Wintersong

It feels strange to get the game so "early" if we consider how much Steam loves to release stuff around 19CET. It'll be nice. Hoping for GOG to also release it on time. /inb4 random dude's "It's 17:00:01 CET, where is my *beeeeeeeeeeeep* game, Obsidian?"

"It's an Obsidian game. 0/100" "Skyrim is better! 0/100" "It's not D&D!!! 0/100" "System requirements too high for what it offers. It doesn't run in my Windows 95!!! 0/100" There be humans... More on topic, users 85, press 89.

When in Rome... There is only one PoE here and that's not a diablo-like game. Or instead of trying to save time like if our lives depended on it, we could bother to write the full name of the stuff we talk about. This is not a combat situation where you may not have the time to say "as soon as possible". Or maybe developers could try not to use names that conflict with others when being lazy an using acronyms. WC == WarCraft? What happened to WaterCloset? \(T_T)/ In any case, PdlE* is god here over that CdE** thingy. :-P * Pilares de la Eternidad ** Camino del Exilio

Funny thing, much like with Wasteland 2, I forgot that I had right to two copies. GOG for Royal Edition and Steam for Hero Edition. The already paid expansion pack, once done and released, will go to GOG.

Some people should rephrase their dark side to "I'd be preloading right now as any other PoE steam buyer if Obsidian had given us our keys already instead of waiting to the very last moment with the expected delays". Probably, more accurate. Probably, equally frustrating.

Yes. No doubt about that (keeping in mind the limited scope of the beta and blah blah blah). About its performance in the Spiritual Successor Scale™, we will have to wait until it's released (and patched???). But in my subjective scale, everything points at a worthy successor. For now. Better than BG2? Better than PST? I don't really care. As long as it's good, I'll be happy. If it helps to spawn more (good!) cRPGs like IE ones, even better. If it becomes a timeless masterpiece, cool.

He is those tentacles in the PoE wallpaper with the companions.

Because it's a fact of life in such fantasy settings, not a matter of perception. Cosmic forces actually make written rules about what is evil, what is good, it's a fact, material, not a a culture based opinion, etc. That's why you can detect it via spells. Again, don't get me wrong, I don't really like this kind of manichean view and like settings where it's more gritty and things are not as clear cut as this and I also really like the concept of reputations. But not when it's just slapping a cheap "reputation" meter and calling it job done. Fallout karma system was just as silly and aggravating really. You cannot detect evil always. If Dr Evil is just chiling out in the local inn, behaving like just a regular Doe, you won't detect him with your Paladin's Detect Evil ability. At least, that was explained in some old piece of D&D. And it made sense because no one is having evil thoughts 100% of the time. It does clash with stuff like Circle Against Evil and such? Plainly, yes. Unless you want to tie each soul to a plane in Planescape and that making it work. Evidence of how wonky the aligment system in D&D is. Culture should matter... but then you get stuff like D&D 5th that explains that orcs are always CE because they were created by a CE god that didn't want them to be independent (only good gods do that). Ok, the example mentioned how even if they could be different, those CE tendencies would never disappear from them blah blah blah. Rule 0 and be done with it. I prefer reputations to aligment. You may not have stuff like "Sword that Only Evil people can use me for awesome +30 to attack" but it's a small price to pay. Yes, the NE char in Neverwinter Nights 2 did what he did for good reasons but doesn't change the fact that he is boxed in NE aligment.

I hope that they are testing the game and not this beta.

You don't need the threat of punishment to force people to be good but to obey/behave according to some rules. The presence of "hells" and "heavens" in A/D&D is not about good and evil. Not in the sense of people trying to be good to avoid hell. And those who doesn't are certified nuts that end in a hell. It's not a reward system. It's more about people's actions in life defining their afterlife because every soul must go somewhere. CE people in A/D&D didn't stop being CE due to fear of ending in the Abyss as a worm. They don't care, they don't believe it no matter how much some clerics try to explain that to them or they simply beluieve that they will fare better when the times comes. LG people would still battle CG people in Planescape. If God (the western christian one, we know that the rest of faiths like those who believe in reincarnation are fake, right? ) where to appear to us right now and do miracles/stuff, there would people that would follow him. Some that would think of him as the devil trying to trick them. Others would believe that he is an alien. Others would think that he is a hoax of some kind. Others wouldn't care. Others...

If your party must have a dedicated healer to finish the game, it doesn't matter if you only have the Priest or if you can switch it for a Druid. That's a "design flaw".

And that's why this is problematic to fulfill such promises. And that's why people should be more open minded (to a point!). Everybody has their own "IE feeling" definition. The less broad and more specific your definition is, the more likely you are to be dissapointed. I'm not saying that you don't have the right to have a very specific definition of the "IE feeling" for you. But throwing money at a nebulous "IE feeling" appeal and then expect it to fullfill your specific definition, it's a huge gamble. Once released, we will be able to truly compare the result to our "IE feeling". Meanwhile, some stuff may still change.

I'd not hold my breath unless you are into totally amateurish stuff.

Weren't those game only 2D? Based on D&D? Different inventory system? XP on kills? Just because those games didn't have it, it doesn't mean this one couldn't use them. And for more than a few (83% according to some people's statistics), PoE already isn't "what it was promised" so whatever. From a limited resources point of view, it wouldn't be a good idea. I can agree with that. But if occlusion were to work well and still we were facing situations that like of the pic, not using alternate methods of selection would be:

Isn't the OP just talking about showing pics of the current enemies up there? For easy enemy selection? Because I don't see that as a bad idea.

