[Why does every class have to have magic?]

I does not make sense to think of "realism" in a fantasy world. I see it a bit like the OP, but from the other side. I don't like magic and mages and prefer non-magical abilities and reasoning for people with weapons. But in the soul based PoE world it makes a kind of sense when anybody has some "magical" abilities. The pure mages are just the most gifted.

 

Beyond that, let it be. A world of swords, firearms and magic it is. Don't even think about what would happen if a humble farmer with a pistol would confront a mage who needed several seconds to let loose his mighty earthshaking spell ...

[Combat is now mostly a dull chore]

Thankfully they did. The ability per encounter system is better suited for difficulty balance, it is more predictable. I got the feeling that a lot of the PoE1 "restriction system" love comes from playthroughs with the knowledge of the encounters from earlier runs.

 

I like the new system more, although the "healing wounds" play is much too easy. They could have used it for severe pressure. You shouldn't be able to heal your dented skull and ripped open belly by chewing a hardtack, any time and as often as you like.

[The Good and the Unfortunately Very Bad of POE2: a review NO SPOILERS]

 

Let's say there is a game. That game is very good and has great dialogue, characters and all the stuff a good game needs.

 

It also doesn't tell you what's right or wrong, it just describes things and let's you draw your own conclusions.

 

Let's say in that game eating meat is evil. I do eat meat in real life. But why would I be upset about it? Because I'm insecure.

 

Now let's say that in this game the world is so that women rule over men and that's just the way that fictional society works.

 

I am male. Why would I be upset? Because I am insecure and confused.

 

In this game there are no white people. I am white. But why would I be upset? Because I'm insecure and I'm afraid.

 

In this game every woman is lesbian and the only "use" men to produce offspring, but not for fun. Why would I, as a white straight male, be offended? Because I am insecure and feel useless?

 

In this game tall men get discriminated because being short is the norm and the ideal. Why would I, as a tall guy, be offended? Because I am insecure when it comes to my height???

 

The last part shows that usually people get angry about stuff where they feel insecure and are afraid. No man is insecure about being tall (if it's not extreme and you are considered a freak). Hence nobody would complain about a game where tall people get ditched.

 

Feeling insecure and afraid is not considered to be very manly.

 

What an irony!

 

I would never have thought you could post something so silly, Boeroer.

 

 

This surprises me, as Boeroer told us in short form a lot about why humans act like they act. You can extrapolate from it to most of the political, religious and other ideological stuff going round and round since ever and today, in big scale society and personal dimensions.

 

To the topic, if those are the main critical points, then PoED seems to be in good shape (as I believe them mostly wrong or irrelevant). However, the "god's story"  becomes a bit pale, I have to admit, so there is some validity in it. And sadly the author forgot the main failure of the game, the lack of wearable native skirts clothing with bare feet, I want it for my PC. 

[Where are the dungeons?]

This aspect of the game makes me very sad. I like big dungeons. Reasons for not having them are not convincing, it's a fantasy setting and huge forgeotten dangerous caves filled with a plentitude of enemies could be found on islands, too, maybe magically protected against water or deep under sea level. Maybe such unknown dungeons could be found especially on islands, separated from the rest of the world, remnants of something old and evil.

 

I don't see the new combat system as a hindrance for dungeon crawling. Abilities per encounter are the norm in many games and are no reason not to have huge dungeons. I really hope for the DLCs as a cure to this big disadvantage of Deadfire which in almost all other areas is an improvement over part 1.

 

BTW, game playtime is an individual thing (I'm a slow player) but such RPGs like PoE or DOS should have a really really long story. At least I'm not very interested to play it again, as the story is important but done with one playthrough. 120 or 200 hours may sound a lot but in Fallout 4 for example I have over 1,000 hours, as such a game offers much more than a story.

[Combat is now mostly a dull chore]

I prefer the Deadfire combat over PoE1. Artificial micro-management resource restrictions like the double health system are not to my pleasure.

