My Personal comments so far..

[Niccolado]

First I must say that after a few hours only of playing this game give me good vibrations! It looks truly promising! Just a few personal comments though..

Character portraits:
I really love that theres many versions of the same portraits, but I think there is too few portraits and too many of them in profile view! I like full facial pics. Like "passport" type pics.

Character generation:
In my opinion, there is too few choices during physical character generation, clothing styles etc. But I hope that will be added/changed in full version. Would also love to have better rendered characters during this phase. But maybe I am too demanding?

Dice rolls:
Miss the dice rolls! And I think an average of 13 points too little. Maybe increase the number of points depending on difficulty level? Or introduce a chance of increasing the points from start. (And yes, im a powerhungry son of B***H..)

Conversation choices:
Really love that your ansvers depending on your character stats and skills! So thank you for this!!!!

Prices:
Convert prices to "lowest" number. So "grudge-keeper" priced to 12150cp should be changed to 12gp 1sp 50 cp and "Angio's Gambeson" to 6300 cp should be priced 6gp 3sp. Coinage in your inventory chould also reflect this, and not give your total money sum in coppers only.

Well, just a few things I would like to comment on. Small things, but with such a fantastic game, thats what it usually comes down to too!

One thing is sure: I am definitely NOT regretting backing this game!!

 

GOOD WORK!

[Kjaamor]

Prices:

Convert prices to "lowest" number. So "grudge-keeper" priced to 12150cp should be changed to 12gp 1sp 50 cp and "Angio's Gambeson" to 6300 cp should be priced 6gp 3sp. Coinage in your inventory chould also reflect this, and not give your total money sum in coppers only.

 

I don't know how many of them are placeholder systems, but frankly the numerical formats of PoE make me twitch. You cite the shop example. Another example is Cipher focus. A successful Soul Whip provides 5 focus. Cipher spells use focus in multiples of five. Why? Why not have soul whip gain one focus and spells use focus in multiples of one? Also, I strongly dislike the use of fractions in the damage log. Is 0.3hp damage actually calculated within the whole number system? If so, why is it obfuscated? Why not just increase health and damage by a factor of 10? If it is not calculated - and/or is rounded up or down, then why not just state the end product in the damage log?

[Doppelschwert]

They track decimals, josh confirmed that somewhere. Being hit by 0.3, 0.3, 0.4 damage will result in losing 1 point of stamina, at least that's the intended modus operandi.

 

I'd guess it's ultimatively for tracking health damage and all the percentile modifiers.

[Kjaamor]

For me it remains an ugly and arbitrary limit. Why 0.3, 0.3, 0.4? Why not 0.267, 0.301, 0.432?

 

I suppose the real question is why not just round things up and down to numbers that we can see and account for?

[Karkarov]

For me it remains an ugly and arbitrary limit. Why 0.3, 0.3, 0.4? Why not 0.267, 0.301, 0.432?

 

I suppose the real question is why not just round things up and down to numbers that we can see and account for?

I do agree with Kjaamor, I would much rather they just round up to the next number and call it a 1.  If that leads to needing adjustment for the health system then just adjust stam health values slightly to compensate.

[Niccolado]

They track decimals, josh confirmed that somewhere. Being hit by 0.3, 0.3, 0.4 damage will result in losing 1 point of stamina, at least that's the intended modus operandi.

 

I'd guess it's ultimatively for tracking health damage and all the percentile modifiers.

 

Combat and its combat system its something I have not got much experience in so far. But i agree that in full version they should round the damage up or down to the nearest full number. 0.3 damage sounds.... weird, but i guess its done in Beta just to have control of how much damage the opponents really do.

 

Combat system also seems to me a little weird so far. And opponents can be quite difficult - even if I am running the game on novice/easy mode. I guess its a balancing thing. And me personally who have got used to too much dumbed down games lately. And ofcource, I have played the game far too short to give an objective critisism on the combat system. My initial comment would be a little cumbersome, but then too short playtime..

