Jump to content

Rapscallion

Members
  • Posts

    33
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Rapscallion

  1. To me, it feels like the Wizard in PoE is visiting from a different game.

     

    The same class could be exceptional in a D&D game but the Wizard just feels weird in PoE when compared with other casters. The grimoire mechanic is quite poor in several ways:

    • I'm rarely able to choose more than one or two spells per level that are actually useful (or not covered by my Cipher), so 4 slots is wasted
    • I never switch grimoires because there is no need
    • The Wizard abilities are a bit odd - if I need to use them, then it usually means I've already lost the fight and their effect is too weak to matter
    • My Cipher seems to outclass the Wizard when their spells overlap functionally
    • The Wizard has a lot of touch spells - why? This seems like a hangover from D&D that has no place in PoE
    • Friendly fire on spells is arbitrary. Why do the beams and bouncing fireballs damage allies but the bouncing missile does not? Why does concussive missiles damage allies but the bounding missiles pass straight through them with no effect?
    • The best buff spells target only the Wizard

    Just my thoughts so far.

     

    DISCLAIMER: I'm not saying that Wizards are bad or underpowered, but they feel a bit alien to me within the context of PoE and its other classes.

  2. This thread and those like them are hilarious. Yes, some people do get carried away with the idea of balance however I see most complaints to be perfectly valid. Here are some reasons:

     

    1) Class/race/spell imbalance was not a design decision. In fact Obsidian's goal was to eliminate bad choices from the game (in terms of class/attribute/spell selection) so imbalance can be seen as bugs.

     

    2) Obsidian have already released once patch that addressed balance concerns, so why complain when the community highlight other issues? The developer has already shown they are amenable to balance changes.

     

    3) Some people may whine that players feel entitled - perhaps they are, but if they are a kickstarter then I feel it is justified. You and many others did not pay for this game years in advance just based upon the promises of the developer. If you haven't already, please go back and read all of their kickstarter backer posts and watch the commentary videos. The ideas sounded fantastic, and the expectation was set high. If one of the classes they discussed in the kickstarter stage turns out to be broken or weak (monk, ranger etc.) then I feel backers have the right to say something.

    • Like 3
  3.  

    No, not always. When a criticism is backed by measurements, statistics and proofs, it is objective. When it's backed by feelings, it's subjective.

    No serious statistician will claim that statistics are objective... A whole lot of subjectivity goes into the problem framing, choosing the data to be analyzed, choosing the statistical models, choosing the quality criteria of the assessment, and so on. Numbers are often used to back otherwise weak arguments. "Lies, damned lies, and statistics"...

     

     

    This. You also seem to be confusing the word criticism with analysis.

     

    One other comment on your post Pedro: I think stating that some feature is not fun is a valid complaint. The stronghold in PoE is just not fun for me at all. It serves very little purpose outside of offering the player a sense of progression and I think it fails to do even that.

     

    I pour money into it, it offers me a button to click every half hour or so, returns some money occasionally. Since I have amassed an in-game fortune I'll likely never spend, the money is a non-issue, which leaves the management/progression side as the primary mechanic. As stated by others, it requires no thought or effort and provides minimal benefit in terms of story, immersion or reward. 

  4. I find your post quite infuriating OP, to be perfectly frank with you.

     

    This is a completely new RPG franchise and nobody expected Obsidian to get it perfect right out of the gate. The gameplay mechanics are mostly excellent but you're delusional if you think it cannot use some adjustment. The players are providing feedback to the developers - not all of it is constructive, or accurate, but I feel like you do the developers a major disservice by assuming they cannot tell the difference between good and bad feedback.

     

    No player wants to play a game they dislike, therefore you should stop assuming that feedback, discussion and, yes, criticism of gameplay mechanics is a negative thing. The comments of the playerbase will average out to provide a strong base for further development of this franchise going forward.

     

    /rant

    • Like 1
  5. So how then do you balance the fights? Assume the player is rested and has full endurance and spell slots? In that case you would need to remove the limitation for resting.

     

    It's such a difficult design process, and Obsidian knew it. This is why I think allowing a limited one-time rest at certain points through a dungeon is best. You know that the player has overcome X number of encounters to reach this point, and that they have Y number of encounters left. Allow a rest (and a save) before the player continues on.

