Beast of Winter DLC Announcement

[Achilles]

Somebody lost track of his several user names eh?

Remember the good ole days when maintaining sock puppet accounts would get you banned?

[no1fanboy]

Why don’t you tell us?

 

 

SEE BELOW

 

Somebody lost track of his several user names eh?

 

 

 

Somebody lost track of his several user names eh?

Remember the good ole days when maintaining sock puppet accounts would get you banned?

 

[Achilles]

 

Why don’t you tell us?

SEE BELOW

Somebody lost track of his several user names eh?

 

Somebody lost track of his several user names eh?

Remember the good ole days when maintaining sock puppet accounts would get you banned?

Troll = someone who creates an account with “fanboy” in the name and uses it to bash a game and the developer.

 

Fanboy = someone who points out that the troll is a troll.

 

Edited July 15, 2018 by Achilles

[Verde]

Looking forward to it.

 

Oh wait, no higher level-cap, wery sad :[

To be honest I'd have been surprised if they introduced a higher level cap with all three DLCs. My guess is only one will have a higher level cap (probably the last one).

Why would you be surprised? I'd be surprised if they didn't considering you can be maxed prior to each DLC.

[JerekKruger]

Why would you be surprised? I'd be surprised if they didn't considering you can be maxed prior to each DLC.

 

Because of power creep. At level 20 we're capable of summoning dragons, calling down meteor swarms on our enemies and summoning avatars of the gods. If you add new levels with all three DLCs you're going to run into problems coming up with new abilities that feel more powerful.

 

I suspect Obsidian could come up with one more power level's worth of abilities, which is why I suspect only one of the three will see the level cap increase (probably the third). I guess they could increase the level cap by one each time which would avoid more than one power level increase, but my guess (and it's only a guess) is that we'll only see the level cap go up once.

[Gromnir]

Officially, the difference between a companion and a sidekick is that the latter isn't integrated into the companion relationship system. Otherwise, it's an arbitrary difference and a sidekick could theoretically have just as much content as a companion (just not as part of the relationship systems).

 

 

 

 

hogwash.  the the failed fig tier for ydwin were not simple to apply an arbitrary label to an existing sidekick which could, theoretically, reduce her development. utter nonsense. companion v. sidekick is not some kinda fixed technical definition.  companion v. sidekick distinction is as much a term o' art as it is a recognition o' an insular and discreet characteristic. use sidekick descriptor is, first and foremost, shorthand for developers to be explaining difference in development a joinable npc will receive. rather than need explain where new npc development fits on fuzzy ie spectrum o' baldur's gate 1 to ps:t, or some other wholly contrived measure, we got simple and relative clear notion o' what to expect from a new character.  similar to deadfire rekke or fassina development?  more along lines o' xoti and aloth?

 

assume no sidekick v. companion label existed.  assume there were no salient influence tracking mechanic.  given such, what woulda' been the obvious, most obvious difference 'tween characters such as pallegina and mirke? even without folks counting the actual number o' possible companion/sidekick interactions, a curious exercise performed for reals by a few curiously industrious deadfire fans, any who played deadfire other than solo woulda' had little difficulty seeing polar divisions 'tween joinable characters based on amount o' interaction possible. any argument as to whether serafen would belong in the more developed character or less developed character category? 'course not.  

 

sidekick is more than a technical distinction based 'pon lack o' a influence mechanic. go to a burger place and get a double-cheeseburger and then complain it gots almost two times as much fat and calories as a single?  the discerning burger grammarian, enraged by the lack o' menu specificity o' the in-n-out chain, makes a pilgrimage to the baldwin park location o' the iconic purveyor o' burgers and sets his in-n-out double-double ablaze outside the drive-through window in a protest (not)reminiscent o' those revolutionary-minded bostonians dumping tea in the harbor. huzzah. sure, the "double" might be read to simple refer to number of meat patties and cheese slices, and is various means by which caloric and fat content o' a double could actual be reduced compared to a regular cheeseburger. smaller bun. less sauce. leaner meat. etc. nevertheless, a typical customer, a reasonable customer ordering the double cheeseburger is gonna expect more than from a single, and with good reason. have burger maker play games with purchaser expectations is bad business. because the most value in such labels as sidekick and companion comes from being able to communicate to purchasers appropriate levels o' expectations, and recognizing how deadfire developers clear divided actual interaction opportunities different based 'pon sidekick v. companion distinction, it would be unreasonable to ascribe companion interaction mechanic applicability as the sole raison d'etre for label. 