[Sensuki]

Dice rolls:

Miss the dice rolls! And I think an average of 13 points too little. Maybe increase the number of points depending on difficulty level? Or introduce a chance of increasing the points from start. (And yes, im a powerhungry son of B***H..)

Dunno if you noticed, but you can see the dice rolls when you mouse over entries in the combat log.

[Kjaamor]

I think he is referring to the way you could roll for attributes in BG, rather than combat dice rolls.

[Sensuki]

Ah right.

[GreyFox]

I agree about the decimals and currency system...sticking with only coppers is fine I guess but certainly doesn't have a good look or feel for me.

 

As far as the decimals go....just round please or better yet use whole numbers across the board.

 

It is strange how you get %+ damage but something like DT is a non decimal number and weapon damage is as well.

 

So are attributes the only place we get these decimals from?

[Niccolado]

I think he is referring to the way you could roll for attributes in BG, rather than combat dice rolls.

 

Yes. I loved being able to roll the dies. Allrite, maybe it opens for unlimited rerolls, but I feel its a fun part of the game starting with rolling your own character.

[archangel979]

 

I think he is referring to the way you could roll for attributes in BG, rather than combat dice rolls.

 

Yes. I loved being able to roll the dies. Allrite, maybe it opens for unlimited rerolls, but I feel its a fun part of the game starting with rolling your own character.

 

Does not matter in PoE, attributes don't change much in PoE anyways. They influence conversations more than combat

[Kjaamor]

Yes. I loved being able to roll the dies. Allrite, maybe it opens for unlimited rerolls, but I feel its a fun part of the game starting with rolling your own character.

 

I would describe myself as being addicted to it rather than having enjoyed it, but if ever there was an example of degenerative gameplay, then it was spending two hours waiting for a random number generator to roll maximum sixes.

[Niccolado]

First I must say that after a few hours only of playing this game give me good vibrations! It looks truly promising! Just a few personal comments though..

 

Some more added comments as I testplay the game..

 

Combat system feel indeed a little...not sure really. Hampered? I cant seems to find a way to heal my characters. Theres spell for healing stamina but, what about health?? The auto combatsystem for characters does not also seem to work at maximum. That means I need to utilize all the spells manually for each character? I am frequently losing. Even at the very beginning of the game. It might be just that I need to get used to the game, but losing to all enemies tells me im either doing something seriously wrong or that the mobs are seriously powerful. I am running the game on novice/easy level. Hopefully things will change as soon I get more experience in combat. Oh, another thing. The red bloodmist over the character seems to be for the characters stamina and not for the characters health. Intended?

[Gfted1]

Oh Niccolado, youre in for some harsh surprises. (Psst, theres no healing of Health or ressurrection. Because sleeping 8 hours will cure literally everything.)

 

Man, when the general public gets ahold of this game all hell is going to break loose.

[Niccolado]

 

Yes. I loved being able to roll the dies. Allrite, maybe it opens for unlimited rerolls, but I feel its a fun part of the game starting with rolling your own character.

 

I would describe myself as being addicted to it rather than having enjoyed it, but if ever there was an example of degenerative gameplay, then it was spending two hours waiting for a random number generator to roll maximum sixes.

 

 

LOL. True. Still, I felt rolling the dies had a charm. And why not should the patient dieroller have a chance for getting its good stats anyway. Its not that it ruins the game for anyone, and its a fun thing really, which I always asociates with RPGs. Besides, they could have introduced different  choices for attribute generations. One could be the distribution point we have now and another one could be dice rolling. Its a single player game really, so having different ways obtaining stats does not ruin games for anyone, even if they should turn out better/worse for ppl. Besides, some people like the game to be a "cakewalk" just as some people like it to be "suicide" game..

[Niccolado]

Oh Niccolado, youre in for some harsh surprises. (Psst, theres no healing of Health or ressurrection. Because sleeping 8 hours will cure literally everything.)

 

Man, when the general public gets ahold of this game all hell is going to break loose.

 

 

Urm... Ouch.... I guess that means I need to adjust my playstyle...

