desel

Checked on Amazon the very moment it read "CD PROJEKT RED presents" on the screen during the conference and, fortunately the PC edition was still up for grabs by then. Won't be opened of course (at least not right away) so I had to get a digital copy on top of that. Also to be not at the mercy of the postal service and to be able to start playing immediately. Reportedly the PC CE will be available for the Americas and Canada after all, and when that's happening Europe, Asia and other regions might get restocks too.

Just had to make another exception to the 'No preorder'-rule for Cyberpunk 2077. Bought it on gog.com as well, to cut out the middle man and give all of the $66 to CDProjektRED.

CD Project Red? CD Projekt RED. Sorry, had to. As for Bloodlines 2 - I'm not big on pre-ordering myself, but for this I just had to make an exception. Same will be done with Cyberpunk 2077 the very moment pre-orders go live. Also: Available on ALL the distribution platforms (including the despicable one) which on its own can't be praised enough. Paradox fortunately also seems not as easily bribed as other certain publishers, so fingers crossed it stays that way. $90 for the Blood Moon Edition is "a bit" steep but then again absolutely worth it if it's guaranteed DRM-free by pre-purchasing on GOG.

On Path of the Damned this should definitely be disabled by default. There really is no point to issue another warning like that when there already is one (in boldface) at the start of the game, stating that Path of the Damned "is only intended for players who want the most punishing encounters!". Which virtually makes -every- encounter there is a potentially punishing encounter. No need to mark them again as "too hard for your current level" or stick a silly skull icon next to it so that you don't forget what you have been signed up for when choosing Path of the Damned difficulty. Really should be an option to tick or untick in the "Difficulty" settings or as suggested included with the other optional punitive gameplay features under Expert Mode. As one of those "less is more" UI/HUD purists I'd appreciate the option to hide the floating numbers as well.

Cheers for starting the topic and sharing your impressions on the matter, probably couldn't have summarized my opinion any better. My thoughts exactly. Constitution would be another factor in the likeliness of a character receiving a wound/getting injured (higher constitution -> less likely to receive a wound/getting injured) and would also determine the max amount of wounds/injuries a character can accumulate before succumbing to death (higher constitution -> higher amount of wounds/injuries to sustain). Much better than just setting the max amount to a fix number across-the-board for all characters and classes. Currently it really feels like they just lazily copy-pasted the whole thing from Tyranny.

Just a friendly reminder that the upcoming beta is likely the last chance to speak up and have the current "just health" implementation removed and the split health/stamina system reinstated again. Considering that "just health" is quite the step back (a.k.a. decline) from the additional layer of tactical depth health/stamina is able to provide this really should be a no-brainer. Removing a perfectly working system just because "some people" didn't get it right away (despite the tutorial, loading screen hints and obvious green bars and red portrait fills) was, is and always will be bullsh!t in any case and should never be tolerated.

Soundtrack for Brigador by Makeup and Vanity Set: https://makeupandvanityset.bandcamp.com/album/brigador-vol-i https://makeupandvanityset.bandcamp.com/album/brigador-uplink-ep https://makeupandvanityset.bandcamp.com/album/brigador-vol-ii https://makeupandvanityset.bandcamp.com/album/brigador-up-armored-ep Those two preview tracks from Dusk's soundtrack by Andrew Hulshult are pretty legit too:

Apologies if already mentioned somewhere else around here, but the results for Larian's RPG survey are finally in, and can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9gunuuzETdsV3V2akxOY1hjR1U/view Multiplayer features, especially Co-op and PvP took quite a beating, and rightfully so if I may say.

Probably mentioned already, but any kind of cRPG (old school isometric or third/first person) set in the Dune'verse could be really cool, just for the highly unique and quite different setting alone. Something story-driven set in Warhammer: 40K would be a real challenge, however I think it could be done by putting the player in the shoes or boots rather, of one of the more prominent and central, already established characters like Gideon Ravenor or Gregor Eisenhorn, for example. With Tim and Leonard around - another World of Darkness-related RPG, preferably with focus on Vampire: The Masquerade, obviously. A proper cRPG set in the Lovecraft'verse would be very nice too.

One of the problems that's elegantly solved by splitting a character's vitality into stamina and health. Nobody's questioning stamina automatically refilling after combat. That's also why splitting vitality into stamina and health makes for the arguably best abstraction of how it works in real life. I too feel that in terms of mechanics it's something that makes POE stand out from the rest and therefore should be embraced instead of simplified. Dumbing things down never goes down well (see Tyranny or Dragon Age 2). Fingers crossed then.

