Heijoushin

*shrugs* Your complaints about every single character suggest that you're just too picky. I personally really liked Devil of Caroc. Her voice was sexy and she was a good "group freak". No, actually I do sympathize a little. I think I'd prefer a wider roster of characters (say, 20 shallower companions instead of 8 deep ones) which would allow for a much wider variety of types. But this is not the way things are going.

I imagine that there are just too many classes in PoE to include separate strongholds for each, although a couple of choices would be nice. But didn't someone say that we're going with ships for bases this time round anyway?

That happens frequently in FF, not just VII, but as I mentioned above, this can lead to problems when under-leveled companions are grouped together. And in FF, the gear magically teleports between the parties as neccessary. I think this would all be a headache in PoE. It might work if you warn the player in advance, but in general, I just don't think splitting up the party suits this kind of game.

Do you mean like a story event that forces the party apart? Hmmm... I don't know. Surely you design your party to work together? What if the squishy characters are split off from the tanks? That kind of thing needs to be super-well balanced, and probably won't work in a game where you (can) design your members.

I think bloodlines worked because the outcome was always to get into the other person's pan... I mean, neck! To bite their neck! A simple, clean goal that's related to gameplay mechanics. And because Bloodlines is such a sexy nightlife world to begin with. I think romance works best in video games when it's done subtly and most of the action happens off-screen. Some flirting, a few hints and let the player imagine the rest. The minute you put it on center stage, it oozes cheesiness.

lol, and you just revived it People get passionate about religion and politics. Regrettably, the PoE forum is no exception...

I am only using Pallegina as an example, imagine any other barren avian godlike. And what you say is wrong, you can't be sure how her life would have been, hers and other godlikes', if they could procreate. As it is now, she saw the soldiering life as her only option. But, regarding the poor implementation of the godlike, I feel it would be best if they had not bothered with them at all instead. But let's try to think positively, perhaps this section of the world will be better fleshed out in the sequel. Okay, although Hylea does have other aspects besides childbirth (birds and the sky), I suppose it is cruelly ironic that Avian Godlikes will always be barren. But then, I get the impression that Godlikes are supposed to be cruelly ironic. I mean, that *should* be worshiped as champions of the Gods, whereas instead they're persecuted. Would have made more sense if the main villain (or one of the villains) was a Woedica Godlike. Then you could at least argue that they play a role in the story.

February 28th. I backed it too and I am pretty excited. Yeah, the community is being bitchy as hell at the moment (and I can't blame the Italians), but I'm also looking forward to digging into the game on the 28th.

Well, Pallegina doesn't exactly strike me as the type who'd be torn up that she can't be a mother, but I agree with you that the Godlike concept was very much unfinished. I think they only had so much narrative space, and had so many topics to get through (watchers, animancers, ciphers etc. etc.) that there just wasn't space to properly tell the Godlikes' story.

Hallelujah! Er... I mean, praise Berath! That one really dragged. Now if we can just make the next one, I'll be a happy camper.

There was lots I wanted, but alas, I'm a little short on cash at the moment, so only got the basic game. That being said, I would love to know if anyone from around here got one of the big rewards (designing an island or spell or something).

Sorry, my original post was unclear. I want more fleshed out/reactivity to backgrounds, not more. But in the same breath, I was asking everyone what kind of fleshed out background they would be interested in playing.

An item that duplicates other items? Does such a thing exist!?

Hmmm... well, if you meet a similar chap in real life, you don't just blurt out "I say, we have a lot in common!" do you? And elves seem pretty common in Eora. However, if you apply your argument to two Godlikes meeting, THEN I agree. You'd think two Godlikes would have a lot to say to each other.

I agree. As it stands, I don't think anyone really makes use of the bestiary except for idle browsing (correct me if I'm wrong there). Useful information available from the start (at least for the more common monsters) might increase its usefulness.

Difficultly is... difficult to balance. My only suggestion is that you make some self-imposed challenges. Try beating the game with a rogue-only party, or using only guns, or with one hand tied behind your back etc. Edit: It's actually kind of cheeky that you want a challenge but say POTD is too hard. Do you want a game perfectly calibrated for your sweet spot?

Instead of working so much on the companions, I vote that the developers spend more time writing unique dialogue for each of the backgrounds (and perhaps a low IQ dialogue!) I mean, you'll only spend limited amount of time with each companion, but once you've chosen a background, you're stuck with it for the whole game. And we know this was a sore point in PoE1. My first playthrough was as a noble, and I think the only "noble" dialogue option I got was something like "Kolsc you fool! How dare you think of overthrowing a noble!" I would like a witty sellsword background (like Bronn from game of thrones), that makes lots of sarcastic remarks about quests and rewards. "Let me get this straight, I'm your only hope for fighting that clan of ogres, but you're going to bludgeon me to death with inflated prices?" (God, I miss Icewind Dale's wit. "Well sir, is there anything I can do to support your downward spiral into oblivion?") What backgrounds would you guys like to see?

There is much wisdom in this post. This is going into philosophical territory here, but basically its all about the kind of mindset that you have going into the game. If you have a neurotic completionist mindset, and want to see ever string of dialogue (I confess to being like this sometimes), then you're going to have some unhappy feelings on the way. It's not fair to blame this on the developer. If you want a game without too much reactivity, I recommend J-RPGs. No, really. They tend to shepherd you down a predestined path with obviously rigged choices. Example: "R... Rahelron-kun, what are you doing!?" a) S... sorry! b) It was an accident! c) I didn't mean to!

I agree with Grommy, it seems a logical place to go for PoE3. Based on their starting clothing, I wonder if the Aedyr Empire will look like ancient Rome? The Human Emperor and Elven Queen idea is also pretty interesting.

Indeed, Tyranny was particularly annoying for keeping everyone happy, because you're travelling with people from literally opposite factions. Whatever you do pleases the one and pisses off the other. Maybe this was intentional but... I'm guessing that most players want to keep the peace in their parties. I agree with keeping this stuff for extreme moments. Unless you're doing something that obviously and directly offends a companion (like murdering their family or kicking Eder's dog), they don't need to make a fuss of it.

Really dude? Can an American go for 2 minutes without mentioning American politics/Trump? Though admittedly, the title of this thread does sound a little SJWy To OP: I'm sure we'll see the occasionally backpacker from the Aedyr Empire, but for the most part, yeah, we'll be interacting with Aumaua and Vallians. I kind of like the psuedo-Italian thing, so that works for me.

During the Q&A he also mentioned that Fighter + Barbarian would be Brute and Rogue + Wizard would be Spellblade. Thanks for the info mate. I like most of those except "avenger". I mean, who is he avenging? Do all druid/rogues have someone to avenge? It just doesn't have much to do with the classes abilities.

While there were some controversies surrounding the enhanced version, surely more content is always better? And I imagine they've squashed the worst of the bugs by now.

am thinking it gots 'bout same creative limits, which is to say, none. sure, will be engine limits and practical resource allocation limits, but am never gonna accept a limit 'pon creativity save one which is self imposed. etc. no limits. HA! Good Fun! Although I do bow to the overall wisdom of your statement, with a system of caves, it seems a little strange having so many war-like races co-existing so close to each other. I mean, they pulled it off pretty well but still. On the other hand, different islands can quite reasonably have completely different culture/races/architecture etc. Also, with islands, you can meet a wider variety of NPCs (travelers, pirates, adventurers, locals, pretty maidens etc.), where as deep in Od Nua, you can only encounter psychos from a past civilization.

So... after all our bitching, looks like we're getting a string of islands. I guess I'm okay with this. It has a lot more creative potential than caves.