Abel

Hu? Can't remember where, but i'm pretty sure that it was said companions could leave you. But it wasn't about alignments like in BG (like when Korgan could leave you if you reach a reputation of 19). Each companion have his own agenda. If you prevent them to achieve their goals, they may leave you. As an example, in the prologue, Calisca can leave you if you chose to rest for the sake of Heodan since she really wants to go through the dungeon as soon as possible (because of her own agenda). Dunno if companions can leave you because of dispositions however. Like a really benevolant companion who can't bear anymore your cruel nature. I think it may be possible, but i have no proof. I think i've read somewhere too that one companion may not be your "friend". He/She helps you because of his/her own interests.

There are games where you "want to nickpick" on every detail and others where you don't. Imho, the former is a great game, the latter is a dull one. So, these details are really important, like Stun said, and should not be ignored for the sake of evaluating coldly a game lenght. For me, a game lenght is more about the time having fun it takes to finish it, and details like the ones Stun spoke about have to be considered. Great games that can hook you in nickpicking on details deserve this treatment.

lol, right Actually, i am sometimes really infuriating when playing hot seat Civ 5 with a friend (you know, picking my religion according with my sheme to victory ). In another hand, it's not a problem playing co-op Divinity Original Sin (well at least, i think ).

yeah, totally agree. It's the greatest greatness of Baldur's Gate, and the music still gives me chills all over the body while i listen to your video. And first time i ever heard the english voice. The french one is quite cool too.

Yes, all the reading and thinking stuff is time consuming (and it's great). And i may be VERY hesitant sometimes with dialogue choices, depending of my Roleplay (well, sometimes, i even close the game because i can't decide within 10 minutes) I'm kind of a weirdo

I spend much time reading books, exploring character sheets, testing equipement looted, thinking of many things that would be cool, or even how i should develop my characters as they level up. I usually spend next to 50% of my playing time not actually playing, but goofing around . you would be suprised about how many hours i need just to get out of the Irenicus dungeon at the start of BG2.

Well we know it will be awesome, for what we have listened until now. For me, it's enough at the moment . 16 days.

On a completionist playthrough? I plan on spending about that length of time in that 15 level super dungeon alone. Yes, if you're like me, then this is needed. After all, i need 250+ hours to reach the end of New Vegas, and 400+ for Skyrim. Like someone said, the playstyle has great influence on the time needed to finish a game.

You can hire some adventurers at inns. Which are fully created by yourself, but with no banters, quests, or "souls". Or you can just go with some of the 8 companions with story/banters/quests written by Obsidian who can be recruited throughout the game. You have the choice. You can even mix the 2 things, with (as an example) 3 Obs companions and 2 adventurers you created. Still, the Obs companions won't notice your adventurers. EDIT: you need to speak to inn owners, and then, an UI appear. You have the choice of the level of the adventurer up to the level of your character. The more experience the adventurer has, the more costly il will be to recruit him. I saw a video where it was 1000 cp per lvl, but Obs said the prices were not ok yet at this point (too expensive). Then, you go with regular character creation i guess. Once you've paid the gold and created your adventurer, you have the new party member.

Rogues can be very effective at range, Monks are actually tanks primarily not DPS, and Barbarians were never being touted as one of the companion classes and are the only class that has never had their companion status change this whole time. I never liked barbarians and monks, wichever game i played, and it's not a matter of gameplay. So, i'm ok not having such companions. Still, if the expansion add some NPC, it would be cool to add in them as barb or monks for whoever like them. I've always liked the concept of the armored priest. And Cadegund seemed to be a good idea, even if it was strange to mix guns and heavy armor (maybe it's what was the most interesting in fact). However, i may be the only one like this here, but i miss Calisca much more than Cadegund. For various reasons, i just fell in love with this NPC while watching some videos. I've always loved the concept of female warriors. I often play female warriors myself. I wanted to see her plated blonde avatar, discover what the problem with her sister was, and keep her by my side from the start to the end. I think i feel the same toward Calisca than many of you toward Cadegund. Exotic NPCs are cool, but sometimes, some more regular ones (e.g human/plain fighter/not crazy or anything weird) are deeply needed. My prefered NPCs of BG1 were Branwen and Yeslick, and i don't really like exotic things (that should be the exception rather than the rule). Agree that the 3 other NPCs may be temporary companions. Like Luckman, i feel that 8 companions is painfully not enough. But thanks to you, KS backers, we have 8, not just 5. Thx for this.