I thought this was already introduced with TWM and called "Story Time"? Anyway - no problem here as far as I'm concerned. People having issues with the frequency, duration or the amount of incapacitating effects might just have set the difficulty too high is all.

Or a (Götz von Berlichingen-style) prosthetic hand or hook made of Obsidian. If chopping off one of your lower arms and replacing it with the prosthesis (via animancy) would not be an option(?) you could at least use it for some mean backhands.

No, and it doesn't need to. In fact it would be pretty stupid if Obsidian turned their back on 2.5D isometric, PC-exclusive cRPGs when it's much easier to compete in that segment, especially with an already established and acclaimed franchise like POE. The 3D open-world, multiplatform ARPG subgenre is way too over-saturated and you would have some serious competition to go up against. The sales for POE and TWM 1+2 show that there's still a big enough audience that enjoys these kind of deep and complex experiences you can sink in just as much hours as you would in something like TW3. Tamper with and try to improve for the worse on the classic IE-formula too much and you'll get something like Tyranny, which - surprise surprise - doesn't exactly sit well with the cRPG audience, going by the underwhelming sales figures. You could probably interpret the funding for Deadfire surpassing POE's already as a sign for the franchise growing. Not at the "through the roof" rate like it was in case of the Witcher, but slow and steady.

Better?: http://webm.land/media/Nzbn.webm

Sawyer just put up some footage of the in progress view cones (or rather fields of view) and the hearing radii(?) in action: https://twitter.com/jesawyer/status/840606283166175233

Lower the difficulty and/or check "No Knockout Injuries" in the difficulty settings. Sorted. As a proponent of the way health and stamina management was (imho) brilliantly handled in POE I also fail to understand whenever Sawyer brings up the argument that some people had a hard time understanding how it works. Can it get any more clearer than this?: Or this?: All they have to do for POE2 is to come up with an even more idiot-proof way of communicating what that green bar represents or why characters aren't dying despite their portraits filling up with red and just stick with the long-term health and short-term stamina mechanic from POE.

Me three.

Speaking of - I also recall Sawyer mentioning that it's now Perception (for real this time) and not the Mechanics skill which gets checked vs. detecting hidden things in the environment. A high level in Mechanics, if there still is a Mechanics skill in Deadfire, should now only help with picking locks, disarming traps and knowing or figuring out how to operate contraptions and apparatuses like you expect it would. Like with any other visual helper features - as long as it's optional and can be toggled off, sure, why not. What a game. With a surprising (for the genre) attention to story and characters. I really dig the concept of the somewhat deranged teenage street urchin, talking to her weapon and tools as if they were people ("Wake up little knife", "Wake up little tune", etc).

The Bethesdian/Biowarian Blowhards

This has been already confirmed to be not the case anymore. Being in scouting mode does not confer a bonus to detecting hidden stuff. Strongly disagree, it would make things a lot MORE fun, especially for rogues. Time of day, for instance does play a role in Deadfire. Every NPC has a schedule they'll follow and you can use that to your advantage. If I remember correctly they even confirmed pickpocketing.

Type: A cross between 3/4 Junk and 1/4 Brig/Brigantine, mainly because Junks are criminally underrepresented in any kind of media these days. Name: "The Heaving Harlot" Fate: The "inhabited soul" one. The soul of an actual harlot, complete with matching attitude, personality and behaviour (lots of cursing, sexual innuendos and overall potty mouth). Would repeatedly inject its/her comments during dialogue with the crew, without being asked of course. Being told to shut up would only encourage more comments.

Forgot where I saw or heard it - maybe somewhere in the Fig comments or during one of the Q&As? - but it's actually not the time being slowed down during combat (= Slow Motion Mode in POE with slower animations and all that) but the overall pace that has been stretched a little. Including slightly longer recovery periods for both the PC's and the opposing party, as well as longer (not slower) animation cycles. Switching from this "Slow" Mode to Normal (=Fast Mode) would just speed up things like recovery and animations again but not time itself, iirc.

Ouch... Adam Brennecke just said the backer portal (and PayPal backing) will probably go up towards the end of the campaign or right after the campaign has ended.

Wednesday isn't over just yet, still a few hours left. 4-5 pm EST is usually the time for updates, so sit tight.

In case there'd be a little side quest, a bounty or something associated with the "Ebon Atoll" I'd strongly suggest "... from/of the Black Lagoon" for the name of the quest/bounty.