 

if vatnir is described by developers as a sidekick, then is safe to assume you will not see development on par with deadfire companions. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

ps am gonna recommend always opting for "mustard-grilled" when ordering in-n-out burgers, with provisos that such an inclusion is unnecessary if one chooses "animal style." 

 

pps #1 hope for beast of winter: a fix for the freaking retrain feature. 

Edited July 16, 2018 by Gromnir

[neotemplar]

Am I getting the concept of entropy wrong or is it Obsidian?

 

So, there is a "God of entropy". Entropy is a measure of disorganisation, of possibility, in simple terms - measure of chaos inside a system. So, a god of entropy who wants to "end all things", to make everything still in absolute zero, is pretty much the opposite of entropy. He seems as strange as a god of war who dreams of ending all wars and getting eternal absolute peace. 

 

Shouldn't the god of entropy be the opposite, more like Joker, who wishes things to happen in the most chaotic and destructive way?

 

If I get the concept of entropy right, then Hylea with her "experience everything, invent new, change things" motto is way more entropic in nature then Rymrgand.

 

I mean, the state of the world desired by Rymrgand seems to be the state of ZERO entropy.

 

If we have a cup of coffee and a cup of milk sitting on a desk, the god of entropy should wish to mix them, to get the chaos of them mixing, not to freeze them both and sit and enjoy nothing happening. A god who wishes to stop every process in the universe is a god who is AGAINST entropy, isn't he?

 

I'm not willing to criticize, more to get the idea before DLC releases. Of course, there is always the ultimate answer "a god is beyond your comprehension"

[Verde]

 

Why would you be surprised? I'd be surprised if they didn't considering you can be maxed prior to each DLC.

Because of power creep. At level 20 we're capable of summoning dragons, calling down meteor swarms on our enemies and summoning avatars of the gods. If you add new levels with all three DLCs you're going to run into problems coming up with new abilities that feel more powerful.

 

I suspect Obsidian could come up with one more power level's worth of abilities, which is why I suspect only one of the three will see the level cap increase (probably the third). I guess they could increase the level cap by one each time which would avoid more than one power level increase, but my guess (and it's only a guess) is that we'll only see the level cap go up once.

Fair pt. Maybe the inclusion of a skill modification system. Similar to Empower - one or two additional levels where you can a select an ability to increase duration, damage, etc etc. Spitballing here...looking for some sort of addition. Like writing your own grimoire:p

[no1fanboy]

 

 

Why would you be surprised? I'd be surprised if they didn't considering you can be maxed prior to each DLC.

Because of power creep. At level 20 we're capable of summoning dragons, calling down meteor swarms on our enemies and summoning avatars of the gods. If you add new levels with all three DLCs you're going to run into problems coming up with new abilities that feel more powerful.

 

I suspect Obsidian could come up with one more power level's worth of abilities, which is why I suspect only one of the three will see the level cap increase (probably the third). I guess they could increase the level cap by one each time which would avoid more than one power level increase, but my guess (and it's only a guess) is that we'll only see the level cap go up once.

Fair pt. Maybe the inclusion of a skill modification system. Similar to Empower - one or two additional levels where you can a select an ability to increase duration, damage, etc etc. Spitballing here...looking for some sort of addition. Like writing your own grimoire:p

 

Them not raising the level cap is just a huge nerf to single class. Like an enormous nerf to single class.

 

I have had reservations about rolling multis because by the time they hit high levels there wont be much game left to enjoy your high level abilities.

 

If OBS release all three expansions without raising the level cap then that gets rid of that concern. You can get to multiclass high levels and have plenty of time to enjoy them.

[Vitalis]

Am I getting the concept of entropy wrong or is it Obsidian?

