phimseto

I haven't had too much chance to play, so it might be that things clarify later, but I've been a bit flustered not being able to tell if I imported the correct save (one with all the White March and Endless Paths material accounted for). Would love a book or lore entry that basically details out your history from the first game, especially the major beats like the adra dragon, who won the battle for Caed Nua, how Durgan's Battery was resolved and what you did with the Dwarven spirits, along of course with the main story beats. Also, one suggestion (though again, something may come up later in the game that I haven't seen yet) - if Durgan's Battery is open for business at the end of PoE, it would be neat to start the game with one or two White March cannons on your ship. ) History confusion/concern aside, the game is *astounding*. It already feels bigger and more epic than the first game, and the limited chance that I have had to sail and explore is scratching my Pirates! itch in a way that not even the Pirates! remake did! :-D Bravo to the entire studio!

I came across something later that tells me that might just be part of the narrative, but I'm not too much further than where you are so I can't say for certainty.

Always happy to help out our brothers and sisters in RPG arms over at Obsidian. On a personal note, the big downside to working at inXile is that I now know everything about Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep and Wasteland 3, so it makes the opportunity to play other RPGs that much more precious! Been waiting for this one for a long time. Also, I think I'm on an island somewhere in the game. Looking forward to finding myself. :-D

Anyone who can identify my username with who I am and where I work might be interested in checking out my company’s latest Twitter post. ;-)

Mikey, question: I was comfortably sitting on my completed game save until PoE2 comes out, but I'm wondering if there's any kind of carryover with items regarding Deadfire - ie, is it worth it to replay the ending so I can go purchase the Deadfire stuff from the seller so that my finished game state checks them off as being in my possession?

Hey Fluffle, So if this doesn't fund, here's my suggestion: ask Obsidian to post about this in one of their post-campaign notes, saying that if we manage to fund it by Feb 28 or March something, then they will add it in. People will still be juiced after the campaign's success so if Obsidian says, "hey, here's a chance for more if even only some of you pitch in a $1", that might help get us to 5k. My other suggestion would be to have a concrete pitch of what the Black Isle will be. Basically, close out the poll last night that our *pitch*, which Obsidian is free to ignore, will be a. a band of noble bastards that we b. help and c. can become honorary members of. I would also *strongly* favor my own suggestion that the characters be based off of veteran Black Isle talent (complete with PoE portrait versions) considering this is an ultimate easter egg. If it is Black Isle, then they deserve to be the inhabitants. I also suggest petitioning Obsidian for a variant of what I suggested earlier, too: that if we can somehow get 10k, not only will we get the pirate crew, we'll get an inn on the island. That way, if Obsidian is going to make an easter egg version of themselves, they can have even more fun with the whole setup. The alternative is to endlessly debate in the forums over it, which if the Black Isle had a dungeon, that's where the rest of us should be endlessly arguing about minutia. Close out the poll, make the decision, and then make your pitch to Obsidian about getting this thing fully-funded.

Having some issues with Kana's Second Wind chant, one that previous threads about chanter bugs doesn't seem to solve. Kana's Second Wind ability is now permanently greyed out. It worked fine for 10 levels, but recently it never enables when combat starts. Everyone else's works fine, and Kana's shows 1 use available--but I just can't click it to make it work. This problem arose simultaneously with another, where Kana stopped chanting during battle entirely. Eventually I found that his chant phrasebook had been wiped clean, and when I manually added chants back in, he started chanting again. But the Second Wind problem persists. *EDIT* Puzzled it out...all set.

Hey Fardragon and Kirk, both great points. Will add them in.

Ah yes, definitely adding in the bit about economics making sense. I got the idea that the Caed Nua numbers didn't quite crunch properly when calculating taxes and whatnot, a fact that was covered up by the fact players were usually rich with quest money.

Wait...are the Black Isle Bastards not veteran Black Isle/Obsidian devs? Kind of thought that was what we were going for - making the whole island a cameo of sorts for the Old Guard.

Yeah, the MP idea I can give or take, but it seemed like a fun way to share in the experience with friends and fellow enthusiasts without having to build in a full MP architecture so I wanted to at least put it in writing. As for the piglet, I get what you are saying but I disagree. True that it, along with Concelhaut's skull, are both easter eggs, but at the same time they're both interesting in their own right. A sequel is an opportunity to move these things from beyond easter eggs into their own unique place in the lore of the world. I already offered up some suggestions for the skull in the post, but for the piglet...well, I have ideas but I would rather let the Obsidian peeps have fun with those! And good call on upgrade variants. Will add that in.