     

    In this case, the developer has a wider budget for encounters. You design the game such that the player will have full resources (health, endurance, spells) for a certain number of encounters. If the player chooses to spend all their spells on the first encounter to defeat the enemies quicker, then they may have taken so little damage that the lack of spells will not hurt them later on.

     

    At worst they can just reload a few encounters earlier.

  6.  

     

    Brimsurfer, on 02 Apr 2015 - 10:06 AM, said:

    Well if you don't want to camp, then don't......

     

    I don't see a problem there. Don't buy or pick up any camping supplies, you can just play the game without camping.................

     

    Why do you want to force others to play the game your way? just don't don't camp yourself and you problem is solved.

     

    Another one who hasn't bothered to read the thread or understand the OP.

     

    Here's the abridged version:

     

    > Players complain about health/endurance system and spell uses/rest

    > These mechanics are related to the rest system

    > Game could have been balanced around a different system to avoid these issues

    > Original design meant you could only rest in specific locations and made more sense - why was this idea abandoned?

     

     

    Another one who doesn't bother to use his head.

     

    That is exactly what I am saying, why don't you do yourself what you are suggesting..... don't camp yourself or camp only a limited no. of times (which ever no. seems appropriate to you) and all these problems will be solved for you because this is exactly what you are suggesting. Why do you want everyone to suffer your opinions? 

     

     

    I barely camp at all. Only in inns or a maximum of once in a dungeon if a trap goes off before I detect it and it takes out a party member.

     

    You've still missed the point. The game is balanced around having the ability to rest anytime, anywhere to a limit of 4 (+ scavenged supplies) with zero penalty. This is completely contrary to the goals of Obsidian during the early design stages of this game.

     

    You appear to not be a kickstarter backer, so perhaps you missed the developer commentary videos and forum discussions on how this game would aim to avoid these types of mechanics.

  7. Katarack21, on 02 Apr 2015 - 10:22 AM, said:

     

    Rapscallion, on 02 Apr 2015 - 10:07 AM, said:

    TBH the skills don't seem very well thought out. I pump mechanics on one character and pump Athletics really high on all of them. The rest are just for RP purposes for the main character.

    You've clearly never experienced the joy of five Rolling Flames bouncing in a crisscross pattern across a field of enemies.

     

     

    I've never experienced the joy of Rolling Flames doing a damn thing. Not sure if my game is bugged, but in 15 or so uses of this spell it has failed to do damage to anything at all in its path. I've completely ditched it.

  8. Brimsurfer, on 02 Apr 2015 - 10:06 AM, said:

    Well if you don't want to camp, then don't......

     

    I don't see a problem there. Don't buy or pick up any camping supplies, you can just play the game without camping.................

     

    Why do you want to force others to play the game your way? just don't don't camp yourself and you problem is solved.

     

    Another one who hasn't bothered to read the thread or understand the OP.

     

    Here's the abridged version:

     

    > Players complain about health/endurance system and spell uses/rest

    > These mechanics are related to the rest system

    > Game could have been balanced around a different system to avoid these issues

    > Original design meant you could only rest in specific locations and made more sense - why was this idea abandoned?

  9. I think a big part of making Fighter/Barbarian more appealing is by decoupling their instant powers from the recovery period. Even naked, my 18-DEX Barbarian will take several seconds sometimes to activate Frenzy and it's next to impossible to get Barbaric Blow (is that what its called?) to activate in less than 6 seconds or so.

     

    Eder will outright refuse to use Knockdown for reasons unknown - I just get the glowing green border and he doesn't use the ability on an enemy sitting right in front of him. Instant powers should activate the moment that a player clicks the button IMO, even on pause.

    • Like 1
  10. Any idea why my guys are so silent? The only thing I've really heard out of my crew (consisting of Eder, Aloth, Durance and Kana) are the dialogues you get when you meet them, the dialogues after acquiring the Stronghold, and Aloth muttering to himself in different voices.

     

    Played 24 hours and no comment from Eder about any of my pets...

     

    EDIT: Is it because I rarely rest so I'm missing some conversation triggers? I had one from Eder after waking up one time.

  11. Jimmious, on 02 Apr 2015 - 08:54 AM, said:

    Ah the Brittish. You love to hate them sometimes :p

     

    Um, excuse me? Can we have less of that please?

