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Folks, I just read some interesting twitter remarks via pcgamer.com made by Brandon Adler. In particular the remark "I don't think it was worthwhile developing for Linux,". I (and probably many others) feel it was not only a slap in the face for those like myself who purchased Pillars of Eternity to play ON LINUX. So you can argue the 1.5% but if I didn't happen I would not have supported the project since so many are offering the Linux. Not only is that kind of remark offensive to some, and potentially destructive to those were are considering making games compatible with Linux, it is short sighted. Linux gained recognition (including with grade school students who are getting sick of stability issues, vulnerabilites, bad interface changes), for more stability, lower cost and security. With the Windows 10 reports of spyware integrated into it's core to send virtually all user data to Microsoft servers (and US government agencies) the privacy concerns will escalate rapidly. Many gamers don't like the idea of sharing their personal data with government agencies. Apple computers often have inferior gaming hardware compared to custom build PC's in addition to being very expensive for what you get (Linux in fact can do more than MacOS in the right hands) and so that would make Linux (Debian based particularly) the only viable alternative for gamers wanting to use top hardware. who want to preserve their basic privacy, and there will likely be a backlash in Europe and Asia as well as the meaning of this news starts to hit home. As someone who was once a fan (not as much as used to be thanks to Mr. Adler), I would suggest that your staff be more careful with their remarks and remember that being ahead of the curve is a vital part of business, Microsoft has repeatedly failed to learn in the Web browser market ("Edge" is trying to be Firefox), the mobile phone industry (they are basically out of that market) and their latest PR/interface flops with Windows 8 and I expect Windows 10 as well. (People actually paid me to get Windows 8 to act like Windows 7/XP..come on...) Linux has been consider by more and more gaming groups to be a legitimate investment and it's showing. I won't mention the numerous and growing competitors doing Linux gaming development, but Steam would be one big one. Hopefully this message gets through to someone upstairs. I'm not for censorship, but I do think responsible conduct with remark in the public is every employee's reponsibility for the good the company as well as their own individual reputation. Jonah A. Libster Kickstarter Support Previous Obsidian fan

I am trying to install Pillars of Eternity from the CD I purchased specifically from the UK. I have limited bandwidth and don't want to spend days downloading the game. I tried this and followed it to the letter, but it went into downloading mode anyway It was my impression that Steam is supposed to do the DRM for their games and not become a major stumbling block to game play. I tried getting Technical Support from Steam, but they just send me to this forum.

Hey all! Today we have a little something different for you. Not only do we have some new screenshots for you, we have also taken some of your more fun questions from our questions thread last month and have some answers for you! First up, the Q&A! Question: Are there otters in the game? Brandon Adler: No, but we are thinking about adding wereotters as a druid form in the expansion. Question: What is Tim Cain's best recipe? Tim Cain: I'm going to go with the Darkest Rauatai Cookies. Those puppies are so dark and so rich. I defy you to eat more than three at one sitting. And if you sing the song "The Final Countdown" while replacing the lyrics with "The Darkest Cookie", it might be the best culinary experience that you ever have. Question: How long exactly is a dragon's flight from Lac Dinneshere? Eric Fenstermaker: Way longer than it should be since they eliminated all the direct flights to cut costs and now you have to do a 5-hour layover in Cormyr. Question: How many pennies has Adam Brennecke surrendered to Josh Sawyer over the course of the project? Adam Brennecke: I have not surrendered a single penny of broken promises from my pocket to Josh over the course of this project. Over the years working with Josh, I've learned my lesson the hard way not to guarantee anything when it comes to discussing things with him. He will make me pay for it, one penny at a time. Question: How many active cats are in the game? Josh Sawyer: If you don't include stelgaer and druids in spirtshift form, there are four pet cats you can get. However, for me there is only one choice: The Cutest Cat. (Image attached). That's it for the Q&A, but wait, we promised screenshots and we have screenshots for you! Behold, the glory that is. The glory that was. And the glory that always will be: Big Head Mode!

