Bard's Tale IV and flop of 3 abilities per character

[Melusina]

Bard's Tale is going to be released September 18th and it turns out it may have three or five abilities per character including regular attack. Yes, you heard me right. two special abilities and one attack ability.

 

I can see this being a flop. Buy it now on dev page or wait for fast and furious discount?

[Melusina]

Some people have played beta and on dev forums there was a outrage about this.

It also seems devs didn't even acknowledge the problem, but I'm not sure.

Edited July 18, 2018 by Melusina

[Humanoid]

I wish PoE only had three abilities per character.

[marelooke]

Doesn't seem like it:

 

Early review

 

"Each archetype also contains a different set of skill trees, with a variety of different skills to experiment with."

 

I think you misunderstood some info, from the video below it seems you start with 3 abilities:

 

 

The UI in the demo doesn't seem to leave any room for more than three skills though. Hasn't really bothered me so far but then again, it's only a small part of the early game.

[Dorftek]

Well 3 abilities per class is around the same ud use as a martial class in PoE2. Just because u have an option to use others don't mean u will because of efficiency vs resources

[Gfted1]

It is my understanding that cRPG players will only use the most optimal path, to the detriment of their own game. So if anything Bards Tale sounds like it has 2 too many choices.

[ShadySands]

Press A for awesome

[Melusina]

Press A for awesome

 

Press R for repetitive. :D

[Mamoulian War]

Looks like Mass Effect: Andromeda gave game industry more than silly cutscenes. But it’s not good thing either

[SonicMage117]

It is my understanding that cRPG players will only use the most optimal path, to the detriment of their own game. So if anything Bards Tale sounds like it has 2 too many choices.

I will always prefer button mashing to player choice, I'm still waiting for the day where multi-branching can compare to preset linearity in terms of story and structured gameplay. Edited July 24, 2018 by SonicMage117

[Gfted1]

But there really isnt any "choice". Ive seen it stated over and over, if A is better than B, many (most?) players will choose A regardless of role playing or personal choice. They literally cannot help themselves. Whats the point pissing away resources on two more trees that nobody will use anyway?

[SonicMage117]

"Egg-Sack-Li!" said the Spider named Jackie Chan.

 

All those resources put into "multi-branching" wasted and some people still wonder why an 8-12 hour no filler, linear rpg could possibly be better written and put together in a complete state moreso than the 60-80 hour rpg. I blame the developers for continuing to the same mistakes and also the consumers for supporting these types of things. I have more a problem with this than dlc's or locked content, I know most gamers will agree with me. This is, indeed what holds storytelling back within the industry, and yet it will be supported til the end - unfortunately.

[Mamoulian War]

But there really isnt any "choice". Ive seen it stated over and over, if A is better than B, many (most?) players will choose A regardless of role playing or personal choice. They literally cannot help themselves. Whats the point pissing away resources on two more trees that nobody will use anyway?

If choice A is better than choice B, then the game design is bad. Good design makes both choices appealing to pick for players.

[majestic]

I'm still waiting for the day where multi-branching can compare to preset linearity in terms of story and structured gameplay.

 

Well, I think that narrative coherence and non-linearity are on opposite ends of the same spectrum in an interactive medium. You can have non-interactive, non-linear storytelling that is still coherent like e.g. The Time Traveller's Wife or Memento but as soon as you allow the viewer (well, player in case of games) to actually alter what is happening you inevitably end up with a event progression that's increasingly less coherent based on the amount of freedom given.

 

It's not a matter of the technology or budget at hand. Sure with unlimited size and money you could create a branching tree type of game where the narrative branches never collapse on a critical path but that would be having several narratives, not one coherent narrative. Since that is not really feasible the common solution is to have a directed network of choices - a narrative where everything eventually collapses on a single point before branching out to (possible) different endings.

 

And yes - quite frankly, if you leave the directed network out of the design, the narrative automatically becomes more focused by virtue of being, uhm, the single focus or the narrative structure.

 

Although that has nothing to do with skill trees. Eh...

[Melusina]

Game flopped hard. Unfortunately.

[ShadySands]

Already?

[Tigranes]

Awful, awful reviews on launch, serious optimisation issues, and very haphazard media coverage on a niche RPG with terrible clunky UI and B-grade graphics? It ain't making any big bucks, ever.

 

As for the entirely separate question of whether it's a fun game to play - too early to tell, I'm waiting until real people have put a few hours into it.

[Lexx]

That's why Fargo said he buys Interplay if this game sells a couple million copies. Sure as hell won't happen. :>

[injurai]

That's why Fargo said he buys Interplay if this game sells a couple million copies. Sure as hell won't happen. :>

 

Oh, so that was deep reaching into the heart-pockets of whales? Yikes.

[Hurlshort]

Not sure if any of these grid style party RPG's do that well in terms of sales, so it's not a big shocker that it won't sell millions. Still it is a bummer to hear it is not good.

[majestic]

Not sure if any of these grid style party RPG's do that well in terms of sales, so it's not a big shocker that it won't sell millions. Still it is a bummer to hear it is not good.

 

The actual game isn't bad. It's just that the program actively conspires against you playing it.

 

The loading times that make Pillars pale in comparison, framerate drops, invisible icons in the inventory, skill points that appear placed but aren't, quest and item text that's barely readable due to terrible UI scaling, graphics and resolution settings that simply don't work, oh and the language setting that automatically resets every time you turn the game on.

 

Yep. Those are bad. REALLY bad.

Edited September 19, 2018 by majestic

[kanisatha]

That's why Fargo said he buys Interplay if this game sells a couple million copies. Sure as hell won't happen. :>

I think Fargo retiring might be the best thing that can happen to inXile at this point.

