Luckmann

Only cloak and amulets, they take up a shared "neck" slot or something like that. And yeah, it feels.. odd as hell. In the IE games, you could have amulets and cloaks at the same time.

I still have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. It's two different genres, on two different - mutually exclusive - platforms, aimed at two different markets. Really, I think you're blowing it completely out of proportion over a game that is mostly no-name to the market PoE is aimed at. Yeah, but still.. so? I'm still not seeing the issue. I'm sure there's other games that'll come out two days before and after that, too, and after that. And after that. But.. not only is it different markets and not only have apparently multiple people that are nothing short of RPG fanatics not heard of it, but more to the point, Bloodbourne isn't a PC release. On the other hand, Divinity was a great game, but yes, partly you're probably right. Now, let's see what other major RPG releases comes up on Steam (or the entire PC/Mac/Linux platform) in the same month as Pillars of Eternity.. uhmm.. Uhm.. apparently another AssCreed game is coming up? I guess that's.. something.

First, thanks for doing what the rest of us are too lazy to do, Ark. Second, I can't help but to feel that thematically, Stiletto and Dagger should change places. I'm not sure what it'd do to the balance of the groups, but Stiletto just feels more like a noble weapon while a random thug or ruffian would use a dagger. Edit: Also, it's no secret I want more groups.

Are you referencing an actual developer statement? I don't recall anything being said about this either way. I believe that is a "no" as in "No, there is no word".

Haven't even heard of it. I doubt there'll be much overlap, considering that PoE is as far from console peasantry as possible. The peasantry will get Bloodbourne and the rest will get Pillars of Eternity.

Yeah, I dont think these dragons are directly comparable to hundreds of feet tall interplanetary Gods that uses dream-inception to manipulate people. But manipulation should be possible to pull off anyway... However, since you invoke the animal-part, we risk getting bogged down in a discussion concerning exactly what intelligence is and how it works. What I mean is that if intelligence is an inborn capacity separate from stuff like working memory and a language center, you'd probably end up with dragons actually being less intelligent than (grown) people in practice. Actually, intelligence beyond the ability to communicate (and recieve) knowledge, beyond abstract conceptual systems, or the human ability to imagine alternative scenarios is probably difficult to convey because it could not exist in any meaningful form? Well I'd argue that it can exist in a meaningful form, just that.. well.. it depends on what someone means with meaningful. To the dragon, I'm sure that it's intelligence is meaningful, I mean, it's ability to reason, it's ability to figure out incredibly complex models, abstract thinking, raw IQ if you want. But I guess if meaningful entails actually relaying that to humans, to us, in a way that matters, then yeah, that's the problem. If it doesn't actually matter to us if it's intelligent, if it will not communicate and if it will behave little different than a feral creature, then what relevance is it's supposed intelligence to us, and if it is irrelevant to us, can we really consider it intelligent? Is "They are more intelligent than most other sentient beings [...]" even worth mentioning? It could have the best language centre in the world, and wouldn't matter if it's not going to engage in conversation (or maybe, like many animals, they can learn languages, but they are simply incapable of forming the words). It's making that intelligence relevant without falling into the D&D/Shadowrun idea of dragons that is a real challenge. The exact definition of intelligence is irrelevant (I personally think the only relevant definition of intelligence is IQ, because it's meaningful and measurable, while most other "definitions" are largely subjective). ...I really want to capture myself a PoE dragon now and see how it fares doing some basic tests. Push button, receive cow.

One way of doing it is in a Lovecraftian style. Many of the Cthulhu mythos entities are intelligent beyond any human ability to comprehend, which is conveyed by creating a feeling that you (or the protagonist) is at most a pawn in some large game of terrible hyper-intelligent minds (outside and beyond your own main story). When done well it can be quite unsettling and creates a sense of mystery. Basically the narrative need only imply a big scheme which will leave players theorizing on what is actually going on etc. The problem of using conversation to convey higher intelligence is that the conversation still needs to be comprehensible and thus within grasp of human intelligence, which, at most, creates the feeling that the dragon is of higher human intelligence. Well part of that is also being manipulated, by insanely (literally) powerful beings of the incomprehensible void. And dragons in PoE are (as far as we know) not really that powerful, and they'd still have to manipulate through intermediaries, and they don't seem to really want to do that, they don't seem to be the type. That's the exact kind of scenario I could see the DnD or Shadowrun dragons attempt to pull off (although maybe not as eerily as Lovecraftian horrors), manipulating, scheming, working through intermediaries four steps removed, giving orders behind the scenes, etc. I'm just not feeling those vibes here at all. I'm seeing and reading "extremely intelligent animal", and we as humans have a very hard time reconciling the intelligent with the animal, and an equally hard time conveying it, I would expect. I may be completely wrong here, I don't know.

