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Abel

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About Abel

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    (5) Thaumaturgist

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  1. Yes, i did a lot a testing, a lot of reading, and so, i knew about the Damage over time problem (and other problems). Actually, this is one of the reason i installed UPMod on top of IEMod: because it was meant to bring a tentative solution for this oversight. But the thing is: it is Obsidian, and considering that the untold rule 'yeah, but doesn't work with DoT' would be enough to wrap one's head around this mess would be too simple... It's being unrealistically hopeful. There is a priest spell that does direct fire damage. Searing seal. The damage multiplier will seemingly always be 1. Scion of flame doesn't work, and not even the might attribute seems to work with this one. It is not DoT, it is one time damage, and i see no reason whatsoever as to why it is like this. There is no proper logic behind, and no explanation, no general rule that could make me feel reassured that it works as intended. There is something unconfortable when you never know if something is by design or not, and you end up testing eveything to make sure that it works as you think it is meant to, because you can't trust the game to work as it should. I mean, there are no rules, no explanation, no logic. It is plain random, and i can't help but feel like 90% of such inconsistencies in Pillars or Eternity are not by design (it would be mentionned in rules if it was by design, and these rules would exist in the first place). It may not even be an oversight... At some point, i started to feel like Obsidian simply didn't know how to solve their mess without breaking something else in the process. I have a friend, programmer, who has been working on Neverwinter Nights 2 modding and servers since forever, and he is baffled neverendlessly by the massive mess that is the code for this game. He explained me some problems with it, and yeah... King in Bugland. I wouldn't be surprised if game design ended up going further than expected when the base systems were made for Pillars, or something. Like the array for stacking rules becoming too small to account for everything or something. I am no programmer. Maybe if i was, i would have better cues on how to go about things.
  2. The problem with scion of flame is that i am never sure if it works. I play a priest, melee priest, jack of all trades priest. So, i like casting a buff, an aggro and then melee. Aggro can be Shining beacon. But when i look at the damage on the spell tooltip, the numbers are the same whether i have scion of flame or not. When i cast the spell, i see no mention of bonus damage in the logs either. On the other hand, i can see bonus damage pretty clearly when they come from other sources. I read quite a few of your posts too, and the one where you explained why curoc's brand doesn't benefit from scion of flame and why bittercut does benefit from the corrode perk... was too much. I laughed, but bitterly. I did plan to use curoc's brand when switching to distance, i found the idea pretty fun and i find fire pretty fitting for Eothas, the god of light. My builds are based on themes more than min maxing. But better use a mere war bow than noticing how scion of flame doesn't work with my wand every time i use it ^^. I am no good when it comes to handling certain types of frustration ^^'. EDIT: Ok, so since you said you don't use mods, this prompted me to test more with IEMod and try to narrow down the turning wheel problem again. And actually, i found it. It is indeed, one particular option of IEMod that messes up turning wheel. I should have thought about it earlier, that was stupid of me. So, thanks a lot for your answers, that helped. So, again, in case this proves useful to someone else down the line, i will share. i have played for many hours with 'Remove combat-only restrictions' with no problem whatsoever, and so i even forgot about it entirely. But if this option is ticked, it will cause problems with turning wheel specifically, for reasons that are way beyond me. Better deactivate it if you use a monk, once you have done your tests or whatever.
  3. Yeah, that's weird, because i certainly do have to remove/ re add the ability every time. Anytime i forget to do so, next fight is without burn damage for my Zahua. Is there a conflict of sorts with equipement or other abilities i took? I don't know. But all i can see is either a conflict, or a IEMod + UPMod problem. I suspect you use both yourself and you would have noticed it i guess, so, the explanation is probably elsewhere. I wish i could narrow down the problem, because it remains annoying, mostly when i forget to readd the ability after reload. But the truth of the matter is: it is not only turning wheel. Many things are bugged when it comes to abilities, talents, equipement, stacking rules, and so on. (Right now, i am very annoyed by 'Scion of flame' and other talents like this one. The fact that it works at random, or not at all, especially with priest spells like shining beacon... That's fire damage damn, stop making knots in my head when your talent states '+20% to fire damage' and it doesn't work 50% of the time you do fire damage, for seemingly random/buggy reasons. I wish i could find reliable answers for this problem, too). To be very frank, after spending so much time playing 'Divinity Original Sin' and 'Pathfinder: Kingmaker' (1300 hours with this one so far), both being very complex games too, coming back playing Pillars after 7 years was somewhat of a shock. I wasn't used to so many bugs anymore. I always defended Obs when people told 'Alpha Protocol' is super buggy or 'New Vegas is a mess', because this wasn't their fault, the publishers were 95% responsible for this. But i can't totally deny that in my book, Obsidian is still somewhat King in Bugland.
