marimo

There is nothing anti-feminist or unprogressive about warmth or vulnerability as character traits for characters of any gender. Also, reputation levels max out at +2/-2 and Xoti has a full romance. You can look it up on YouTube.

So if I'm understanding you correctly, your argument is that Obsidian is trying to cater to their backer audience but is misguided as to who their audience is and what they want? I'm not sure what you mean by a more "adult" direction either unless you mean that including women, LGBT people and people of color as oppressed groups would make the setting grittier and therefore less "safe". I also disagree that the story is idealistic or optimistic, firstly because it has variable endings, but more importantly because bigotry, caste systems, slavery, colonialism, and all sorts of other gritty elements exist in the setting, they just don't affect the same groups who are overwhelmingly affected by this stuff in real life. Not to mention that the resolution to most of the conflicts in the quests are firmly in morally grey territory. Your other points about the writing are valid but seem irrelevant to the argument you were making, at least as I understood it.

It felt more like a midpoint than an ending. It would probably look better if there were a third game but ideally each installment in a series should have its own narrative arc that comes to a satisfying ending, in addition to laying groundwork for a new installment. Deadfire sets up tantalizing pieces for future moves but the chasing Eothas storyline doesn't really have enough to it to feel satisfying. The faction questlines are good but feel fairly disconnected from the ending itself. The stories aren't that similar but the feeling at the end of this game for me was like the feeling at the end of DA:I where you'd clearly defeated the main antagonist and resolved the things you were supposed to, but it felt unsatisfying. Then the Trespasser DLC came out and I felt like that was the ending I didn't know I was missing until I played it. I can't really explain why I felt that way, either, but I know a lot of other people did too. When I finished Deadfire there was the same feeling of missing some piece that isn't there. I'd probably have to do some serious thinking to figure out why, but well, I'm not a writer, so I leave it to others.

Are you sure all the developers share your politics?

Yes, she'll turn you down at first but you can find her later at the VTC headquarters and can get her to join you then.

Maybe it's because the poor lad has a nasty habit of ending up dead when he's not with the Watcher.

I see this tired old argument is very popular with you guys . I'll humor you once more - sexual relationships are relateable to the real world and people can't help by draw parallels and conclude that a dense congregation of LGBTs in a small group is not normal (and don't go with "LGBT circles attract" theory again, it's still not normal for a lot of people). Nobody can relate truly magical and fantastical stuff you mention to anything in the real world, so it doesn't break anybody's suspense of disbelief when we play or read fantasy, because we just accept it as imagined fiction. But you can't simply make people erase the real world parallels from their minds, so don't act so baffled when they won't treat "everyone is LGBT in this world" as acceptable imaginary fantasy. And, btw, it's not a norm even in the game, at least in some regions - when Xoti talks to the Watcher about Maia you can ask her why does she want her if in Readceras it's a norm only to form couples that provide offspring. And, in any case, it's sad that you're defending this lazy writing, because devs didn't make it just to please LGBTs, they did it because they were lazy to write companions more nuanced in their preferences. Yeah thing is, it's not just lazy writing is it? It's a progressive ideology touched game. You've got your black elves and dwarves - where in usual circumstances those would be golden, ashen, or some weird colouring instead. It's not a region thing or a subtype either, it's just mashed in there. You've got your playersexual romance options - and really there is more companions that won't flirt with you, or romance you, than will. And despite all this high fantasy, you can't put your female wizard or barbarian in a dress or a loin cloth and get decent DR, because hey that might be sexualizing them, and you want them in reasonable, realistic armour. Indeed if you put the watershapers loincloth on a woman, it suddenly transforms into a very modest affair. Pillars 1 had some better light armour outfits, they are basically absent here (I prefer them myself aesthetically for both genders) Then there's the godlike companion who is "transitioning", and also the colonialist narrative. Now fortunately most of this is optional - you can kill the natives if it pleases you, or join the pirates, and you don't have to romance anybody. But unfortunately you can't choose all of it - you'll still get hit on by every player in sight and get visits from randy bisexual crew. I won't argue that it's unrealistic. That's not the issue - the issue is that those themes are all just "jammed in there", in a haphazard and unartful way. You can create great compelling characters who are different races, sexualities and so on. The nativist/colonolist narrative was a little better, but still IDK - it lacked nuance. Where for example were the poor/ex-slave/war fleeing immigrants that typify actual colonists? I think the biggest issue for me, is that it puts such a modern gaze on what is a violent, brutal, class orientated world with mass deaths and slaves in it - but seen through the eyes of someone who reads the guardian and watches Netflix. Now it is fantasy. The genre has always been flexible. Female warriors have always been a thing despite being rarer in history. As with female leaders. And all sorts of ahistorical oddities - for the fun of it. But the way this is done, isn't artful like it can be when you want to tackle those subjects and give them true meaning. It's half-baked, like a lot of progressive influenced media is, and it comes off as at times, unaware of its audience - disconnected, like someone living in an irony tower. It comes off, as not being for fun - but as a way to satisfy a group that are not the majority audience. It's a good game, with a decent plot - especially how all the substories interconnect. It's very artfully produced in terms of the graphics, and for the most part ignoring a few odd borks the system improvements are good. I think this game is better than the last one. And I am not one to complain about something someone else spent thousands of hours making - it's their art, and we don't have to buy it. But if I were to give any advice about this to the developers - I would just say, keep in mind, gamers are not, largely speaking uber progressive. A minority are, and the gaming press is, but most ordinary folks would rather have a saucy or violent tale ala game of thrones. Or a something lighter, like something comedic, or a bit of fluffy heroism. I am not saying I didn't like the game, or indeed that those elements have no place in fantasy - merely that they could be handled better, both to properly respect the subject material, and to be relateable to a mainstream audience who may not otherwise connect. Some of my favourite heros are heroines. I've enjoyed a lot of shows with LGBT material. There's some stories that are deeply moving about our cultural differences. It's just not something IMO, you can have a fluffy hand at. It's a set of deep social issues with a lot of angles. And you could just as easily offend indeed, the people you are trying to please, by stuffing all these things under a unicorn. A world with some much tribal tension, and no racial tension? LGBT but no struggle with social taboo? It's a heady area. Well, sometimes people want to see stories that speak to their experiences as a minority, like Dorian's in DA:I, and sometimes they just want to see people like themselves living their lives and kicking ass without a big deal being made of their gender, ethnicity, or sexuality. Both types of representation are good. Maybe the Deadfire team is making the type of game they want to see more of in the world, and maybe they would like to see a more diverse audience playing their games. Maybe the dev team itself is more diverse than you think. I don't know them personally so I can't say, but it seems like you're making a lot of assumptions about what an "ordinary" person is and who this game is "trying to please". Also, western fantasy, as in the world of ren faires and D&D, is a thoroughly modern invention that only draws from history but is not, itself, historical.