 

I'm strictly against changing the combat and empower mechanics fundamentally. I really like the possibility to refresh the combat resources for fights where you are in dire straits. And healing should stay the way it is.

 

I'm not a min-maxer or optimizer and my chars follow some rules, my ranger for example is from a primitive tribe, he doesn't use armor (he does not even wear clothes) and he only uses a bow, period. Or, I don't have a mage in my group because I don't like mages. So my group is not optimal and I had some really tough fights till now, although I only play on Veteran.

 

The current problem for me is that these tough fights were coupled to being underleveled. But that is only a number problem which should be solvable. For me the fights against two or three-skull enemies should be the "norm" for fights against enemies of the same level, on Veteran. So overall the game combat is a bit too easy, but not dull and a chore (I'd give this label to PoE1 combat).

[Game looks incredibly easy]

This is a strange example of discussion. The OP seems to have one measurement for difficulty, the PoE splitted kind of health in absolute health and relative health. A rather artificial system, but who cares if the game is build around it? 

 

Removing the double-health system and using a "common" health system as replacer does tell us nothing about game difficulty without context. If only this system is difficult and all other is "too easy", there was only one difficult game ever in our world, PoE1, and there never will be a difficult game again for us to see.

 

Wether PoED is difficult will depend on the relation of healing and damage and the situations in which what is applyable and applied when. We should wait and play the game to the end.

[Double shield]

...

 

Maybe others will correct me on this, since I'm more of an enthusiast than an expert, but it's my understanding that this didn't happen in actual late medieval warfare - not that it *never* happened but that it was exceedingly unusual due to it being fairly redundant and occupying a hand at a time where polearms and other two-handed weapons were much more prevalent as a primary weapon. Maces and hammers usually acted as sidearms instead (flails are a more contentious subject since they were not common at all, to the point some argue that they weren't historically used in warfare). I also think you underestimate the capacity to parry and block with these weapons, as the shaft could be rather effectively used to deflect and parry, the heads could act as a hook, and the weapons were still fairly light even with their point of balance being more top-heavy - they're still pretty nimble weapons that only weigh about the same as an arming sword. Again, all this from my understanding since I don't claim to be an expert, but it's what I've gathered.

 

 

It happened for example at Flodden Field in 1513 AD where the heavily armored Scottish men-at-arms carried shields as an additional protection against arrows. But for the usual combat in the 15th c. and later you seem to be right. A complete plate armor was a very good protection (the relation of plate armor protection in this game compared to other armor hurts) and shields could be replaced by better alternatives.

 

To the topic, a shield is a great protection device (the relatively low performance of shields in this game hurts), but two shields were even more stupid than dual wielding arms.

[Why I think a fully voiced PoE:Deadfire is a mistake]

There is some truth in what you wrote. But personally I think after suffering through the repetitionsrepetitionsrepetitions... in DOS2 I can also survive them in PoED. Voiced actors make some sense for me, I liked it in DOS2 in the end.

 

What would make me reconsider even buying PoED would be voiced narrator story telling which could not be disabled separately.

[Who else is doing there first playthrough with all single class?]

I don't have beta access and I'm not very experienced with PoE gameplay and the multi-classes are a bit baffling. However, I have a party with as few magic as possible in mind (I don't like mages). I plan to have a fighter, priest and chanter, possibly single class. Maybe a ranger in addition. But for my main I want 16th c. fashion pistols and rapier/shield combined with low armor and I tend to use a fighter/rogue mix for it. Maybe it's a silly party but I'll try. 

[Trying to figure out how faith/religion works in Pillars. (POE1 spoilers)]

Interesting question. Additional question: what/who created the gods?

 

Generally gods in games are quite often strange entities and the systems not well thought out. However, Latin "religio" in the original sense meant  "thinking of" or "to regard" or "to pay attention" in the way of following some given rules. In this sense it can also (or even better) work for the common superhero-game-gods which are not results of human imagination but "real".

[Deadfire will have FULL Voice over. It's ON!]

