FlintlockJazz

Giving your crew rum does not make them pirates. The British Navy would ply their crew with rum, they actually had a rum ration, and calling them pirates would get you swinging from the gallows. They even supposedly used a barrel of rum to keep Admiral Nelson's body preserved. Most crews pirate or not drank while at sea because ship life was hard and it was the only thing to do. The crew at no point pressures you to pillage for treasure. Singing sea shanties (I'm guessing that is what you mean by behaving like pirates?) was done by all crews. It sounds more like you think being a sailor of the period automatically makes you a pirate??! As for the caribbean setting, you entered the game knowing the setting and complaining about it is like complaining about Skyrim including Norse stuff or that it isn't sci-fi...

The game has a giant head mode, now it needs a giant orlan mode!

No more card games. The actual card games played in taverns would be something like poker or black jack, not the card games we been getting that are more like Magic The Gathering tournaments. I am bored of Gwent and the like now, no more dear god no more. If we have to have something then something like Incendax suggested and throw knives at people's heads. Otherwise, I am going to burn the place down.

Hang on, you said first that there were tons of pirate games. Now you are claiming they don't sell. Make up your mind dude, which is it? Load of pirate games (which implies they do sell) or they don't sell and therefore not many of them? Stick to one claim. Sid Meier's Pirates sold fantastically so pirate games do sell, and we don't have the information as to how the pirate theme affected sales, we just have your personal taste that you don't like pirates, that's it. Just say, "I'd prefer not to have pirates because I don't like them", just as I am saying that I like pirates and hope they keep them in, that's all the 'facts' we have at this point. They're not necessarily contradictory claims, unless you genuinely believe that markets never get oversaturated (they do.) That's not to say Heldred is right - before believing such a claim, I'd want to see a breakdown of all Age of Sail-style games over the last decade with attached budget estimates, sales figures, price per unit, etc. But they're not necessarily contradictory claims. What I'd be willing to believe is that the majority of games with a strong Age of Sail flavor are not big hits ... but then, most games aren't big hits. I'd also be willing to believe that more success stories in gaming are fantasy RPGs of one stripe or another ... but then, gaming has been dominated by fantasy RPGs from the word "go," so that wouldn't be shocking. These question also get complicated when you consider other factors. Sid Meier's Pirates sold well, but how much of that is just that it comes from a well-established, experienced studio that has managed to become popular in both hardcore and semi-casual circles and has a marketing budget the exceeding the GDP of Grenada.[citation needed] What about games like Sunless Sea, which is in a lot of ways an Age of Sail game but also a weird gloompunk fantasy pastiche sharing a universe with a popular browser game? In general it's just really hard to make broad statements about genres because genres are so fluid in nature. It's complicated, is what it is. Yep I agree completely. The issue I had was that he seemed to claim people were making pirate games then went the other way and said that no one should make them because they are not profitable. I'd support the guy if he just said he doesn't like the pirate stuff in it, and even back him up if he had made a complaint like the poll didn't give an option for those who want neither for instance. I do think your point about most games are not big hits and that fantasy succeeds so well because there are so many being made. When an Age of Sail game fails it stands out more because there is less competition, when a Fantasy game fails it barely gets noticed and since there are so many of them at least some of them are going to succeed. I personally like to think there is a market for pirate games it's just that they still have to be good games (I do think Deadfire is a good game, I'm enjoying it anyhow). Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag sold more copies than Deadfire ever will. Ah yes Black Flag! I so wanted to like Black Flag, but the assassin stuff ruined it for me. I'm sure there are others who felt the opposite, that the piracy ruined a good assassin game (I'll have to go by others opinions on that since I am not a fan of Assassin's Creed games in general) but it does show that games with pirate influences can succeed.

