Hello!

Just came across Josh S. explaining what the latest Deadfire patch was like. 

The Ultimate Challenge stood out. What do you guys think about it? Are you going to attempt it? Is it boring to you? 

Also, how's the game holding up polish-wise now compared to six months before?

Thanks! 👍

The ultimate challenge is not boring, it's just meaningless. Not going to attempt it. It's meant for way more hardcore players than me. I think it's nice that it's there, though.

 

I already noticed a fairly substantial new voiced dialogue in the game. Was surprised by that.

I would need at least 3 playthroughs before trying it and I can't even start a second one yet...

 

Good luck to any heroes who want to try it...

The fact that I can skip ship "combat" and go straight to boarding without breaking my ship or spamming 11112 is the best upgrade this game got in a while.

I looked over the bug reports, nothing really game breaking popping up and nothing I have experienced lately - not sure haven't tested but someone said there may be something wrong with lockpicking chests.  Could just be a random but on there system.

Not sure I have time for the Ultimate but it is tempting.

On 5/11/2019 at 11:40 PM, Hulk'O'Saurus said:

The Ultimate Challenge stood out. What do you guys think about it? Are you going to attempt it? Is it boring to you? 

I think it's not as boring as just solo, because it's not like "I can do this, it just takes a helluva of time" but rather "is it even possible in practice?".

In theory I suppose it is possible. But there is a hefty random factor to it. And Vela makes it so much harder. That's why I doubt there will be a completely legit Ultimate run, at least this year; were the player would start the whole run from the beginning in case of character's death, instead of just loading the save's copy. Because putting 100h+ and losing all progress is quite demotivating;  more so if it happens several+ times.

Edited May 13, 20196 yr by MaxQuest

I have no idea how Obsidian wants to determine if somebody used a save copy or not. Afaik there's no way to do that. The video footage will have cuts - because you can't do the challenge in a single day (if you have at least a rest of a real life). So that's also not suited to proof you didn't cheat. 

Of course they could always disqualify your attempt on a whim because they don't believe you did it properly... but dealing with it highhandedly also doesn't feel right. Imagine there's some player who can indeed pull it off properly but they just don't believe him... the frustration and anger will be enormous given how much energy you'll have to put into this in order to be successful und not to viloate "the spirit of the challenge". 

Edited May 14, 20196 yr by Boeroer

I don't understand it at all.

To waste 100+ hours (minimum) of your life in attempt to beat this crappy challenge... without any sure that is even possible, and knowing you can be disqualified for any reason... And for what? For cheap "very special patch" (cost 10$) or for your name on some tablet in some office...? Madicco! I mean, who the hell come up with such dumb idea? Josh? He should pay a real prize for that - 5000-10000$, for example - this could be real interesting motivation.

All this s**t is beyond the comprehension. Sorry.

Edited May 14, 20196 yr by Phenomenum

People do the damnedest things for minimum rewards, and have done so since time immemorial. So there is nothing in this that is beyond comprehension, it's precisely what people do.

 

I am also one of those who don't even think of doing this, simply because it is not interesting enough for me, but I can understand why such a challenge has been presented. I think it's nice. And yes, I do think that whoever takes on the challenge could probably think of something better to do with their life, but who am I to judge on that.

4 hours ago, Phenomenum said:

I don't understand it at all.

To waste 100+ hours (minimum) of your life in attempt to beat this crappy challenge... without any sure that is even possible, and knowing you can be disqualified for any reason... And for what? For cheap "very special patch" (cost 10$) or for your name on some tablet in some office...? Madicco! I mean, who the hell come up with such dumb idea? Josh? He should pay a real prize for that - 5000-10000$, for example - this could be real interesting motivation.

All this s**t is beyond the comprehension. Sorry.

You may as well ask why people play games in the most challenging mode possible. The reward isn't meant to be the real incentive behind completing the Ultimate, it's just an extra to those who have fun trying to crack such near-impossible achievements, a way of further recognizing them beyond the general personal reward of "having done this". As to whether you find it rewarding or not, it's really up to whether you enjoy playing games in this fashion; but if you're not, then you're not the target audience for this challenge. But again, fun is the main objective here, not whatever "compensation" is ultimately offered.

I wouldn't even try it for 10K EUR.

It's a little PR stunt and that's fine. Deadfire needs more attention.

I like theorycrafting around the challenge though. If we (as forum in a collective approach with providing tipps and tricks) can help a forum member to succeed that would make me happy somehow. If he/she's not a jerk I mean. 😋

If you call it a little PR stunt, the emphasis is surely on the word "little", as there is no real reward and the challenge itself is so incredibly hard that only the most devoted player would even consider taking it on.

I would be more inclined to simply call it a little extra fun they decided to put in.

 

There is a more fundamental question at stake here, too: in a commercial culture, some people argue that anything done by a commercial entity is either PR- or money-motivated. It's not an unrealistic stance, but it's also not true. Having been on both sides of the fence, I can vouch that people do an awful lot of things simply because they think it's fun. Granted, they need to be able to afford it, but still.

If you look at the raise of traffic this forum has seen since 5.0 - and the amount of posts that evolve around "The Ultimate" you might change your mind and think that the PR stunt wasn't so little. Even if players don't plan to do the challenge themselves they might be interested to read about it and to follow the players who are trying to do that.

I didn't say that it only was done because of PR reasons. But usually creating a challenge with rewards (see Scavenger Hunt) is there to get attention. I believe this one is not different, even if there might be additional reasons to create that challenge.

Edited May 15, 20196 yr by Boeroer

I thought about it a little bit, and if I have to be completely honest - Ultimate Challenge in Deadfire looks uninteresting first and foremost.

There are difficult games out there, but this difficult looks a lot more tedious. There just is a lack of 'oomph' to it.  

On 7/23/2019 at 2:16 PM, Hulk'O'Saurus said:

I thought about it a little bit, and if I have to be completely honest - Ultimate Challenge in Deadfire looks uninteresting first and foremost.

There are difficult games out there, but this difficult looks a lot more tedious. There just is a lack of 'oomph' to it.  

Yeah. To be honest I never even liked solo runs - to me difficulty should be about making game more complex and nuanced, not imposing extreme limitations. 

this challenge hardly could have any pr effect at all

anyone who know or care are most likely already a poe player

just a little bait for the most hardcore nutters

On 7/19/2019 at 6:04 PM, algroth said:

Figured I should go ahead and post it here too: one of our users, @Decadency, completed the Ultimate:

Well done to him!

Well, somebody did it. 😱

On 7/30/2019 at 6:09 PM, InsaneCommander said:

Well, somebody did it. 😱

Sweet. Welldone 😄