algroth

Yeah, I also was under the impression that the Cainarsky was an original Obsidian IP, but then again "new IP" was the term used and that could be as much 'original' as "new for Obsidian".

I wouldn't entirely be surprised if Ydwin and others are expanded and made full companions through the expansions - that alongside other stretch goals not reached.

While we're on the subject of sales, anyone know how Pillars is selling on consoles?

I don't feel like there was less voiceover in Pillars than there was in any of the IE games, and in that matter I also felt its overall V.O. quality to be very uneven. The major roles for the most part were good, but supporting characters such as Urgeat, several Glanfathans or the Dozens commander were awful, delivered so forcefully and unconvincingly that it genuinely feels like they told some staff members with no acting experience to voice them. Tyranny had less V.O. than Pillars, but it was at the same time much more consistent and thus better overall - I would like this "quality over quantity" approach instead, myself.

As an aside point, though, there is another issue with the argument at hand inasmuch as it implies that only the minority in question is interested in seeing minority-related themes or playing as part of one. That is not exactly true (I for one am interested in themes related to minorities that I'm not a part of), and so the question of determining what percentage of the audience this matter would interest isn't quite as easy to answer either. This, of course, taking aside the original proposition and referring to the many more detailed and in-depth suggestions about how to approach and explore the theme throughout this thread. And this does go the other way too, as in, not all individuals in a minority are necessarily interested in seeing their minority represented.

I identify as vithrack, so where is my playable vithrack race/companion?

Is it really a 0 sum equation? ie does content being made that appeals to a lesser percentage of the players mean that there's no content of appeal to the higher percentage of players. Or that the existence of the content for the smaller group turn off the larger? The other false correlation in the argument that has spun the last couple of pages is also the belief that appealing to minorities goes against quality or the desire for such. Indeed, neither quality nor the "higher percentage of players" are necessarily affected by the exploration of minority-related topics, should there be any. What's more, it's worth pointing out that Deadfire as well as other modern isometric RPGs are decidedly niche products, so while there may be a desire to make the appeal as broad as it can be made it is certainly not the end goal with a game like this. In the end, as Josh has said himself, you can't please everyone and they don't aim to please everyone either - this can apply for minorities as well as the group who would want to see them excluded.

I was hoping to avoid the word, but yes, this is exactly what this thread feels like.

So let's take a few steps back and address again the purpose of this whole thread: So far there's been NO EVIDENCE on Obsidian having fired the writer over his comments or the writer having resigned because of them either. The thread has assumed the above to be true and since then made very broad assumptions about a slippery slope at play. When being called upon it, the OP's proceeded to intentionally derail the thread further by making random comparisons to topics like Nazism and deliberately misconstruing the arguments of others. So, uh, why is this thread still open?

^This, exactly.

So According to you Ghazi did nothing wrong ? What opinions were "scathingly racist, sexist, xenophobic and slanderous". Tell me. "I will continue to 'mix' it up until one of their boyfriends jacks me with a pipe." (re: black women) I don't see how this is not slanderous, racist and sexist, for one. The assumption that black women are inherently adulterous aside, the attention given to interracial sexual relations here or in other comments like the proposition to ban unmarried Muslim men from entering the EU really speak for themselves. The fear of the loss of Western ideals before the exposure to other cultures, as well as the implied notion of keeping a 'pure white race' alive was already old-hat by the time Lovecraft was basing horror stories around it a century ago. Also I never spoke of Ghazi. Do I think they did nothing wrong? Of course not, they're trash. But I won't assume that the comments made were any less derogatory and as has been addressed by me and several others before me, you are jumping to far-fetched and unfounded conclusions because of it.

It won't involve things from another IP quite simply because Eora is its own separate world, so no Cthulhu or Old Ones even if there could be some inspiration drawn from these all the same. There'll be some metaphysical stuff going on though, as is shown by Eothas' presence and the Beyond. I know, I know, but for an example, Divinity Original Sin 2 has some very nice... what would you call it... love-craftian-esq(?) "void beings" that really makes you say "that thing is not natural and should not exist, burn it with fire!". I guess one such creature in the original Pillars could have been the vithrack (they seemed the closest in the game to the Illithid, who were in turn cthulhoids), but I for one loved how they inverted the trope and made them into more empathetic beings instead. I wouldn't mind more of this inversion in Deadfire, though some properly weird enemies would also be great to see.

I might be mistaken, but I assume that most players who want walking in Pillars do so so as to slow down world exploration and to aid in their immersion as roleplayers and so on - at least this is what I recall reading on the subject. The video on the OP goes about a pretty different matter, and that is the character design and personality as seen through their own unique gait. I'm personally not a big fan of the Street Fighter example linked since I honestly find its sexualization a tad juvenile, it almost borders into teen smut. I do, on the other hand, love Ivern's gait from League of Legends and have heard countless people comment on it: This argument can also be used with regards to running, or animation in general. For the companions and other important NPCs the gait, whether walking or running, could have custom animations such that they better reflect who the characters are or what they are carrying. Some of that does seem to be making its way into Deadfire already, going by the way Xoti holds out her lantern before her while running, but it could be translated onto other characters as well. Edér could have a more relaxed jog to him, being a fairly athletic and robust person, while Serafen, being of a smaller race, could be trying more frantically to keep up with the pace of the longer-legged characters. All of this doesn't really speak in favour of a walk toggle so much as animation and attention to character detail, though.