+1

I backed PoE at the beginning of 2014 i guess. More than 1 year ago. All i knew at this moment is that i needed to find a "tier" that allowed me to download the full soudtrack separately. i've read al this thread, and i am happy to see that the old debate that raised after the first trailer of PoE about whether Jeremy Soule is greater than Justin Bel or not for the PoE's music had ended. Never doubted of the quality of the music. No surprise i feel this theme cool. Music is very important to me, especially in RPGs. I can't imagine myself being disppointed by the music, even less now .

There may not be that many strongholds available. Besides if you start thinking about things to this extent nothing we really do in a RPG makes much sense. I mean why not form a party of 100 people to invade that dangerous dungeon? Why only take 6? Yeah, it's true that the "well, i like you guy, and i definitely want you in my party, but, hey, for some reason, i can't have more than 5 friends at the same time" thing is pretty funny, too :D. Still, i need to feel things believable in a RPG to achieve immersion. It is something really important to me, and for my personal game experience. I've the same kind of problem with the infinite stash and the resting bonuses. It is in the game, so i will just have to figure out a personal way to explain things. Story and lore may provide me with good ideas

If you say Obsidian put some money on the table beyond the kickstarter crowdfund then I have to believe that on behalf not having anything to disprove this. From what I saw however I will be careful in trusting your claims about content and check reviews and opinions after launch. Hum, actually you have some tools to understand that BAdler said the truth. In another post, one or two weeks ago, i said that the 4M may have gone for months, or even a year. I'm not some kind of soothsayer. Why? Because the only thing you need to understand this simple fact is basic mathematics. Fargo explained Inxile poured several millions of their own money they earned from another source to finish Wasteland 2, too. I saw many of your posts that i disliked or felt weird. Like when you look upset while a guy say "until now i never wanted anything from Poland" and accusating moderators of partialty, believing he was disrespectful. And in another hand, in another thread, you called someone who disagreed with you, something like "Mein Furher". You point many things as certain while it's your opinion. Some other people who agreed with your point presented things in a good way, an argumented and respectful one (like Sedrefilos or others). I may be like you sometimes too (well, i hate Steam, and it seems i can't stay objective about it even when i try, as an example). But, imo, you just like trolling, because, it's all the time. Sorry, i feel the need to say this at least once since 2 weeks. Attacking me personally doesn't prove anything you said to be true. If there is some basic mathematical prove that Obsidian is not able to follow a budget about 4 times bigger then they needed, then for all means provide it, because I don't see it however obvious it is. Westeland 2 is irrelevant as it's different game by a different studio. Well, i don't want to engage a fight with you (since i think it's useless to battle someone that i feel is closed-minded). But since i think i can't throw anything without any argument, i will just say that what you just pointed may be irrelevant. I don't read all the treads all the times, but i still know some things that you seem to ignore. Some examples: the 4M budget induded many expansive strecth goals, so the budget wasn't 4 times the one needed. The 15 lvl dungeon was a "free" strectch goal, but it, too, is expansive to achieve. Some more details: if you would have been just a bit curious about things before stating non senses (like trying to grab some facts and elements before judging everything without any clue), you would have discovered that there have been more than 60 people who worked on PoE, that a base salary of a dev is nothing near 500E/month, that OE have hired some extra external people from other companies to make many things (like wilderness areas), and that a 4M budget can't last much more than 1 year in that fashion. I don't say i'm right, but at least, i tried to search clues before throwing bul**** like this. To me, Wasteland 2 is a good example, because it's a game with the same kind of scope wich had a 3/4M on KS too, and 2,5 years of developement (like PoE). But once more, maybe, maybe it's me just saying bul****. I'm aware i may do some mistakes, but at least i tried to understand things beforehand. Plus, i'm afraid you're parano. My own opinion is not the universal and sacred truth. I think you're a troll, but after all, it is possible that the true troll is me, and that i was never warned of it.

