Wormerine

I wouldn't call it "forced FPS". That would imply a conscious effort to forbid players to playing a certain way, rather then implementing only one Point of View system. It probably could get away without character creation but I wouldn't call it wasted. You still see your character on regular basis, and personal it did I form and help in defining my character. What's more, of they keep this engine for the sequel, they can focus on implementing Third Person View without building character creation from the ground up as well! I agree that some aspects of the game could be more robust. Not all companions are equal and I found Bizantium to be very empty and artificial. But that's not something people who made character creation could do.

I did similar thing on my first playthrough, but like previous poster I already had quest to talk to Mad Morena so I managed to get out without issues. Still, nothing stops you from leaving with the boat, and returning later. There are certainly quests in Deadfire which don't quite work when you tackle them from a different direction then originally designed. Nice find regarding Ulog. Looks like minor bug. Shouldn't break anything, beyond immersion.

But will you buy it in the end? Not from Epic but Steam/Gog once it comes out? I probably will. The kinda brilliant way of the Epic exclusivity deal is that Epic wagers that game will sell well on their platform. From what we understand, they calculate how likely those games are to sell, if they were released platform-wide (how it's calculated don't ask me!) and then offer this number to developers/publishers as "guaranteed" sales - meaning they pay publisher/developer for those sales whenever they happen or not. 1) If the game doesn't sell well on Epic, publisher/dev gets money from Epic. According to multiple reports those can be substantial amounts. On top of that people who didn't buy on Epic, may buy on Steam/GOG meaning those sales aren't necessary lost. In addition guaranteed sales come with a better split. 2) If majority of sales still happen, Epic might not loose any money if they hit quota, and Developer/publisher will get a better split. For the record, I don't disagree with you. I am glad Game Pass exists, as I can playthrough OW without commiting to Epic, but it is not a model which I find attaractve. However, it is a good deal, for those who play their game only once. I could get my Dualshock to work with it, though, so I will be quitting once I am done with OW. Which is a shame, there are some controller-based games I hoped to check out this month.

That's a good question. Amount of it? I am nearing to the end and Byzantium felt really lackluster. Overal quest and area complexity could have been bigger. I don't think we get anything comparing to "Beyond the Beef" and such. Skills like lockpicking, hacking etc. rarely allow us to progress in a unique way, and even if they do, it feels small. It certainly could have been bigger. It could have been deeper. I could have more lavish production. Did it need to be, though? I don't think so. Gaming have been dumping lots of money into fewer projects, but really, mid range projects like OW are a great things. Plus add to that a drought of Bethesda/Bioware RPGs, and overall great timing of OW wide announcement, following Fallout76 controversy. What I wonder, whenever this is something that will continue for the series, or if it is PoE1 situation.

Yup. Wasted points for moi.

If you don’t remember, that means you don’t really care about your choices importing over, and therefore pre-made save is a fine option for you. Just pick the first one, and it will be all good. You are the one who will complaint about now knowing what Biwac is, aren’t you. ;-)

Sound like a cool class concept. Arcanum-like tech thing. Animancer perhaps? The trick would be to make a unique gameplay loop for them without simply doubling magical abilities, with non-magical lore explanation. Deadfire indeed has plenty of niche items like Granades, potions and such, would could make a basis for a new class, at least on surface Level. also Atheist? Can one really be an atheist in Eora? [spoiler heavy joke ahead]

And once Netflix releases the feature allowing to speed up videos, people will complain that movies are only hour long!

I don't think that's the reason. RPG having full character VO is a black flag for some. Obsidian has reputation for creating RPGs which allow you to craft your character and roleplay, providing plenty of reactivity. To create a main protagonis with VO you have to approach it differently. You have to write a defined character with personality, opinions, traits, history with some wiggle room for player choice. Shepard, Geralt, and I assume dude/dudess from Fallout4 are all pre-made defined characters. That goes against what is usually a strength of Obsidian RPG. Compare difference in how Thorton from Alpha Protocl is portrait, and compare it to KOTOR2, fallout new vegas, pillars1&2 or tyrany. Giving VO to your character simply takes away a big chunk of character creation freedom from players. And that is what many die hard Obsidian fans (like myslef) like. There are reasons why I have no interest in F4, and it not even pretending to be an RPG is one of the big ones. OW was still written in a traditional Obsidian way, allowing you to project what you want on your character. I think OW might be limited enough that it could work with a voiced protagonist. Yes, it would be more expensive, but more importantly from creative standpoint, the character would need to be written and presented differently. Having someone read the written lines wouldnt be enough, as it's to fluid and undefined to be a pre-recorded character.

You mean Fallout2. Completionist Fallout1 run is actually quite short. Oddly enough I replayed BGs not so long ago, and they are far shorter then I remember. I could swear they were 100 hour long games and BG1 was longer then BG2. BG1 took 43 hours, BG2 took 56:30h. Not topdown Bioware RPGs tended to be around 20-30h as well. What consistantly confuses me are people who complain the game is too short, but didn't play all of it. It's not like what's left is collecting 100 feathers. If you liked it, play more of it. Obsidian was very transparent with what the game was and how long it is. It could be longer sure. It would also need to redesign systems to support a longer game time. Hopefully that will be the sequel. Though I would take a deepr 40h long OW, rather then same depth 80h Outer Worlds.

