Leaderboard

I completed Pillars of Eternity a couple of days ago. I had such a good time, I haven't played an old school RPG for a couple of years despite it being my favorite genre and Obsidian made an absolute banger here. It had a really good story, and not having the curtain pulled back until the very end made all the reveals very impactful. I was planning to play something that's totally different between Pillars 1 & 2 so I didn't get bored with the real-time and pause genre but after the last couple of hours of PoE1 I just have to know what happens next now so I've started playing Deadfire immediately. I've basically just started, I'm about to repair the ship and leave the first island. It was a bit jarring for the first hour or so with the new UI and going from a typical medieval setting to a swashbuckling pirate adventure but it's already obvious that the quality of the writing and RPG mechanics are so much improved here. I'm very much looking forward to seeing the rest of the game.

Yes I found PoE2 improved on almost every level and PoE1 was a great game I particularly liked the open-world design of PoE2 and the whole sailing mechanics And great party members to interact with, my favourite being Xoti with her cute Southern accent

Yeah, honestly, during my first playthrough I was rather lukewarm on PoE1 - I liked it, but thought story was meandering. But, that final reveal ties things up so nicely, I ended up immediately starting 2nd playthrough, doing a very compressed playthrough reading every single ingame book I could find and backed the sequel without the hesitation. I just hope Avowed will be on the level.

"That was about as useful as a bump on the pickle". I quite like that Eora is populated by a wider range of accents. Dyrwoodians (and Readcerian's) using American accents felt appropriate considering certain similarities between once real life colony of a distant world power. While it is no PoE1 cast, I have warmed up to PoE2 companions, especially after reputation was tweaked (and even more so in my recent playthrough, where I slowed down reputation gain even further - though it did prohibit a few inter-party banter to trigger) so they won't all try to pounce on my poor Watcher as soon as they join the party.

My playthrough of KCD2 turns more and more into the REAL THIAF 4. First, I assassinated another bunch of bad guys in their camp one by one with a stab of the knife. Then I stole something valuable from the landlady of the tavern at night -- she just wouldn't give it to me. Whilst I was at it, I decided to play a prank on her and also stole all of her clothes. Now she's actually REALLY running around in her nightgown all day, barefoot serving customers. This game.

Third judge blocks Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship for kids of people in US illegally | AP News Trump says he has directed US Treasury to stop minting new pennies, citing rising cost | AP News US zinc and copper industry destined to crater, or something like that.

A woman speaking with that slow Southern drawl, especially from around Georgia, is a huge turn-on for me.

osha are on the chopping block for sure soon usa worker can enjoy unprecedented amount of factory fire

EDIT : mixed with PoE2 Basically yes, but you have to focus a bit on Crits (with weapon causing Prone or Stun, or +% Crit damages) or possibly on interrupt.

So consumer protection agency is gone now too? Man, I've never been happier to live in the EU.

Its funny you mention that because other people have said the exact same thing about Xoti, her accent was the biggest criticism about her I loved it, I cant recall another game that has that pronounced Southern accent for a character? But I like the Southern accent so it worked for me

I literally couldn't have her in my party because I found the accent too annoying.

Grinding along in Kotor 2. Being lazy and playing a melee character, is fun to wreck things, but then I forget I need to switch to my NPCs now and then and it's a struggle, hah. Still can't make the Disciple a Jedi though, annoying. Maybe I'll play a game that isn't 20 years old next.

No, just overall because it lasts a lot longer.

@thelee behold Terrorimmolationzilla (huge gifs, will prob. load forever...): against some dummies (just to show the dmg numbers) against some tigers (just to show the healing) This is a Shifter/Kind Wayfarer with 18 CON + RES and only 12 MIG. I only used Nature's Terror + Sacred Immolation mostly as spells during this test. White Flames + Inspiring Triumph is a great combo in general imo (if you are offensively capable). The added lashes provide solid melee damage, Ring of Focused Flames raises FoD and Sacred Immolation ACC, Helm of the White Void raises Nature's Terror. Scion of Flame and Heart of the Storm add some PEN, too. Could also so Bleak Walker and go for +2 PEN for FoD with Spirit of Decay, but I think the White Flames are so much more useful. Also thought about Steel Garrote, but that only profits me and I like it that White Flames could also heal my allies while I'm shifted. Edit: I just realized that I forgot to use Cat Flurry while recording, rofl...

Re: save systems - That potion-saving is a weird "manual" save option, too. It's kind of interesting as a restriction, although I'm sure eventually one could buy/find enough to manage or something. Although, just to say, someone's already make an unlimited saving mod for KCD2 - of course, it's user-risk to 100% trust it. Or I bet there's trainers to give yourself 1000 save-potions already, or 10 every play session, whatever you want haha. My issue with rpg's is if you can't have a lot of separated save slots. I like having a whole set of saves at certain junctions in games, so I can go back and try different things or solutions re: non-repeatable fun stuff, without having to replay an entire game again. Or in case one hits a game-breaking bug that a save from 4 hours ago might be needed. Certain types of games having 1 manual and one autosave is fine but giant rpgs, no thanks, I need 10 minimum. 20 preferable. Edit: not saying KCD 2 is like that, I have no idea. Just saying I don't like it when games do the 1-manual/1auto save thing is all.

