Thoughts on Gamescon Stream

[NWN_babaYaga]

...a high fantasy (whatever that is...) game should make use of the laws of nature. Because if not i want my PC to fly (oh i forgot there is no gravity), walk vertically on walls like a spider (oh i forgot there is no gravity) and talk out my a** (yes that should work).

 

I hate it when things makes no sense. If you can explain to me how that material can be that flexiible or that colorwork for common clothing can be afforded from the mass the game has to tell me. When you dont make huge distinctions between trashy, poor, commoner class and the establishment i think you miss the point of social structure and wealth which is always an important part of a rpg no matter if it is a medieval setting or not (the witcher and dishonored did it right too). It´s still is a medieval setting because of the material they use, how they dress, think and live (buildings included).

Edited August 13, 2014 by NWN_babaYaga

[Rostere]

The combat looks GREAT. I can say already I will have a lot of fun with this.

[PrimeJunta]

Very much this. Fantasy doesn't mean "anything goes because magic." Good fantasy creates rules for its worlds, sticks to those, and explores what the consequences of those rules would be. Just like P:E is doing with souls.

 

I'm sure it ain't gonna be perfect; it'd take a superhuman effort to plug every plot hole and get rid of every inconsistency, but they've already shown that they're making a serious effort not to screw up in obvious ways. Which is one of the main reasons I'm so hyped about this, in addition to pushing all my nostalgia buttons and then some.

[salo]

I agree that this game need more fantastical armor, it doesn't have to be over the top, but please don't let them be generic. This is after all a high fantasy game.

The Lord of the Rings movies are high fantasy too, and tons of equipment in those movies was mundane looking (and great looking). Keep in mind that what we saw here was starting equipment, not artifacts or even magical gear.

[Doppelschwert]

Someone (in this case me) should also point out that the party in the demo consisted of only 5 characters, while the game is meant to be played with 6 characters. An additional ranger or rogue probably goes a long way in killing them beetles.

[I Roll 20]

I've seen the video and the poison is probably just too much for poor Brandon. And it was on easy.

 

As for the armor designs, I've only seen a few, some are OK, some are weird but overall they are not too fantastical. Which is great. Somebody mentioned LotR and here I want to add that I like the designs on "13th Warrior" and "Kingdom of Heaven" and  I think that designs should stick to movies like these.

Edited August 13, 2014 by I Roll 20

[Greensleeve]

I've seen the video and the poison is probably just too much for poor Brandon. And it was on easy.

 

Adam. It was Adam playing, not Brandon. Though Brandon did play the E3 demos. 

[Freshock]

I just got even more hyped after watching the stream, the game looks really pretty and the combat looks like a bunch of fun. Nice to see another class in action and that "NPC-lorebook" you can collect info in is a cool addition. A bit sad that Adam AKA Sassy managed to wipe two times so that we missed out on the ogre's but in a way that just shows that the game is a challenge - and that's a good thing. So it's OK Adam, I forgive you.

[Billy O]

This demo really has my hopes up about the games. The pacing and difficulty of the combat seems very well done.

 

I really don't see the need for additional animations for spell casting as long as all spells have unique effects. I'd much rather the devs focus their energy on balancing combat and squashing bugs at this point.

 

I'm fine with the style of the gear,  though I do agree though that the characters seem to blend in a bit too much in certain environments. Maybe there could be some sort of option to silhouette them with shadow or something to give them a tiny but more pop.

[Bazy]

I don't play role playing games to get repeatedly slaughtered by random beetles even on Easy.

 

 

He was making a lot of basic mistakes.... Just off the top of my head:

 

1) Not engaging the beetles in melee with his fighter first

2) Allowing the patrolling beetle to flank his back line

3) Charging into battle with his very low health PC leading the pack

Edited August 13, 2014 by Bazy

[Kiel29]

I think it doesn't help Adam that the combat looks like it is going to need to be paused a lot more than he was doing normally. But watching someone pausing every ten seconds to coordinate 5 people gets boring.

[Labadal]

 

5) What was with no traits/feats?

They are not in the Beta but will be in the full game.

[Justinian]

Only Baldur's Gate 2. And the combat was my least favourite part of that game, too.

 

But the important thing is that if even the developers get brutalised on Easy, I can't help but suspect the difficulty might be too high.

 

If you look carefully at how Adam is playing, you can tell he's not putting much effort in at all. Half his characters are standing around not attacking; he rarely focus fires; doesn't use the abilities at his disposal and is all round not playing effectively.

 

I wouldn't be too concerned with difficulty until we get our hands on it

[BAdler]

I've seen the video and the poison is probably just too much for poor Brandon. And it was on easy.

 

As for the armor designs, I've only seen a few, some are OK, some are weird but overall they are not too fantastical. Which is great. Somebody mentioned LotR and here I want to add that I like the designs on "13th Warrior" and "Kingdom of Heaven" and  I think that designs should stick to movies like these.

