Aridea

He is definitely not doing it intentionally no, he is anything but malicious. But I think he barely considers them more than animals... He got better in Deadfire, but still. Hopefully its a bug and will be fixed. Funny, these dispositions make a lot of companions look and sound schizophrenic. :D

Eh no there is an instance where Eder recognizes Orlan cage (that was kinda horrible), and says something along the lines of it being in good condition and that they used to have it in Dyrwood. And with his incessant petting of everything soft, including Serafen's head. As much as I love Eder he is really racist towards orlans, and he doesn't realize it much. I don't know if its a bug but he hit +2 with Xoti faster than he hit +1 with my sarcastic Watcher, and he was disillusioned with Eothas and told Xoti that she should stop talking to him. Idk either its a bug, or the guy doesnt use his head for anything other than bashing.

To each their own I did love the Spirit Eater thing, but I always play good so it wasn't difficult to manage, and I finished all the content there was. It's one of my favorite games ever till this day. However, I know if you play evil its nearly impossible to complete because you have to consume everything, or the curse kills you. I would have preferred the same thing with Watcher in POE1 - you going mad and have to manage it. But alas... But also I am also somewhat masochistic in this regard, I like these kinds of restrictions, they make the game more interesting to me. If my character is suffering through pain, I'd like to suffer too :D Immersion and all that. I even liked Fallout's water chip (not to say weight of bullets, bottle caps, addiction to drugs, etc.), even though that game was... brutal. They didn't say it was this much smaller. They acted like it was only somewhat smaller. Deadfire shouldn't have involved the Watcher or Eothas at all and just been a game about the factions since that seems to be what they wanted to make. Instead both sides of the game just diminish the other. I think the first bit is our interpretation/misinterpretation. I have nothing against their statements. And the second bit I agree with. I don't mind being the Watcher, its nice to continue our character. But I think Eothas was a plot device for the third game tbh.

Ah sorry, I keep on forgetting that I created the states not imported them. So he is less bugged in my game... Its the import in general that is messed up.

From what I understand the only bug is him having conflicting dispositions. Maybe disposition gain/loss system needs to be reviewed so when you say something they dislike the hit is not so large and when you say something they like the gain is not so small. Right now it feels skewed towards negative. I can confirm he doesn't dislike jokes though, he is neutral to them. Its the type of joke and context that matters, so don't know how much it will change when devs review the system. I have Aloth at 2 disposition (without cheating) and my character is still a smart-ass to almost everyone.

I have a cone cat to keep Eder in check. Best purchase ever for 9k. I regret nothing.

I am replaying POE1 and I realized that I am always putting Eder to block the doors. Poor guy. Happens when you travel with two squishy elves.

Add Oswald at this point for a three some. And that old man from the bathing house. I doubt they will pass a constitution check :D

Eh I did not mean romance in particular, more like an established friendship, where you already have some history with the character. Those will always be a priority to me. For the same reason I always keep Eder and Pallegina in the party, because they are friends to my char. For the same reason I kept Jaheira, Minsc and Imoen in BGII and then Sarevok in ToB, because history. (forgot Viconia, her too) My cynical old soul stopped believing in love at first sight

Aloth's my favorite too, but also because I prefer when friendships/relationships carry through several games i.e. Mass Effect. I love all companion-specific animations, such a cool touch. My favorite with Aloth is when he locks his hands and starts neurotically drumming his fingers. I am sad there is no animation for Serafen though, would have been cool if he did something too.

Have fun with Anomen

I liked Anomen as a character too, because I genuinely enjoy flawed characters that don't suck it up to the protagonist. But he was a terrible choice for romance for a female character, especially since the other options were scrapped. (he is kinda redeemable because he does get a bit better in Throne of Bhaal, I had to stomach one playthrough with him to see). I think Valygar and Haer'Dalis were supposed to be too? But they never made it. Would have been nice to see what the devs planned for them.

