Whoever wrote Ydwin...

[Verde]

Did a great job. I find her to be one of the most engaging companions.

 

Now Xoti on the other hand...*we need to break up*

Edited February 14, 2019 by Verde

[Wormerine]

Ydwin is the most cool of the companions. Overall, due to uncomplicated nature sidekicks are much more likable. Companions are more like real people - more nuanced and somewhat facinating but I prefer to watch them from afar and not get involved. Except for Eder. I would hang out with Eder and try to pet all the animals we can find.

[Verde]

Yeah Eder is great. A true bro.

[Enoch]

Ydwin was written by Alex Scokel.

 

Alex appears to have left Obsidian recently. 

Edited February 15, 2019 by Enoch

[Crucis]

Did a great job. I find her to be one of the most engaging companions.

 

Now Xoti on the other hand...*we need to break up*

 

I agree that Ydwin is interesting.  OTOH, it's just strange to me that she's a pale elf.  Frankly, I think that she'd have made a ton more sense as a regular wood elf.  I don't really get a vibe that pale elves should be seen as intellectuals and scientists.  It just seems to me that a pale elf companion or sidekick would have been better as a ranger, or a barbarian, possibly a cleric or druid.  Even a paladin or monk might have been possible, though perhaps of an unknown order that was based in The White That Wends.  I just find the idea of a pale elf as a well educated and seemingly sophisticated animancer highly counter intuitive.

 

I think that Ywdin could have been a wood elf and hardly missed a beat in her character.  

[thelee]

Ydwin is the most cool of the companions. Overall, due to uncomplicated nature sidekicks are much more likable. Companions are more like real people - more nuanced and somewhat facinating but I prefer to watch them from afar and not get involved. Except for Eder. I would hang out with Eder and try to pet all the animals we can find.

 

yeah, by having less to them, sidekicks are easier to be in to i think (though they get more reactivity in DLCs). companions are probably a matter of taste. as someone who grew up in the american south deep in the bible belt, i found eder and xoti to be really interesting characters (especially the very different ways their characters develop w.r.t. their faiths)

 

anyway it's all moot because Grieving Mother from PoE1 is the best pillars character.

Edited February 15, 2019 by thelee

[Frak]

I agree that Ydwin is interesting.  OTOH, it's just strange to me that she's a pale elf.  Frankly, I think that she'd have made a ton more sense as a regular wood elf.  I don't really get a vibe that pale elves should be seen as intellectuals and scientists.  It just seems to me that a pale elf companion or sidekick would have been better as a ranger, or a barbarian, possibly a cleric or druid.

 

 

 

Now, As a person from pale-elf-lands I must correct you here.

 

See in the real world white that wends, ydwin could easily be a scientist. And the reason is simple. Wolves, bears and darkness.

 

See up here in the northernmost of nords - ok, technically a lot countries lies further north, but they can attest to the truth of my statements -, we have to hunt to eat. We danes are fortunate that we can also do a bit of agriculture, instead of eating the flesh of dead relatives seasoned with blueberries as the finns do when wintergame is in short supply. 

 

But we hunt, true! Unfortunately darkness puts a stop to much of this. The animals are out there, but humans suck at hunting in darkness. And up here, one missstep and you have an open bone fracture in a ravine, with only the howling wind, the wølves and the bears to keep you company. So we don't hunt in the dark. Hence, "hygge". (Which is just another word for trying to stay near the fire, not freeze, avoid wolves and conserve energy.)

 

Because in Denmark, it's dark in winter. Like 95-97% of the time. So you have a lot of free time. And this is where the science parts kick in. You first start to wonder: "How can we get more light?" and "can you trap and eat a bear?" and "if we give the children presents at christmas, will they notice that in the meantime, we throw grandma to the wolves in order to conserve food supplies? Is it ethical?" and such others serious questions. Necessity is mother of invention. 

 

In short Ydwin could easily be a scientist. Her reasonable and totally rational scienceness even support that. That's some cold rational thought going on there. Cools the brain. Conserves energy.

Edited February 15, 2019 by Frak

[Katarack21]

Did a great job. I find her to be one of the most engaging companions.

 

Now Xoti on the other hand...*we need to break up*

I like Xoti. I think we could get along great if only I could convince her the gods are worthless constructs created by ****ty people.

[misterjimmy]

Ydwin was written by Alex Scokel.

 

Alex appears to have left Obsidian recently. 

I remember he wrote Serafen. These two and Eder is my fav companion in Deadfire.

[MaxQuest]

Ydwin was written by Alex Scokel.

 

Alex appears to have left Obsidian recently.

Ehh, so that's why he's offline for awhile now... His notes, given in this subforum, were greatly appreciated.

 

He notes that he "was very unsatisfied with his job".

And it saddens me that this is not the first unsettling sign.

I hope the company we like, relies on "not be evil" and not on crunch time and NDA. Or it's unrelated altogether.

Edited February 15, 2019 by MaxQuest

[Boeroer]

Maybe it isn't too bad since they let Josh Sawyer advertise and campaign for a game developer's union.

 

Can't say why he left Obsidian. But his tweet about it didn't sound too bitter:

 

If you didn't already know, today was my last day @Obsidian. There was nothing dramatic, traumatic, or unexpected about that, and I wish the developers there all the best in all they do.

[Triple - A Foxy Lad]

its a shame. scokel seemed like a promising candidate to head up a potential po3, what with their work on the dlc and audience engagement. vatnir was one of my favourite characters.

 

narrative lead appears to be a poisoned chalice. i guess it burns people out and, for better or worse, u catch all the praise and criticism directed at a game. i imagine it involves less joyful creativity and more fitting cogs into a giant unwieldy machine.

