Nukenin

They probably should have placed culture selection before attribute assignment. Thankfully, it's easy to click on the stat block in the center and make adjustments after you've settled on your culture (or just eventually memorize what culture boosts what and preemptively adjust to compensate).

I'm occupying myself with frivolities like solo trial of iron runs and such. My most recent game featured the "Thirteens", a wood elf cipher and his entourage of five identical wood elf rogues (all with 13/13/13/13/13/13, in case you're wondering why the name). Eventually to be armed with all guns ("Thirteens Gun Choir") but right now the cipher has an arbalest (and a certain pistol that needs to be "reappointed", as it were), one rogue has a fine pistol, and the other rogues all have warbows. Alas, it's a modicum of tedium when you have five of the same class with the same abilities. But it's fun to goof around with different things before committing to the long haul. The patch will serve as a convenient demarcation.

I untoggled the option to show unqualified dialogue choices pretty early on. I don't want to see things I want to say but can't. Hopefully in future playthroughs I'll enjoy some diversity in what's available to me. Of more concern to me is knowing precisely what disposition or reputation will be affected, so in my serious playthroughs I'll turn that option on. For immersive fun it's Expert Mode all the way, and everything gets slammed off. :D

I don't have a problem with the commingled dialogue and descriptive text (not even really the pacing of the voice, though there may be exceptions in my future). But different people read things differently, so I can understand how it would be discomfiting. Since a lack of full VO is a gamebreaker for some, I will break out a Commodore 64 running S.A.M. (Software Automatic Mouth) and laboriously and meticulously craft digitized enunciations of each and every line of dialogue. Since that will take a while, what I'm actually going to do is wait until time travel is invented, then jump back in time to 1982, hand my past self a transcript of all the game's dialogue, and tell him to get cracking with his Commodore 64 and S.A.M. and a cassette tape recorder… *** Hey! Nukenin here. Okay, minor snafu. Time travel was invented, I was able to jump back to 1982, and hand it off to my past self. I figured three years would be enough, so I jumped forward to 1985, and my bastidge past self had taken the transcript and turned it into a major Broadway musical. I was like, "fine, whatever, I'll just use the cast recording" but remember when I typed "musical"? EVERYTHING WAS A GOSH-DARNED SONG! With, like, singing. But it was "soon to be a major motion picture" starring Rutger Hauer and Matthew Broderick, and I was like, "fine, whatever, I'll just lift the VO from the movie dialogue". But when I was at the film studio trying to break into the sound editor's office, I got arrested and thrown into jail for a few months. Then I realized Pillars of Eternity the movie had replaced Ladyhawke in this timeline. So it had a really not-that-great soundtrack with electric guitars and stuff, and I'd pretty much doomed myself to not getting hold of the master recordings to try to get clean dialogue. Once I got out of jail I was able to borrow my alternate timeline self's identity and buy a Commodore Amiga (always wanted one!) and then I learned that Lord British himself had put Ultima on hiatus to create Pillars of Eternity, so I bought a copy. Three things: OMG the cloth map. No voice. Turn-based combat and the mechanics were more in line with Ultima (no surprise) Anyway, I took a few months to beat the game, but then I learned that my alternate timeline self had made off with my time machine and gone into this timeline's future and stolen the code and resources for Pillars of Eternity II and III. And from some other timeline he got hold of the Dreamcast III. (OMG what a sweet machine, not something we'd see in this timeline at all, and rather weird seeing it run on old-style CRT monitors, like 640x480 tops.) So for the DC3 they were going to revisit Pillars of Eternity (the first one) and it was going to have full voice, so I squealed a bit, but then learned that in this timeline, the de facto Pillars of Eternity was Lord British's take, and they were basically mining the two sequels for lore and story and then mashing it all together to produce entirely different takes on it all. I never got to see it, though, because my alternate timeline self had also absconded with some drone technology and advanced A.I. research, and the bastidge turned that whole timeline into a SkyNet-infested hell, skulls and all. I was able to escape using some found time traveling tech cribbed from whatever had been stolen from me, but it didn't let that beautiful cloth map come back with me. In fact, I was stark nekked. And then I found my old laptop, sitting here on April 1, open to this post composition window. I figure, hey, get this weirdness off my chest, folks will assume it's a joke, and hey, I tried to get full V.O. I wonder what happened to my immediate past self from this timeline? Time travel is hard. p.s. the ending for Pillars of Eternity II is kinda weak, PoE III redeems it somewhat, but then, well, I really shouldn't spoil what happens next…

Is there any sax in the game? Is there enough sax in the game? Some people really like to have a lot of sax. I can't get enough sax, myself. But it has to be appropriate sax. Not just random sax thrown in for the sake of sax. It has to fit the moment. I'm hoping someone comes out with good sax mods. (With apologies.)

