algroth

> Her appearance is maybe the worst. Wow, so ugly. Are you for real. She's as cute as a button. That's a fan edit. This is the actual Ydwin portrait:

As I mentioned, a greater challenge makes for a more involving experience as it requires a more active involvement from the player and thus it urges him to invest more (which, in my experience at least, also translates to more empathetic/emotional investment). And again, people find the challenge fun. It's up to each person separately, some enjoy the greater challenge whereas others do not.

So, I think I'm a bit late to the party but I'll just offer my own personal experience on the matter of difficulty and playing Pillars... So, far as I'm concerned I tend to be pretty competitive and usually I find that part of me to shine through brighter in a PvP context than it does in a single-player/PvE environment. With regards to Pillars, I don't personally play the game with the express desire for a challenge or competition, I do so more for the story, the themes, and the interactive/immersive experience with a particular setting and so on. However, at the same time I also believe that a tough challenge can greatly enhance a player's emotional investment with a given story or conflict, by sheer means of forcing the player to share the effort needed to overcome a particular obstacle alongside his character which I think more often than not creates an inherent empathetic link between both; likewise an antagonist who actually takes effort in beating is made all the more menacing in turn, and it helps to lend more perspective on the threat and so on. Obviously experiences vary from player to player as well as playthrough to playthrough - but to give an example, the first time I played through White March I probably didn't have as good an understanding of the game's mechanics and in turn my builds were, to put it lightly, sub-optimal. In response, in a "classic" playthrough I still found myself beaten to a pulp six times over by the first first couple of Eyeless I ran across. But that was great. By the time I beat them I felt an immediate sense of relief, followed only by a greater sense of dread when I learned there were actually *hundreds* of them I'd have to face. That, considering how tough only two of them had been, was daunting, and I could see how such an army would pose a monumental threat to the entire region. That threat made them stick in my mind as a realy commanding antagonist and only added to the stakes of the entire game. My most recent playthrough was nowhere near as memorable in this respect - I played in "veteran" mode this time around, but because I understood the mechanics a lot better this time around I was easily able to defeat the Eyeless on my first try, and in turn the threat was heavily diminished, the rest of the story not as impactful as it had previously been (if still hugely enjoyable, don't get me wrong). At the same time I see a problem with too much of a challenge where the game stops being fun and becomes frustrating instead, where the mechanics begin to take the centre stage over story and setting and thus the game is made more alienating as a consequence. The games I play more competitively I certainly do not feel particularly immersed by - they are less like an artform to me and more like sport. But what is challenging and demanding, and what is overly challenging and demanding, and what simply isn't, is all up to each player as well - I struggled on my first playthrough of Pillars on classic mode but saw people who on their first run made veteran seem like a walk on a park. In the end everyone has different levels which they deem a healthy or acceptable challenge, and what they deem too easy, and even if they aren't specifically tryharding, maybe "veteran" mode *is* too easy for them based on their past experience and Path of the Damned is just what they need. I'm not convinced about it yet myself but I can see how it's something I might wish to try in the future, maybe for the DLC run. And of course not everyone has to play Deadfire for the same reasons I want to play it - I have a friend who's something of an achievements whore and goes into every game on the hardest difficulty required to unlock all achievements, and who only reconsiders following his direct experience with that mode. So I reckon there's any number of reasons to why one might want to play the game on Path of the Damned right away, I don't see why one would necessarily be lying or showing off about it.

I really like the companions on Pillars in general, myself, and do think the game would miss a huge element of its appeal if they were not there. Reservations of a couple of them aside, anyhow.