 

Do anyone know why? Even Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 had healing, so I see no reason why not PoE should have it..

[IndiraLightfoot]

 

Man, when the general public gets ahold of this game all hell is going to break loose.

 

[Sensuki]

You got your Smite-like Paladin ability Gfted1. Josh added it specifically for you

 

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/65025-update-71-the-heavy-hitters-rogues-and-rangers/page-11?do=findComment&comment=1412667

Edited September 8, 2014 by Sensuki

[Gfted1]

 

Oh Niccolado, youre in for some harsh surprises. (Psst, theres no healing of Health or ressurrection. Because sleeping 8 hours will cure literally everything.)

 

Man, when the general public gets ahold of this game all hell is going to break loose.

 

 

Urm... Ouch.... I guess that means I need to adjust my playstyle...

 

Do anyone know why? Even Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 had healing, so I see no reason why not PoE should have it..

 

 

I believe the original intent was to remove "rest spam". The first version of resting was restricted to specific camp spots dotting the landscape but was later revised to allow resting anywhere (outside of combat and close by mooks) but uses a "Camping Supply" in the process (which are stupendously expensive in relation to everything else the innkeeper sells).

 

 

You got your Smite-like Paladin ability Gfted1. Josh added it specifically for you

 

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/65025-update-71-the-heavy-hitters-rogues-and-rangers/page-11?do=findComment&comment=1412667

 

Huh, I didn't know that. Very cool.   Now I have to try it out on my Pally run, whats it called in game?

[Niccolado]

 

 

Oh Niccolado, youre in for some harsh surprises. (Psst, theres no healing of Health or ressurrection. Because sleeping 8 hours will cure literally everything.)

 

Man, when the general public gets ahold of this game all hell is going to break loose.

 

 

Urm... Ouch.... I guess that means I need to adjust my playstyle...

 

Do anyone know why? Even Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 had healing, so I see no reason why not PoE should have it..

 

 

I believe the original intent was to remove "rest spam". The first version of resting was restricted to specific camp spots dotting the landscape but was later revised to allow resting anywhere (outside of combat and close by mooks) but uses a "Camping Supply" in the process (which are stupendously expensive in relation to everything else the innkeeper sells).

 

For me, it seems way too difficult right now. Im in Dyrford ruins, fighting 1 archer of some kind near a bridge inside it, and even if I manually cast all spells and such, my whole party dies to it, even if im fully rested and my main character is a level 5. The others are still at their starting level. My faults im pretty sure, but still its nagging me; how can it possibly be? Its only one! And i got 5. And I die to many others too. Oh well, i guess thats something that will be tuned or fixed or I have to learn to live with it somewho - although I wonder how the difficulty level will be in "suicide" mode..

[Namutree]

 

 

 

 

 

I believe the original intent was to remove "rest spam". The first version of resting was restricted to specific camp spots dotting the landscape but was later revised to allow resting anywhere (outside of combat and close by mooks) but uses a "Camping Supply" in the process (which are stupendously expensive in relation to everything else the innkeeper sells).

 

For me, it seems way too difficult right now. Im in Dyrford ruins, fighting 1 archer of some kind near a bridge inside it, and even if I manually cast all spells and such, my whole party dies to it, even if im fully rested and my main character is a level 5. The others are still at their starting level. My faults im pretty sure, but still its nagging me; how can it possibly be? Its only one! And i got 5. And I die to many others too. Oh well, i guess thats something that will be tuned or fixed or I have to learn to live with it somewho - although I wonder how the difficulty level will be in "suicide" mode..

 

Right now poe is MUCH harder than it's supposed to be. Josh has said that he wants poe to be around BG2 difficulty. That said, keep three things in mind:

 

A) You are using lower level gear than what you would have in the game at this point.

 

B) The game has bugs that make combat tougher than it should be.

