Eternity Pillars of Eternity + The White March Expansion Thread

[IHaveHugeNick]

Here's how it works: Challenging combat in Od Nua. Challenging combat in WM. Challenging combat in Act 3.

Pick two out of three. No matter the combination, you'll always smash the 3rd one.

 

[Bubbles]

By the end of a complete White March playthrough you're above level 12, and that's without doing anything in Act 2. There's no challenge left after that, I've tried it myself.

 

[Excidium II]

Better to just accept it as it is.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Don't think I ever went to WM right after act 1. But yeah that's sounds plausible, WM itemization alone would Trump the entire main campaign.

 

[Roguey]

I doubt level scaling does anything more than pump HP into enemies.

With high level scaling 'ON', selected encounters throughout the area it has been engaged will be increased in level difficulty by 33%. For example: a level 3 enemy will be increased to level 4.

There are only a few special creatures who are level 10 or higher in the base game so most of act 3 will be level 10-12 at best.

 

[Sentinel]

So it's not actually level scaling, it's just increased enemy stats regardless of your level. Level scaling implies that your level has some relevance in the equation.

 

[Bubbles]

So it's not actually level scaling, it's just increased enemy stats regardless of your level. Level scaling implies that your level has some relevance in the equation.

You can only unlock the "high level" mode by being a high enough level

 

[Sentinel]

So it's not actually level scaling, it's just increased enemy stats regardless of your level. Level scaling implies that your level has some relevance in the equation.

You can only unlock the "high level" mode by being a high enough level

Yes and you can only unlock "hard" difficulty in some games by reaching a certain score/objective. Doesn't mean it's scaling.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Yeah it's a half-assed system. I guess they thought that multiple difficulty levels+ additional challenge modes+optional scaling( well, stat boosting) will be enough. But even the base game had uneven difficulty, and WM only made it worse.

 

[Grunker]

My last playthrough basically ignored everything except a few side-quests to get me to level 5, White March, Od Nua and main quest. Besides the first third of White March being one of the most ball-numbingly hard experiences I've had in an RPG, overall that was great.

I especially enjoyed being lifted from the burden of doing Defiance Bay quests. Feeling the relief of visits in DB being short really told me something about how much I disliked that part of the content.

Also, loading screens matter much more than we generally talk about. Game- and quest design is all fine and dandy, but with the improvements made during White March I found that loading screens was the biggest hindrance to my enjoyment. I think that's also a pretty big factor in the suckiness of Defiance Bay fetch quests. Maybe the quest NPCs have interesting things to tell, but you have to sit through 8 or 9 long-ass loading screens while you run back and forth between districts and buildings to hear them. Overall Defiance Bay has not only the poorest quest content but also the most barriers between you and the enjoyment of those.

 

[Bubbles]

It's designed for 6-7.

Infinitron

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/84292-order-to-play-the-game-through/?p=1777169

 

[Infinitron]

It's designed for 6-7.

Infinitron

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/84292-order-to-play-the-game-through/?p=1777169

Yeah, I remember that post, but from what I've seen most players seem to gravitate towards level 8. And considering how much trouble Grunker had with level 5, 6 seems still too low.

 

[Bubbles]

If a Fallout 4 fan like Grunker could do it at 5, then 8 is way too much.

 

[Prime Junta]

If a Fallout 4 fan like Grunker could do it at 5, then 8 is way too much.

At 8 there isn't an initial difficulty spike, it ramps up pretty smoothly (although you will likely have trouble with a couple of the optional encounters if you go after them).

At 5 it's punishing.

I think 6-7 is the sweet spot.

 

[gunman]

There's optional level-scaling for Act III content.

I think I accidentally took the most easy path, proceeding to White March immediately after the start of Act 3 (so I guess the option for Act 3 scaling will never show)

Here's how it works: Challenging combat in Od Nua. Challenging combat in WM. Challenging combat in Act 3.

Pick two out of three. No matter the combination, you'll always smash the 3rd one.

More likely pick one out of three.

 

[Grunker]

If a Fallout 4 fan like Grunker could do it at 5, then 8 is way too much.

