392 Discussion

[Luckmann]

How much do you know about the Lead Designer?

 

Sawyer? On a personal level, practically nothing. Like most, I don't think I know more than his credits and the general impression from interviews and such. Ultimately little more than his Wikipedia entry, really.

 

...actually a bit more than that, because his Wikipedia entry is shallow as all hell.

[Few]

A quick question. Does anybody know if there are going to be more portraits when the game is released? I feel like there just aren't enough at the moment.

[Luckmann]

A quick question. Does anybody know if there are going to be more portraits when the game is released? I feel like there just aren't enough at the moment.

 

There'll practically have to be. I'm not sure if it's confirmed anywhere, but there really should be a lot more portraits. I especially like the ones that look-the-same-but-not-really, like the female Nature Godlike. I think that the entire library of portraits should be like that.

[Sensuki]

Sawyer? On a personal level, practically nothing. Like most, I don't think I know more than his credits and the general impression from interviews and such. Ultimately little more than his Wikipedia entry, really.

 

...actually a bit more than that, because his Wikipedia entry is shallow as all hell.

Unfortunately the search function on this site sucks and only shows like the last year's worth of entries, but he's made a lot of posts on here and on Something Awful that explain a lot as to why the game is the way it is/why things are designed the way they are.

 

2012-2013 has probably the best lot of 'conceptual' posts by him but today they are hard to search.

 

 

A quick question. Does anybody know if there are going to be more portraits when the game is released? I feel like there just aren't enough at the moment.

 

There'll practically have to be. I'm not sure if it's confirmed anywhere, but there really should be a lot more portraits. I especially like the ones that look-the-same-but-not-really, like the female Nature Godlike. I think that the entire library of portraits should be like that.

 

Those are the ones I like the least, simply because the art is worse than the others. The ones done by Kaz and Lindsey Laney are the best ones.

 

I'm not sure how many more portraits they'll be able to do. They take quite a bit of time.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Sensuki

[Nakia]

Josh Sawyer grew up in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.  He majored in history but also did some theater.  Moved to California and became a web designer.  Oh He was born in Oct. 1975.  I am sure everyone knows he was project director and lead designer for Fallout New Vegas.  One of my favorite games.  Plus he released a mod made for himself tweaking the game and adding  bit to it.

[Sensuki]

The absolute BEST thing about this patch for me is changing the Formation Rotate Function to behave exactly the same as the Infinity Engine games, I can now naturally path around areas exactly the same as my muscle memory is used to
 

[Luckmann]

Unfortunately the search function on this site sucks and only shows like the last year's worth of entries, but he's made a lot of posts on here and on Something Awful that explain a lot as to why the game is the way it is/why things are designed the way they are.

 

2012-2013 has probably the best lot of 'conceptual' posts by him but today they are hard to search.

Is that why he's notably absent from the Obsidian forums these days? It just feels so odd that he'd have a larger presence when it comes to reporting on the game and giving feedback on a completely different, pay-to-participate (or even read) forum than on the dedicated forums meant specifically for playtesting and player-to-developer (and vice versa) feedback and discussion.

[Sensuki]

I can't speak to that but he's been a member of SA since 2001 and he plays Ars Magicka with a bunch of dudes from badgame.net - those are his recreational forums. We don't really know how often Obsidian devs read these forums, but Matt Sheets, NCarver and BMac seem to read the forums pretty often. Most opinions probably get filtered through QA, if anything.
 

The devs seem pretty busy working on the game and they don't really have anyone hired specifically to deal with feedback like inXile and Larian do. But sure, their communication could be a bit better.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Sensuki

[Sensuki]

 

 

I've been tweaking a lot of combat values over the past few days and damage output has mellowed out overall, especially for enemies. That said, Shielding Touch (a Talent you can take for the Shieldbearers of St. Elcga) adds a Deflection bonus with the HoT from Lay on Hands.

[Luckmann]

 

I've been tweaking a lot of combat values over the past few days and damage output has mellowed out overall, especially for enemies. That said, Shielding Touch (a Talent you can take for the Shieldbearers of St. Elcga) adds a Deflection bonus with the HoT from Lay on Hands.

 

I really appreciate stuff like that, Sensuki, but damn it really annoys me that that is exactly the kind of conversation that should really be taking place here.

[Sensuki]

I paid the $9.95 USD to access Something Awful just so I could have a direct line in. Worth the money. Usually if I have a question it gets answered within a day or so on there (moreso since the beta began).