Hey, everyone! We are now 12 days away from launch! Things are getting more and more exciting every day. To keep with that excitement, here is some more Engwithan lore and a couple of more screenshots! Engwithan buildings can be found across most of the Eastern Reach, with a heavy concentration in the Dyrwood and Eir Glanfath. Misunderstandings over the sacred importance of these ruins to the Glanfathans resulted in the Broken Store War early in the Dyrwood's colonial history. Despite treaties between the Dyrwood and Eir Glanfath, fortune-seekers continue to plunder Engwithan ruins. Many of them often pay with their lives. The Fangs, a particularly zealous group of Glanfathans, ruthlessly pursue those who overstep the boundaries of the treaty.

Hey all, with now 13 days left until Pillars of Eternity launches, we have two new screenshots for you! Enjoy the awesomeness of the Engwithan empire! Little is known about the long-lost Engwithan empire or its culture. Called the "Builders" by the tribes of Eir Glanfath, the Engwithans are believed to have created strange, elaborate structures over decades using shaped pillars of living adra to support the stone. Their language is barely understood by even the most well-read scholars, leaving many details of their society lost to the ages and hopelessly mired in rumor, folklore, and blatant lies.

Today's batch of screenshots is going to let you take a look at the various dragonkind in Pillars of Eternity. Wurms: Young dragons begin as wurms, though most never develop beyond that stage. Wurms are clever and sly, if not actually intelligent. To develop into a drake (and, eventually, a dragon), a wurm must have ample space and ample resources (food). They will not develop if they live near drakes and dragons - they must seek out a habitat that has not already been claimed by a larger counterpart. Since the chances of further development are low, most wurms will band together in covens for survival. They are bold and highly aggressive - both competition for food among other coven members and claiming territory for further development demand this. Drakes: Drakes are the intermediary form between wurms and adult dragons. While wurms have the intelligence of a cat (i.e., mostly basic instincts) and dragons are often much more intelligent than humans, drakes are in-between, possessing cunning rivaling primates. They are clearly not dumb beasts and their eyes/faces should reflect their higher intelligence. In contrast to wurms, drakes have longer torsos with a broader chest. Their most prominent fangs are longer, as are the claws on their forelegs. Their other features tend to vary by subtype. During this period of a drake's life, they are starting the first stages of becoming "real" dragons. This means their colors start shifting, both overall and more strongly in patches. Some drakes have solid coats of scales, but others have multi-toned or even mottled coats. Because they are relatively young, their scales grow and heal fast, so they don't show much wear and tear (unlike dragons). The variation in their heads, mouths, spines, bumps, wings, all reflect the drake's home climate. A drake from the swamp may be shades of green, brown, and black with yellow eyes, nictitating membranes, and a long, flat snout featuring raised nostrils. A drake that spends most of its time in the sky may be blue and white with scales that seem feather-like, a slender body, and wings that assist with sustained gliding. A drake who lives underground may have earth-tone scales, wide eyes, a compact body, small wings, and powerful forelegs with oversized claws. While all drakes can breathe fire, many also have developed limited alternative breath attacks - lightning, acid, steam, etc. This can also be reflected somewhere on their bodies. Drakes have developed from wurms but have not reached (and may never reach) the dragon stage. They aggressively defend their territory and, when needed, seek out more. Their coloration reflects the territory they have claimed, and they are most hostile with other drakes, their territorial rivals. Dragons: Dragons have reached the mature stage of their lifecycle. Like drakes, they have adapted to fit in their environment, but even more extensively. Their coloration, ornamentation, and (to a limited degree) body structure will reflect their chosen territory, as will some of their attacks and defenses. Because they have already claimed territory and rarely face a threat from other dragons or drakes, they are more conservative in nature and will not seek unnecessary conflict. Only dragons can mate. This is generally the only occasion that will cause a dragon to leave its lands or seek out others of its kind. Upon reaching the dragon stage, these creatures will assume a sex. However, if surrounding populations are too heavily skewed one way or the other, individual dragons can change their sex. As creatures that reach this stage are so rare, this ability is critical to the survival of the species. They are more intelligent than most other sentient beings, but their solitary nature prevents them from meaningfully interacting with others. That's it for the screens for now. 21 days away from launch!

