[It's here any day now! The Happy Countdown Thread]

Yeah, it says 12:00 noon my time (central), which is an accurate translation of 6:00pm Stockholm time.

 

But a noon release? That can't be right.

[Can you respec?]

Touché. I can't count the number of times I've reflexively added that "t". Every single edit I've done on every single post of mine on this thread, has been to remove "t's".

[Can you respec?]

already addressed your query a few times.  see our discussions when silent winter brought up the point earlier.

I just did. You didn't respond at all when I, or silent winter or anyone else brought up the point.

 

So, I will repeat it. You want a respec feature so you can work around possible bugs, or, as you call them 'developer errors". However, 1) the game already has a console feature that lets you do that; and 2) By asking for a respec mechanic, you are basically requesting that the devs expend additional time and resources into building one then putting it into the game....time and resources that would be better spent fixing those bugs in the first place. And this is to say nothing of the possibility that the respec mechanic itself might end up breaking other game mechanics, thus introducing a whole new set of bugs associated with the character building process.

 

Yeah, good, shrewd thinking there, Gromnir. Herp Derp.

 

 

 

though one wonders if the console fix for such issues is less cheating or more?

It's definitely cheating (they're called console cheats). But if we're going to operate under your logic, that we're simply 'fixing something that's broken", then it wouldn't be cheating at all. Would it.

[Can you respec?]

example: respec is a relative simple fix to dealing with the inevitable diminution o' player choice resulting from developer error and/or rules obscurity.

Rules obscurity. lol

 

Translation: I made a 'poor' build because I don't understand the mechanics, therefore, they should put a reset button in my game so that I can.....try again?

 

For the 11th time: If the issue is just game bugs, why have something so clumsy, ham-fisted and 4th-wall-breaking as an in-game respec mechanic, when you could just bring up the console commands and edit your character?

[Can you respec?]

 

 

and again, to call respec cheating is ridiculous if the player using the respec is fixing developer created problems.

Developer created problems? You mean bugs?

 

Again, for the 10th time, You don't need something so clumsy, ham-fisted, and 4th-wall-breaking like an in-game respec feature for that when you can simply use console commands to edit your character

[It's here any day now! The Happy Countdown Thread]

Obsidian selling it too high. I be surprised if it top seller on steam day it released. 30 bucks I say is a good price to set it too. Elder scrolls mmorpg should be like 20 bucks instead of 60 because its crap. Shame making video games so expensive.

D:OS's price point was $40 for its entire 3 month+ stay at the #1 spot. PoE is 5 bucks more expensive, but it comes from a more trusted name in gaming. It's a bargain and gamers know it.

[Can you respec?]

regardless, is no way to fight an irrational "feeling" argument,

You assume that your opponents here are making an "irrational feeling argument". They aren't. There are bottom line givens here. And that is what we're arguing.

 

Given #1: RPGs are about choice and consequence.

Given #2: A respec feature serves no function but to reduce or flat out remove the consequence from the equation.

 

It's Obvious, then, why you'd want a respec feature. You're a casual modern gamer. You want choice but no consequence. You applaud games like Skyrim, where you can build a savage Nord warrior....but still be able to be the Archmage of the College, without having to start over and rebuild yourself a mage.

 

You applaud games Like Dragon Age, where if you find a super powerful Sword with a strength requirement you don't meet, you can simply drink a potion of "we'll-bend-the-rules-for-you", so you can re-allot your stats, so you can meet the strength requirement, so you can use that sword! <gag>

 

You're probably not going to enjoy PoE, my friend. So my advice to you would be to save yourself the "frustration" and "disgruntlement", and focus your attention and energy on.... IDK....Witcher 3? Or some other game coming out soon designed for casual modern gamers who can't stand to face down the consequences of their choices?

[Can you respec?]

Ok, Respeccing is cheating.

I just watched an old stream of PoE, and Josh was exploring the mega dungeon. He came across a trap that was blocking a passageway. His character couldn't disarm it, because he had built her to be more athletic and stealthy than mechanical. So he had to deal with the challenge as the game presented it to his character. And he did. That is what good RPG's do. That's what they're about.