It's Friday, though. I'd be very surprised if it'd come out today. The fact that BAdler is online but hasn't said anything could just mean that he's pushing off telling us. No-one likes making people disappointed, especially when we've got such sweet puppy-eyes.

I wouldn't actually consider Firkraag (props for spelling it right) optional high-risk/high-reward, but the latter parts of Watcher's Keep definitely is. It's pretty much a tacked-on super-dungeon that is completely optional and contains some of the best loot in BG2/ToB, as well as a mountain of experience. So yeah, while it's hard to give specifics right now, like has been said, there are definitely optional areas in the game, plenty of them, even, and they're not tied to the main story itself (but certainly to side-stories and sidequests) and.. whatever, the answer is pretty much yes, to your actual question. That being said, I'm not sure how challenging they'll be. Firkraag-level? Certainly some. Demigorgon-level? Eeeh, I wouldn't be too sure. But the game also features a pretty hilarious difficulty system that will definitely favour those that like it hard (or those that like it really easy), and it's certain to make those "really" (I use "really" very loosly, because I have no idea how hard they are) significantly harder.

True. I remember giving my druid/fighter 18 str and being disgusted when his winter wolf shape shift reduced it down to 13 (or something like that). I don't really understand why it's hard to balance. Can't you just add a little to the druids physical stats? It's a real pity. I'm not a big druid fan but I would have considered rolling one if the shape-shifting was decent. It should be a cool "trump card" ability that can turn a battle around when you're out of spells and wounded. HA! Could have been Good Fun! Well, yeah, you could just add a little to the druid's physical stats, but at the same time, you want the shapeshifting to be meaningful, to actually change the character from one thing to another. It's been a problem in a lot of mediums and games at different points in times, and I honestly can't think of a game (PnP or Vidya) that pulls this off very well. Either the druid is too flexible, and outclasses others. Or it's gimped with the rationale that it's flexible. Or shapeshifting is just terrible and never gets used. If you make shapeshifting too good, druids (as full spellcasters) will outclass other spellcasters simply because they can perform more functions or multiple roles (say, if we make the Bear Spiritshift too tanky, or the Wolf Spiritshift too rogue-y). If it's too bad, we get what we have now, where it just plain sucks. I want there to be a middle-road, but I'm not sure that there is one. At the same time, there are no classes in PoE with limited spellcasting (there's classes with spell-like effects, but for spellcasting, there's only really Priests, Wizards, Druids and - only arguably - Chanters). I think they should've made druids a class with more limited spellcasting, but with shapeshifting (into multiple forms, not just choose-1-on-creation) as the main focus and the focus of their class abilities. But that's just me, and I realize that it's far too late, I'm just musing, really.

Well the OP does say that "They are more intelligent than most other sentient beings, but their solitary nature prevents them from meaningfully interacting with others. " So even if they could possess or polymorph (which I doubt, for the following reason in relation to the narrative) I doubt they would, since they are most likely extremely antisocial to the level of direct hostility (at least towards other species). I really, really, really hope that with this approach to dragons, they really try to highlight their intelligence in the narrative, without making them scheming semi-social animals that shapeshift, possess or.. well.. talk. This is actually harder than one would think, but as humans, we really associate the ability to communicate (with us) with intelligence. Which makes perfect sense, I'm not saying we're doing it wrong, just that it's a challenge to say "Dragons are supremely intelligent" and then carry that through in a narrative fashion that remains meningful. After all, it doesn't matter if the game says "Dragons are supremely intelligent" if all it amounts to is them acting (as interpreted by us) virtually feral. From a narrative perspective, there'd be no difference between a "supremely intelligent dragon" and a "dumb as a door-knob dire koala", if all we do is fight them like another mob, and without speech or "intelligent" conversation (which, based on what has been said, dragons are unlikely to even want to partake in). Story-wise, I find the idea of an incredibly intelligent, incredibly powerful (large, muscular, winged, etc) opponent that is utterly unreasonable (antisocial, etc) that you cannot actually talk to - it just wants you dead, because you are on it's territory - to be very interesting. But to convey this, to make it intelligent (indeed, more intelligent than your character) yet unreasonable, animalistic yet on some level understandable, I.. I think that'll be really hard. I'm looking forward to seeing what they'll do with it, I really do, but odds are that it's "just" another "animal" to be put down, but even the tidbit about them actually being intelligent means that at least in the background, they are no mere wyrms, and that the subject can be revisited in expansions or sequels. Because I think it's really interesting.