The point that I was getting to, and I think Achilles too, is that one aspect doesn't exclude the other, while an unusual point of origin might present a hook or premise or starting point with which to delve into deeper and more interesting themes. To use the example of Leyra as proposed by the OP, if Leyra had become a recruitable companion and we had followed her story of vengeance against the Leaden Key for what they did to her through the Engwithan device, that could have led to interesting themes regarding, for example, the effects of a thirst for vengeance so powerful it basically overrides the soul's capacity to be anything *but* a vengeful spirit, or the transformation of souls and their effects on the individuals they were as they become something no longer 'kith' (again, spirits, fampyrs, etc. to give examples - why would they change so utterly from their former selves to their undead self and so on), or on the other hand use her as a means of challenging and questioning the assumptions of a particular kind of monster or monsters in general and so on. Just throwing random ideas in the air, but what I'm saying is, same as a conventional character can be made unconventional through the approach one takes with them, an author can pick up on what makes a character unconventional to tell an equally unconventional story and delve into rarely explored themes and ideas. When it comes to Pillars I do feel the game does a fairly poor job at making the strange or unconventional appear as strange or unconventional to that setting. Godlikes are meant to be rare, as are pale elves if I'm not mistaken - yet the interactions for either are very few and far between, and so they feel 'normalized'. The Devil of Caroc is otherwise the only character who seems to present an unconventional premise from the perspective of her "race" or "species" or whatever, and she *is* initially interesting (or so I find her to be) - but what seems to hold some initial promise is hardly explored and resolved all too soon, with the rest of the game having hardly any interactions with her to really explore those initial ideas. As a matter of fact, aside from some remarks with regards to her feeling trapped and detached in this construct's body of hers, the game hardly focuses on these aspects which make her premise interesting and instead do so on the revenge plot which is ultimately as bog-standard as ever. But that's an issue with the writing, really, not with the premise. To use a counter-example of a game that comes to mind which has characters of both conventional *and* unconventional races/species/origins, there's Dragon Age: Origins and its expansion. Far as I'm concerned, most characters in that saga are dull as dishwater, no matter how snappy or lively the likes of Alistair or Morrigan try to be - yet those that do seem to stick to my mind as being particularly interesting and well-developed characters are precisely the likes of Shale, Justice, and to a lesser extent Sten. They all relate to very interesting inversions or themes relating to their specific existences. Justice, for example, is made fascinating by his conflict as a literal embodiment of an ideal slowly building a more multifaceted identity of its own by exposure to life in a more material world. Sten's entire dilemma as a character stems from the clash of cultures with the rest of Ferelden. Shale basically fulfills the promise mentioned earlier with regards to the Devil. Those are interesting themes that give these characters a lot more to chew on than any other companion in that game. So ultimately it's really about the approach. And yes, also about whether the game is ready to invest time into reacting to that character, and whether the character and their themes and conflicts and story and so on justify the work necessary to build that reactivity and the necessary resources. If it's half-assed then the character won't have much of interest beyong being an unconventional-looking companion, but really, there's even worse than can be said about a regular companion whose approach is just as footy.

The whole topic is clearly about " A Cean Gŵla as a joinable companion " and we are talking about PoE. Instead, there is a whole discussion about PST, NWN2 and that other game that i don't even know about. This is clearly out of topic. If you want to compare 2 or more different games or other things, please do that in the right topic. Because here we are talking about something else. And if this topic is of no interest, well then better say nothing and let it be forgotten instead of using it to talk about other topics. It's simple. We were discussing the subject in relation to the value of unconventional companions. Perhaps the discussion of the finer details regarding themes and so on were veering slightly off-topic, but you can expect a bit of that in any topic and it surely didn't lead to a tangent less productive or relevant to the thread than this one you've just opened up. It's best to let conversations go to the tangents they naturally lead to, and eventually they'll come back to the main topic.

I submit every companion in Mask of the Betrayer as a counterpoint. Or Planescape: Torment for that matter. I never finished PS:T either.

I submit every companion in Mask of the Betrayer as a counterpoint.People seem to really like Mask of the Betrayer for some reason. I am thinking I might have to give it another go, as aside of something with souleating which discouraged resting I remember it being fairly forgettable. I might have never gotten over the cliffhanger at the end of NWN2, though.Its fairly brutal on builds that require rest spamming, but is actually not difficult to get through if you’re judicious. The writing is top notch though. If NWN2 is a meditation on heroism, MotB is the same thing on the topic of love. I'd say it's Mask of the Betrayer that's the meditation on heroism instead, whereas Neverwinter Nights 2 is simply the traditional hero's journey. The whole talk of masks and assumed positions and reccuring histories in Mask seems to be directly commenting on the monomyth from a more detached perspective. Overall it's a great game, quite underrated.It definitely follows that arc, but pay closer attention to the characters and I think you might agree with me. Same thing with Mask. Safiya = mother/daughter love, Gann = mother/son & romantic love, the “witches” = nationalism (the love of country), Okku = love of family/tradition, and so on. You can do the same thing with 2 and heroism In all frankness I don't think Neverwinter Nights 2 does much to develop any theme, but that's personally how I found it. With regards to Mask I do have to play it again as I don't have it completely in mind right now, but I feel that love acts mostly as a secondary theme than as a primary one - to me the aspects relating to destiny, the monomyth and the hero's role are much more crucial to the central narrative ultimately, which revolves around the protagonist's fulfillment of his role as the Betrayer and as part of the crusade against the Wall of the Faithless and so on. But I haven't played it in years and certainly ought to revise it.

