Tyranny Pre-Release Thread

[Modron]

When the fuck is 4PM PST? Isn't Paradox a Swedish company give us time in GMT.

Given the abundance of game developers on the west coast of the united states one would think you would figure out pst eventually, it's -8 GMT.

 

[Fry]

When the fuck is 4PM PST? Isn't Paradox a Swedish company give us time in GMT.

Given the abundance of game developers on the west coast of the united states one would think you would figure out pst eventually, it's -8 GMT.

It's actually PDT right now, which is -7 GMT. Googling time zones isn't tough, but they should at least give the correct one. :D

 

[Infinitron]

Have I mentioned before that I'm pretty sure people from PCGamesN lurk here? http://www.pcgamesn.com/tyranny/kyros-tyranny-villain

Is Tyranny's Kyros male or female? Solid, liquid or gas? We asked Obsidian for clarification

There’s been no small amount of debate as to the identity of Tyranny’s villain and evil overlord, Kyros. Obsidian’s latest RPG has a far different structure to their average fantasy fair, and the ultimate ruler of all creation - or soon to be it with your help - is mysterious. Everything from the pronouns used to describe her (though Obsidian prefer the feminine as a catch-all) to when her calendar starts is unknown within the world. The images in this article aren't even of Kyros, the Overlord's visage not being something made public yet. Why so mysterious? It’s all part of that world-conquering persona.

“We are vague about Kyros’ gender because the average person in the world of Tyranny simply does not know if the Overlord is a man or a woman – and that includes you, the player character,” explains the narrative team. “You know Tunon, Archon of Justice and Bleden Mark, Archon of Shadows but you (the Fatebinder) have never been summoned to the Overlord’s presence and your Archon mentors will merely repeat “Kyros is mother and father” when asked.”

The people are, essentially, kept in the dark. “Kyros does not commission portraiture and the citizens see iconography and Edicts – they are never really presented with a human face to worship. People know there are the Archons and then there’s Kyros, and Kyros isn’t the ‘top Archon’ but an entity more powerful than any ‘mere’ Archon.

“There is no internet in Terratus so folks can’t Google Kyros, instead most people end up mirroring the superstitions around them – a lot of men think Kyros is a dude, a lot of women think Kyros is a lady, but just as many will think the opposite.” Many prospective players, myself included, were equally guilty of these assumptions. In a similar vein, many assume something stranger is going on.

“Some suppose Kyros is a team, some think it a dynasty, some think Kyros is a giant beast with a dozen heads – there are plenty of fears about what Kyros is but nobody is out there setting the record straight. Only Archons are likely to have actually met Kyros, and they’re usually tight-lipped on the subject.”

Beyond who she is, what Kyros has done is a little more obvious. We wanted to know why nobody had managed to stop the overlord before this point, and the answer is it’s just taken a lot of time. “Kyros’ conquest of the world wasn’t overnight, it’s been a 400+ year project in the making, and the game centers around the events of that last leg of Kyros’ attempt to own everything. Some regions of the world were conquered by warfare, some with bloodless intimidation, most by some mix of the two. It’s taken 400 years for Kyros to get to the final stage of the invasion.”

On that timeline, Kyros has instituted her own calendar. “Most folks know what year it ‘officially’ is (the game’s prologue opens in 428, the main gameplay is in 431),” say Obsidian, but that doesn’t mean Kyros has been upfront about it. “There’s plenty of confusion as to what the start of the calendar is – some think it’s when Kyros was born, some think it’s when Kyros first wore the title of Overlord. Those in the know could tell you that year zero was Kyros’ first Edict. And yes, Kyros starts the calendar on a zero – the Overlord is aware how largely incurious humans are and, anticipating stupidity over when a millennium begins or ends, planned for the future.” Kyros is pretty forward-thinking for an overlord of all life.

As far as Kyros’ influence on the player character and you, Obsidian are keeping schtum beyond what we already know from the start of the game. The world’s greatest heroes, the Archons, all bow to her now and you’re a Fatebinder, off to enact one of these Edicts. They’re essentially omni-powerful spells, giving a command that must be followed or horrific consequences unfold.

