Fluffle

Greetings everyone, Obsidian Entertainment will give us a "Black Isle" for free in the game. They also supported us in founding a pirate crew on this community called the "Black Isle Bastards". And this thread is about making the "Black Isle Bastards" come true in the game. One of the biggest points of criticism of backer content has always been that it breaks immersion and does not fit into the game. To avoid this, we will give Obsidian Entertainment only a very rough idea of what the Black Isle Bastards are about. We will let them then work out the details to make sure the Black Isle Bastards do fit SEAMLESSY into the game. And in order to decide on that "rough idea" that is what this poll is for. The options in the poll are not necessarily mutually exclusive and yet I do not allow multiple options because I would like to see the most favorite options. Also the vote is not anonymous because I might consider the votes of members who actually pledged for this cause to be more important than the votes of those who do not support this cause. Note: I might sometimes update the poll options. I will try to do it as rarely as possible. But please make sure to come back here regularly and check if your vote is still valid! Before you donate for this cause, be absolutely sure to have read and understood the F.A.Q. at the bottom of this post! Feel free to pose questions any time! Also the F.A.Q. may be expanded upon, so be sure to check on it regularly. Disclaimer: I am the sole person who is collecting the funds and who is responsible for the donations. Obsidian Entertainment is not involved in these donations in any way, however they are fully supportive of this project. Donating here will NOT give you a copy of the game (an exception may apply for one of the most generous donors as specified in the F.A.Q.). (Note: The purpose of this image is only to support this crowd funding. Obsidian Entertainment alone decides on the design of the Black Isle. And it is going to be a much much smaller island. The map was created with: http://fantasynamegenerators.com/map-creator.php Credits for the font used on the map go to Raymond Larabie: http://www.1001fonts.com/vinque-font.html#license Credits for the kraken in the image go to lolien on the Beamdog forum) F.A.Q.: 1.) What exactly would I be pledging for? A: You would be helping us to crowd fund a pirate crew who call themselves the “Black Isle Bastards” for Pillars of Eternity 2. Donating here will NOT give you a copy of the game (exceptions may apply as seen under question 9, 10 and 11). 2.) What does the term "bastard" mean in the lore of the game? Has that term even been established yet? A: The term "bastard" has not been established yet in the lore of the game, however, it would have the same meanings as in our world. 3.) How do you make sure that your backer made content fits into the game world and does not break immersion? A: We are going to give Obsidian only a rough idea on our pirate crew. We will let Obsidian Entertainment then work out the details themselves to ensure that our pirate crew fits seamlessly into the game and its lore. 4.) Will there be a Black Isle in the game? A: Yes, that has already been confirmed. 5.) How large in size is the Black Isle going to be? A: It is going to be a tiny island. And it would only be able to support one structure on it at most. A ship does count as a structure in this context. 6.) I saw that there is an option to pledge an additional 8$ to get a "Black Isle Bastards" forum badge. Is that money used to crowd fund the pirate crew in the game? A: No, it is not used that way. The "Black Isle Bastards" forum badge is funded independently from the "Black Isle Bastards" pirate crew that we would like to incorporate into the game. 7.) Why do the $8 for the BIB forum badge not count for the crowd funding of the Black Isle Bastards? Originally we had planned on crowd funding an island. We would have had to raise $5000 for the "Black Isle" but then Obsidian decided to give us, their community, the "Black Isle" for free, as a gift. The BIB forum badge serves as a token of appreciation and a thank you to Obsidian for giving us an island for free. 8.) How much money do you have to raise to incorporate the “Black Isle Bastards” into the game? A: 5000$ 9.) What happens if you reach more than 5000$? A: We are going to try to fund an item for the Black Isle Bastards for which we need to raise additional $750. If we don't manage to collect these $750, then we will use the surplus money to buy additional game copies and put them into a lottery for our donators. 10.) What happens with the other rewards (other than the pirate crew and the ship) on the tier "Build a Pirate Party" on the Fig campaign? A: By default we will pass up on them. Only if there is a very generous donor to our cause who donates considerably more than any others then he or she will get all the additional rewards. 11.) What happens with the other rewards on the tier "Create an Item" on the Fig campaign? The additional rewards from that tier go to the donator with the second highest amount. If there are multiple donators who are close to be the second highest donator they can share the additional rewards but only if they can peacefully reach a agreement on who gets what. 12.) Is Obsidian Entertainment bound to the results of this poll? No, they are not. The results of this poll serve as suggestions. However, Obsidian Entertainment can deviate from them if they think that that would be to the overall advantage of their game. 13.) How can I pledge for this? A: Have a look here You may need a PayPal account for this. 14.) Is there a deadline for when you need to have raised $5750 ? A: Yes, the deadline is 25th April 2017 23:59 PM (GMT+2) 15.) What does Obsidian Entertainment think about your project? A: See for yourself: 16.) How much money have you raised so far for your cause? Base goal: $5000 / $5000 (100% funded) Stretchgoal ("Create an Item"): $414.68 / $750 (55% funded) overall: $5414.68 / $5750 66 backers biggest donation: $1665 donation on average: $82.04 17.) Will there be any ingame recognition for the donors of this project? Currently, that is up for discussion. We are looking for creative, easy to implement ways, to give our donors recognition in the game while that must in no way break the fourth wall/immersion. Feel free to share your ideas on this! 18.) How are you going to contact the donors of this project? For cases, that I need to reach donors specifically, I would send an email to the email address the donors provided on PayPal. If you have donated please make sure to always check that email address until this whole campaign has ended!