Hey, hey, hey... that was Adam. Not me. Don't pin that performance on me!

 

I didn't watch the stream, but if Adam didn't immediately try to kill the wood beetles he was in for a beatdown. Their poison is pretty damaging, so you usually want to go after them first.

[Stun]

Someone (in this case me) should also point out that the party in the demo consisted of only 5 characters, while the game is meant to be played with 6 characters. An additional ranger or rogue probably goes a long way in killing them beetles.

Yep. Not to mention the fact that if you look closely at Adam's tactics, he simply did everything wrong. Almost as if he was trying to demonstrate that this is a game that will punish stupidity. Kudos for that! That's the kind of game I've been begging for for a decade!

 

I saw his mage engaging on the front lines and get killed as a result (the mage was the first to die) I saw one of his characters using a bow against an opponent in melee range (I'm not sure about PoE, but in BG2, that's a terrible thing to do. Using a bow against a foe who's engaging you in melee will cause you to suffer a -4 AC penalty)

 

I think this was all intentional. And it worked on me. I think I learned more in 20 minutes here than in the last 6 months of updates.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Stun

[BAdler]

I just got even more hyped after watching the stream, the game looks really pretty and the combat looks like a bunch of fun. Nice to see another class in action and that "NPC-lorebook" you can collect info in is a cool addition. A bit sad that Adam AKA Sassy managed to wipe two times so that we missed out on the ogre's but in a way that just shows that the game is a challenge - and that's a good thing. So it's OK Adam, I forgive you.

 

The ogre is pretty beefy. I usually have to try to outrange him. Too many people in range will cause a tpw pretty quickly.

[lolaldanee]

i for one loved adam's performance, so much more entertaining than if everything went well

[Pidesco]

 

 

I didn't watch the stream, but if Adam didn't immediately try to kill the wood beetles he was in for a beatdown. Their poison is pretty damaging, so you usually want to go after them first.

 

Yeah, he seemed to be focusing on the rock beetles, in those battles. He also seemed to forget some of the characters, at times. Was it the rogue that was left idling most of the time?

[BAdler]

 

I didn't watch the stream, but if Adam didn't immediately try to kill the wood beetles he was in for a beatdown. Their poison is pretty damaging, so you usually want to go after them first.

 

Yeah, he seemed to be focusing on the rock beetles, in those battles. He also seemed to forget some of the characters, at times. Was it the rogue that was left idling most of the time?

 

The rock beetles are burly, but that wood beetle poison will kill a character pretty quickly. If a few of your party members get poisoned it can be tough to recover. We may end up toning it down depending on feedback from the beta.

[IndiraLightfoot]

 

I've seen the video and the poison is probably just too much for poor Brandon. And it was on easy.

 

As for the armor designs, I've only seen a few, some are OK, some are weird but overall they are not too fantastical. Which is great. Somebody mentioned LotR and here I want to add that I like the designs on "13th Warrior" and "Kingdom of Heaven" and  I think that designs should stick to movies like these.

Hey, hey, hey... that was Adam. Not me. Don't pin that performance on me!

 

I didn't watch the stream, but if Adam didn't immediately try to kill the wood beetles he was in for a beatdown. Their poison is pretty damaging, so you usually want to go after them first.

 

 

Regardless, Adam's performance did show us something a lot of us yearns for in a CRPG: difficult and varied party-based combat. He's really done a great service to Obsidian!

Now, don't you dare turn down those difficulty knobs!!

[Labadal]

Adam is probably used to playing Call of Duty. Nah, I'm joking. He will go back to his hotel room, repeat the fight 100 times and defeat them tomorrow.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27F46WPVJBs

[BAdler]

Also, one thing to keep in mind about difficulty is that higher difficulties don't just scale up damage and health on enemies - it changes which enemies spawn. For example, those same fights on a harder difficulty have adra beetles and more patrols. I remember playing on medium difficulty and pulling two groups at once because I wasn't careful with character placement.

[Prometheus]

There were talents in the demo(Adam choose on that increased the damage of flame of devotion), not many because many of the talents will be added because of the player feedback during beta.

[Karranthain]

Now, don't you dare turn down those difficulty knobs!!

 

If anything they should go to 11.

[Pidesco]

 

 

I didn't watch the stream, but if Adam didn't immediately try to kill the wood beetles he was in for a beatdown. Their poison is pretty damaging, so you usually want to go after them first.

 

Yeah, he seemed to be focusing on the rock beetles, in those battles. He also seemed to forget some of the characters, at times. Was it the rogue that was left idling most of the time?

 

The rock beetles are burly, but that wood beetle poison will kill a character pretty quickly. If a few of your party members get poisoned it can be tough to recover. We may end up toning it down depending on feedback from the beta.

 

 

In IE games, poison was one status effect that, if you weren't hauling around antidotes or cure poison scrolls, could easily wipe out your party. I specifically remember a spider infested house in Beregost for example.

 

How many ways are there to deal with poison in PoE?