Eternity Pillars of Eternity + The White March Expansion Thread

[Perkel]

Imo announcing Expansion to it on E3 was a mistake. Right now under heavy megabombs like FF7remake, shenmue3, FAllout4 etc no one will even notice it.

On every media site it will be buried in seconds. Hell in fact you can't find anything on sites currently. You need to look into archives or old posts to find it.

Still no release date so they have time for PR closer to release.

 

[Bubbles]

JOSHUA SAWYER SPEAKS OUT (exclusively on SA)

Durgan steel is mentioned in a few places in the core game lore. It's not inherently magical, but it is extremely high quality steel that was produced through unknown techniques, only in the White Forge of Durgan's Battery.

There's at least one (maybe only one) weapon in the base game made of Durgan steel, the Last Blade of the White Forge.

http://www.gamebanshee.com/cgi-bin/...rs_Items.id=564

Pallegina comments about [forts built for cannon attacks] at one point when you return to Caed Nua. She refers to it as a fine castle built in "the old style", and that the Vailian Republics have started building star forts (like the Ozian Bastions) to deal with cannon fire.

Caed Nua and Raedric's Hold were built when cannons were in use, but were not considered as big of a threat in the deeper forests -- and no one had yet designed the star fort on Eora.

Historically (on Earth, I mean), retrofitting old castles to deal with cannon fire took a huge amount of time and money, but new castles (in the Renaissance), especially built on coasts, were often built in the star fort style.

I don't think [where the gunpower comes from] is anything that we've defined specifically in the Dyrwood but gunpowder has been around long enough that they probably produce it relatively locally.

BASK IN THE HYPE

also, SA really, really wants multi classing for the expansion

 

[Darth Roxor]

it is extremely high quality steel that was produced through unknown techniques

unknown techniques aka adra

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

I'm really not excited for the expansion. Not only it lacks MCA it also sounds boring as fuck. I mean seriously PoE was supposed to be a safe bet because of the Kickstarter, now they can do anything and they give us some fortress in bumfuck nowhere? It's not only not the radical shit we were expecting from Obsidian working alone, it's fucking worse than the usual shit they do for Mainstream devs. New Vegas synopsis sounded more interesting and it was made for the most mainstream RPG publisher out there.
Fuck this shit.

 

[Got bored and left]

Yeah, I'm underwhelmed, and I actually like PoE. We'll see what this ends up being, I suppose. I'm not going to be all like "OMG ITZ SUCH SHITE HURRDURR", but there's not much here to get excited about for now.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Am I the only one around here who catches the whiff of Paradox' DLC "strategy"? Anyone who has been swindled into buying Europa Universalis IV : The DLC Fest will recognize the pattern.

I distinctly remember Josh Sawyer saying they want to do a traditional expansion. Later I didn't react much to the news of them splitting it, but now it takes on another meaning.

My opinion of Obsidian has been deteriorating very quickly since I started playing the full PoE... Sad.

 

[Angthoron]

The thing here that's strange to me personally is the decision to move from BG to IWD. I get it, they promised that at Kickstarter, but that means that what, Part 2 will have to be Planescape: Torment, then? If it's a dungeon crawl, then I'm seriously underwhelmed, since, while TotSC had the dungeon crawl in Durlag's, it also had the wolfwere village and a bunch of overland content to add as well. Unless the companions are really stellar and offer plenty of dialogue and reactivity, this announcement as it is is pretty damn "meh".

 

[Infinitron]

The thing here that's strange to me personally is the decision to move from BG to IWD.

Seems to me they're doing both. The icy northern setting is IWDish, but Durgan's Battery (=Durlag's Tower) is TotSCish, plus the trailer mentions a town which could also be in the expansion (=Ulgoth's Beard).

it also had the wolfwere village and a bunch of overland content to add as well

TotSC didn't add any overland content (other than the map where Durlag's is located and the Werewolf island which you mentioned, of course) or really modify anything in the base game other than the final battle against Sarevok.

I think this expansion might actually have more overland in it.

 

[Angthoron]

it also had the wolfwere village and a bunch of overland content to add as well

TotSC didn't add any overland content (other than the map where Durlag's is located and the Werewolf island, of course) or really modify anything in the base game other than the final battle against Sarevok.

Hmm, thought there was a zone or two that got added near Durlag's? Might be wrong, been a while.

 

[Bubbles]

TotSC didn't... really modify anything in the base game other than the final battle against Sarevok.

Gamespot claims differently:

Most of the gameplay tweaks are welcome additions, though gameplay is still substantially similar to the original game. Inventory management remains a bit cumbersome, although similar items now automatically stack together, and unidentified magic items are color coded to indicate their status. The experience-point cap has been raised to allow characters to gain at least one new level and to grant spell casters access to more-powerful spells. You can now set the game to automatically pause when hostile creatures are initially sighted. Thieves' abilities have been toned down so that they can no longer vanish from sight unless there are appropriate shadows nearby, and they now have to sneak behind opponents in order to attempt a backstabbing attack.

