Next PAX Panel

[Leferd]

 

 

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

 

 

Well played sir.

 

Signed,

 

Leferd --Pariah of the Obsidian Order

[DarkWanderer]

I asked this questions not long ago in another topic, but this is unknown info so far, so it would be cool if Josh (or whoever will be presenting) answer them during PAX:

 

1.) How looks companion advancement at the beginning of their membership in our party: let say we have party where everyone is at level 7, then we meet another companion and want to add him/her to our team - what level will he/she have - is it fixed level for specific character (eg. Sagani will always join as with lvl 6) or their level will scale to our - so it'll also be at level 7? And then - we can only influence this companion advancement from that point or can we distribute their talents  starting from level 1 (maybe there will be feature in the options to enable/disable auto-levelling)?

 

2.) Are there any possibility/plans of adding 3 more companions (barbarian,rogue,monk) to the game - maybe in DLC/expansion pack?  As the mercenary creation feature is awsome, and i will use it surely on my n-playthrough , it is always better to have some companions with actual "soul and character" - especially in this type of game.

 

3.) How strong impact have our actions on the companions? Eg. playing as a good guy, while having paladin from "dark" order as a companion will affect his talents - or just what he says? I know that this matters when our main char is paladin, but is it true for companions as well? Can companions leave us if they dont share our means/perspective? 

[Cluas]

I would like to see Justin Bell in the panel, but I know he is way too busy...

 

But hey, you guys did great at SOUTH, so I just hope you will have fun, and enjoy...

[Few]

I think Mr. Sawyer does a really awesome job at talking through stuff when you are doing the gameplay demonstration. So just more of that would be cool

[Labadal]

Another thing I'd like to hear about, how important are factions and how much does it change the quests that are available to you?

[Naith1]

Also wanna see Justin Bell talking about his inspiration in creating soundtrack for PoE 

[Luckmann]

I asked this questions not long ago in another topic, but this is unknown info so far, so it would be cool if Josh (or whoever will be presenting) answer them during PAX:

 

1.) How looks companion advancement at the beginning of their membership in our party: let say we have party where everyone is at level 7, then we meet another companion and want to add him/her to our team - what level will he/she have - is it fixed level for specific character (eg. Sagani will always join as with lvl 6) or their level will scale to our - so it'll also be at level 7? And then - we can only influence this companion advancement from that point or can we distribute their talents  starting from level 1 (maybe there will be feature in the options to enable/disable auto-levelling)?

 

2.) Are there any possibility/plans of adding 3 more companions (barbarian,rogue,monk) to the game - maybe in DLC/expansion pack?  As the mercenary creation feature is awsome, and i will use it surely on my n-playthrough , it is always better to have some companions with actual "soul and character" - especially in this type of game.

 

3.) How strong impact have our actions on the companions? Eg. playing as a good guy, while having paladin from "dark" order as a companion will affect his talents - or just what he says? I know that this matters when our main char is paladin, but is it true for companions as well? Can companions leave us if they dont share our means/perspective? 

 

On 3), I would be extremely (and pleasantly) surprised if the companions exhibited individualistic behaviour such as leaving if they don't share your outlook. With only 8 companions in the entire game, there isn't a lot of wiggle room for things like that without severely mechanically cripple people for roleplaying as a given brand of douchery or playing by certain concepts.

 

I think that's pretty sad from a roleplaying perspective, but it is the route they have unfortunately taken, it seems.

[Sedrefilos]

Show whatever you feel like showing.

[Sabotin]

How about some stuff about the setting? Events, organizations, people, etc. Stuff that makes the setting unique, even if just in subtler ways. But no politics! xD

[Sensuki]

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

 

Lurking or posting? Haven't seen you stick your head out yet

[Luckmann]

How about some stuff about the setting? Events, organizations, people, etc. Stuff that makes the setting unique, even if just in subtler ways. But no politics! xD

 

Actually, aside from whether there'll be otters (or even a single one, preferably next to a pig) or not, this is probably what I'd like to know more about the most. I'm a sucker for background and lore, and it'd be fun if the setting was as internally consistent as possible, because as long as it is, it doesn't matter which real-world cookery affected it, seeing as how it is a fantasy setting for a reason.

 

And that includes in-universe politics, more on that would actually be interesting, but I can see how PoE isn't built around political intrigue, so it might be a bit.. eh.

 

 

Speaking of which, it would actually be amazing to have a game like this built around political intrigue and down-to-earth skulduggery rather than epic scope and exploration; a fantasy Shadowrun-esque story dealing with the political backrooming of a kingdom or nation. Picking sides and making those picks matter, skilful storytelling with backstabbing and side-switching as you try to play the hero in an adverse situation, the double-dealing scoundrel in it for himself, or someone that is just trying to get out alive, moving from one social and political (and possibly economical) disaster to the next. Part Shadowrun: Corporate Rebellion, part Baldur's Gate 2: Guilds of Amn, and part Planescape: Faction Wars.

 

 

But yeah, we know a lot about the mechanics by now, or at least the intended mechanics, and there's no reason to get bogged down in the specifics that may change between now and release, so I'd love some more specific information about the setting, major players, background on major locations, etc.

 

Also, anything on more companions would be neat. Like, 16 of them would be enough.

[Veevoir]

 

On 3), I would be extremely (and pleasantly) surprised if the companions exhibited individualistic behaviour such as leaving if they don't share your outlook. With only 8 companions in the entire game, there isn't a lot of wiggle room for things like that without severely mechanically cripple people for roleplaying as a given brand of douchery or playing by certain concepts.

 

I think that's pretty sad from a roleplaying perspective, but it is the route they have unfortunately taken, it seems.