Hang on, you said first that there were tons of pirate games. Now you are claiming they don't sell. Make up your mind dude, which is it? Load of pirate games (which implies they do sell) or they don't sell and therefore not many of them? Stick to one claim. Sid Meier's Pirates sold fantastically so pirate games do sell, and we don't have the information as to how the pirate theme affected sales, we just have your personal taste that you don't like pirates, that's it. Just say, "I'd prefer not to have pirates because I don't like them", just as I am saying that I like pirates and hope they keep them in, that's all the 'facts' we have at this point.

Really? Where? Particularly RPGs there are NOT that many pirate-themed games. Its a very underutilised genre. So no, I want more. If you want to complain about overused themes complain about the standard fantasy fare. If you don't personally like pirates, fine, but don't dress it up as something else, just say you don't like pirates and want your tastes to take priority over all games made rather than just buying the ones you like.

If i'm not mistaken, the Rauatai officer says that they have paperwork legitimizing the use of privateers against every target he gives, and that "they'll know we're at war when we stop handing in paperwork" or something like that. So it seems more like every faction implicitly agrees that using independent parties to eliminate enemy assets is ok, so long as the factions don't get directly involved. I was going to say the exact same thing and can confirm that you are not mistaken, including the line about knowing they are at war when they stop handing in the paperwork.

Yeah, when I saw the option to state what you did with the souls, the way it was phrased I didn't think it was being asked in character at all (it was the narrator asking you, not Berath, and she states what pacts you had made first almost like she is going over your choice for you to help remind you of your choice). Same sort of thing happened with Mass Effect if you remember, the save at the end of the first game occurs before the councillor choice so you can choose whether it is Udina or Anderson in the space taxi talk.

I am Flintlock Jazz and this is my favourite thread on the Obsidian boards.

Wish I could have voted for more than one favourite, as there is a number vying for that place. Eder won out here, but it depends a lot on my mood. Serafen was a surprise hit for me, not that I thought I would dislike him but rather that he would work his way into my heart so well, feel that he should be doing better and is probably a lot of people's second or third choice though I have nothing to base that on. Guess I have a thing for 'genial' characters, as both Serafen and Eder come across as rather genial to me, while still being witty and sarcastic. Maia ended up being most disliked, but that is simply because she is a bit boring tbh. Her openly spying on you is also not as witty as she seems to think. "I am going to be spying on you, just so you know." "Uh, great, get off my ship then..." Felt more attachment to the bird. Guess Kana managed to avoid the Rauataian Personality Drainer while she didn't. Not that I actually dislike her really though, its more "meh" than any negative feelings towards her. Tekehu wasn't as bad as I thought he would be, thought he would be my most disliked character but while he is not top rated character he isn't the worst either. Unlike Maia, he actually provokes reactions from me both good and ill, his arrogance rubs me up the wrong way but he is likeable enough that he gets away with it. Mostly I think I am overall happy with the characters mainly because none of them had plot armour or felt like the GM's pet character, unlike characters in other games like Morrigan in Dragon Age, resulting in the following situation: Morrigan: "You should have killed me when you had the chance." Me: "I would have done, repeatedly, but the game never gave me the choice, even now its letting you run off when I should be stabbing you right now, and there have been other situations where you should have died but plot armour stopped it."

To be fair, the urgent main questline issue is true of pretty much most open world games I can think of. Skyrim had the whole dragons thing, why would you wonder off to fiddle with Thieves' Guilds and the like while they are rampaging everywhere? Baldur's Gate 2 had the urgent issue that you needed to get Irenicus and then get your soul back... except you spent most of it hunting down skinflayers and helping each and every one of your companions solve their every little issue first. Most open world games have a main questline that seems to be mega urgent and completely breaks with the open world theme, I'd like it to be dealt with too but singling out one game for doing it over all the others doing it too is a bit unfair in my mind.

Is there a club that does slashing damage? Because as crush makes it unique for a sword slashing or other damage type could make it unique for a club (for instance, piercing for shards of obsidian you are stabbing into people)? EDIT: read the latest posts, in that case I definitely think slashing (or piercing!) damage for a club would be the best way to go personally.