Well it seems that the name BLB will stick with you for... Eternity I already get the feeling this is going to be an inside joke in the future

1.) It is "just" a forum badge. But as I previously already said, it is also a way to thank and support Obsidian. You will NOT be able to get a custom forum title this time. 2.) Yes, it is intended that way. 3.) Was already answered but once again: It says "B. I. B." The point is so close to the "I" that it looks like an "L" but it isn't

That would be a question for @Aarik D. I really hope that they make the badge available on the backer portal once that goes online for Pillars 2.

It is I. - it just lookls like an L Honestly, this 8$ pledge is exagerration imo. Eight bucks for a feeble forum badge is too much, Id rather spent it for the pirate crew; is this thing still on btw? That's why I wrote you can see it as a thank you to Obsidian Entertainment for giving us a "Black Isle" for free. They certainly didn't have to do that. It was a very nice gesture from them and you can see this badge as an opportunity to return that gesture. Of course, you don't have to. I just wanted to show that you can see the 8$ as something more than "just a badge". The pirate crew thing for the game will hopefully start very soon.

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know, our BLACK ISLE BASTARDS badge is available now on the Fig campaign under "extras" Whoohoo! Just look at it! Raise your pledge by 8$ and join us, the Black Isle Bastards, on this forum! You can see this as a thank you to Obsidian for giving us a Black Isle for free Note, if you'd like to you can also help to make the Black Isle Bastards come true in Pillars of Eternity 2! Attention: Buying the BIB badge is completely independent from crowd funding the Black Isle Bastards as a pirate crew. Buying the BIB badge will NOT contribute to the crowd funding of the pirate crew! Buying the BIB badge is meant as a thank you to Obsidian for giving us a "Black Isle" for free!

That is not how "Create a Super Pet" works though. You can only choose from the creatures that are already in the game and make a pet version out of them.

Hmm seems they haven't enabled this yet. I will adjust the question accordingly. Thanks for your support!

I am not sure if it works the same way with donations. Anyway I am still in the process of setting up that PayPal account and get it verified which may take a few days. As a note I would not let 97$ be the reason that we fail

I will soon add a PayPal Donation offer where we collect the money to fund raise our pirate crew for the Black Isle. If you'd like to learn more about the pirate crew, check out this thread: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/91277-making-the-black-isle-bastards-come-true-crowd-funding-a-pirate-crew/

Okay guys, now is the time to decide on two things: 1.) What do we do with the donated money if we do not reach the 5000$ ? A) Refund B) Going for a lesser Fig tier C) Give the money to Obsidian anyway and ask them to spend it on enhancing the Black Isle 2.) What do we do with the other rewards in the "Build a Pirate Party" tier? A) Pass up on it B) They go to the most generous donator C) Split them up among the most generous donators D) Distribute them between all donators of this cause via lottery

Updated my journal erhm I mean... I updated the opening post with an FAQ. If you think something is missing let me know!

