Achilles

I thought this was the petty thread. My mistake.

Welcome to the Internet. Is this your first time here? I think there is an seat open over there. Oh so you’re admitting that you’re confusing opinions with facts? Very coolForums are based in opinions. I'm not going to write out "imho" to help you differentiate. You seem to have real issue with this, does it take away from your enjoyment at all? Forums are venues for discussion. What form that discussion takes can vary. Some forums are “based on” facts. But I digress. Does the fact that other people who want additional challenge from the game and that Obsidian has provided it (with the hint of possible future recognition) take away from my enjoyment of the game? No, it sure doesn’t. Do I think it would take away from anything that Obsidian may have planned for those who are completing these if they were to suddenly allow “tourists” to “play at” completing them? I sure do. So you're going by your opinion, not facts? Very cool. lol Your big close would have actually been clever if my post was making the same mistake as yours. I’m not the one confusing preferences with evidence of bad design and then venting my spleen about it.

Welcome to the Internet. Is this your first time here? I think there is an seat open over there. Oh so you’re admitting that you’re confusing opinions with facts? Very coolForums are based in opinions. I'm not going to write out "imho" to help you differentiate. You seem to have real issue with this, does it take away from your enjoyment at all? Forums are venues for discussion. What form that discussion takes can vary. Some forums are “based on” facts. But I digress. Does the fact that other people who want additional challenge from the game and that Obsidian has provided it (with the hint of possible future recognition) take away from my enjoyment of the game? No, it sure doesn’t. Do I think it would take away from anything that Obsidian may have planned for those who are completing these if they were to suddenly allow “tourists” to “play at” completing them? I sure do.

Welcome to the Internet. Is this your first time here? I think there is an seat open over there. Oh so you’re admitting that you’re confusing opinions with facts? Very cool

“I don’t like a thing” = bad design. Who knew?

I like your optimism, but I don’t share it. They would get roasted if they extended the level cap without adding new abilities, etc.

If 100 people buy your game, maybe half will buy your DLC also. Only 10 will finish both. Why would you drop a bunch of resources trying to account for something 90% of your players aren’t going to see or care about? Besides, Obsidian is adding Megabosses for people who can’t bear to be high level for anything other than the last 10 minutes of the game.

It could only be easily inferred if one ignored everything else the studio was saying on the subject. Which is just another way of phrasing dog_days' vastly superior post above.

Yeah, they were very upfront about not adding companions in the expansions. Where? Everybody keeps saying how obvious it was, but I don't remember hearing this and feel like I've followed the game's development reasonably well. Then you clearly remember the many times they mentioned how expensive and lengthy and complicated the companion implementation process is. Sure sounded like, “don’t get your hopes up” to me. Especially since they said it every time the topic came up *shrug* Taken with the other comments being made (see above), I don’t see how that would be a reasonable assumption to make. “Upgrading” a companion was something they consistently said was expensive, time consuming, and expensive. smh. Ok. Yeah, there's really no need for the condescension. During the Twitch Q&A from four months ago that I was referencing, Josh Sawyer was directly asked if any sidekicks would be fleshed out into full companions in the upcoming DLCs. His answer at 31:03: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/261766778?t=31m03s Does that sound like "don't get your hopes up" to you? I'm terribly sorry that I am disappointed about something that you're not disappointed about, but no - when the director of the game himself hints that strongly that the developers are listening to a specific request for content, it's not unreasonable for players to hope to see that content make it into the game. What would be odd would be insisting repeatedly that this has been a hard "no" at every stage when Josh Sawyer is on tape not coming anywhere close to ruling out the possibility when specifically asked. You did this once before and I replied with the full quote for context. Alll he says is that they are aware that this is what people want. That is literally *all* he says. It's the equivalent of a parent telling a child, "I heard you" after the 15 millionth request for a pony.

Yeah, they were very upfront about not adding companions in the expansions. Where? Everybody keeps saying how obvious it was, but I don't remember hearing this and feel like I've followed the game's development reasonably well. Then you clearly remember the many times they mentioned how expensive and lengthy and complicated the companion implementation process is. Sure sounded like, “don’t get your hopes up” to me. Especially since they said it every time the topic came up *shrug* Taken with the other comments being made (see above), I don’t see how that would be a reasonable assumption to make. “Upgrading” a companion was something they consistently said was expensive, time consuming, and expensive. smh. Ok.