 

So, there is a "God of entropy". Entropy is a measure of disorganisation, of possibility, in simple terms - measure of chaos inside a system. So, a god of entropy who wants to "end all things", to make everything still in absolute zero, is pretty much the opposite of entropy. He seems as strange as a god of war who dreams of ending all wars and getting eternal absolute peace.

 

Shouldn't the god of entropy be the opposite, more like Joker, who wishes things to happen in the most chaotic and destructive way?

 

If I get the concept of entropy right, then Hylea with her "experience everything, invent new, change things" motto is way more entropic in nature then Rymrgand.

 

I mean, the state of the world desired by Rymrgand seems to be the state of ZERO entropy.

 

If we have a cup of coffee and a cup of milk sitting on a desk, the god of entropy should wish to mix them, to get the chaos of them mixing, not to freeze them both and sit and enjoy nothing happening. A god who wishes to stop every process in the universe is a god who is AGAINST entropy, isn't he?

 

I'm not willing to criticize, more to get the idea before DLC releases. Of course, there is always the ultimate answer "a god is beyond your comprehension"

There's only one definition of Entropy that may fit Rymrgand:

 

In cosmology the hypothetical tendency for the universe to attain a state of maximum homogeneity in which all matter is a uniform temperature (heat death).

[Gromnir]

Am I getting the concept of entropy wrong or is it Obsidian?

 

So, there is a "God of entropy". Entropy is a measure of disorganisation, of possibility, in simple terms - measure of chaos inside a system. So, a god of entropy who wants to "end all things", to make everything still in absolute zero, is pretty much the opposite of entropy. He seems as strange as a god of war who dreams of ending all wars and getting eternal absolute peace. 

 

Shouldn't the god of entropy be the opposite, more like Joker, who wishes things to happen in the most chaotic and destructive way?

 

If I get the concept of entropy right, then Hylea with her "experience everything, invent new, change things" motto is way more entropic in nature then Rymrgand.

 

I mean, the state of the world desired by Rymrgand seems to be the state of ZERO entropy.

 

If we have a cup of coffee and a cup of milk sitting on a desk, the god of entropy should wish to mix them, to get the chaos of them mixing, not to freeze them both and sit and enjoy nothing happening. A god who wishes to stop every process in the universe is a god who is AGAINST entropy, isn't he?

 

I'm not willing to criticize, more to get the idea before DLC releases. Of course, there is always the ultimate answer "a god is beyond your comprehension"

can't believe am gonna respond.

 

*sigh*

 

am thinking is kinda obvious how obsidian is using entropy.  the ultimate heat death o' the universe is gonna be the end result o' entropy... possibly.   rymrgand isn't embodying the chaos one thinks o' when entropy is mentioned, but rather the inevitability o' collapse and decay.  the god o' entropy need not stir himself to inject chaos into a system as the entropy is inevitable. fundamental. given a long enough timeline, cold and dark and inert will be all that remains to bear witness not only to the greatest works o' man but to the brightest stars in the night sky. 

 

the joker claims to be an agent o' chaos.  liar.  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BavcnnmOsjg

 

the joker always has a plan. the very method by which joker seeks to adds chaos to a system is in itself doomed. am suspecting rymrgand would laughs at the joker's efforts.

 

a thousand years?  ten thousand? the ruins o' karnak will eventual be swallowed by sand or ground by time into dust.  so it goes for all. 

 

HA! Good Fun! 

[Sabri]

 

Am I getting the concept of entropy wrong or is it Obsidian?

 

So, there is a "God of entropy". Entropy is a measure of disorganisation, of possibility, in simple terms - measure of chaos inside a system. So, a god of entropy who wants to "end all things", to make everything still in absolute zero, is pretty much the opposite of entropy. He seems as strange as a god of war who dreams of ending all wars and getting eternal absolute peace.

 

Shouldn't the god of entropy be the opposite, more like Joker, who wishes things to happen in the most chaotic and destructive way?

 

If I get the concept of entropy right, then Hylea with her "experience everything, invent new, change things" motto is way more entropic in nature then Rymrgand.