 

Note though that we can always hire a replacement in the Adventurer's hall.. So such options would not cripple players from mechanical standpoint, they'd "only" miss content related to that companion. And that is irrelevant to the number of companions.

[Luckmann]

 

 

On 3), I would be extremely (and pleasantly) surprised if the companions exhibited individualistic behaviour such as leaving if they don't share your outlook. With only 8 companions in the entire game, there isn't a lot of wiggle room for things like that without severely mechanically cripple people for roleplaying as a given brand of douchery or playing by certain concepts.

 

I think that's pretty sad from a roleplaying perspective, but it is the route they have unfortunately taken, it seems.

 

Note though that we can always hire a replacement in the Adventurer's hall.. So such options would not cripple players from mechanical standpoint, they'd "only" miss content related to that companion. And that is irrelevant to the number of companions.

 

 

I do not count Adventurer's Hall "companions", for obvious reasons. It is a crutch that is often used as a cop-out to avoid criticism on the matter of companions (or lack thereof), but it has no merit. The Adventurer's Hall works for those that want to create their own party, but it has no bearing on the number of actual companions in the game, characters that are much more than just a set of stats.

[mstark]

don't spend too much time thinking about what to do next and do anything else you can to keep the action going;

Very much this (emphasis mine).

 

Things that worked well in your panel:

- Showing off divergent play styles and how empowered the player is in creating their own adventure/characters (skeleton army, other extreme examples - very interesting, and shows off one of the richest parts of the game)

- Allowing audience to choose conversation paths (kill all, rescue...)

 

Things that didn't work very well:

- You didn't always seem/sound sure where to go next, or what to do. If you want to involve the audience, ask them a direct, 2-alternative question, but don't ask open questions like "what should we do next" or "I'm not sure where to go now".

Edited January 28, 2015 by mstark

[Veevoir]

 

I do not count Adventurer's Hall "companions", for obvious reasons. It is a crutch that is often used as a cop-out to avoid criticism on the matter of companions (or lack thereof), but it has no merit. The Adventurer's Hall works for those that want to create their own party, but it has no bearing on the number of actual companions in the game, characters that are much more than just a set of stats.

 

I don't count them as companions neither, for obvious reason. Just pointing out that having companions leave you for being a douche is not mechanically gimping player - you can always order a replacement.

 

On the other hand, were there 10, 100 or 1000 companions to choose from - if it is possible for them to leave - it is equally painful, as they represent unique content that will get locked. So it is not a function of no. of companions to choose.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Veevoir

[Gorbag]

+1 for Companions
Take Eder for example. Who is he and where does he come from? What is his agenda and why does he want to join your party? How does he react to things your party does (a specific example would be great)? How is he instrumental to the party other than being a fighter (rogue?)? Does he like/dislike some of the other companions and what comes out of that?
If you can avoid major spoilers, that's a great thing to showcase imo.
I know some of these questions have already been answered in various updates, interviews, etc., but it's good thing to show, not only talk about.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Gorbag

[Luckmann]

+1 for Companions

Take Eder for example. Who is he and where does he come from? What is his agenda and why does he want to join your party? How does he react to things your party does (a specific example would be great)? How is he instrumental to the party other than being a fighter (rogue?)? Does he like/dislike some of the other companions and what comes out of that?

If you can avoid major spoilers, that's a great thing to showcase imo.

I know some of these questions have already been answered in various updates, interviews, etc., but it's good thing to show, not only talk about.

 

I think it's been mentioned that Edér specifically has something to do with the main plotline, so I wouldn't get my hopes up on getting to know more about him.

 

I'm a bit split on what I prefer; deeply integrated characters or loose characters that join the group. The first is more interesting, but when it's a mixed bag, I'm always annoyed as hell because there's limited space in the party, and integrated characters I often consider "must have" for plot reasons (Imoen & Sarevok in BG2, for example, I always have an extremely hard time letting go of because it tends to not make any in-character sense to do so).

 

Just musing.

[Gorbag]

@Luckmann" Eder was just the first to pop into mind. I'm not interested specifically in him, they could showcase any character they want. 
Yeah, it makes sense to have them in BG2, but that did not stop me from leaving them out, whenever I feel like trying out different party compositions. Unless they are Shandra-Jerroed to my party, I can deal with a few plot-central companions. 

[DarkWanderer]

It would be nice if we could see the difference of approach to our player based on the race - give several scenes with specific NPCs playing eg as human and later as death godlike  (I do realize that it would be hard to show  during gameplay, and its not very probable, but still).

 

 

Oh and this time, I hope that we can hear some music (music volume: max, surrounding sounds:off)  of the different areas.

 

Still - the most important is commentary - we will play the game soon enough, but the devs words are (...HOLY?) the most significant now imo ...

[ruzen]

I know nothing about Crafting&enchanting. I would like to see some of It.

More Stronghold features.

[Guest 4ward]

if you have finished the PoE tutorial maybe you could show parts of it ? Also, perhaps you could talk a bit about the variety of enemies you have in the game, perhaps showing sketches/concept art of creatures or even a combat vs one of the tougher enemies.

[Sedrefilos]

If the devs don't want to show companions I'd be pleased. They are too few to get spoiled. If they were, say 15, ok, let's hear one's story. But they're only 8. They can just say "the companions are like this, you can react like that with them". Specific showcase will be a major spoiler I believe.

[TrueMenace]

Please showcase the subsystems in the game:

 

crafting, cooking, adventurer's hall, etc

[Gorbag]

^ There's not much to the adventurer's hall really. You go to a tavern, pay a certain amount and get to create another character. The most involved subsystem in the game is the Stronghold. The others are pretty simple and effective.

[BAdler]

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...

 

http://imgur.com/6co63bG