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I was kind of hoping this kind of conversation would die because it really does feel like it adds negativity to the community as a whole (and maybe discourage parts or all of Obsidian if they actually read this), but since it hasn't, and I have a keyboard now, I guess I may as well try to say something. This game wasn't about stopping Eothas, it was about understanding what he was doing, how you felt about what he was doing, and what the hell everyone was going to do about the consequences. It's a huge set-up for Pillars of Eternity 3. I think people, to some extent understandably, didn't feel enough satisfaction or catharsis from the Eothas plotline. I didn't feel 100% satisfaction, and I honestly adore both the game and the core of the main plot. But I don't think stopping Eothas, or even successfully convincing him to not break the wheel, would have made the ending more satisfying or clear to people, and the large majority of players would probably have broken the wheel themselves if they understood the potential consequences. Considering how many hate the gods and the abusive system they perpetuate. I think the problem is the lack of content (maybe context?) and opportunity to understand what Eothas is doing and why. He does touch on it multiple times, but it's so briefly and with such little chance to absorb it, that it doesn't feel like you had a real conversation. And while you can briefly argue or criticize the way he's sucking up souls, you can't argue the merits of his wheel-breaking plans. And Josh has even mentioned that there is dialogue cut out of the game that explains what will happen as a result of breaking the wheel, which left a lot of people (including myself) confused unless they found some outside information. I don't think the problem with this plot is that you don't have enough agency - not in the way people are saying. The main beats are fine as is. The game just needed to give the player more time to hash it out with the big adra statue, and give the player more opportunity to try and talk things out with Eothas. If Eothas cares so much about our opinions, we should be able to talk about this kind of stuff more, even if he decides to stay on the path after thinking it over.

I think this is whole conversation just went in a circle..

Yeah, going the direct Huana route while everyone is pretty equal in power really ****s both factions over, so those two wouldn't be happy about it. It sounds like this news is too late for you but if you agree to RDC (maybe VTC?) and back out they'll try to kill you. If you act in self defense (unless things have changed), your companions won't leave, but you still deal a huge blow. Queen Onekaza will be satisfied with that and you can side with her without the quest.

The cure to a hangover is more alcohol.

I'm not usually the kind of person to do these challenges but I almost want to do them just to see if I can (and troll a family member).

Blasphemy! :DI've never seen someone so cheery about blasphemy. Having the Sanguine Plate or other unique sets of armor, clothes, etc. Would be cool! Always adds a nice touch to the world.

I wasn't around for the live stream earlier, but thank you for answering my question earlier! It was cool to listen to some of the details. It was also really cool seeing how open you guys are to design and game changes and the enthusiasm for mods.

Yeah, Pallegina's starting conversation with you is different, and at least some of her conversations with Aloth are different, but Pallegina is patriotic no matter what. So her conversations after are the same. For Eder, I have no clue. I know his starting conversation is *supposed *to be different but was bugged, and that he only says "For Eothas" in combat if he kept his faith.

I think you need a +1 or +2 rep with him - do you have that? I forget what, but events in game can make it trigger too. I think if you go to the Wahaki island he'll bring it up.

This is a really basic and maybe dumb question, but : What does being a game director /producer entail? Are there any parts of the job that are especially tricky, or any parts of the job that are way different than what people would expect? E.g. People might be surprised by how important people skills are in some tech support jobs.

"When will fishing be implemented?"

I would say it wasn't perfectly executed yeah, but it was still good, and the problem wasn't that an epic fight was missing or that Eothas is stubborn /resolute.

That epic, ultra powerful character stuff doesn't really fit with the game. And I can't see the Pillars team having a direct God to God clash, especially without some near world ending consequences. The gods already discussed stopping Eothas that way and changed their minds, and by the time they could un change their minds it was way too late.

What forum is that on? That's Josh Sawyer? That's kind of heartbreaking if all of that kind of feedback got him burned out on making the games themselves. :/ I liked that you couldn't just become badass and fight Eothas. I've gotten sick of all the pure power-fantasy fantasy stories that go down the same route over and over, and one of the reasons I like the Pillars games is that they're thoroughly not that way. I had wished that there was a more lengthy conversation to try to convince him not to do it or argue (not necessarily to succeed) , but that's my only real gripe.

Isn't scaling for higher levels active by default?

Is the Beast of Winder DLC like the part 2 of the Beast of Wind DLC? Thank you for the links! The Obsidian developer interviews I've seen are surprisingly straightforward and upfront, if they can say anything, which is cool.