If that is reference to what I suggested yesterday, then yes. Just to clarify: The fundraising effort here is to raise $5k for a Black Isle pirate crew to populate the already gifted Black Isle. My suggestion was to ask Obsidian to find a wealthy backer willing to plonk down 5k in matching funds for an inn for the island on the condition that we reach the funding level for the pirate crew. That kind of 2 for 1 incentive usually has a positive impact on fundraising efforts. So it's not about whether or not we "want" an inn, but rather partnering with someone who can fund it will help us fund the pirate crew. That said...*I* want an inn on the Black Isle, which was known for many things, but was *very* known for their love of drink. ) Most importantly, all of this is conditional on Obsidian featuring all of of this in one of their "last days" pushes, because I think that is the only way we raise general awareness enough to hit that figure.

Ahhh! I made that very suggestion in response to someone else wanting class specific strongholds and completely forgot about it! Great call! Added it in! Fardr I have to disagree strenuously with this. At the game's launch, the stronghold was not what it might have been, but by the time the game had content patched in and both White March expansions were out, there was some great gameplay for the location. Apart from Maerwald, the stronghold may not have had much to do with the Leaden Key narrative, but it was an important part of the main character's story: establishing your character's place in the political world, dealing with the mystery under your very feet, and reasonably allowing your character to mix with nobility and tribes because you have the strength to back it up.

I prefer the traditional 6 player party as well, but the fact is they've already done a chunk of work on the game and it's balanced for 5. It's too late to go back. They were good about soliciting insight for this game, so my only suggestion is that after PoE2 is out, petition them to return to the original party size for PoE3.