But here comes Gromnir. In this situation, Gromnir would whine, and whine, like a casual modern gamer. He would come on the forums and beg for a respec feature so that he could redo his build choices, so that he'd be able to disarm that trap, instead of having to *think* and come up with an alternative.


Screw the [people who people who want to dumb down the genre] of the gaming world. You guys are the reason why developers have had to dumb down RPGs over the years. Your definition of "Fun" has been nothing but a terminal cancer to the Genre.

 

Cant EDIT:  Removed the reference of a specific member from the phrase starting with 'Screw.'

[can you explore the whole world from the beginning?]

I felt those were what they were due to restrictions back in the day, not because it was ideal.

It's a little of both, actually. Restrictions and Ideal.

 

These games don't have tile-based environment art. Every inch of the terrain is hand drawn and hand painted. But the result is that they look so much better.

 

I wouldn't want PoE's world to be one gigantic seamless area because no matter how big and dense it ends up being, it will still feel like the world is smaller, and there's no way they could make it look as good or as detailed. And we didn't ask for a sandbox anyway. The IE games weren't Sandbox.

[can you explore the whole world from the beginning?]

Not all Eldoths are created equal, people!

[Can you respec?]

That's..... a really good party. You've got 5 fighter-types, 2 healers, 3 nukers, a rogue that will have an excellent backstab, and a character who will be able to wield Pale Justice.

 

 

And Damn. There's that Urge. I think I'll start a game of Icewind Dale right now too. There goes my Saturday.

[And now a sneek peek at the Making of PoE Documentary]

Man, who's gonna watch the documentary about the game on the day they could play the game?

I agree. Ditto with the Novella.

 

They really should have put those things up for download this week so we could....consume them while we're waiting for the main course.

[Can you respec?]

Quarterstaves are arguably better than Daggers in Icewind Dale (they do more damage). Still, lets not pretend you can ever powergame a fighter with either one lol. And you can't use a Shield when you're wielding a quarterstaff, which IMO is the real weakness of quarterstaves. A good AC is a huge deal in IWD, and you'll wince in pain....repeatedly, whenever the game drops an amazing Shield that could instantly transform you from a weak squishy to an impregnable tank....and then it dawns on you that you can't equip it.... because the quarterstaff you're wielding is 2-handed.

 

BUT...Icewind dale is a party based game. Which means if your fighter is weak, it doesn't really matter. Because your Druid, Mage and Thief can just step up and pinch hit for you.

[Can you respec?]

I have yet to see a game that becomes unplayable just because you take a trap choice. A trap choice is anything that does nothing to improve the character's abilities or capacities, or makes them actively worse. This doesn't mean that the character becomes suddenly completely and utterly useless.

 

The fact that the game can still be completed with sub-optimal choices doesn't mean that it's balanced. Just because a Talent or Attribute doesn't eat your hedgehog and set fire to your living room doesn't mean that it's not a trap choice.

I completely agree with this. And this is an argument I used to make to Sawyer all the time.

 

There is a HUGE difference between a bad/sub-optimal build and an unviable build, and I wish people would stop using the two concepts interchangeably. A bad build can and does happen all the time and is typically the result of the player's lack of knowledge and experience with the game's mechanics and rule set. A game can still be beaten with a bad build. On the other hand, an unviable build is an extremely rare thing that I personally have never seen in any game I've ever played. When it does occur, it is the developer's fault. If a build is unviable it means that the game cannot be beaten with it.

 

 

Often times, when Josh Sawyer and his disciples criticize The IE games, or D&D, they make claims of "trap choices", and they argue that you could mis-build a character/party in those games and end up dead ended. They literally suggest that you could find yourself in a situation where the game is uncompletable because of your build choices. This is, by definition, a false claim. A demonstrably false claim since all conceivable build options have been done in the IE games on every difficulty, and have resulted in the player successfully beating the game.

 

Playing Icewind Dale with a quarterstaff-specialized fighter? Of course it can be done. You start the game with a quarterstaff. Shops sell quarterstaves +1, then there's the quarterstaff +2, and Splendards Protector (which I'm pretty sure anyone can use, but I could be mistaken), and the Staff of the Hand. In fact, in Icewind Dale, quarterstaves are considered Blunt weapons, which means you'll be doing full damage against all undead with the quarter Staff +1 that you can buy from Conlan in Kuldahar.