 

I mean, the state of the world desired by Rymrgand seems to be the state of ZERO entropy.

 

If we have a cup of coffee and a cup of milk sitting on a desk, the god of entropy should wish to mix them, to get the chaos of them mixing, not to freeze them both and sit and enjoy nothing happening. A god who wishes to stop every process in the universe is a god who is AGAINST entropy, isn't he?

 

I'm not willing to criticize, more to get the idea before DLC releases. Of course, there is always the ultimate answer "a god is beyond your comprehension"

There's only one definition of Entropy that may fit Rymrgand:

 

In cosmology the hypothetical tendency for the universe to attain a state of maximum homogeneity in which all matter is a uniform temperature (heat death).

 

 

Yeah its an extension of the mixing a cup of coffee and cup of milk. Essentially, if you mixed all the cups of coffee, milk and everything in the universe together you'd wind up with everything at near absolute zero (I think 3 or 4 Kelvin or something) and not enough energy concentrated anywhere for anything to happen (given entropy ensures energy always flows 'downhill' so to speak overall). So... It'd be cold and nothing would happen (I've always found it odd how people said entropy was a measure of 'disorder', it seems pretty ordered/about equilibrium to me).

 

So Rymrgand seems to be taking this cold/frozen/nothing happens idea and running with it, which is a slightly... limited perspective perhaps, but not really incorrect, and does seem to be the concept associated with 'entropy' that is most used in literature. I assume because the heat death of the universe is both a relatively intuitive concept and one that makes for easy and interesting metaphors .

Edited July 16, 2018 by Sabri

[Saito Hikari]

Them not raising the level cap is just a huge nerf to single class. Like an enormous nerf to single class.

 

 

 

 

 

I have had reservations about rolling multis because by the time they hit high levels there wont be much game left to enjoy your high level abilities.

 

If OBS release all three expansions without raising the level cap then that gets rid of that concern. You can get to multiclass high levels and have plenty of time to enjoy them.

 

 

Yeah, this is literally the only reason I've stuck with single class Cipher instead of muticlassing Cipher/Ranger so far. If this happens, then I'd hope that for the next game, OBS just makes multiclassing mandatory.

 

Even now, it feels like trying to balance multiclassing VS singleclassing is a complete nightmare. Buff an earlier level skill too much for the sake of single class players, and it breaks all the multiclass combinations utilizing it.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Saito Hikari

[no1fanboy]

 

Them not raising the level cap is just a huge nerf to single class. Like an enormous nerf to single class.

 

 

 

 

 

I have had reservations about rolling multis because by the time they hit high levels there wont be much game left to enjoy your high level abilities.

 

If OBS release all three expansions without raising the level cap then that gets rid of that concern. You can get to multiclass high levels and have plenty of time to enjoy them.

 

 

Yeah, this is literally the only reason I've stuck with single class Cipher instead of muticlassing Cipher/Ranger so far. If this happens, then I'd hope that for the next game, OBS just makes multiclassing mandatory.

 

Even now, it feels like trying to balance multiclassing VS singleclassing is a complete nightmare. Buff an earlier level skill too much for the sake of single class players, and it breaks all the multiclass combinations utilizing it.

 

Excactly

 

You can even use a mod to get rid of the level cap so multis can get level 8-9 abilities aswell

 

R.I.P = Single class

[no1fanboy]

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2018 by no1fanboy

[White.Kelevra]

I can star Beast of Winter after complete the main story?

[Fardragon]

Some thoughts on Rymrgand:

 

If Rymrgand is just as fake as the other gods, then the inevitablity of universal heat death may also be a lie.

 

however...

 

There are more gods than there are alcoves in the Engwithan god-making machine...

[no1fanboy]

oooooooooooookkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

[Verde]

Well a multi Cipher is typically much stronger than a single Cipher so not sure what you mean I mean who plays a single Beguiler or Soulblade? Ascendant maybe, but even it multis really well.

[Sceptenar]

I can star Beast of Winter after complete the main story?

 

Not likely.

[JerekKruger]

Am I getting the concept of entropy wrong or is it Obsidian?

