Eisenheinrich

Funny, I always thought I was the only one who prefered the IWD-Games over BG. Besides the ridiculous writing, the bland story and the puppet-companions, IWD captured the feeling of oldschool dungeoneering far better than BG. I have fond memories of slaughtering my way through all 5 levels of the Dragon's Eye or the purge of the Severed Hand. Ah, the bloodshed.

Well, see Obsidian? THAT's what happens If you tease the community early on for the expansion and fail to deliver in time! Now you got at least 5 pages of boring talk about the stronghold and their mechanics in a thread wich sole purpose should be the discussion 'bout news! NEWS! Speaking for myself, I have no strong feelings for the stronghold, neither bad nor good. It's there, I rebuilt the wardens lodge for bounty quests and then some stuff so my tax income is higher than my loss to bandits, and that's about it. Plus: The tune is one of the best in the whole game.

Is this a bug or somewhat? When I arrive in Dyrford and talk to the innkeeper, I can mention an argument between him and Lord Harond (?). But I never saw this argument. I don't know from where I get this dialouge-option. Is there some cut-scene missing?

That's not entirely accurate. Some options will not appear if CHA is too low, such as Viconia asking to join your party. Male, fetch me something to eat!

Dungeon Building 101 with Ash Sevilla and Tim Schwalk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfJjKsYvQZA "We're listening to your guys" So, there's a chance we get a tile by tile editor later on? That's what they're saying? But, I have to admit, this looks interesting enough. What are your thoughts? MOBA or fully fleshed out dungeon-complex?

At 3 pm est there will be a twitch stream adressing "Dungeon Building 101".

Damn, I'll respec the s*** our of this game!

Baldur's Gate 2 tends to get a lot of praise, but I always preferred Baldur's Gate in every way except mechanically. And this includes the music. Damn I love that tune. That said, I do really like the music for PoE, for the most part, but I can agree that it doesn't exactly get you stoked. Design in BG tends to be rather bland. The City of Baldurs Gate was a inconsistend and thoughtless mess. "Hey guys, let's throw all things medieval and ancient in the mix!" Bland, maybe, but I kinda liked that. It felt more down to earth and not so out there. I think the "mess" of Baldur's Gate was actually deliberate, a messy big city as a contrast to the very "normal" towns you'd been in previous. And it was still endlessly better than the mess that was Athkatla. Athkatla had a nice byzantine touch to it, which I dug more than your typical medieval-town share. Baldurs Gate looked inconsistent for that matter. I'd say, Trademeet in BG II is my favourite town-design in any isometric RPG, that was just a beautiful place and very different. Plus Kuldahar in IWD, 'cause I can't think of anything cooler than a town settled between the roots of a giant oak. As for PoE, there're very good designs in terms of cities and towns. I dug Ondra's Gift (really caputured that feel of a slum-harbor-district). Heritage Hill was nice with that huge tower and Brackenburry had a nice feel to it (could've been bigger tho). Wasn't so fond of First Fires and Copperlane District, they both looked empty and lifeless and not well planned. Especially First Fires, which it's huge buildinds crammed in the corners. Meh.

... is about the map of Heritage Hill. After finishing the main quest, I hear, that Heritage Hill is restored. But after venturing there, it's the old map, even with the fog of war in the corners I couldn't reach. Wasn't there a patch to handle this issue? The other one is quest-related: So, after getting to know Lumdalas shemes in Act II, you meet Kendal in her house in Copperlane. You talk to him and than have the option to kill him. I did that. Later on, in the secret theater in the catacombs, Lumdala tells me, she talked to Kendal rigth before. But he's dead. I killed him. This is not possible in any way. Hope, those two weren't mentioned before!

BTW, I think, the credit music of PoE shoud've been the opening theme and vice versa!

Heres an article and ~9 minute video on the DM mode. My understanding is that the DM can construct the entire dungeon from scratch. The Deluxe version of the game includes an additional tile set and Beholder (?) monsters. Unfortunatly not. The already stated in the SCL-Community that you can't build a dungeon tile by tile. They're pregenerated and randomized. Only things customable are size and some interior stuff like chests, traps and props. Not near the Aurora toolset. LOL You don't believe? Look it up ... it's not made for world-building a la NWN but for quick sessions player vs. DM. It really is more of a MOBA. Well, I am not laughing at you. I am laughing at their, how to put it mildly, not so bright decision about the core of the multiplayer aspect of the game... Well, since MOBAs are pretty popular, I think the game will do fairly well. It's just not aimed at the D&D-NWN-Core Audience the early marketing was aimed for. It's a sham package. They said early on one can create his/Her favourite D&D-Module and play it with friends. No we know this was nothing than a marketing-fraud aming at the NWN-Crowd. I hate gaming industy. Kept my hopes for the singleplayer campaign, but since it's only two months till release and we know nothing about story (It's set on the Sword Coast and you're hunted by assassins) I quenched my hopes for an epic tale in the vein of BG and NWN. Clearly, SP was NOT their main concern while developing this game.

