war:head

Seems like a very minor issue, so not sure if it makes sense to report. Anyway, here goes. Issue: Options labels disappear when selecting anything else than Auto-Pause or Controls Steps to reproduce for me: 1. Start game 2. Go to options 3. Select Game, Graphics or Sound sub section 4. All labels for the sub sections disappear No files as it's pretty straight forward.

3GB actually.

Hot damn, it's live.

Given that 3pm is a rough estimate (and a delay in itself already) don't hold your breath. Get a good nights sleep and enjoy it properly tomorrow is what I say.

You'll find a key in your Products tab on your account page on the PoE site when they release it (2:00 PST). Insert key into Steam, download beta, enjoy. 2:00 AM or PM? 10:00 PM GMT+0 right? It's been delayed by an hour, so now it's 11pm in Britain, and 12pm in the Netherlands/Belgium/France/Germany. Any source on that? Cause if that's actually the case, I'll stop waiting around and just leave it be until tomorrow.

Good luck with trying to keep a beta feedback forum organized. Sounds like reasonable idea to try, though.

Woohoo!

Funnily enough they're using Steam so it would've actually been possible to do that. Send the keys out over a couple of days and have Steam release the beta staggered over the individual time-zones at a given local time. Not that I'd expect that kind of effort for a simple beta, just saying it's not unreasonable to hope for something like that. This was not possible due to some technical reasons. We worked with Steam so that we could make the Beta live while it wouldn't show up in stores, because of this, the beta has been technically live for a couple of weeks and anybody with a key could have accessed the build that was up there (which wasn't the final build). With the way we are releasing keys, they will be live to all backers at once. Well, at least with the beta essentially live already we can be sure that Steam won't interfere with the launch as it has a tendency to do with games set to release at a certain time... Thanks for the explanation.

Can't speak for others but I'm certainly not blaming them. They've probably worked pretty hard to make the deadline and not have to delay the release. It's just that, somewhere deep inside, there's still this glimmer of hope that one day, we (as in: anyone outside the US) won't be treated as second-class consumers by American companies. It's usually not even intentional, it's just that companies often don't even think about the fact that there are actually people living outside the US just as excited about their product. And if you get that kind of attitude constantly for more than a decade, you get somewhat sensitive to it. Anyway, now that the update is out (thanks for that), I can safely go to bed, knowing that when I'll come home from work tomorrow, there'll the a beta key waiting for me.

Funnily enough they're using Steam so it would've actually been possible to do that. Send the keys out over a couple of days and have Steam release the beta staggered over the individual time-zones at a given local time. Not that I'd expect that kind of effort for a simple beta, just saying it's not unreasonable to hope for something like that.

With a regular publisher - yes, without a doubt. But with an indie dev like Obsidian I had the apparently foolish illusion they'd actually care enough o think about things like that and release the beta at, say, 8 am local time, so people in other parts of the world would have a chance to play at the stated date as well. But now that I know I'll add another day to any future date they post, just to be sure not to be disappointed again.

Delay? What delay? When did Obsidian say it was coming at 10 o' clock? They just said it would be coming today, nothing more. Although I would prefer if they mentioned the exact time they would be releasing keys, I suppose we will just have to wait. Well, for the most part of the world, afternoon pacific time isn't "today" anymore but tomorrow, as in the 19th of August. (which for the working part of the backers means waiting another 24 hours from now) And don't get me wrong, I don't mind waiting another day to play it. What I do mind is getting this publisher-style crap of "screw the rest of the world" from an indie dev that I supported, in part, to avoid this kind of behavior.

https://twitter.com/adam_brennecke/status/501428909989437440 So middle of the night for any non-Americans, got it. Thanks, Obsidian... 18th my *ss.

Sounds like it'll still be a couple of hours (6 pm local time?) to release. But as a European I'm kinda used to waiting a day longer than the Americans when it comes to releases. As long as the American backers get it on the 18th, everything is fine...

They are the sort of firearms found in 16th century Europe: uncommon and nothing more advanced than single-shot wheellocks. So no Steampunk crap? I'm good then.

Certainly an interesting main theme for an RPG and, come to think of it, a great way to reconcile a lot of the topics that have been mentioned earlier. Like mercy for instance - to have the concept of the soul as a focal point extends this theme even beyond death. Kill an enemy with a vengeance but will you have mercy on their soul? Or do you extinguish their very being for all eternity? Interesting indeed.

What I'd really like to see in this game is romance, loyalty and friendship among the party members affecting combat. Serious injuries(near-death) that result in damage, attack speed or passive ability(stamina, health) boost or even new abilities for the characters emotionally attached to the injured one. I don't know how death will be handled in this game but maybe even a mechanic where a character goes down incapacitated yet alive, inducing some reaction in the rest of the party to fight even stronger (with said boosts). If they are able to protect the downed (and practically dead) member, said member survives the fight. Of course this only makes sense if death is of a more permanent fashion. Long story short: If a game aims to emotionally attach players to NPCs like an RPG does, given them some way to channel this emotion within combat.

Just wanted to jump in.... Not disagreeing with you, but when we're talking about main themes of the game, like the "moral" of the game that defines much of the story, I think it's good they have a stance with it, no? What I mean is, IF mercy were a main theme and a main topic of the game, I wouldn't want the game to simply say "sometimes mercy is good, sometimes mercy is bad!" No ****, game? Gee thanks. Instead, I'd rather see the game take a stance on the matter, perhaps dare to say that showing mercy is stupid, or that one should always show mercy no matter the cost. OR do a mix of them where 99% of the time, mercy gets you and your party in trouble, perhaps to the point where a party member is willing to ditch you for being repeatedly stupid about this, BUT you are also solely responsible for converting a man to "the good side" who later goes on to help many people. When the game takes a stance on such issues, it's thought provoking whether we agree or disagree. If it said "mercy will get you killed" then that's a very pragmatic view with truths to it that'll ultimately spark debate and thought amongst those who disagree. If it does a mix like what I mentioned above, then it's also thought-provoking and raises the question of "was it worth it" instead. I don't really see it that way, mainly because it's not how things work. There is no black and white. Besides, taking a stance on mercy either way makes the whole thing redundant as a gameplay mechanic. If 'mercy gets you killed', you'll always go for the kill, because who'd deliberately choose the other way? Might as well leave the whole decision out of the game then. Part of such a decision is to not know exactly what the long-term outcome will be. Let an opponent live and they might surprise you by returning the favor one day. Or they turn out to be the one killing one of your party members. Of course for this to work, the NPCs have to be deep characters that allow players to have a basic idea of their character while still being able to surprise. After all, we don't want this to be another bioware-style system where it is apparent what is going to happen from the getgo, right? I can only think of one decision in the entire ME and DA series where doing 'the good thing' turned out to be wrong. And that involved a minor NPC never to be seen again in ME2.

I'm kinda surprised by the amount of rejection towards romance (and the amount of people equalizing romance and sex). It's an RPG, character development and social relations are part of it and they should be. If two party members grow close to each other, why shouldn't they? If the player grows close to a party member (or NPC), why shouldn't they either? Isn't that the greatest compliment to make to the authors - to feel emotionally attached to a character? And to those who don't want this kind of immersion - just don't pursue it. Why limit the gaming experience for others because of something you don't like?

Mature themes I'd like to see explored in this RPG: Sacrifice of a party member for the 'greater good' (being sacrificed or sacrificing themselves) Killing an innocent NPC to (buy time to) solve a situation and the emotional consequences within the party Party members' character development due to abduction and torture (PTSD) - edit: Forgot to mention possible tie-ins with romantic relationships Party members' character development due to general combat, war and what they experience (PTSD) - edit: Forgot to mention possible tie-ins with romantic relationships Mercy as an option in key moments vs. an opponent and the consequences (both good and bad) Torture as an option to achieve a goal/gain necessary information and the consequences within the party as well as the world (creating a tempting option for the player that takes strength of character to refuse)