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So after waiting for 1.1 I started up a new game. According to notes, they changed how reputation values were calculated. However, after doing the event at Ilonet's Fork, recruiting Xoti, and gaining the Dawnstar Blessing at Port Maje, I am at max positive reputation (2 minor, 1 moderate, 1 major positive changes in total I think). Is it supposed to rise that fast, or do some factions have different point thresholds?

I have seen many posts praising new factions and there is a lot to like in there. All four of them are well developed, with detailed backstory and with multiple representations throughout the Deadfire. Each of them have a companion to represent them and have a lengthy chain of well designed quests. How Deadfire handles its factions is in many ways similar to New Vegas. The political scene of Deadifire makes up the majority of games content and choosing with whom the player will ally with (if at all) is probably the most important choice in the game. Who will become your antagonist depends on that choice. That’s right, while Eothas might be the one who starts you on your journey, it is the fight before you confront him, which is the true resolution of this games conflict. It is a big deal – you face a major faction representative, with whom, most likely, you interacted for the big chunk of the game and you will have to kill one of the companions who traveled with you for tenths of hours (or from what I understand: you should have to. In my personal playthrough I managed to not kill said companion by now talking to her after making my faction choice, From what I have heard others a just as easy to exploit). Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel nearly as impactful as I am making it sound like and, as I believe, it should be. While there is a pretty elaborate combat sequence before reaching Ukaizo it isn’t quite the same as charging the enemy in the battle for the Hoover Dam in New Vegas. The final confrontation with the faction leader feels more like an afterthought, rather than a climax – perhaps it might be redeemed with a better difficulty, but personally I feel there is just not enough buildup to really allow this moment to properly pay off. However, I think that the weakness of this finale comes from fairly inconsequential faction and relationship system. In New Vegas the conflict between factions was active and present everywhere you went and you were part of it. The choices you made throughout the game – both following certain quest paths and by making mechanical choices (like killing members of certain faction) influenced your standing with various faction in both story and gameplay. This lead to said faction responding: either granting you access to their hideouts and helping you in wilderness or becoming unfriendly and later hostile and even sending bounties after you. Choices you made throughout the game actively allied you with certain faction, making the finale the result of your entire journey, rather than a single choice. While Deadfire has means to achieve a similar effect, it never utilizes it. While many of the quests will force you to favour one faction over the other, I didn’t notice my choices being reflected in the faction system. The following screenshot is taken from my “on the crossroads save” – all of the sidecontent completed with only the final choice and Ukaizo left to complete. How is my standing with all of the factions so high, in spite of my actions hurting some of them? I made a lot of choices against Royal Deadfire Company and yet, none of it is reflected. Only Principi ended up at “mixed” though outside one or two token reactivity in conversations it had little effect on my interactions with them. Even better, here is my standing after making the choice: allying with Valians, blowing up RDC’s powder reserves and lying to the Queen (while RDC might have been unaware of my actions, queen wasn’t). Nothing has changed. While hand crafted content might not support such flexibility, a worldmap is a perfect space to react to your choices – unsatisfied faction trying to raid your ship, you raiding faction ships affecting their reputation, friendly ships coming to your aid, ambushes in the city etc. Unfortunately, world map is static and shares no connection with the rest of the game, even though many ship claim to represent one of the four factions. Similar problems can be seen among companions – before and after the choice: I didn’t go out of my way to appease all of my companions. And yet as a character who didn’t respect the Gods, was fairly unsupportive to RTC and vocally supportive of Valians, trade and animancy I didn’t step on anyones toes. As a matter of fact, I was pairing companions with opposite worldviews (Pallegina+Maia, Takehu+Maia, Serafim+Pallegina) and yet I didn’t see any disagreement there. Your choice of faction should have repercussions earlier in the game and get reactions from both companions and factions. The final choice should be a natural extension of the previous adventure and not artificial “which ending slide do you prefer” choice, it is right now. It is probably unrealistic as expansions are planned already, but what I would much like to see is an expansion which would focus on core mechanics of the game. I feel that the way faction and companions interact with each other is in need of a major overhaul to make the story that is already in the game effective.

I was going to pick Rauatai, but they wanted me to kill the queen. So I said no thanks, and they attacked me. Which I expected to happen. So I beat the boss and ran to the place to tell the queen, and there was no dialogue about it. You'd think there would be? Is this a bug, or did obsidian not think about it?

