Leaderboard

So they have decided to wait till release anniversary) Btw, now we have some sort of time estimation dictionary - "ASAP" in technical forums = up to 100 days - "soon (tm)" on discord =~ 40 days - "almost at the finish line" on discord = ~ 2 weeks - "very soon" by Josh on reddit = 1 week

18:09]draego_:it prob has lots of bug fixes to [22:03]Aarik D (Community Manager):so many bug fixes [22:12]Helmino:@Aarik D (Community Manager) hope is not only bug fix [22:14]Aarik D (Community Manager):Turn that frown upside down my friend, many cool things coming! From the discord chat

We already knew the returns were poor when Fig paid the first tranche of dividends to investors in November. However, if the May–November time frame paid $192.67 and November–December added another $127.33 on top, you could say the game gained a fair momentum after all 3 DLCs were released. The last month and half in 2018 made almost as much as the five months that preceded it. This month there should be the second tranche of dividends from Fig; we'll see then how Deadfire did in 2019, with the release of TB mode.

You kiddin? After a year, beta is finally coming to a close

Let me say at the outset that I have nothing against turn-based games; I thoroughly enjoy DOS and DOS 2, however, this is not what this post is about. POE was conceived and developed on the very basic concept of pause and play, which is, by its very nature, fundamentally different from turn-based. Look at duration; in turn-based, such as DOS 2, negative and positive effects are based on, logically, turns. It makes sense. In pause and play, duration is based on basic time units. This is just to cite one example among many that would naturally lead to a clash of visions and more importantly, implementation. The prominent Affliction Bug, which remains to this day, as we wait on the patch to fix it, seems to be highly correlated with the emergence of turn-based mode. Whatever ambitions Obsidian might have had, and one can well laud them for it, turn-based was an unnecessary diversion of resources that could have been funneled into the base game by improving pause and play game-play , stability and all other aspects of the core game. To the best of my knowledge, very few people of the most devoted player-base actually cared excessively for turn-based in POE, which won us all over via pause and play, not turn-based. I sincerely hope in the future, IF there is a POE future that turn-based is avoided as an unnecessary distraction from the core game.

PEN/AR mechanics wouldn't be so awful if there wasn't double inversion applied to underpenetration. It makes PEN and AR too important, especially on PotD where AR is raised through the board. You think "oh, -75% of base dmg isn't that bad" while those 75% get munched by double inversion and turn out to be a 300% malus. While that is somewhat realistic (a weapon that doesn't penetrate armor usually doesn't do much damage) it's also very frustrating in a game - if you don't know the PEN/AR mechanics in and out.

That is not what I have been suggesting (I think I clarified it further in my later post, that I don’t think ditching RTwP would be good). Rather, the turned based system well amplifies the best and worst elements of the design. Ideally I would like to see both modes at launch for PoE3, considering they both seem to rely more or less on similar ruleset. There is some things to figure out, but hopefully, if Obsidian figures how to translate PoE combat system into turn based system now, it might be much easier and cheaper to launch with both for PoE3. What I meant was, that in RTwP it is easier to ignore problems - speeding through dull encounters, completely ignoring key mechanics, playing improperly due to inability to properly manage the party and taking it for difficulty. Turned based, encourages to properly engage with mechanics but at the same time it showcases how repetitive or shallow some encounters can be, as player input is necessary. When player hasto make a move and realises there is no real decision to make, it sticks out far more in turn based mode, then in RTwP, where fast forward and auto AI will do the job. Therefore, my suggestion that designing with turn based in mind and testing from the get go, might result in better experience overall for both modes.

Interesting question Wormerine. If we go back to Arcanum we may have some elements of answer (although to be honest it seems the idea in Arcanum was catering to the turn based Fallout crowd and the real time Diablo crowd rather than BG fans). In any case Deadfire is a very interesting experiment and if they can sort things out and make it work nicely in both modes then there is no reason they can't take advantage of this expertise with the next Pillars game. Another side effect of going turn based games is that it takes away the concerns you may have about pathfinding (plus it's been mentioned before in this thread it also makes working with a controller a lot easier). Turn based games tend to be slower paced but the real problem with DIvinity Original Sin 2 doesn't have anything to do with its turn based nature, it is the simple fact that the game is based on two different types of damage and protection and that just narrows the way you're going to tackle the game. If you want to be effective you will have to choose early on between one or the other and there's no way around this (unless you drop the difficulty).