Honestly I completely agree with you on this one. I would like the romance to be written only if the developers want to write it and only because they would feel it fits the character they are writing. I don't want it to be written because someone asked for it and they decided to cram it in as an afterthought. I like romance in games, and I am completely great with romance not being in games. Its not the most important thing for me and never a selling point. If its there I will enjoy it, if not, cool too. I adore POE1 even though there was no such interactions. I like good stories and well-written characters, everything else is arbitrary. Funny that you mention Durance because he was one of my most favorite characters in POE1 even tho so many people hated him. I loved him and his comments and never got him out of my party. He was a breath of fresh air. Does romance limit the type of companions you get? Sure. Everyone is ridiculously good-looking and lovable in Deadfire. Would I have liked someone like Durance? Yeah, of course. But Deadfire gave us a different cast, and thats okay in my book. I view the characters as characters first and not romance options, and I do genuinely like how everyone is written. They may not be everybody's cup of tea but they are different to the previous cast, and that's fine for me. They resonate with me as characters. Would I have loved Deadfire if it didn't have romance characters? Hell yeah. Again because its not what makes a great game for me. I view it as a nice bonus, which I will play if given, but not obligatory. "I guess the short version would be to let the creative team do what they want and think is best for the characters and the narrative, which is why I'll defend any writers decision to not force a romance onto a character if they don't think it would fit the character." Yes I agree with that too. That's why I am defending Eder's non-romance arc. I guess I am just tired of the overblown reactions towards romances. Especially putting labels on people and throwing them into different camps of this ridiculous Bioware vs Obsidian. Can't we just, all be friends and provide constructive criticism to help make our favorite games better.

I really don't get all the hate. Romances are just content in the game, as every other content they are completely optional. Don't do them if you don't like them. Tell Tekehu or Maia off, and they never mention it again. Xoti so far as I know only starts it if you are not in romance with anyone, is at 2 rep with her and did her personal quest. And Aloth, you can't even see it if you do not specifically look for the option. Serafen also, unless you pick the flirt, he feels like more as a brother, or an uncle as he said it himself. Re-rowdiness of character. The whole freaking Deadfire is rowdy as hell. Everyone sleeps with everyone, its not just your watcher. You get flirted with and propositioned by several other characters. So its not exclusive to companions or the watcher, its just the overall feeling of the second game. The first was more serious, the second more light, open, and naughty. Romance in games will always be cheesy no matter how hard you try. Because of the medium and because of the limitations. And I thought Deadfire's wasn't as bad as many make it. Its there for people who like that sort of thing. Speaking of archetypes - every new thing created now will be an archetype of something already done before. The whole fantasy/sci fi genre had been so overused over the years its difficult to come up with something unique. Everything is an archetype, and if you think its not, its just well cloaked by the authors. Again its optional. People who like it can enjoy it, people who don't have the option to ignore. Nobody is putting a gun to someone's head and telling them to do it. Or is it the fact that such options exist in the first place get people riled up so much?

Yes, apparently there is some data-mined dialogue for that too. But... lets not go in there...

But they did say it was smaller, so its not like its a lie. The game is about the same size as the first one I think, the main quest is shorter but there is more stuff to do inbetween. POE1 is the reverse if you don't count white march. So what would be your suggestion for the more appropriate narrative in Deadfire? Considering how the game is built...

And how do you know that's what they were trying to do? Maybe they just wanted to create a pirate based game with ocean exploration and ship battles, and having an open map made more sense because of the structure of Deadfire. I do agree that the main quest is too short btw, with quite a bit of filler in between.

The problem is more with the mechanic than story tbh. The moment you open the entire world map up for exploration you immediately lose focus of the main quest no matter how hard the game is trying to ram it into your head. You actually do get messages in Deadfire that Eothas is stomping around and killing hundreds if not thousands of innocents, and that something bad is going to happen, but everyone conveniently forgets about it. The only two options I see to force urgency would be either to open up areas one by one as the story progresses a-la poe1 style, which still gives you only an illusion of urgency and still keeps old areas to explore. It is nearly impossible to implement in Deadfire because of the open ocean. The second would be to have some damaging mechanic or a timed quest that would affect the player directly - for example the Water chip in Fallout or Spirit eater curse in NWN2:MotB. But we all know how players love these kinds of restrictions. I personally enjoyed spirit eater a lot because it gave me a sense of drama and made me sympathise with my character. I also wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible. I remember Obsidian was toying with the idea of the watcher going truly insane in POE1, but they dropped it because of the negative feedback about spirit eater. Now if in Deadfire there was a mechanic where you would suffer if Eothas got too far away from you, that would have made the story more urgent. But I do not think we will see such gameplay mechanic ever again.

