Sensuki

One of the moderators contacted Bester and I about a modding sub-forum but it was more that he was pushing for it and if it happened whether we wanted the old IE mod thread locked or moved. That was like 2 weeks ago, so yeah. Even though the encounter design isn't very good, the system design doesn't facilitate very interesting encounters in the first place. There are only a few things in the game that require specific strategies that differ from the one that most half-decent players are using. You can put some of those creatures together, sure but then all you'd be able to do is copy paste that encounter because there's nothing else whatsoever without changing some of the mechanics/design principles. Encounters with classes (which were fun in any IE game) can just be steamrolled with the same rinse/repeat ****. Quite literally the only case where encounters with playable classes had me changing what I was doing was in the Temple of Skaen (which I hated playing anyway) because archers target backline characters and it was annoying. I changed what I did a little bit to respond to that (swapped armors or left characters out of the fight until the archers were dead). This could be improved *a little bit* by some improved use of spells/abilities, but that's about it. The game doesn't really require you to dynamically change tactics / react to specific enemy actions other than responding to who they target (unless you make dumb mistakes), so for me, at this point it's unsalvageable.

No they appear at several stages throughout the game and the most dangerous I've found is probably the De'Arnise Hold hidden area where Tor'Gal is. That can be a pain in the ass. Usually I just run in with my Kensai and close the door, he usually gets Confused but will still attack the Umber Hulks, then I come in a bit later with Minsc equipped with Lilarcor who I think is immune to Confusion because of Lilarcor (can't remember) and spank them. One thing I should probably try is sending in Minsc first instead, but that tactic has worked for me since I started doing it. Sometimes I think I used a Potion of Mind Focusing or something against the confusion, don't remember. It can be problematic because once the Umber Hulks are dead, my Kensai will still be confused, so I'll have to lock him in the room until it wears off.

I highly doubt that, otherwise you'd find basically every real-time game a disappointment because the only real-time games that have these mechanics are NWN1, NWN2, Pillars of Eternity and Blood Bowl RTwP mode (and everyone plays that game in turn-based mode). Or is that the problem? AoOs are a turn-based mechanic, they should stay in turn-based, as they are there for the purpose of allowing units to act when it's not their turn. In real-time games units act simultaneously, so this mechanic is neither required nor works properly. The IE games were not a click-a-thon. You could play the BGs/IWDs EXACTLY the same as you play Pillars of Eternity if you wanted to. However you could also rely more on spontaneous tactics like I did which is a playstyle that is punished in Pillars of Eternity. There are other 'zone of control' systems different to AoOs/disengagement that are actually designed for real-time that work a lot better. Personally I don't like any of them though and find that disables/cc and a good AI targeting system is enough.

I never played with Jaheira (didn't like her), and dealt with Umber Hulks the old fashioned way with a katana to the gullet.

Games are not realistic, they're meant to have good mechanics. Engagement does force you to engage using a positional strategy but it also provides less tactical gameplay than the Infinity Engine games where it was just as good to use pre encounter positioning as well as dynamic positioning/reshuffling. The engagement system also promotes doing the same thing every time, which wasn't the case in the Infinity Engine games. You may not care about that, but I do - it contributes to rote, boring repetitive combat.

You think free invisible instant attack with no animation that can occur at the same time as a character is physically attacking a different unit or in the middle of an attack animation/casting a spell/doing something else as long as they have a melee weapon equipped is realistic? Or that if you attack somebody they always have to stop and attack you?

Yeah someone on Something Awful told me that terms like tank etc have been around since MUDs.

Cheers for continuing the work, and I've PMed you regarding the AI issue. I vigorously tested the AI / Pathfinding during the beta and several issues I reported never got fixed by Obsidian.

Vermain

I don't think so. The reason I stopped playing it is I found the plot/story/writing to be a huge disappointment, I could not literally care less about the plot or the antagonist. The second is because combat is boring. I have stated why I think it's boring many times on the Codex. However I will admit that a part of it is probably lack of ROI. BG1 has very simple combat but at least the systems necessitate some reactions from the player. PE's combat is a trudge. Way, way worse than Icewind Dale and BG2 in particular and it's mostly because of the system design - not the encounter design. Some of my more detailed thoughts: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/quickfire-systemic-criticism-that-contributes-to-banality-of-gameplay.98429/page-6#post-3857129 http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/quickfire-systemic-criticism-that-contributes-to-banality-of-gameplay.98429/ There's a guy on Something Awful highlighting the same problems as me, though I forget his name. Think it start's with a V.

No, not really - I could see plenty of systemic issues but I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt and play the full game, especially if the BB content was supposed to be underwhelming (which it was, but it was also pretty representative of most of the game anyway). The game has some good bits, but for the most part it's not as good as the IE games. I don't even like the writing that much really. Most of it is well written but it's so dry and full of lore dumps that I don't care about. The plot has issues in act 2 and I don't even remotely care about the story or the antagonist. Probably the worst story in an Obsidian game since NWN2? Which is disappointing.