Well you could do and abuse the system anway, since every time you hit Escape and exit the game makes a save. But there be mods. Unlimited Saving II at Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Nexus - Mods and community I personally don't use it, as it would make the entire crime system kinda pointless... every time you are caught with something, you simply load. But as long as people are having fun, fire away!

So, the first game I played that was made by Obsidian was Knights of the Old Republic 2. It was to be representative of the early productions of the studio. Yes, admittedly, it was rushed, technically very flawed and was clearly lacking content that was cut to make the deadline. But it was still a gem, inserting shades of grey in the normally two-toned world of the Star Wars universe, and in doing so making the world feel that much more real and worthwhile. The characters were believable; they didn’t just exist simply to further the story, but they each had their own agenda, and they were all tied to the player character in their own unique way, as was slowly revealed throughout the story. And this is what I feel Obsidian so often manages to add to a world, whether it’s an Obsidian original, or borrowed from another’s intellectual property. They take their narratives seriously; they build their worlds to be believable and they allow their characters to live their own lives and not simply be window dressing for the main characters. I remember going through Mask of the Betrayer, the Neverwinter Nights 2 DLC, for the first time and being awed by the gravity of its story. This was a story of mythological proportions, pitting you against the laws of its universe and death itself, and in a way where you were never quite sure what exactly was the right choice to make. The ending did not offer simple black and white choices, a hallmark of the sort of Obsidian games that I hold dear, and of which I cherish fond memories. I kept following Obsidian throughout the years, and each time I would look forward with anticipation to whatever the studio would come up with next. Fallout: New Vegas was a huge success, of course. And when the studio started doing Kickstarters for their own IP, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind to throw some money their way. It did not leave me disappointed, both Pillars of Eternity games wove exactly the sort of deep narrative, rich with lore and worldbuilding, that I have come to expect from the studio. Remarkably, the studio has not lost its soul throughout the years, as exemplified by the 2022 release of Pentiment. Set in the fictional town of Tassing in historical 16th century Bavaria, this game plays like a detective story. But the catch is that actual detectiving is a fool’s errand. Whoever you end up picking as the culprit, you never have enough evidence to be certain that you have picked the right perp. Not that the powers that be mind very much; they’re happy so long as someone is seen to be executed for the crimes. You could say that the true objective of Pentiment is to unravel the underlaying plot, and to eventually confront the real thread spinner that has immersed the quiet town of Tassing in a state of chaos. But I don’t think that’s quite right. For me, the real objective of the game is to, if only for a moment, make it possible for you to transport yourself to a different time and a different place, and to contemplate what life was like for people in those days, and what kind of choices they were confronted with as the last vestiges of the old were being blown away by the winds of modernity. And now, it will not be long before their next much anticipated game will come out. I will be honest, when I first heard of the studio working on what was then still considered to be the studio’s answer to Skyrim, I was sceptical. It seemed like they might be biting off more than they could chew, and I felt the sort of formula behind Skyrim didn’t seem to play to the studio's strength. But now that I’ve seen the first previews, I’m glad to see that it’s actually nothing like Skyrim. It seems smaller in scope, less focused on a large open world, and actually aiming more for a smaller, more intimate experience. A lot has been made about the combat, and luckily the latest news seems to be that there’s been a lot of improvements on that front. But what I find more interesting is that once again Avowed looks to have characters with their own voices and their own agendas. And once again there seems to be a rich story with plenty of mysteries to unravel. I honestly can’t wait, and I’ve always taken the week after the release free from work, so I can fully enjoy it without any distractions. I’m sure I’ll have a great time.

Great blog. A very interesting and fun read!! And your gaming interests very closely mirror my own! After RPGs, it's strategy games and builder/management games for me as well.

Oh, I did not know this. I just looked it up ... and yes, this is definitely a deal-breaker for me. I require saving (mostly) anytime anywhere. Thanks for pointing this out!

^ I don't know about gamers vs. non-gamers, or whether I'd even be one or the other - I suspect I'm in the middle somewhere, and mostly I'm just task/order/efficiency-obsessive - but my issue with story or "realistic" RPG (vs. fast arpg's/looters) is if I realize a NPC is trying to give me a quest, I will run far away. Hence I never get anywhere in them in the long run so what's the point. It's not just combat - although that is a large factor re: whether I might even idly/briefly check something out at all - nor does it matter to me how well anything is written, I simply do not care to listen to/quest for NPC's, go away. There is generally little within most stat/gear based RPG loops - even sandboxy ones - that give me motivation anymore, outside of simple exploration/saw all the map perhaps. I wish I could still get into them but it's not where my brain travels. Death Stranding wasn't an RPG, but its gameplay loop was so different from the norm that I've experienced (well, most of it), and in some weird way it was so meditative, that I put up with a lot of stuff I wouldn't normally - like the few weird combat sequences and those mega-cutscenes, blargh - here and there. Outside of explore/build sandboxes, I need more oddball and different like that, stuff that doesn't feel like the same thing with a different skin, yet again. Man I hope DS2 doesn't suck.

The latest Community Blog, from @JadedWolf, is now live: As you review this latest addition, I would love to hear from those who might be interested in submitting experiences about playing Avowed for the March edition: please PM if this is of interest

Git gud. /thread