  4. In my case, turning wheel is deactivated anytime a game is loaded. This game is frustrating in many ways. I have only found three ways to solve this: 1- Do not take turning wheel. This is true for other talents/abilities in the game btw, since, honestly, it is bugged as hell. For example, i have found that the Comfort cloak's 'amenity' stacks with everything, but does not actually stack with armor proofing specifically (like Hirbel's skin's pierce proofing). Which is weird to me. Or that Two-handed style applies 50% of the time when you select it on level up screens. On the bright side, i use IEMod. Using mods is risky. But i seem to remember the game had problems like those even when i didn't use it. Yes, i backed it, so it is not my first try. 2- Retrain everytime you reload a save. Not particularly fond of this one? Me neither. 3- The best to me: Use IEMod (works on the latest game version). Allow cheat/console codes (read the mod readme for how to). Then, open the game console with 'รน' or anything that is there on your keyboard (mine is AZERTY, french). When done, enter this without quotes: First: "RemoveTalent Companion_Zahua(Clone)_X turningwheel". This will remove the broken ability so that you don't have duplicates on your character sheet. Then add: "AddAbility Companion_Zahua(Clone)_X turningwheel". This will give it back. Where X is the slot Zahua occupies in your roster. The one whose portrait is next to your PC's is 1, the one at the end is 5. In my case, it was 4 this time. Note, too, that you can copy/paste what i wrote above in the console. Write it somewhere and don't bother. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard arrows to skim through previously entered console commands. This makes entering the command at every reload no more than a slight bother. If you don't have this problem, tell me. I am curious whether it is just me, but considering that i found this thread, i chose to post this, in case other people have problems.
  5. I have more or less stopped following Obsidian, but i must say, it is a good thing "The Outer Worlds" have a good patching policy like both "Pillars" had. This makes a huge difference to see a game being taken care of by devs after release. I'm relieved to see Obs beeing bought has not yet destroyed this good policy. I only hope for Obs to create good, deep, complex RPGs, like "New Vegas" was, rather than diluted things for the sake of accessibility, and prove me wrong when i say it will end up like Bioware or Bethesda did. Well, i still haven't finished Pillars 1 or even installed Pillars 2 and its auto-healing 'thing' though ^^'
  6. Yep, i really like your post. I think i get what you mean. But now, it's difficult to do. I mean, being accurate by using a way to say things that would be understood by everyone. Even more so on a forum, as you say. Most of the time, i fall flat on my face when i try Actually, instead of a GPS, oftentimes, i use a friend for that. So that he can tell me which direction i should go to find my home. Well, they're used to it by now, but, even after 14 years, are kind of amazed. The good point is that there are times when you won't get bored while having me there. I'm ok-ish at arithmetics. Never needed a calculator for just simple things like 4569 X 34. It's more problematic when there is something like f(x)=3x +2. I could never solve this kind of thing or even understand what i was all about. Though, i could write pages about what the line inspired me. I ended up with 0.5 in maths by my last year in high school :D. The other scientific subjects were not much better by the way. I was never good at languages either. Just think it took me 7 years to learn the little english i know, self taught through forum like this one and online dictionnaries alone. Considering one of my friend reached a comparable level in spanish in just one year while speaking it on a regular basis, i feel pretty awfully about my own skills. " It's not all logic and rational vs. empathic and feelings. " You may think so, and i bet many people would agree with you. But i always felt that people were more one or the other, always. Thing is, unless they are completely my type, results are more or less the same. I rarely find any middle ground. Either people get what i say, or they just don't. The only variation is about how deep i can go before losing them :o. So, quite long ago i basically stopped trying and just stay at the basic, boring level, while keeping more in-depths talks for a minority of people i know i can exchange with. I never felt wizards sucked in Pillars, but i always felt they were underwhelming, even though they are probably amongst the most powerful classes in my opinion. Does is it seem like a contradiction? Well, but considering how my MC sucked, pretty much all companions felt powerful in comparison. I actually don't like the way Josh designed the game in order to make sure every build can be playable. I know many people like the idea they can do anything and it will still somehow work, but i don't. It's the same as the auto heal. I always regretted never seeing the "Game Over" screen. Pillars 2 made it worse with auto heal. So, stating all wizards are the same anyway is at the same time true and false to me. Probably, some would be more like enchanters for crowd control, and others like damage dealers, but they are no drastic differences in their actual usefulness i think. Even while comparing companions, no one particularly stick out in combat for me. I like how in BG some companions were pretty crappy (Nalia?), and some others were really powerful (Edwin?). I don't know how to explain it properly, but i feel like it's more natural to have such differences in a party. Not everyone is equal or should be. But the way BG was designed, over several playthrough, because you needed a balanced party, all companions would come in handy at some point nonetheless. Honestly, the "all wizards party" concept just completely rebukes me. Although i'm sure some would love to try it and mix and match different kinds of wizards. There are many things that made me bored in Pillars (well, again, my worst gripe will forever be the "Might" attribute, even though i know by now that not many are bothered by it the way i am), and these things are treated completely differently in Pathfinder. That gives me a lot of hope for the game. PS: note that i do my best to avoid my trademarks hyperboles which are the basics for me :D. After all, my usual, everyday way to say things would be "That ****ing crap gets on my nerves so much i would want to slap the **** who even thought it was a good idea", would probably actually mean in the not hyperbolic way you use "I really disagree with the kind of decision the author made here. It feels unnatural to me and kind of prevents me from getting the thrill the good points in his work could have otherwise provided me". The whole difference between the two being actually the frustration that is conveyed in the first version, versus the more objective, composed, and analytical version. The latter is hard to handle for me, since it asks for a lot of self control i don't necessarily have.