 

If you want to be 'in the know', I also recommend following the RPGCodex thread, because I and others post everything PE related there: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/pillars-of-eternity-beta-release-thread.93694/page-285

Edited January 6, 2015 by Sensuki

[Ashen Rohk]

I would rather sand my own balls off than sign up to RPG Codex. You like any game after 2005 and you're treated like you have leprosy.

 

I do find it a bit weird that somewhere other than their own forums is where you get the most interaction.

[Sensuki]

You like any game after 2005 and you're treated like you have leprosy.

 

Not true. I like The Witcher, Mass Effect 2, Titan Quest, Path of Exile, Knights of the Chalice, Shadowrun Returns, Expeditions: Conquistador among others (in the RPG category) but there is a general overtone of tragic romanticism about the state of gaming in general on the Codex, and it's something that I think is true as well. Because games are big business now, everything is made for money / for the lowest common denominator and actual quality of gameplay suffers across the board in pretty much all genres. There's also the fact that AAA games are geared towards consoles, and diehard PC users are often frustrated having to settle for console-geared controls, interfaces and no PC optimization.

 

The codex actually doesn't have a prejudice - doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, everyone gets a kick in the balls

Edited January 6, 2015 by Sensuki

[archangel979]

If you want to be 'in the know', I also recommend following the RPGCodex thread, because I and others post everything PE related there: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/pillars-of-eternity-beta-release-thread.93694/page-285

This topic is what I watch often although I am not a member there. I have learned all kinds of details about the game from there, these official forums are laughable when compared.

[Hormalakh]

josh had stated previously that the official forums don't work for him at home (where he usually posts) and that he checks the obsidian forums at work.

 

this might have changed - I'm not sure

[PrimeJunta]

The codex actually doesn't have a prejudice - doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, everyone gets a kick in the balls

 

Yes, in addition to its other fine qualities, it is a bit of a sausage party. Even more than this place.

[Hormalakh]

what are you talking about? the rpgcodex accepts all the refuse of the world: we've got men, women (one of which is a moderator), trannies, furries, some are horses (andy...), etc etc. if I'm not mistaken we've got a tranny pornstar too 

 

rpgcodex is the Sigil of RPG gaming forums.

Edited January 7, 2015 by Hormalakh

[Sensuki]

Inclusive without being INKLUSIVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEE

[Luckmann]

josh had stated previously that the official forums don't work for him at home (where he usually posts) and that he checks the obsidian forums at work.

 

this might have changed - I'm not sure

...how could that even be true? It's very basic forum software, and if the forums meant for feedback doesn't work for the Lead Designer, that's a pretty serious issue that they should take a look at.

 

Inclusive without being INKLUSIVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEE

Groups that need to market their "inclusiveness" tend to be the same groups that are as exclusive as they can possibly be, and takes issue with the fact that they don't get enough attention for how exclusive and special they are.

 

They take serious issue with the fact that the most offensive and blunt tend to be the ones that genuinely doesn't give a ****.

[PrimeJunta]

what are you talking about? the rpgcodex accepts all the refuse of the world: we've got men, women (one of which is a moderator), trannies, furries, some are horses (andy...), etc etc. if I'm not mistaken we've got a tranny pornstar too 

 

And a founding member whose avatar is an SS officer, and at least one regular who I'm pretty sure is an actual neo-Nazi and is not Cleveland Mark Blakemore who is uncategorizable. Which is clearly all in good fun and not at all in poor taste because hey look, one of the mods is Jewish.

 

Srsly though, I have massive mixed feelings about the Codex. It is a wretched hive of scum and villainy -- really, it is -- but it also has some of the best discussions on RPG's anywhere. But it is like diving for pearls in a pool of pigshït and radioactive waste. I.e., you had better make damn sure your drysuit is entirely 100% impermeable.

[Hormalakh]

 

what are you talking about? the rpgcodex accepts all the refuse of the world: we've got men, women (one of which is a moderator), trannies, furries, some are horses (andy...), etc etc. if I'm not mistaken we've got a tranny pornstar too 

 

And a founding member whose avatar is an SS officer, and at least one regular who I'm pretty sure is an actual neo-Nazi and is not Cleveland Mark Blakemore who is uncategorizable. Which is clearly all in good fun and not at all in poor taste because hey look, one of the mods is Jewish.

 

Srsly though, I have massive mixed feelings about the Codex. It is a wretched hive of scum and villainy -- really, it is -- but it also has some of the best discussions on RPG's anywhere. But it is like diving for pearls in a pool of pigshït and radioactive waste. I.e., you had better make damn sure your drysuit is entirely 100% impermeable.