Well bye then

I could be mistaken here, but at 32% return on investment, and knowing each Fig investment unit accounted for a $1000 investment, that'd be around a $320 return so far. The last announced dividend as far as I'm aware was November, where the investors saw a $192.67 return per unit. The above quote says the most recent chart does not reflect what Deadfire's made since the release of the TB mode, so the info is up to a period earlier than January 24th. That means that between the cutoff point for the first dividend and the point which the above table reflects, there's been roughly a $127.33 increase return per unit. On the Fig charts the investor breakeven point is estimated at about 543650 units sold, which assuming is accurate and assuming the above numbers reflect the real progress up to this milestone, that would mean about 174000 units sold up to that point (or, in terms of money, about $7,828,560, which should translate to $5,479,992 for Obsidian when removing stores' share). Obviously this is all calculated by an absolute layman who has no understanding of numbers or finance whatsoever, so take all the above with several grains of salt.

Hello, Do we have an idea of the release date for POE 2? I thought I have read somewhere it was for May 2019, but can't remember or retrieve the info... Please any confirmation ? Thanks

No you can't, it seems that at present having a box element at the top means you cannot add text above it. If you cut (standard ctrl x command) so that the top element isn't a box though you can add text as normal. You then paste the cut stuff back in after the added text. It's definitely a workaround and more trouble than it should be though.

There’s really not much difference in regime change at gunpoint whether you use mercs or not. The main problem with using mercenary armies is that they’re only loyal as long as you pay them and even then, the loyalty can’t be stretched as far as true loyalty would be.

Liked most: - Forgotten Sanctum - Beast of Winter - Oathbinder Sanctum - Ashen Maw Aesthetically: - Vilario's Rest beach Least liked, if I have to pick one would be Old City. Not that I don't like it.

Yeah fable stinks but... looks like Microsoft have had a bit of a change of heart in recent years. The phantom theives must have got to them!

Humble mighty kindly refunded my yearly plan (minus the months I take advantage of) in form of wallet funds, so I got Atelier Arland trilogy of their store.

I am not so sure about this. Can you show me actual data that indicates that turn-based is more popular? Personally as a Baldur's Gate crpg-fan I don't really see that many games to choose from these days. What games are you referring to?

Thanks for the feedback. I'm collecting and will do some rework once I'm finshed with the first iterations of all passives... Next is Ranger (down below as usual): PS: classes' passives are done - exept for a few lvl-0-passives. For example there are some subclass-passives like Sharpshooter or Assassin - and the Wildstrike passives. Those will be next. Then I'll finish all the general passives (Martial Caster, Quick Summoning and so on).

Good point. I will never pretend to be a math guy, but I will object to "incorrect facts". Everything I said is still true, you've just used one very specific example which defies the standard between the two basic weapon types as a whole. What I said about this system creating the situation which you describe, where a dagger can take on a heavily armed and armored target, is still completely true, and it also still completely true that the first game less often created this situation because DR limits low damage weapons ability to impact armored targets far better than Penetration as a system ever would. That was in fact Daggers entire niche in the first game, you'd use them on low armor targets, while you'd use higher damage weapons like Greatswords against people with high DR. The whole buffing thing is an entirely different argument by the way. I don't disagree, but I don't think it has much of anything to do with the substance of the conversation we're having. You can have damage buffs just as easily as you can have penetration buffs, they have little to do with whether or not it's a bad mechanic, which I think I've provided a very compelling argument for why it absolutely is and I also think I've very aptly countered your argument for why it potentially isn't.

Loved Her Story. Especially the ballad.

But this is all just a theory, and it is based on incorrrect facts - I just did the math and Sword and dagger are comparable in damage yes - but you don't take into account the many added bonuses of the unique weapons so I can safely say it is your opinion - Modwyr for example has potential for +20 percent action speed plus +20 percent additional damage - which begins to push it past a dagger - compared with Marux Amanth the dagger you get added penetration for a small amount of time which drops off quickly but while it is active keeps the damage slightly less than Modwyr. Not to mention swords have two types of damage vs one for daggers, so again you fail to even take penetration into account as in many cases a dagger can't penetrate at all on PoTD - try attacking a boar with a dagger without buffing the penetration. And I already stated that I think needing to buff makes the combat more interesting, and that may be my opinion

Warfare for everyone when going for Physical damage did feel a bit awkward to say the least... In all fairness and by definition the original pen and paper RPGs are turn based. Good old D&D was all about turns and rounds and the order in which characters took action. Real time with pause in BG was an attempt to replicate this system and make it more dynamic and it worked but you could still set it up so that the game would pause at the end of each round. Ideally we would be getting the best of both worlds by having more choice. I can't imagine Obsidian completely ditching real time with pause for the next Pillars game but I'm definitely looking forward to playing Deadfire in turn based mode.

