Nakia

I don't see any where to add just random things you come across in the game so decided to start one. I was relaxing and just clicking on various NPCs when I ran across Meredith in one of the inns in Defiance Bay. Not much of a conversation but I did a double take. To be continued.

I gather that there are modern games with TB that people can play and like. How many modern games have RTwP that we who like RTwP can play? My point is that if there are already TB games why does PoE have to be TB to make you happy?

First I wish people would remember that BG SoA was the second game of the series and PoE is the first and the devs had a lot tod building the game from scratch. Comparing it to BG 2 in my not so humble opinion just is not fair. In the documentary "Road to Eternity" the devs also say it was made with a small team. An experience team yes but a small one which I gather does have its advantages as well as disadvantages. Talking to villagers, commoners, nobles can give you some ambient remarks and let you know what people in general are thinking but those are just random remarks. Later in the game the companions will talk to each other to some extent and you will have conversations with them to move the story forward. There are to buttons you can click to talk to the companions one is located above the companion when you click on their portrait and the other will appear on the portrait top left when they want to talk to you. As said the names with gold plates are backer stories. It was a stretch goal.

No, please don't.

Each companion has several different endings according to the conversations you have with them, how you guide them. This is (hopefully) the first game of a series so ending it vaguely is normal. Sort of a cliff hanger. Also the subject matter is a complicated and controversial one. Quote from the PoE Official Wiki on souls. Wael is the god of knowledge both revealed and hidden. Knowledge is the forbidden fruit. The gods themselves cannot be trusted.

First let me make this clear I am a woman. Second in Pillars of Eternity it makes absolutely no difference whether you or male or female. Gender does not affect your stats. Third I have known women in RL who are just as strong as men, not many true but some. Fourth there are no romances in PoE PoE has eight pre-made companions, five male and three female. When I hire an adventurer I toss a mental coin because it doesn't matter. Same when I create my player character. I am currently playing a male moon godlike with human body Ranger with a portrait I found in the Portrait thread is is great. This is a role playing game and I think it depends on what you are comfortable playing.

From the PoE Official WIKI: I would say it depends on your definition of magic.

Got it. Theat would be nice.

Don't think I understand what you are saying. You can make as many custom/hired adventurers as you want or can afford. The party size is limited to a total of six characters. You do not lose the party members when you switch them around. I usually end up with all the pre-made companions and three or four hired adventurers.

I prefer real time with pause.

One thing I have overlooked in my musings is the Adra stones. I just went through the conversation with the Stronghold Steward and she mentions how accommodating Adra is for a soul. Pillars of Eternity. Eternal stone, living stone. Our we overlooking something there? I think Rosveen has some good points. I will think on those.

What I think? I think we may never know the answers. As for the spirits we meet IIRC the dwarf woman (sorry my memory fails to remember her name) says that these are lost souls for some reason they fail to return to the cycle at least for a time. We also know that fragments of souls can be embedded into a an object. Might that explain some of our meetings? The reason I do not think that the soul essence or energy is a brain is because it is in things as simple as ooze or sporlings. When it is added to kith that are dead the memories seem to die as the body and mind degenerate and the creatures become more or less mindless monsters. As for the Hollowborn I have to turn to modern science. The human brain is very complex. Back to fantasy, I think the soul is needed to stimulate the kith brain to grow, develop, respond. The anamancers tried adding the souls of animals to the hollowborn and at first it seemed to work at least in a small way. One where the soul of a family pet was added is described in detail. I assume that pet, a dog I think, is a good and loving pet but when placed in the child/s body it eventually turns feral, viciously feral. This why I consider what the amancers are doing is unnatural. In the world of PoE I think you need both the soul and the brain to be truly Kith. The two lock together in some way and can be fragmented. Do I understand what is going on? No but I too am trying to make sense of the whole thing. Some people seem to complain because these things are not clearly explained to us but I think the devs did a marvelous job of creating a very complex situation that causes us, the players to think and indulge in these discussions. Personally I love it.

Hokay, I didn't write the story so anything I say is just my opinion, me guessing based on what my character does and what happens to him. Yes I am saying that without the memories from the mind that existed at one time the sould would have no memories. Hmm, not sure that makes sense. Let me try this. The soul is the essence of all living creatures. When this essence or energy enters a being that has a thinking mind, a mind capable of remembering things in some way that memory is implanted on to the soul. I think this is a natural process and what the amancers are doing is unnatural. When a soul reincarnates it is still the soul, maybe if the dwarf lady is correct with bits of other souls and maybe losing a bit of itself but predominately the same soul it was hundreds, even thousands of years before. Of course I could be completely wrong. We should remember that the true gods of PoE are the Obsidian developers.

Hind sight is always better than fore sight. From a role playing view your character has no idea how their choice will turn out. So far everything I have heard in the game up until you speak to Raedric indicates that killing him just to protect yourself is a good idea. Once you speak to him I think a very lawful or very mercenary character might side with him. Kolsc is obviously using you. This last play I told Kolsc I didn't want to get involved but the quest is still listed in the journal.