If you say Obsidian put some money on the table beyond the kickstarter crowdfund then I have to believe that on behalf not having anything to disprove this. From what I saw however I will be careful in trusting your claims about content and check reviews and opinions after launch. Hum, actually you have some tools to understand that BAdler said the truth. In another post, one or two weeks ago, i said that the 4M may have gone for months, or even a year. I'm not some kind of soothsayer. Why? Because the only thing you need to understand this simple fact is basic mathematics. Fargo explained Inxile poured several millions of their own money they earned from another source to finish Wasteland 2, too. I saw many of your posts that i disliked or felt weird. Like when you look upset while a guy say "until now i never wanted anything from Poland" and accusating moderators of partialty, believing he was disrespectful. And in another hand, in another thread, you called someone who disagreed with you, something like "Mein Furher". You point many things as certain while it's your opinion. Some other people who agreed with your point presented things in a good way, an argumented and respectful one (like Sedrefilos or others). I may be like you sometimes too (well, i hate Steam, and it seems i can't stay objective about it even when i try, as an example). But, imo, you just like trolling, because, it's all the time. Sorry, i feel the need to say this at least once since 2 weeks.

I like the idea of a Stronghold, but my involvment on it in the game will depend of some side mechanics. E.g. if owning and developing this stronghold have an influence on my character's reputation, if i'm entitled with nobility, or not, or if developing the prestige of this place can help to open doors in some places of Defiance Bay, related to the high society. If the Stronghold is a mini game on its own, i may drop it in my 2nd playthrough. I will likely ignore too the upgrades granting resting bonuses in every and all my playthrough, including the first one. I don't like the idea of "well, yesterday the library was finished, and now, i feel way more intelligent after resting in my room". Unless there is a very good reason with deep sense, i will jut ignore all this stuff, including the bonuses granted in the inns. I will likely spent money on security, prestige, and hirelings, like if i were some kind of feudal lord. Plus, with the Endless Paths beneath, it would make sense to have a strong group of soldiers. I just have to figure out why i would even settle in a stronghold which is far more threatened from the underneath than from the outside (it's non sense to me). The fence walls could become a deadly prison far more than a secured area when some kind of dragon, awakened for some reason just decide to pop out the Endless Paths in your beloved garden.

Don't worry, if it flops, they could just say it's because of piracy (and invest 100M dollars in a new, fancy DRM), not because they crafted a subpar game I tried FO3 before buying it. I felt it was boring and soulless. Finally i didn't bought it. I tried FNV before buying it. I felt it was buggy and great. Finally i bought it. Well, now i try before buying. Like a car. Wasn't the case some years ago. Skyrim can become a great game with 60 mods (and Frostfall as a key one). Without any, i think it's like FO3. Very Bethesda i would say. Sad to say i bought it when the fun of the game actually comes with the mods i installed :s PoE is an exception, as for the new Torment. Great interview here, and PoE is number 1 on my wish list since 2013

Looks really promising. I shouldn't have watched it, i feel like a junkie needing his dose now...