Well, the SC people are upset by it. Great thing about this post I saw on Reddit is that it's hard to tell if they're serious or not.

Thanks for pointing it out, I'll see if the green dragon can bring it up to the admin.

Tapering seems to be working. After a pretty mellow week of training, I had a super swim session this morning. Everything just felt good. I'm not a fast swimmer, but every once in awhile I get into a rhythm where you feel like you are almost flying through the water. It's a nice change from the typical feeling of trying not to sink to the bottom. Hopefully that means I'm ready for the swim. Hey, new emojis!

I'm secretly hoping dora is

Winter: jerky Summer: ice cream

100% agree with that. Concept of The Following sounded really neat on paper, and the buggy actually handles surprisingly well. Exploring semi-abandoned farms or hiding in ranger towers from zombies actually feels really quite special and atmospheric... At first. But eventually, driving a buggy around simply gets dull, especially given how many times we've done something like that before in other games. Parkour was far more engaging.

But the Penetration system doesn't fix that problem. Daggers just as easily have their penetration buffed over the initial break point as any other weapon, and they have very similar values of the stat as compared to other weapons anyways. In fact, when you really think about it, POE1's system actually did a better job of addressing this hypothetical because a full suit of armor was actually generally worth something in most situations. Flat DR means lower damage weapons, like daggers, have a more problematic time against higher armor targets. Penetration means that any weapon can work in any scenario as long as you have the pen to reach the break point, meaning it actually CREATES the scenario you describe. Of course, the thing is, Penetration wasn't built to do what you say it does anyways. It was part of Pillars of Eternity's wider effort to "demurk" mechanics to make them more clear. Penetration's function is certainly more clear, but that's only because it's incredibly simplified. Since there are only two break points for damage, it means damage on hit is generally very predictable, which was the intention. You've only really got three kinds of damage you can get on hit: next to no damage, normal damage, or tons of damage. This makes combat very readable and predictable, as in, it makes it easier to understand what's going on at any given moment and ascertain where the flow of combat is headed. Moreover, it makes decisions on who attacks what easier to parse. But although that's a benefit, it came at the cost of meaningful equipment choice. Armor and weapon upgrades are inherently less meaningful in a system that doesn't consistently reward statistical increases. The simplified damage profile is nice, but meaningful choices are at the core of great RPG design, and are far more important to ensure as a result. The Penetration system is fundamentally flawed because it compromises on this concept, and even the overhaul I mentioned doesn't really address the problem because it just moves to a compromise between DR and Penetration (which is still a massive improvement from both systems, but still doesn't achieve the goal the Penetration system was designed to meet, and even the base Penetration system compromises on its own ideas a bit with scaling underpenetration). What really needs to happen is that there needs to be something that can create a simplified damage profile without robbing individual point investments of meaning. I'm not sure what such a system would look like or be based upon, but I'm definitely going to brainstorm on it a bit and get back to you. I believe that there is some type of solution here. EDIT: Okay, I came up with a theoretical solution, here's my idea. Not saying it's necessarily a good one, though I think it's a nifty suggestion, and open to a lot of nuanced tweaks needed to address any potential issues that occur during testing. Also, it addresses your hypothetical scenario a heck of a lot better. - Penetration is removed as a stat. - Instead, each individual attack either with a weapon or a spell will have a value called "Attack Strength", which will be an average of the lowest and higher possible damage number of a given attack. - When that attack is used, the Attack Strength is compared against the target's Armor Rating. If the value is positive, the damage will be normal. If the value is negative, the damage will be severely reduced. - Either way, that final value will be added to the damage calculation. This value will only be added to the final damage total, after a critical hit is processed (if one occurs).

@algroth Hadn't heard of him before, but right up my ally. Choice recommendation there!

