WebShaman

I find it all rather amusing. The thing is, that review gets more attention than anything said here, one way or another (that also tickles my fancy, no shouting it down like a lot was in the backer forum). And since it is spot-on, that is a good thing. So I am eating my cake and enjoying it too! And to be honest - this game doesn't come anywhere near to BG (not to mention BG2). Not even close. The only area where it tops those are in the graphics (which are well done, btw) and the music, somewhat. Which is to be expected (and thankfully there Obs succeeded). Everything else...nope. From Plot, to Companions, to Writing, to Mechanics, to IP Lore, on and on...BG and BG2 are just better. The areas are bigger, there is more to explore, there are more "monsters" to encounter, items, puzzles, quests, you name it.

The only thing I didn't like about Raedric's Hold is that you can storm the keep (I mean...you would be riddled with bullets and arrows and bolts and...yeah. Totally unrealistic). Or you can "sneak" around in broad daylight (right by the walls, under the watchful eyes of the guards) and either climb up the walls itself (again, in broad daylight under the watchful eyes of the guards) OR "sneak through" a place that was broken into and sneaked through before! Also in broad daylight under the watchful eyes of the guards. Should only be possible at night (there is a day/night cycle in PoE). But other than that, yeah, it was pretty good.

I think you need to clear the fog everywhere (would mean finding all secret areas).

There is only one direct reference to evil that I know of ingame (in the name of a weapon, which may be a backer item which would explain it). The only other reference I know of is "Saint" from The Saint's War (which is a very strange term ingame seeing as there are no Saint's in PoE).

The Vith's reason for being there and needing the object far outweighs yours. It needs said object for children...you only want it for "phat l00ts". Are you really going to kill it because of this? I definetly let it go...I mean, really. Who needs the weapon? I've got so many anyway... Would have been nice to meet up with it later, with that encounter determining what happens, but oh well...

I absolutely agree 100% and I am so glad you posted this (I was going to do it). It is really the best part, and I was thinking at the time "Oh man, this is what I paid for, this is what I want!" At that point I was thinking "WTF?! Get to safety ASAP!" And then I read on the forums about everyone bitching and complaining about the Bear(s) (depending on difficulty) and such... After that, everything went into the ****ter.

But the OP has a pic from DA:I as Avatar!!!! Oh man, the irony is rich! Baaaaaah! Baaaaaah!

It is sooo good to see all these nutjobs getting their come-uppance for totally screwing up the game with their Baaaa-ing during the Kickstarter/Backer phase. You *points finger* demanded these screwed up dumb-ass add-ons to the game and now... It is too late. I lament the game it could have been. So yeah, I am immensely enjoying this. You Baaa-ers are like the proverbial masses that tried to convince Moses that he was crazy/wrong/whatever, and now you are having to face reality. Some of us tried to change this. You baaa-ed us down. Nice to see that the sane world realizes this too.

Bleat Obssheep bleat! Baaaaaa! Baaaaa! I just love how apologetic their posts are "Obs would have done X if the had more time" and the best one "I'm sure that Obs will do X" *crickets* *cue Kana's voice* "Hello? Hello?" Many of the mentioned failings are not fixable - they will have to be changed (and then rebalanced). That all costs (time+resources=zots). And Obs just doesn't have enough to do that AND do the XP at the same time. There were those of us (mostly shouted down by the Obssheep) that pointed most of these failings out in the beta and backer times. You reap what you sow. So bleat on. The abso-****ing-lutely fantastic part of this is where this critic is posted and what following it reaches (far from all your powerless hooves and bleating). It will affect sales. I would normally hold out hope like a normal Obssheep, but I have been burnt too often by Obs in the past to do that anymore. This is not what I wanted from the game when I backed it. This is not what I was promised. And others are increasingly saying the same. An XP will not fix it. Obs is not able financially to change it. And I seriously doubt that there will be a PoE2.

Magran doesn't sort them out.

So...you would not like to be able to create/join a group of like-minded fellows, with a Game Master (you know, Dungeon Master) who can literally be any role, and just...go...have...fun?!? Why would you not want this? Don't you realize how many hours of fun you can multiply that into? In essence, you get UNLIMITED gaming sessions.

Oh Sensuki, you know we have never seen eye-to-eye... Until now. All roads do lead to Rom after all.

I would love to see MP for this game! With a GM client (Game Master). Whooooweee! Now add in a toolset...so that we can make up our own adventures for a group for some real RP...and not this synthetic crutch of a half-paralyzed game...