... looking over development and giving ideas. Just what any good publisher would do, right?

Question: Will the Black Isle be big enough in size to support both a pirate ship and an inn? Answer: No, it will not.

@Amentep This is rather a lore issue. Has it lorewise been established that Death Godlikes have to have almost their entire face being covered, or can it only be just their eyes? There is a HUGE difference between the two Anomen images, yet both of them have their eyes covered. So I am asking for lore on the game. Is it impossible in the game world "Eora" to meet a Death Godlike who has their face covered like in Anomen example 1 (first picture)? Really just the eyes and not so much more. That's what I'd like to know.

Yes that was my line of thinking too originally. I do not have any source of ingame lore that says that Death Godlikes not only have to have their eyes covered BUT so much more of their face too. But I figured it wasn't worth arguing about it. But I totally agree with that point! Yes, true. Depends on if that would be a real "problem" for someone. There may be several other cases where the ingame model would not fit the character portrait. Personally, I can and always have lived with that.

there is still a small gap! You could use some kind of cone to feed them liquid food. Kidding aside, I think that was just an example (though I am not sure). In Pillars of Eternity 1 the mouth was not covered.

Yep, they explicitly excluded it now. I am sorry, I feel that I caused this. If you REALLY wanted this, you'd need to talk to a dev first, best address would be Aarik D But you must be aware, that you will most likely be not recognizable AT ALL as a Death Godlike I don't know why. They could do a Death Godlike where only the eyes are covered - like sunglasses basically (I mean the size of the area, not the looks). If your face is distinctive enough it wouldn't be impossible to recognize you. Think about Batman's mask. It's quite laughable that nobody regognizes him. Not as laughable as Clark/Superman, but laughable nonetheless. Why do all the godlike faces have to be covered completely? It's not against the lore to only cover their eyes as far as I remember. That is basically what I proposed (see page 1 of this thread): And then the reply was that it would be like this instead:

Personally I would say this is for Obsidian to decide. I think a Black Isle would be reference enough already. However, why the heck not? I would note not oppose it, I would just leave that decision to Obsidian.

Yep, they explicitly excluded it now. I am sorry, I feel that I caused this. If you REALLY wanted this, you'd need to talk to a dev first, best address would be Aarik D But you must be aware, that you will most likely be not recognizable AT ALL as a Death Godlike

This was not really a serious request, just a monkey island reference. But a pet monkey would be awesome. Yeah I had a feeling that it might have been not so serious. However, I do try to get something out of suggestions that appear to be rather less serious.

Oh dear, I just realized I better write an FAQ...

Yes, correct. The add-on is not there yet. But as soon as it is you will be able to pledge 8$ to become member of the "Black Isle Bastards" on this community NOT on the game. The pirate crew on this community is funded completely independently from the pirate crew for the game. And that is why these things will be handled independently from each other. As far as I understood it, we can give input in form of backer content for which we pledged. We need to raise money for that. So I am going to register a PayPal account where I will collect money. As soon as we have 5000$ I will transfer it to Obsidian, but Obsidian has to enable the PayPal option first! Aarik is already aware of that. If we do not reach the 5000$ I can refund OR we decide on another tier OR we give Obsidian the money as a free donation without something in return ( I would ask them to invest that money in the Black Isle then) If we raise more than 5000$ Obsidian will get the surplus money for free, respectively I would ask them to spend the surplus money on the Black Isle or our pirate crew. As far as I understood the Black Isle is going to be quite small. It can turn out to be very small in fact. Don't be disappointed, we get it for free after all. So if we decide that our ship is at the Black Isle, there may not be enough room for an inn. I would need to check with the devs.

How about this, we inquire if the game features monkeys at all. And if it does, the pirates could have a pet monkey. Of course that could require additional funds, we would need to clear that up first. 1 pet for 2 NPC's? That'd be 2-6 NPC's and 1 pet, instead of 4-8 NPC's. ​EDIT: Or stolen by pirates? The OBVIOUS answer would be: monkey pirates...

How about this, we inquire if the game features monkeys at all. And if it does, the pirates could have a pet monkey. Of course that could require additional funds, we would need to clear that up first.