Only read this topic as far as page 6. Interesting debate i must say. There is a book by Emile Zola named "Au bonheur des Dames". The story in it revolves around a new great shop which owner think "to make much profit, i have to sell a lot at low price", when the old little shops around think "I have to sell just a few things, but at high prices". Useless to say that at the end, only the new, large shop survive this economic war, with great profits, while the little owners decay in their rotten slums. I may not have money shortage at the same level than Luckman, but still, true that 40+E is something. While i don't think it's overpriced, while i wish Obsidan could earn enough to self produce Eternity 2 in an even larger game, i don't think your point is unreasonable either. It's only logic. But dunno in this case which price would be fair. If i understood well, then, Obsidian didn't gain much money with New Vegas, because of a 84 metactric score (when the contract allowed them a bonus margin if the score reached 85. Awful, but it is another debate). In this case, and if i'm right, Obsdian looked more like employees than anything else: they made a product, had a salary for doing it, and that's it. if you withdraw the publisher cut of the price... well, you understand what i mean i guess. So what is a fair price? I have no idea. If PoE2 is Kickstarted, i think i would back it. It's not just for the Obsidian sake, but i think this alternative economy model (KS) is hugely needed nowadays. Publishers, producers have to understand that selling **** with a nice and expensive package is nothing more than a scam. There is a problem particularly in cinema. They have self convinced themselves that they are right and that money can buy quality in art oO, while it's just the consequences of massive brainwashing with commercials. It's just lame. Visuals are the first thing we see about a game, and for marketing purposes, they overdid it (still with texture size in 512, you know why) until they could establish their own standards in quality as a dominant opinion of what quality is. Wasteland2 is a 4M game, and imo, it's way bigger than these AAA ****. Thus, if there is no good alternative to the traditional publishing way, then, nothing can change. May be my own utopia, but it's better than nothing.

Violence... In fact you can't wait to be killed by one. Can't wait to pet one Hope they are actually terrifying, not the kind of dragons we saw in Skyrim, which were some kind of weaklings designed to flatter the player's ego

Is that why we keep having romance threads? It's the French. We apologize. Sorry, but you know, love, not war... all that stuff. Was some Americans way of thinking at first. Want a hug bro? :D Pau at the moment, originaly from Bordeaux (both SW). French here

TotSC didn't need new companions, though; BG1 had a plethora of companions, and while it would've been interesting and nice for TotSC to add new CNPC:s, BG1 didn't really need it. By comparison, PoE could really do with at least a tripling of the available CNPC:s and there'd still be ample room for improvement. I second that the major TotSC questline was too short, and I hope that any PoE expansion opts to make a few major questlines (not just one really major questline that sticks off the main game like a weird thumb) scattered throughout the game. And add, like, 32 CNPC:s. +1000. Your english is really better than mine, and you just sumed up all i think: about the questlines, the CNPC, the way additional content should be scattered throughout the game, etc.

Reading it makes me think it was ripped out of a different interview article from a different website to begin with. Which wouldn't really surprise me. There is a link in the quoted page to the full interview of J.E.Sawyer, on the same website (worth reading it). Glad to read this. If there is to be a sequel to PoE (which i would like), i want it in a PoE 2 and a PoE 3, not in an expansion (ToB was meant as a third chapter of the saga). A sequel have to be long and detailed enough, non linear, and filled with flavored and varied locations and side stories, in the same way that the first game was (unlike ToB). I didn't ike ToB: hack 'n slash, linear, dull (almost as dull as IWD2 in my opinion, sorry Josh.). I agree with Nonek: Durlag Tower was a really great dungeon. I will treat this expansion as i do with mods like Secret of Bonehill in BG1 in a Baldur's Gate Trilogy install. e.g... more adventure, more fun, longer game, and so i could keep the little amount of experience gained on my characters before beginning the sequel (hopefully, PoE 2). Some people make mega BG installs with more than 500 hours of game lenght (Big World Project). They have good reasons to do this. I want a long, varied saga. So, for me the TotSC model is the best to come with. Just hope they can blend the aditional content in the game so it don't stands out to much from the general picture. Not easy to do i guess. But even if not perfect regarding this, TotSC was pretty ok.

Yeah, i guess many people can't be bothered to think for themselves. I read last time a guy saying "This game is ugly, and they had so much money from KS. They must have just kept the most part for their own purse". 4M is huge for them as individuals, so even if it's to craft a game or build a spaceship, it's huge. Nonsense. That's all. And it's true that we don't know how much of the 500M for Destiny was spent in expensive advertisement or something else that is not really a developement-cost thing. From what i've found in various researches in the past, it seems that some AAA games spent more than 50% of their money in advertising, while others around 15% "only". Agree that knowing more about PoE would be interesting. And i guess it was to spare money for the developement that they chose Unity rather than developing their own engine. Want to know too, not to judge, just for the sake of the information. @Lightblade: Dunno about the philosophy behind "Kickstarter". But i guess some projects can't find another funding along the road than KS and have to rely entirely upon these "starting" founds.