Single Tank (meaning Deflection and Dr through the roof) and (in my case an Animal Companion as secondary Blocker) and then Range/Spell blast everything. Concentrated fire on single opponent, then move to the next. Always do Spellcasters first (they explode nicely under concentrated fire). Tank and spank.

Yup.

It's utter bollocks. I completed the game multiple times on different difficulty levels without ever enchanting/using potions/food, etc, by using the basic strategy of tank and spank. PERHAPS some use it on PotD. I don't know. Perhaps it is used on solo runs. I don't know. All of those type of things have never indulged that they did so. Scroll use I know has been used (I mean...it is called "cheeese" but...).

[false]Gods, I find myself agreeing with Volourn. Someone kill me. Oh, how I long for the silence of the lambs.

I agree 100% with the review. And I love how some are "taking it". It goes down like aged brandy. Btw - one can still have fun with the game and still agree whole - heartedly with the review. It is not "mutually exclusive" like the bleating of the Obs sheep would have one believe.

No, bad is not the same as evil. Are you seriously suggesting that? How old are you? Seriously.

Roll up a sorcerer.Set game to auto-pause upon spell cast. Reach experience level 20 to learn the necessary spells. Equip the Robe of Vecna to reduce Magic Missile's casting time to 1/10th of a second. Cast Chain Contingency, Time Stop and Improved Alacrity to give yourself 12 uninterrupted seconds in combat, and eliminate the cooldown between castings. Cast Magic Missile, over and over, until 35 missiles are all airborne simultaneously and overlapping. Enjoy a cool, refreshing beverage for the remaining 11.3 seconds of Time Stop. 35d4+35 in 0.0 seconds. No saving throw allowed. Target has Shield spell active/MR/etc: Nothing happens, and some very powerful spells were just wasted for nothing. *clap, clap*

The only combat I conciously avoided (alternative solution) after a wipe (my first) was the Lighthouse at the very top (I was level 5 I think at the time). Never had any other problems like that.

I don't think we are going to see most of the Companions again (the endings for most will preclude that). Suicide Durance, for example. Going to be hard to "undo" that! Of course...Mort-Durance is now possible!

Ah no. My authority is rather limited to call him bad. Certainly he has murdered, done cruel acts. I think that his victims would consider this as "bad" (re: negative). My character in the game wasn't really one of these victims, of course. Therefore my character has little authority to label him bad from personal experience. But what he has done to others, yeah I am sure his victims consider him bad. But as no-one has a concept of Evil in the PoE gameworld, they naturally don't label such so (and there are no references ingame to such, really). Also, you can't get points in "evil" or "good" - you get instead points in benevolent, cruel, aggressive. No evil, no good. You still are not grasping what I am referencing, the concept, are you?

That does not make him evil! It makes him cruel, heartless, etc. A monster. You seem to be having a problem grasping the concept as well. He is a bad man. A bad person, he does and has done bad, even monsterous, atrocious things. But not evil. Because in the gameworld, there is no Good vs Evil conflict, no sin. No punishment in the "afterlife" and no heaven, either. Souls are "recycled", over and over and over...you can't really "kill" someone, either. You just destroy the material shell. The soul goes on... Now, apparently there are ways to even interrupt this natural process, but very few have such knowledge or power to do so. And so, one can label Thaos bad, etc. It is really what you mean. But with what ingame authority are you labelling him evil?

Because he is not - you may consider Thaos so from your worldview (our modern world) but from the gameworld of your character, there is no Good vs Evil conflict - there isn't en a hint. There are no God's dedicated to evil (like X, God of Evil) or Good, for that matter. Thaos is cruel, heartless, and a plethora of other negative characteristics (a monster), and we outside of the gameworld may judge him with our beliefs, values, whatever... But he is certainly not "going to Hell to burn for eternity in a lake of fire" because there is no hell. There is no afterlife "punishment", and there is no sin. There is no Good vs Evil and no Superior Being judging a soul accordingly. I see you are really struggling with these concepts. @SlaverDorian - no, not true. In a society that values property rights, one would be wrong to take the fancy shoes against the will of another for personal gain. But what about one without such values? Why is that now "evil"? No-one was harmed. This process can be applied to any extent. Good and Evil are not Natural properties, they are meta-philosophical and to an extent societal, constructs. In PoE, we do not even have reference to a Good vs Evil conflict of any sort. From what perspective are you labeling what happens in the gameworld? Do you have evidence that one of the "gods" is doing so? "I am God X, and I decree that harming for self gain is EVIL!" Where is that stated?