ddillon

I'm interested in Tyranny, and I'm likely to buy it Day One (barring any worrisome news about the game), but only if it's DRM-free, preferably on GOG. Steam-only = not buying. Here's hoping PoE has been selling well enough on GOG to convince Paradox to release Tyranny there. If not... well, I've got a huge library of great games on GOG to play instead.

Came here to voice similar displeasure and saw this thread. Got the boxed CE a while back in a Priority Mail box iirc, no problems. But the DRM-free discs arrived in a soft bubble mailer this week and had a loose disc (the Mac disc, which has some scratching due to coming loose and moving around inside the case). I'm not sure if it was caused by the soft mailer offering insufficient protection or if the DVD case is of poor quality and doesn't adequately grip the discs or if it was caused during the manufacturing process. I'd appreciate a replacement if possible and sent a message via Kickstarter.

1.05 patch notes say: "Druid's Wildstrike Belt is now working as intended." but I am still experiencing this issue with the patch installed. For a character having Greater Wildstrike Corrode, no change in Wildstrike damage is shown on the character sheet when a Wildstrike Belt is equipped. The description seems to have been changed from "Wildstrike Bonus: Modifies Wildstrike Burn, Wildstrike Corrode, Wildstrike Freeze, Wildstrike Shock" to "Wildstrike Bonus: Grants Wildstrike Burn". What's that about? Surely you don't mean to only grant the bonus to characters not already having a Wildstrike talent? That would devalue talents that many already consider to be of questionable worth and reduce the viability of shapeshifter builds (two talents to get Greater Wildstrike versus a bit of gold to buy Wildstrike). Please give us a real fix to make the item do as originally described and function like the other class bonus items.

They already don't. This is just people being weird. Are you sure about that? I was told otherwise, but I don't use Steam and can't check it. That would indeed be a better situation, tho I'd still say achievements shouldn't be awarded for backing, preordering, etc.

This is a dangerous misconception. The people who pre-order are making a legal purchase: if for some reason the game never comes out (which is very unlikely since games don't become available for pre-order until they are nearly finished), they are entitled to get their money back. The backers are taking all of the risks of an investor without the possibility of larger rewards that investors get when a venture does better than expected. If the developer spends all of the money and realizes that the product still cannot be finished, the backers have no recourse. In cases like PoE, where the project is successfully delivered (albeit later than initially advertised), Kickstarter backing is indeed equivalent to a very long term pre-order, but you cannot know this when you back a project and in fact Kickstarter goes to considerable lengths to inform would-be backers that it is not a store and that projects can and do fail. I already knew that, but thank you for taking the time to explain it nonetheless. You are correct in describing the differences between preordering and backing on Kickstarter, and it is an important distinction. But that difference is not significant in regards to the subject of exclusives. For example, whether an exclusive achievement is awarded for preordering or pledging, the issues that I described above do not change.

1) Some players do enjoy the challenge of getting all achievements and value the 100% badge. For them, achievements are a part of the game experience. 2) Achievements are supposed to be awarded for in-game accomplishments. These players are arguing against something that should never have been an achievement in the first place, not whining to get something they "did nothing to earn". In addition to being wholly inappropriate in that regard, the backer achievemet also prevents non-backers from getting 100% achievement completion and thus damages their experience. It's not difficult to understand why they complain about it. 3) I'm a gamer, and I don't want to see this s*** become common in an industry that I care about. Also: Empathy for fellow gamers. I might not enjoy achievements like they do, but I don't see any good reason to screw up part of their experience. There are better ways to reward backers or make them feel special.

While I have sympathy for those who need the disc because they don't have access to a decent connection to download the game, I'd actually prefer that the disc contains as close to the final version of the game as possible. PoE is buggy and poorly balanced atm anyway.

What about people who didn't know about the game until after pledging closed? And those who find the game six months from now? Those playing it five years from now? Screw them all cuz we got ours and don't give a s***? Many preorder exclusives are "available to everybody". There is no significant difference between backer and preorder exclusives: You buy at a certain place at a certain time and you are rewarded for your support with a certain bonus. Both suck when that bonus is any kind of in-game content (even cosmetic items). Here's another way to think about it: You are arguing to hurt some players by taking away something they want for the sake of players that don't even want that thing (see nearly every reply to this thread so far).

Um, what? As far as I know, achievements don't stop you from doing a competionist run. I've never understood completionists, nor Achievement Completionists. Don't be dense. 100% achievement completion. Not possible if not a backer. Doesn't matter that it's not important to you or me. Some value it, and there's no good reason to deny it to them.

In-game backer and preorder exclusives suck. Period. Even cosmetic stuff. And an exclusive backer achievement that prevents later buyers from getting 100%? That's f***ed up. I say that as a backer and someone who doesn't bother with achievements in most games.

I really want a good spiritual successor to DA:O, but not developed by Obsidian or Bioware. Maybe Cyanide Studios? (The devs of Aarklash: Legacy.) Heck, I'd love a good sequel or spiritual successor to Aarklash: Legacy that adds traditional CRPG elements such as building a player character, complex quests, etc. Legacy has great RTWP mechanics and tactical combat, and I like the setting, but I miss those traditional elements.

I wonder if the spider pet was meant to be given by Tcharek, the Vithrack leader in the Endless Paths, for completing "The Master's Tools". The Vithrack keep pet spiders, so it'd make sense.

The IE games have override folders that enabled modding once the file formats were understood. But yeah, modding was greatly facilitated by awesome cats in the fan community creating programs like WeiDU, NearInfinity, etc and (iirc) by developers willing to help modders understand the inner workings of the games. We need known file formats and scripting language, an override/resources folder for loading custom files, and entry points for custom content in the game itself. See my example above for supporting custom items. Example for custom characters: Characters could be created via XML files describing race, stats, class, abilties, color selection, etc and pointing to existing portraits, voice sets, and equipment or to custom portraits, voice sets, and equipment placed in a "Resource" folder. Characters would default to a generic dialogue, but appropriately named (e.g. CharName.dlg) custom dialogue files could be placed inside the "Resource" folder. Each inn in the game could have an empty folder named "Adventurers_InnName" inside the "Resource" folder. Placing a custom character file in an inn folder would add the character to that inn's list of adventurers for hire (or perhaps spawn them in a designated area inside the inn). New quests would be more complicated but probably doable if each area had a "Scripts_AreaName" folder in the "Resources" folder: Characters, creatures, etc could be spawned on the fly at specified coordinates by a script as the player enters an area. New areas might be problematic given the nature of the backgrounds, but new areas are difficult to create in the IE games, too, and those games still have a vibrant modding scene.

Since the subject is being discussed... Is there some technical reason they couldn't have used simple, easy-to-edit XML files for many resources? Example: Items could be created via XML files describing stats and abilties and pointing to existing model, texture, and icon resources or to custom resources placed in a "Resource" folder. Each vendor in the game could have an empty folder named "Store_VendorName" inside the "Resource" folder. Placing a custom item file in a vendor folder would add it to that vendor's inventory. Placing an edited version of an existing item in the "Resources" folder would override that item.

I'm more concerned with Obsidian's poor use of voice acting than the amount of voice acting. The problem: where the voice acting starts before you've had a chance to read the text description. It should follow this format: where the text description is used only to convey what well-written dialogue alone cannot. Also, some of the voice acting is awful. The hanged dwarf animancer in particular. It turned what could have been a very creepy, atmospheric scene into something out of a C-grade movie. Mostly I blame the director for not asking the voice actor to speak like a normal person and considering the use of a filter or effect to give the lines an otherworldy feel.

Two more for Khalid's list: Crystal Eater Spider (Petrify) Dargul (Paralyze) --- I've recently fought many Cean Gwla in the Endless Paths (Level 13), and I've checked the combat log to try to get a better idea of what is happening. With the Body Control and Mental Fortress talents and the Priest spell Prayer Against Imprisonment active on all party members, Cean Gwla do miss sometimes, but imo they are still scoring too many grazes and hits (and some crits!) with their Paralyze attack. At the least, I feel like combination of the talent and spell should make characters basically immune to the status effect. As it stands, I doubt I'd ever choose any of these talents in the future.

I agree. I've enjoyed both games with mana systems and games with memorization systems, but I tend to prefer mana systems (preferably without potions, or with potions being rare). Dragon Age: Origins and Aarklash: Legacy use mana systems, and both have better combat than Pillars of Eternity imo. The ship has sailed for PoE tho, and the most we can reasonably hope for are improvements to its current system.

This, in my nightmare iron man no combat pausing playthrough, I remember making over a 1000 various healing potions. DA:O is brilliant in that it allows no-pause, potion-chugging play (you) or pause-and-micromanage, no-potions-used play (me). DA:O offers a great RTWP experience *if* you want it: Simply abstain from health and mana potions. I think a toggle might have been nice: Fast and Furious Mode (potions common) and Hardcore Mode (potions rare, greater penalties for injuries). If Bioware had refined the mechanics of DA:O for sequels... - fix broken spells & abilities (Force Field, Scattershot) - raise party limit to six - potion rarity toggle - greater penalties for injuries - more abilities for each specialization - more specilizations - ability to choose a starting specialization - ability to design custom companions It could have been great... But instead we got DA2. *sighs* For me, as someone who enjoys actively directing a party, creating synergies between abilities and spells, moving around during a battle for tactical positioning, DA:O is *far* better than PoE in terms of combat.

Yes, all spells should be per encounter instead of per rest. Spellcasters auto-attacking with ranged weapons 90% of the time is boring. PoE at least allows them to use weapons other than slings (a welcome change from the IE games), but the core problem remains. Combat is more-or-less: Set positions, focus fire, auto-attack, focus fire, auto-attack, etc. Cast spell only if overwhelmed or if an enemy has a powerful ability that must be countered. Same thing, over and over, every time, against trash mob after trash mob. Per encounter abilities and the per encounter spells gained at Lv9 and Lv11 are the only things making combat even mildly interesting right now.

Imo: Should have teleport, should not have summoning.

Missing one of the big ones: Cean Gwla (AoE Paralyze, AoE Terrify) Also, Drakes and Lions can inflict the Frightened status iirc. Not sure offhand what defense these roll against. Are there any programs/tools for browsing PoE resources? Something similar to NearInfinity?

Asking Serel about buying the medallion results in three options: Agree to buy the medallion for 6000 pands, or pass one of two attribute checks. There is no option to decline buying the medallion after learning the asking price. The dialogue can only be ended by agreeing to the purchase.

For a character having Greater Wildstrike Corrode, no change in Wildstrike damage is shown on the character sheet when a Wildstrike Belt is equipped. One bonus is from an ability, and one is from an item, so the two should stack. For example, Rapid Recovery and Cloak of the Tireless Defender stack.

Consider the opportunity cost, the alternatives sacrificed to select these talents. These three seem to be more-or-less trap choices for most characters imo. But I'll watch the combat log for a while, try to get a better feel for exactly what benefit these talents are providing.

Thanks for the info. I'll pay more attention to whether attacks that inflict the effects in question are grazing or hitting, but... I agree. They feel like trap choices right now.