[kanisatha]

 

Not sure if any of these grid style party RPG's do that well in terms of sales, so it's not a big shocker that it won't sell millions. Still it is a bummer to hear it is not good.

 

The actual game isn't bad. It's just that the program actively conspires against you playing it.

 

The loading times that make Pillars pale in comparison, framerate drops, invisible icons in the inventory, skill points that appear placed but aren't, quest and item text that's barely readable due to terrible UI scaling, graphics and resolution settings that simply don't work, oh and the language setting that automatically resets every time you turn the game on.

 

Yep. Those are bad. REALLY bad.

Seriously?! Damn, that really sucks. I backed the game and downloaded it yesterday, but haven't played it since I don't play a new game right away. You'd think they would've learned from all the heat they took with the launch of T:ToN, yet this seems even worse. And they took so very long to work on the game too!

[majestic]

Seriously?! Damn, that really sucks. I backed the game and downloaded it yesterday, but haven't played it since I don't play a new game right away. You'd think they would've learned from all the heat they took with the launch of T:ToN, yet this seems even worse. And they took so very long to work on the game too!

 

Seems like it'll be two weeks or maybe three, here's inXile's current Bard's Tale IV patching roadmap:

 

Patch notes:

 

Patch 1 – Est. Friday 9/21

 

We’re starting initial work on improving load times to help people playing on non-SSD hard drives. There is more work to be done but it’s a big focus of ours in the near future

Initial work on optimization and framerate improvements.

Auto-detection of hardware and adjustment of quality settings on initial load of the game. While there is currently auto-detection in the options menu, it wasn’t happening automatically. The game defaults to Ultra settings which is likely causing FPS issues for those without high end hardware.

FOV adjustment slider.

Fixing wide-screen monitor support. This is part one of a two part plan.

First is getting the resolution settings working as intended followed by an art pass on the UI elements in patch 2.

Fixes for a few side quests that weren’t triggering as intended

Fix to puzzle weapons where if a puzzle is solved on the weapon while it’s equipped by a player, it will result in the puzzle reverting it’s state to unsolved. As a workaround now, it can be solved in the inventory perfectly fine.

Optimization to Kaels Rudiment that dropped framerate while in combat

Fix in Magnar’s Tower where a lever can be spammed in the shadow combat room that makes a bell hint unreadable

Fix for a softlock if a tutorial pops up when a player reads a note

Falkentyne’s Fury will no longer persist on the players party team after a combat has ended.

Fix where the Strifespear’s abilities don’t play nicely with the Vanguard skill

Update to the save system that will allow players to delete saves as needed.

Fix for a bug where killing Charn Cultists with Falkentynes Fury, which would result in a soft lock.

Fix for spellpoints not updating correctly on the stat sheet when gear is equipped and unequipped.

Fix where in rare instances, activating a standing stone of gratitude before going into a combat can result in a soft lock

Fix for a duping item issue by replacing a non-stackable trinket with a stackable one.

Fix so MACO compass can’t be spammed outside of combat, allowing for a stacked stun chance.

Fix where pausing the game during a cutscene after killing Yadis can cause the game to enter an unresponsive state.

Fix for the wraith where it shows 3 mana before summoning but actually costs 4 mana.

Other smaller fixes

 

 

Patch 2 – Est. Friday 9/28

 

Continued improvements to load times

Continued work on optimization and framerate. By this patch, we expect to have some solid improvements in place for some areas that have higher than expected hits to your GPU.

Part 2 of wide-screen monitor support. Updating the full screen art and layout of UI elements like the quest text and mini-map to extend to the proper edges of the screen.

Update to the save totem system and adding mini-map markers for where save totems are in the world.

Updating and improving localization in all languages for noted issues and some awkward grammar

Fixes to a variety of abilities to make their effects more clear.

Balance pass to some weapons and abilities after gameplay feedback.

Fix to masteries sometimes not saving their ordering when changing them in the mastery page.

Fix to some sounds not playing in certain parts of the world and in some UI elements

Fix to the party HUD staying open if you use a merchant while party HUD is up

Fix for removing range diagrams from Songs of Exploration where unnecessary

Fix for caltrops not firing off if summoned enemies enter their space

Update to some text spacing and flyouts in combat for readability

Update to map legends and mini-map to remove unnecessary items and improve readability

Fix for health bars showing up in front of giants and some bosses

Fix for some FaceFX issues on characters

Fix for some models not displaying when inspected from the inventory

Fix for some redundant text in the ability tool tips

Fix for gold sense where it doesn’t turn when near a chest after it has been looted

 

 

Patch 3

 

Additional Loading time improvements

Additional game optimization and framerate improvements

Addition of a Legacy Mode (hardcore mode with grid move, option to turn off mini-map, the A-Team, perma-death, auto-resurrect)

Ability to speed up combat animations

Inventory sorting

Controller support

Continued bug fixes and general improvements

[the_dog_days]

 

Not sure if any of these grid style party RPG's do that well in terms of sales, so it's not a big shocker that it won't sell millions. Still it is a bummer to hear it is not good.

 

The actual game isn't bad. It's just that the program actively conspires against you playing it.

 

The loading times that make Pillars pale in comparison, framerate drops, invisible icons in the inventory, skill points that appear placed but aren't, quest and item text that's barely readable due to terrible UI scaling, graphics and resolution settings that simply don't work, oh and the language setting that automatically resets every time you turn the game on.

 

Yep. Those are bad. REALLY bad.

 

 

At this point I feel like bad UI is an inXile staple.