Heres an article and ~9 minute video on the DM mode. My understanding is that the DM can construct the entire dungeon from scratch. The Deluxe version of the game includes an additional tile set and Beholder (?) monsters. Unfortunatly not. The already stated in the SCL-Community that you can't build a dungeon tile by tile. They're pregenerated and randomized. Only things customable are size and some interior stuff like chests, traps and props. Not near the Aurora toolset. LOL You don't believe? Look it up ... it's not made for world-building a la NWN but for quick sessions player vs. DM. It really is more of a MOBA.

Heres an article and ~9 minute video on the DM mode. My understanding is that the DM can construct the entire dungeon from scratch. The Deluxe version of the game includes an additional tile set and Beholder (?) monsters. Unfortunatly not. The already stated in the SCL-Community that you can't build a dungeon tile by tile. They're pregenerated and randomized. Only things customable are size and some interior stuff like chests, traps and props. Not near the Aurora toolset.

Can't say I'm to excited for this after watching the stuff they showed on the E3. I hoped SCL to be some sort of spiritual succesor to the NWN-Saga, instead it looks more and more like a MOBA with D&D-References. Randomized Dungeons in the "toolset", a gaming system that contradicts proper Dungeonmastering (it's player vs. DM) and a Solo-Campain nobody knows s*** about. Rules will be based on 5e, but only the absolute core-rules. No multiclassing, only 4 classes and 5 races, no subraces and so on ... Meh ... what a missed chance.

If this is to happen during springtime, there's a chance we get a red March. Red March! Got it? Ba-dum ts.

It's all a matter of personal taste, of course. I do like this theme, but I also commend Justin Bell for having the 'courage' to have tried a different route than the usual 'epic, military' themes that most RPGs tend to go for these days. PoE's music, I think, suits the content of the game really well. It's a bit less 'in your face', and a bit more mysterious. Because of that I am finding it quite enjoyable to listen to repeatedly. Just my 2ç Having heard the PoE-Soundtrack via my hi-fi system, I can only agree. Justin Bell's approach is much more somber and eerie than the epic stomp of BG and BG II. Adds a lot to the atmosphere that is quite unique to the setting of Eora. That plus the dark and sometimes washed-out colors. Due to that, Eora feels very different from the Forgotten Realms, and that's a plus in my book. When I see what an abombination the Realms have become in the recent Neverwinter-MMO, I only can applaude to most of the desing decisions made by Obsidian. Best gaming soundtrack remains to be the one of Neverwinter Nighs. That's my alltime-favourite.

Baldur's Gate 2 tends to get a lot of praise, but I always preferred Baldur's Gate in every way except mechanically. And this includes the music. Damn I love that tune. That said, I do really like the music for PoE, for the most part, but I can agree that it doesn't exactly get you stoked. Design in BG tends to be rather bland. The City of Baldurs Gate was a inconsistend and thoughtless mess. "Hey guys, let's throw all things medieval and ancient in the mix!"

Putin will invade germany in that case. Given the desolate state of our military, the russian army will be at the Rhine in no time. But maybe it's not for the worst.

*bump* So, any news? What's "soon"?

To be honest, I enjoyed the game more in my 2nd playthrough. During the first attempt, I estimated PoE's setting to be some sort of Forgotten Realms 2.0. Stupid, I know, but I was put off due to the strange elements I was confronted with: Soulstorms, gunpowder, shark-people, animancy ... The whole sould aspect was new to me, as was the renaissance-approach they chose for the setting. There are some weak designs, mainly First Fires and Copperlane in Defiance Bay, but most of the game looks beautiful. Congrats to the team, which designed the engwithian art style, what a thing of beauty. Needles to say, I got acustommed to the style of the setting during my playthrough, and when I did another one, I was fully immersed in the world of the game and could appreciate all the atmosphere. Which is a bit more gloomy and daunting than BG I + II. Enjoy the game!

In this case, I'm already sharpening my pitchfork.

Profit maximization. Yo luckmann, that would be the case, if they'll sell both parts as different products. But, as far as we know, it's "pay once, get both", and that's okay with me. stay fresh Eisenheinrich

Thx guys, wasn't aware you're already on it!

I noticed this during my second playthrough: Effects like burning lash and corrosive lash and such are shown only directly in the game, but not in the UI of the Inventory screen. Is this intended or a bug, that will get fixed? I don't remember those missing effects from my first playthrough. It get's even more wierd, because weapons which come with an effect from the get-go a correctly depicted on the inventory screen (St. Garams Spark) ... Can someone confirm this?

The entire world needs some German wrath. LO AND BEHOLD! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXyDfbzyOcM