POLL: Is your general sentiment towards POE negative or positive?

[Jools]

Negative. The game doesn't really have much to offer, IMHO, apart for a handful of beautiful visuals and a nice soundtrack. Sadly, I find everything concerning gameplay/writing to be average-to-mediocre at best, and completely forgettable in any case.

 

[markec]

Negative. Maybe its disappointment due high expectations or just looking at many things in the game and thinking it could have been much better game if they have put just a little more effort.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Negative. Maybe its disappointment due high expectations or just looking at many things in the game and thinking it could have been much better game if they have put just a little more effort.

You really think they didn't put enough effort?

 

[markec]

Negative. Maybe its disappointment due high expectations or just looking at many things in the game and thinking it could have been much better game if they have put just a little more effort.

You really think they didn't put enough effort?

I think they put huge amount of effort to make such a big and visually beautiful game with that budget and in that time. But then I look at stronghold, uninspired enemy encounters, bland loot, mess which is combat and think that if the game stayed in production for extra six months maybe it could have been a great game.

 

[Johannes]

Negative. Maybe its disappointment due high expectations or just looking at many things in the game and thinking it could have been much better game if they have put just a little more effort.

You really think they didn't put enough effort?

Obviously not if the end result is mediocre like this.

Unless you mean to say they're too bad at their craft to ever make anything decent.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Negative. Maybe its disappointment due high expectations or just looking at many things in the game and thinking it could have been much better game if they have put just a little more effort.

You really think they didn't put enough effort?

I think they put huge amount of effort to make such a big and visually beautiful game with that budget and in that time. But then I look at stronghold, uninspired enemy encounters, bland loot, mess which is combat and think that if the game stayed in production for extra six months maybe it could have been a great game.

Naturally.

Considering that they put the game together in 2.5 years, they did an amazing job. The problem is that the game of this scope requires 3-3.5 years. Overpromising on KS didn't help - they had to add the mega dungeon, stronghold, crafting, another city.

 

[Volrath]

Negative. Maybe its disappointment due high expectations or just looking at many things in the game and thinking it could have been much better game if they have put just a little more effort.

You really think they didn't put enough effort?

I think they put huge amount of effort to make such a big and visually beautiful game with that budget and in that time. But then I look at stronghold, uninspired enemy encounters, bland loot, mess which is combat and think that if the game stayed in production for extra six months maybe it could have been a great game.

No extra amount of time would have fixed the combat. Encounter design maybe, but what good is encounter design when the combat itself is so utterly boring due to the underlying mechanics?

Seriously, this won't change in any sequels.

Writing might improve if Obsidian takes some chances and actually has some talent left in the studio to back this up. I'm not holding my breath though.

 

[Infinitron]

Negative. Maybe its disappointment due high expectations or just looking at many things in the game and thinking it could have been much better game if they have put just a little more effort.

You really think they didn't put enough effort?

I think they put huge amount of effort to make such a big and visually beautiful game with that budget and in that time. But then I look at stronghold, uninspired enemy encounters, bland loot, mess which is combat and think that if the game stayed in production for extra six months maybe it could have been a great game.

Naturally.

Considering that they put the game together in 2.5 years, they did an amazing job. The problem is that the game of this scope requires 3-3.5 years. Overpromising on KS didn't help - they had to add the mega dungeon, stronghold, crafting, another city.

And now, try to imagine what would have happened if a company other than Obsidian and a project director other than Josh Sawyer had put all of this together. Imagine inXile or Harebrained Schemes having to design a stronghold system, megadungeon, two cities, and eleven distinct classes. Fucking lol. Can you say "cut content"?

 

[markec]

Negative. Maybe its disappointment due high expectations or just looking at many things in the game and thinking it could have been much better game if they have put just a little more effort.

You really think they didn't put enough effort?

I think they put huge amount of effort to make such a big and visually beautiful game with that budget and in that time. But then I look at stronghold, uninspired enemy encounters, bland loot, mess which is combat and think that if the game stayed in production for extra six months maybe it could have been a great game.

Naturally.

Considering that they put the game together in 2.5 years, they did an amazing job. The problem is that the game of this scope requires 3-3.5 years. Overpromising on KS didn't help - they had to add the mega dungeon, stronghold, crafting, another city.

And now, try to imagine what would have happened if a company other than Obsidian and a project director other than Josh Sawyer had put all of this together. Imagine inXile or Harebrained Schemes having to design a stronghold system, megadungeon, two cities, and eleven distinct classes. Fucking lol.