“Kyros has scores of Archons, many with their own armies, so the Disfavored and the Scarlet Chorus aren’t the sole extent of Kyros’ [forces], just the two significant ones in the corner of the world at the time of the game’s events. Some Edicts of Kyros have been resolved, the wording of the Edict satisfied, while other Edicts still linger after any number of years – so long as the until/if/unless wording (whatever it was Kyros declared when casting) isn’t satisfied, the magic just keeps going.”

It will be up to you to decide how well Obsidian have managed to create an omnipresent threat without explaining any of the why, or how. Tyranny comes out on November 10, available through the Paradox Plaza as well as Steam.

 

[erickaqua]

*insert tired joke about the game's title to insinuate Kyros' gender*

 

[SausageInYourFace]

So, what are the odds that the game will go on christmas sale? Is that normal procedure for a game just released?

 

[Infinitron]

It is, but it won't be a deep sale. 25% or 33%, tops.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Guess I'll I wait for that then. I have so many unfinished RPGs installed at the same time right now anyway, I begin to think I might have some kind of RPG ADHD.

 

[Rev]

It's not very likely that it will be discounted. It might be if it sold poorly (which may very well be the case considering the low-effort made by Paradox to promote it), otherwise its first sale will probably be in Spring.

 

[Bubbles]

It might be if it sold poorly (which may very well be the case considering the low-effort made by Paradox to promote it)

The pre-order numbers can tell the story:

http://steamspy.com/app/362960

 

[Infinitron]

Fun fact: Even Skyrim came out in November, was discounted on Christmas.

 

[FreeKaner]

It's promoted very poorly so no one that doesn't play paradox games or know obsidian beforehand won't know it, paradox already has a very niche and small player-base so I expect this to flop on sales front. It might catch some steam after release if it's distinct enough.

 

[Rev]

But you didn't, Infinitron. The alert panel is lying!

 

[Bubbles]

It's promoted very poorly so no one that doesn't play paradox games or know obsidian beforehand won't know it, paradox already has a very niche and small player-base so I expect this to flop on sales front. It might catch some steam after release if it's distinct enough.

It's already sold three times as many copies as Masquerada at double the price, so there's no chance that we're looking at the worst flop of the year here. Unless Tyranny cost Obsidian more than $6 million to make (compared to Masquerada's quoted budget of $1 million), but I rather doubt that.

 

[Sizzle]

It's promoted very poorly so no one that doesn't play paradox games or know obsidian beforehand won't know it, paradox already has a very niche and small player-base so I expect this to flop on sales front. It might catch some steam after release if it's distinct enough.

It's already sold three times as many copies as Masquerada at double the price, so there's no chance that we're looking at the worst flop of the year here. Unless Tyranny cost Obsidian more than $6 million to make (compared to Masquerada's quoted budget of $1 million), but I rather doubt that.

Reusing the engine, many assets and a large part of the ruleset for PoE - yeah, that certainly cut production costs.

 

[FreeKaner]

It's promoted very poorly so no one that doesn't play paradox games or know obsidian beforehand won't know it, paradox already has a very niche and small player-base so I expect this to flop on sales front. It might catch some steam after release if it's distinct enough.

It's already sold three times as many copies as Masquerada at double the price, so there's no chance that we're looking at the worst flop of the year here. Unless Tyranny cost Obsidian more than $6 million to make (compared to Masquerada's quoted budget of $1 million), but I rather doubt that.

Am I misreading the graph but isn't it only 7500 pre-orders yet? Isn't that low? PoE sold 800k copies, obviously this is not PoE but I'd expect them to want something like 50k copies sold, similar number to AoD, at the very least.

 

[vortex]

It's promoted very poorly so no one that doesn't play paradox games or know obsidian beforehand won't know it, paradox already has a very niche and small player-base so

Ok, this could be offtopic but why has isometric RPG niche gamer base as oposed to some AAA shooter? Is it in dynamics, controlling all 3 dimensions? I think this mindset has to change. FPS players should revaluate isometric RPG.

 

[FreeKaner]

It's promoted very poorly so no one that doesn't play paradox games or know obsidian beforehand won't know it, paradox already has a very niche and small player-base so

Ok, this could be offtopic but why has isometric RPG niche gamer base as oposed to some AAA shooter? Is it in dynamics, controling all 3D dimensions? I think this mindset has to change. FPS players should revaluate isometric RPG.

