Pillars of Eternity Thread [Pre-Expansion]

[leino]

A review on Steam best sums it up:

"Dear Baldur's Gate fans,

welcome home."

It's been a long wait but it was worth it. Obsidian released a masterpiece.

yeah, from what I have read here, I don't think that is quite accurate. In fact, I think some BG fans would be quite pissed if you were to categorize it as such. Considering your post count, I get highly suspicious of you being a plant.

Some people will never be pleased I guessed. No problem, if genre flourishes we might get another "true" spiritual successor to BG (released by another company).

The genre won't flourish if people get excited over half baked shit that is shoveled out to them due to their nostalgic teenage boy band fanatic fandom. Things get better when people stop accepting shit.

yeah, the 'dex is really known for accepting shit.

Come the fuck on. There are reasons why PoE might not be to some people's tastes, but it is at the very least a very solid RPG done in the style of the IE games (which themselves had plenty of flaws). If there is a way the genre will flower, this is it, even if PoE isn't flawless. Did you even touch the game yet?

 

[Lhynn]

Monks are very high damage when not using any armor, they are not mobile enough because their defense is not good and they dont seem to have an option to break engagement so far. They also have the most retarded concept of all the classes in poe, one that is shit at the start of combat, cant take many hits but taking hits is how he powers his abilities, and that you actually have to PAY a talent point to be able to hurt yourself to power your own abilities more safely.



Honestly i found them a pretty shit class overall and the one that made it should rethink his life. They are not appealing to people that like playing martial characters, they are not appealing to people that like playing glass cannons, they are not appealing to people that like playing tanks.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...-go-to-new-thread.93694/page-401#post-3805836

Wasnt talking about the numbers, just the core concept.

 

[Xenich]

A review on Steam best sums it up:

"Dear Baldur's Gate fans,

welcome home."

It's been a long wait but it was worth it. Obsidian released a masterpiece.

yeah, from what I have read here, I don't think that is quite accurate. In fact, I think some BG fans would be quite pissed if you were to categorize it as such. Considering your post count, I get highly suspicious of you being a plant.

Some people will never be pleased I guessed. No problem, if genre flourishes we might get another "true" spiritual successor to BG (released by another company).

The genre won't flourish if people get excited over half baked shit that is shoveled out to them due to their nostalgic teenage boy band fanatic fandom. Things get better when people stop accepting shit.

yeah, the 'dex is really known for accepting shit.

Come the fuck on. There are reasons why PoE might not be to some people's tastes, but it is at the very least a very solid RPG done in the style of the IE games (which themselves had plenty of flaws). If there is a way the genre will flower, this is it, even if PoE isn't perfect. Did you even touch the game yet?

The"'dex" isn't an appeal to authority, to demand so is to dishonor what this site is. Don't be a fucking lemming.

 

[Bubbles]

Perception is shit

This is true. I'm starting to drop Perception to 3 or 4 on every build I make because there's just more useful places to put those points. A pure tank character might have a use for it, but they would probably be better off maxing Resolve.

 

[roshan]

The minimap.....

Seriously, what the hell is the functional purpose for a giant wall of blackness? Is it even remotely possible to discern any features of the area or check where to go when presented with this?

 

[Shadenuat]

Even Sagani they managed to make dull. A mother of five children on a five year plan spirit quest. And let's not forget her stats are a total fail for a Ranger. Is very anyone but Durance who is more entertaining and actually makes you happy you drag them around with you? And with a voice that breaks away from monotonous lore dump all the time?

I am seriously afraid to meet Pallegina, yet I am in a need of a decent second front-liner.

 

[Roguey]

The genre won't flourish if people get excited over half baked shit that is shoveled out to them due to their nostalgic teenage boy band fanatic fandom. Things get better when people stop accepting shit.

 

[Bubbles]

PoE was kickstarted long before people voted on that list. Incline and Decline are always cyclical.

 

[Zombra]

Kana has been pretty useful so far but I think I'm going to replace his portrait. I can't stand looking at the guy.

If you know how to change NPC portraits, please tell me immediately.

 

[leino]

The genre won't flourish if people get excited over half baked shit that is shoveled out to them due to their nostalgic teenage boy band fanatic fandom. Things get better when people stop accepting shit.

yeah, the 'dex is really known for accepting shit.

Come the fuck on. There are reasons why PoE might not be to some people's tastes, but it is at the very least a very solid RPG done in the style of the IE games (which themselves had plenty of flaws). If there is a way the genre will flower, this is it, even if PoE isn't perfect. Did you even touch the game yet?

The"'dex" isn't an appeal to authority, to demand so is to dishonor what this site is. Don't be a fucking lemming.

???

not sure if trolling at this point, but this has nothing to do with what I said. PoE can be flawed, how much so depends on your tastes, but it isn't unfair at all to compare it to BG. You implied people (the 'dex included) were getting excited over a bad game due to nostalgia without ever playing it. Somehow you decided the game was "shit" without so much as playing it, in the face of the consensus, and then post as if you're certain it is.

I don't understand the point of what you're doing.

