New Pillars game concept

[UwUkacper]

I'm not sure on how the sales for pillars 2 is currently to this date, but last i heard is that, even though the sequel is amazing and on par if not better then the first, the game flopped financially and sold poorly,with developers stating that if they were to return to pillars, they would need to re-examine the formula of the pillars games and why the second game didn't do as well. If they decide that it was due to the reason that everyone who played the first game had enough of RTSwP type of game play and didn't need/want a sequel, then they may divert from this genre of games entirely, they attempted it with the turn based system in pillars 2 (don't know if the sales are still low or have risen over the years, couldn't find anything about that) which i don't think is a drastic enough change to warrant people buying the game, they may need to do something bigger, bolder but also keeping it somewhat similar to the old battle system. 

I think that it would be in Obsidian's best interest to have game play similar to FFXV or any other real-time strategy game. i think that this would make sense since it would shy away from the CRPG genre just enough so that it is it's own thing, whilst possibly retaining most of it's aspect and elements of strategy. It could also be of interest of Microsoft and, if they have a say in any of this, 2K since it would bring back old fans because of the story and new fans who seem to enjoy the new style game play. 

either way, whether they continue with the exact, or extremely similar, game play, with some good marketing and using all of the services Microsoft provides, game pass, there could hope for a a new pillars game.

Do you guys like the idea of a FFXV game play style, or maybe something more ambitious like god of war 4 hack and slash style, or even a first person elder scrolls type of game, or the original style game play. I'd just like to see the story of the watcher continue and possibly conclude. 

[Wormerine]

No, I don’t. 

I don’t mind them experimenting - I am not tied to IE nostalgia too much, and I found PoE to work the best when it does its own thing. But PoE holds my interest as a party-based story-driven singleplayer RPG. Make it RTwP or turn based, class based or classless.

 Obsidian could make an RPG in PoE setting and get my interest... but they might as well do a new IP.

[Crucis]

I would rather that it stick with RTwP and remain a party based, single player RPG.

There are some things I wish that they'd massage around the game mechanics (classes, in particular), though I doubt that they'd listen to me.  

Personally, I wish that they'd avoid anything to do with the Deadfire region and get back to a more traditional setting.  Perhaps in the Living Lands (because of the wide variety of environments).  Perhaps in "Rekke land" (I keep forgetting the name of Rekke's home region.)  I'd suggest avoiding The White That Wends.  These people (i.e. the developers of the old BG and IWD games plus the PoE games) have done enough arctic centric games or expansions, between IWD1/2, the White Marches, and the arctic PoE2 expansion.  I'd rather see a PoE3 in a more temperate environment, though, let's say if they did the Living Lands, I wouldn't mind one of the valleys being a cold one, as long as it was one of many and not the entire game.

I think that it's a fair point that the devs might have to try to figure out why PoE2 didn't sell so well.  Was it a case of the old BG/IWD veteran players had had their taste of nostalgia and weren't interested in a sequel?  Or did the pirate motif turn off some potential customers?  or something else.  I have no idea.  I bought both PoE 1 and 2, and would buy a PoE3 if it stayed true to the basic concept.

 

[Oathbinder]

This series should remain as a RTwP/Turn Based combat system with a isometric view, beautiful art and interesting setting. The devs should work more in the main plot though. 

Edited March 1, 2020 by Oathbinder

[daven]

I think i'd rather they went for something more along the lines of KOTOR than Final Fantasy 15, not sure where that comparison came from!

[Uburian]

PoE and Deadfire are spiritual successors to the Infinity Engine games, and while i understand why it would be appealing to try to continue them in a more mainstream manner, i don't think that they would work that well in any other form than as single-player centric isometric RPGs, preferably with options to play them either in Rtwp or with a turn based system. If you drop that, the game would loose too much of its charm.

A counterpoint would be what Bethesda did with Fallout 3 (adapting an isometric franchise to be a first person RPG), and while it is undoubtable that they were successful in creating an interesting game that sold well, it is arguable that it was a good Fallout game (one of the reasons for why New Vegas is generally considered better than 3). Then they made Fallout 4, which was enjoyable but lost even more of the original game's charm, and in the end they made Fallout 76, which i think doesn't even deserve to be remembered at all.

What i'm trying to say with this is that, while i do agree that Pillars will need to evolve to adapt to the new times, i don't think that a full change of game style would work, at least not until a proper conclusion is delivered to the story treads that are already opened. The franchise would simply lose too much of itself in such a change, and for that, i would rather see a completely new IP created instead.

Edited March 2, 2020 by Uburian

[kanisatha]

I also hope we get more single-player, party-based, Aora-based classic RPGs. For me, I would absolutely need it to be RTwP; otherwise I won't play it. I'm not wedded to the isometric perspective though, as long as it is not first-person.

And I like the PoE mechanics and ruleset precisely because it is NOT D20/D&D mechanics. Thank God for people trying to create new mechanics and rulesets, especially specifically made for videogames rather than tabletop games.

[the_dog_days]

Aside from POE3, it's almost guarantied that the spin-off games will be in a different sub genre. Which sub genre is anyone's guess as they've already established classes and classes don't always work outside of turn style, RTwP, or at least party based combat. I doubt they would throw the class structure they've built and expanded on out the window just because one game didn't perform well.

[DozingDragon]

I think the only Pillars project that has a guaranteed future at this point is a final version of the tabletop rpg. It’s possible that the rumored Skyrim-type game that’s being developed will use Eora as a setting, but frankly they could just be creating a new setting for that as well. And despite his protestations, the project Josh Sawyer is currently working on (which might be a text heavy mystery rpg set in a monastery with influences from The Name of the Rose and Cadafel) will probably have to wrap up before another Pillars game happens.

Regardless, I suspect that any future game will be dependent on how BG3 does, and how receptive Microsoft would be to funding a slightly different take on Pillars that includes multiplayer to support their gamepass program. 

Edited March 5, 2020 by DozingDragon
Grammar!

[xzar_monty]

Given Josh Sawyer's comments, I think it's fairly certain that Pillars is over. There will be no more games of this sort from Obsidian.

[Boeroer]

You mean as isometric RPG with RTwP? Probably. But I'm pretty sure (given the success of The Outer Worlds, the work that went into the Pillars IP and what Feargus said several times) that they will use the setting for different games.

Since the hours I'm sinking into Battle Brothers slowly pile up to meet the heights of Deadfire I guess my space-time continuum would simply implode would Obsidian dare to make a Battle Brothers inspired Pillars game.

So... please make a Battle Brothers inspired Pillars  game! It can be small no problem. 

"Some people just like to see the space-time continuum implode."