 

 

Only the intro, end game, and major story scripted interactions get voiced narration. Ordinary conversations (even important ones) don't have voiced prose.

 

I wasn't really talking about voiced prose (only). I dislike narrators in general, anywhere, including “major scripted interactions”, as they break my immersion really hard for whatever reason.

 

Interesting. I found the narrator in DoS 2 to be spectacular and a fresh welcome.

 

I would usually roleplay character voices in my head, along with any narrator bits, but I loved the narrator in DoS2. Wouldn't mind the same type of thing in Deadfire. It's like having a DM overseeing the whole thing...

 

 

A matter of taste. I deeply dislike voiced narratives and was extremely happy that you could disable it in DOS2. I hope they'll have a similar button in PoED?

[Am I the only one who dislikes portraits (as a concept)?]

I prefer 2d painted portraits, as long as they look realistic to a certain degree and can be easily modded, with which I mean you can make your own ones. I will exactly do this for certain chars, with DAZ Studio in my case.

[A Messy & Broken Launch]

I was never affected much by bugs, f.e. Skyrim or Fallout 4 were for me mainly bugfree from the start. Many bugs perhaps I even did not notice. No reason to delay.

 

The "forums war" is an important part of games, so waiting would mean you could not follow and judge about the rants and complaints starting right after release. Who would like to skip such amusement?

 

Lastly, I'm mildly hyped to play the game. Luckily I'm not in the beta, so I'm curious. I could even wait for a long time and ignore the new edition and meanwhile play PoE (which I started only recently), but the weather on the isles looks nicer, so I will jump to PoED on day one.

[rogues do not suck]

Sounds good. And who should care for armor as rogue?

 

The most important question however: can you run around barefoot? My pirate rogue has to.

[Is anyone concerned about Multiclass/Single Class Balance?]

Exactly. In multiplayer you have to do all the strange stuff, so that a guy with a big knife is balanced to one with a M16 rifle. In SPG I really don't care and luckily they are the only games I play meanwhile. I don't think they will make a class absolutely useless.

[Do most people really play the hardest difficulty level?]

I usually play on the hardest difficulty that does not enforce artificial restrictions on you. I mainly play story driven games only one time, so I have to get it right soon. So as example, I play Legendary in Skyrim (actually I play Requiem but doesn't matter) because it is just stats adjustment and changeable midgame, but I play Survival in Fallout 4 only because there are mods to get rid of meta-restrictions. I don't play Tactician in DOS2 because of the artificial restriction to not be able to change it (ok, I switched to it during playing, I have to confess, break of the rules...).

 

That means for Deadfire I will start as "Veteran" (although I'm not, I played PoE only a little bit) and switch to "Classic" if encounters will appear too hard to me on the longer run. I like a challenge but I also have another life. I will not play PotD because you cannot change difficulty (at least it is this way in PoE, isn't it?).

[Player sexual companion]

 

If I disapproved of the existence of redheads and didn't want them anywhere my fictional character in a video game, so I asked about a toggle to make them properly dark-haired instead, people would say I'm nuts. But wanting to switch off people who happen to prefer their own gender, or both genders, is apparently still a thing we're doing.

This is a false equivalence.

 

...

 

 

No, it's not. It was a polite and reserved manner to hint at the problem. Had he/she used racial, gender or politcal aspects as examples, it would have become clearer but maybe offensive. It is at the core the attitude of making the world as you like it by getting rid of people, in our nice game environment: by changing them, which was criticized.

 

To the rest, I do not really care. They can make ambivalent characters with interchangeable sexuality according to the players behavior, a very efficient kind of game design, or create true characters with restricted sexual orientation, straight, homosexual and bisexual, as the reality is. In the latter case however I would prefer an additional way of creating a preferred "partner" besides the normal companions. The mercenary system is a good way for this. It also simulates reality because why should the player character pick only from the "ugly"companions? They have the personality, great, but lack the body ... 

 

To Anders et al., I did not understand the "hype" around him. BTW belonging to a minority does not make one a better human. So there can be jerks in any group. 