 

[Merlkir]

I just did Raedric's hold and was pleasantly surprised.

Spoiler

It wasn't as simple as run in and kill the tyrant. I mean, that's what I ended up doing. But the animancer lady almost talked me into helping her instead of the priest. Everyone (Aloth and Edér included) shittalks animancers, but she was the only one who had actual information about how the hollowborn curse maybe works. The priests just pray to their stupid god or whatever. In the end, Raedric was a bit nuts, what with all the hanging, and I wanted to save the young guy in her cell. Still, I didn't want to kill her, that felt like roleplaying. So, that was nice.

 

[Xorazm]

Well, I experienced RPG gaming from its inception (ie the late 60's early 70's) and watched it evolve into cRPG systems. There was a pretty clear focus (once we got past the misunderstanding of D&D's first release) to which led to cRPG games. RPGs of this nature were statistical focused, ie... board games, etc... which is why most people complain about early cRPGs being "combat heavy". They were board games with stories.

Adventure games perfected "story without combat" focus. That was their genre, they game, their "hook". So, when I wanted story/puzzle focus mainly, I played Adventure games (Zork and Oregon Trail, Kings Quest, Police Quest, Space Quest), but when I wanted cRPG play, I went for games like Ultima, Wizardy, etc...

See, if I want merely a story, a cRPG game is not my first choice, but... I can enjoy a story if a games focus IS entirely the story (ie adventure game). I don't appreciate playing half-assed cRPGs who are really just an adventure game. I mean, why bother with all the stupid mechanics that are obviously designed to appeal to those who really just want a story? I say.. screw the mechanics and lets get to the story.

Though... when I want to play a cRPG, I like the mechanics. The story is secondary, as character development is king. Don't get me wrong, but if I have to choose between story and mechanics here, mechanics win every day and twice on Sunday. So, it really comes down to that. Am I playing an adventure game or am I playing a cRPG. What I expect depends on what is being sold.

Out of genuine curiosity - do you think that character development is intrinsically tied to the combat? Is it possible to have a good character creation/development system in a cRPG in the absence of a well-designed combat system?

I'm just trying to figure out what the source of the appeal is. My experience with table-top RPGs is pretty limited so maybe its an in-born bias that comes from only using the computer version, but I think of the character generation system as primarily an adjunct to the combat system because that's generally where all the skills and statistics find their application. It seems like every once in a while you run into a well-designed cRPG that gives you unique dialog options based on your stats, but those are rather the exception rather than the norm. As a result, it's hard for me to understand critiquing the character generation system in isolation of the combat system - it feels a little like judging a car by its blueprints as opposed to how it drives on the road. Like, you could pile a million stats into the character-gen screen but if the combat system is a total clusterfuck, would it not render the whole thing moot?

Or is there some piece that I'm not getting - that sculpting a character's stats prior to the game somehow makes them yours in way, somehow it enhances the immersion?

Part of the reason why I tend to blow past the character creation screen is because I don't know what any of this stuff does. It always struck me as weird, particularly in a new system like PoE, that the game asks me to decide on my core stats before I have any way of understanding the impact they have on the game world. How do I know if I want 15 Might or 16 Might until I've seen what that actually means? So I just kinda shrug and eyeball it, hope I don't screw up too much, and then once I've figured it all out I'm too far into the game to back and start over again.

Sorry all, it's not my intent to derail a discussion with a digression into the abstracts of RPG mechanics, but like I said before I've always found the diffusion of perspectives on RPGs really fascinating and I never get the chance to quiz people in real life about it.

 

[Hegel]

Monks are very high damage when not using any armor, they are not mobile enough because their defense is not good and they dont seem to have an option to break engagement so far. They also have the most retarded concept of all the classes in poe, one that is shit at the start of combat, cant take many hits but taking hits is how he powers his abilities, and that you actually have to PAY a talent point to be able to hurt yourself to power your own abilities more safely.

PoE monks:


Honestly i found them a pretty shit class overall and the one that made it should rethink his life. They are not appealing to people that like playing martial characters, they are not appealing to people that like playing glass cannons, they are not appealing to people that like playing tanks.

Just search for Sensuki's fire monk build. Monks are strong.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Get Good

 

[Shadenuat]

Spoiler

Lol dragonage'd

Who made all these encounters?

 

[Maculo]

Wow, once you reach the second step of Durance's question/talk, it becomes pretty apparent that MCA wrote him.

 

[Blaine]

I'm surprised we made it almost to page 30 before the nonsensical bickering began in earnest.

As I fully expected, Sawyer's system of game mechanics is overwrought, isn't particularly "balanced" after all, and at times unnecessarily overcomplicates the game. When I say "unnecessarily overcomplicates the game," I'm referring to the bad kind of complexity: complexity for its own sake, contributing nothing to the player's enjoyment or sense of satisfaction, even in the context of min-maxing and grognarding; or simply as the result of convoluted/cumbersome game mechanics.