 

C) Some people think the difficulty is higher in the beta than it will be in the game to better test mechanics. I don't know if this is true, but it could be.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Namutree

[Gfted1]

For me, it seems way too difficult right now. Im in Dyrford ruins, fighting 1 archer of some kind near a bridge inside it, and even if I manually cast all spells and such, my whole party dies to it, even if im fully rested and my main character is a level 5. The others are still at their starting level. My faults im pretty sure, but still its nagging me; how can it possibly be? Its only one! And i got 5. And I die to many others too. Oh well, i guess thats something that will be tuned or fixed or I have to learn to live with it somewho - although I wonder how the difficulty level will be in "suicide" mode..

I think Ive seen others mention that that is a bug.

 

FYI, the amount of Camping Supplies that you can carry is directly tied to your game difficulty. Easy = more supplies, hard = less. Ive been playing on Easy for that very reason and so far its been just "ok", imo. I find myself not using any per rest abilities because I have to "save up" for when I REALLY need them. If you are getting beat up repeatedly, one method I found to mitigate that is to equip your Rogue, Wiz or Priest with a range weapon, then shoot a mook, then run behind your Fighter, Bard, Pally.

 

For some reason I had it in my head that this was a "feature complete" beta but Sawyer has stated that no AI has been implemented beside the dogpile script so the above method probably wont work in the full game.

[Elerond]

 

Oh Niccolado, youre in for some harsh surprises. (Psst, theres no healing of Health or ressurrection. Because sleeping 8 hours will cure literally everything.)

 

Man, when the general public gets ahold of this game all hell is going to break loose.

 

 

Urm... Ouch.... I guess that means I need to adjust my playstyle...

 

Do anyone know why? Even Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 had healing, so I see no reason why not PoE should have it..

 

Life and Death in the Dyrwood

For today's update, I was supposed to do a lore update, but I decided that I wanted to talk about a specific subject and how lore and mechanics tie into that subject. Today's subjects are LIFE AND DEATH. Project Eternity is a fantasy RPG inspired by several A/D&D-based settings in which death is, for those with means, a temporary setback (for the Nameless One, it's even less problematic). The priests of the Forgotten Realms run around with boatloads of cure x wounds spells, the ability to banish disease, and even the power to bring the dead back to life.

In Project Eternity, prospects are not so bright. And when death comes, some try to stay, some choose to go, but most people believe that once they make the trip to the other side, there is only one way back: to begin a new life.

Common Mortality

Project Eternity's world is one with limited medicine and medical understanding. Unlike many fantasy settings, there is very little access to curative magic. Remedies for health problems often have only a palliative or placebo effect at best, owing their continued use more to folk beliefs and tradition than any basis in scientific methodology. Though soul-based magic has helped the great exploring cultures from suffering massive pandemics and has helped some individuals overcome illness over the long-term, there is no quick magical "cure" for disease or illness. Most people go through life and death in the ordinary way -- unless they put themselves in harm's way, that is.

Stamina and Health

In Project Eternity's combat, players need to be concerned with two elements of a character's vitality: Stamina and Health. The majority of damage a character takes is subtracted from his or her Stamina. Stamina represents how much general abuse a character can take before falling unconscious. Characters lose it quickly and regain it relatively rapidly, even without assistance. Soul-based abilities are able to help replenish or regenerate Stamina and are often used on the battlefield to turn the tide of combat. If a character hits 0 Stamina, he or she is knocked out. Intervention from another character can bring an unconscious character back into a fight.

For players, the Health of their party members is a tether that makes them consider how far they are willing to venture from a safe resting spot. Though Health is typically lost at a lower rate, when the PC or a companion hits 0 Health, he or she is maimed (in standard play) or killed (in Expert mode or as an option in standard play). Magic may help mitigate damage to Health and slow the tide, but once characters have died (in Expert mode), there is no known magic that can bring them back.

A Lottery of Souls

The world belongs to mortals. As time has progressed, mortals have lifted themselves out of ignorance and into ages of increased self-awareness, harnessing the power of their own souls to amazing effect. So... why worship the gods, anyway? For many mortals, worship is a matter of respect and tradition. They consider their gods (or, in some cases, all gods) to be their creators. They follow the guidelines of religion because history tells them that the gods have punished individuals -- and entire nations -- for ancient episodes of religious disrespect and dismissal.

