How are people finding the beta?

[Sondai]

I was a bit lost at the character screen and have to nix my tendency to want perfect characters form a new game.
 
Plus there is so much foreign lore and terms to take in. I mean I have the TES and BG/NWN practically memorized and I know I had to start somewhere but for some reason it seems a bit overwhelming now (no one say age *cough*) --in part being out of context at this starting level.
 
So I build a cleric and failed the first convo check and took a short look around. The world is beautiful but I didn't even know what (quest term)

hollowborn

(sp)? meant (had a hunch) so I just thought I'd wait until I can do more reading. Plus it sounds like the next patch is quite anticipated. So I'm probably going to wait to play.
 
Also, I want to read the spells and such in a more friendly format before rushing into combat since we start at level 5 with quite a bit. It might just be easier for me to start at LV 1 when the time comes and get to know my build/character/world.
 
Other than that the world is beautiful and I get a sense of depth from crafting and character building I haven't seen the likes of in some time, if at all. The dialog is unique (in my limited experience -- was totally not expecting the word

"deer ****"

lol, but something more subtle like in BG) and I LOVE the adjustable font.  If I were to have more children I would name them after the responsible Obsidian Dev, just for this. Maybe puppies then.
 
Then again, I probably won't be able to keep my nose out of PoE and will scour Youtube, wikis  and such.
 
Very excited about the game. I hear the combat is hard but I hope manageable for me when the time comes.

 

Only complaint: I don't like the small characters in the creation screen. It reminds me from the get-go I'm playing with miniatures. I would prefer them larger/taller or even as avatars. like in NWN/BG. With larger monitors now and more realistic characters it is just more jarring to me even if the quality is better than years prior. Minor or not, it left an impression -- such I mention it.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Sondai

[xStahl]

The necks look really weird on all women models they twist or something not how necks look like.

[Starwars]

Further impressions.

 

The game is easy.

 

Yes, really. It is.

 

Its main problem right now, apart from the high-impact bugs, is the lack of feedback in combat. It is hard to tell what's going on because it only appears in the fast-scrolling combat log, and visual feedback is poor. That means that you have to actually know what the system does and trust it to do what it's supposed to do. If you don't and, say, put a low Resolve character in the front line, you'll be wondering why he isn't doing anything, and won't realize it's because all his actions are getting Interrupted by enemy attacks. This isn't your fault either; it's because there's no indication that he's being interrupted, apart from maybe some animation twitches, which you won't be able to see well anyway unless you're specifically looking for them.

 

There's a good deal of discussion about this already, and I'm pretty confident they'll be addressed.

 

The more I play this, the better I like it. The difference between playing it well and playing it badly is huge. You can't just select-all and auto-attack the nearest enemy and hope to win, even on Easy. If instead you cast an area buff, march your fighter forward to pin them, and cast a damaging area debuff with your wizard, then they will fold in a round or two, without you taking a scratch. It's immensely satisfying... or would be, if it wasn't like walking on eggshells in order to avoid triggering a bug that ruins your day.

 

I'm really eager for the next build, which will presumably have some of the worst offenders sorted.

 

I agree with this, and I actually kinda worry that the game will feel too easy on Normal in the end. I don't really want HP-bloated enemies to go up against if I bump the difficulty up a bit. Still, it's premature in a way I suppose. Now I know these encounters. And while some of them need balancing (some encounters are more difficult than others even though it feels like they shouldn't be), I guess the game will feel hard at least on the first playthroughs when you don't know what to expect exactly. So I guess that's the way it should be. *rambling*

 

I had a lot of problems at first but like PrimeJunta says, it's a different beast once you learn how things work. I think the combat has a lot of potential to be really fun once the bugs are ironed out. It keeps me active and it can knock you on your ass quickly if you're not paying attention. I'm not a fan of realtime w pause (one of my biggest worries for this game) but the potential here is a lot higher than I expected.

 

The quests so far feel rather... generic I suppose. It's still quality and there is some depth to be found but the quests have definitely not been something I've been amazed by so far. Still, there are choices to be made just in these beta areas which is nice. I suspect it'll feel a bit nicer when you have the overall story and setting behind you in the full game, and you're in full adventuring swing.

[MasterPrudent]

 

So I build a cleric and failed the first convo check and took a short look around. The world is beautiful but I didn't even know what (quest term)

hollowborn

(sp)? meant (had a hunch) so I just thought I'd wait until I can do more reading. Plus it sounds like the next patch is quite anticipated. So I'm probably going to wait to play.

One of the Kickstarter updates mentioned that

hollowborn

are

children born without souls