The writing in this game is average

[Jigawatt]

The backstories you can sense behind random NPCs are the worst case of tl;dr I've ever seen in a game, they are just irrelevant and boring.

Just to point out - This is backer reward fanfic crap, not Obsidian writing.

And I've been reading them all in pain assuming there is purpose behind such. Oh God

It all makes sense now. They did seem completely phoned in, to put it charitably. At least now I know to just avoid any future ones.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

FFT and Kotor 2 is good writing, POE is politically correct dogshit and the people blowing the writing so hard, should be hung by the neck until dead, for being such lemmings.

Think you might need to turn the thermostat in the basement down, chucklehead.

Your opinion sucks.

Yeah, but you unironically believe in God so...lol.

 

[Irenaeus]

I've seen little if any politically correct dogshit in PoE. And I'm an expert in politically correct dogshit.

 

[dragonul09]

The writing is good.

Are you people fucking nuts or something? Have you even played Final Fantasy Tactics or Kotor 2? POE is George RR Martin writing in the sense that there are thousands of pages of absolutely nothing [only talking about non-backer writing here] that could be cut out, but then your legion of retarded fans wouldn't have anything to blow your ego about, so better keep it in.

FFT and Kotor 2 is good writing, POE is politically correct dogshit and the people blowing the writing so hard, should be hung by the neck until dead, for being such lemmings.

Don't waste your energy on these retards,they think that pages of useless and flamboyant information is good writing,madness i say!This game feel so mundane and dull, but people are blind and caught in their little nostalgia bubble ,trying to reminiscent the good old days of Arcanum,Fallout,Baldurs Gate,Planescape sadly,this turd has no place between these gems.

Obsidian had all the power to make an unique game, now that they escaped from those wretched publishers and what they chose to make? A C+ generic fantasy garbage ,because no one did that in a long ,long time...
I

All those fucking kickstarters promising great games ,great storylines,great combat and what did we got ?

Garbageland 2 - last part of the game was unfinished ,not that the first part was great.And let's not forget the main quest '' GET TO DA REIDIO TAWARS''
Divinity Original Turd -Great combat,great interactivty with the world, but abysmal writing and that's a death sentence for a tb game(at least for me).

The age on incline my ass.Underrail has the budget of an ice cream and the soul of a 10 milion game.

 

[Kruno]

Can someone explain why they think the writing is bad in PoE?

 

[Brayko]

I have to reread most of the lines because none of the writing really jumps out or anything. Not saying it's bad per se it seems like it has some interesting backstory and stuff but I only enjoyed maybe one quest from the writing aspect so far.

 

[Irenaeus]

The writing is good.

Are you people fucking nuts or something? Have you even played Final Fantasy Tactics or Kotor 2? POE is George RR Martin writing in the sense that there are thousands of pages of absolutely nothing [only talking about non-backer writing here] that could be cut out, but then your legion of retarded fans wouldn't have anything to blow your ego about, so better keep it in.

FFT and Kotor 2 is good writing, POE is politically correct dogshit and the people blowing the writing so hard, should be hung by the neck until dead, for being such lemmings.

Don't waste your energy on these retards,they think that pages of useless and flamboyant information is good writing,madness i say!This game feel so mundane and dull, but people are blind and caught in their little nostalgia bubble ,trying to reminiscent the good old days of Arcanum,Fallout,Baldurs Gate,Planescape sadly,this turd has no place between these gems.

Obsidian had all the power to make an unique game, now that they escaped from those wretched publishers and what they chose to make? A C+ generic fantasy garbage ,because no one did that in a long ,long time...
I

All those fucking kickstarters promising great games ,great storylines,great combat and what did we got ?

Garbageland 2 - last part of the game was unfinished ,not that the first part was great.And let's not forget the main quest '' GET TO DA REIDIO TAWARS''
Divinity Original Turd -Great combat,great interactivty with the world, but abysmal writing and that's a death sentence for a tb game(at least for me).

The age on incline my ass.Underrail has the budget of an ice cream and the soul of a 10 milion game.

Are you purposely writing in this retarded way to make a point? Is this sarcasm?

 

[dragonul09]

I have to reread most of the lines because none of the writing really jumps out or anything. Not saying it's bad per se it seems like it has some interesting backstory and stuff but I only enjoyed maybe one quest from the writing aspect so far.

And that's the main problem ,the writing itself is not bad but the way the implemented in the dialogue is bland,dull ,boring,you just don't care about anyone in this game,because they all feel like walking encylopedias.