Sure we can all agree that Obsidian made a huge effort to build this game and that other companies probably would not be able to come close to what they did manage to do. But that doesnt change that it still is not a good game and I dont rate games based on effort.

EDIT: FFS Infi how many times you gonna edit your post :D

 

[Infinitron]

Well, clearly that second part is where we can't all agree.

 

[markec]

Well, clearly that second part is where we can't all agree.

I can agree with that.

 

[Rostere]

I think that putting together the class, attribute, talent and skill system in this time is mighty impressive. I was actually expecting something far more broken.

Of course I disagree about the design at just about every point (I wouldn't have wanted a class system to begin with, an attribute system which reflects physical/mental characteristics and not soul characteristics, and mixing up combat and non-combat talents and skills, and so on). But it's impressive how enjoyable it still is, especially when you compare to the BG series. I'm hoping that PoE 2 will be to PoE 1 what BG2 is to BG1.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Sure we can all agree that Obsidian made a huge effort to build this game and that other companies probably would not be able to come close to what they did manage to do. But that doesnt change that it still is not a good game and I dont rate games based on effort.

Whether or not it's not a good game is debatable. My comment was in response to your "PoE would have been better if they put just a little more effort", which implied that it was some kind of half-assed project.

 

[markec]

Sure we can all agree that Obsidian made a huge effort to build this game and that other companies probably would not be able to come close to what they did manage to do. But that doesnt change that it still is not a good game and I dont rate games based on effort.

Whether or not it's not a good game is debatable. My comment was in response to your "PoE would have been better if they put just a little more effort", which implied that it was some kind of half-assed project.

Well I thought I was pretty clear with "little more effort" part (but then again my english is far from perfect), do you maybe think that you subconsciously misread it because you were itching for a fight with someone who doesnt appreciate their effort?

 

[Gord]

I'm definitely positive towards the game and would rate it at maybe, 77% - it's a good game, but it's held back by a few issues from being a truly great one.
My general opinion of the game stayed fairly constant over the course of playing it and while I did notice several problems (which affected my opinion of it to various degree), I nevertheless felt motivated to keep on playing and had fun with it. I do hope that Obsidian manages to fix some of the problems in upcoming patches, though - in that case I might eventually increase my rating a bit.

 

[His Majesty]

I had high expectations so that probably plays a part but overall I found the game lacklustre in too many aspects to consider it a really good game. The writing and the characters are downright average (except for Durance) and that is mainly what I was looking for in this game. The Stronghold is fucking terrible. Combat is passable but it becomes too easy real fast. I hope that next time they can do it without Kickstarter. I'm not a fan of all those tombstones, the NeoGaf inn and even the Codex club. But all in all it is a good foundation for future instalments.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Sure we can all agree that Obsidian made a huge effort to build this game and that other companies probably would not be able to come close to what they did manage to do. But that doesnt change that it still is not a good game and I dont rate games based on effort.

Whether or not it's not a good game is debatable. My comment was in response to your "PoE would have been better if they put just a little more effort", which implied that it was some kind of half-assed project.

Well I thought I was pretty clear with "little more effort" part (but then again my english is far from perfect), do you maybe think that you subconsciously misread it because you were itching for a fight with someone who doesnt appreciate their effort?

If I was itching to fight, I'd be posting in the review thread, wouldn't I?

 

[J_C]

Sure we can all agree that Obsidian made a huge effort to build this game and that other companies probably would not be able to come close to what they did manage to do. But that doesnt change that it still is not a good game and I dont rate games based on effort.

Whether or not it's not a good game is debatable. My comment was in response to your "PoE would have been better if they put just a little more effort", which implied that it was some kind of half-assed project.

Well I thought I was pretty clear with "little more effort" part (but then again my english is far from perfect), do you maybe think that you subconsciously misread it because you were itching for a fight with someone who doesnt appreciate their effort?

If I was itching to fight, I'd be posting in the review thread, wouldn't I?

Speaking of the review, when can we see it?

 

[Vault Dweller]

In a couple of weeks.

 

[roshan]

Whether or not it's not a good game is debatable. My comment was in response to your "PoE would have been better if they put just a little more effort", which implied that it was some kind of half-assed project.

It really does seem half assed to me though. Like they just couldn't be bothered and maybe just wanted to put in a checklist of features and kickstarter promises. No effort was displayed at all even in key aspects of the game such as encounter design. And perhaps no one cared enough to call out Sawyer on any of his retarded design decisions.

 

[Athelas]

Whether or not it's not a good game is debatable. My comment was in response to your "PoE would have been better if they put just a little more effort", which implied that it was some kind of half-assed project.