I think "shooting themselves in the foot" is a little strong. First, Pillars 1 had too many companions. Understandably, they "had" to cover all the classes, so 11 companions makes sense from a certain perspective, but that justification doesn't hold up in Deadfire due to multiclassing. Second, "interesting" is completely subjective. Yes, the Pillars 1 crew had some witty banters, but I do think there's more depth to it in Deadfire. Maybe that's not your thing and that's ok, but I don't think it was a mistake or a failure. Third, as someone who has ditched Xoti for a hireling, I can 100% confirm that sidekicks have value. They may not be as vocal as companions, but they aren't mute. They don't come out of the box 1 level behind, never to catch up. They don't share assets with ship crew members. Where I do agree with you is that the deeper companinon relationship system isn't finished baking yet. It needs more work. And they defintely need to go back to their "no romance unless it can be done well" policy. Exceot that the companions AREN'T deeper or more interesting than in PoE1. All the relationship thing has done is make me read, "Aloth raises an eyebrow." About 5,000 times. This adds NOTHING to his character. Apples and oranges. There are the companions, and then there are their interactions (which is more than just the admittedly poorly implemented bits of prose thrown in during dialogs)

Quite right. Eder, Aloth, and Xoti cover the “core four” (Fighter, Healer, Mage, Rogue) with one slot open for the faction of the player’s choice (Serafen, Maia, Pallegina, or Tekehu). Lastly, the sidekicks are rough approximations of the companions, in case you want to ditch someone who annoys your or need to replace someone who leaves the party.

That’s great for the end game, but it’s still a bit of a drag for the rest of it.

I think "shooting themselves in the foot" is a little strong. First, Pillars 1 had too many companions. Understandably, they "had" to cover all the classes, so 11 companions makes sense from a certain perspective, but that justification doesn't hold up in Deadfire due to multiclassing. Second, "interesting" is completely subjective. Yes, the Pillars 1 crew had some witty banters, but I do think there's more depth to it in Deadfire. Maybe that's not your thing and that's ok, but I don't think it was a mistake or a failure. Third, as someone who has ditched Xoti for a hireling, I can 100% confirm that sidekicks have value. They may not be as vocal as companions, but they aren't mute. They don't come out of the box 1 level behind, never to catch up. They don't share assets with ship crew members. Where I do agree with you is that the deeper companinon relationship system isn't finished baking yet. It needs more work. And they defintely need to go back to their "no romance unless it can be done well" policy.

I love how people treat this as news even though they've been saying this all along.

I wonder if this explains the engwithan tablet in Rinco's house that shows up as of 2.1

Keen eye for detail ya got there. FWIW, the post in question was referencing my 4th playthrough, which put me over the 400 hour mark for Deadfire. So congratulations, your record for opening your mouth without knowing what you’re talking about is still safe and intact.

Nevermind that Obsidian’s initial game took Star Wars and turned it on it’s head. The people who loved it said that they enjoyed seeing the tropes subverted. Of course it was Avellone doing the subverting, and obviously he’s the only one capable of doing this, so Obsidian should be ashamed for even trying (because if Avellone wrote this exact same game, everyone would be talking about how great it is)

Right. My bad for assuming that the people clamoring for an increased level cap wanted more than to see the little number go up. Yes, the cost of developing new abilities, creating animations for them, several QA passes for balance, a narrative pass or two for higher level skill checks, etc is what I was referring to. It's a psychological effect. Seeing a little number go up would be sufficient to keep some people actively engaged in the game when they would otherwise loose interest. Meanwhile, I hit level 18 when I reached Ukaizo in my last playthrough. *shrug* Bloody speedrunners *shakes fist* Hehe, not quite. Narrative-focused player who’s trying to determine exactly how much of the game is filler.

??? Are you assuming that each DLC is going to add 1/3 the XP as the base game? I think I got *a* level out of BoW ????????? 1) Later levels are worth more. You didn't go there at level 1. 2) It's more about time spent at a certain level than it is how many creatures or raw exp a certain area gives. This is the same reason games don't have levels 1 through 9 take 10 hours each and then have the final boss level take 100 hours on its own. 3) I spent like 30 hours to hit max level and then at least another 15 at max level in vanilla. I spent like 7 in Beast of Winter, already maxed. If the other two DLCs are also 7 hours each then I'd be at 30 hours to hit max and then 36 at max. This is neither a complicated nor a controversial perspective. All you have to do is look at the top 20 or so top RPGs of the last two-three decades. 1) "later levels are worth more". I'm not sure what that means. 2) This is a function of open world games where you have a ton of content that players *could* be doing anywhere between the end of act 1 and the start of act 3. If you don't like the trend, then encourage developers to stop chasing the sandbox. In the mean time, you're not *forced* to chase down every side quest and task. You do know this, right? 3) Oh. Powergamer. Nevermind. PS: the "top 20 or so RPGs of the last two-three decade" could mean anything depending on who you ask. Unfortunately, one of the best selling games in the last 10 years was Skyrim which had a classless system that eventually had to introduce a "legendary" mechanic to address people capping out abilities. So could we stop pretending that this is a "Deadfire" problem?

??? Are you assuming that each DLC is going to add 1/3 the XP as the base game? I think I got *a* level out of BoW

”Select All”

How does this account for the different roles that classes play (i.e. support vs striker)?

I suspect that we'll see this in PoE3

Right. My bad for assuming that the people clamoring for an increased level cap wanted more than to see the little number go up. Yes, the cost of developing new abilities, creating animations for them, several QA passes for balance, a narrative pass or two for higher level skill checks, etc is what I was referring to. It's a psychological effect. Seeing a little number go up would be sufficient to keep some people actively engaged in the game when they would otherwise loose interest. Meanwhile, I hit level 18 when I reached Ukaizo in my last playthrough. *shrug*