Aron Times

On my first run, I named my last ship, a junk, the "Herald of Berath." On my second and current run, I named my current ship, a junk, the "Harold of Borat." Jagshemash! Hide the pain, Harold!

Icewind Dale series was very linear, though. This game is way closer to Baldur's Gate 1 and it's open world gameplay. The main path in BG1 was actually very short, but there were a lot of places to explore to make up for it. Also, a lot of stuff in the main path was optional and there were multiple ways to go about it. Also, BG1 actually had very little to do with the overall plot of the Baldur's Gate series. BG1: Open world game where you eventually run into the main plot. TotSC: Not a full game, the equivalent of a DLC that adds several quests to the base game. BG2: Not-so-open world game which is actually a huge side quest with little to do with the plot. ToB: An actual full game. The most linear one in the series and the only one which is fully involved in the main plot.

Sir, the term is FABULOUS.

It's definitely cool lore either way! It might come up in game 3. City of gold is something that I'd guess is Engwithin, but I feel like we've heard a similar reference before? I can't remember what the other line was because it's been a while. That makes a lot of sense, actually. I wonder if we'll ever visit those places in future games/DLCs.

There are three crumbling realms you can visit prior to the dragon fight, but the pale elf paladin mentioned two others that were disintegrated. One was a city of gold and the other... I can't remember because I didn't take a screenshot. I normally play with the Steam overlay on and couldn't remember in time what the screenshot hotkey in PoE 2 was without the overlay. Is this just a throwaway line or will those two crumbled realms eventually be relevant? I get the feeling that the city of gold is Engwith itself, while the other one might be a reference to Rekke's people. What do you think?

Steam says the update is 2.9 GB but I have 5.79 GB free on my SSD. However, Steam refuses to download the update because it thinks I don't have enough disk space. Is there any way to fix this? Can I download the update manually? Edit: I accidentally mouseovered the Steam download text and it shows 11.6 GB. I assume that the download is only 2.9 GB but the game needs 11.6 GB to move things around. I will try to clear up around 11.6 GB to see if it will work. Edit 2: It is downloading now. I was right; the file is only 2.9 GB but the game needs 11.6 GB to patch the game by moving files around.

For one, I would like a mod to skip the damned tutorial level. It's like Chateau Irenicus all over again, except that there's no Dungeon Begone mod to let you skip the entire thing. I don't know why Obsidian loves these frustratingly long and mandatory early levels instead of opening up the game world sooner.

The tutorial is painfully long, and while it is one of the best tutorials I have ever experienced in a video game, being forced to play it over and over again has ruined all of its appeal to me. Heck, while we're at it, can we have something like Baldur's Gate where you have a choice where to start the adventure? 1. Baldur's Gate 1 2. Baldur's Gate 1: Siege of Dragonspear 3. Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn 4. Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal Imagine having to replay BG1 just to get to SoD and then to SoA and then to ToB. The game would've been really boring and repetitive. For PoE, I want these checkpoints: 1. After reaching Gilded Vale. 2. After Maerwald dies. 3. After Duc Aevar dies. 4. After reaching Twin Elms. These correspond to major plot points in the game, and I really, really hate having to play through everything just to get to the later parts.

This is an Obsidian game. Expect wonderful storytelling, roleplaying, characterization, and core gameplay, but also horrible technical issues. Kind of like Bethesda. Obsdian Fortress: Crashing is Fun. Disclaimer: I haven't experienced any crashes post-WM2, just game-breaking bugs like in that video I posted yesterday.

Stop it, you filthy cur. I'm trying to find a legitimate excuse to hate Obsidian.

I must be a masochist. Another Triple Crown run lost to bugs.

I didn't go for Triple Crown Solo. I went for Triple Crown (not solo). Triple Crown = Path of the Damned, Expert Mode, Trial of Iron Triple Crown Solo = Path of the Damned, Expert Mode, Trial of Iron, Solo I have no problem with micromanagement. In fact, my favorite hero in DotA 2 is Chen, the most micro-heavy hero. I have a problem with how swingy the combat in PoE is, especially how rough the flow of battle goes. I actually didn't die in combat, because I'm pretty good at PoE combat. My game was also still active when I uninstalled. I just lost 1/4 of my current gameplay due to technical issues. Well even on Iron Man runs it's a pretty good idea for the game to overwrite the last save it's made every now and again in case it crashed Thank you. I have no problem getting TPK'd because of my stupidity or random chance, as long as it's within the game. I have a big problem with losing hours of my time because of technical issues. Besides, backing up one's ToI save is basically like having a checkpoint system, except that it goes far beyond that and actually goes against the spirit of ToI (since you have restore at will, instead of just at major points within the game).