It's actually very straightforward about who shows up at Ukaizo if we're talking about the 'enemy faction'; it's just hella opaque. Most, if not all, of the faction quests have something like the following in their code: "Data": { "FullName": "Void IncrementGlobalValue(String, Int32)", "Parameters": [ "n_Faction_Strength_VTC", "1" ], With each faction having a different variable. As faction quests are done, that variable will go up for the relevant faction. The game will check which is the highest faction strength when it is time to go to Ukaizo and make that your enemy. I haven't actually tested to see what happens if they're all at zero (i.e. if you do NO quests for ANY faction). Been thinking of going through the game code and collating all of the quests and increases of Faction Strength and putting into a chart for people to reference. Might end up dong that in the next few days and throwing it into the Character Builds and Strategies forum, since it seems most appropriate there. If someone hasn't already done it, that is. That's so cool! Thank you for the info. And it'd be very cool if you made a guide /chart /etc on that.

We should make a little graph or walkthrough of who stays or leaves based on the finals choices, and who attacks at Ukaizo if that's trackable. Would help a lot of people I think.

It makes it more dynamic and natural, which is what I think they were going for, as someone mentioned. In last game characters pretty much just decided to like or dislike someone without any other context. It felt natural, but maybe that's just because games have done that forever. The current system has them directly responding to what other characters have said around them. The down side with this system is it's very black and white, at its base. I don't know if Obsidian made it better than its base or not? Because I always got along with my companions, so I don't know if there's a "mixed" reputation you can have with them or if they act differently based on certain aspects about you. At its base, the system is very black and white. Characters like you and each other if they happen to agree on a few points or temperaments and dislike you /others for the inverse. While that behavior is true of people to an extent, that's not really how people work. E.g. I like some people who I think have abhorrent political views, and I like people who have attitudes that sometimes hit really personal buttons for me. Those issues *hurt * the relationship sometimes, but it doesn't make me hate them by default. Similarly, I really *don't* like some people despite the fact they agree on certain things or have a temperament I generally gravitate to. So while Aloth might not like that someone is cavalier about everything, I could see him still liking the person despite it - especially if the person cares about issues and just *acts* like they don't to cope or something. I think that's actually a conversation path the -1 rep dialogue with him can go. Also, things like the Pallegina and Tekehu relationship is an example of something that I don't think fits the base system. Pallegina has issues with Tekehu but can get past them and appreciate him, and I feel like the -/+ reps don't really show that kind of relationship.

I didn't go that route so I don't know, but I think I've read somewhere that you can convince him to stay. Also the VTC mostly screw the RDC in their one quest so I think he'd be less likely to leave on that one.

That makes sense! But someone said they still had the main quest for Hosongo after they did Ashen Maw, even though they essentially skipped a step. Do we know what happens then? I assume Eothas doesn't talk to you there at that point.

Someone said they went to Ashen Maw and still had the Hosongo quest. Forget who.

The Engwithan gods are representations of their cultural values turned up to 11. Iovara has a line at the end of the first game that explains this (paraphrasing her: “anything taken to an extreme becomes grotesque”). Every mythology has a creation myth and an “end of the world” myth. Rymrgand is the latter."Myth" being the key word here. Just because people believe it doesn't make it true. Rymrgand may well believe that his eventual victory is inevitable, but that doesn't make it true. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe Yeah, but what does that have to do with Rymrgand? Entropy existed before him, it will exist long after his death (which will predate the heat death of the universe by a long time). Entropy isn't dependent on his existence, he's merely a charlatan who claims that it does. Not necessarily true. Entropy exists in our universe, but the PoE universe appears to be a different universe, governed by different physical laws. So maybe in the PoE universe entropy is just a myth. I don't think that's the case here, mainly because it doesn't fit what we know or what the games have been going for. They mention that the Engwithins found that there was only a "wheel" that slowly grinds souls away. That's very in line with entropy I think. The gradual but steady path to non-existence.

Yeah. It makes the already difficult faction work at the end a ton harder. It is either nearly impossible or impossible or keep all your buddies when you side with a faction at the end, without what feels like a loophole anyways, and you *cannot * have them in any of the faction talks. I switched out to Serafen just because I figured he wouldn't lose his **** as fast Lol. Which worked out.

I think that it's harsh and inconvenient, but it makes sense that either that would be her reaction or that she would be *extremely * quick to leave if you didn't explain yourself properly. Pallegina isn't just a spy, but she's loyal to her county and dedicated to it's potential. The scenario with the Huana queen *heavily* implies that you're going to talk about doing something excessively messed up to the Vailians. Pallegina pretty much slaps you upside the head and tells you that's the reality if you try to say it's just a conversation. The fact that you dismiss her after all that is a sign that 1) you don't respect her enough to listen /keep her there, 2) you're completely comfortable sending the most dissenting opinion away and comfortable with at least playing with the idea of ruining the Vailians. If I were her, I'd probably leave too.