Action games with low learning curve appeal to more to average person, especially if it's a competitive environment which humans often seek. Isometric RPGs appeal to a player base that wants something else than adrenaline fix from their games. Personally I grew up with RTS games so paradox games and RPGs appeal to me but I can understand how they might feel slow for average person who does not have the time to invest in it or don't share the specific escapist mindset. Funnily enough I always thought RPGs would appeal to women more, due how they tend often prefer dialogue and drama over action.

 

[Rev]

Am I misreading the graph but isn't it only 7500 pre-orders yet? Isn't that low? PoE sold 800k copies, obviously this is not PoE but I'd expect them to want something like 50k copies sold, similar number to AoD, at the very least.

Well, most of the sales are made in the immediate weeks after release, usually, not on pre-orders. But yeah, 7500 is low, I never expected the game to even come close to PoE's numbers, but I thought the game had the potential to sell at least half of that. As of now, I'd be surprised if it goes above 200k before the end of the year (I think PoE sold like 500-600k after about a month).

 

[Sizzle]

It's promoted very poorly so no one that doesn't play paradox games or know obsidian beforehand won't know it, paradox already has a very niche and small player-base so

Ok, this could be offtopic but why has isometric RPG niche gamer base as oposed to some AAA shooter? Is it in dynamics, controlling all 3 dimensions? I think this mindset has to change. FPS players should revaluate isometric RPG.

There really should be some sort of "bait hook/andhaira" rating for this kind of post :D

 

[Infinitron]

I feel like they've been terrible at engaging their already existing Pillars of Eternity audience with this game. Why hasn't the PoE Kickstarter gotten a bunch of updates about Tyranny? Why are the games' forums segregated on two different company websites? This isn't rocket science.

 

[FreeKaner]

Why are the games' forums segregated on two different company websites?

This part really fucked me up. As a person who plays 3 different paradox games on a weekly basis I am not a stranger to the forums but why the hell is this separated like this. It makes no sense, is this something paradox demanded? If they did, they are basically shooting themselves in the foot by crippling their own sales, since anyone who is familiar with Paradox will know its published by Paradox, yet Obsidian tries to appeal to a much wider player-base here (wider than PoE in fact). It's fairly weird.

 

[MRY]

Does anyone post on official company forums these days? I've only ever looked at WEG's and inXile's, and they're both eternally dead very low traffic.

Also, do you really think there are people who backed PoE and haven't heard of Tyranny?

[EDIT: For example, there are 293 threads (many quite dense) in Primordia's Steam forum and around 150 (many quite dense) on the GOG forum, but around 100 on WEG's forum, each maybe a post or two long.]

 

[LESS T_T]

The pre-order numbers can tell the story:

http://steamspy.com/app/362960

Steam Spy can't estimates pre-order numbers. (Unless a game is visible in user's library before the release. Like Football Manager 2017. They are offering beta version to pre-order purchasers.)

Tyranny's number is likely based on a few dozens of Obsidian and Paradox employees (see geography section).

 

[FreeKaner]

Does anyone post on official company forums these days? I've only ever looked at WEG's and inXile's, and they're both eternally dead very low traffic.

Also, do you really think there are people who backed PoE and haven't heard of Tyranny?

[EDIT: For example, there are 293 threads (many quite dense) in Primordia's Steam forum and around 150 (many quite dense) on the GOG forum, but around 100 on WEG's forum, each maybe a post or two long.]

Even if you don't visit the official forums, it's visibility and trust. You know why companies are so obsessed about getting their brands in adds? No one sees an add and buys something, but being bombarded with the adds creates a brand familiarity. Officials forums often have a similar effect. When your official forums are sending you off to another company's forum, it's a bit fucked.

 

[Bubbles]

Steam Spy can't estimates pre-order numbers. (Unless a game is visible in user's library before the release. Like Football Manager 2017. They are offering beta version to pre-order purchasers.)

Surely we must have a few dozen people here who could tell us whether a Tyranny pre-order shows up in your game library.