Against my better judgment, I started a new run. Triple Crown. I just lost my entire fourth session because PoE went FUBAR, and now I have a huge chunk of gameplay missing. If this game had a checkpoint system, I could've salvaged my run. Good thing it happened in the last quarter of Act 1. Good thing it happened early so I don't have to waste my time on this game. Seriously, Obsidian, you guys are awesome at storytelling, but your programming and gameplay and quality of life features leave much to be desired. I'm going to be blunt here: the only reason I play PoE (or any Obsidian game) is because of its superb storytelling and roleplaying. Its combat system is very clunky and its optimization is terrible. It seems to me that every Obsidian game I play makes me smile and laugh and cry at the storytelling, but also makes me rage at the technical issues. I'm going to uninstall the game and come back within a few months. I know you guys can do better. I believe in you. Just not right now.

Hello there... It's been a while since I last played PoE, and I haven't found the motivation to start another run. Basically, I was doing a Let's Play with post commentary, but my hard drive had to be reformatted and I lost all of my gameplay footage. I don't want to slog through the linear grind that is Act 1 all over again. Actually, that's what I came here to talk about. The thing I really, really dislike about PoE is the bottleneck at the Stronghold. Basically, you have to go through the Stronghold and complete its main quest in order to unlock the rest of the game, which then gives you a lot more freedom to explore. The fact that you are forced to go through the tutorial (with no way to skip cutscenes), and then go through Gilded Vale (with no way to skip cutscenes), and then go through the Stronghold (with no way to skip or delay this quest) really kills a lot of the replay value of PoE. I love the game but the initial slog through Act 1 is so boring. I've played it numerous times because I've tried several Triple Crown runs (Trial of Iron, Expert Mode, Path of the Damned, but not solo), and I died quite a few times to random hiccups in the game. Now, I'd be okay with such bottlenecks as the tutorial and the Stronghold if the next game had a checkpoint system that allowed you to create a new character and start from that chapter. It'd be similar to how Neverwinter Nights 1 Acts were actually separate modules, and you could start in a later act by loading the specific module (you'd need a character creator to get a character of the right level, but the ability to skip the beginning was a big deal). This would also be similar to how Baldur's Gate was three games: BG1, SoA, and ToB. You could start with the first game, or the second game, or the third game, and you could create a level-appropriate character to play with. You'd get locked out of a lot of long-running quests like the pantaloons quest, but the sheer convenience made the game a lot less tedious. Thank you for your time.

I was initially excited about the addition of multiclass feats, thinking that I'd be able to do D&D 4e style multiclassing, but was disappointed to learn that you could only take one multiclass feat per class. In D&D 4e, you could take four feats: 1. Multiclass Feat - One free skill + an at-will power 1/encounter or an encounter power 1/day from your second class. 2. Encounter Power Swap - Trade one of your class's encounter powers for an encounter power of your second class. 3. Utility Power Swap - Ditto for utility powers. 4. Daily Power Swap - DItto for daily powers. PoE multiclassing stops at the initial feat. Now, the right multiclass feat is pretty good compared to other feats, especially when you run out of stuff to take, but PoE generally rewards specialization over versatility. In fact, it heavily punishes versatility outside of the main character, and only when it comes to dialogue options. In combat, it's much better to sink all of your stats into a few key ability scores and focus your build on doing one thing well instead of several things not so well. They also don't seem to add any extra dialogue options, so taking a multiclass feat in the hopes of unlocking class-specific dialogue options is a waste of time. Also, I play exclusively on Path of the Damned or Triple Crown (PotD, ToI, and Expert Mode), so I really cannot waste feats for flavor, especially if they don't even add any extra dialogue options. So, is there a point to them? Or are they simply there for flavor?

Hey folks, I was thinking about how PoE is different from other RPGs in that you can freely backtrack and finish earlier areas that you skipped. During my previous run, I went back to Act 1 to deal with a minor bad guy after learning a very significant secret late in Act 2. The weird thing is that the dialogue in this quest line assumes that I hadn't discovered the abovementioned secret yet, and I don't get to confirm a wizard NPCs suspicions about the current plot (which are accurate, even if she doesn't know the details). Also, my character talks as if he isn't a very experienced with his unique abilities yet, even though I've had two acts to get used to my special abilities. Anyway, the fact that all of this data is still available even very late into the game suggests to me that the late game performance issues might be caused by the game keeping track of too much data. Could the solution to performance be to make the game more linear, i.e to split the different acts into separate modules? It's how it was done in Neverwinter Nights 1, where each chapter of the OC, as well as SoU and HotU were entirely self-contained modules. They were, in essence, separate games that your character gets imported to. In PoE, there are four (five if you include the tutorial) plot bottlenecks. The references are intentionally vague to avoid spoilers: 0. Tutorial Campfire 1. Haunted Castle 2. Baldur's Gate 3. Trial of the Century 4. Leap of Faith I'm thinking that maybe, after you clear the Haunted Castle, or maybe when you reach Baldur's Gate (since it takes very little time to reach Baldur's Gate after leaving the Haunted Castle), that your character is transferred to another module. Basically, you start over with a new game that starts at Baldur's Gate, as opposed to the first module which started at the campfire. All the irrelevant data left over from the previous act is gone. You'll still be able to backtrack to the first village, but it's not the same village from the previous module, and there might be changes based on your actions or lack thereof. Alternatively, you can't backtrack, and each module is self-contained. This alternative might result in better performance in longer games as opposed to the first option. What do you think?

