benjas

Hello, fellow adventurers! I am a student at the University of Oslo in Norway. As a fervent POE fan, I have decided that I want to start a series of fan diaries (preferably monthly), where I discuss game design, narrative choices and the setting of Eora. The goal for the project is to stimulate forth interesting discussion regarding the POE games, and produce new and cool thoughts for the dev team to consume in the process of creating new content for the (hopefully) upcoming Pillars of Eternity 3. I will try not to spam ideas for plot, as doing so might hamper the devs creative freedom. For this month I want to discuss what might be a controversial stance regarding what I consider POE2`s big mistake: Neketaka. In creating Neketaka it is obvious that the dev team was inspired by BG2`s Athkatla. Athkatla was in many ways the best metropolis in the RPG genre, it was huge, vibrant and dynamic. But it was not the amount of zones alone that made Athkatla great, it was how the quests and events were connected across zones and time (several acts) to make the city feel alive. Neketaka attempts to copy this formula and only partially suceeds. One option would be to make the city bigger, and that could have been done in an expansion (and that might have been more popular among the fans, than the current somewhat disconnected expansions). Another option would be to undertake the challenge of making quests and events more dynamic, reactive to player agency and connected. Quests that change and alter the game world would be a great idea, events should shape and alter the game. Leaders should rise and fall, new people should arrive, others leave, and buildings should be destroyed and created through player agency and events. This constitutes the part of having several acts. Having an early main game and than a brief and disconnected endgame is not enough. Also, the devs should consider an substantial epilogue act in their new games. Players demand more from narratives these days, and having the opportunity to revisit the differents parts of the game world to see how their choices (throughout the game, and at the crucial climax or bos fight) have affected them would satisfy many players. The best example of doing this right in a narrative is the Lord of the Rings. The story didn`t end when the ring was destroyed, the reader got to witness Aragorn`s coronation and the scouring of the Shire. This leads to my analysis of Neketaka as a mistake. An option to having a big sprawling metropolis would be to have several cities. This could be done in this way: imagine having four cities instead of just one. Upgrading Port Maje, Dunnage and Sayuka to major cities, with the factions spread out into each. Queen`s Berth could be "moved" (in size of content, not actually the zone) to Port Maje, the Brass Citadel to Sayuka and etc. Having several cities would (if done right), make the world feel bigger and more alive. Quests could send the player back and forth on missions and jobs, each city could idealize the philosophy of each faction, and give the player a sense of a real choice between alternatives, not just choosing which flavor prevails. The worst example of player agency being reduced to a sorry state, is the anti-climactic color choice endings of Mass Effect 3. Choice between factions should have massive implications in the game world, and preferably factions should have different endings entirely. All factions racing for Ukaizo isn`t fun, having the Huana wanting to capture Ukaizo and making the Huana great again (sic), while the Principi wants to raid and pillage the towns (Port Maje and Sayuka), but then the Vailians wanting to infiltrate and negotiate control over all the other factions, while the Rauataian RDC ending would be invading and conquering Neketaka, that would be fun. The maritime shipbased nature of Deadfire would also be improved as having several cities would better justify the naval element and the point of actually travelling in the game. Each city should have had about three major districts each to work. For the example of Port Maje, it would require the Port Maje docks, the equivalent of Queen`s Berth and a third new zone to feel sufficiently large enough to be experienced as a "city". Another feature could be caravan quests where the player would ferry cargo between cities, engage in merchant intrigues for the best deals, and avoid pirates on the prowl for prizes. This gameplay would be a welcome alternative to the somewhat grind-like experience of pirate bounties. Bounties are great, but only interacting with pirates to collect bounties are not great. Having commerce represented in the game would make the maritime world of the Deadfire feel more vibrant and living. Metropolis cities are great, but they are not the only option. For Deadfire perhaps having several cities instead of just one, might have been a better design choice. But having at least one major city in the games is a must. The devs should consider having several spread out cities instead of just one metropolis. Adopting this idea for a sequel game: how about having the Rauataian capital Takowa, one of the major five Vailian republic cities and one Aedyran city in the same game and a Indiana Jones style world map, fast travelling between the regions, with each region holding many zones. Not everyone will agree on which options is best for an RPG, and not everyone will agree spread out cities would be better for the maritime Deadfire. I still think such an option would better suit the Deadfire region, the maritime gameplay and the game. I do of course consider it a possibility that the developers have already considered this, and chose to go with one singular big city. Regardless, I would welcome hearing both the devs and the fans thought on this subject. Preview for July: Eidomancer (Eidolon + mancy), a new class having ghosts as companion pets (aka hunter pets), the ability to mind control enemies through having the ghosts possessing them, and finding ghosts as collectables. Gotta catch them all! Signing out for now. Friendly regards, from Benjamin