It really does seem half assed to me though. Like they just couldn't be bothered and maybe just wanted to put in a checklist of features and kickstarter promises.

I don't think you quite understand how this Kickstarter thing works. Here's a hint: when you put up stretch goals for reaching a certain amount of funding, it's generally not a good idea to abandon the implementation of those stretch goals while making your game.

 

[roshan]

Whether or not it's not a good game is debatable. My comment was in response to your "PoE would have been better if they put just a little more effort", which implied that it was some kind of half-assed project.

It really does seem half assed to me though. Like they just couldn't be bothered and maybe just wanted to put in a checklist of features and kickstarter promises.

I don't think you quite understand how this Kickstarter thing works. Here's a hint: when you put up stretch goals for reaching a certain amount of funding, it's generally not a good idea to abandon the implementation of those stretch goals while making your game.

Of course I agree. But to be honest, I didn't even play the disappointing kickstarter areas (Od Nua, Stronghold, second city). I only made it as far as the dungeon where the madman is and then decided it was time to quit because up to that point, there really seemed to be nothing good about the game at all that made it worth playing. And the combat system - terrible system design and high level mechanics decisions, clusterfuck implementation, zero creativity or effort in encounter design, and absolutely no rewards at all - seriously, I can't think of any way that it could have actually been worse, and it made up 95% of the game. They essentially managed to create the worst possible combat a 2D RPG could have, which I suppose could be considered an achievement in itself.

The quests up to that point were essentially just fedex quests. The music was awful and the only good track was the battle music that ripped off BG2. The plot and setting were silly and boring (Jesus fucking Christ how many times can you keep hearing about SOUL SEOUL SOWL SAUL over and over again?). The first town had basically not a single NPC that wasn't there to push quests or the main plot, everyone was just a stationary quest dispenser. Compare this to games like PST where there were tons of characters there just to flesh out the world and setting. There was nothing to explore or discover, no special character or item in some hidden nook or cranny, most buildings couldn't even be entered. POE felt dead. Right after the starting dungeon, you witness some sort of ritual by a gigantic soul machine in which you are dumped with a lot of meaningless words. Afterwards? That massive machine just turns into background scenery. There's nothing for you to investigate, nothing for you to do, except just pick up a few things and move on to the next uninspired "area" which in this game means some nice background art superimposed with a random group of trash mobs at every corner.

 

[Atchodas]

The main FLAW of PoE is that encounter "difficulty" is measured in number of mobs that cant even get to you past each other lol , cheesy design for a tactical game imo

 

[Shevek]

The first town had basically not a single NPC that wasn't there to push quests or the main plot, everyone was just a stationary quest dispenser. Compare this to games like PST where there were tons of characters there just to flesh out the world and setting. There was nothing to explore or discover, no special character or item in some hidden nook or cranny, most buildings couldn't even be entered.

This is one criticism I agree with. I think that if the backer npcs would have been like the random npcs you encountered in the BG1 wilderness, this would have done more to liven up the game. They tried to add in these interactions where npcs interact with eachother but you miss those interactions if you pull up the world map just click on where you want to go, you miss out on that stuff.

This is a small thing though, really. BG1 had loads of this stuff but the other IE games didnt by comparison.

 

[Immortal]

OK, so like with many other recent RPGs, we see a divergence between forum posts and ratings given on polls when it comes to reactions to a game. I mean POE is still rated 8/10 by the Codex, but when we read posts, it seems that negative sentiments dominate. This has been the case for a lot of recent RPGs. Sometimes the reverse is true, we see RPGs getting low ratings or very little attention, but in threads, a positive outlook is predominant.

So this is just to try a different way to gauge the hivemind. Is your sentiment towards POE negative or positive? This isn't about how you would rank the game, but rather your "feels" towards the game. For example you might be of the opinion that the game is a 7/10 but still feel generally disappointed or unsatisfied by it.

I like this poll more.. I gave POE an 8/10 because I am forced through human bias to compare it to other shit I played this year which includes games like Dragon Age Inquisition..

However ~~~ This game really fucked up a lot of things that really just Butt hurt me.. They make me mad because this game had SO much potential and the entire pacing / feels of the game was ruined by what they decided to "Innovate" on.

I am one of the few people around here who loves Baldur's Gate. It's not balanced, it's not difficult and it has a ton of ways to cheese and break it. It nails the things I want though and I am totally okay handicapping my meta knowledge of the game to enjoy it.

PoE feels like a neutered game made by people who wanted to generate fun through numbers, Surprise - IMO Sawyer is largely to blame.