Early in the PoE2 crowdfunding campaign, I made some suggestions to Feargus that he really liked. I decided to put those on here so the devs would be able to find them easily if they wanted to use them. I also ported over a few stronghold suggestions that I made for PoE that Aarik and a few other Obsidian types liked, but couldn't implement because it was too late in the life cycle of the game. Feel free to comment and add suggestions of your own. If I like them, I'll be sure to add them into this post (with due credit to you). Stronghold: Personally, I'm hoping for something two-fold - a Tortuga-like island that is your actual base and of course your ship, both of which can be upgraded. You could use the ship upgrades to gate off areas of the map you don't want players to get to (ie stronger design upgrades to negotiate stormier areas or some such thing). The island would be where you conduct the vast majority of your traditional stronghold business. Plotlines: If you do a couple of plots akin to "The Master of Caed Nua" (and I hope you are), the only real suggestion I have is this: it was way too easy for players to finish that plotline without having mustered the cool alliances that made the final battle easier and more epic. Now that you'll be crafting out stronghold plotlines right from the start, work on building them out so players most likely will have encountered and acquired such resources so they can bring them to bear. Oh, and just to throw in a shout-out to the Black Isle fundraising effort: provided we secure the funding, have the Black Isle Bastards be one of those battle resources to call upon! Player characters: Holding court was one of the most fun, "epic"-feeling elements of PoE. It was great how your party could contribute, either in dialogue or participation, to the resolution of those interludes. If you are looking to take those encounters to the next level, consider having a couple of the party characters have parts of their quests intersect with stronghold activities like this. Sidekicks: While I get that sidekicks are not full companions nor do they need the full companion treatment, I have seen some players (and admittedly I feel likewise) clamor for something beyond how they have been initially pitched. The stronghold offers a great opportunity to meet players halfway on this. There should be at least one quest/event for each companion out there in the game world, and some of those could easily be stronghold-related, be they interested visitors, quests given by the sidekicks while at the stronghold, some kind of relationship between one of your captured prisoners and a sidekick, etc., etc. Hirelings: I was always a little disappointed that I could build an ampitheater, hire a scald, and then...nothing come of it. Think of a few ways to make the stronghold interactive, particularly with a combination of hirelings and locations within. Likewise, everyone I know who has played the game enjoyed the way you could recruit folks like Korgrak or ambassadors of allies to join the hireling crew. Keep that up. For unique characters like Korgrak, think about how they could have follow-up quests in the form of stronghold events. If you do make alliances in the game, have those ambassadors weigh in on your decisions, just as a way to keep the players on their toes. It doesn't have to impact the game at all, but it'would be very cool to see other nations or groups' representatives react to your play style. Forumite Blotter hopes we'll be able to recruit our unique Caed Nua visitors, and I do, too, but I have the sneaky suspicion that Obsidian will say that Eothas soul ate everyone. In defense of my pal Korgrak, though, I'm going to say that he missed all that because he was out on the trail with the Warden of the Wilds, so he's ready to go for PoE2. ;-) Pets: Whether just in your house or around the whole base, make it so that your excess pets can be seen wandering around. And since this is a sequel, don't be afraid to consider something unexpected and cool like "sequels" to some of these pets. What if another wizard comes looking for Concelhaut's skull? What if your baby lagufaeth has grown up a bit and can now be a hireling or plays some key role if there's a lagufaeth-related questline? And just to cement his legacy as your world's Boo, there should absolutely be some kind of wild quest or stronghold event around the Miniature Giant Space Piglet. Upgrades: Build some reactivity in the world to the upgrades, where random NPCs might remark upon new base or ship features. To reinforce what I wrote in the hirelings section, have some of these upgrades make the stronghold come alive. To use the ampitheater example, Suikoden III had a stronghold feature where you build a theater and stage plays. Two of those plays were based on events from the first two games. In the case of a game like this, you could easily port over player choices (or settings) from PoE that tell a PoE story that reflects the player's experiences. Stuff like that. Forum user DigitalCrack reminded me of an idea that others want: a class-specific add-on. My suggestion there is to choose one area of the stronghold and have any class specific design slotted in there. Also have it accompanied by a hireling (who doesn't count against the # you can hire) and have at least one quest, even if it's just a "choose your own adventure" type, associated with it. Forum user Algroth suggested the idea that some upgrades have variants that allow you to really customize the stronghold. Items: This was the part that Feargus most liked. Over the course of PoE, I acquired some legendary weapons, armors, and grimoires. However, they sat in boxes and on shelves, meaningless. Have it so that certain items add to your prestige and/or security. Make it so that possessing unique items or books might trigger quest lines (a family wants a heirloom sword you found) and stronghold events (a scholar wants to study that orb you discovered). There can be a museum where you display certain items. The library can highlight certain books that you possess. Events: While I envision the island as having 90% of stronghold-related events, you can still surprise with some ship-based ones. Perhaps a treasonous crewman can be made to walk the plank! Plus, I would be remiss if I didn't suggest that one of the events be a ghost ship encounter. Would also suggest one of the sidekicks come from it. ) One pie in the sky idea I had: if it isn't too huge an issue, you could implement a "multiplayer lite" option. Namely, have players be able to send a messenger to another player. This will trigger a unique one-off quest, again even something as simple as the Choose Your Own Adventure style, that the player receiving the messenger could resolve and send back. Nothing more than that, but a fun way to share in the journey with friends without having to build a full MP architecture. Another benefit of doing this is that it builds out the community: people would come here to look for folks to connect with the get the mission and hopefully stick around and participate. One thing referenced by others below and that I've definitely heard feedback on: people want more out of the prisoners, be they interactions in the dungeons, trials, or events. That was a popular feature especially in the early PoE build that showed how deep the stronghold might go, so it's definitely a place where you should look to expand. Forumite Kirk raises a good point that for events like attacks on the stronghold and the Battle of Yenwood, the PCs not in your party were nowhere to be found. Something to consider addressing for similar sequences in Part 2. Economics: Forumite Tanos and others have mentioned that the economics of Caed Nua were a bit wonky and that the new stronghold should have a better system, ideally with player choice and opportunity to drive economic success. Forumite Fardragon suggested that if ships are involved in the stronghold calculus, that they could be used in goods trading.