Eh I think there is a difference of perception of what you would consider a bad vs good argument, as well as what would or would not make sense. You thought the arguments were not good enough, I thought they were fine. (although I do have to say that something about his conversation at 2 disposition rubbed me the wrong way. its like it was meant to push you into asking whether he has feelings for the watcher. Never felt that way with Serafen for example.) I also think its perfectly possible to have the most gorgeous, smart, and capable person as your best friend and never be attracted to them. But then again this is just purely personal opinion. Regarding his quest - it actually made more sense now that I started replaying POE1. One of the first things you can ask him back in Gilded Vale is why the hell he was staying in the village which was on the verge of hanging him, and he just kind of shrugs it off. The guy is so hung up on the past and established way of things that nothing short of immediate death can push him, I thought it was actually fitting he remembered his old flame. Instead of looking to the future for comfort he is looking to the past. Plus, there is the whole "re-evaluating personal beliefs" kind of thing happing in his head still. Just my 2 cents.

I don't think anyone invested in Theron could I always play it as a single player, not interested in MP stuff, but beggars can't be choosers.

I liked KOTFE but I'm a Theron fangirl also the lastes FP *fans self* that romance scene was just too perfect for me. Whyyyy did you mention! There is a real danger now at derailing the thread (PS I did like KOTFE too to be fair, it felt like KOTOR3 if you discounted everything that happened before that) Not 100% certain but looks like there are. At least tiny bits here and there like ambient dialogue. Other companions def notice your relationship.

I don't think there is a middle road. There will always be people complaining about something - damned if you do, damned if you don't. I for one am happy that this game is different to its predecessor, yet it still pulls at my heart strings. Its a lot of fun, and while the main quest doesn't have as much urgency, the game doesn't feel any worse for it, at least to me. I think if it was too much like the previous one, it would get very old very fast. And there will be EVEN MORE complaining on the forums

Awesome, thanks! Was that enough to progress her quest somehow? Yeah Gorecci street (Port Maje), and the two souls on the beach should be enough to progress her quest, plus that dialogue she has at the engwithan ruin where you pick Aloth. I'd go to the beach after Engwithan ruin to get the souls, then to Port Maje to hand in the quest. You can talk to her afterwards, or she has a conversation pop-up, I don't remember, but it definitely progresses her quest where she suggests going to the temple of Gaun in Neketaka to try and clean her soul.

If this is about what I think it is about, then dropping one of them (or both) should not break that banter chain and you will not miss on anything. They will just talk about it after you get them both in the party again. At least that happened with me (if I am getting your references right). Re-6 vs 5 party - I don't really care. I'd prefer to have all of them with me if I could just to hear their interactions and to build their dispositions toward each other. But if there is a new limitation, it doesn't bother me. I guess I will just be running more to the inns to change parties for particular quests/moments.

Love the ship combat. I was initially averse to it, and reading other people's responses realized that my own problem was also a lack of proper tutorial. Or at least to really understand what some of the terms meant. But once you get the hang of it, its quite cool and the rewards are awesome. In the beginning, your small ship can escape from pretty much anything if you want to avoid it. As for other nitpicks: - the narrator is fine, she has a nice voice. However, I could do without her sometimes when I am restarting the game for 10th time and want to skip conversations. - LOVE the accent, the voice work is superb and gives characters a lot of life - there are only about max 10 simple words that are used, and all of them you can remember in the first 30 min without needing to hover over later. If anything they also give a lot of cultural distinction to characters. - Rations are fine, there is stuff in abundance across islands, baring that you can buy food/drink for cheap. Expert cook on your ship also reduces the number of rations consumed per day