Wormerine

I need to play New Vegas again... I only played it once all the way through, in my pre-PoE Obsidian backlog playthrough. My Kingmaker playthrough hit 100h mark, and it seems I am about halfway through... when will this thing end!

That's a good point. Yen (<3) was mentioned in W2, but overall, they were absent until Witcher3.

Well, I wouldn't say that - PoE1 was made when the company was in danger of closing doors, and then PoE2 budget far exceeded crowdfunding money. Also half of fig money were investments, which I believe need to be paid back as game sells. At the same time, they were also working on Outer Worlds, which was a bigger project then Deadfire.

In my 3 playthroughs I never had a problem with that quest. The captain indeed should be on ground floor of the Hole, sitting by one of the tables, if I remember well.

I was trying to find info about that, as I remember it happening. If there was no official announcement, it might be why I couldn't find anything.

Avowed is stated to be released for XBox X and PC. XBox1, I believe, Xb1 is to be supported for at least a year after XBoxX release, but Avowed is unlikely to release that soon.

I would bet on a classless system - meaning even if we pick our "class" at character creation it determine our starting point rather then define entire playthrough ala. Skyrim, Dark souls or D:OS2. The problem with translating PoE classsystem into FPRPG would be that we would get to play with only one class per playthrough - I feel that class system is best fit for team based games (be it party RPG or multiplayer game) - a bit like kits work in Overwatch and such. Of course, theoretically a class system could lead to better replay value, but I just don’t think it would be a smart investment of resources. hat would be a benefit multiple playthroughs only, which would appeal to only the most hardcore of the hardcore fans, while making initial playthrough possibly less interesting (as major character development decision will be done when starting the game, not throughout it). And making each class fun enough and flexible enough in itself to fill entire playthrough by itself would be quite a feat. EDIT. Rewritten the post a bit. Typing via phone is hard. EDIT2. Fixed some further typos. I think those three glasses of wine might have debuffed my spelling skills?

Yeah, I will be curious if, like with Deadfire, most people who are interested in it backed it already and post launch sales will be poor, or if it will match/outsell Kingmaker.

Honestly, DLCs in both games are my favourite PoE content. They kinda make me upset that so many companies halfass DLCs so badly. That's what I imagined DLCs will look like when I heard first about it. My first encounter with it was in Dragon Age, and I thought "hey, imagine BG2 but with more awesome sidemissions added after launch"... and we got, what we got. I SSS has some supert interactions. I remember the one when you have to roll the stone uphill to enter the arena, and you can just sing dragon to life to carry it for you. As far as unique contet per class is brilliantly done in Deadfire.

Wouldn't Kingmaker be right up their alley?

Overall all sounds sound except the bit above. Wouldn’t that encourage brute forcing your way through enemies? (Killing in multiple attempts) also wouldnt it be fair if enemies respawed right after you killed them and had a go at revenge? I imagine that the biggest challenge could be having to track individual bugs and their health status. Health is something that possibly gets “forgot” as enemy goes out of certain range.

You see, I don’t buy it. Sequels tend to sell better, not worse. The idea that games sells worse because it has a number attached to it, just doesn’t hold water. PoE2 problem wasn’t that it scared of new audience - its that majority of existing audience didn’t want more PoE. And it wasn’t just IP. Tyranny didn’t do so hot either. PoE2 wouldn’t sell better if it had a different title.

I read the books in highschool so can't relate. Still that's first time I heard that. I thought Witcher3 did a good job giving an idea of the relationship those characters had together even if I didn't remember them from books (like Keira). Edit: It's doesn't really apply to PoE though. To understand PoE1 you need to read books as well. Getting into PoE3 shouldn't be that much harder then getting into PoE1.

Well, most of those (aside from Greedfall) I would call straight up action games. Progression is so widespread as a mechanic I don't think it qualifies as an RPG mechanic anymore, especially if it doens't really allow for customisation. From what I understand recent ACs have some RPG mechanics, though they seem to be used to create mostly artificial grind, rather then having a gameplay justification. Didn't play any of them, but that's what seems to be mentioned most of the time. [Didn't play any of those actually, so my opinion is informed only by what I have seen in reviews and might be inaccurate]

Then don't integrate your GOG? On a side note official integration seems to be slightly weaker then community one. It doesn't seem to record when I played the game last. I for one find it super useful to manage a library spread around on 6 launchers through one. For that very reason GOG became my main platform through which I manage everything else. It's very much in GOG's brand. "Hey, everyone annoys players by forcing them to juggle games on various platforms? Come to GOG and see all your games in one place. And while you are here, buy our games"

I agree here. Micr business revolves around many things. Sure, they want system sellers to push XBOX but they also have Game Pass. Adding more niche games to it's library is something they might be interested in. Did people who played Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim or Witcher3 played all previous games? Nah, also fallout might have weight, but not to audience Fallout3 was targeted at. Did a game ever not sell because people got scared of a number?

