anameforobsidian

Tieflings and Genasi are rolled up into the godlike type. The godlike have special abilities in exchange for not being able to use a helmet. http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Godlike

Aloth - Elven Mage Sagani - Dwarven Ranger Eder - Human Rogue Pallegina - Godlike Paladin Orlan cipher Forton - Human Monk http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Companion This interview shows them as companions. http://www.sorcerers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=58248

PST didn't use an auxillary PC to narrate. Everything was spoken in the voice of a character with a distinct viewpoint. Baldur's Gate used a narrator talking to you. Fallout used a nameless narrator at the end. In fact, I'm having a hard time thinking of a great narrative with an auxiliary storyteller. Older JRPGs used sound effects and characters monologuing.

It'd be neat to have a smaller post on ambient sounds and effects, maybe one in-between the larger two week updates. Right now I really want more gameplay footage; it's been a year and we don't know what a fight will look like from start to finish. But whenever possible on, it'd be interesting to take a look at a render and hear what sound effects would be put in that scene, also whether they play based on proximity or are just built into the overall scene.

The rogue thing is simple. People got used to seeing rogues as pickpockets when they should have always been closer to bandits, vicious fighters that focused on ambush tactics. They should just change the name of fighter to guard, since every character is a fighter. As for the original question of how they innovate (or bring in under-utilized features), which is far more interesting: slow-motion mode, the mixture of static and dynamic effects, the atmosphere/historical period, cyphers, Chanters vs. Bards, the stat system, Aumaua, Boreal Dwarves, Orlan vs. Haflings, the mixed inventory system, quests for npcs the player is not using in their party, the ability to imprison named NPCs And it's worthwhile to note that several of these things have been subjected to constant bitching on the forums, which points to a weird and hypocritical tension between innovation and faithful reproduction.

Thanks for pointing that out. It sounds very different in that context.

Can Obsidian do a shout-out to for this Kickstarter in the next update? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEmYgOtpTaA It hasn't been covered by the places that should be covered, and it seems like if you like Project Eternity, you'll probably like/ be interested in this too.

Speaking of other kickstarted games. This campaign fills me with great joy:

Eh. People can reload at New Vegas, but they put the reload timer in there for good reason. There's nothing wrong with save scumming, but you have to make people work for it or the mere existence of a save and reload breaks the game. Reloading until finger of death works can break a dragon fight, giving characters access to gear that changes the entire game. Also, copper conducts magic really well (animats are made out of it), so it makes perfect sense that it'd be used in the process of capturing spells. And grimoires are not the only form of magic (there are druids, chanters, and psions after all), it's just the form wizards use to interpret magic. I'm pretty sure he said they have various implements to control the release of magic.

VO has far more significant effects than scene setting. A lot of VO makes it much, much harder to revise material and create alternate options. I would rather have a Baldur's Gate dialogue with 6 options and no VO than an ME one with three options and constant VO.

They would probably have to go out of game for that. As scripts become more complex, the number of players that can use them but can't mod the game becomes smaller. Also, putting a built in system that would let players script could lead to some really hackish problems.

I too was curious about tech, especially after Satellite Reign released their fascinating animation video.

Of course you can draw inspiration from anywhere, but the ability balance of MOBA's reflects far different needs than a single-player rtwp game. Skillshots are weighted because they're more likely to miss. Healing is far less of a factor since there's less asymmetric boss fights, and you want players to work really hard for asymmetric team fights. Stuns, counter-stuns, and dashes are far more present because the game is expected to be fought over a large map rather than the single room experience of d&d (or even MMOs). Finally, tanks have far less power over other players to force attacks, because every time you do that in a multiplayer game you are taking control away from another player and that player is not having fun if it lasts for a substantial amount of time.

I was never crazy about Icewind Dale. Dungeon runners almost always bore me (Grimrock being the exception).

There's no reason for that to be listed in describing the AI though, just an attacks <variable> first would provide enough characterization through mechanics. Although, honestly forcing npcs to attack one person would probably be needlessly limiting AI responsiveness. What if they just had aggro counters and <variable> (class, gender, ethnicity), would have a static modifier? That way, even if an NPC doesn't hit women, they might change their mind if a woman is about to kill them.

I love RPS, but they've made a series of dickish potshots at Obsidian. I wouldn't interview there ever again if I were at Obsidian (unless it was another kickstarter campaign, because then you swallow your pride, take the money and run). The most recent was demanding an apology for (the reportedly minimal) bugs in the Stick of Truth during an interview. Nathan Grayson is also a terrible writer. Just terrible. Everything from the stupid pull-out quotes to the incredibly inconsistent tone, to the fake tough questions during interviews. His writing always has a vague edge of "I'm desperately unsure of myself, so I want to do something to differentiate myself." It's not because he's relatively new either. Both Graham Smith, and to a lesser extent Cara Ellison are much better than him.