The little idiosyncrasies of combat can be obnoxious at times (I'm playing on Hard), but that's par for the course in most RTwP cRPGs, and even more than a few TB ones. Personally (this isn't a criticism per se, just my opinion), I think that the Engagement system—which typically manifests itself in melee enemies rocketing across the screen and locking down your party in barely the time it takes to perform one action, on pain of losing a shitassload of Endurance unless said party members stand perfectly still or the enemy is incapacitated in some way—is a horrible "fix" for "kiting." The way it's implemented is also pretty clunky. It does however mean that formations and scouting are vitally important considerations, unless you're playing on pissbaby difficulty, so it's not all bad.

I don't feel that Sawyerist mechanics "fixed" or "solved" or "addressed" any of the apparent or supposed weaknesses of older IE games. At best, a handful of older issues were traded for a handful of newer ones, which, again, I fully expected.

Although Sawyer didn't really accomplish what he set out to do in my eyes, and although there are just as many issues with PoE's game mechanics and combat as there are with any other respectable RTwP game's mechanics and combat, he didn't ruin or fuck up anything. It's pretty much par for the course, and most importantly, the combat isn't actively off-putting or egregious and can be satisfying.

 

[uaciaut]

You're wrong. Functionality is an objective criteria. Feel free to pretend otherwise though.

Functionality is indeed an objective criteria, your interpretation of it is retarded though, much like most of your incessant whining.


Also reading this thread makes me feel like a lot of people on the codex really enjoyed BG2 and thought it to be a really great game in many aspects which is the exact opposite of what i've been getting from most of the people here whenever the subject of BG2 was brought up till now. P funny.

 

[Athelas]

Oh yeah, something else I forgot to mention: Fire godlikes can use their fiery hair as a makeshift torch in the tutorial dungeon to light up those pillars.

 

[Old Hans]

I have an OCD for playing on Ironman even though I know it will just end in disaster.

 

[Lhynn]

Just search for Sensuki's fire monk build. Monks are strong.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Get Good

Wasnt talking about the numbers, just the core concept.

 

[e-mailio estevez]

Kana has been pretty useful so far but I think I'm going to replace his portrait. I can't stand looking at the guy.

If you know how to change NPC portraits, please tell me immediately.

Assuming the steam version:

\Steam\steamapps\common\Pillars of Eternity\PillarsOfEternity_Data\data\art\gui\portraits

The companions portraits are all there, and I'm assuming there are some spoilers in the NPC folder.

Just replace the filename with a different image. At least, it worked to change my dwarf portrait to something a little more suitable.

edit:
I just realized who Kana reminds me of:

 

[roshan]

Functionality is indeed an objective criteria, your interpretation of it is retarded though, much like most of your incessant whining.

As opposed to your incessant fanwhoring?

- Areas under fog of war should be visible.
- Dungeons should not blend into the background.
- Minimap should be usable even when it's dark.

These are basic functionality and usability features that not only did the Infinity Engine games get perfectly right over a decade and a half ago, but even low budget indie games like Lords of Xulima were able to nail this 100%. It's inept to the point of absurdity.

Obsidian instead focused on FILTERZ and GRAFIX and ANIMESHUNS and the result is a presentation that is not only ugly but devoid of functionality that should be expected from an isometric game. 2D isometric perspective is not about IMMERSHAN but about information.

 

[Zombra]

If you know how to change NPC portraits, please tell me immediately.

Assuming the steam version:
\Steam\steamapps\common\Pillars of Eternity\PillarsOfEternity_Data\data\art\gui\portraits
The companions portraits are all there, and I'm assuming there are some spoilers in the NPC folder.
Just replace the filename with a different image. At least, it worked to change my dwarf portrait to something a little more suitable.

Tested (gog version). Works for PC portraits but not companions. Thanks, though.

 

[Owlish]

Played a bit.

One does wonder what's the point of a new setting if most things feel like "D&D Reskined". Have fun re-learning all prists and mages abilities again! I mean, there are certantly interesting plot points (particulary in regard to the main quest), but also getting a feeling "been there, done that".

Like JES said, it is relatively risk free to go with a generic fantasy setting because somehow people just like humans, elves and paladins. More obscure setting might scare potential customers away, vice versa I doubt many who find generic fantasy settings boring would not buy it if the game is cool.

You can have a generic fantasy setting without elves and dwarves. Why go through the trouble of creating your won races if your just going to use them anyway.

 

[LeJosh]

Played a bit.

One does wonder what's the point of a new setting if most things feel like "D&D Reskined". Have fun re-learning all prists and mages abilities again! I mean, there are certantly interesting plot points (particulary in regard to the main quest), but also getting a feeling "been there, done that".

Like JES said, it is relatively risk free to go with a generic fantasy setting because somehow people just like humans, elves and paladins. More obscure setting might scare potential customers away, vice versa I doubt many who find generic fantasy settings boring would not buy it if the game is cool.

You can have a generic fantasy setting without elves and dwarves. Why go through the trouble of creating your won races if your just going to use them anyway.

Is having a mix of your own plus well known races not a happy medium?

Keeps traditionalists happy and people tired of old hat will try the newer ones.