I won't discuss about the DRM free stuff on Steam, because i'm not aware of it. All i know is that while i never had any problem with GOG, i had some which 2 of the 4 games i have on Steam. Plus, what's with your "Steam is better because it offers the choice to a publisher to put DRM if he want"? Hey, we're not publishers, but customers. The question of the poll is about whether people will take a GOG or a Steam version of PoE. Ok, so, there are more choices of other games on Steam, because, whoever is not afraid to be fooled can take the risk on Steam. But it is a whole different topic. There is another thing i don't understand. Why all people, including developpers, say that there will be a Steam version, and then a DRM free GOG version when Steam could afford the 2 of them? (Is it me who did not understand something? Possible) You claim that the archive we download on GOG uses the GOG installer. True. Well, dunno how to install a game without any installer. Is your point that GOG rebuilt the whole game in its own installer and force you tu use it? Well, it is just on the game archive and you don't have to run a third part software to do so, like Steam. It's true that GOG sells (or offers as a permanent gift) many old games for Win XP >>> Win 8 that were rebuilt to run well on these OS when they couldn't beforehand (try MAX with GOG version and without it and you will understand that the last Windows it supported was Win98), when "Steam don't care"? But, hey, other games are another topic, like i said. To me, Steam is messy. It's a whole ****ing pain in the ass to use, filled with TONS of advertisement EVERYWHERE, which i hate. Last time Steam even made my game crash because of advertisement pop-ups. Even with the offline mode, you have to run Steam (and i try to avoid running useless soft while playing because of the 3Gb limit of WinXP). Dunno about this DRM free legend Valve seems to have promoted according to you. I didn't know, and well, i don't care either, nor they do about their customers. Some more details. First, for me, GOG games are cheaper (Wasteland 2 was a good example, more than 15% off compared to the Steam price, few days after the game was shipped by Inxile). 2nd. If i buy a game which was designed to run on windows 7 and if the game won't run anymore in the whatever-version-of-Windows-of-2020, there is a good chance that GOG rework the game to run with the new windows version, throughout their installer. If you already purchased it, it's a free service. If you can't run the game, there is a true customer support and if there is no solution, GOG will compensate it (once more, if you purchase a game that don't run at all on Steam, they won't do anything and will compensate nothing: "Steam don't care"?). Already seen that. For me, GOG version is the only way to play PoE safely even in 2025. Another good reason, for me, to just ignore the "cool because over-adverstised with some fancy features and no support at all Steam" and go with GOG. Say you are not bothered to have a Steam version which may not run at all, or be definitely out-to-date some years away, because the Steam fancy features are convenient. True, they may be. Not that Steam is a GOG-like robb... retailer. For people who want to take Screenshots in game and see their FPS without Steam, just use FRAPS, like Sensuki do in his videos. For people who claim that Steam saved the game world because they helped games to find their market... LOL! Hum, sorry. Just pay some attention to the way the games are listed on Steam. First is the most AAA/popular, or very recent games. Last, on page 1867186764564, the indie ones. Very great games like "Legends of Eisenwald", brought on Steam to have some visibility are just fully ignored by Steam (well, after all it had only 83000 dollars on KS, not enough bankable hu?), and even very hard to find for people who already know about it because of the messy UI (for me at least). All is done, as far as the UI to highlight AAA games which are over-presented. No, Steam wants to have a large catalog and sell well. They "don't care" about saving the gaming world or helping little companies to be known. If there is something i did not understand and discussed in the bad way, let me know. I hate Steam, but not to the point that i can't recognize my own limits, or when i'm obviously wrong. Thx