[Does anybody else make full custom parties for schizophrenic role playing?]

I've been guilty of this, though lately roleplaying opportunities are becoming rarer. I like to conscript characters from books I've loved (usually all from the same book) and sort of treat that game like a continuation if it shares enough similarity.

 

It seems as though a lot of contemporary developers like to dictate the experience they want players to have, and most characters in RPGs are already more defined than I would prefer. Like in Fallout 4. I could name my character Rick Deckard, I could make him look reasonably like a young Harrison Ford. I could run around in with a trenchcoat, fedora, and pistol (edit: I even restricted myself to only taking perks which suggested he was a replicant and not really human at all, running around with a skinjob Curie). I could adopt a combat and quest play style sort of reflective of his general personality. . .But then every dialogue exchange and cinematic would just ruin the illusion (especially how every choice was 1.) I will do this 2.) I will do this 3.) I will do this, or; 4.) I will do this later. . .and then that terrible voice)

 

The problem of Fallout 4 is that you are a father or mother searching for your kidnapped child. Which never pleased me, I like to make my own story. I have four digit hours playtime in FO4 meanwhile and never ended the main story. Thanks to mods and the construction of the world you can use the game for other purposes than story questing. Not many games allow this. For example I never really played a Witcher game (I tried No. 3) because I don't want to be the witcher.

 

I consider to make a party without magic for PoED. I don't like mages. Isn't it crazy?

[Fearmongering thread]

What I am  really really concerned about is that the Firearms have no safety switch. What if I am walking around Eora and my Blunderbuss accidentally goes off and blows my foot off or even worse blows my balls off!

 

We need a safety switch mechanism on the the firearms in this game!!

 

And can just anyone buy a firearm? i think procedures should be put in place so only those aged 21 and above can purchase them. Some kind of official licencing system.

 

I heard that you cannot use firearms if playing in Europe, except you live in Switzerland. And if you are in the UK you also cannot use bows, knives, swords, maces or any other stuff which resembles a weapon (also magic is forbidden).

 

I also heard that you play through the entire game in about 5 hours (the beta is the whole game actually, but some areas will be cut out for release).

 

Nevertheless it will be a good game.

[Best Quests from Other Titles]

I think good and complex stories are found in books. That said, I especially liked several stages in the main quest of Morrowind, the first small quest which sent me into a Dwemer ruin in Morrowind, the jouney into the deep in DA II (although I did not like the game as a whole), exploring Markaths deeps in Skyrim or dealing with a ghoulified child from a refrigerator in Fallout 4. And many others where certain parts are remarkable or funny, f.e. the can factory search in Fallout 4, yummy yummy. I don't like the Witcher but the three-big-witch-monsters-in-the-swamp-quest in Witcher 3 remained in my memory, too.

[On heavy armor and recovery.]

I think that hide armor is really ugly in Deadfire - at least in the beta.

 

Are there pictures available?

 

When shooting a bow, armor is a hindrance, the stiffer, the more. I would like "armor" for lightly clad chars which looks like Tekehu's stuff, basically just a kilt or loincloth. It's actually hot on the islands, isn't it?

 

BTW, heat management would have been a good way to balance armor in addition to recovery. While you can move more or less unrestricted in fitting heavy armor, the heat balance can greatly decrease your fighting abilties over time, and even kill you (happened possibly to the Duke of York during the battle of Agincourt).

[On heavy armor and recovery.]

I hope on "normal" there is room for playing for visual reasons? Because that's what I want to do. My tank/fighter will wear plate, my damage/fighter and musketeer medium armor, my ranger from a backcountry tribe will be naked (~ loincloth, I think; some people may look better with full clothes, but not all  ), my casters will wear hide or cloth.

[Player sexual companion]

People quite often don't have enough distance to see the own bias. Hair color is a rather innocent example, you could create much more nasty cases.

 

I'm curious what the game will give us. And if there are no men or women I'd like or who'd like me I will search for a fitting mercenary and let imagination solve the problem.