So, back before PoE1 was released I thought an idea of scripted interactions was brilliant. Obsidian often tried to to more then engine properly supported (like sensing with force in KOTOR2) and SI seemed like a good way of implimenting those ideas without being awkward. With that in mind I found PoE1 interactions to be greatly disappointed - it mostly focused on very mundane interactions. Then White March came out, and I thought it was done really well - burning house, mine card ride, puzzles and others were all brilliant. Then again, I was excited to see a more robust scripted interaction interface for PoE2... So what did you guys thing of Scripted Interactions in PoE2? I don't recall any standouts. I felt most of the time they were money saving feature, then enabler of interesting moments - like it would be nicer to have actual enterance to a dungeon, or interaction with NPCs on a map, but we will do it via scripted interactions cause it's cheaper. In other words Scripted Interactions rarely did something that couldn't be done via existing systems. Some things pop up to my mind - like storm, but honestly I didn't find it particularly memorable.There was also some fun stuff in the DLCs (like trial of a boar from SSS), though I don't think any of it was as good as White March (but what is!)

In a way. I see it as a brand identity. I don't think it has to be a "game wouldn't sell as well if it had Pillars in the title" but a case of what Obsidian wants "the Pillars of Eternity" brand to represent and what they want Avowed to be. I don't think pitting "PoE" in Avowed title would hurt it, but why would you do it? It won't boost Avowed's profile and and you will only annoy PoE fans. If Obsidian doesn't completely erase a possibility of making PoE3 at some point in the distand future, it's good to leave the brand untouched. All they will have to do is announce that they are working on PoE3 and everyone will understand. At the same time they are free to do whatever they want with Avowed and not face a backlash from people invested in the IP.

I personally thought Fenstermaker/Sawyer made a good combo. All PoE1 needed was more polish, revision, iteration, and it could have been one of the greats.

So you are telling me, that objectively, Skyrim/Bloodlines/or-whatever-other-game have a high quality Third Person gameplay? I am not disputing that you, or anyone else complaining, would enjoy Avowed/Cyberpunk better if it had TPCamera, but I will claim that games that design their system around specific perspective work better. Dark Souls wouldn't be as good if it needed to accomodate FPCamera. Deus Ex,Thief wouldn't be as good if they needed to make exploration work with TPc. Set top-down camera in RPG works better, then Dragon Age: Origins, which switched between TP and top down camera doing well neither. As a side note, I tend to prefer my melee combat to be in TP, and shooters in FP.

I don't think Avowed being success makes PoE3 impossible, and I agree there would be a benefit to having a more niche games within the IP. My bigger worry would be, if Obsidian is genuinely interesting in making it. Sure, it saved a company and, at least initially proved profitable.... but is someone at Obsidian interested in making it? Josh was rather vocal about disliking some things (like classes and RTwP combat), and iI remember him saying that if he were to make another onr he would need to find a way to make a game he would enjoy making, and players would like to play (citation needed). Now, when Obsidian isn't desperate for cash influx... is there someone really passionate about the project to invest years of their life into it? And if so, how far would it depart from original "IE spiritual successor"?

On the other side, I don't recall a game which had both First and Third Person and didn't play awful. And thinking of Thief1&2, Systemshock1&2, Deus Ex - FPS immersive/RPG sim aren't new. I would definitely get either dedicated FP or TP rather then half-ass both. Luckily for me, I am fine with either.

Take my advice with a grain of salt - I have been a fan of Witcher IP since I read books in high school, so I enjoyed all three games on that basis alone. I think all 3 games a worth giving a go. Without a doubt W3 is the best out of three. Still, CDPR subversive quest designs is there from the beginning, although in Witcher1 There are couple ones that stand out from the crowd, rather then being a standard. Combat is the biggest offender - it’s not action RPG just yet - rather it’s roll based RPG with a rhythm game to continue performing attacks. It’s not interesting in any way, but I also found it fairly inoffensive. It doesn’t take much brain power and doesn’t waste much time. plot is all over the place, Geralt’s amnesia gets old very quickly, however, it has some great moments. To say more would be a spoiler. Eurojank and it’s finest and jankies. W2 is closer to witcher3. Its more polished game, but also my least favourite in the series. Mostly as game’s narrative doesn’t play to Geralt strengths as a character IMO. Also you need to play it twice to see all of it. There are two different 2nd chapters (really) depending on a choice at the end of chapter 1. My favourite example of overambitious reactivity. Rather then focusing on characters, this game is very focused on politics of the witcher world - something that gets completely overwritten in W3 anyway. Still, like with w1 there are some really good bits. Both games are a much shorter time investment then w3.

That's unfortunate downside of GPS in video games. Whether it is Skyrim like, Ass Creed or others, one quickly starts ignoring enviroment and just follows icons. However, you can disable GPS and game still works pretty well actually. A lot of quests have verbal descritions, and if in trouble one can always refer to the map. I plan to make a full playthrough like that, as soon as I upgrade my computer at some point in the future.

I am curious to see. To me, personally, lack of PoE anywhere in the title suggests a very standalone experience - I don't expect story, systems, themes or tones to be tied in anyway to PoE1&2 (they could be, but could not be). However, it is also possible that Avowed is PoE3, and change of IP name is used to 1) not scare off new audience 2) not annoy old audience. A lot of conversation around Baldur's Gate3 revolves around "but is it really Baldur's Gate?" Possibly, with the state of the world at the end of PoE2 it would be possible to introduce new protagonist, new story thread and still reveal to the new audience all they need to know (from the point of witness to the Eothas aftermath, rather then with inside knowledge of the Watcher). What I find odd is the title - it seems very specific to built a lengthy franchise on... Avowed2? Avowed again? Avowed for life? Everyones Avowed MMO?