I think that is a great compliment to the game and the devs. So the game is an appetizer? I'll agree to that.

@ selectandstart. the idea of Maerwald's memories permeating the Keep does make sense to me. I think the Nine claw you meet outside the keep may be a spirit and also the mother you meet just before descending into the dungeon. The subject is not in my opinion a simple one. If the dwarf on the tree is correct then souls can lose bits of themselves and gain bits of other souls. Creatures with out an intelligent or semi[intelligent mind exist. So I think there is a soul essence that when combined with a mind creates past life memories. I do think that being a Watcher and having an awakened soul are two different things. Ciphers can see memories of past lives but seem not to be able to react with those. Their powers are limited I think to current minds.

When we critique PoE I think there are some things to remember. 1) It is actually a low budget game. 2) It is the first game of a series (I hope) BG/SoA was the second game of the series, a continuation of BG 1. 3) It is not a clone of the BG games and that was never promised us. It is a spiritual successor of those games. I did not find the companions in BG 1 that interesting. There were many more in BG 2 and your reputation limited who would join you. I did install a mod that had public rep and party rep and played my final and best, most fun game with that mod installed. :D The dialogue was a lot of fun. The companions in BG 2 do stand out for me. Their inter dialogue was fantastic. My very favorite was Jan Jensen and I never had a party without him. When playing as a female I felt the romance options sucked badly and wasn't particular interested in the ones available to the male character. I did not like most of those random encounters in BG 2. I like the Stronghold but agree that it can be improved even just by adding a cook and some servants. I wish I could turn those pets I collect loose in the Stronghold and let the run around there. Doubt that will happen though. The BG games were almost my first cRPG games and they had little competition. They were in my opinion very well done although not perfect. Nostalgia does kick in but I think PoE has gone beyond them. Some of the PoE leads were involved in making those IE games and I am looking forward to what they can doe with this series given time and money.

You raise some interesting questions but that seems to me to be the point of the game to raise questions rather than answering them. How much of what you are told can be taken as fact? How much of what your character sees can be trusted? What is the soul? Since the souls of kith are used to create the gods the soul is the essence which predates both the kith and the gods. It animates all living things. Spores and ooze have souls. The monsters you meet in the wild have souls. The soul would seem to be separate from memories. Memories seem to adhere to the soul when the soul is part of a thinking being. Can the soul actually be destroyed or is it just that the memories and the soul are separated. The memories destroyed but the soul itself return to pure essence? If the gods are created from the souls and memories of the kith does that mean that the gods contain those memories or have the memories been merged in such a way that there are no longer individual memories? Eothas is symbolized by the sun and the three stars. Is he in some way apart from the gods of the earth? The final question for me is where will the devs go with this theme? Should they try and answer the questions raised? I don't think they should because these are questions that can never be completely answered without becoming very artificial.

Good question, selectandstart, if I understand things correctly the Watcher can see spirits and even interact with them to some extent. The memories are the awakened ones of your past lives. My guess is you see the spirits but when you meet Maerwald you are dealing with his memories.

I think Sagani once committed to the hunt would follow you and Kana with his lust for knowledge would go out of curiosity. Pallegina is a bit more iffy and her decision might depend on how her quest turned out. ​As for enhancements to the ending sure some could be made but I think it should leave the player with a feeling of incompleteness. Questions left unanswered, mysteries remaining. The journey has only begun. At least that is what I hope.

Since I don't know what your interests and priorities are I can only make some general comments. There have been a couple of patches since the game was released which did some re-balancing. There are plenty of options for information available including in[game tutorial also the loading screens give you a lot of information. This game does have a lot of reading in it. As abaris says why not start on normal. You can change to hard once you understand the mechanics. Leveling up is easy. In my current game I am still in Gilded Vale with at least three quests to do with a party of five, Ranger PC, Eder, Aloth, Durance all at level three and a hired rogue at level two. We are about to level up.

I played DA:O through once then went back and did most of the origins. I had fun with the game and added two mods. I would not want a game that emulated DALO though. It was too linear for me. The only combat that stands out for me was one fight that was buggy and needed a work around to do it. I did like the puzzles that were in the game although others complained about them. Modding has extended the life of games> Triple A games such as Oblivion and Skyrim and Morrowind have benefited from this. Criticism of PoE from those who never played those early cRPGs does not surprise me.

We must be playing a different game. I have had whole groups head to the choke point.

I fail to see how being able to lure an enemy or group of enemies into a position that is beneficial to my party is a flaw. If I have to fight or want to fight I fight to win. I will use any means available to do so. If any one thinks that is abusing the system or being cheesy that is their opinion. They have a right to that opinion but no one is forcing them to do what I do. I am not saying that improvements to the enemy AI couldn't be made what I am saying is that how you play the current system is up to you. The game is written to give players choices. Choices that do have consequences and that includes how you set up your battle. Could the aggro be improved? Maybe, maybe not.

People will always want what they don't have. I do not think PoE should go either direction. It should go the way OE devs want it to go. Players are free to make suggestions but in the end it is the developers who have to make the game. Obsidian is an experienced outfit and I trust them.