Big junk mode incoming? Lol, knowing how people are I think it's safe to say that if devs won't do it officially sooner or later there'll be a nude mod floating around on Nexus. Yeah, first thought on learning this was "there'll be a mod to enable the rest of the party to be naked now" followed by "I wonder if Obsidian did this 'mistake' deliberately to encourage this very thing?" It is confirmed now that the models wouldn't need to be modified for it to work after all...

Resting was included originally in the IE games because it was a part of the tabletop experience that as others have said adds a strategic layer (managing resources between fights) and without it you lose a part of that tabletop experience a lot of us enjoy. I find it strange that when people encounter something they have a problem with rather than try to fix it they instead just demand its removal and the reduction of the experience. Instead of asking for it to be removed, why not look at how it can be improved? For instance, the tabletop version has people deciding on who is on guard, events that can happen while they are resting (not necessarily combat either), etc, maybe look at what can be implemented in a Pillars game (and which wouldn't work).

I'm gonna give my opinion based solely on lore and roleplaying and not what is best mechanics-wise, and suggest that Pale Elf is the better option race-wise and not just for the appearance. Geralt is a human, but he has been mutated which includes a longer lifespan, similar to that of Elves in Eora. He is also somewhat of an outsider in his world, while Pale Elves are an outsider and oddity race that is rarely seen in the greater world (supposedly). While you could tell yourself that a human may have extended his lifespan and done stuff to himself, it won't be shown in the game, and I always find it is better when trying to recreate a character in another game to adapt the character to the setting and game system and not warp the setting and game mechanics to the character. Just my two pennies-worth.

Unless I imagined it -which would not be unheard of btw- I believe it’s mentioned when discussing Galawain’s plan to use the Hollowborn souls to strengthen the souls of the people in the Dyrwood. If not then during discussion of the Autumn Stelgaer’s role of culling weak souls. New souls can be created, but I believe it is by a process of ‘thinning out’ existing souls as they go through The Wheel, rather than getting something for nothing. Well the first souls must have come from somewhere. Souls seem to regenerate as well, recovering their power without having to consume other souls so souls increasing in number via mitosis that results in two souls equally as strong as the original soul seems valid with 'twinned' souls being the result of the process not going quite right and leaving a connection between the two (otherwise most people in Eora would have to be twinned souls at the very least to account for the increase in population).

Adra is just a material which can store or manipulate soul, it is not form by soul. If use correctly you can siphon part of soul essence without doing harm, like what you can do to the dragon in Watershaper guild. But yeah, it has high potential to be abuse. However kith will abuse any resource anyway. Adra is that. Luminous Adra is Adra full of souls. That’s why they are specifically mining and fighting over Luminous Adra and nobody particularly cares about regular Adra. It’s also why it’s suggested they could not bother mining Luminous Adra and simply take the ‘soul energy’ directly from living people instead via sacrifice, like the Engwithans did. Eothas (himself made of Luminous Adra) is also using the Luminous Adra pillars as refueling stations if you need further proof, sucking the souls out of them to power his march across the Deadfire. It’s the souls which are providing the energy; the adra is merely a conduit. Presumably the Adra in the Deadfire is ‘Luminous’ because it’s where The Wheel is located. Souls are ‘pulled’ there and bunch up waiting their turn on The Wheel. Kith will abuse any resource, true, but the abuse of most resources doesn’t have the potential to destroy the ability for future generations to have souls. PoE 1 touches on the idea that as the population increases the available ‘soul energy’ has to be spread thinner, leading to weaker individual souls. Taking ‘soul energy’ out of the reincarnation system entirely for other uses (to power an industrial revolution say) will only worsen that effect, even assuming The Wheel were still operational. I don't recall it ever mentioning the soul energy having to be spread over a larger population, where is it mentioned? I recall it being said that new souls are actually created and that there was no fear of running out soon, rather the issue was that individual souls degraded over time when inbetween bodies.