Software engineering, like proofreading (cf. strategy guide backer credits), is apparently a lost and/or dying art. Some of PoE's bugs should not have happened, period. Game mechanic/balance issues, story issues, bizarro tech configurations that just could not be anticipated/tested, Unity engine issues outside Obsidian's purview, sure. Those will happen and just may not be identifiable/discoverable without the broader test base of a release distribution. The double-click bug?* That should have never happened in the first place, much less made it into the released product. This was a (software) design/planning/architecture failure. Don't excuse it, don't defend it. Alas, it's just something we have to live with. I don't think Obsidian will scrap the whole thing and reimplement from scratch, after all. If you disagree with me, fine, you win. I'm resigned to a world that accepts "if we fix it, we have to test and make sure we didn't break anything else" as a thing that is said at all levels and scopes. *staggers off his soapbox and flees the thread* *just one example out of a number greater than one

You know the Guans Pledge is pure PTW right? ... You sell it to Haegan for 1537 copper along with the 750c dissapointer, and by the time you get to the first town you can buy 5 level 2 adventurers. Why, I could roll out a gun choir of rogues!

I like Adventurer too, because I am one. It's like Obsidian knew me. *sniff!*

I believe you can just drag the Area loot slider all the way to the right until it says "Eora". Then you need only loot once. I could be wrong.

A future update to PoE will add much-demanded socks to the game. This is all well and good, but I fear the developers will take the easy route and implement only one sock slot, to hold a matched pair of socks. This is twisted and ugly. Mismatched socks are a classic fantasy Renaissance staple and to have PoE reject this and force us into some matched socks dream world cyberpunk utopia is an absolutely bizarre and reprehensible design decision. This is 2015 Obsidian! We need two or even three sock slots, for maximal sock configuration. And honestly, if this is not extended to a full-fledged sock set system, it may destroy the effectiveness and utility of Wizards in the game. Wizards need to mix and match socks fast, Wizards need to match and mix socks hard, and single sock style better not be left in the dust. Not everyone can afford two socks in every pair. I've datamined some of the unique sock pairs and they are lacking beyond not having single equivalents. Abyson's Pleated Returning Iron Longstockings clip weirdly on Aumauan feet and have fire and shock resistances that really make the third part of that cave unbearably trivial. Fire-Outlined Orlan Legwarming Slipsocks have a Stealth bonus penalty that makes no sense, and accumulate odors that attract entirely the wrong kind of ogre. If this is not addressed promptly I shall be forced into an awkward predicament and nobody wants that. Especially when Wizards are in play.

Hitting TaB is very retro. Nowadays people just hit Coke Zero or Pepsi Max or some such. It's not cheating unless you're a pro gamer going against a Diet Dew sponsorship contract or some such, especially while livestreaming your Let's Play Pillars of Eternity—Five Chanters and a Priest rehearsal. Hit all the TaB you want within moderation. The game don't care. Drink responsibly. Don't forget to vote. Just say no to mugs, unless they are mugs of TaB.

If I'm not dimension doorin' everywhere my immersion is already shot.

When you roll Rogue, pick Rauatai as your culture. You will start with brigandine armor and a greatsword. That's how you roll. Max might and dex, maybe toss a bit into perception or whatever. Or all 13s and thumb your nose at mins and maxes. Blinding Strike to start, backstab at level 2. Points in stealth and mechanics (if you want to be the total scout experience).

If you are a game developer for company X, you want company Y to make good games because you want to experience games for fun too, not just work. I dare say a good chunk of those (remaining) at BioWare are or once were fans of the Infinity Engine games (or once worked on them!) and welcome the opportunity to experience a quality offering along the same lines as a bog-standard player rather than someone who's got to deal with the double-click bug et al.

