injurai

Yeah, it will depend on what the game modes are. I would rather game systems, then a mode that turns off and then on various things.

It seems like a sizeable amount of content. My guess is they want to release this now during lockdown, but it's an expansion that is not yet done being developed. So they will do a cascaded release instead of a monolithic expansion. Seems like a fitting approach for the times honestly. I guess we'll see if the content was really worth it once it's all launched, but I'm always glad to see Civ games getting more support.

DLCs in generally just seem to have a denser and better paced content, which benefits from the heavy lore lifting of the main game. Plus the main game's contents get deferred to dozens of writers, level designers, and artists. It's hard to get all of that to cohere. DLCs offer more freedom and opportunity to explore something unique that is hard to weave into the larger experience. So I do think they prove others are just as capable of taking over, I also don't think they are admonishments of Sawyer.

After that talk about dialogue, I'd actually like to see Josh take on a role primarily as the dialogue and relations designer. Focusing on the writing, characters, and world/lore. It would be nice if he was back in the seat largely as a creative lead, and someone else took on the role of directing, and maybe some fresh blood in designing combat as well. The Civ games have a new designer for each game, and the cite the reason being fresh eyes contribute more. Pillars could benefit from the same, but I think Josh still has a lot to add. Especially with his history background, and fact lots of this worlds lore, setting, and themeing comes from him.

I'm well aware of the fallacy, I wrote that as a facetious stinger to fess up to the fact I wrote such a wall of text. Because what I touch on is of existential in nature, saying "it's true that these things exist" is trivially tautological. I'm really just bringing these things into scope to defend RTwP and defend various positions held by that camp as valid, and pointing out that often you see RTwP communities being encroached upon and asked to pipe down their complaints. The whole post is a concession the the issue being one of value arguments, and that while both positions are equal depending on what you argue, I'm making the claim that RTwP gets encroached upon and the frustration of it is meet with unfair slander and unwillingness to break from the mold. The mold being the fix to RTwP is always TB, as if TB systems can't be garbage in their own right. The whole point is simply if there is more will for TB, then so be it, but that doesn't mean that RTwP systems are simply broken cludgey unfun systems that the market is adverse to. Dragon Age is essential RTwP and receives heaps of love. It's camera and modern graphics make it a much easier sell the the audiences that are looking for a fantasy rp kick. Many beloved TB systems are actually ATB-like, or have action queue and auto-play features. Which is really not that different from RTwP other than usually a fixed grid movement scheme. I simply don't buy the value claims against RTwP. I do buy that Larian is more comfortable, and that TB might be easier to adapt 5e into on behalf of Wizards who approached them. I'm not hating on Larian, I know it wasn't put up to vote like Torment was. But the frustration from RTwP fans is absolutely valid, and the market interest is absolutely there, so TB fans defending what they won't lose is just sour when it comes down to trashing RTwP to justify something that was done for totally different reasons.

What if the real treasure was all the -isms we coined along the way?

This talk has me really excited for the prospects of Pillars 3.

I see altering the quintessential RTwP series into TB one, fundamentally different than simply offering a new TB game. Fans of RTwP enjoy plenty of other TB games. It's understandable to be annoyed at such a switch. While TB people (at least the vocals ones) are diametrically opposed to letting RTwP games just be. We saw this with Torment and again with BG. At this point BG3 is just "A Forgotten Realms game set in Baldur's Gate." It's basically a marketing stunt to captivate new audiences off of the prestige of a series they would never actually take interest in. It's just fashion branding to be honest. So you might just say "well it wasn't ever really a BG3, let it go." And people are... but that's not how the game was spun when first being revealed, people had to attenuate to Larian's marketing garble. When RTwP advocates get annoyed you get the following: Yuppie trying to dismiss the merits of RTwP without engaging: "Ooh look I'm also "grognard" who likes BG, but I'm also hip and trendy who doesn't "reee" like those ugly old school grognards who can't get with the times." At which point the actual grognard points out that the yuppie is by definition not a grognard, and the yuppie responds "See what I mean, all that ugly gatekeeping. Good riddance." (I say this more as a yuppie millennial on the younger side myself, who prefers RTwP.) You have hoards of people who read lengthy fantasy books who would have no problem reading all of Pillars 1 text. Then you have people who moan about an RPG actually world building before their eyes; Who get upset that the game isn't mostly strategy, but then don't want to even grok the actual tactics and strategy of the RTwP system. I enjoy TB, but I'm frankly annoyed by how the vocal TB players portray RTwP games, and further how those same people want the rich text to be chopped down. PoE1 is really not a bad lore dump, and it's like reading a graphical novel at best. This isn't Game of Thrones. Live and let live, but this should go both ways. Why is RTwP always encroached upon? My point is vocal TB fans force preference falsification on RTwP communities, they manufacture consent, they lead devs away from the existing market base, convince devs that the market just isn't there. When in fact tons of people engage with all the aspects of narrative and tactics of these infinity-like games. At best you just need to offer an easy story mode for the few that just want story. Which Obsidian actually does! Bless them! Like, I can't imagine a more wholesome and thoughtful approach than Obsidian's, and yet you have InXile and Larian bending over backwards for people that really just prefer the flashy 3D graphics of Divinity to the flat look of Pillars. Once people actually play the games normally they cite Deadfire as being one of the most gorgeous games ever, but it looks flat in trailers. The problem is that these games can be a hard sell, especially in the manner in which the market understands marketing. How will you convince the fantasy reader to set aside FF14 and pick up Pillars when all you do is market it to people who most enjoy lighting barrels on fire to achieve sparkly dazzling easy wins, instead of DnD style tactical exploits. How do you draw in the RTS fans. How will you draw in the avid readers, the lovers of graphic novels, the lovers of visual novels? How will you make it a rich experience for grognards and new comers a like? I think Obsidian does, and mostly the issue is market exposure, not the market. Yeah, I'm saying a lot. But it's all true. Obsidian has been doing great work at modernizing RTwP and I'd hate to see it fall the wayside. A reason enough to be skeptical of fighting a two front war.

It's basically part of the Original Trilogy

Do tell

I voted for like in 1 & 2, because I don't want those systems compromised by TB necessities, though in theory I'd be fine with both. Generally it seems that TB folks are adamantly against RTwP while RTwP people will play games of both systems. The nature of these games being developed with feedback of the community makes me worry how design by committee will work when trying to please two very different camps.

Why would it need adjusting for smaller proportions...?

If you can augment it with LEDs does that mean you can create a hologram when you helicopter? These are the attentions to detail that earn you a 10/10

Woops, I've dropped my monster condom that I use for my magnum dong...

Leon the Professional was not the product of the right script and right director. The original was much more of a Lolita exploitation film, and the actors feeling uncomfortable worked with the executives to salvage the movie. It's a solid film, but more a product of chance than anything else.