  7. I personnaly like difficulty that forces me to reload many times while trying different things. But i don't like to optimize my characters too much since their base is a written background rather a build, and dump stats never exist for me. I played pillars on hard with sub optim party (Though, i dropped the game). So, it's not really about rolling over things. Other than that i can see why you would find some things to be hyperbolic and such. I believe it's tied to what i explained. You're the clever and logical type and understand things for how they are written, and are able to discern everything regarding the details of the explanation someone gives. I can't do that. I can't understand things with logic alone, and can't understand how a cell phone works just be reading the manual. I tend to get lost in town while being only 150m away from the home a live in since 4 years, so i can't go out without a map or GPS... I'm more the type to care not much about what is written (and are even unable to clearly grasp the logic depicted sometimes), but more about the intent i tend to perceive behind the words. I'm the kind who could never grasp anything from a technical/scientific point of view to the point i'm utterly unable to tinker with things at all. But on the other hand, i often just need to talk a few minutes with someone in real life to grap completely who they are, to the point i can even tell what they eat for breakfast (once again, don't take it literaly, what i perceive depends on the person actually. But it's true that when someone talks to me about someone else, i can accurately tell things others can't. I've experienced that many times). That's probably why i often have a hard time communicating with the logical type. That's probably why many people will say i'm hyperbolic, blunt and such, and the easiest way for me to communicate is by using hyperbole and metaphors. Whenever i try, like here, to make sense in a normal way, i tend to struggle quite a bit. While a few people will actually understand the feeling and intend behind all of it. I believe there are more than just one sort of intelligence. I respect intelligence, i respect yours. But at the same time i found myself, sometimes, in real life, incapable to communicate with some people, even at a very basic level, because of how extremely different our sense of logic were. That's probably the reason why, when i watch animation or movies, i tend to get easily exasperated at how shallow everything feels to me, while at the same time i read critics that claim everything is great and beautiful, because their sensibilities are not turned towards the same things as mine. That's why i'm not shocked at all when i see a statement saying the observation is beautiful. Because while not being accurately and factually true, i kind of get where this feeling can come from. The letter does not matter, the idea behind does. To me, at least. On a side note, i'm french. I'm passionnate about japanese people. I mean there are so many things that kind of irritate me in their ways, and that fascinate me at the same time. It's like trying to understand the logic of aliens. If i could, i would like to spend years forgetting everything i think i know and build my sense of logic from the ground up again, in order to see a whole different world. That would make the world twice as large, and leave a lot to explore. But well, this part is pretty much off topic, i guess.