Today we have some information and screen shots on Raedric's Hold for you all! The Raedric line has held dominion over the lands surrounding Gilded Vale for generations, and its formidable keep stands as a bulwark against the dangers of the Dyrwood. Despite their lofty position as Aedyran nobility, the Raedrics joined in the fighting for independence from the Empire during the War of Defiance. In the wake of the Dyrwood's victory, they retained both their stronghold and their stature. Raedric VII now carries the title of Thayn, pledged to Gilded Vale's defense against all threats - both physical and spiritual in nature. Raedric's iron-fisted rule has seen his people through many hardships, but in the aftermath of the Saint's War, new threats have arisen - threats Raedric has sworn to scour from his lands and reclaim some of Gilded Vale's past glory. At his invitation, new settlers have braved long distances to settle within Gilded Vale, tempted by the offer of land and opportunity. Full resolution links to the pics below: http://media.obsidian.net/eternity/media/screenshots/20150227/poe-raedrics-dungeon.png http://media.obsidian.net/eternity/media/screenshots/20150227/poe-raedrics-hold.png http://media.obsidian.net/eternity/media/screenshots/20150227/poe-raedrics-throne.png

I have a concern about the physical media being planned for this game. If the master disk is based on the bits from the initial release of the game, then it is likely to need patching. However, if Obsidian waits until there is a generally stable version (say after 3 months), then the media should be good to use without requiring any network access. What is your preference?

The Media section on the official Eternity's web site is woefully outdated. For instance, there is no Engwithan ruins, Dyrford, godlike portraits, druid forms nor undead stages, if I take examples only from the last couple of updates. Is there a particular reason, why concept art and screen shots from updates do not make it there?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23273448 The BBC (may peace be upon them) frontline with this report this morning. If I ate cornflakes I would be spitting them. The implication o the writers seems to be the Something Must Be Done, probably by government, to let low income families buy in the Southeast of England. My own view is that there are quite correct, house prices are too high in the Southeast of England. My answer is that people in the Home Counties have to abandon their snobbish disdain for moving North. As do businesses. However, my over-arching interest was piqued in the extent to which think tank research can move the media. Is this true in other members' countries?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/25/sunil_tripathi_reddit_suspect_dead/ The article linked points the finger at crowdsourcing as the guilty party for the accusation. I think that is ludicrous. All the 'crowd' did was review material. The failure lies squarely with media sources using the output as newsworthy fact. ~~ Full disclosure, I am a fan of 'old' journalism conducted by professionals in a 1in24hr atmosphere. The news the public needs in order to be informed and engaged in the democratic system is (I believe) on this pattern. A rolling blanket of sensation 24hr 'news' is just noise. It is worse than no news.

I'm doing an email interview with Josh (I think, although others may answer my questions if they're more appropriate) for the Australian website Cybergamer (which has a European sister site). My interview will try to avoid any of the questions that interviews/articles have asked already and things that the devs have answered on the Kickstarter Q&A, the forums or their personal sites (Sawyer's Formspring etc). The planned interview will be split into three sections (Personal, Design, Mechanics). I will ask very specific design and mechanics questions to try and generate better / more informative answers. I think I have a bit of room for an extra design or mechanical question or two, so if there's anything you want to know that fits the bill of the interview then feel free to post your question here and if I like it I'll try and fit it in. I expect that I should get a reply tomorrow, if so the article should go up in 36 hours or so. General topics I've already got covered

Reposting (and rephrasing) something I posted elsewhere: Please, hear me, Obsidian! You need publicity, lots and lots of publicity! I know people who'd drop $5 just because they liked the pitch! Hell, I donated $25 to an 8 year old's card game Kickstarter because I thought it was adorable! Look, what I'm trying to say is that even people who are uninterested might appreciate a good show, and donate based on that. Right now, you want to sell the game, so let's start out with something universal, so let's start out with artwork. Let's see the lay of the land. Let's see tech levels, differing cultures, that kind of thing. I've seen people refrain from donating because all they see is a 'generic fantasy world', and not just on Something Awful either. If you can show people the intricacies of the world, or maybe a few good costumes and possible player character concepts, you'll have donators coming in droves, IN FREAKIN' DROVES. I heard a culinary saying once- 'the first bite is with the eye', and I think the same principle applies here! Or maybe let us have a listen to the music. Hell, get Chris Avellone, Tim Cain and Feargus Urqan'tspellhislastname to do a barbershop quartet with you or something at the $2 million mark; God willing, it goes viral. Seriously, you can't afford to lose momentum now! EDIT: Seriously, you guys are Obsidian-goddamn-Entertainment. All you have to do is bill yourselves as 'We're the anti-Bioware!' and you've got an audience right there.