Boeroer

This, for once, was an exceptionally good post.

I read the interview, and by no (I mean really zilch) means one can deduct that Baldur's Gate 3 "is guaranteed to be TB [turn based]." So, making that "absolutely not RTwP/guaranteed TB" statement is only a shot in the dark. So, so dark... and the mist... oh, the mist. And the blindfold, too! However, one interesting thing in the interview is this: "'Systemic' is the in-house word. If it’s not systemic, it doesn’t go in." This is kind of the opposite of the Baldur's Gate mechanics. The older versions of D&D weren't very systemic. Actually they are quite terrible in that regard (if you want to read a very anti-systemic P&P ruleset you should buy the earlier version of the Dark Eye rulesets, ouf!). Still most people liked them (I guess). PoE was more systemic than the old IE games but less systemic than Deadfire - which made a huge step forward in that regard. Then D:OS I and II are more systemic than Deadfire. I personally am a big fan of a thorough systemic approach - no woder if one considers my professional background as a software engineer. But that's not all that matters in a game (else I would prefer D:OS over PoE which is not the case). I don't know how systemic D&D 5th edition is (never read it) but I wonder if a highly systemic approach might clash with the (formerly) bitty D&D ruleset(s) and the fond memories players might have. A complaint one can often read here in the forums (about PoEI and II) is the systemic attribute system. MIG does always raise dmg and healing no matter if it's spell or sword, INT does always enlarge your AoE no matter spell or Carnage and so on. Also the fact that spellcasting follows the same rules as attacking with weapons and so on and so forth. They wish for special rules so their XY character feels special. Some players think that channeling a spell through the same attack resolution as a attack from a sword is "unrealistic" (really) or it does break their immersion. They want special cases and solutions for everything. That might be understandable - but that is the opposite of a systemic approach. Because all those special cases and rules will make it impossible to add new stuff in a way that it all works neatly together. It's a software developer's nightmare. You may be able to create more "cool" or "realistic" effects, but at the same time you are making a big mess that's harder to maintain, to fix and to test while it also makes developing additions like DLCs a lot harder as well as introducing new developers to the team. Vincke also said that they"'ve taken a lot of creative risks, more than people will expect." I wonder if those creative risks and a very systemic BG3 will clash hard with D&D grognards' nostalgia. And if they do clash, if that will even have any noticable impact on the sales numbers - since D:OS I and II are very different from D&D but have way more players than there are nostalgia-clinging D&D grognards.

Mods don't disable achievements (Or Berath's Blessings) in Deadfire. Use of the console also doesn't per se. Only thing that disables BBs is if you type "iroll20s" into the console to unlock cheats. Don't remember how it was with mods and PoE1 since I didn't use any.

Also source requested.

They stack.

I didn't have any issues on Path of the Damned. But I am a pedantic micromamanger and synergy exploiter, so... Somebody enlighten me: what does "It's just an opinion and as such is like a butthole." translate to?

One explanation could be that they are doing a Pillars game, but's it's not an isometric, party based RTwP-game that PoE3 would be. Maybe a "Skyrim in Eora", maybe a "Battle Brothers of the Eastern Reach" - who knows. It is known that Feargus wanted to do a fantasy RPG in the style of Skyrim for some time now. Also, such a game would be better for consoles than PoE/Deadfire were. And given that Obsidian is now producing for Microsoft and Greenberg is the XBox guy... Just wild guessing though. I would welcome that. I liked Skyrim a lot (on my departed PS4).

I personally would't care about Deadfire if I wouldn't have liked PoE much. But that's just me - people are different.

The last information was "End of 2019". Also it's Versus Evil who do the console port. So... probably the wrong forum to rant about it.

I can only speak for myself: although you can consider me a "hardcore" PoE player I don't care about official achievements at all. Doesn't proof anything, but you can take it as a counterexample to the potentially upcoming theory that it's the hardcore players who care most about achievements.

Good that you tell her... one year after she posted. 😄

I guess so. For me, who didn't grow up with (A)D&D this is a non-issue (I mean getting a CRPG that is not like D&D). But even I am biased by my past. As I already told once or twice I like the Blackguard games. Not really because they are so good but because I played the Dark Eye P&P for many years (RPG system and world which Blackguards is based on) - and the nostalgia is strong with this one. I also liked Legend of Grimrock a lot - just because we used to play Eye of the Beholder like madmen when we where kids. So if PoE disppointed D&D grognards I can understand why they wouldn't give Deadfire a chance and at the same time why Kingmaker sold comparably well.

They did. LOL. But apparently it was too late. As you may have noticed not that many Obsidianites are posting here. If they don't feel comfortable in their own company's forum it's the fault of the (former) forum members, not the fault of the moderators. You'll have no problems communicating with them on Twitter (if you're being decent of course).

I read that Josh is not writing here anymore because there used to be times when things got unreasonably ugly. Since then he seems to prefer forums/platforms that are not that easily accessed by badly brought up gamer mobs. Besides Twitter... Since then the forums did change (as far as I can tell) and is much more friendly, but it seems that horse is out the barn.

Pirate setting was my guess as well (right from the start). But I didn't actually read that many complaints about it.

It really must be a mix of several reasons - since everybody has their own theory... Don't forget though that this special Microsoft/Xbox boss dude (whose name I forgot) said something about a Pillars game in the making (during a short interview). Whenever I was prodding some Obsi-guys onTwitter about that there either was awkward silence or something along the lines of "Ehh hush!". So maybe not a PoE3 but some other game in the Pillars universe? Let's hope...

Again: the publisher is doing the console ports, not Obsidian. Therefore it would be better to ask Versus Evil those questions. The last info on this was "End of 2019".

Yes. Assassin can still stack Backstab + Assassinate with an arquebus. You just have to come close (2 meters or nearer). No problem with Smoke Veil or Shadowing Beyond: since arquebuses have no recovery you can turn invisible right after the initial shot from stealth.

If you take Benevolent Soul the Breastplate will be obtainable from Mahari's Metalworks.

Royally

If you mean fantasy CRPGs then there's more. If you mean isometric, party based fantasy cRPGs then yes. That's pretty much it (if you don't like tha whole Avernum stuff).

Just pick the first option (benevolent soul).

I think he meant financially successful - because Kingmaker's budget was smaller it didn't have to sell that many copies to break even and then make a profit. I wonder if the backer rewards (copy of the game) count towards sales numbers?

He called it "Quicksand" several times: Something you keep throwing money and resources at and it just swallows it to no effect.

Yes - although Cipher/Rogue doesn't really have that many engagement+ abilities. Most notable is Persistent Distraction. You would focus more on that with an Unbroken/Trickster I think.