Eternity Pillars of Eternity + The White March Expansion Thread

[Space Satan]

So new companions will be available for both expansion and original areas or exclusively for white march areas?

 

[Infinitron]

So new companions will be available for both expansion and original areas or exclusively for white march areas?

They're for the entire game. They're supposed to be doing lots of companion writing for this expansion, so they might have interjections in the main plot and stuff, but we'll see

 

[Shevek]

new interview with balance master:

http://uk.ign.com/videos/2015/08/06/pillars-of-eternity-the-white-march-gameplay-demo-ign-live-gamescom-2015?utm_source=IGN hub page&utm_medium=PC&utm_content=1&utm_campaign=Blogroll

looks like they will be doing actual unique weapons this time

Unique weapons that totally ignore character development choices with regard to weapon specialization

 

[Lhynn]

Unique weapons that totally ignore character development choices with regard to weapon specialization

You say it as if it was a bad thing.

 

[Infinitron]

http://badcoyotefunky.com/pillars-of-eternitys-gencon-2015/



What the hell is the point of a one minute interview video

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

LOL. Really see no point in this. To little gameplay footage for White March.

 

[Bubbles]

What the hell is the point of a one minute interview video

All impressions and content for the White March demo is under embargo until 15:00 CEST (06:00 PDT) on Tuesday August 11, the Tuesday following Gamescom.

Let's hope the Codex servers don't crash under the sudden rush of news hungry PoE fans.

 

[Infinitron]

http://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/126376740846/hi-josh-with-the-white-march-raising-the-level

aristotleomissis asked: Hi, Josh! With The White March raising the level cap from 12 to 14, has anything been done for the critical path in terms of rebalancing and/or scaling? One of the criticisms that Pillars of Eternity got was a sharp decrease in difficulty near the end, especially after reaching levels 11-12; at 14, I can only imagine how quick a job I could do of the final fight.

There are a few things that I think will ameliorate those problems. The first doesn’t do anything for people who have already blasted through the whole game, but a few patches ago, we did tune a lot of the mid-game side content XP tables so the player wasn’t overleveling so quickly. The progression feels a lot more appropriate now IMO.

Second, the work we’ve done on party AI does help a lot of main campaign enemy AI, especially if that AI relies on using a lot of class abilities. We tuned some of the instruction sets, with a focus on the mid- to late-game, so those enemies should provide more of a challenge overall.

Finally, we did do some light tuning on the endgame fight so it should be more challenging. If you’re really high level, the endgame area will also prompt you and ask if you’d like to scale the difficulty. It doesn’t provide any additional reward; it’s just for players who want a more challenging fight.

 

[Bubbles]

Need to remember that last bit, since we got different (old) information during gamescom. Time makes fools of us all.

 

[mindx2]

Finally, we did do some light tuning on the endgame fight so it should be more challenging. If you’re really high level, the endgame area will also prompt you and ask if you’d like to scale the difficulty. It doesn’t provide any additional reward; it’s just for players who want a more challenging fight.

That sounds aweful...

 

[Excidium II]

That sounds aweful...

Good thing it's optional for those who'd rather roflstomp everything

 

[mindx2]

Good thing it's optional for those who'd rather roflstomp everything

If it was designed better it wouldn't even need to be an option.

 

[Excidium II]

If it was designed better it wouldn't even need to be an option.

And if CRPGs were good PoE wouldn't exist, so what's your point?

 

[mindx2]

And if CRPGs were good PoE wouldn't exist, so what's your point?

Just seems awfully jarring for a pop-up window to appear right at the end and say "Hey, do you want us to level scale the end for you?" Seems... I don't know, kind of "tacky" for lack of a better word.

 

[Excidium II]

Just seems awfully jarring for a pop-up window to appear right at the end and say "Hey, do you want us to level scale the end for you?" Seems... I don't know, kind of "tacky" for lack of a better word.

if Obs forced level scaling on those fights some people would bitch about getting strong for nothing. And if Obs didn't scale, some people would bitch that with the extra gear and levels of the expansion the fights are too easy. Having it as an option probably pisses off less people

 

[mindx2]

if Obs forced level scaling on those fights some people would bitch about getting strong for nothing. And if Obs didn't scale, some people would bitch that with the extra gear and levels of the expansion the fights are too easy. Having it as an option probably pisses off less people

[grumpy old man voice] Still don't like it... [/grumpy old man voice]

 

[Lhynn]

if Obs forced level scaling on those fights some people would bitch about getting strong for nothing. And if Obs didn't scale, some people would bitch that with the extra gear and levels of the expansion the fights are too easy. Having it as an option probably pisses off less people

I still feel i leveled up for nothing, and if it didnt scale people wouldnt go to the expansion right after starting the game, which seems sensible for high level content

 

[Excidium II]

Well hopefully at this point they already learned that designing to appeal to everyone ends up pissing everyone off

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

I liked PoE way more than most of the Codex, but I agree with mindx2 that that is an absolutely bonkers stupid way of adding difficulty to the final fight. I get that it's a feature only intended for the hardcore audience, but MUH IMMERSHUN!

 

[Infinitron]

Baldur's Gate 1's expansion also increased the difficulty of its final fight, including I assume increasing the levels of the characters involved. They just didn't call it "scaling up the level".

 

[Infinitron]

Alright, the embargo is over: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/201...ys-white-march-improves-as-well-as-expanding/

Pillars of Eternity is a big game. Enormous might be the right word, actually. Gigantic. Sprawling. Obsidian don’t think it’s quite large enough, however, so they’ll be adding new everything with the upcoming White March expansion. I spoke with lead designer Josh Sawyer at Gamescom and he explained that the studio has created so many new things – from companions and spells to quests and locations – that they’ll be splitting the expansion into two parts. “The first part ends cleanly, there’s no cliffhanger”, he said, “and part two will introduce even more new areas.” It looks superb, improving the game for those who haven’t finished as well as those who have.

Ignore the entirety of the new White March area and there are still reasons to be excited. In a move that instantly makes me far more eager to revisit the game, Obsidian have created AI combat behaviours for companions. That means less micromanagement (unless you really want the micromanagement, in which case you never have to enable the automatic behaviours) and also means the improvements in AI will carry across to enemies, who will enjoy improved teamwork and use their abilities more effectively. Companions will be able to take on various roles depending on class and you’ll still be responsible for assigning those roles, so you can roleplay as the leader of the party rather than an omnipotent puppeteer.

There are two new companions and one of them is an artificial construct called the Devil of Caroc. She can’t wear armour because she is armour but her body can be upgraded. She is my favourite character and I haven’t even met her yet. There’s also Zahua, a monk who you first encounter while he’s concealed in a barrel of dead fish. He’s my second favourite character.

Obsidian’s approach to the expansion can be seen in the treatment of these new characters. The original set of companions have new dialogue to allow for interactions with the new folks, and those new folks will comment on locations and quests in the base game setting. Everything in The White March plugs into Pillars rather than being stapled on the end.

And that means you’ll be able to start a new game (perhaps even for the first time) and enjoy all of the new content. There’s a new high level area in the Dyrwood for those who already have a tough party and cold of The White March will have dangers all of its own. It contains over a dozen new maps.

There’s also a semblance of multi-classing (through wands and abilities), a retraining option, plenty of new abilities, oodles of new scripted encounters and a new item class in the form of Soulbound weapons, which are upgraded in a unique fashion.

What’s most pleasing is that Obsidian aren’t just throwing a heap of new content at the game. Throughout our brief conversation, Sawyer critiqued aspects of the original and it’s clear that The White March is intended to work on the areas that the studio and players found lacking. It’s a chance to improve rather than simply to add bulk, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it so that I can start all over again (and probably fail to finish all over again).

 

[J_C]

Even though PoE hasn't lived up to the IE games, I can't help myself and giggle everytime I hear about the new content. Good game man, good game.

 

[Jaedar]

Alright, the embargo is over: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/201...ys-white-march-improves-as-well-as-expanding/

Codex interview when?

 

[Roguey]

Baldur's Gate 1's expansion also increased the difficulty of its final fight, including I assume increasing the levels of the characters involved. They just didn't call it "scaling up the level".

IWD with HoW did the same thing.

I don't think it touched levels though, just added more creatures. http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...awyers-icewind-dale.83558/page-2#post-2687584

Though as I've mentioned, since difficulty levels in PoE already add creatures they just can't keep adding more.

“The first part ends cleanly, there’s no cliffhanger”, he said

DEE ELL CEE

 

[Rivmusique]

Companions will be able to take on various roles depending on class and you’ll still be responsible for assigning those roles, so you can roleplay as the leader of the party rather than an omnipotent puppeteer.