     

    The Metro is a crappy newspaper that's given away for free and usually found abandoned in huge quantities on the tube or around the stations. Nothing in the Metro is ever really taken seriously by anyone with an ounce of intelligence.

     

    Not sure why you sometimes love to hate us.

    • Like 1
  12. DocDoomII, on 01 Apr 2015 - 4:43 PM, said:

    Checkpoint based games are kinda crappy for RPGs. They feel super cheap and arcade-y.

     

    I should clarify. When I say checkpoints, in this instance I mean set locations/times where the party may rest within the dungeon. You'd still be able to save anywhere but you'd need to progress to a certain point to allow your party to rest.

     

    Some examples:

     

    If you're invading Readric's Hold by force then resting is completely disabled until you rout the guards. This can be done by eliminating (kill, bribe, persuade) one or more captains or by killing a certain number of mooks. Rest is then enabled.

     

    If you're infiltrating Readric's Hold then resting is disabled until you convince an NPC to help you. You're then able to rest in their quarters.

     

    If you're sneaking into Readric's Hold you're able to rest in remote locations (sewer/dungeon) so long as your party remains unseen.

  13. Horrorscope, on 01 Apr 2015 - 3:43 PM, said:

     

    ProjectBG2Respawn, on 31 Mar 2015 - 5:44 PM, said:

    Stop wanting realistic gameplay dudes.

     

    I can't belive it, you fight against dragons, undead, wizards, you can heal your wounds by resting, you can read souls and all : but you find illogical to rest in a dungeon.

     

     

    You know there's a way to play like you want, it's called roleplay. You don't wanna rest cuz you find it not RP ? So don't. I can't see your point.

     

    Agreed. I like the mechanic overall vs other attempts. Couple recent games have added that limited rest dimension, it is there to make you conserve and strategize. Not that I'm against a cooldown system, but with it being per rest, this isn't all bad.

     

    And about realism... your player starts out "Did anyone see that?", "Did anyone hear that?" the visions. As if the player is dumfounded. But said player in this case spews magic from their finger tips, kills ghosts and shadows, but then is totally amazed they see dead people. That doesn't add up all that much either. Relax, enjoy.

     

     

    This thread is not a discussion on realism. It's a discussion on the mechanics of the resting system being the way they are, despite the developer goals of completely redesigning common cRPG systems for the modern age.

     

    Also, your character lives in a world where magic is a known (even common?) force, and there are many monsters including undead in the wilds just metres from the road. These things are common in the lore. Being a Watcher is very uncommon and in the lore so your character has every right to react this way, especially because it's completely new to them.

  14. I think my companions are just really shy. Just arriving at Defiance Bay and I can count on one hand the number of times each party member has interjected a conversation or wanted to speak with me. I'm using Eder, Aloth and Kana. So far Kana has been the chattiest and I've had him the shortest amount of time (he talks a fair bit at the stronghold).

  15. Topic. I've cleared the first couple of floors with my level 5ish party but I'm certain that it will increase in difficulty as I progress down.

     

    Can anyone tell me the lowest level they were able to complete the Endless Path on Normal? The quest journal makes it seem like a normal sidequest that can be tackled immediately after acquiring the Stronghold (which I claimed before completing Readric's Hold).

  16. wanderon, on 01 Apr 2015 - 3:01 PM, said:

     

    Rapscallion, on 01 Apr 2015 - 2:55 PM, said:

     

    illathid, on 01 Apr 2015 - 2:51 PM, said:illathid, on 01 Apr 2015 - 2:51 PM, said:

    The original design was to allow you to only rest in certain locations on the map. This feature was replaced with camping supplies during development.

     

    This was my expectation. I did try to follow the developer commentary as much as possible, but I think I missed the part where they overturned this decision. I can't help but feel that it would have been better with the original design. Perhaps they were worried about slaughtering too many sacred cows?

     

     

    I would suspect it was about compromise and balance - personally I think the current system is fine

     

     

    The current system is fine, for sure, but we're talking about a company that promised they were going to produce a new robust RPG system that aspires to fix the problems that plague the genre (D&D being the most prominent). Really, I feel like the only major difference between PoE and D&D is the way primary attributes work.

×
×
  • Create New...