate them. They’ll also grant you blessings if you do their bidding.

And in 2, the Eothas plotline has WAY more potential than the main watcher storyline from the first game. The god of renewal is back from the dead and he is not a happy camper—come on, that’s an awesome setup.

Even false gods can make awesome characters. See Roger Zelazny’s masterwork, Lord of Light.

 

[Lyre Mors]

Even false gods can make awesome characters. See Roger Zelazny’s masterwork, Lord of Light.

Bro-motherfucking-fist.

I do understand the feeling that religion is overused in fantasy RPGs, but I ended up really enjoying the idea behind the "gods" in PoE.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

why are so many of these RPG's developed around the idea of 'Gods'? especially since they seem to be largely developed by atheists? I get tired of the whole dead gods, son of a god, am I a god? type themes, etc..

Because most atheists don't believe on God not because they think it is cool to not have an afterlife and become dirt after dying but because they can't swallow the bullshit people try to sell all the time as religion, bullshit that offend even the simplest of the common sense. I'm an atheist but if there was actually a God, it would be great, I just find hard to believe on the next fraudster wannabe cult leader after easy money.

Depends what gods. Most gods form mainstream religions cannot be considered other than evil. Petty, vengeful, quick to punish for inane transgressions, arbitrary.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

What Tolkien invented was primarily elves

elves are germanic

 

[FreeKaner]

What Tolkien invented was primarily elves

elves are germanic

Not the type of elves that's in Tolkien's book. Really they only share the name.

 

[twincast]

Naga's on the second screenshot look absolutely identical to BG and IWD. They created their own universe and therefore can design creatures however they want but NO!! Nagas, forest trolls, ghouls, giant spiders, ogres. Shame!!!

Because D&D invented Nagas, trolls, ghouls and ogres.

LOL what??? Does a name Tolkien mean anything to you?? DnD appeared in 1974, Hobbit was written in 30's.

Does the concept of sarcasm mean anything to you?

 

[GloomFrost]

Naga's on the second screenshot look absolutely identical to BG and IWD. They created their own universe and therefore can design creatures however they want but NO!! Nagas, forest trolls, ghouls, giant spiders, ogres. Shame!!!

Because D&D invented Nagas, trolls, ghouls and ogres.

LOL what??? Does a name Tolkien mean anything to you?? DnD appeared in 1974, Hobbit was written in 30's.

Does the concept of sarcasm mean anything to you?

NO. Any more retarded, useless questions?