The first one was quite "WTF?" but awesome at the same time. The second one is still a good chance for those who want to play a Ranger without animal companion. Lots of fixes/improvements in that list. Good job!

The world of Pillars of Eternity Gloom is a sad and benighted place. The sky is gray, the beta forum is ablaze, and a new tragedy lies around every beta build. Bugs, unbalances, placeholders, and packs of rabid stone-eating beetles -- just when it seems like things can't get any worse, they do. No offense meant to anyone.

I hope that a pic like that is included in the manual.

You must gather your voice actors before venturing forth.

Opinions are subjective. You expect the PoE to fullfill parameters A, B and C. If it doesn't, from your point of view it's doomed, blah blah blah. The thing is, are your parameters based on opinions or facts? If they were solid facts, wouldn't be surprising that no one at Obsidian noticed them too? Aren't the poeple at Obsidian the most interested ones in making this as good as possible? There is no publisher injecting them money and then demanding to change stuff because shareholders. Maybe the game will fail. At this point we can only speculate. But if it does, it doesn't mean that it would do it because of your parameters. Oh hey, maybe it does. Or maybe just partially. Grognards will give it a 0 no matter what in Metacritic. The bulk of the sales will end being of non-grognards(/probably Steam-sales junkies) that just want a fun game to play. If this game makes money for Obsidian, no matter how it fails in your expectations/needs/opinion, it will be a success. That is a fact. That it's played for decades or not by a good bunch of people, is another kind of success that cannot be predicted. There are issues, beyond bugs. While some are real and others are honestly debatable, there are more than a few that belong to the realm of "This is not like X ergo sucks". None of those last ones determine the success of the game. A game not designed in exclusive for grognards, that is. D&D3 was a success despite the still present grognards of previous editions. No offense meant but if you cannot be critical because of some symbolical picture, you are dissapointing. Forumnites should make more use of the Scientific Method (more often). The real one. "And the award to the best dissertation about 'Why Pillars of Eternity attributes suck and I have empirical evidence right here' goes to..." and stuff.

The OP (and following bickering) belongs to one of the already existing threads. Or is this some kind of reimagining thread maybe? Like V or Battlestar Galactica? That's my opinion and I don't care if it's shared because I represent the majority (83%). True story.

Where?

This game must be real time with pause* so it doesn't really matter. If the sky is already falling according to some, I don't want to imagine what would happen is this was turn based. * this was actually in the pitch of the KS, unlike some other stuff supposed by some.

Varied classes is important. Even if I won't bother with wizards and such. I expect combat to be fun because if there is going to be much combat... well, it better be fun! Story is important too. Specially if there is some branching (that it may lead to same result or not, isn't that important as the branching itself). And as combat, it better be fun/good. If I have to read walls of texts, I expect them to not make my eyes bleed. I love nice companions. I like them with their own opinions, stories... they are part of my party so I want to care about them as much as I care about mine. The very beginning of the game will determine how much I bother with replaying. May sound weird but that's how I roll. No matter how awesome combats, companions and classes are, if I find myself hacking to the gate of fun because at the beginning there is only my railplot... my replays will be quite limited. Mostly because to be really able to try new stuff, you have to beat some mandatory content that may actually take a while. Mandatory content is not bad per se as long as it part of an offer ("Must do A, B and C but I can tackle them in any order..."). Baldur's Gate has one of the best starts. You can do lots of stuff there that won't take that much time anyway or you can skip all of it and start "the real" thing (after a cutscene). From there, you are free to go many places and tackle stuff as you decide. It's limited by the plot and such, but at least you have options about it. Want to spend time hunting bears with Imoen? Want to explore some maps before doing any main plot quests? Want to rush to Jaheria and Khalid? Want to rush to the mines? Want a pair of crazy evil dudes before anything else? Baldur's Gate 2 is a sequel but... uff. Not a short dungeon with more than a few encounters just before you can start having choices. But as I said, it's a sequel. Neverwinter Nights 2 is a game that I love but makes me rolls my eyes about its beginning. We have a skippable tutorial, which is ok (I tend to play it to max the uses of my background/race). But then the real thing starts and... go defend the village. Ok, so far so good. Now go to the swamp and do stuff. Er... ok. Now to go to the road (Inn). There I go... find new NPC, more action. Now go to the outpost. I go, have some more NPC action before I reach it and then, finally, things start to give me some choices. Still limited but at least I start getting some. Later at the city things blossom and it's ok. But before that, I have a few hours (YMMV) of railplot. Yes, I like combat, I like to develop my initial relationships with the NPCs,... but I look at Baldur's Gate beginning and I sigh. And even if Khelgar won't say anything about my character being a drow AND a monk, he is still awesome (and a kick ass monk). Dragon Age Origins. I still prefer BG's beginning but at least in DAO, each race plays different at the beginning. And even same race can allow a different experience in your intro even if the ending result is still the same. Then there is a railplot before you can do your own stuff but at the very least, the intros are worth the time and don't hurt replayability to me. The Origins part is one of the best things I have played in any cRPG.