!!!!!! And Pharaoh. I loved this game to death. Though It doesn't seem like monuments are build from a ground up as they were in Pharaoh. That's a shame. Seeing it being build brick by brick, and securing a steady supply of materials for it was very satisfying. I wonder What they will do to NPC movemement. In Pharaoh and Caesar3 erratic NPC movement was core part of gameplay and cityplanning. While not ideal, I feel like many later city builders lack the depth which came from the need to carefuly plan your cities, even if mechanic was artificial and annoying at times.

I don't think that's is really the case, though her quest does start at the earliest (if you follow the guiding hand of the game master). Well one is FPS, the other is TPS cover shooter... which means sit behind cover and stick everyonce in a while. OW combat can get chaotic at times. Luckily TTD is there if you need to take a breath. Yhhhh... I don't think OW offers enough roleplaying options to really benefit from not having VO for main protagonist, like NV did. However, I would still prefer for the money to be spend on putting more RPG in OW2, rather then further restraining what character I can create.

That's how New Vegas did it. That said, as I am playing on hard right now, I don't see the appeal of this system. Food, drink and beds are too plentiful, maps are too small and carrying weight too generous to support proper "survival mode". Still making it a seperate toggle would be welcome.

Yes, Epic strategy isn't to appeal to buyers, but to strongarm people to use their platform. I don't think there is a way to see how same game would do sell with and without Epic exclusivity without visiting alternative universes. But games do seem to sell well at least for Epic - at least major ones. https://www.polygon.com/2019/3/20/18274359/metro-exodus-epic-games-store-steam-exclusive-gdc-2019 https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-09-23-borderlands-3-is-the-fastest-selling-game-in-2ks-history_7 No doubt open platform sales would provide some more sales, but would it be enough to cover the gap between 12% and 30/25/20% split between platforms? Unfortunately, providing good service might not be the most practical way of doing the business. My only hope that GOG won't suffer too much from the war Epic is waging. While one might want to support platform they like, it might not be relevant if they won't get a chance to do so.

Fair enough. Rule of the thumb - if it's Obsidian game there are bound to be characters of... hmmm... non-conservative sexual preferences? Some are more central out then others but they tend to go for the "woke" stuff. I do think this is a bit blowed out of proportions. There is one companion who is preparing for the date with person of the same sex. It's not like their sexaulity is drawn attention to, except that you happen to know they both are female. Or maybe it is later on, I didn't get to Byzantium yet. Outside of that, I can't say I noticed any other stuff of that sort. It might have been implied that one executive might have a crush on the previous captain of your ship. Though I also tend to not focus on that kind of stuff.

Intention was the quite opposite. Wanted to point out that my opinion about Skyrim comes from genuine place, and isn't influenced by backlash to Fallout76. I do understand the some people are affected by FPS, in a way I am not, and I hope Obs will be able to accomodate those players, if not in this release, then in the next one.

I think this is quite naive. Agendas are always pushed through media, be it intentionally or not. To some extend that is what media is for be it writing, films, music. Some of it is done better, some of it is done worst. You just strongly feel about this particular issue and respond negatively to it.

Interpret it as you will:

And the shocking thing is that this PoE1 I never experienced xD. Still I found myself clearing empty maps full of same time enemies, without interesting map construction or varied enemy compostition, only to delve into CaedNua and fight yet more of the same enemies. I enjoyed Deadfire pacing the most in TurnBased Mode. In real time its a bit too easy to just roll through most of the encounters without even looking what you are facing. Which reminds me, I still have Deadly Deadfire to try. Hmmmm....

I need to stop writing on my phone. Thank you for correcting me every single time @Boeroer. No sarcasm here.

Private Division seemed to make a deal with Epic to release their games exclusively to their platform. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-03-20-epic-games-store-line-up-expands-with-private-division-more-ubisoft-titles-and-quantic-dream-exclusives There is little indication so far, that releasing games on Epic hurts sales, and that doesn't account for a better cut publishers/developers are offered. While it's not very exciting development it does make sound, but unimaginative, business decision. If I remember correctly, in case of Phoenix Point XBOX Pass was agreed to prior to Epic exclusivity deal, therefore the game is sold on Epic only, while available through game pass as well. Perhaps something similar happened here as well? I find it unlikely, that Epic would wave rights to their exclusivity for a company which does seem quite involved in the Outer Worlds - afterall OW is a partnership with 2K from before Mc aquisition.

Wall of Colors is a bit big help. I liked mind controlling minions and using them as beam sponges. Landing petrify with the wall and casting withdraw was crucial for me to break the beams and void being outdamaged.

I know he left. That's unfortunate but not end of the world as far as I am concerned.

Alright. I concur. I finally reached science of 100 and upgraded all those toys as much as I can. They are ripping through stuff quite nicely. so they are fine, it’s takes a lot of science before they are viable. cant say anything specific about balance now. Things are a bit too easy to really judge balance. I wish item description would say what special effects do. I assume shrinking reduces enemy damage? But by how much? Does it do anything else?

Bias? Against what? I play both FPS and TPS games and more! I have seen those done well and I have seen those done poorly. Skyrim is bad at both. but yes, I am yet to enjoy Bethesda games. I think of them as community play boxes to create mods with. I heard Morrowind is nice. I will need to give it a go one day. It’s nice to have both FPS and TPS, and I hope Obs mill manage to add it for the sequel as clearly many people want it, but I would rather have one done well, and I don’t care which one, then both being shoddy and unenjoyable to use. And Outer Worlds has even functional UI! I don’t remember Bethesda game having functional UI!