Every npc is full of meaningless informations about weird wars,gods, and they keep choking you with ridiculous names after names that i found myself skipping a lot of dialogue because it was boring,plain and simple.Let's remember Mask of the Betrayer or Kotor 2 ,they were compact even tho their universe is huge,they kept it small and interesting and the writing was decent,not trying to compete with a fucking Hamlet play.

 

[Irenaeus]

I'm enjoying all the information on weird wars, gods and people. I'm reading all books I can get my hands on and they never disappoint. I rate the Lore 10/10. Good job, obsy.

Dialogue is mostly fun and realistic. It makes me wish there was at least 10 different answers and hundreds of dialogue trees for every little NPC, but you gotta be realistic. Compared to the writing in other games of the genre, this one is among the best.

 

[dragonul09]

I'm enjoying all the information on weird wars, gods and people. I'm reading all books I can get my hands on and they never disappoint. I rate the Lore 10/10. Good job, obsy.

Dialogue is mostly fun and realistic. It makes me wish there was at least 10 different answers and hundreds of dialogue trees for every little NPC, but you gotta be realistic. Compared to the writing in other games of the genre, this one is among the best.

Fun and realistic? I'm not gonna even try anymore,it's tiresome to debate this subject with people like you.
When it comes to writing ,storyline,quests, it's a matter of taste but i realised these days,that a lot of people have shit taste and this forum ,sadly is overruned by them.

 

[Irenaeus]

I'm enjoying all the information on weird wars, gods and people. I'm reading all books I can get my hands on and they never disappoint. I rate the Lore 10/10. Good job, obsy.

Dialogue is mostly fun and realistic. It makes me wish there was at least 10 different answers and hundreds of dialogue trees for every little NPC, but you gotta be realistic. Compared to the writing in other games of the genre, this one is among the best.

Fun and realistic? I'm not gonna even try anymore,it's tiresome to debate this subject with people like you.
When it comes to writing ,storyline,quests, it's a matter of taste but i realised these days,that a lot of people have shit taste and this forum ,sadly is overruned by them.

It's tiresome to lose arguments, I guess. I'm pumped here. How are you feeling?

 

[dragonul09]

I'm enjoying all the information on weird wars, gods and people. I'm reading all books I can get my hands on and they never disappoint. I rate the Lore 10/10. Good job, obsy.

Dialogue is mostly fun and realistic. It makes me wish there was at least 10 different answers and hundreds of dialogue trees for every little NPC, but you gotta be realistic. Compared to the writing in other games of the genre, this one is among the best.

Fun and realistic? I'm not gonna even try anymore,it's tiresome to debate this subject with people like you.
When it comes to writing ,storyline,quests, it's a matter of taste but i realised these days,that a lot of people have shit taste and this forum ,sadly is overruned by them.

It's tiresome to lose arguments, I guess. I'm pumped here. How are you feeling?

Let's talk about the dialogue pattern...oh fuck this ,i'm not going to waste my valuable time ,so i will leave this here.It's easy to understand ,so don't fret too much my friend.




It is a great RPG and probably worth you money, but don't buy it for the "great writing" they promised. Feels like a cheap homebrew DND module (in a bad way, not in a rosy nostalgic way).

During the development they talked a lot about how they are finally free from the yoke of the despicable mainstream gamer and how this allows them to unleash their creativity and make art, but ended up writing the blandest, most forgettable high fantasy ever. It's not even Neverwinter nights. Dragon Age is proper literature by comparision.

Great writing? If all your read is gazillions of Dragonlance novels, maybe.


Okay, I should probably clarify a bit.

Basically, it seems that they tried hard to be original and just... couldn't

Instead of consistency and truly going for something different (see Dune, Morrowind, Earthsea, Planescape) they chose to throw around some random-sounding names for random-sounding countries, all of which have no character whatsoever (one of the main regions is defined by, I kid you not, "having a diverse ecosystem", and another one by being "not imperialistic").

A desire to subvert high fantasy tropes is commendable, but this is not how you do it.

Good example is race selection - blue aquatic orcs "had many cultures based on naval domination". What cultures? When? Why are they blue? Duh, blue people, naval domination. No further exposition given. As a result "blue aquatic orcs" sounds way cooler than it is in the game. The only important thing we are told about pale elves when choosing pale elf as a background is that pale elves are not migratory.

Obviously, they were going for the "imaginary trivia" approach, but for that to work, the details have to be intriguing enough for the reader to care. They have to be excting.

Sorry, I'm not excited by pale elves form Xmfrdtl being not migratory. Tell me about them. Tell me they hunt giant eels in the frozen tundra. Tell me they have a tribal culture based on potlatch. Tell me something my imagination can work with - you can't just say "oh, you know, Xmfrdtl", and expect me to start caring. А common rookie mistake - so much for "a studio full of experienced writers".