Oh yeah I see. Hah, we never used that rule when we played. Glad it wasn't in the Infinity Engine games either It's funny though because those rules make more sense than any other edition.

I think PrimeJunta meant AD&D 2E - because there's nothing like that in my 2E manual.

In my game Eder has over 100 Deflection, which is enough to make most attacks graze against his 20-25DRs, or miss. I'm just saying that the choice to use integer DR makes it extremely hard to balance damage output/input in the game especially in conjunction with the attack resolution system. High Deflection and High DR = grazes for next to no damage, or complete miss, but the same attack will hit a normal character for 50+ damage or whatever, dropping them to half endurance or worse. It's incredibly swingy. I preferred the non-universal system that AD&D and even 3E used compared to this. Integer bonuses to damage would help alleviate the issue. TBH, I'm not sure how I'd fix what they've created, and that's why I don't really have anything to add to the discussion because it's so far gone in my opinion that it's not worth worrying about.

Problem is the use of one-trick hard counters. Kangaxx can't do anything if he can't Imprison you or Death Spell you. What if he actually dealt damage on top of that? The issue is just having an all or nothing situation. There's nothing wrong with Hard Counters but once you've countered the main problem, there still should be a challenge IMO. I can see Josh's problem, but I don't think he thought it through all the way.

Imagine if the game didn't have DR. Every single balance problem related to damage would easily be able to be solved.

Yeah it is, haha. Poison DoT is still kinda annoying though but it's not the OH **** SUPPRESS it used to be.

That's what I liked about the AD&D AC system - as long as you had a low AC (usually through armor) you could tank.

Agreed. Funny because that's the exact reason I'm using it, aside with semi-accusing people defending rest-spamming of rest spamming themselves. Personally I don't care that people do it, but I do care that people complain about the combat not being fun because they did it. Responding to the argument by ignoring it and instead insult the player. Class A discussion method to win them. Except not. And while you probably don't care since it's not about rest to you anyway, I don't rest much in either PoE nor the IE games. Yes, I've had dozens upon dozens of battles in PoE with some of my members having Major Fatigue. You got a problem with that? Hmmm? Nah, you fed me the line for that one. Just had to do it. I've had a few battles in Pillars of Eternity with characters that have Major Fatigue as well, but I'm finding that I clear a dungeon (or whatever) and then travel back to the Stronghold/Defiance Bay/Town/whatever and everyone has Major Fatigue from travelling instead .. so I just rest. The Temple of Eothas and the Megadungeon are about the only places in the game where you can get a little thin. Raedric's Hold too I suppose depending on how early in the game you go there. I'm not complaining about AI, people are complaining about me taking advantage of the targeting AI because I remember what it does. Personally I think the targeting AI in Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter is very robust. One of the differences with the Pillars of Eternity AI and the Infinity Engine AI for ability use is that Pillars of Eternity uses semi-random ability use instead of a script, through the use of different weights for different actions and adjusting of weights when certain conditions are met. It's kind of a shame that this doesn't really mean much though because regardless of what abilities the enemies seem to be using / doing - I can use the same set of abilities and win, rarely ever having to react to the actual ability/spell the enemy is using.

http://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity/mods/1/

I don't think higher resistances does much, because all it does is change your encounter strategy and there's a minimum 20% damage rule. and yeah it's a TV show. I don't think that would do much good, especially for Fighters with Defender mode (and Hold the Line) because there's only so much room for enemies to attack them and units with larger selection circles block the pathing space.

A lot of that has to do with the fact that the AI is designed around the engagement AI targeting clauses rather than just the closest unit. The movement targeting loop is too slow to allow enemies to detect nearby ranged characters as they run past. I reported that as a bug in the beta, but I suppose they thought it was low priority. Reported quite a few AI and Pathfinding bugs/issues between v435 and release that were never fixed. Shame to see them make it into the release version, but I suppose budget etc - they're things that probably don't bother most people.

I have to admit, I reload most of the time if I think I've made a big enough mistake and/or if a character gets KO'd. Most of my characters in my save have a few knockouts, mostly were from luckshots / stuff that happened at the end of the battle. My PC got critted by the explosion of a Fire Blight dying in the Maerwald fight right at the end for like 80 damage, KO. Stuff like that. No point reloading at that stage. I don't enjoy the lenient Health System design, I prefer just straight HP. Can see why it was done, because most people reloaded if a character died in the Infinity Engine games rather than healed them, although I accepted that as a failure and I don't have anything against reloading.

Better Call Saul ?

Well, it was you who had a go at me when I didn't even mention AI targeting stuff in the first place. I mentioned legitimate issues with the design from other perspectives. Personally I'm not really interested in contributing to discussions on how to improve the game anyway, as I don't see myself as a part of the target audience (as much as I wanted to be) and I don't think anything is gonna change that. The higher defenses/DRs for different enemies is not a bad one, but it will be, once again, a strategical consideration only. See, now there's nothing wrong with that. I said previously that I think that the game caters to people more like you than people more like me. I don't think so. The lack of strategical resource management is only one egg in the basket as well. I'm sorry but I have to ask. Are you triggered by my presence or something?