[Heavy Spoilers] How much does this game react to your choices?

[Longknife]

****As I said, heavy spoilers below, more specifically in regards to the end of Act II

 

 

 

So I just finished Act II and I feel like an idiot. Did the research, did all the quests, came to the conclusion Thaos is trying to frame animancers for....some reason, Lady Webb says to get in with a group, I figure just to go with the Crucible Knights since they seem the least offensive (aka accepted organization, nothing outlandish about them), and then while speaking with the duc. I defend animancers. When he asks me what he would have me do, I say "Iunno menz they seem like nice enough dudes, give them a shot."

 

In the back of my mind I was thinking "can't Thaos just like manipulate someone to make sure that doesn't happen?" I go for it anyways thinking "it's k, video game logic! I'm sure it'll be fine!" NOPE.avi Thaos kills the duc and I'm sitting there thinking "FFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU."

 

So I follow the quest and find that Lady Webb is dead aswell, and I'm just screaming "FUUUUUUUUUUUU" in my head because I'm naturally curious, I'm dying to know what Thaos' deal is, and I just lost every bit of support and every lead I had. Cept the one leading into Act III of course.

 

 

 

 

So my question is, are these events set in stone? A part of me considered myself stupid, and thought if I were truly clever, I would've urged the duc to outlaw animancy for the time being, simply to appease to Thaos until I reach him, thus minimizing any bloodshed or quarrel in the meantime since he's EASILY capable of having his way.

   But I'm also a cynic and I know all roleplaying games (and games in general) have their limitations.

 

 

My question is this:

 

 

What did you choose to do and what was the result? Is it always the same? Or will any character who chooses to side against animancy find Thaos approaching you in a far more friendly way?

 

 

 

 

Also, screw you Obsidian. I'm way too curious for this kind of thing. I wanna know this dude's motivations but it's starting to feel like I won't know until the very ending. And no, that's not an invitation to anyone reading to spoil that for me. :c I'll find it out myself.

[TheUsernamelessOne]

In a word: no. The game does not react to your choices. You are in fact attempting to play a block of enchanted wood even as we speak on the internet.

[Quillon]

It was going awesome till I met Pallegina, when my character(death godlike barbarian) said to her: "wow you are a godlike!" also she didn't recognize my character's culture(old vailia). Come to think of it, no one really gave a **** for my character being a godlike, no love or hate.

[Fimconte]

Playing a godlike, it does seem that they were a bit of an afterthought.  
 

[Atnas]

The Duc and Lady Webb will always die as far as I know, but the choices you make, sides you take and whether you argue for or againsty Animancy will have an effect on the ending slideshow, so to speak. Make of that what you will.

[Voss]

Playing a godlike, it does seem that they were a bit of an afterthought.  

 

Orlans get a bit of dialogue here and there.  Durance will flatly tell you that you deserve to be enslaved and killed.

 

 

 

But yeah, I also felt... underwhelmed at the end of Chapter 2.  Railroad plot ahoy!  Make your own choices? Sure, but don't expect them to be part of the story we want to tell.  [Pick the green light]

Edited April 4, 2015 by Voss

[Atnas]

I think you guys have ridiculously high standards for a kickstarted gmae that already has delivered more than anyone could've reasonably expected, geez.

[yugoloth]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that the only class that has the unique dialogues options is the Cipher and race apparently only the Orlan.

[Aron Times]

Your character isn't a Mary Sue. Things happen because or despite his or her actions. Your toon is a Watcher, but the world still doesn't revolve around him or her. Heck, he isn't even THE Watcher, but A Watcher, as many other Watchers exist as well. Maerwald comes to mind, as well as the unnamed Watcher who sent Sagani to the middle of nowhere to meet you and eventually find Persoq. Stuff happens whether you want it or not, which is far more realistic than in most games where nothing happens unless the player does something.

 

I believe you started another thread about choice and consequences? This game has choice and consequences galore, far more than most RPGs, but as with real life, you have no direct control over the outcome, and doing the right thing doesn't always work.

[Jasta11]

Whenever you supported animancy or not in the hearing influences the epilogue. In fact, said epilogue is where the majority of your choices are reflected. Most quests also net you different results and/or rewards depending in what manner you solved the problem, which is pretty nice.

 

Besides, I feel that people often have silly standards for consequences in an RPG. This isn't tabletop, you can't decide to murder the entire assembly and have the GM cobble together the pieces so the story can proceed (and even then, most GMs will at least prevent you from going completely off the rails). There are a finite number of outcomes the designers can plan for and correctly implement, especially in a 4M$ dollar kickstarter title. 

 

The Duc's assassination did annoy me because it was cutscene incompetence at its finest; your 6 man party stands there for a good minute while Thaos possesses the animancer, delcares that he wants to kill him, then does the deed. My PC is a Cipher, I felt that I should have been able to try to save the Duc even if it was plot-required for him to die.

[SeferZohar]

It was going awesome till I met Pallegina, when my character(death godlike barbarian) said to her: "wow you are a godlike!" also she didn't recognize my character's culture(old vailia).

 

This gets raised a lot, it's worth pointing out that Old Vailia (the player character option) and the Vailian Republics (where Pallegina is from) are very different things. They've been separated for centuries by the time the game starts. I agree with the general point though.

[Exyll]

Up to act 3 Ive only seen a handful of class specific dialog options, cipher, a few of the paladin orders, a clergy and  nobleman option

 

I too defended animacy at the hearings but its strange that you get extraordinary rep for blow up the machine in Heritage but only major if you stop it.

