The story is awful - who does what?!

[Tencatta 5]

On 2/25/2020 at 6:28 AM, Wormerine said:

What I would like to seperate is quality of writing vs. over-arching narrative. 

I would agree that "story" of the Deadfire isn't very good - but writing - actual work done by writers under constrains and directions given to them is pretty darn good. You can't blame writers on lack of development, or engaging direction, because it is not something that game supports structually. 

Deadfire presents the lore and setting in an excellent way - it explores factions role and impact on the Deadfire, explores further God's and their relations with mortals. You get to know and understand Huana culture and history in an engaging way. 

But none of it is "story". That's I think, the impact of Josh being directly involved in molding overarching narrative. He is a great lead, with a special appreciation for history and culture, which made PoE world detailed, believable and engaging. But Deadfire is a history/culture lesson, rather then a story or adventure. 

This last sentence sums it up perfectly. I felt like I was playing some history book trying to make a historical point, but I didn't want a lesson, I wanted to play a role-playing game. 

[Boeroer 15,226]

I think that's not mutually exclusive. The detailed lore and nod to several historical events like colonisation etc. can be very interesting as well and you still can have a great overarching narrative. Detailed "history" and lore cam make a game feel more deep and alive. I think despite a lot of old RPG cliché like dwarves, elves, wizards etc. the world building of PoE/Deadfire is great.

With BoW combining those two things worked a lot better. But maybe it was easier because it's shorter and more encapsulated. 

Maybe it would be a lot easier to do a game that consists of several smaller but nicely told "campaigns" and a very simple overarching "narrative" that just connects them.  

[Wormerine 4,346]

11 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

I think that's not mutually exclusive.
(...)
Maybe it would be a lot easier to do a game that consists of several smaller but nicely told "campaigns" and a very simple overarching "narrative" that just connects them.  

Oh absolutely not, and Josh sensibilities made PoE what it is, as why I like it. Deadfire, I think, also responds to PoE1 issue, where some major background information are just put in the books. There is a balance between those two. I have written before on how a protagonist tied to Deadfire conflict personally, might be a better vessel for this journey then importing the Watcher.

As to “shorter campaigns” - that’s pretty much Bioware approach. Still, more coherent and interconnected Obsidian way worked before - New Vegas being a shining example of excellence and in many ways Deadfire draws from it. PoE2, however, feels disjointed and artificial in a way New Vegas didn’t