Fluffle

Yes, the highest donator will get the additional rewards from the "build a pirate party" tier. As soon as I will have received them I will forward the rewards to that donator. The additional rewards from the "create an item" tier will go to the second highest donator, which is me The highest donator is only anonymous to you Not to me But I can tell you what he told me: he or she is not Feargus Urquhart.

$5846.06 - $5000 for pirate party - $25 for shipping = $821.06 $821.06 - $750 for create an item - $25 for shipping = $46.06 Which was stupid on my part because I think I could have put those two pledges in one order and pay the shipping costs only once. I apologize for that. And I will reimburse you of course. Somehow I wanted to have two separate orders, which I got now, but I didn't realize that that would cost the shipping costs twice. Don't worry I will donate new $25 to us to make up for my mistake. Which would then leave us at: $46.06 + $25 = $71.06 From which I will buy some additional game copies and put them in a lottery. One additional digital copy of the game costs $30. So we can afford two of them. What do we do with the remaining $11.06? Edit: Actually I am not sure if I could have really put those two pledges in one order and pay shipping costs only once. I actually have my doubts now that that would have been possible. But anyway since I'm not sure I'll donate those $25.

Wait wait wait, do amulets share the same slot with trinkets? Are they in the same slot? Are amulets actually trinkets? This is getting a bit confusing for me^^

Actually for me that definition would cry "AMULET". An amulet made of obsidian. An amulet of protection.

Touché. Those are good points. So as unlikely as it may be that you would buy the badge, I'm still thankful that you pointed out why. I can understand it better now. And given those points I would say then you actually shouldn't buy it. You shouldn't buy it just because I feel you shouldn't lack the badge. You should buy it for yourself of course and if you do feel about the badge the way you do, and especially if you don't even like the design that much, then no, then you probably shouldn't buy it. It's your decision of course anyway. Anyway thanks for letting me know the reasons in detail.

So one more thing I'd like to say. This concerns @Messier-31 @Katarack21 @gogocactus and a few others: Please consider buying the "Black Isle Bastard" forum badge after all. I know, I know "8 dollars for a bagdge". The thing is, I see the badge as more than "just being a forum badge". We are the Black Isle Bastards on this forum and the badge does signify our membership. You guys have contributed to our cause with money and ideas and you DO belong to us, no matter if you have the badge or not. But if you had the badge it would be clear for everyone else that you are part of us. To me it feels wrong that you lack the badge. But it's okay if you would rather not spend 8$ I understand But just give it a thought because soon the slacker backer campaign ends.

No at the moment I haven't planned any further polls on that. So you may see it as the final poll. But if enough people insisted on making a new poll after some time, I'd do it. But keep in mind the nature of polls. People will not always get want they want. And Obsidian is not bound by the polls anyway. So for me, personally, it is far more important that we get ANY cool item for the Black Isle Bastards than the specific nature of the item. Of course, I do have a preference, but I wouldn't mind if the item was going to be something else. That said, if melee weapon stays on top of this poll, I might add a new poll about which kind of melee weapon.

I think that's up for discussion. Discuss! Is that even up to us? I think OBS should have the final say. OBS always has the final say about everything we discuss and vote on. That doesn't mean that we can't discuss things and give Obsidian a bit input in form of ideas, polls and our discussions

I think that's up for discussion. Discuss!

Interesting... Googling "obsidian light" led me to... the Charms of Light, healing properties of obsidian (basically esoteric stuff but I find it funny! No offense to anyone who believes in it): "Obsidian is a volcanic glass. Chakras - Base Chakra Zodiac - Scorpio, Sagittarius Element - Earth/Fire Typical colours - Black, silvery or brown Obsidian is truth-enhancing. A strongly protective stone, it forms a shield against negativity. It blocks psychic attack and absorbs negative energies from the environment. Obsidian draws out mental stress and tension. It stimulates growth on all levels, urging exploration of the unknown and opening new horizons. Brings clarity to the mind and clears confusion. Helps you to know who you truly are. Obsidian dissolves emotional blockages and ancient traumas. Promotes qualities of compassion and strength. Obsidian aids the digestion and detoxifies. It reduces arthritis pain, joint problems and cramps. Warms the extremities." Now tell me would you have known all these wonderful spiritual properties of obsidian?