It won't involve things from another IP quite simply because Eora is its own separate world, so no Cthulhu or Old Ones even if there could be some inspiration drawn from these all the same. There'll be some metaphysical stuff going on though, as is shown by Eothas' presence and the Beyond.

Racist! (e: actually, real talk, he doesn't look thaaaaaat much like Mr. Fishburne - then again, I'm not sure if I've ever seen him when he was younger) Ah, he immediately reminded me of him, mostly due to the eyes and mouth shapes being quite similar.

Racist! Don't oppress my freedom of speech!

Seems Laurence Fishburne is a pretty good tapdancer.

Same as trolls and clickbaits. I don't see people losing their jobs over internet trolls. A friend of mine who worked on CNN got in a bad fight with an internet troll, who proceeded to doxx him and send him hookers and the likes at his work place. Yes, this did eventually cost him his job.

Ian Miles Cheong, lol. Anyhow, I've read the comments, and no, they were not just 'conservative opinions'. Many of the 'opinions' expressed were scathingly racist, sexist, xenophobic and slanderous. Moreover, they were expressed on a public forum. If Obsidian did encourage the writer to resign because they didn't want to deal with having those comments linked to their company and their employees, that is entirely within their rights and not the injustice you lot wish to spin it as. It's his fault for not being more careful of the things he expressed in a public medium. Secondly, the whole idea that this would lead to a game sanitized of controversial themes is frankly a misunderstanding of how any narrative artform works. Characters and even narrators in a narrative medium *do not* usually speak for the author. An author is perfectly capable of creating a racist, sexist, xenophobic, zealous character without sympathizing with those opinions. Do you think that the writers that scripted the possibility for the player to embrace Woedica are zealots? As Sawyer has said in a recent interview, racism against orlans will not magically go away and it is bound to be included *even as a trait for one of your companions*, namely Edér. There is no slippery slope here (and mind that the "slippery slope" isn't called a fallacy for no reason). Thirdly, this thread was already closed once, why is it even allowed to be open again? Were I a mod I would have closed it immediately as this would go against moderator action. Lock this backwards nonsense, please. For the record I do think the whole limerick business was blown way out of proportion, I think the joke was widely misunderstood but it was certainly more open to personal interpretation and so on. Less so this case, which is pretty straightforward and in which the context has also been provided to make for the tone and intention.

It's worth considering that the image did seem to be stretched horizontally. Look at the portraits for comparison, for example.

Hmm... I'm getting a bit of "more of the same" vibe from the expansion content shown so far. I do hope that in exploring the Wound further we get some new locales that don't look like "Oldwalls pt. IV" or non-descript arid/rocky terrain.

It really depends on the game, from my point of view. There are times I'd love to have multiplayer on Pillars of Eternity simply because there's some people who I'd be interested in playing it with as co-op, but it's never been more than a thought and I can see how the story is better served to fulfill a single-player experience over a multiplayer one instead. The MMORPGs I played I didn't enjoy in the slightest, not least because I find that in the games I played it was rare for the larger portion of the playerbase to actually roleplay and not use it as a glorified chatroom, and content elsewhere felt lacking. However, I do not see how the multiplayer element isn't crucial for more competitive PvP games like multiplayer FPSes or MOBAs - it's the fact that you play against other players who are equally interested in winning, improving, adapting to every challenge and so on that keep them challenging, diverse and hence *fun* for so much longer.

I think romances are only as interesting as the the character you're romancing and the dynamics they offer. As with Bartimaeus I see communication and dialogue, not always verbal, as a key element to a believable romance or relationship, and I too agree that they are not often handled correctly but disagree that videogame isn't a good medium to work with these. On the contrary, I think it's a great medium provided the attention is on the right places. In a relationship I usually see two people with personal desires trying to convince the other part to be game for what they wish to do, or what they wish to see in the other. I think that interactivity allows authors to be able to play that tug-of-war with the audience that is usually involved with a relationship, where usually both sides have to compromise some of their wants for the sake of the other. In order to do so one has to create a love interest that has their own personality and wants and isn't quite so malleable to the player's whims, as otherwise all you get is a one-way pull that only satisfies the player's fantasies of "ideal partnership". I feel this is the issue with most love interests in videogames, that most characters lack the autonomy to go against what the player wants and in turn make romances feel only like player pandering.

Obsidian on Eric's departure: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/89393-is-eric-fenstermaker-still-at-obsidian/?p=1848340 So there you have it, it's due to family/parenting reasons, and he will be returning for Deadfire to write Edér. Can we stop with all the nonsense now?

Following Jaki Liebezeit earlier this year, now Holger Czukay has passed. R.I.P. to a master.