Next PAX Panel

[BAdler]

Hey, everyone. We will be giving a panel at PAX East that is similar to the one we gave at PAX South. Are there any specific things that you would like to see in a panel of that format? I can't promise that we will be able to fulfill every request, but it will give us some good ideas when we are brainstorming. Thanks.

[Magnificate]

Focus on one of the companions. Perhaps Sagani, whom we already saw joining the team? Or Aloth, one of the earliest companions?

[Labadal]

Hey, everyone. We will be giving a panel at PAX East that is similar to the one we gave at PAX South. Are there any specific things that you would like to see in a panel of that format? I can't promise that we will be able to fulfill every request, but it will give us some good ideas when we are brainstorming. Thanks.

-Don't feel pressured while playing (Easier said than done, I'd crap my pants.)

-Tell the audience that the party you are using is not the party you would likely use in the game. Say it's custom made. Not everyone has a grip of this.

-I'd love to see some stronghold mechanics.

-Maybe show off how crafting and stuff is done.

-Maybe talk a bit about the audio, but maybe Justin would have to be there.

 

What I would REALLY like to know:

-How was it to work with the backer content. Did it feel like it took a lot of time from other things you wanted to do and so on. Would you offer rewards like this for your next Kickstarter game?

-How significant are backer NPCs? Are they just filler crowd?

-Talk a bit about some ideas that had to be cut from the game, that we might see in the expansion.

[Leferd]

I'd like to see some actual roleplaying scenarios with consequences. Obviously it shouldn't be critical path, but atleast a good example of repercussions of your choices. Maybe some additional cool scripted interactions.

[Nonek]

I'm afraid I personally can't think of a thing, but the PAX south panel seemed very relaxed, enjoyable and informative so perhaps a repetition of what you did there. Good luck anyway chaps.

[Rhaeg]

I am new here, late to the party but an old IE fan, have seen quite a bit of footage over the past few days and with that in mind I would suggest the following, for what it's worth:

 

- Forget about story and anything text-based. It doesn't come across well in such a quick presentation and clicking through text at high velocity won't get you any new fans. It won't hurt mentioning that this game is heavy on story and dialogue of course. It is a strong point of an RPG like this one, after all;

- Showing companions is equally meaningless, at least showing them in game would be. Exploring these characters takes time and I would not want to be spoiled ahead of time anyway. Some kind of short slideshow presentation (a cool picture, some summary of their backgrounds) of the NPCs that might join you on your adventure could work though;

- Crafting is still a bit vague to me, but I could easily have missed stuff about that. Haven't seen much of it in videos yet though;

- A stronghold event could be nice to show. I've read about them and wouldn't mind seeing something of that play out on screen;

- I would like to know more about customizing the looks of my characters after character creation. How do the looks change from lower to higher level? Some companion characters seems to start out with personal armor, but does this gear lvl up with them? Can you retain a companion's special look throughout the game (as far as gear goes)?

- Show combat. I know it has been shown before, but since it is hard to show text-based story stuff, you pretty much have to focus on combat for a part of a quick presentation. Combat is a significant part of the game anyway:

     - IE style combat is usually pretty slow, so please have someone play who knows what they're doing. Make use of all the characters in the party (having characters standing around doing nothing looks bad), don't spend too much time thinking about what to do next and do anything else you can to keep the action going;

     - Let the person who is controlling the fight tell the audience what (s)he is doing. If you're new to this kind of game, it'll quickly look like meaningless or incomprehensible clicking. You don't have the visuals of a Dragon Age:Inquisition, so explain the tactics;

     - Perhaps you could show how an 'unusual' party fares in a hard fight: how does a party without a heavy armor character survive against a hard-hitting foe? It seems to be something you want to be possible in this game, but I am guessing it is hard for many people to believe such a thing could work: everyone is used to the tank-healer-dps trinity these days.

 

These are just some suggestions, I am pretty ok with waiting a few weeks and seeing what the game is like for myself

[bigsun123]

I'd like to see some writing spells and managing of multiple grimores for a wizard, unless someone has already shown that and I've missed it.

[Leferd]

Maybe showcase just how cool it is to play a cipher. See some of their unique dialogue options as well as their combat abilities.

[Marky]

I just want you guys to have fun, I enjoyed how laid back the last panel was.

[Quadrone]

I don't know how much time you have for the demonstration, so not all of this might be doable but here's my idea:

As the questions asked on the last panel showed there's still plenty people who know little about PoE, so you should give them a little tour showing all the basics AND the highpoints PoE has to offer.

 

Instead of showing random battle segments, start of at the beginning:

- Show some character creation and all the options you have there.

- Show off the stronghold, how you can upgrade it and get visitors there.

- Show a minor boss battle so you can show off abilities and spells on fewer enemies that don't drop dead immediately.

- Finally, show some choice and consequence and skill usage through dialogue.

 

Like this us longtime fans see new stuff and newcomers don't get the impression PoE is all about dungeon delving.

[Sensuki]

I'd like to hear more from some of the other developers a bit more tbh. While it's obvious that Josh is 'more equipped' than most of you to answer most questions, it would be nice to hear a bit more from the rest of you how you feel about the game, what you like about it, what you think you could have done better. People on the Codex (where ᴲ The "Church of Cain") were disappointed that Tim barely said a word.