Unless there's some surprise they've kept secret, we know that there's 8 full companions in the game and Grieving Mother is one of them. The other 3 are no doubt temporary NPC:s (like the two in the prologue) or just scrap.

The shadows are way, way, waaaaay off. I think lighting is an issue that they're working on, though. Also, that particular screenshot is at least a couple of builds old, so one can only hope that it looks better by now.

The "X may or may not be possibly useful under some arguable circumstances in dialogues"-argument is not a valid argument anywhere, because it is an unknown factor that is impossible to gauge, and all things being equal (which they are, since we don't know) they should be expected to have similar or identical overall impact. Now, there may be roleplaying reasons why you'd choose a certain Attribute over another, but if that is so, the player will choose those anyway, independent of whether the Attribute is optimized for the character or not, and presumably presumably wouldn't ask for advice in choosing between two Attributes to being with. Which, again, makes it a moot point.

Oh, so this is another one of those, "instead of fixing it, let's remove it, because it was potentially abusable"? The issue seems to lie deeply embedded in the Engagement system itself, and should be fixed with that system, not making Extended Reach weapons wonky and inconsistent. It is very unintuitive that weapons that some weapons have extended reach, but then suddenly when it comes to engagement, it doesn't apply. I'm freakishly tired of seeing everything moulded after the Engagement system to accommodate it and it alone, like it's the one mechanic that shouldn't be touched or questioned, a linchpin in the pillars of eternity. Edit: Oh lord, I just watched your vids, Sensuki. Even if that particular abuse isn't applicable anymore, it really underlines some important issues with the system and highlights how absurdly stupid it looks that you get free, invisible and infinite attacks from Disengagement, even if we ignore the other issues. Edit 2: Aaargh, it looks so dumb, it looks so dumb, it looks so dumb. It's so dumb. I've been focusing on the issues of bogging down melee and completely locking down the battlefield for the player, and the fact that it turns combat into a static clusterblob, I never realized just how stupid the entire thing is, since if you know about it, you won't be subject to it that often. But it's just so dumb and so unintuitive. I want to claw my brains out and make it into tomato sauce, the Engagement system as it works burns brain cells I'll never get back.

While it'd be crazy to do a console port, on multiple levels, it'd be hilarious to see a console port with completely botched controls, like basic functions missing, changed keymaps where they don't make sense, reversed camera controls, and topping it off with quick-time events for pausing. And of course capping the whole thing at 30 FPS, removing most AI elements and downgrading the graphics intensively. Just to watch the console peasantry cry and go ballistic over things the PC gaming master race have had to deal with for over a decade.

Dex is currently bugged, so if you are comparing Per to Dex, Perception wins out by default. Currently, you actually get slower with higher Dex, and faster with lower. If that is fixed and the bonuses unchanged, Dexterity wins out hands down. Perception's pretty gimp once you fix the bugs.

I figured. But a strange stat to see on a consumable. I can't imagine anyone using this. Well +10 Endurance for 600 secs isn't too shabby, and the added fatigue is even timed, meaning that you could get away with it without getting tired, or only being tired for a while. The -Focus makes sense, too. I mean, it's practically a narcotic, after all.

Aside from most of these examples looking stupid, I agree with the sentiment. Fist-weapons almost always gets a raw deal because they can never figure out how to make bare-knuckled/fist-weapons interact mechanically, it seems.

You're stating an opinion as fact. S..so are you?! Actually, him stating that you were stating an opinion as fact, is not an opinion stated as fact, it is just a fact. This, was also just a fact.

Still not seeing it. It has been explained to you in detail.

"Working as designed." Those dreaded words of all things broken.

And that base +10 Accuracy isn't really stellar to begin with.

You do realize that last part about manual install was sarcasm, right? I do, and my post was to clarify that I actually consider it important, not just a token thing.

Probably. I mean, I kinda get it, shapeshifting is probably hard as balls to balance properly. But at the same time, you should probably sell it as a primary party of a class if it's a thing. Not just something tacked on to the side and then make the rest shine. If there's active shapeshifting, that should be the main thing, the big star, and thus balanced with all other abilities of other classes in mind. Druids are balanced around being.. well.. druids, naturalist spellcasters. They probably shouldn't have been. They should have been modeled around shapeshifting, with minor magic at best.