They didn't create a genre, RPGs were around long before BioWare or Interplay. RPGs may have been around, but I'm pretty sure those types of RPGs weren't - highly story-driven, companions that reacted to what you did, a large emphasis on exploration with hundreds of side-quests, seamless transition from exploration into tactical combat...these things weren't generally done in RPGs previously, and aren't generally done now either. People often mock Baldur's Gate fans for our rose-tinted glasses, but the fact is, there's a reason why that game was considered such a classic, and there's a reason why nothing made since then has managed to capture us in quite the same way. Ultima 7 had some of the most robust exploration of any non-procedural game made. I like the Interplay games better, but there were many games that got close before Baldur's Gate. Darklands is still on the list for me to play (that one is procedural).

I've always wondered how mimics feel about lockpicking. Is it like poking them in the eye?

My understanding of the classes is that they are designed with specific roles in mind (IE: Rogues and Rangers are the Heavy Hitters, Mage and Druid are for AoE.) Sure you can make them something else but they will never reach their full potential as a class if you do. I prefer my mages to be "glass cannons" that have high damages vs. both single and multi-targets but cant stand up to attack very well. This is most likely a case of me being stuck in the past. I think it may have been interesting to offer each class a offensive, or defensive, or hybrid build. EDIT: Im also slightly concerned that since spells don't scale with level that if you miss finding whatever the next spell upgrade is that the mage will fall behind but hopefully the new spells aren't too hidden. That's still pretty easy to do. Pump up might to the exclusion of other stats, only wear cloth armor for maximum casting speed, and focus on single target damage and disables. It won't be the 2nd edition experience, because mages were stupidly powerful in 2E, by design. However, considering the extreme power of bows in BG1, it doesn't sound like the experience will really be all that different.

A cut from the sales after release of course. Well, that's not very specific, is it. And for the record, I'm not implying that I have any rights to know the details of the deal, I'm merely curious about dealings of my favourite game studio. You aren't the only backer that asked about the compensation. We do business with other companies and that is information that we don't necessarily want to spread around. That's all well and good, but you also did business with backers. It's chump change in the world of publishers, but its neither insignificant to both the individual backers and obsidian as a company. Many of the backers (including me) were excited for the possibility of a new, more transparent, business model as well as the game itself. It's wrong to have two types of transparency for two different groups that are both providing financial and advertising services. This is especially true since in the campaign the company said: "Plus, we don’t have to make compromises with a publisher. We make the development decisions, we market the game, and we don't have to answer to anyone but you – our fans. Our relationship with you can be even closer with Kickstarter. We can be more transparent with development and give you an inside look to what goes on day-to-day with the programmers, artists, and designers of Project Eternity. " It is not a sign of entitlement to ask merely that you describe business deals that do affect the outcome of this game development process. So now, I'm politely, without any sign of hyperbolic despair or anger asking "what does Paradox get out of the deal?" It very well could have been a good decision, but I'd like to know what the decision was. That's just basic politeness. We're not investors, we have no legal right to demand information. However, we did put our trust in Obsidian during the campaign, maybe you should put your trust in us by explaining the business side of things.

For anyone who didn't watch the video, it had extra information not in the update. Grimoire Imprint for example sounds like a really cool spell.

I would be far more mollified / appeased if they just explained the deal in simple terms. IE Paradox provides bug-testing, advertising, and distribution in exchange for 20% of the gross revenue. The whole, "allows us to more effectively allocate resources" is marketing speak, and not really worthy of a company that's been as open with backers as Obsidian has in the past. I completely understand that publishers provide a host of valid services, but I don't like the vagueness of the press release and FAQ.

I'm just curious, what does Paradox get out of the deal? A percentage of the sale revenue?

Three (and a half) questions, thanks if you get to them. I'm curious about the immediate timeline. What features are left to implement in a rough form? Also, how much of the work that's being done now would transfer to another game in the same engine? What features would you add if you could, but are too time expensive? How would a sequel for project eternity incorporate and change the work you've already done?

That's not really right use of foil. There are plenty of ways to show emotional development without romance. Romance neither adds nor subtracts from character depth either. Twilight has lots of romance, but very little character depth. So you can only care about people if you sleep with them? I should tell my best friend that we need to get busy; I don't want to drift apart. Seriously though, if the only way you can feel a strong bond with a character is to sleep with them, then either the character sucks or the player lacks empathy.