I quite enjoyed Endgame. The key is not to think too much - it's pretty inconsistant with its own rules, even though those are pretty vague. Otherwise you will just say a lot of: I tried to get into Sonic games recently as I like platformers very mucho. I tried Generations and Sonic Mania. Oh boy, I didnt' enjoy them at all.

FYI, the forum update means we can finally just copy/paste twitter links! Huzzah!

I really liked the Forgotten Sanctum dungeons. They were so interconnected with each other: doing one thing in one wing could help you in another, and the fact the levels had many entrances/exits connected to neighboring maps was really fun. I also liked the fact that your touchstone was those two wizards, it helped guide you and relay what the whole area was about narrative and theme wise. Honestly, I wish the main story path quests were similarly as robust (not as long, but similar in features). I disliked the Obsidian Isle dungeon (ironically, the entrance to the Forgotten Sanctum). I get that it's Wael and it's supposed to not make sense, but it was difficult to discern any meaning connected to hitting those switches. It was just trial and error and not that fun. I do appreciate that is was trying to be something different, though, and all the doors opened when you solved it, which was nice. I just dislike puzzles that aren't a pattern you have to figure out. There's no pay off because you figured out how to think about something differently, just a surprise that it's suddenly over.

Overall looks really nice) And here's more in detail: Whips: good, and quite suggestive Penetrating Visions: great Lingering Echoes: awesome) Iron Will: is suggestive, but feels a bit odd Psychic and Brutal Backlashes: good Hammering Thoughts: good Greater Focus and Keen Mind: give an uncomfortable vibe, but are somewhat suggestive Empty Soul: good Complete Self: good Echoing Horrors: good Souls Echo: great Shared Nightmare: great Protective Soul: looks great, but gives an impressions that it gives bonus defenses onCrit. That 25pt barrier it gives reminds me more of "Seven Men onto the Deck" chant icon. P.S. That spiral looks nice for focus symbol.

backing their first album on kickstarter right now, so listening to The Cybertronic Spree

One for @Keyrock

Grocery Street claims another hapless victim.

I will back PoE3 as long as Obsidian remains Obsidian and PoE3 remains a PoE game (Infinity-inspired, RTwP and isometric). I don't mind supporting Obsidian as a part of Microsoft or any other corporation (except, maybe, EA).

It is. And I realize it It's kinda an irrational thing. For example I love Galactic Civilizations series which is a space strategy. And I remember playing starcraft like 15 years ago just fine. But as for space/fallout RPGs... I am aware only of Fallout and Mass Effect series. And was trying to get into them at some point, but when watching gameplay streams on Twitch.. I felt an unusual for me aversion when seeing that tomboy mascot, green interface of fallout, facial expressions of ME, and shooting combat (which gave an impression that targeting is more important than whatever character building was previously done). That said I would probably give them a try, if someone told me that my weird inner resistance is completely unbased, and that these series have deep character build customization, interesting and balanced combat (were talents matter a lot, but are not broken/op), and an engaging story were protagonist has the ability to shape/change the world (and is not railroaded to a single ending). <- and that's why I am eager to try Outer Space Worlds, because so far I hope it fits these erm ~requirements~.

Obama enjoyed 8 quarters above 3%, which is why we tend to look at annual growth: 2.9% growth last year, 2.2% the year before that - same as 2015 and 2012 respectively. As for unemployment, the previous president could have made the same claim in 2016 and the current unemployment rate is continuing on a years-long linear trend (it's currently around 0.8% lower than when Trump took office). Jobs are a mixed bag as well, with Trump creating fewer in his first two years than Obama did in his last two years (and on track to go 0-4 by 2020 if projections hold). The trade deficit, meanwhile, is now the highest in U.S. history. I won't respond/debate this further since it's obviously way off-topic, but when I see pro-Trump myth-making I can't help but drop some data. Have a nice day.

Cinema in the American Bible Belt:

Good news everyone! I can still edit like a ghost. Carry on.

Ok they're drawings, not pics, but they're cute. https://www.instagram.com/kamweiatwork/ https://www.etsy.com/shop/boandfriends

Yeah it's really disappointing.

Lack of any word from Obsidian is a bummer, but if patience is what I need to get a better and less buggy turn-based mode, that's fine.

I'm also using a Pascal card (GTX 1060) (417.22 drivers), and I don't experience the problems you listed (aside from frame-rate drops in busy areas like Queen's Berth).