There is also an attempt at "blue and orange" morality - instead of good and evil gods there are gods of various random things (same with paladin creeds). Quite noticeably better than the rest of the general lore, but still suffering from the same problem.

The morale here is, I guess, hire a writer capable of writing an interesting original world in a proper holistic way or stick to your classic tropes that do half of the work for you. Right now the lore is original enough to get in the way of your assumptions, but not to be actually interesting.

Lack of consistency, lack of substance. End of the day - it's just bad, lazy world-building. Which is okay in a shooter, but in a new RPG IP that prides itself in being non-mainstream? That's... ironic.

All this is common in videogames, and normally I wouldn't care so much, but during the development they talked and talked about how they are a "studio full of writers" who have been barred by evil men in suits from unleashing their true creative potential, and then we get... this? I'm starting to think evil men in suits can sometimes be right.

 

[Irenaeus]

You should really learn how to write.

 

[dragonul09]

You should really learn how to write.

Oh come on dude,i thought we are going to use real arguments ?Maybe you should use the same argument as before ''Itz Fan and Realiztic''.

 

[Irenaeus]

The dialogue is indeed fun and realistic.

 

[Morality Games]

The game is pretty cool. Not as good as BG2 and PST, but better than BG1 and IWD. It's a good spiritual successor.

But the writing is.. Ok-ish. It's not good. It's not bad either though. The backstories you can sense behind random NPCs are the worst case of tl;dr I've ever seen in a game, they are just irrelevant and boring. The conversations are straight and to the point, and everyone talks like a modern person. I'm rarely intrigued by the people I meet.

Just thought I'd throw this out here. I always thought MCA was overrated and it appears I'm right. PoE's feature appears to be its content density more than anything.

The only RPGs in existence that are better are Planescape, Mask of the Betrayer, and Bloodlines.

Then maybe Kotor II squeezing in on its own on the next tier.

Pillars of Eternity would be in the category right below that, along with the good Fallouts, Dragonfall, and a couple more obscure and older titles.

Then below that you have flawed gems like Arcanum, Neverwinter Nights 2 OC, and Alpha Protocol where the writing is great in some areas/aspects and weak in others. Personally I would place BG2 in this category.

 

[SniperHF]

Instead of consistency and truly going for something different (see Dune, Morrowind, Earthsea, Planescape) they chose to throw around some random-sounding names for random-sounding countries, all of which have no character whatsoever (one of the main regions is defined by, I kid you not, "having a diverse ecosystem", and another one by being "not imperialistic").

Obviously, they were going for the "imaginary trivia" approach, but for that to work, the details have to be intriguing enough for the reader to care. They have to be excting.

Sorry, I'm not excited by pale elves form Xmfrdtl being not migratory. Tell me about them. Tell me they hunt giant eels in the frozen tundra. Tell me they have a tribal culture based on potlatch. Tell me something my imagination can work with - you can't just say "oh, you know, Xmfrdtl", and expect me to start caring. А common rookie mistake - so much for "a studio full of experienced writers".

Pillars writing is mostly uninteresting lore porn. They don't connect very well the moment to moment dialogs with all this background information at all. Most of the stuff Durance throws at you is the kind of thing you'd read in a book if you wanted to but it actually is the mainstay of his companion dialog. There isn't much back and fourth or true dialog. You ask a question, companion rattles off a bunch of terms you don't care about. Maybe you get to interject with a point but it gets waived off fast and then exposition monologue continues.

The only RPGs in existence that are better are

I'd probably change the order and add a few more but yeah. Though I think Pillars isn't what it could have been dialog wise it's still among the top simply because the landscape is as barren as it is.

 

[Morality Games]

Instead of consistency and truly going for something different (see Dune, Morrowind, Earthsea, Planescape) they chose to throw around some random-sounding names for random-sounding countries, all of which have no character whatsoever (one of the main regions is defined by, I kid you not, "having a diverse ecosystem", and another one by being "not imperialistic").

Obviously, they were going for the "imaginary trivia" approach, but for that to work, the details have to be intriguing enough for the reader to care. They have to be excting.

Sorry, I'm not excited by pale elves form Xmfrdtl being not migratory. Tell me about them. Tell me they hunt giant eels in the frozen tundra. Tell me they have a tribal culture based on potlatch. Tell me something my imagination can work with - you can't just say "oh, you know, Xmfrdtl", and expect me to start caring. А common rookie mistake - so much for "a studio full of experienced writers".

