Backer Beta Build 333 is live!

[Sensuki]

XP rewards still aren't perfect - Lock and Trap XP needs to go and Exploration XP needs a re-think as well IMO. 

[Stun]

I'm ambivalent about Lock XP, but Trap XP is something I support wholeheartedly. Traps are 'hostile' elements of adventuring. In a good RPG they constitute a direct threat. It makes sense that the party be rewarded for choosing to deal with that threat. As for Exploration XP... I'll take it. The IE games didn't have it but whatever. If a game is going to focus on exploration, then it makes sense that the character growth process be tied to it.

 

As for Bestiary XP....well.... baby steps. They're on the right path here. I have yet to do a run with Beta ver. 333 so I'll reserve full judgment until I do. But it sounds like a decent middle ground between people who want XP for every kill vs. People who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia whenever the spectre of "grinding" shows up.

Edited October 27, 2014 by Stun

[Sensuki]

In PE you recover the traps though, that's the reward for disarming them.

 

I think Exploration XP should be dealt differently. XP rewarded for just entering a map is plain dumb. The XP should be rewarded for uncovering the map's secrets - the hidden stashes, solving puzzles, scripted interaction stuff, finding a certain hidden encounter on the map etc

[BAdler]

 

 

EDIT: I forgot to add that the Mac build is now available for download from Steam! The Linux build still has a problem with loading and unloading asset bundles. Unity knows about the issue and we will release the Linux build once they post a fix. Thanks for the patience.

 

Incredible. Any ETA? Another month?

 

Unfortunately, it isn't something that Obsidian has the ability to fix directly without completely redoing how we are loading and unloading assets. I will give more information as I get more info from Adam.

[PrimeHydra]

Honestly, if you want to play games, install Windows. It's great when publishers aim to support Linux, but expecting them to make it a high priority is just silly. Dual boot Windows/Linux FTW.

[Foolmonkey]

Any extras you find should be a reward in itself (items, extra quest, esthetically pleasing scenery) Exploration xp is a horrible idea. It encourages us to run around to every environment we can just to level our character but have absolutely no reason to be there.

 

A bestiary is neat, but a detailed pokedex that gives xp in this game feels bad. After I fill my pokedex with Lion info, I'll just stealth around every lion I see from now on because they don't give me anything? KISS, like the Torment list. Simple pictures, clever paragraph you read, and never go back to it again.

 

Giving no killing xp is also a horrible idea. Why not keep the IE guidelines and let the classic feel of the game shine through!? Kill something, grab some xp. You could gradually reduce the xp amount per creature so grinding would be less of an issue.

[Stun]

Any extras you find should be a reward in itself (items, extra quest, esthetically pleasing scenery) Exploration xp is a horrible idea. It encourages us to run around to every environment we can just to level our character but have absolutely no reason to be there.

3 things. First, Obsidian has said, and repeated, that Exploration will be a focus of this game. So if you see no reason to explore, then this is the wrong game for you.

 

Second, This is not an either/or, nor should it ever be. The rewards for exploration should be all of the above. Exp, loot, scenery, discoveries, quests, combat, humor, terror, gaming memories etc. etc. I've yet to see a good argument made that eliminating any of these makes for a better gaming experience.

 

Third, I doubt there will be enough exploration XP to make a substantial difference in the grand scheme of things. That is to say, one who decides not to explore every single map will probably not end the game tragically under-leveled, or whatever the worry is.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Stun

[Sensuki]

I don't think rewarding players for just entering an area is a good idea though. The XP rewards should be for finding things IN the area - such as the hidden caches and specific locations / encounters.

 

In the Dyrford Crossing for example, instead of XP for entering the area, XP should be rewarded for finding the hidden compartment in the Ruins wall, getting to the body with the note through the spider cave, finding the dungeon entrance and perhaps finding the Menpwgra/Forest Lurker encounter.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Sensuki

[prodigydancer]

Giving no killing xp is also a horrible idea.

And so we start yet another round of this discussion. )

[Foolmonkey]

I've yet to see a good argument made that eliminating any of these makes for a better gaming experience.