Oh...I see. Well...nix that, I guess. Wait, uhm, does that many trinkets are class-specific? All of them?

I know someone who would have donated too... LOL In the end maybe we could have reached even two items. But I think it's best to stop at one point. There is this saying that you should know when to stop and that should be when you're at the top (usually referring to your career but still...). We never planned to go so far in the first place. It's amazing and also humbling that so many people have taken an interest in this and donated so generously. So I wanted to close the donation and end it in a huge success rather than trying to reach too high and end in a failure. Lots of thanks again to you guys What's next? I'll be very busy until Friday. But then this weekend I'll sort everything out and make some plans, organizing stuff etc and of course make the actual purchase of our tiers! Then there's still the matter of the donator recognition and the matter of updating your "Deadfire Backer Badge" if you so wish and if you qualify for that.

The island was for free. We didn't pay anything for that. Obsidian gave it to us as a gift. About the inn. If we do want an inn on our island then we need to contact a backer of that tier. I actually have someone in mind who should be interested, I hope. But mind you, because the island is so small it can only support one structure at most. And a ship does count as a structure in this context. That means, if we want an inn on the Black Isle, then we cannot place our ship there. So then it would be more likely that you meet the Black Isle Bastards on sea.

Update on the poll: I made a small update on the poll. Since nobody has voted for belt or gloves I combined them into one option and I used the new free slot for "trinket". So for everyone of you who'd like to vote for "trinket" please revisit the poll.

Okay, I don't have much time right now. But let me tell you... WE ARE FUNDED! Yes our stretchgoal too. That's why I am closing the donations now! I thank everyone of you for your generous donations. And especially our anonymous donator who once again decided to release a batch of $333. Whoever you are, we love you and we want to have your babies Thank you all very much! So what we did accomplish: We have a forum Black Isle Bastard badge to identify ourselves as Black Isle Bastards on this forum. We will be given a Black Isle for free in Pillars of Eternity 2, although mind you it will be a tiny island. We have managed to fund the Black Isle Bastards pirate group for Pillars of Eternity 2. And we additionally have funded an item for our pirate group! We have accomplished A LOT! THAT IS AWESOME! You guys rock! And thanks to all of you again!

Welcome on board! Here's your own personal, customized bottle of rum! *hands over* Enjoy your stay!

That would be for the ship right? If we are allowed to customize our ship to that extend it would be as part of our "build a pirate party" tier. This poll assumes ideas for a piece of item for characters to equip. In your inventory. And this is reflected in the poll options. And once again, if we can customize our ship to the extend of your ideas then we could already do that because of our tier "build a pirate party". That tier includes the ship. So why should we pay additional $750 for something that we already paid for (IF we are allowed to customize our ship to that extend)? I like your ideas, but they belong here. That is where we can discuss ideas about our ship.

Well I would guess that Obsidian is interested in a more or less balanced amount of different types of items. So just as a thought: Imagine all the backers of the "create an item" tier would want to create weapons. Then I think Obsidian themselves would add less weapons created by themselves but instead other type of equipment. Imagine on the other hand all of the "create an item" tier backers would want a trinket, nobody would want to make a weapon. Then I think Obsidian would make less trinkets on their own, but more weapons instead. So I think Obsidian will have a look at what those backers wish to add to the game. And upon those choices they will then decide what to add by themselves. Because what would be the point in adding even more weapons if almost all backers of that tier wanted to add weapons anyway. So I guess/hope we can trust Obsidian that they'd try to balance that out to a certain degree.