  8. I kind of get, i think, what he may have meant by "not packing of punch". Since i felt the same with Pillars 1. If i were to give an example, it would be with spells. While my brain fully understand that casting this one spell that lasts for 6 seconds may have a positive effect on the battle for me, and that i should try, always come the time were i feel bored and end up thinking "**** these spells, i can't help by be too bored to bother for these mere 6 seconds". This was probably made for balance purpose, with the idea that each type of character should be equally usefull, and make sure mages are not overpowered compared to others (regarding their usefulness as a member of a party at least) As you said, it's certainly a matter of taste. You tend to illustrate your points with really concrete and objective facts that look oftentimes to me like maths formula. Well, i can understand how people would find your points excellent. But there are people like me who never could get into maths and logic and work they life through feels and intuition. This kind of reasonning, however true or logic it is, will never strike a chord and convince me not to get bored. I felt satisfied by the system of older games like Baldur's gate on the other hand. You would probably argue that the fact that you could win or lose a combat with a single spell thats lasted for 2 minutes was way too much, and cheesy. It probably was. But i personally liked to work coordination between my spell casters to make sure i manage to debuff the saving throws of my opponents to get better chances with the said spell (chaos?). And there were times that worked, and times that did not work. And when i failed, i oftentimes struggled with the combat (SCS mod) only to see that i lost the upper hand and suffered heavy damage by the end. Since i had a dungeon to clean before resting i tended to reload and try something else. Same can be said, for me, at least, about said over powered builds in Pillars. Yeah, they may be super strong or whatever. Still, it feels underwhelming. And i will be accused again to look for overpowerdness while i'm not. I don't expect to see, at long last, my point about how things feels to me come across. I will be demonstrated how i'm wrong with concrete build examples and formulas that try to speak to my brain when i'm utterly unable to function like that. So yeah, it was probably captured incorectly. You proved many times it was. But that does not change the simple fact that one game entertains me even 20 years later while the other bores me. Please, note i used the spell casting as just one example. I don't intend to review all details and systems of the game. I'm not confident, either, i can manage to convey my non rationnal way of feeling about things to someone who harbors a very well constructed, analytic mindset. Well, i was never able to. In real life, i will sometimes meet people who would understand what i mean without me needing to speak, and then, people who would consider my way to think completely obtuse and devoid of any well grounded argument. I'm used to it. Maths never made any sense to me in school after all, and i could never understand how Thales theorem was more than a succession of symbols with no actual meaning. While at the same time, i could ace almost anything in literature without even reading the book i was diserting on. I was never the rational type. And it looks that even if i try to be for communication purposes, i'm bound to fail. I'm grateful for this topic. While reading, i feel pretty much in line with "xzar_monthy". I will definitely give pathfinder a go at some point, since it seems it has many things Pillars lacks for me. Someone said here that the Pillars's system is the future. To me, that would mean the future is grim.
  9. I just realized i'm not interested in any of these. Well, probably, if Tim were to work on a true Fallout again (after a good samaritan bomb Bethesda), i would change my mind. One could say, it's just a post apo universe, and there are others, but there is something you could find in the good old Fallout that definitely defined a genre, and were never ever reproduced or equaled. Aside, maybe, if you consider New vegas. I like Wasteland universe too, but It can't compare to Fallout 1 and 2. Hell, i will never forget this sore ass of a Brotherhood guy who sent me to this crappy radioactive hole, certain i would die (and i did, once), in order to get rid of me. And to begin with, the moment i understood i may need a rope and had none with me at the moment, i wanted to hand over his ass to him to pay him back for the hole in my shoes i got after back tracking to town. Still, great fun.
  10. Well now, i always understood the problems with stability and the problem of surviving. I guess the stress can kill people over time. So i have never denied this problem, and that's why i supported Obs on Kickstarter and Fig. I even backed Pillars 2 while pretty convinced i will never play it (and in fact i never installed it). But now, Feargus, you spend your time speaking about family, while pretending that one of the 4 bros never existed (Chris?). You spend your time talking about how great Microsoft is (we all know that they are gaming industry's philanthropist), explaining how they will give you money for games, stability, and technical expertise for development. That's all nice and great, but there is one thing that bothers me... You never speak about what Obs will give Microsoft in return. Well, Ensemble Studios gave them their skin and their life, after all. I believe that if you don't bother to speak about it, it's because it's only obvious and does not need an explanation. Please, take note: i'm only trying to be rationnal here. Still, i just can't see any other reason why this question is not tackled, and since this one (the answer is obvious and does not need explanation) makes sense, i will say "Ok". But now, if the answer is obvious, that should mean that in order to understand the answer to this question (what Obsidian will give Microsoft in return), we have to look at how Microsoft and the gaming industry work as a whole. Especially when a studio which is struggling to survive as an independant company is bought by a bigger fish. Ok, i explored my memory a bit, tried to use wikipedia and some other websites and skimmed through things again. Well. From there, this is all about my own feelings regarding this. And feelings can't be explained rationaly or demonstrated, so i won't claim i'm talking the truth or predicting accurately the future. I'm not God. So, my feelings are... I don't buy any of this bull****. Microsoft changes, cuts anything that may not bring enough money for their tastes, and closed quite a few studios they bought (Ensemble being only the most famous for me). And you know it full well Feargus. What's more, you're trying to strike a chord in the people who trusted Obsidian but are rightfully defiant of Microsoft, emphasizing family, passion, freedom, legacy and crap like that. There is no freedom or legacy when everything you created becomes immediately the property of someone else, nor their is family. The way this video is made only awakes some memories i have of others developers in the past spouting the same things with the results i know. It almost feels to me that Microsoft bought the successful Kickstarter trio (Double Fine (2019) inXile (2018), Obsidian (2018)) precisely because their crowfunding successes guaranteed their images were good in the customer eyes, and Microsoft now tries to benefit indirectly from that. What, do they think trust can be bought? And you Feargus, that trust can be sold? Even if i were to be mistaken, and the fact that these 3 studios were bought by MoneySoft is actually a really good thing, i don't live in fantasy world. There are always counterparts to everything. For anything you get, you need to abandon something. Life is just like that. The fact that you spent 6 minutes spouting that just about everything was wonderful and for the best only makes it sound more fishy to me.