 

Third, I doubt there will be enough exploration XP to make a substantial difference in the grand scheme of things. That is to say, one who decides not to explore every single map will probably not end the game tragically under-leveled, or whatever the worry is.

 

Well you help make the point right there! If it doesn't add much to leveling, then dont put it in the game. Keep it simple!

 

Exploring is great, and I will be all over the maps to see artwork, find quests, and hidden items. Throwing miniscule xp my way for walking down path #2 feels like preschool.

[GreyFox]

Not all traps are nor should they be recoverable though...disarm a pressure plate that drops a boulder...yea let me take that boulder with me...

 

Recovering a disarmed trap as a reward is lame, much lamer than a small amount of XP for clearing it.

[Sensuki]

BG1, IWD1 didn't have trap xp - worked much better there.

[Marceror]

 

 

I've yet to see a good argument made that eliminating any of these makes for a better gaming experience.

Third, I doubt there will be enough exploration XP to make a substantial difference in the grand scheme of things. That is to say, one who decides not to explore every single map will probably not end the game tragically under-leveled, or whatever the worry is.

Well you help make the point right there! If it doesn't add much to leveling, then dont put it in the game. Keep it simple!

Exploring is great, and I will be all over the maps to see artwork, find quests, and hidden items. Throwing miniscule xp my way for walking down path #2 feels like preschool.

Disagree that this helps make the point. All he saying is that the additional xp won't unbalance the game. That's not an argument for removing it. Gaining xp is a positive experience in a game like this, but you want the amounts to be in balance. So what we're seeing here seems to be all good. Edited October 28, 2014 by Marceror

[Stun]

Well you help make the point right there! If it doesn't add much to leveling, then dont put it in the game. Keep it simple!

Aah. You're one of those gamers. I believe Bioware used that same logic to justify the homogenous blandness of the Dragon Age games. For example, there isn't much functional difference between a mace and a hammer, therefore, lets eliminate one of them. Then lets go down the list and do that with everything. Don't need 11 character classes when 3 will suffice. Don't need 7 races when we can make do with just one. etc.

 

That's called Streamlining. It's a cancer on everything that RPGs stand for.

[Stun]

BG1, IWD1 didn't have trap xp - worked much better there.

No it didn't. BG2 is a better game.

[cb.spike]

So MAC build. Anyone was able to launch it? It shows Pillars of Eternity icon for like one second and then nothing. No game, no error, nothing. Any idea what to do?

[Sensuki]

No it didn't. BG2 is a better game.

Yes it did, you just want an XP reward for everything you do in the game.

 

BG2 is a better game, but not because of Lock and Trap XP. That is a regression.

 

I leave Lock and Trap XP in when I play because the game was designed around it, but I would not like to see it's return.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Sensuki

[Quantics]

So MAC build. Anyone was able to launch it? It shows Pillars of Eternity icon for like one second and then nothing. No game, no error, nothing. Any idea what to do?

 

See here for a workaround:

 

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/69151-yosemite-mac-crash/

 

The game executable is located in:

/Users/YOURNAME/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity - Public Beta/

[Ineth]

Honestly, if you want to play games, install Windows.

 

No.

[DarkDemonSoul]

Just give us XP for kills already! We all know it's heading that way anyway.

[mrmonocle]

I like how the skills are coupled up with the feats in this update. Makes sense.

[Alupinu]

Little late in the down load of the beta but so far great stuff!!

[prodigydancer]

Just give us XP for kills already! We all know it's heading that way anyway.

No it's not. Morover the latest poll results show that that kill XP proponents are nothing but a vocal minority.

[STiAT]

 

EDIT: I forgot to add that the Mac build is now available for download from Steam! The Linux build still has a problem with loading and unloading asset bundles. Unity knows about the issue and we will release the Linux build once they post a fix. Thanks for the patience.

 

Ohhhhh . Hopefully soon .

[Zakaste]

Very enjoyable update, combat better, quests can now be completed, Lle a Rhemen fun to blast through. Unfortunately, Dyrford Ruins not accessable (at least for me) due to repeat crash issues. More on this with logs in the bug forum.