Heijoushin

lol, this post reminded me of the "What's a paladin?" line in Ultima 9.

Don't really have a favorite disposition. I was personally disappointed with "clever". I wanted clever of the witty variety, but mostly it was... I don't know? Sassy? Immature? Cheeky? Of the classes, I enjoy my playthroughs as a mage and rogue the most.

Finished it today (took about 20 hours) so can finally give a proper opinion. Like Tyranny, it had some really interesting ideas (like mindscan!) but I think the weak combat system holds it back from becoming truly great. More fighting would have been great to break up some of the dialogue and the endless fetch the mcguffin quests. I love me a good fantasy novel, but sometimes I'm so tired after work that I'd prefer to mindlessly kill something, rather than dive into another super poetic flashback description. And even if you DO manage to get into a fight, its kind of a slow and clunky system. Waiting for the enemies turn takes ages, and why no formations! Still, nice companions. Erritis was a riot. I want more demon possessed, adventure seeking idiots in RPGs. Definitely this. Makes me want to play and immortal in more games, because this was awesome. At one point, dying in combat actually benefited me.

What is this, I don't even

Uh, yeah, positive thinking FTW! BTW This isn't a news site, but if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend the Extra Credits youtube channel. They basically talk about game design and there's some really interesting stuff there.

The guards getting on your case would be a pain in the ass, but I think everyone loves the idea of shealthing weapons just for aesthetic reasons. When an enemy appears, I want to dramatically throw off my cloak *woosh* and draw my shining long-sword.

The beauty of having things like that as a skill that you have to choose is that it creates a trade-off between player desire; that skill takes the place of something more combat oriented. For players that care about narration and dialogue, they'll take that one at least on the first playthrough. For players who don't care about such things, they'll ignore it. The thing is, when PoE came out, there were so many people who wanted to create characters with high RES, INT & PER just so that they wouldn't miss any dialogue. People really obsess about those things. So giving one class out of 11 something so cool strikes me as a little unbalanced.

I liked Tides of Numenera's "mind scan" (mind reading) feature. Unlike PoE's full "dive into a dream/past" thing, it just picks up surface thoughts. In many cases, its amusing to learn what a person's true feelings are. Of course, you can't give that to the Cipher, because then everyone will play them for the extra dialogue. But maybe as part of the watcher's powers?

Peace brothers. How about Kotaku? I like the clean interface, and it covers J-games quite thoroughly.

*Blushes furiously* Thank you my good man! And yes, I should have defined "trash mob" in my opening post. I took it to mean any non-boss, non-quest related encounter. So, monsters that just hang around and wait for the player. (Because that's what Tides of N basically removed) But most people (understandably) hear the nuance of "repetitive, boring" encounters.

Me too. Now I just need a challenge worthy of him...

I've always loved the Ultima games for the huge amount of "utility spells" you get. Even silly little ones like lighting a candle with magic. Magic isn't just a gun. But alas, since you can't cast outside of combat, I don't think PoE will ever go in this direction.

Nevermind the names, let's talk about combat. Without spending effort points, its barely possible to hit anything. But you get so few effort points, that they're all used up in the first few turns of combat. Am I the only one running into this?

Kind of feel that "super pets" is cheesy for a game like Pillars, but whatever. How about Pavlov's Dog: Gives your character an extra bonus for repeating actions at the same time every day. Also cute and fluffy.

Koth, thanks for playing the villain on this thread!!! It's boring if everyone agrees!

How about a hot tub/steam room scene? Doesn't have to be anything sexual, just adults hanging out in the nude.

Backer update. Quote: "With this discovery, opportunists flock to the unclaimed riches from different corners of the globe. Eager to turn a quick profit, the Vailian Trading Company brings bankers, merchants, miners, and animancers to dig up every last fleck of luminous adra. From distant Rauatai, the Royal Deadfire Company brings an armada to colonize and fortify the region in the name of civilizing the wild frontier. Last but not least, the Príncipi sen Patrena - a network of pirates who trace their lineage back to Old Vailia -peck away at the new arrivals with skill and calculation. From the great city of Neketaka, Queen Onekaza II watches as these foreign powers encroach on the homeland of her people. To all outward appearances, she is an installed figurehead, lacking any true power over the combined might of the Vailians and Rauataians. She is smart enough to encourage this misconception, letting it grow so that she is perpetually underestimated by her enemies (even as she pits them against each other). At her side stands Prince Aruihi, observing her seeming inaction with disapproval. Though he lacks his sister's flair for subtlety, he makes up for it with the charisma and determination to unite the Huana against a common foe." The final 3 polls options were sucked out of my thumb. But considering PoE1, one would assume that there will be an opportunity to work with a God in PoE2 as well.

Dwarves are almost one place where I'm happy to see a stereotype. Give me a mead-swilling, axe-crazy man's man dwarf. Sagani felt like... I don't know, like an elven ranger trapped in a dwarf's body. Like they wrote her to subvert all dwarf tropes.

Not sure where you get the idea that Durance and Grieving Mother are well loved... I agree with your statements though.

Fair enough. Those areas were a drag at times. Then again, perhaps a 15-level dungeon was destined to feel like a drag a some point. So you're suggesting that we only need trash mobs at lower levels? I could sort of get behind this, but then I could also see players complaining about later dungeons feeling "empty". Cheers

Things don't have to be pretty to be useful in battle.

That's the spirit HooAmEye! As the backers and PoE fanatics, we are the evangelists of this new game!! Uh, that being said, none of my friends are into games like this しょぼん(´・ω・｀) and I'm not very active on social media anyway. Not sure what one can do unless you have a successful blog or large SNS audience.

lol, Micamo, you're such a big softie

Gentlemen, I notice a worrying trend in RPG society. Recently, I hear a lot of talk about decreasing or removing trash mobs. “Don’t waste my time”, I hear you say, “Give us scripted encounters!” or “I’m an important man. I have better things to do with my time than killing Xaurips.” However, yesterday, I played Tides of Numenara, a game that takes this idea to its extreme conclusion: the complete elimination of trash mobs. And gentlemen, it was a sad state of affairs. Basically, trash mobs teach the player how to play. To test out new skills, and to see what works. If a boss battle is the first time you’re put behind the wheel of your character, don't you feel a little unprepared? In Tides, I permanently feel like “Wait! Don’t hit me! I’m not ready yet!” If you’ve designed your combat system well, killing trash mobs should be fun! I mean, look at Icewind Dale. The whole game is about killing trash mobs and its awesome! Since when did this become a chore? Trash mobs are just average Joes trying to make a living. They have families to feed. Don’t put them out of work. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PunchClockVillain) Thank you for listening.

Sank 5 hours into it last night. I don't have any problem with the UI. Generally finding the writing good, though many characters suffer from Grieving Mother syndrome (lots of obscure waffle). Lots of interesting companions. I particularly like Rhin, who I understand was written by old Patrick Rothfuss. The combat is by far the weakest part. Its clunky, frustrating and unsatisfying. Just ignore it as much as possible and pretend you're reading a visual novel.