It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to show the public some companion dialogue as that's the main thing that most people play your games for right ?

[Leferd]

I'd like to hear more from some of the other developers a bit more tbh. While it's obvious that Josh is 'more equipped' than most of you to answer most questions, it would be nice to hear a bit more from the rest of you how you feel about the game, what you like about it, what you think you could have done better. People on the Codex (where ᴲ The "Church of Cain") were disappointed that Tim barely said a word.

 

It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to show the public some companion dialogue as that's the main thing that most people play your games for right ?

Heh. Collective butthurt of the Hivemind for the Cainnites?

[Lephys]

Yeah. Maybe go through and try to handpick some situations that would be as spoiler-free as possible, just to show the reactivity of the dialogue and such. Even if it's not "Look, here's where your specific companion, Steve, might leave your group if you say the wrong thing!", people like to hear about the super-general "how things are going to work," then see a concrete example of that working in action to solidify their idea of what they can look forward to when they play the game. Just as combat shows off the potential of the combat-related mechanics, character builds, etc., some other strategically-chosen examples of systems (others have mentioned crafting, etc.) would be very nice.

 

General exploration, general ways in which you can interact with a quest in a given situation/how quests will pan out, strongholdian things and how they'll affect other gameplay, companions and their dialogues/relationships with the main character. Maybe even minor stuff, like some examples of the effects of race/background on some dialogue options. Again, even if it's minor stuff you're showing as an example, it gives people a frame of reference. You can show a minor effect of being an Elf, or having a certain Lore score, then tell people "There'll be a lot more places where it'll affect the outcome even more, but we don't want to spoil them." Then people go all "Oooooh!" because they can imagine that, without it being some nebulous "well, sometimes it'll affect things."

[danielkx]

If there are any mini games please show those.

 

As someone said earlier, anything to do with crafting.

[Sensuki]

Oh yeah, it would be nice to see Ondra's Gift 

[cmergler]

Actually you could combine two of the wishes/suggestions made by other posters and show how you upgrade a companion's unique armor or weapon by crafting. Two birds with one stone!

[TrueMenace]

Have Josh Sawyer play out the encounters, not Brandon Adler. 

 

I want to see a very hard encounter where Josh walks us through every decision he makes and why, what spells he is using, why is using it.

 

Showcase the tactical gaming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lord Wafflebum]

MOAR STRONGHOLD.

 

Mayhaps what you can do with idle party member adventures, or a bandit attack on the stronghold?

[Falkon Swiftblade]

If you have time, I'd like to see a quest done different ways similar to what you did in the last demo to see how the party responds to you, or maybe actually an example of how others respond to you because of a certain reputation you have developed.

 

Also, lets see some crafting of foodstuffs and an item. (I'm assuming we can craft armors and things? Can we name them? that would be cool!) 

 

Questions: Are crafted items better or worse than random drops? Will there be more than 1 best weapon of the game? If you have time, please create a talking weapon like the few that were in BG games!

 

Also, maybe discuss how a high level character will play vs a lower level character of the same type so we can understand the character evolution. I think it's fairly easy to understand how a high level wizard would play out, but what would a high level monk or chanter be great at for example?

[Karkarov]

Just show some new maps, nothing story specific, maybe show off the crafting a bit, perhaps a new backer tavern?  Main thing is have fun with it and just show off how much you love the game itself.  At the end maybe a brief like slide show giving some details on some of the companions with some concept art etc.  Maybe hold a few really cool ones back too.

[Luckmann]

 

Otters? D:

 

[Lord Wafflebum]

Luckmann brings up a good point.

 

I was promised horses by BMac. I have yet to see any sign of them. I want to see glorious horses being glorious all over. If I don't see evidence of horses soon, I may just have to start a thread about how Josh Sawyer is ruining RPG's and is probably a terrible person.

 

I may be spending too much time on the Codex...

[Starwars]

Maybe a quest or part of a quest? It'd be good if you chose a quest that had very different outcomes and consequences. Finish it one way, then maybe reload and finish it another way and talk a bit about what would change, which other ways one could go about it etc.

I dunno how to show off a game like PoE for a live-crowd like in PAX. The skeleton army was obviously well-received so I dunno, maybe show off some funny "oooh yeah!" stuff like that. Or just go somewhere and kill everyone (or try to) in a regular area.

 

For the future, I think it'd be great to have a few more streams with Josh like the one a while back. Or someone who is good at the game and just have him play a bit. Maybe explain a bit more about reputations and stuff like that while playing. I like that it was relaxed and you get a good view of how the game might play when just... well, sitting down and playing it. Really enjoyed that.

[TheisEjsing]

I think PAX south was entertaining, so keep the funny comments up for sure. Many good suggestions here, but one thing I think you lacked in PAX south and most of your presentations is equipment. Equipment was really important in the IE games, so it could be cool, if you showed some awesome stuff to the potential buyers and backers. Show an awesome armor, a cool sword or bow. People like cool loot!

[ManifestedISO]

 

Maybe showcase just how cool it is to play a cipher.

 

It's not cool, it's cold as ice being a cipher. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw8_ZZviedI