 

Not that it matters. Contrary to popular belief, Fighters can still use weapons they're not proficient in. in fact, if your Quarterstaff grandmaster quaffs a potion of speed, then quaffs a potion of Heroism, then quaffs a potion of storm giant strength, then uses a +2 dagger (with no proficiencies in it), his THAC0 will be ZERO, he'll have 2 attacks per round, and he'll do upwards of 20 points of damage per hit against Belhifet....the Game's final boss. He will of course, do quite a bit more damage per round if he does all of the above with a +2 quarterstaff. And even more if he's got a cleric, bard, or Mage in his party to further Buff him up.

[Are there pets in the 480 bb?]

Cosmic bacon, then.

[It's here any day now! The Happy Countdown Thread]

Interesting. I'm browsing Steam's store at the moment and PoE is on page 2 of the Top Seller list.... already. I'm not 100% sure what this means, but I'm thinking it's a good sign.

[Are there pets in the 480 bb?]

Well I'm hoping it will be awesome because at some point it will do something besides randomly walking around like a piglet...

I can't imagine what else a piglet would ever do. I mean, it's a piglet. The options are limited. I suppose with the right crafting recipe, you could turn it into several servings of bacon, or whatever.

 

Although, in one of the streams we saw a while back, Josh had a baby wyrmling pet. Now that's a different story, as the mere passage of time could see that wyrmling eventually grow up and become a Dragon. And the sky's the limit on the usefulness of a pet dragon.

[Tiers to SKUs]

What is "Gaun's Pledge"?

 

Would it be a spoiler to tell us what its stats are?

[a newcomer, non backer perspective]

I saw the fireball spell and instead of a massive explosion that incinerates everything and makes your whole party spread out and run for cover... a little campfire appeared.

I agree with this. It almost looks like... a liquid splash instead of an explosion.

 

Which is quite strange, because every other spell effect in PoE looks super over-the-top flashy. Much more than they did in any IE game.

[Pickpocketing]

In BG2 the Trademeet Genies send you on a quest to get the head of a Raksasha named Ihtafeer. Before the Throne of Bhaal patch, you could sneak up to Ihtafeer and pickpocket her head then return it to the Genies, thus solving the quest non-violently. I thought that was a pretty cool ego trip.

 

Seriously, you know you've arrived as The Thief when you can pickpocket someone's head right off their shoulders without them noticing.

[so, how did ya'll started liking this genre?]

Like most hard core RPG fans, I first fell in love with the genre back in March of 2011, when I bought Dragon Age 2. All my life I've been a gamer, but I never imagined that any RPG could ever offer such a deep, complex gameplay experience. Since then I've been hooked on RPGs.

 

I have high hopes for PoE, but I'm also a realist. And I know that due to budget restraints, it will likely not be able to capture the beauty, the drama, and the deeply immersive qualities of a good cinematic, Hollywood presentation that defines a True RPG. Still, PoE has 2 giant plusses going for it: 1) RPGs in general have improved drastically over the years and this game is being released in 2015! and, 2) Obsidian has always released remarkably bug-free games. So maybe we'll end up getting something almost as good as DA2.

[What are you most excited about?]

The mega dungeon.

[Can you respec?]

when factors complete out of our control, such as poor written talent descriptions and bugs, invalidate our choices,  there should be a way relative painless way to fix the wrong that otherwise made mockery o' those choices.

I'm truly sorry for trying to rain on your optimism, but I have bad news for you. A respec feature will not fix broken talent descriptions - painlessly or otherwise. It might, however, allow you to replace one broken talent with another. So rejoice in that!

[Can you respec?]

the mere possibility that a fix or feature could be buggy is hardly a reason to avoid adding a feature.

And yet, you have advocated that the mere presence of bugs is reason enough to not even buy this game until a year from now.

[New Real Time With Pause Dungeons & Dragons RPG - SWORD COAST LEGENDS]

it looks like Diablo meets NWN, it is not classic DnD, but might be fun to play

Yep. Or mid level DA:O.

 

Do we really need another game like this?

 

I wish I had a dollar for every indie studio that name-drops Baldurs Gate to get people to pay attention to their generic creations. I imagine I'd have enough money to create my own.