So did the devs themselves on SP:

Character toolbars have been revised so most have 2 quick weapon slots -- the 3 that don't are: Cleric/Thief, Mage/Thief, Fighter/Mage/Thief
The speed of all projectiles (normal and magical) has been doubled.
Backstabbing now requires the thief to be behind the target.
Web and Grease spells have been changed so they better reflect the area effect of the spells.
All area effect spells have been altered so they only affect people still within the area of effect (ie. you can now run out of the fireball blast radius).
Summoned creatures now start facing random directions.

We will be adding a number of spells from the 4th and 5th level for both Priests and Mages. The number will not be huge however, somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 spells or about 1/5th of the spells in BG. There will likely be some new higher level spells, but unfortunately for the players, those spells will be used against you by NPCs.

http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG/tosc_faq.php

 

[Infinitron]

it also had the wolfwere village and a bunch of overland content to add as well

TotSC didn't add any overland content (other than the map where Durlag's is located and the Werewolf island, of course) or really modify anything in the base game other than the final battle against Sarevok.

Hmm, thought there was a zone or two that got added near Durlag's? Might be wrong, been a while.

Well, BG1 had so many areas out there you never really had to visit, I could see some people missing them until they actually visited the tower after installing TotSC.

Anyway, I don't know. I still think this might end up as more than yet another megadungeon, considering the game already has one of those. They have to do a bit more than that. On the other hand, expecting an MotB was silly. A radically more "non-generic" setting is best saved for a full-blown sequel. If they're following the pattern of BG1->TotsC then I might actually turn out right about PoE2 being like BG2.

TotSC didn't... really modify anything in the base game other than the final battle against Sarevok.

Gamespot claims differently:

Yeah, I meant content-wise. Modifying existing areas and encounters, adding stuff, etc. Like what Larian and inXile are doing with their EEs.

 

[Bubbles]

Yeah, I meant content-wise. Modifying existing areas and encounters, adding stuff, etc. Like what Larian and inXile are doing with their EEs.

You can argue that they're only doing this because these games are

a) being ported to consoles, and
b) severely lacking in some of these areas.

 

[Ninjerk]

I imagine if I was doing an expansion to PoE, I'd want to make a proper megadungeon, too. The enthusiasts already bought the game, and the storo y was probably good enough for most of them. Meanwhile there's a lot of mainstream bucks they haven't cashed in on, and those people don't want to read no damn story. They likely don't have enough money to properly do the whole interactive cinema thing, so the next best thing is to make a good combat slog to keep the franchise (and company) alive long enough to open new revenue streams (like the aforementioned possibility of Paradox DLC scheme as well as things like PoE card game, PnP if they're doing that, etc.).

 

[Athelas]

It's fairly obvious they weren't ready to show off any of the environments yet, although some of those shots might have been from early renders zoomed in.

The butthurt in this thread is kinda sad, to be honest. All the butthurt posts just comes across as whiny and obsessed, not even funny (and I thought humor would always be in abundance at the Codex).

 

[Angthoron]

It's fairly obvious they weren't ready to show off any of the environments yet, although some of those shots might have been from early renders zoomed in.

The butthurt in this thread is kinda sad, to be honest. All the butthurt posts just comes across as whiny and obsessed, not even funny (and I thought humor would always be in abundance at the Codex).

Well, the fanboy hype isn't quite as amazing either, so we'll all just have to be quietly disappointed in each others in a passive-aggressive way.

 

[Athelas]

Well, the fanboy hype isn't quite as amazing either, so we'll all just have to be quietly disappointed in each others in a passive-aggressive way.

Well, the funny thing about PoE is that its haters have finished the game more times and like to talk about the game more than its fanboys.

 

[Angthoron]

Well, the fanboy hype isn't quite as amazing either, so we'll all just have to be quietly disappointed in each others in a passive-aggressive way.

Well, the funny thing about PoE is that its haters have finished the game more times and like to talk about the game more than its fanboys.

You need to finish a game seven times to know it's shit, didn't you know?

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

I imagine if I was doing an expansion to PoE, I'd want to make a proper megadungeon, too. The enthusiasts already bought the game, and the storo y was probably good enough for most of them. Meanwhile there's a lot of mainstream bucks they haven't cashed in on, and those people don't want to read no damn story. They likely don't have enough money to properly do the whole interactive cinema thing, so the next best thing is to make a good combat slog to keep the franchise (and company) alive long enough to open new revenue streams (like the aforementioned possibility of Paradox DLC scheme as well as things like PoE card game, PnP if they're doing that, etc.).

Mainstream doesn't want the story except when they buy 2derp4you storyfag games like Bioshock and The Walking Dead. On the on the hand dungeon crawls sell so well we had whole 1 of them funded by major publisher in the last couple of years.

 

[Tigranes]

The split into 2 parts thing is shitty and the trailer is literally nothing to talk about at this point, but I'm pretty cool with a TOTSC style expansion pack, because that's an opportunity to really build further on the combat mechanics, encounter design, area design, level tables, etc. - which bodes really well for POE2. And for the expansion itself, if they manage to take advantage of the nature of it being an xpack to focus more on well crafted combat set pieces and introduce new and interesting changes to the system.