I submit every companion in Mask of the Betrayer as a counterpoint.People seem to really like Mask of the Betrayer for some reason. I am thinking I might have to give it another go, as aside of something with souleating which discouraged resting I remember it being fairly forgettable. I might have never gotten over the cliffhanger at the end of NWN2, though.Its fairly brutal on builds that require rest spamming, but is actually not difficult to get through if you’re judicious. The writing is top notch though. If NWN2 is a meditation on heroism, MotB is the same thing on the topic of love. I'd say it's Mask of the Betrayer that's the meditation on heroism instead, whereas Neverwinter Nights 2 is simply the traditional hero's journey. The whole talk of masks and assumed positions and reccuring histories in Mask seems to be directly commenting on the monomyth from a more detached perspective. Overall it's a great game, quite underrated.

I submit every companion in Mask of the Betrayer as a counterpoint. Or Planescape: Torment for that matter.

I am between classic and veteran myself. I might try starting off with veteran and seeing how that looks, considering my most recent Pillars and Tyranny games in the same have been pretty easy. I'll look into a Path of the Damned on a second playthrough, if I do one.

I wouldn't mind seeing more companions of special/unique races (we do have Tekehu this time around who's akin to that), but I think this was already asked in a previous stream and the answer was, from what I recall, that most non-kith creatures are built in pretty different rigs to kith and so they'd require a complete overhaul of armour and items and animations and so on specifically for them, which therefore implies a lot more work for a very specific feature. The other option here would be to have a companion of a special race with no equippable items or visible items but I guess that was viewed as a bit of a half-measure (i.e. everyone likes to be able to customize their party and when you remove that choice the "unique" character doesn't feel as cool anymore and so on). With regards to the "paying more", the question is also: is this a commonly requested or sought after feature, or something you rarely see mentioned? I have not seen anyone as of yet asking for a caen gwla companion, but I have seen a few requests for a vithrack companion, or xaurip or ogre even. Would people be interested in a caen gwla companion...? Maybe the idea would be intriguing, but would it warrant a higher price tag? On my behalf and, I suspect, that of most, certainly not. So by saying "I'd be willing to pay more", do you mean "I'd be willing to put the money it takes to make this a reality on the table", which could well be in the six digit figures, or do you mean "I'd be willing to make the game more expensive", in which case ask *everyone else* to dip into this feature personal to you? Probably the best thing to do here, if you are really passionate about this idea, is to try and mod it yourself, but as with the former option above, and just about every option too, it's much easier said than done. But I digress. To go back to the main topic, on a personal level I would love to see a more unique companion and I have chimed in here or there about the desire for a vithrack companion (being the race that interested me most as companion material in the first game). I also think the devs are fairly aware of this desire for "weirder" companions and I think Tekehu is something of a response to it (we'll see). So I reckon they are looking into something like this and are open to including them... It just has to be viable from a production standpoint and of widespread interest for the community.