For others, religious worship is a matter of karmic self-interest. Often, people believe that if an individual's soul arrives in the realm of a pleased god, the god will place that soul into the body of someone who will have a good life. To such believers, choosing to not worship or is to risk spiritual confusion and aimlessness in the afterlife. They speculate that the faithless are entered into a "lottery of souls" from which many will wind up no better -- or much worse -- than they did in their last life. Some of the same faiths also believe that religious apostasy or lax observance is a cause of soul splintering upon death, which many consider to be an even worse fate.

Gods for All Seasons

People worship many gods, but usually the ones who are most associated with their way of life. Farmers may worship gods of light, growth, or storms. Warriors worship gods of battle and fortune. Though some faiths are exclusionary, most people will say a prayer to any god when the circumstances are right -- farmers praying to a god of battle when their lands are invaded, warriors praying to a god of growth when they're starving in the wilderness.

Sometimes the same god -- or gods -- may have a different identity in a different part of the world. The most notable is one of the most widely honored, if not warmly embraced. Called Berath in Aedyran and Cirono in Vailian, it is the god of cycles, of doors, and of life and death itself. People commonly place or carve the figure of Berath in doorways, windows, and other "portals" from one place to another, figurative or literal.

In Eír Glanfath's ruins, explorers have discovered two common figures, Caoth i Bhád and Bád i Caothaí (Life in Death and Death in Life, respectively), semi-skeletal female and male figures who occupy positions opposite each other in doorways -- like a twinned display of the split aspects of Berath/Cirono.

Necromancy

Despite the assumed natural cycle of things, there are individuals in the world of Project Eternity who either want to know more about that cycle or who choose to alter that cycle. Broadly speaking, "necromancy" refers to any attempt to do either, whether that involves speaking with the soul of a dead mortal, attempting to tap into the unconscious past lives of a living soul, or to bind soul energy or a complete soul inside of a dead body.

These acts are viewed with differing levels of criticism depending on the culture. Many folk share the interest of necromancers and would like to understand more about the eternal cycle, but are also afraid of what they might learn. Some extremists are opposed to any and all necromancy, and tales say that a quiet and powerful cult that has worked for centuries to discredit, trap, and even murder necromancers for their efforts. To the people who oppose necromancy with such violent passion, mortal understanding should have limits, and they fear the consequences for the world should those limits be unraveled.

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity/posts/328976

[morhilane]

 

 

 

Oh Niccolado, youre in for some harsh surprises. (Psst, theres no healing of Health or ressurrection. Because sleeping 8 hours will cure literally everything.)

 

Man, when the general public gets ahold of this game all hell is going to break loose.

 

 

Urm... Ouch.... I guess that means I need to adjust my playstyle...

 

Do anyone know why? Even Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 had healing, so I see no reason why not PoE should have it..

 

 

I believe the original intent was to remove "rest spam". The first version of resting was restricted to specific camp spots dotting the landscape but was later revised to allow resting anywhere (outside of combat and close by mooks) but uses a "Camping Supply" in the process (which are stupendously expensive in relation to everything else the innkeeper sells).

 

For me, it seems way too difficult right now. Im in Dyrford ruins, fighting 1 archer of some kind near a bridge inside it, and even if I manually cast all spells and such, my whole party dies to it, even if im fully rested and my main character is a level 5. The others are still at their starting level. My faults im pretty sure, but still its nagging me; how can it possibly be? Its only one! And i got 5. And I die to many others too. Oh well, i guess thats something that will be tuned or fixed or I have to learn to live with it somewho - although I wonder how the difficulty level will be in "suicide" mode..

 

 

Did you check your combat log to know what is going on? If all your characters attacks result in "weapon ineffective" it's going to be a really slow fight (and this might be a known bug or you really should think to switch weapons against it).