 

So, there is a "God of entropy". Entropy is a measure of disorganisation, of possibility, in simple terms - measure of chaos inside a system. So, a god of entropy who wants to "end all things", to make everything still in absolute zero, is pretty much the opposite of entropy. He seems as strange as a god of war who dreams of ending all wars and getting eternal absolute peace. 

 

Shouldn't the god of entropy be the opposite, more like Joker, who wishes things to happen in the most chaotic and destructive way?

 

If I get the concept of entropy right, then Hylea with her "experience everything, invent new, change things" motto is way more entropic in nature then Rymrgand.

 

I mean, the state of the world desired by Rymrgand seems to be the state of ZERO entropy.

 

If we have a cup of coffee and a cup of milk sitting on a desk, the god of entropy should wish to mix them, to get the chaos of them mixing, not to freeze them both and sit and enjoy nothing happening. A god who wishes to stop every process in the universe is a god who is AGAINST entropy, isn't he?

 

I'm not willing to criticize, more to get the idea before DLC releases. Of course, there is always the ultimate answer "a god is beyond your comprehension"

 

The link between thermodynamic entropy and disorder is kinda tricky (or at least I find it so). As I understand it (which is probably quite poorly), we can measure certain macroscopic properties of a thermodynamic system* like it's temperature, pressure, volume etc., and these tell us something about the microstate of that system (the exact locations and velocities of all individual particles making it up), but obviously not everything. Entropy is a measure of how much we don't know know the microstate of a system, given the knowledge of it's macrostate, so the higher the entropy of a system, the more information we'd need to fully understand it's microstate. It's for this reason it's often described as a measure of disorder of the system, and it turns out that the highest entropy state of the Universe would be what's often described as its heat death: a state where all matter is at the same temperature (though this isn't an entirely accurate description, it's close enough).

 

It's clear (to me at least) that this is the idea Obsidian had in mind when talking about soul entropy. In this case a low entropy "soul system" would be one including lots of concentrated strong souls, and a high entropy system would be one with lots of what obsidian called soul motes (little bits of souls that have come loose during the natural process of the wheel).

 

It seems that Rymrgand is the god of all entropy in Eora (thermodynamic, soul and, presumably, information entropy). So he'd like to see them all maximised.

 

Hope this was at least somewhat helpful.

 

*Think about a sealed container of air.

[neotemplar]

Yeah, huge thanks to all the repliers, I did some additional reading and now get the idea.

Basically, R.'s goal is a case of thermodynamic entropy, where temperature is replaced by "soul power level", while informational kind of entropy is secondary and not so important for the plot.

 

Get it now!

[Lótus Haddock]

I think would be cool a Soul Crest system as "new level" to single class, like the mutations of Witcher 3, for example, a single class Paladin would level up his Zeal Crest and receive strong passives and high resource pool, while the multi class go up to 9 level abilities.

 

And by fictional lore,  two diferents crests can't be in the same soul... A good explanation to future level cap increase and a way to strength single class.

[grasida]

Them not raising the level cap is just a huge nerf to single class. Like an enormous nerf to single class.

 

I have had reservations about rolling multis because by the time they hit high levels there wont be much game left to enjoy your high level abilities.

 

If OBS release all three expansions without raising the level cap then that gets rid of that concern. You can get to multiclass high levels and have plenty of time to enjoy them.

There is nothing inherent about spending more time at the level cap that benefits multiclasses. All you’re saying is that you think multiclasses have more to gain from high levels than single classes. That might reasonable for some multiclass combos, but certainly not for all characters. Wizards, priests and druids get their level 9 spells very late as well, and those are often considered to be top-tier. Similarly, martial classes get build making abilities at power levels 8 and 9 as well (twinned shots, heart of fury, gambit), so spending more time at the level cap also lets those play with their strongest tools for longer. And mostly the best multiclass characters get all the stuff that makes them so powerful very early — that’s a core part of the strength of multiclassing!

 

However you cut it, there’s no way adding content without increasing the level cap is a “nerf to single class characters” any more than it’s a buff to single class casters.

[Verde]

The whole purpose of rolling a Priest (besides RP) are their high level spells.