algroth

Don't know TheSixthAxis' reputation as such, but apparently their criticisms are levelled more at console experience and tech issues.

Since I view respec as a game aspect and not a game-world aspect, I don't really need an in-game explanation for it. However the plot of Deadfire itself - that Eothas somehow soul sucks your skills away so that you're a level one newbie pretty much establishes that even the physical skills that are grown through training are still somehow filtered through the soul in the gameworld, so the argument that animancy might be a way to game-world respec still seems to fit to my mind. That said, given that animancy is such a dicey proposition, it seems like there should be an element of risk if you're applying a real game-world condition to respec. I'm not sure how Eothas' powers work in relation to our character yet. I understand that he takes our soul or something of the sort but I'm not sure if that ties in to our loss of skills specifically, or how it does (could be that he physically drains us too). Regardless I am in agreement that this is mostly a game-world aspect, which is why I'm okay with merchants doing it instead of animancers: usually animancers will not offer you any services, so to attach a game-related service to them would probably make this aspect a lot more intrusive to the game's diegesis than it already may be. I think it's fine as it is, really.

I think the idea is that all the skill and powers and stuff is driven by a character's soul, therefore respec in a gameworld sense could/would require a tweak of the soul to accomplish. Perhaps, but I'm not convinced myself. For starters, animancy is still a science in its fledgling states so I don't think they'd know how to "rewire" a soul, or if it even could be done. Chances are a Watcher would be able to do that to a much better degree. But this aside, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation to a character having a set of skills that doesn't need to involve any sort of soul-theory, and I think that doing so would just muddy the waters as to what animancy's field is, how souls work and so on. I think this should be kept as a matter independent to that of animancy.

I'm not entirely sure why it's an animancer's work to do this. Animancers study matters of the soul, this seems like something that should relate more to training camps and the likes. I reckon that having inns be in charge of it was more for reason of practicality, to avoid unnecessary dialogues and travel and so on. Animancy I think could be given a practical purpose more in terms of selling artifacts and components related to their studies, but I don't see this as falling within their field any more than football does a physicist's.

In two weeks or so, from my understanding.

Yeah, Sagani was great. And on top of that sacrificing her to the blood pool probably means you'll never get to experience her awesome, awesome sidequest's resolution.

Hmmm... nothing that I didn't already know. Mostly, I'm worried that there will be too little combat. I mean, I know the trend is "no trashmobs!" but doesn't it get to a point where you have too little combat? Depends on the quality of the other aspects of the game, really. With Planescape: Torment I can't say I really missed the combat, and that's all because it was so bloody engrossing in all other areas; but if the writing starts lacking in this new game, I can see how it may eventually become a chore.

The Guardian's review... https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/28/planescape-torment-tides-of-numenera-review-adventure

Agreed with all but one thing: I think Pallegina and Edér are most definitely lookers. That said I do agree that each character should perhaps have their own boundaries for 'romance' as it'll allow a less generalized and pandering approach to romantic interactions and the likes - doesn't mean that your character won't be able to create a deep bond with the others that doesn't involve any sexual interest or physical attraction if the conditions aren't met either.

Edér's not a complicated character, but he's still a damn likeable and interesting one. There's a reason to why he's pretty much become the face for Pillars of Eternity. Cadegund's a nice character concept but let's be honest, she was scrapped the first time around and probably for good reason. I don't think she'd make a bad sidekick but that's likely the extent to which her involvement is worth pushing.

An ooze who likes booze! A booze ooze? I mean, so long as you keep Edér away from it...

I'm half-expecting Obsidian to troll us hard and have the baby dying as a consequence to Caed Nua's destruction, leaving us as bereaved parents through the rest of the game.

Considering it's David Ayer and based on a script by Max Landis, might also, erm... Not end well.

Can we have a mecha plot at the very least? We already have Eyeless anyway. Can we tell Aloth to get in the ****ing Eva already?

That didn't really keep from the companions in Planescape: Torment being some of the most memorable characters in video-game history. True, but that game had exotic and wacky characters around every corner, so the oddness was more normalized because the spectrum of oddness was insanely wide. If in Pillars 2 we are around mostly aumaua and humans and we don't get the chance to pickup at least a couple of them as eager adventurers (sidekicks), the world may end up feeling a bit contrived. Yeah, it's why I mentioned these were pretty different contexts. In my experience weirdness attracts weirdness so perhaps it's not too strange to see a party of weird characters in an otherwise "normal" world, and so long as the rest of the game keeps these encounters in check and acknowledges the uniqueness of our situation I wouldn't have a problem with it. Just my thoughts, though.

That didn't really keep the companions in Planescape: Torment from being some of the most memorable characters in video-game history. Different context and all though. All the same I'm not sure we've had many weird races: two godlikes and a pale elf, plus whatever the Watcher would be. All the same I think that'd be more a thing to watch out for in the whole context of the game than the party more specifically, and the way the world would react to there being stranger races amidst your companions.

I'd love to see a Vithrack companion as well, though to my understanding the reason they didn't go for the weirder races was due to the extra work it'd take to try and fit custom clothing into a character that is structured very differently to the playable races, and I'd doubt they'd go through all that just to add a sidekick opposed to a full-fledged companion. I doubt we'll see it lest it becomes a stretch-goal in and of itself. Also I think a stranger race wouldn't really work as a sidekick as it'd likely involve a lot of reactivity from the rest of the world to be made to work. A vithrack companion, for example, would likely be feared or hated by most it meets with, and would not really be able to access an inn without some odd looks and the occasional "we don't take too kindly to your type around here" sort of remark. The companion would otherwise be made to jar a little with the culture so far depicted in-game. The idea of having Cadegund I also like quite a bit.

Tomorrow, I think.

M. Night Shyamalan wrote the Oscars... https://twitter.com/MNightShyamalan/status/836084032798670848

Hey, you're right! The Washington Post *is* fake news.