Quite, the good old days were really nice (it's the present times that I'm concerned about) and Martin Scorsese aproves of this as well. Sorry for offtopic, y'all. Yup, I learned about that a while back and it got me very excited. I'm very interested in the ramifications it'll have regarding proper Blu-Ray releases for several of the films exhibited there. The World Cinema Project already led to the outstanding Criterion release of those respective films, and I hope this means we'll get a Criterion release (or re-release) soon of the Polish ones. On my part, since I've moved to Blu-Ray the only two DVDs I've bought were Wojciech Has' The Hour-Glass Sanatorium and The Saragossa Manuscript - I was visiting the BFI in London at the time and came across these, and seeing that they were available and region-free too (courtesy of Mr. Bongo) I just *had* to have them, what with how dearly I loved these two. Was a good purchase too since the transfers are pretty good, for a DVD. On the other hand Janus Films also send a few copies to Argentina of their touring restorations, to the likes of MALBA or the BAFICI, and here's hoping this'll mean I'll some day get to see more of these films in the big screen (of the films features in Scorsese's catalogue I've only seen Mother Joan of the Angels in theatres - also some Andrzej Zulawski films but they're not part of his project I think). I haven't seen much Polish cinema recently, I admit. I recall really liking Ida but that's about it. So you might be right there (have not enjoyed at all the other couple of recent Polish films I've seen).

A true classic that shames all modern films. The hell did I just saw. Polish cinema isn't that bad after all :D I recall that ad! Oddly enough I assumed at the time that it was referencing Béla Tarr's The Turin Horse, since potatoes do play a rather, er, prominent role in the film. It's a brilliant film too (not necessarily evident through that clip - was just trying to find one involving potatoes). Also on the subject of Polish cinema, it's awesome! So many great auteurs came from it: Andrzej Wajda, Wojciech Has, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Andrzej Zulawski, Jerzy Skolimowski, Roman Polanski (yes), Krzysztof Zanussi, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Jerzy Hoffmann, Andrzej Munk, and the list goes on. Plenty of talent emerged from there, especially from the polish new wave back in the late 50s. Yeah but no one outside of Poland can pronounce most of those names and the one they can pronounce raped a kid. Still doesn't make it bad.

Well, we gotta fill the extra month of waiting with something, right?

I suppose he means pets will have a mechanical impact and will not simply be an aesthetic complement. I reckon it could be anything from attribute/skill bonuses to activatable abilities and the likes. Just what I understand from that tweet though.

Watcher's Ark, here we go!

I rest my case.

I posted something a little less couth but nvm, I will say that this whole thread has basically started off as a very poorly worded accusation on Obsidian, and has since only been extending to its community ("oh, these changes are made by plebs who want their gaems dumbed down" and such PCMR parody bollocks). What is the point to all this whingening exactly? Surely the topic deserves to be locked.

Personally I crop and resize with Paint.NET. It's a pretty good free software for editing pictures and so on. https://www.getpaint.net/

The hell did I just saw. Polish cinema isn't that bad after all :D I recall that ad! Oddly enough I assumed at the time that it was referencing Béla Tarr's The Turin Horse, since potatoes do play a rather, er, prominent role in the film. It's a brilliant film too (not necessarily evident through that clip - was just trying to find one involving potatoes). Also on the subject of Polish cinema, it's awesome! So many great auteurs came from it: Andrzej Wajda, Wojciech Has, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Andrzej Zulawski, Jerzy Skolimowski, Roman Polanski (yes), Krzysztof Zanussi, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Jerzy Hoffmann, Andrzej Munk, and the list goes on. Plenty of talent emerged from there, especially from the polish new wave back in the late 50s.

Oh hai Aloth. Okay now I really want the Watcher to wrestle a wand off a svef dealer who Aloth has crossed, then later, when Pallegina cheats on him, kill himself with it. "You're lying I never hit you! You're TEARING ME APART, PALLEGINA!"

I would make a gag about Tommy Wiseau getting hired to voice Tekehu but, actually, that would be awesome.

The Room is actually so smart it operates on a level of irony beyond human comprehension.

Obviously the fact that Obsidian have been centering their updates primarily around game mechanics and graphics suggests everything else is LACKING, and clearly they believe this too. Otherwise, why would they not talk about their story, why not talk about the themes? They're even making it more of an open-world game than before, adding non-linear exploration and so on, clearly this is showing that the devs don't trust their vision for story and themes! THEY HAVE NO TRUE VISION. And all this talk about Tekehu? He's just a Street Shark, that's all that's interesting about him! Where's talk of Xoti, or Serafen, or Maia? They know these characters are all weak, they know they won't be memorable. You think the reason Obsidian did not talk about any of this is because they want to leave it a surprise? Why? The hype machine demands every aspect of a game as sacrifice! All these videos show is lack of confidence, or worse, an absence altogether. You think the beta's just a small part of the game? THINK AGAIN.