I hate it. Because I'm stuck. I thought the patch might fix this, but nooooo. I have good reputation with everyone. Ally with Dommenel (tricked their goons in Dryford village, let that dealer get killed) and Dozens (did get that armor back and accepted to fetch some weapons) With Crucible Knights I have a Hero reputation (did the quest with making those golem-things, and halped the guard in Heritige Hill and 1-2 minor things) I want ot ally myself with the Crucible Knight, but I got no option to talk to with their leader. I mena...really. Why the hell does a fetch quest signify my alliance? It does not. Can I get out of this? I cna't stand the Domenels and I don't want to ally with the Dozens either. If the only solution is to start a new game, I might as well just uninstall the game while cursing like a drunk sailor!

For continued inspiration along the lines of threads like "Design a God for PE", "Design a Monster", "magic weapons in PE" and "creatures in PE" I thought it might be fun to share our ideas for a faction or organisation in PE. Guidelines: Mention the Name of the organisation, some of its history, its goals and practises, and how the player might encounter the faction ingame. I'll start. ------------- The Skywatchers The Skywatchers is a cult of monks seeking portends and omens in the clouds. Many years ago, let's say lost in time, a monk of great wisdom and power was meditating in the clouded mountains. It was during this trance that he noticed a story transpire in the clouds. A great and ancient battle was slowly wafting past him. Naturally he mentioned this when next he came down for resupply. And naturally he was ridiculed and hounded for it. Returning to his perch he tried to see what he saw before. But nothing came. Rather than dismiss it as a moment of madness, he kept at it, until eventually in trance, he saw another story A knight galloping across a field of flames. It was a different story, out of another time. Over time, he began to attune his senses to the clouds And when eventually he came down, he declared "Tomorrow this kingdom will end" suffice it to say that he was right, and he was ignored no more. It was from then that the cult of Skywatchers was founded, they are found on high purchases and in open fields, watching. Most of the time nothing much happens. They might chuckle at an amusing cloud story or shed a tear at an ancient drama being displayed in the sky. but occasionally, rarely, the clouds are prophetic, and the sky-watchers move. They meet annually and freely share what they've learned, and record it vigorously. Every tale, every event, and every portend. And they then seek out those whom they believe it applies to, in order to inform them. Ever esoteric, they're mostly left alone and ignored. A farmer in a field will be wise enough to plow around the madman lying in his field staring at the sky, day and night, and in the rain, and even on a mostly cloudless day. Some of the Skywatchers find it more convenient to hermitage(?) themselves. One of the wealthier students has built an observatory and imaging implements to record the shapes. Mostly the Skywatchers are valued for their contributions outside their more bizarre habits; Expert meteorologists, bird and insect experts, astronomers, and story tellers, the Skywatchers have plenty of time to develop these other skills for which they are known. And while they are useless most of the time, they contribute enough to maintain their standing as eccentric, but learned men. The player might encounter a Skywatcher out on his travels, looking up and mumbling incoherently "I already know that one", may consult one for information about a local insect plague or what lovely weather it is, or a crackpot might come at the player and tell him He's the long lost heir to lord mcfuddlysomethingskinstonderpson. Colourful characters, the most interesting time to encounter them is on their annual meeting, in a beautiful open air observatory built by one of the wealthier members, where they have debates on varying topics and, as the evening wears on and they get drunk, the unfairness of being such unappreciated geniuses.

Faction Wars Can you become your own Faction (Suikoden-styled)? Could it be possible to "place objects" in P:E? Kind of how Warcraft 3 begun to do (see the mesh before placing etc. etc.). Would you then order craftsmen to build your fortress in your own way at whatever location marked by a "Flag" item that you placed. Hire craftsmen to build it, and not entirely dependent on what class you play, but rather what type of craftsmen they are. A "Devil's Forge" might not build the "Angelic Haven of Love" to say that much. I haven't gotten that far in BG2 but I understand you get a stronghold based on what class you play. So should a stronghold be based of off the world or of off the class you pick? Is the Stronghold its own location or a location in a location? Faction: Could you become your own village, kingdom? Could a "texture" mesh become an overlay correspondingly to textures around it as the "stronghold" grows? Is the place in the world a good trade route? Maybe a bit "Strategy game too much". Could you progress the game with a hut instead, and not being a faction at all, but more of a "mysterious savior"? Would it impact the story? Are men fighting men or are men fighting Gods? Both? Does the essence of the soul (ethereal or not) fight as well in smaller schemes and larger schemes? Thoughts?