I would argue that's exactly what the other backers of the "create an item" tier think too But maybe not. Don't get me wrong I don't want to oppose or ruin the fun As for the trinket tier at the moment we would assume that it is less restrictive than the typical equipment categories. Because how could the developers let us choose a trinket from a pre-selected set of trinkets? I don't know. But even in the case of trinkets the limitations might be more restrictive than we think they are. Anyway, just to let you know, I would be fine with a trinket too of course.

I understand the wish that our item should stand out but there are a few things to consider, that work - to a certain degree - against that wish. The more specified and sophisticated i.e. complex an idea is the more likely the devs will not do it. As I have said before it may very well be the case that we get to choose from pre-selected sets of items in other categories just as well. The wish to have a unique, outstanding item can mean a lot of more work for the developers. And as such I fear based on that alone many too complex ideas would be rejected. As we have seen in the case of the Macuahuitl. The other thing to consider is that we are of course not the only ones who pledge for the "create an item" tier. I don't know how many other backers of that tier there are, but there are some of them. And I imagine everyone wants to create THAT unique, outstanding item that people will talk about in years to come. Certainly I do want that too for the Black Isle Bastards. But at the same time I'm aware of the limitations. It's an act of balance in that regard. In the end I think we'll manage to get a pretty cool item. But it may not win the award of the most outstanding unique item in all video games of all times. Of course I exaggerated here a bit to make my point.

Those of you who don't like the idea of "Badass Sword #36" - do you mean a sword specifically or any melee weapon for that matter? So would you dislike "Badass Melee Weapon #36" just as much? I'm just wondering, because at the moment the melee weapon is leading in the poll.

Indeed, it is nice to brainstorm some ideas. And I absolutely don't intent to stop or discourage you I just wanted to lower the expectations a bit, to make a "reality check". So that you might not be disappointed. So yes, feel free to brainstorm but at the same time be aware that limitations apply. And they may be even more restrictive than we think they are.

I have already used 15/15 answer slots for that question. So you could use "other" if you wanted to vote for a trinket. Or just tell me which other category I should replace with "trinket".

There is one thing I would like to note. As you can see the poll options are very vague in the sense that they only contain the general categories of possible items. In case you have missed it I proposed a very specific sword to Aarik but in the case of weapons I got the reply that the developers are not going to create a new weapon. Instead we would have to choose from a pre-selected set of weapons. So I fear that the developers are not going to design a completely new item for us from scratch. At least I can verify that that is true for weapons. I wouldn't be surprised if that holds true for other kinds of categories of items as well - in worst case even for all of them. Very probably we will only get to know what items we can actually have - AFTER we buy the "create an item" tier. It's more or less the same problem we face with our "build a pirate party" tier. For example we don't know to which extend we can make choices about our ship, i.e. it's design. That's a huge drawback to this crowdfunding approach in general. You don't know what a certain tier offers you concretely BEFORE you buy it. You don't know the extent of your choices within a tier BEFOREHAND. Just as an example, I like the idea of a tricorn as a pirate hat. But I fear that, if there aren't already tricorns in the game then the devs are not going to design a new item for us from scratch. And that is my general assumption. Very probably they are not going to design any item from scratch. I fear they're just going to modify an already existing item. And let's be honest for a backer $750 is a lot of money. For a video game developer that's almost nothing. I fear that designing an entire new item from scratch would be much much more expensive. Keep in mind though, that most of this post is speculation on my part without official confirmation! Keep your ideas coming, but I have the feeling the more general and easy-to-implement and the less sophisticated your ideas are, the higher the chance they can be realized. TL;DR - It may be that the "create an item" tier is more like a "modify an already existing item" tier. I have no official confirmation on that but I have a feeling that that might be the case.

Please keep in mind that all things relating to our ship are already covered in the tier "Build a pirate party". If we pay additional $750 for something that is already part of our "build a pirate party" tier then we would actually waste those $750. So if we are allowed to make custom choices about our ship to that extend it will be as part of our "Build a pirate party" tier and NOT as part of the "Create an Item" tier. This thread and poll assumes a piece of equipment for a character.