Obviously you weren't committing acts of piracy. No no, proactive salvaging! You just keep coming across these flaming ships and, as the conscientious Watcher you go to rescue the cargo and crew. Unfortunately the crew always seem to fall into the sea with barrels full of rocks tied to their feet, but you know they wouldn't want their cargo to fall into the ocean but sold at a good port.

Depends what you want I suppose. The Dhow is faster, so it's easier to manoeuvre in combat if something special happens, like the enemy trying to escape. Largely this isn't an issue though, so then it's down to 2-turn jibes (180-degree turn) vs 3-turns with the galleon and junk. If you want combat to be over with as quick as possible, the junk is probably the best ship, as it has 5 cannons on each side. The galleon has 4 and the dhow 3. The Galleon has the superior hull with 120-base health, while the dhow and junk is equal with 80 base health (more with upgrades). The attached picture from another thread should help greatly POE2-Ship_stats.png PS: The base hit chance for the sloop (starting ship) is 50%. This is the enemy's chance to hit you, before other modifiers like crew ranks and distance. Thank you! It doesn't show all the ship stats when buying them so this is handy to have.

Hey, that's my navigator too! He's adorable, and his diet consists of seagulls. Mine too! Especially since Engrim keeps getting himself injured!

I have noticed the improvement in the music. Not to say the music in the first game was bad, it was good, but it seems to stand out more in Deadfire. There seems to be more variation between the tracks as well. From someone who knows next to nothing about music, two thumbs up!

On behalf of forums everywhere, I feel I must apologise. I actually feel personally responsible for this failure, as I did make a comedy post about them literally stealing pants and I love pirates and yet I did not put the two together. I am so disappoint in myself.

Trying to get into your pants? Well, they are mighty fine pants, and pantwear in the Deadfire is at a premium after every soiled their's after seeing a giant adra statue powered by a supposedly dead god wandered through. Though I suspect the pants market will crash like the dot com boom when people start realising they can just wash their old pants or make new ones.

Kasu the priest in Berath's temple in Neketaka was one of these I felt, in that the dialogue didn't seem to explain well what was going on (and he rambled on and on and the way he talked was so annoying I actually wanted him to hurry up and kill himself) or why so many of my dialogues seem to imply that I really wanted to go in there myself. and it is the only light we have !!!!!!!! Imagine..crawling in the dark and hitting your toe everytime ! Hey they say the same about Maia bird ! I suspect they wanna eat it! Well, I got Eder too with the Drogga saber, but yeah if it wasn't for those lights I could hardly see in some places! I would keep Xoti switched to her sickle and lantern sometimes just so I could see where I was going! Not that I disliked this, I actually wouldn't have minded it if they had given us more sources of light we could carry down there since I felt that it gave a proper dungeon feel, which reminds me should really try out the torches more.

Eh. DTC seems to be the only rationale actors in the area. A few discrete 'tidying up' of details (and a few people) seems a lot better than wholesale murder/slavery, destruction of souls, and/or wide-scale repression and literally feeding the bulk of the population garbage (and just murdering the ones that fall ill). Only if you think the colonization of India was a good thing (and if you do, you need to do some research into the state of india under British rule). They're out and out there to conquer the deadfire, are purposefully racist and dismissive towards the inhabitants, and self assured of their own superiority. We have real world history that shows us where that goes, and it is extraordinarily unpleasant. The Valians operate like a merchant republic. They aren't particularly interested in colonial rule. They want trade concessions, and they'll be ruthless about it, but they aren't in it to take over a place, and, ultimately, it leaves their control more fragile and less.... awful to the natives. The natives are just... eh. They're ****, but they're **** in a way that is probably less dicking themselves than other people would **** them, because they're all **** in the end. And the pirates are pirates. Like, yeah, they're bad people. Duh. I think you may have missed the part with the Duape where they not only tricked the natives into pretty much signing over their land and becoming slaves to the VTC, but the Vailians admit that it is pretty much Standard Operating Procedure for them and is how they are acquiring land and taking over. The East India Trading Company was supposedly just a trading company yet they were the tool of British colonialism in India.