High INT makes for extended knockdown duration.

Just plug "red velvet cookies" into your interwebz search engine of choice and disappear into your very own world of wonder and delight. You might even find recipes!

Go rogue. Or barbarian. Or monk. Or cipher. Or wizard. Or druid. Or fighter. Or ranger. Or chanter. Or paladin. Or priest. Not necessarily in that order. The game doesn't support multiclassing, otherwise I'd suggest that ol' staple, the barbarian/chanter/cipher/druid/fighter/monk/paladin/priest/ranger/rogue/wizard (B/Ch/Ci/D/F/M/Pa/Pr/Ra/Ro/W for short). Max charisma.

DA pulled off without the resting mechanics, because in that game spells and abilities don't need to replenished by resting and in that game recovering health was no problem. And DA games are easy as a pie even on the hardest difficulty. DA series stands against all that is considered holy and sacred in D&D games. I see DA series as an attempt to streamline RPGs into Action games with minor or semi-RPG elements, since it is NOT developed by the Bioware that brought us great RPGs like BG and KOTOR, but instead most of the DA team comes from the background of console action games such as Gears of Wars and Halo. And I dont want to play a medieval themed Gears of War game where my character gains a new ability every level. I want to play a real RPG like this game 'Pillars of Eternity'. The lead programmer on Dragon Age: Origins worked on both Baldur's Gate (design credit) and Knights of the Old Republic (programmer credit). There are other examples to discover when investigating the credits of all three games to demonstrate that DA:O was indeed developed by the very same BioWare that brought us BG and KotOR. I am sure you were thinking of/referring to Dragon Age II onward, but you were replying to a comment that only referred to Dragon Age: Origins.

Are you… disappointed? If so… MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Just put 13s in everything. All 13s, no matter the class, nothing more, nothing less. Above average!

I've definitely not been able to purchase them but perhaps I've not rechecked looted containers from which they've "disappeared" (I usually use the "loot all" button to Stash if I'm not specifically looting a specific item to a specific character in a specific fashion, specifically [i may be remiss on the specifics here]). If the containers still "gray out" even with contents remaining that could be the basis of my own misperception. I'd just turn this into "free camp!" if I had any benefit to doing so, then (re)loot the camp supply.

Kickstarter rewards shouldn't be in-game horn-tootings like this, interfering with the immersion for all. They should be things like hearing your name read off a backer list by someone chasing ducks, or perhaps an intimate photo booth session with the dev of your choice, or a night of animancy complete with trepanning. Naming inns or taverns I could accept, with the proviso that the name is subject to Obsidian's editorial oversight and must fit within the setting. On this smaller, less numerous scale, I could also accept contributed NPCs if it involved a modicum of back-and-forth so that Obsidian ensured everything meshed well with the existing lore and whatnot. The memorials and soulbits should've been shuffled off into a secret backer kowtow level. But what's done is done. to those who get a kick out of seeing their bit in game, and bonus points to those whose bits are actually providing some modicum of entertainment to others.

Rods and scepters aren't as clumsy as pistols and blunderbusses. More elegant weapons, more civilized age, blah blah blah… *dives into an adra pillar*

Once I feel comfortable returning to a "real" game of PoE (with a party and letting myself save/load games etc), I am leaning toward a melee (two-handed) cipher as my first stab (with an estoc, I hope!) at the proper game. Or maybe a savannah folk barbarian from the White that Wends named Taffer who teams up with a coastal or meadow folk rogue from Old Vailia calling himself The Beige Skuldr. They in turn occasionally deal with two death godlike wizards, Ninjaboy of the Seven Ties and Shillbot of the Tideless Phase. Good adventures to be had!

It gives you a challenge and an opportunity to come back when you're more powerful and extract revenge. Perhaps also a warm bear rug for your stronghold! Wait, are you telling me I should've kept the bear hide? Also, @FalloutBoy—you actually do not get the quest in question (har!) until you've dispatched the bear and interacted with wot's beyond it. So "the quest told me to do it!" isn't actually the case here.