Pillars writing is mostly uninteresting lore porn. They don't connect very well the moment to moment dialogs with all this background information at all. Most of the stuff Durance throws at you is the kind of thing you'd read in a book if you wanted to but it actually is the mainstay of his companion dialog. There isn't much back and fourth or true dialog. You ask a question, companion rattles off a bunch of terms you don't care about. Maybe you get to interject with a point but it gets waived off fast and then exposition monologue continues.

The only RPGs in existence that are better are

I'd probably change the order and add a few more but yeah. Though I think Pillars isn't what it could have been dialog wise it's still among the top simply because the landscape is as barren as it is.

Note -- all Black Isle/Obsidian companions are lore porn in terms of their static dialogue trees, where more branches get unlocked due to Influence Gains/plot events. Most of the lively dialogues in Pillars are in one-time encounters where a companion wants to speak after an event or resting. Sort of like a mixture of Obsidian's usual way and Baldur's Gate.

 

[SniperHF]

Note -- all Black Isle/Obsidian companions are lore porn in terms of their static dialogue trees, where more branches get unlocked due to Influence Gains/plot events. Most of the lively dialogues in Pillars are in one-time encounters where a companion wants to speak after an event or resting. Sort of like a mixture of Obsidian's usual way and Baldur's Gate.

But some of those games do a much better job at relating that lore porn to the player and actually give you a reason to care about it. Tying in both direct character information and background. Safiya for example was sent to find the PC. This immediately peaks your interest as following the terrawful ending of NWN2 you end up in another land yet somehow she was sent to find you. So when she later starts rambling off lore dumps about the academy or the Red Wizards (the people who sent her) you are actually interested because it has a clear direct tie to the player.

Aloth has none of this establishment. Some of the others do better but still not to the same extent as companions in KOTOR 2 or MOTB do. Durance knows you are a watcher which sort of generates that same initial interest. But it's weakly explained initially and fails to maintain that intrigue and tie it back through his static dialogs.

 

[Shadenuat]

The article in encyclopedia called MenPwGra says a lot what I think about the writing in the game.
Hope they won't let a linguist into writing setting ever again.

 

[Haba]

I always thought MCA was overrated and it appears I'm right.

No, it just appears that you are retarded. The few parts MCA wrote are clearly best the game has to offer. Everything else...

I've seen little if any politically correct dogshit in PoE. And I'm an expert in politically correct dogshit.

Including, but not limited to:
- Lesbian couple discriminated against each other for wizardry (obvious strong allusions about homophobia/gay discrimination)
- A strong, independent mother of six with a stay-at-home-husband
- Female patron at the brothel ("who says I am looking for men?")

I have to agree with everyone else, the lore-dropping habit in this game is just awful. I absolutely disagree with dumbfucks who want even MORE description. If you want a good example of history rich and complex setting being introduced to the reader, look at Malazan. Characters refer to things in a natural manner "Hood's breath!", letting the reader make their own conclusions (in this context, Hood must be the god of death). Everything does not need to be EXPLAINED! Optional books and stories are good way to let the player learn more himself, but they should be of things that have relevance for the story.

A good writer gets the reader interested in the subject by gradually introducing him, giving small details here and there in a non-obtrusive manner. In a way that the reader wants to hear more and actively looks for the information. A bad writer infodumps and leaves no room for the reader to do the thinking themselves.

Obsidian naturally is in a difficult position making this game, seeing that most of their audience has been taught to not think at all when "playing" Bioware games...

 

[sser]

A good writer gets the reader interested in the subject by gradually introducing him, giving small details here and there in a non-obtrusive manner. In a way that the reader wants to hear more and actively looks for the information. A bad writer infodumps and leaves no room for the reader to do the thinking themselves.

In short-form: show, don't tell.

Although the most popular/highest selling stories of all time are mostly the exact opposite approach, so take that as you will.

 

[nikolokolus]

Can someone explain why they think the writing is bad in PoE?

I don't think the writing is bad, it's just not very economical. It could have used another editing pass or two to cleanup some of the "level 10 High Gygaxian;" some of the phrasing is awfully tortured and needlessly florid.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

In short-form: Haba is hilariously afraid of women.

 

[Haba]

In short-form: Haba is hilariously afraid of women.

Women do love shit writing but that hardly makes me afraid of them. Now would you kindly fuck off if you have nothing of value to contribute?

Those examples I gave are blatantly written with "an agenda", they don't flow naturally nor are they built up in a believable manner (maybe excluding the female whoremonger). A bad writer simply does a gender swap (let's take a male warrior who has been away from his family for five years and simply turn he into a she without changing anything else!) or pays unnaturally long attention to the gender of the person. None of my gay friends do that in casual conversation with strangers, not unless they are deliberately looking for attention. I don't care how liberal or conservative the writing is, just as long as it is not obtrusive.