Verde

Honestly I'd take the text heavy PoE over the fully voiced and shallow dialogue trees of Deadfire. I am a big proponent of brevity (and love that quote) but Deadfire does too much of a 180 imho. A balance is prob best. I'd like to note that the DLCs, esp Forgotten Sanctum, are major steps in the right direction however.

Wow.... since release? Obsidian seems to have dropped the ball when it comes to quality.... I mean, I love Obsidian's work, but virtually every game I can think of since they stopped being Black Isle Studios has had QA problems :-/ It's a shame bc there is quality underneath the layer of bugs, but it can be hard to take at times.

Whatever you say Monty. Have a good day.

Explanations do not need to be absolute. You can merely explain your findings, as you've done above, understanding that a definitive conclusion may never be reachable.

So what is the difference? Explaining can be an output of examining. You examine and then you explain. But again it's just arguing semantics. It's still the same subject matter - why one game sold better than another. I'm still interested in hearing your response. If you cannot concisely (key word, concisely) explain the difference, than that is an inability on your part, not on the reader. But regardless, this is taking too much time. The topic title is "ideas for better sales" and you've provided none, only criticisms of semantics, saying you don't see an issue. Ironically in the PoE3 speculation thread you say PoE3 may never happen due to sales. So if that's not a problem, then I'm not sure what is. I think it's best of we just ignore each other going forward. Good day.

Everything you say applies to you. You refuse to accept any accountability for things you say, right here in quote texts. There isn't a single topic I don't see you trying to "correct" and deconstruct people's semantics in lieu of the topic at hand. Until you stop doing that I will be right there, standing up to your bullish, avoidant ways.

Monty you literally said this above, so I'm not sure what you are talking about. Please refer to a dictionary for the difference between examining and explaining. You're embarrassing yourself here. Please stop it. Semantics and petty insults. An obvious indication you've lost this argument. I suggest putting a stop to your constructive criticism till you learn how to to be clear and sensicle.

Monty you literally said this above, so I'm not sure what you are talking about.

Don't shoot the messenger. A simple browse of Metacritic will show you, plus research into all the accolades it's received.

If only your arguments were sound as well. There's no way to examine why one game sells better than another? That "argument" is just as general and vague as the ones you are trying to help. Ofcourse it can be done, it may be speculation or more objective in terms of quality or target audience, but it can be done on game boards or by the companies themselves. What kinds industry would it be if this basic analysis isn't done? I'm not sure you're in a capacity to speak for the entire game industry which is the root of the issue...a general, blanket statement like that has zero merit. It's your opinion with little basis provided. Secondly, your comparison is irrelevant. We are talking about comparing two video games, not an absolute like the impossibility of flying to the moon in a balloon. A more apt comparison would be, comparing why two products, say vacuum cleaners, sold differently. Was it price, quality, or marketing differences? Those are potential reasons. And in the spirit of debate, I'll give you one of the reasons why Divinity sold better - Co Op. The macro trend of the industry is more multiplayer, more ways to enjoy games with others. Also, being heralded as one of the best RPGs ever is another. Sure Deadfire won awards but I have not seen the same level of media attention that Divinity 2 got. So there are some reasons worthy of discussion.

Well, what are your solutions? It's even easier to criticize someone else without offering your own solutions. Let's hear em and I hope they are specific enough. Your argument does not work at all. It is entirely reasonable to point out that someone's suggested solution to a problem is clearly too vague (like in this case) or even wrong. Whether you yourself can solve the problem is not relevant. (Someone says: "Let's fly to the moon on a hot-air balloon." Someone else says: "You can't do that, mate." This is a fair point to make, even if the second person cannot say how to fly to the moon.) As for my solutions: there aren't any. I don't even think there is a problem. So your intent was to come in here and criticism with no thoughts of your own? Odd.

What are your solutions?

That my friend, is the question of the century. I only played a little, but I hated Divinity Original Sin 2's cheesy humor. I'd love to see a long side-by-side comparison review by someone who has played both games to the end. I don't say this to be a hipster, but I find DOS2 unplayable. The tone was just...so cringey. And the "logic" behind quest resolutions escaped me.

Oops

I've wondered...what is the difference between casting from a scroll vs. innate spell abilities? Is there much of a scaling difference?

Yep, it's a super creepy bug. Been experiencing it since release, however the last two playthroughs I did actually fight "it".

Literally.

In general, the main thing holding us back is ourselves

Forgotten Sanctum with all the excellent writing and lore and fights makes me hungry for a PoE3 even more. Reading the library books alone was a joy.

As you said though, meta knowledge is very handy - I'd say it's required. So that rules out new and maybe casual players. And by the time you have enough meta knowledge to meticulously manage multiple grimoires, couldn't you just customize a spell set based on one or two grimoires for most encounters? Sure you can swap against unique encounters, but for the most part wouldn't a balanced spell set work? Otherwise you are swapping grimoires with a potential for redundancies. Unless you are saying don't pick any spells at level up which is unrealistic, requiring an academic understanding of the game that shouldn't be asked of a gamer. If you're saying that grimoires allow reduced spells picked on level up, I can buy that, and is certainly food for thought.

I feel like a lack of Empower is a huge disadvantage of a Blood Mage since you can usually get off a devastating Empower AoE prior to combat starting. For a nuker, it's a deal breaker for me. Also, a Druid with Great Maelstrom is prob the best nuker, bc Meteor Shower has meh range the Missle Salvo is powerful but small AoE. Maelstrom is a hilariously powerful ability that in my experience kills almost everything when Empowered. My take on the subject.

Which is truly bizarre lol a new player would have no idea what to do without looking it up.

Here it is - https://support.obsidian.net/article/39-how-do-i-start-the-forgotten-sanctum-dlc

Berath has a really annoying curse fyi. Good luck!

I really didnt notice any tbh but like I said, Godlike is where the reactivity is.