[Cartoons Plural]

 

Did a great job. I find her to be one of the most engaging companions.

 

Now Xoti on the other hand...*we need to break up*

 

I agree that Ydwin is interesting.  OTOH, it's just strange to me that she's a pale elf.  Frankly, I think that she'd have made a ton more sense as a regular wood elf.  I don't really get a vibe that pale elves should be seen as intellectuals and scientists.  It just seems to me that a pale elf companion or sidekick would have been better as a ranger, or a barbarian, possibly a cleric or druid.  Even a paladin or monk might have been possible, though perhaps of an unknown order that was based in The White That Wends.  I just find the idea of a pale elf as a well educated and seemingly sophisticated animancer highly counter intuitive.

 

I think that Ywdin could have been a wood elf and hardly missed a beat in her character.  

 

 

she has dialogs in beast of winter that explain this fwiw

[Crucis]

 

I agree that Ydwin is interesting.  OTOH, it's just strange to me that she's a pale elf.  Frankly, I think that she'd have made a ton more sense as a regular wood elf.  I don't really get a vibe that pale elves should be seen as intellectuals and scientists.  It just seems to me that a pale elf companion or sidekick would have been better as a ranger, or a barbarian, possibly a cleric or druid.

 

 

 

Now, As a person from pale-elf-lands I must correct you here.

 

See in the real world white that wends, ydwin could easily be a scientist. And the reason is simple. Wolves, bears and darkness.

 

See up here in the northernmost of nords - ok, technically a lot countries lies further north, but they can attest to the truth of my statements -, we have to hunt to eat. We danes are fortunate that we can also do a bit of agriculture, instead of eating the flesh of dead relatives seasoned with blueberries as the finns do when wintergame is in short supply. 

 

But we hunt, true! Unfortunately darkness puts a stop to much of this. The animals are out there, but humans suck at hunting in darkness. And up here, one missstep and you have an open bone fracture in a ravine, with only the howling wind, the wølves and the bears to keep you company. So we don't hunt in the dark. Hence, "hygge". (Which is just another word for trying to stay near the fire, not freeze, avoid wolves and conserve energy.)

 

Because in Denmark, it's dark in winter. Like 95-97% of the time. So you have a lot of free time. And this is where the science parts kick in. You first start to wonder: "How can we get more light?" and "can you trap and eat a bear?" and "if we give the children presents at christmas, will they notice that in the meantime, we throw grandma to the wolves in order to conserve food supplies? Is it ethical?" and such others serious questions. Necessity is mother of invention. 

 

In short Ydwin could easily be a scientist. Her reasonable and totally rational scienceness even support that. That's some cold rational thought going on there. Cools the brain. Conserves energy.

 

 

Frak, I'd hardly call Denmark an equivalent to The White That Wends.  I think that TWTW would have to be a land that's above/below the Arctic or Antarctic circles.  Some places where it's winter year round (or at least "wintery"), though I suppose that a place like Svalbard might be sort of a close approximation.

 

Also, let's look at the official description of TWTW:

 

 

This infertile expanse of cracked and shifting ice is home to the largest known settlement of pale elves in the world. Outcasts, adventurers, and explorers from other parts combine their resources to survive—or raid smaller settlements as needed. Survival across the Wend is dependent upon harnessing nontraditional hunting methods better suited to open plains and using a lack of visibility to one’s advantage. Sailing expeditions once hugged the Wend’s northern coast with hopes of charting a passage east. Too many ships spent seasons moored inland, only to be torn apart by unpredictable ice floes. Most explorers grudgingly decided that braving the Wend was no safer than braving the pirates and sea monsters of Deadfire. At least one group of Aedyrans never returned after their vessel froze in a developing ice field miles from shore. Whether they made peaceful contact with the Glamfellen, or succumbed to hazards of the environment, is unknown.

While virtually no plant life grows in the White, it is home to many hardy species of dangerous animals that forage from the sea or prey upon each other to survive.

 

That doesn't sound like a place where science (such as it is in Eora's society that somewhat parallel's Earth around the 1600-1700's or so) would flourish.  That sounds more like a land of hunter/gatherers to me.   Now, if the inhabitants of TWTW lived underground, sort of like the Dark Elves in D&D, then things might be different.  But that's not how they're described here.  They sound like a culture of hunter/gatherers that would be a land of hunters and barbarians and druids.

 

Frankly, it's a wonder that the Pale Elves survive at all in such an inhospitable climate.

[Crucis]

 

 

Did a great job. I find her to be one of the most engaging companions.

 

Now Xoti on the other hand...*we need to break up*

 

I agree that Ydwin is interesting.  OTOH, it's just strange to me that she's a pale elf.  Frankly, I think that she'd have made a ton more sense as a regular wood elf.  I don't really get a vibe that pale elves should be seen as intellectuals and scientists.  It just seems to me that a pale elf companion or sidekick would have been better as a ranger, or a barbarian, possibly a cleric or druid.  Even a paladin or monk might have been possible, though perhaps of an unknown order that was based in The White That Wends.  I just find the idea of a pale elf as a well educated and seemingly sophisticated animancer highly counter intuitive.

 

I think that Ywdin could have been a wood elf and hardly missed a beat in her character.  

 

 

she has dialogs in beast of winter that explain this fwiw

 

 

 

Interesting.  I don't think that I've noticed them, and I've had Ydwin as a core member of my party throughout my progress in BoW.  Does it require having Vatnir in the party as well, because I haven't brought him along because I was happy with my party as is at the time, and didn't see the point in bringing along a priest that specialized in cold spells.  I did add him to my reserves though.