It should be renamed the Not So Final Journal of Jonas.

So I was wondering what everyone wants in the expansion pertaining to story and continuity. I'd personally prefer a different story from PoE with the events of PoE being ambiguous or contradictory. Ambiguity and the lack of consensus are major plot points in PoE, and that's all I'll say so as not to break the no spoilers rule. I feel that the story of the Watcher is pretty much over, and it is time for him/her to retire or semi-retire and tend to his/her stronghold. Having an entirely different story means that Obsidian doesn't have to increase the level cap in order to provide more hours of entertainment. Very few CRPGs handle high levels in a believable way, with most of them simply scaling random mooks into UBERMENSCHEN just so they stand a chance against you. This is what ruined my suspension of disbelief in Throne of Bhaal and Mask of the Betrayer, with their unrealistically large numbers of supermen (and superwomen) throwing their lives away trying to kill me when they could've been out conquering their respective regions in Faerun. MotB is also particularly ridiculous with the sheer amount of powerful magic items and gold you can find in random containers. Also, an entirely different story allows new players to make a fresh start without feeling obligated to finish the PoE OC to optimize their expansion playthroughts. I hated this in the Baldur's Gate series because all it did was allow you to play a more powerful character in BG2 with very little effect on the overall story. Anyway, I will be buying the expansions no matter what. I just hope that this post will nudge development and storytelling in my direction. Examples: Baldur's Gate = One continuous story + one true canon. No matter what you did in BG1, you were at least moderately heroic in BG2 and you traveled with Imoen, Khalid, Jaheira, Minsc, and Dynaheir. Also, your choices in BG2 don't really matter in ToB, as the ultimate ending is based mostly on your dialogue with the Solar. You do get plenty of opportunity to lampshade an apparently dead character inexplicably showing up: "(NPC) aren't you supposed to be dead?" They usually reply that they got raised by their allies. It makes sense because it's a common temple service throughout the series. Icewind Dale = Related stories + one true canon. IWD1 and IWD2 are actually one continuous story, but with the latter taking place about 20 years after its predecessor and with different sets of protagonists. The details of the IWD1 party are ambiguous other than them being moderately heroic. Knights of the Old Republic = Related stories + variable canon. At several points in KotoR 2, you can decide how KotoR 1 ended through dialogue, such as determining whether Revan was a man or a woman, or whether he was Light or Dark in the end.

Isn't it pronounced "throat-warbler mangrove?" Please don't ban me.

Respeccing exists in real life. Most people just don't consciously choose to do it. How many of you knew how to play a musical instrument when you were younger, only to forget how to do it because you hadn't done it in years or even decades? I used to be really good at the piano when I was 10, but I hadn't played in almost 20 years. On the other hand, I had no interest in computers (or technology) back then, but I'm an avid gamer and a techie nowadays. From a video game perspective, I respecced my points in Music to Technology, or in PoE terms, I swapped points from Lore and put them into Mechanics, or however you want to represent piano-playing skills. For an example of a forced and conscious respec, many left-handed children in extremely conservative countries (including the USA back in the day) are forced to become right-handed or risk getting beaten or worse. I have a cousin who was born left-handed but is now (in her mid-30s) fully right-handed because she got beaten each time she wrote left handed as a child.

Defiance Bay -> Ondra's Gift -> Salty Mast Talk to the drunk on the first floor. He'll give you a ring. Go to the second floor and if you have the ring, a previously locked door will open and allow you to buy backer-made items.

I lost a Triple Crown party because I couldn't see my party's positioning because of opaque trees (I thought my off-tank chanter was in front when he was actually in the back), and also because I didn't know I had someone selected when I tried to click another party member, so that character ate 19384783934784937493784 disengagement attacks and got gibbed instantly.

It's written that way because there's a hidden code inside. I don't want to spoil it for you, so I'll just leave it at that. OMG I just unlocked Sheng Long!

What is this Spanish that you speak of? It's obviously Vailian.

Here's the road to enlightenment, OP: