Osvir

^And that's also a point I didn't consider (I was just considering actually exploring+combat for how long it would take). Reading is going to be a big part (something Josh jumped past a lot) and that's going to ramp up gametime by a lot. Maybe 100 hours isn't too far-fetched after all if the completionist run includes finding all books and reading it all (depends on how fast you read I suppose, and how many books there are to read). And it also depends on how fast you decide stuff in dialogue too I suppose.

I don't. It's speculation. Then again, it's a place for mercenaries (which, I just learned, has nothing to do with adventuring really). A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national or a party to the conflict and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities by the desire for private gain." I was thinking that a "mercenary" could apply to sellswords and bounty hunters as well.

^Josh played and "finished"* 1 level of the mega dungeon in about 20 minutes (Of course, it was only level 3, I think, and the levels will probably get tougher and tougher as you go further down). You're going to have to walk really slowly to get 25-30 hours out of that dungeon I would guess the dungeon itself is 10 hours, tops 15 hours. ruzen has an excellent point though. Setting the bar/expectation at 100+ hours sounds like setting yourself up for disappointment. *Well, nearly finished it. Maybe 30-35 minutes if he had explored all of it. Then again, hm, might take longer for us depending on how much we have learned the combat system when we get there and depending on what difficulty we play on.

*nvm* Judging by this VO sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfrroBk21do (at 0:17) It seems somebody named Maerwald is/was the owner when you show up. ^^^^^As in, will someone else claim it during your playthrough (if you claim it)? (I doubt it by the way) What place are u talking about? Well, it's called Admeth's Den, but it pretty much is a realized "Adventurer's Hall" 41:34~45:30

Valmy: I know lol. The bounty dude = has to possess the Stronghold. It'd be odd to go there just to pick up bounties (if you haven't taken the Stronghold). Man I'm starting to wonder if...... if you don't pick up the Stronghold... will someone else take it/inhabit it? (Faction or organization) Of course, I doubt my speculation or concept is in the game at all... but it's thoughts for future, for mods, for expansions or for sequels, prequels or whatever. It's brainstorming and it is in the name and definition: "concept". I.E. needs to be worked on to realize. I do think that, if you would choose to not get the Stronghold, that there could be another place to pick up a few of them. I mean.. is this the only guy in the Eora world Eastern Reach that has this information? "Yeah there's some nasty bounties out there and I'm the only one in the world who gets contracts! Mwaha! Monopoolyyy!!". One would think that a bounty is something that adventurer's or actual monster- or bounty hunters would earn their living from... right? Wouldn't it be odd if there's only one place to get them..? EDIT: Read my post again (otherwise I'm just repeating my post over and over) about Defiance Bay and the Adventurer's Hall, or re-watch Josh Sawyers stream when he goes to Defiance Bay and showcases it. Looks like a place for picking up bounties

Curious if there could be talents to support a different type of dual-wielding for Monks. Basically, One-Handed Weapon+Unarmed. So the animation could go: 1) ... Hit with weapon, then punch or 2) ... Hit with weapon, then kick Could be possible with a mod? I'm thinking like this: Insert the Unarmed Kick Animation after a One-Handed Weapon Animation occurs. Inserting the Punch Animation would look weird (because I presume the character would hit with the hilt of the blade, it'd require more tweaking with the animation, and one would have to make sure that only the off-hand not equipped with a weapon punches).

Are the bounties primarily excluded to the Stronghold or is there some way to do bounties without a Stronghold? (Stronghold being optional and all... and the Adventurer's Hall in Defiance Bay seems like a place that'd have a billboard for that kind of stuff). Speculation/Concept: Chance that we encounter a rival adventuring party taking down a target on our way to it? :D Or bounties being "time-limit" and might be dealt with by other parties?

I have the feeling that you can't complete everything on a single playthrough. I don't know why but I remember Josh or someone from the developing team speaking about their internal playtests and how some of the players had "early endings" and some had "bad endings" as if it were two different things from a "red thread ending". Early ending and bad ending may have been "Death", but it was commented upon by a developer as if it wasn't the "real" ending nonetheless. Meaning, there is a high possibility there are several endings in the game depending on your actions (or behavior) in the game. Furthermore, there are multiple companions, and the Stronghold, and lots of stuff that can develop differently. There's so many parameters that's difficult to answer at the moment, but we can simply speculate. Do companions wait for you at the Stronghold forever? Will they ditch you if you just leave them there with nothing to do? Will you be able to complete all companion quests on one playthrough? Is the story going to develop differently if you don't take the Stronghold? Will there be forks in the road that takes you down different paths? Will there be timed and/or dynamic events in the world that you can't do anything about? I can only ask more questions... these were just a few of them. But a "true" completionist run would probably require several runs to figure out exactly how much there is to complete. That's what I'm guessing. I'm also guessing there's going to be several (or some) hidden gems in the game that might be difficult to find. EDIT: There's the disposition mechanic in the game as well. "Stoic", "Aggressive", "Benevolant" and so on and forth. Each "personality type" that you choose will probably have different ways to finish quests at some point in their dialogue tree that's unique to their "personality type". Parallelly: A true completionist run in Dragon Age: Origin would be to finish the game at least once with each class and race combination... but maybe I'm stretching it for the sake of stretching it (or for argument's sake...? a devil's advocate?). What's my point? My point is that I have freaking no clue... but a wild guess nonetheless... I'm thinking that maybe 50-60 hours sounds realistic on a single playthrough..? Granted that I don't encounter an "early" or "bad" ending (which would be like.. 20-30 hours maybe...??). EDIT EDIT: On my BG2 playthrough that I'm doing currently... I was trying to get into Spellhold by helping out a whore at the docks, but managed to accidentally stumble upon a dude as I was exploring, who instead helped me sneak into it. Would that be part of a completionist run? What happens when there's a fork in the road for a completionist? I.E. "Take Path B, and you can't take Path C, take Path C, and you can't take Path B". Multiple playthroughs = My answer.

There might be more involved bounties which require you to do more stuff than simply "Go to X, kill, return". "Talk to this dude, chase after bounty through streets, do that, then this, unlock door to mysterious dungeon, find bounty in the act of heressy, kill, return bounty". Well, if not, consider this post more or less rethorical for future~ "monster hunter"-esque bounties would be cool.

I want Pillars of Eternity for Hololens :D (Windows 10) This one as well. Imagine booting up Pillars of Eternity on your table, floor, or mid-air in front of you. Or relax in bed and boot it up on your ceiling :D

If there'd be some way to sabotage the Watermill in the Dyrford Village in the Beta maybe? (I have no idea) I did scout all of Stormwall Gorge and Lle A Rhemen after having wiped it, looking for some sort of clue but found nothing.

Barbarian+Fighter+Paladin (Shieldbearer) frontline combo is pretty strong too. Lots of combinations can be placed behind it, and I think that's a key element to consider. 2 Necro-Chanters (Skeletons as frontal shield, summons) and 4 Wizards or 2 Chanters and 1 Wizard, 1 Cipher, 1 Druid, 1 Priest Got to try it brb.

I've been wiped by everything except the wurms and the Lurkers. Lost several permadeath parties learning about one encounter per playthrough

I guess they want combat to be over this fast or have they said anything about slowing it down a bit more? The Q&A after the gameplay answers this. Slow mode isn't the answer and is a wasted feature for live gameplay...maybe they needed it for testing purposes or something but...yea no...that's not a real thing to me. I think Scout mode is the answer. Having combat animations occur in the scout mode phase instead of the "Run Anim". If the characters are running and they spot enemies, they would enter scout mode and walk like they do in scout mode. This would make Wild Rush more significant and other mobility skills. Essentially, lower the movespeed of the characters and tune it with the attack speed of all characters/actors. So, presumably, these would be the components that'd have to be worked on if interesting/inspiring: - Create a Scout Mode Combat Animation variation. - Combat occuring in Scout Mode Combat Animation (This decrease the pace, and more immersion). - Balance move- & attackspeed of actors (and different variations of them) with the new pacing. Following (Spoilers) is brought to you by Dreams & Visions, and is a Brains & Storms approved message:

@Luckmann: Edair was sold/pitched as a Fighter, then they made Edér into a Rogue (because I believe Obsidian wanted him to be a Rogue), then they changed him back to a Fighter again. Why? Probably a design & Kickstarter pitch combination of reasons. A) Many people enjoy playing a Rogue (or Thief) due to stealth mechanics that are included/implied (There are no Rogue, Monk or Barbarian companions = Something must have something to do with popularity). B) Making Edér a Rogue would've meant no Fighter companion (most likely), and in every single typical RPG (with a cast of characters), there's always at least one Fighter. C) Edair was pitched as a Fighter, but Edér kind of both sounds like a Rogue and looks like a Rogue. If I had been Obsidian, I'd probably looked/flirted at that design decision too. We now know that Edér was a farm boy from a village and that he did something that upset his fellow villagers and he was cast out. It sounds "Rogue"-like (a vagabond). The question is... what did Edér do...? Chances are that Obsidian do have an in-game Rogue design for Edér that you might be able to unlock (depending on if Obsidian were inspired by the feedback of allowing to switch Edér to a Rogue, granted that his narrative supports it... a gigantic "IF" it supports it). Meaning, Edér might have a Rogue-kit that Obsidian has made, before they gave him the Fighter-kit. Most likely it only exists on paper/in internal Obsidian developer/design-notes.

Now that the game is around the corner, I thought I'd necro this thread. Should also update the slideshow with new pictures (but the limit using "Slidely" is only 90 pictures and the editor of it is fairly basic. You can only use one style of sliding the pictures). Looking for a good photo editting/slideshow editting program, anyone got some ideas? The pictures are in chronological order of the Kickstarter Update (IIRC: From Update #1 to about Update #75-#80). anameforobsidian (the post above this one) has also included videos. A bit of a nostalgia trip in itself What a ride

There's a thread in the General Discussions already. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/70814-link-to-pax-east-stream/page-3 EDIT: You should post that picture in that thread cus that's awesome mate (though, Hiravias isn't in there)

Laughed a lot during the Q&A and during the stream haha they're really good at keeping a nice, friendly, and fun mood. The game Looks fantastic, I have no words except I wish I had it in my hands right now. The companions Some new information, I'm going to have to check it out on YouTube, I was half-paying attention as to not get too much exposition but I got the general idea from the companions. Same thing with the above^ can't wait to have the game in my hands right now and be able to play with the characters :D Stronghold mechanics and new stuff Lots of interesting new stuff. I was thinking about actually not get the Stronghold on my first playthrough but now I'm intruiged and I'm probably going to get it. The Stronghold makes ALL companions important in one way or another, and it gives Adventurer's Hall Companions tons more value. With a total of 16 companions (8 Obsidian companions and 8 V.I.P Companions). Question @Obsidian Obsidian mentioned that the drunkard was not inspired by any real person but that it's a person that exists in all of us (haha), but it did spin a bit of a curiosity in me and I'd wish to ask a Question(s) to Obsidian based on that statement... Has Obsidian been inspired by discussions or people from the forum/active community for quests, NPC's, or narrative? (I'm looking for a vague "Yes" or "No" answer)

It looks fantastic :D Any chance it'll release right after the Pax stream? Jokes aside... EXCITED!! Wooooo!

Keep in mind, there are most likely going to be quests in the game that grant us rare talents that otherwise could not be found. Also, the expansion will add lots more levels, new talents, and abilities. I mean, take a look at the grimoire book. There are spell levels beyond 6th level spells! Obsidian already prepping for dat expansion! Underline = In need of clarification. I haven't heard/read anything like that... But if it's genuine then I would believe maybe +1, tops +2, levels (capping at 13-14). Because adding more levels means (most likely) more abilities, adding more abilities means (most likely) new enemies, new VFX, new balancing. Plus there's supposedly going to be more areas, which needs to be filled with some sort of content, quests, NPC's, enemies, exploration, design and so on. Adding +3 to +4 levels (which I would call "A lot"), would be like creating/adding 1/4th or 1/3rd of the full game. Then again, Obsidian said they wanted to make it an Expansion like it used to be so maybe it isn't too far-fetched to say +3 to +4 levels. What's the Max Level in Icewind Dale adding it together with Heart of Winter? (Because I've read the max level for IWD is Level 30, but you won't get there). In Baldur's Gate I've read it is Level 40, but to get there it'd be a massive grind.

Alright got it. But I didn't mean to "suppress" modding, but rather suppress a risk of unwanted exposure. My thought/question was and is: Maybe those files will be in there at release or sometime after release? And also, now that you know most about modding for Pillars of Eternity, wouldn't it be possible to do some hobbyist pre-production (and wouldn't this be the best time to do it?) of what you want to achieve through mods? ~Rethorics~

^The "silent community" yes? (which is, I believe, a term used in marketing). The silent community is a river that sometimes is calm and welcoming, and sometimes rapid and dangerous. They are about 95%-99.9% of the audience/players. In terms of marketing, this crowd is mostly RNG (dice rolls)*. Though, there are some ways to "manipulate" or expose it to them. We could compare Kickstarter with a d100, and typical AAA marketing a d20 or maybe even a d6. When the product is released we'll see if the river will keep it afloat, or if it'll engulf it. Point is, we have no idea how much exposure it'll get until the game has been released (I'd say from Day 1 up to Day 150) whether it will be loved, hated, noticed, or maybe even completely missed. Will it even be accepted by the silent community as a Baldur's Gate tribute/spiritual successor? There's tons of factors. I'm hyped and excited for the game regardless :D I want and have wanted to have the full game "now" for 2+ years (but reasonably understanding that it has to be created first of course) = excitement :D *Ironically, the silent community is the loudest in relevance to revenue for a company.

Could also be for the same reason as to why Adam Brennecke asked those who are modding to not post full game pictures on the backer beta forums (as it affects google image search) or upload items/pictures from it. It's awesome that you and Bester are learning to mod the game more and more, and chances are that a lot more files will be found (and all of the code/strings/assets might make a little bit more sense, more consistency and more stability) that neither of you two might have a vague idea about until the game is released. How much content is there Backer Beta in comparison to everything in the full game? 1/40th? 1/20th? 1/10th? Half? Isn't it common for optimization to also cause comprimised file size? (Zealous focus asset going from 1,148 mbs into 148 kbs, 1 mb. Looks like optimization to me).

since i never heard that, what game do you mean? Dark Souls

Hm, I presume that dragons most commonly might be feral and angry hermits (in essence) to anyone who comes to close. Prefering solitude and will eat most people (defending the its own territory). But the "Watcher" is special after all, and might have some way of "understanding" the dragon or might have some way of being able to communicate with the "dragon". It depends on what the "Watcher" is (I'll keep my suspicions and speculation for myself though). Otherwise I can only presume that a Cipher (or a Druid) would be able to commune with a Dragon. A Cipher might be able to sense its soul, or sensing its "tethers" or something. And a Druid well, a Druid is a communicator with nature and might be able to also sense it somehow as well. I'm also thinking about the dream sequences that Chris Avellone wanted to put in for Durance and the Grieving Mother and I'm reflecting that into here... maybe a dragon communicates telepathically or well... for the lack of a better word... soul-ically xD we, as the Players and the readers, might learn how this intelligence takes form and what mysterious purpose it might have.