  11. For one thing, if it's Tim/Leonard who are free to create the game system they like, i personnaly have no worry regarding this point. I don't expect to see a copy paste of what already exists. "Beauty" was actually a pretty surprising idea in Arcanum at the time, and there was quite a few others like this. And after playing a while, it all made full sense. I'm more worried about how these game systems created will be used, considering how Obsidian has clearly shifted its focus regarding game mechanics in RPGs since Pillars II, going more towards accessibility/practicality than making sense. Bioware and Bethesda did the same back in the day. Hum...
  12. I had a pretty completionist 300H run of New Vegas years ago (But i never finish games). I liked it after being so bored by Fallout 3. The hardcore mod became an instant must for me. It's been years now that i've wanted to play New Vegas again. But at some point i failed a big mod install (like 30 mods. While Skyrim requires 70 to be remotely interesting for me), and always felt too lazy to do it again from scratch... Otherwise, it would be one of the games i would never uninstall, along with Fallout 1 and 2, Baldur's Gate, Dune 1 and 2, Wasteland 2, Civ, and stuff like that. Other than that, i believe the only game i played during the past year or so is probably Wasteland 2 Director's Cut. Since i can spend 6 or 10 months without playing any game, it's probably normal. But i had some incentive to play Pathfinder and Phoenix Point. I will, one day. New Vegas is certainly a good idea.
  13. I feel you Let's hope the better in this case . I actually may have more faith in 2K than in Microsoft.
  14. Well, thanks for the details, i'm not fully aware of everything, and your post helped. Still, i would oppose one concrete example to what you say. I'm not sure these are things you know about or even remember about, but i'll take the bet. When Bioware was bought by EA, Dragon Age Origins was almost completed. But we know many things were changed in a rush at the very end of the developement by EA. I had looked up the topic quite a lot back in the days, but i can't remember an accurate list of all the changes (they were obviously never made official, for obvious reasons). Still, here is one example i still remember of the things they did. In the game, you had a golem that you could use as a companion. Originally, it was meant to be found in a certain house in some town. Everything was written and implemented in the base game, and from what i read, it was pretty well thought out and interesting. But now, EA thought it would make a good opportunity for a DLC, and made Bioware remove it. And so, when the game was released, you could still go inside the house through using the console, but obviously, no golem. Instead, they released some day 1 DLC. I can't remember if the DLC adding the golem was a day 1 one though, but the way they ended up adding it to the game was pretty lackluster. But they filled a short, over priced, bland DLC in order to bring content that was already in the game but was cut just before release. So, that's the kind of things a publisher can do when they buy a developer which has almost completed his last game. It's certainly my own perspective, but i would definitly warn anyone against that kind of thing. This may happen. It happened. And it was 10 years ago. I think many people would agree that the game industry and publisher's policies haven't gotten any better since then.
  15. That's probably the best way to go in my opinion. I believe pre ordering games is dangerous since quite some time, especially considering the new trend where many publishers tease their games before release and dumb it down when released (sometimes regarding features, actual content, or even visuals). I can't remember which game it was, but there are some, like EA, who went as far as to downright lie and heavily publicized features before release that never existed in the final game. It's even more awful how they got the developers to lie for them on video before the release :s. I have personally no idea how Microsoft will impact the end result for this one. I am one to believe that since it's the first Obsidian release since they bought it, they will want to be careful, the way Bethesda tried (more or less successfully) to respect the Fallout universe with Fallout 3 (before butchering it completely afterwards). So yeah, if you have total faith and confidence, go for it. As long you are aware of the risks involved, anything is fine. Although, i personally would advise increased caution over time with future games. I mean, trusting Obsidian is one thing. But now, they are not the ones in full control of their works anymore. So, even those who still trusted them six months ago should be fully aware that Obs won't necessarily do things the way they see fit anymore.
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