 

 

it's so interesting how everyone is FOR freedom of expression until someone expresses an idea that they find abhorrent.

 

i'll stop talking about the codex now - keeping discussions on topic and all...

 

I finally got a chance to play the beta for a few minutes today. A few things right off the bat:

 

1- I really like the new UI and some of the design choices that they've made in that regard. It seems like when it comes to IE-feel, Obsidian may be getting the hang of it when it comes to UI/design choices. The feedback is starting to come together, though it needs a few tweaks here and there. I guess kudos to Kaz and anyone else involved with this.

 

2- Bugs still abound. In my five minutes of play, I've found that that I can't sell ingredients at shops from my stash (unsure if I'm supposed to be allowed to because they have actual prices instead of 0 cc and the stash allows me access to the ingredients which not allowing me access to the quest). Orlan head 2 also doesn't work. However, stability has greatly improved - at least for 64-bit computers. I no longer fear going from map to map and losing everything. Things are less wonky than they used to be, etc.

 

3- Combat on normal is starting to feel a little better. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination and it's still not ~fun to play~. So far, I am getting the impression that PoE will likely play better as an interactive story more than a game, but again there is still time to make adjustments. I'll hold my final judgments until release.

 

4- The music is still incredibly grating. I would hope that there is a way to import music tracks into the game so I can play the game with IWD or BG2 music playing in the background. That would be quite awesome. Otherwise, I think I'm going to keep the music to a minimum. For more useful feedback, I get incredibly tired of listening to the music. listener fatigue or whatever. And the music doesn't really fit the scenes, in my opinion. When I think of Dyrford, I think of a sleepy little village with some underlying evil (underground temples etc). The music doesn't really fit that and it's just constantly playing and playing and playing... Perhaps breaks between musical pieces would be helpful to give the listener a break. Combat music is still too invasive as well. And there's been the comments made about voice volume control so I won't repeat them here.

Edited January 7, 2015 by Hormalakh

[Luckmann]

 

what are you talking about? the rpgcodex accepts all the refuse of the world: we've got men, women (one of which is a moderator), trannies, furries, some are horses (andy...), etc etc. if I'm not mistaken we've got a tranny pornstar too 

 

And a founding member whose avatar is an SS officer, and at least one regular who I'm pretty sure is an actual neo-Nazi and is not Cleveland Mark Blakemore who is uncategorizable. Which is clearly all in good fun and not at all in poor taste because hey look, one of the mods is Jewish.

 

Srsly though, I have massive mixed feelings about the Codex. It is a wretched hive of scum and villainy -- really, it is -- but it also has some of the best discussions on RPG's anywhere. But it is like diving for pearls in a pool of pigshït and radioactive waste. I.e., you had better make damn sure your drysuit is entirely 100% impermeable.

 

 

Highlights mine. And those are, like, the four best things about the RPGCodex.

 

Hell, Sawyer should frequent RPGCodex and take input from there, not the castle of self-importance that is SomethingAwful.

 

This discussion has reminded me that I really should go see if my old RPGCodex account is still floating around...

 

Edit: Well balls, still registered, but don't have the password anymore, and it's registered to an old e-mail that is defunct. Eh, guess I'll contact the admins, like.. sometime.

Edited January 7, 2015 by Luckmann

[Sensuki]

 

 

It's so interesting how everyone is FOR freedom of expression until someone expresses an idea that they find abhorrent.

 

^

[PrimeJunta]

it's so interesting how everyone is FOR freedom of expression until someone expresses an idea that they find abhorrent.

 

i'll stop talking about the codex now - keeping discussions on topic and all...

 

Freedom of expression includes the freedom to express an objection to an expression. The Codex has extremely strong social prohibitions to certain types of expression. They're just different than those of society at large, which means all the neo-Nazis, homophobes, misogynists, and other assorted neckbeards feel right at home there, while qq'ing about their freeze peach and the ebul femminists and Anita Sarkeesian suppressing and oppressing them everywhere else.

 

Here's a little thought experiment for you, Hormalakh. Create a new account on the Codex, and start a thread about how Sarkeesian is right about a lot of things. You'll see just how much freedom of expression the Codex has.

[Hormalakh]

Also the game has some really nice graphical changes that I enjoyed. The temple at the beginning of the game has changed - that was nice.

Edited January 7, 2015 by Hormalakh