Actual video footage of Bubbles attempting Stalwart at level 5 on PotD without hirelings or abuse:

 

[Roguey]

Also, loading screens matter much more than we generally talk about. Game- and quest design is all fine and dandy, but with the improvements made during White March I found that loading screens was the biggest hindrance to my enjoyment. I think that's also a pretty big factor in the suckiness of Defiance Bay fetch quests. Maybe the quest NPCs have interesting things to tell, but you have to sit through 8 or 9 long-ass loading screens while you run back and forth between districts and buildings to hear them. Overall Defiance Bay has not only the poorest quest content but also the most barriers between you and the enjoyment of those.

I never even noticed loading times in Defiance Bay (they didn't start getting lengthy until somewhere in act 3) so this is a strong argument for SSDs.

 

[Grunker]

Bullshit

Not noticing loading times averaging ~10 seconds when you're constantly switching areas during the fetch network of Defiance Bay is pure apologism. Even with my limited interactions in Defiance Bay this time around I spent alot of time in loading screens. Not unpatched Witcher 1 style, but still a lot.

Some of the loading times were bad enough that I could pick up my phone, check a new e-mail and read it before they were done. When you pass through 5-10 loading screen on a short visit to the city, that's bad.

The loading times are not that bad by themselves - they just get compunded by the parts of the game that requires a lot of area switching, Defiance Bay in particular.

 

[Roguey]

I don't consider 10 seconds a big deal even when done frequently. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[adddeed]

For a 2D stratic game i expect NO loading times, period. At the very least no interior loading. Wticher 3 loads three time faster, i mean come on.

 

[Roguey]

For a 2D stratic game i expect NO loading times, period. At the very least no interior loading.

Why would you expect that? The file sizes on these maps are quite large. A lot of them are over 100 mb (as an aside, Wasteland 2's are far bigger).

You want lightning fast loading times, you have to accept late 1990s/early 00s-sized maps.

Wticher 3 loads three time faster, i mean come on.

Witcher 3 has a very long loading screen every time you start (that it tries to hide with recap narration) and is able to stream near everything else from that point on because it's 3D. You can't stream prerendered backgrounds.

As far as I remember, fast travel loading is about as long as Pillars, but it's still faster than the alternative so people accept it.

 

[Grunker]

I don't have a clue whether it's understandable technical limitations, ineptitude or plain bad luck, I'm just describing how it feels to play.

 

[Roguey]

And speaking of late 1990s/early 00s-sized maps, Avellone has apologized on this very site for New Reno's loading times.
http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=125

In that respect, I would consider it an immature design, and while I had fun with it, I don't think it was the best rendition of a section of the Fallout world. It also had horrible load times because I crammed too much stuff in there.

Proto-Codexers in 1998: This area is a chore to play.
People with 00s computers and beyond: What horrible load times?

 

[Sannom]

Witcher 3 has a very long loading screen every time you start (that it tries to hide with recap narration) and is able to stream near everything else from that point on because it's 3D. You can't stream prerendered backgrounds.

That's my experience with PoE and Tyranny though, the initial loading screen is really, really long, but the ones after that are much better.

 

[adddeed]

For a 2D stratic game i expect NO loading times, period. At the very least no interior loading.

Why would you expect that? The file sizes on these maps are quite large. A lot of them are over 100 mb (as an aside, Wasteland 2's are far bigger).

You want lightning fast loading times, you have to accept late 1990s/early 00s-sized maps.

Wticher 3 loads three time faster, i mean come on.

Witcher 3 has a very long loading screen every time you start (that it tries to hide with recap narration) and is able to stream near everything else from that point on because it's 3D. You can't stream prerendered backgrounds.

As far as I remember, fast travel loading is about as long as Pillars, but it's still faster than the alternative so people accept it.

Excuses. Plenty of open world games have super fast loading, W3 is just an example. Im also playing Metro 2033 now and it loads in seconds.

Dont care what the excuse with Pillars is, fact is, its shit. Its 2016. Figure something out. As i said at the very least, why are interiors separate not seamless like say in Divine Divinity so many years ago? Its main map is also times larger than those in PoE and it loads much much faster, and also still looks great.