The Menagerie just makes pets in your inventory appear on your ship

Wolf in the first game, ghost wolf in the second.

Aloth's kind of a tough one because Bioware doesn't really do repressed, neurotic characters very often, unless I'm forgetting some.

Yeah. He's otherwise not nearly as tied to the setting as the faction representative companions, of course.

I think Aloth's function is to serve as a kind of proxy for the Watcher's inner dilemma, or at least possible thoughts your Watcher could be having depending on how you characterize them. His issue this game is all about unforeseen consequences of a person's actions, even the ones done with the best of intentions, and the Watcher's mission is to nudge both Eothas and the powers of the Deadfire in a direction of the Watcher's choosing, without knowing what the outcome will be.

I'd like a good robe for Tekehu because I never found one in my game. He just doesn't look right in anything but his starter robe.

I think Pallegina always leaves if you side with Rauatai, yes.

Yezuha sounds like it's probably on a continent, given the mention of many languages being spoken there.

How can you say no to that glorious mane, really?

Probably about 80% of Tekehu's lines crack me up

Xoti's actually a lot older than she comes off. I think she mentions she's 27 in one of her lines. Anyway I think it's partly her religious zeal and partly her intensity and inner darkness that puts him off. I can't really blame him, tbh.

Who the hel is Modwyr? ö Aloth's romance doesn't trigger until +2 rep. I ended up using the mod to increase it from 1 to 2, and the conversation popped the next time I loaded into a map. Modwyr's the talking sword!

Yeah I think Rekke might be shady. Charming, but shady. He can be in the party, but I'm side-eyeing him. I'm a fan of ASoIaF and I do like how it handles religion, but the gods are much more of a mystery in that universe. Yeah I think that's possible, and a really interesting idea. They could also do something like Dragon Age where the Elven pantheon is real, or at least based on real people, but there's no real conclusive evidence for the existence of The Maker at all. But well, DA did that, so I'd prefer Pillars do something else. I found her and then right after that accidentally found her previous owner, so I released her soul without really going through her questline properly and missed out on all her content. Oops.

I'd expect to see clashes between the monotheists and polytheists but I'm hoping it's not just a 1:1 parallel to the Abrahamic religions. So far though, Pillars has borrowed ideas from real life religions without being a wholesale reskin of any of them, which has been nice. Hope it stays that way.

Well, because Obsidian owns the Pillars IP, I imagine they'd want to keep it going as long as it remains profitable. I'm sure there are at least plans for where a third game would go, which I think is apparent from the ending of Deadfire. I'd be pretty disappointed if there was no continuation, since they just introduced a giant problem for Eora, and raised some big metaphysical questions, not to mention the idea of a whole new landmass and a monotheistic religion existing. I don't think it would need to be the same Watcher in a third game, but it easily could be. Also, Rekke is presently a missionary (but it sounds like he was something else before that maybe?).

The question was serious There is a line in the game where you can say something like: "You haunt my head since the first time we met" And she responds something like "But listen how the Watcher flatters me!" "I cannot plant a seed in a untilled soil. I want for there to be trust between is. The trading companies send spies at every corner of the mountain i say there are places they cannot go" So i intrpreted that as "Gain my trust then we'll talk" but until the end of the game i saw no similar dialogue option even playing FULL Huana faction I think there are some flirts with non-companion NPCs but no romances, so no. She did kinda mean "gain my trust then we'll talk" but she's looking for an ally, not a lover.

That's the only nice thing you can say to him there too. It's either "I hate you", "You're a pain in the ass", "I don't care a whit about you", or "You're fun." I wish there was more to him. I like him. Well, you can also tell him "you're useful" so that's quasi-nice I guess. I was expecting to be the most interested in Ydwin out of the sidekicks but I got charmed by Rekke. I hope we see more of him!

You need to be playing a game where Pallegina wasn't banished at the end of PoE1, and then you can get her to stay if you side with the Huana, the Principi, or no one. She won't stay under any circumstances if you side with RDC.