I do hope they find ways to spice up the fortress: because you already have Od Nua, it will feel weird to have another "go down many floors" kind of place. And if it's anything approaching Durlag's Tower, fine - Durlag was superlative.

 

[dragonul09]

Well, the fanboy hype isn't quite as amazing either, so we'll all just have to be quietly disappointed in each others in a passive-aggressive way.

Well, the funny thing about PoE is that its haters have finished the game more times and like to talk about the game more than its fanboys.

I finished it once and that was one hell of a feat,the game got so tedious towards the end that i almost wanted to delete the game asap.The game was mediocre as fuck in all departments and i still weep for my 70 bucks, but then you have the idiots that keeps telling me ''the game is good for what it is'' what the fuck does that shit even means ?
Now that Avellone left, i can safely say that Obsidian is fucked ,one decent writer they had and they couldn't even keep him.Good luck with the Tank shit mmo you fucking cunts.

 

[Immortal]

Well, the fanboy hype isn't quite as amazing either, so we'll all just have to be quietly disappointed in each others in a passive-aggressive way.

Well, the funny thing about PoE is that its haters have finished the game more times and like to talk about the game more than its fanboys.

It's almost the like the people who critique PoE have an actual understanding of the game mechanics / writing / progression arc and itemization and are critiquing the game based on the merits of the entire thing.

Instead of just playing the first dungeon before we lean back in our chair and begin slapping our ball sack while screaming sawyers name.

 

[Irenaeus II]

I have no problem with splitting the first expansion into two parts, since I already own both thanks to contributing like a boss to the kickstarter.

All this talk about a fortress and shit has got me enthused. I have no problem sinking into another dungeon, provided it is has an engaging backstory tied to the setting's lore as Od Nua had. Also, it will be interesting to see icy ambients set in the new world. I'm sure the writing team will come up with cool new stuff and spins around it. Looking forward to the new companions, hopefully they will be as interesting as, say, Hiravias was. Sure, MCA's companions will be missed, but if PoE is any indication, they have talented writers to spare. Hopefully they will let the more gutsy ones pull ambitious storylines and dialogues that break the mold.

I'm certain they have learned a lot from feedback of the first game and will use it to improve the base gameplay. Now, about new level caps and stronger items, I can hardly imagine the creative enemies we will be tested to fight with since they will have to be fucking powerful as well to provide a challenge. Can't hardly wait to play this and I hope they keep delivering quality entertainment.

 

[Rivmusique]

So it was character level 9-10 that level I per rest spells became per encounter, 11-12 level II's did the same.If the level cap is increasing I suppose we are getting level III's as per encounters. Really need to step up those fights to justify the player having access to so much firepower per encounter (yeah yeah, you have access to all spells every encounter with the unlimited inn resting, but whatever ... I mean assuming the player is sticking to ~2 camps per average dungeon/few outdoor maps).

 

[Infinitron]

Pillars of Eternity First Expansion Named 'The White March: Part 1'

Fan-funded Expansion to Critically Acclaimed RPG Revealed at E3

LOS ANGELES — June 16, 2015 — Obsidian Entertainment and Paradox Interactive today revealed the name and the first details of an expansion to Pillars of Eternity, the role-playing game (RPG) funded by over 70 thousand backers. The expansion, titled “The White March: Part 1,” will extend the story and experience of Pillars of Eternity, as well as adding a higher level cap, new multi-class abilities, new companions including the rogue and monk , a new party based AI system, and much more to the game. The expansion, originally offered as a pledge add-on during the game’s incredibly successful crowdfunding campaign, was revealed by Obsidian and Paradox at E3, and will be coming soon for Windows, Max, and Linux PC.

A trailer for The White March: Part 1 is visible here, with a glimpse of what is coming next to the world of Eora.

“The response to Pillars of Eternity has been incredible,” said Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian Entertainment. “We knew, when we started work on the game following our crowdfunding campaign, we had the potential to create the kind of game world we’d want to visit again and again for a very long time. The White March is just the second step in our own long campaign to bring more and more of the Pillars of Eternity world to life, but with us always making sure we live up to the faith our fans have placed in us.”

“Our partnership with Obsidian couldn’t have started on a higher note than with Pillars of Eternity,” said Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive. “It was clear to us, from the beginning, that Obsidian had a deep connection to their fans, and with the tremendous success of Pillars of Eternity, there’s no doubt in our mind that they understand what players want from an RPG. We’re looking forward to working with their team for a long time to come.”

Pillars of Eternity is an RPG inspired by classic titles such as Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment, featuring an original world and game system that evokes and improves upon the traditional computer RPG experience. The first expansion, originally offered to fans as a pledge add-on during a crowdfunding campaign, will continue the game’s rich story and expand upon its detailed, original world. Named “The White March: Part 1,” the expansion will also raise the in-game level cap and let players meet new companions, unlock new abilities, and meet new challenges in their own unique manner.

For more information on Pillars of Eternity, visit http://pillarsofeternity.com/.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I can bet that "TotSC-style expansion" will turn out to be as much of deceptive namedropping as "capturing the feel of the Infinity Engine games" was.