Ah, I didn't realize the isle was "in". Still would have donated if only in hopes that the money will go toward sprucing up the location. That's great news. So what we're pitching for then is the "Build a pirate party" level, still 5k. For what it's worth, I opted for "become an honorary member" and that they fight for the cause of the common people, but that will be for the devs to decide. My suggestions would be these: 1. Work with Aarik and the community team to approach the Obsidian crowdfunding team about drawing attention to this. Have it be part of their forthcoming 3mil update (ideally) or at the least part of their first "closing push" update. You'll need a refined version of everything you have in your first post, something more elevator pitch that explains what we have and what we are looking for. Make sure that it is *crystal clear* that backing this does not get you a copy of the game and that contributors still need to back the FIG. 2. Even though both pirate party slots are taken, offer this outside the box (literally in the case of the fundraising page) solution to Obsidian: ask them to find a backer willing to invest 5k for an inn. Let it be part of the pitch that if the collective efforts of backers hit the needed 5k slots, Black Isle will have its unique pirate party *and* an inn on the island for everyone to enjoy. Knowing that there's a matching angel investor backer out there is usually good motivation for everyone else to pitch in an extra $10 or $20. Ideally, this arrangement should be in place before #1, as you'd want that information to be part of the promotion. 3. Reach out to Gamebanshee for an interview. Considering this is a spiritual successor to their efforts, they should be willing to talk and alert their readers that this is a thing they can participate in. Also reach out to other, RPG specific sites like RPGCodex, who should be able to do a quick turnaround on press. 4. Like with the Ondra's Gift crowdfund, offer players a chance to be in the game. In that case, it was as a ledger of the lost found in the inn. In this case, you could have it be as something creative like captured ships crew manifests, gravestones (instead of player-written epitaphs let them choose from a prearranged list of appropriately pirate-y ends). I don't think it's pushing Obsidian to ask for these things. In fact, this kind of stuff should help with the final push. If you need to, just offer to close things off once you hit that 5k mark to direct folks back to the crowdfunding page.

Sidekicks aren't a bad idea. Suikoden 5, admittedly a different type of RPG, had them - how they'll work (presumably) is that by having them with you, they convey different bonuses. What's more, they will (also presumably) provide additional reactivity to events in the game world. My only suggestion to Obsidian would be to amend the quest issue: maybe they don't need the long dialogues that mark party characters, but once you've obtained a sidekick, there should be at least one quest out there in the world for them for you to encounter and experience with them as one of your party members. For some of them, where appropriate, there should be roles in the stronghold events, however they manifest this go-around.

Hey all, just wanted to add my two cents here: if you played the lighthouse quest in Ondra's Gift in the first Pillars of Eternity, then you have a fundraiser like this to thank. The game website Gamebanshee had a bunch of people team up to buy one of the backer inns. In working with Obsidian on this, that turned into the haunted lighthouse and the inn that followed. This is absolutely worth backing b/c Obsidian won't just give you the isle, they'll work to give it that extra special something to stand out. Is there any way to get this featured on the crowdfunding page? B/c if even a fraction of the backers gave $10-$20, this would fund.

What others have said: you can pick up four party NPCs on the way to Caed Nua (Eder, Aloth, Durance, and Kana). You can then hire one more generic hero at the Gilded Vale inn. Or, if you really don't want any of the player NPCs, just hire out the full contingent of five generic heroes. You want at least one martial/tank, one cleric, and one person who is good at disarming traps. Like others have said, level 3 is a bit low to be hitting Caed Nua at, especially with a less than full party. Combat is the least interesting part of a RPG to me, but even I had to learn the tricks and techniques in order to succeed in PoE. The surest way of making combat easier is taking the time to seek out and do the game's various side quests - garner the XP, items, and levels that will make combats you hit as easy as they can be by the time that you reach them. And yeah, play on an easier difficulty too until you have more comfort with how the different characters work and have developed some tactics that you like to use.

Hey man, just downloading the latest patch now but wanted to thank you and the whole crew for the work you are putting in to get the game in tip-top shape. I know how difficult QA work is, so thanks and continued good luck!

Hey, if you're writing from 5/10/16, can you tell me how Captain America: Civil War was? I'm hoping that it was worth the wait!

Sounds good. Thanks for the head's up. Just want to be ready to go whenever the next patch goes live. I've been having withdrawal shakes since I've had to stop playing! :-D

Hey Aarik, quickly following up on the above question: based on your current understanding of the next patch, do you have a rough idea which save I'd be starting from?

Had a very tiny 610kb Steam update happen for Pillars of Eternity. Anyone know what that is? Seems rather small for a patch.

Whoops. Belatedly seeing this. Unfortunately the nature of my saves and when I did all the book storage is such that I can not check.