Its like the game (or its people) *want* animancy wiped out. I was on the fence until the sanitarium then it became crystal

[Xylus]

What you do with the machine in the Heritage Hill have end game consequences, so in hind sight blowing it up give you more rep make sense

[zered]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that the only class that has the unique dialogues options is the Cipher and race apparently only the Orlan.

 

I've seen quite a few priest ones - talking with Durance and one during Eders personal quest as well - both priest of Magran.

 

I think that in Twin Elms you can also get some Druid and Ranger dialogues. Overall cipher is the king of unique dialogue I think and Orlans is the only race that gets extra recognition.

 

As for culture I had some dialogue with Kana(Rauatai), Durance and Pellegina(both single lines on Old Vailia)

 

Edit:

 

Also had one drifter background response in Dyrford and one noble and Aedyr in Gilded Vale.

 

Overall I am quite impressed with NPC reacting to your background or class.

Edited April 7, 2015 by zered

[bootsnpots]

If you like your dialogue to impact your game too then i recommend going into the settings and turning on the option that shows how the different dialogue options effect your reputation. I didnt do this on my first playthrough and my reputation was all over the place. one or two points in everything. (I was kind of an unpredictable chaotic neutral guy tho) But now on my second serious playthrough with this option turned on Im seeing how just little things like saying "okay" or "Don't worry, Ill take care of it right away" can affect you getting a benevolence reputation point or not and thus how people treat you in the future. Playing a Female Elf Wizard whos a total sweetheart this time. wanna get my benevolence up there :D It would be interesting if npcs meeting my character for the first time regarded her as benevolent. even if it only happens once or twice.

[khango]

If you like your dialogue to impact your game too then i recommend going into the settings and turning on the option that shows how the different dialogue options effect your reputation. I didnt do this on my first playthrough and my reputation was all over the place. one or two points in everything. (I was kind of an unpredictable chaotic neutral guy tho) But now on my second serious playthrough with this option turned on Im seeing how just little things like saying "okay" or "Don't worry, Ill take care of it right away" can affect you getting a benevolence reputation point or not and thus how people treat you in the future. Playing a Female Elf Wizard whos a total sweetheart this time. wanna get my benevolence up there :D It would be interesting if npcs meeting my character for the first time regarded her as benevolent. even if it only happens once or twice.

 

I saw an awful lot of reputation checks in my playthrough, most frequently for honesty.

[Grand_Commander13]

The Duc's assassination did annoy me because it was cutscene incompetence at its finest; your 6 man party stands there for a good minute while Thaos possesses the animancer, delcares that he wants to kill him, then does the deed. My PC is a Cipher, I felt that I should have been able to try to save the Duc even if it was plot-required for him to die.

 

I'm willing to roll with it since at that point, you're probably not strong enough to defeat Thaos anyway, and the "animancer" doesn't actually threaten the duc: he merely proclaims defiance then immediately kills him.

 

What irritated me more is that by this point in the game we know enough about Thaos to know that he plans long-term, and yet we're running around under the assumption that it's animancy he's attacking rather than animancy being the tool he's chosen for a larger plan. I mean, the Watcher knows Thaos is siphoning Dyrwood's souls to cause the Legacy, has been for fifteen years, and assumes that Thaos's end game is to get animancy banned? We can't even get a short conversation where we and Lady Webb wonder what Thaos is playing at with this? That is what made me feel like I was being treated like a dummy.

 

The end of the hearing itself was alright though. It immediately made me do a Doyle: "Oh, yeah, we just got played."

Edited April 7, 2015 by Grand_Commander13

[TheGoatMan]

It was going awesome till I met Pallegina, when my character(death godlike barbarian) said to her: "wow you are a godlike!" also she didn't recognize my character's culture(old vailia). Come to think of it, no one really gave a **** for my character being a godlike, no love or hate.

Ugh that will forever bug me lol

[Luckmann]

In a nutshell, no, not really. The only "hard" reactions I've noticed have actually been those that results in immediate issues that actually ruin the game and feels arbitrary, out of place, and actually the opposite of being reactive (because there's no actual reaction, something just.. doesn't happen).
 

 

Playing a godlike, it does seem that they were a bit of an afterthought.

Orlans get a bit of dialogue here and there.  Durance will flatly tell you that you deserve to be enslaved and killed.

[...]

 

That's hilarious, because if you're a Priestess of Eothas, he couldn't give any less of a flying ****. You can't react to the fact that he participated in purges against your faith, and he doesn't react to the fact that you are a priestess of a god he considers dead and gone, and good riddance. There's zero commentary, zero overlap, zero reactivity.

This also goes for Edér, by the way.
 

It was going awesome till I met Pallegina, when my character(death godlike barbarian) said to her: "wow you are a godlike!" also she didn't recognize my character's culture(old vailia). Come to think of it, no one really gave a **** for my character being a godlike, no love or hate.

 
I was playing a Deathlike Bleak Walker Paladin, and not only did the fact that I was reacting to her being a godlike feel out of place, but she also does not react to the fact that you are. I was expecting some extra dialogue, but.. nope. Nothing. Not a peep.
 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that the only class that has the unique dialogues options is the Cipher and race apparently only the Orlan.

 
Ciphers have like 17 unique dialogue options (which already feels pretty low), and the closest contender has like 9 or something, I think. Druids? 1. One.

Relatively speaking, Ciphers just gets showered with unique options and unique actions. Everyone else can hope for a comment or two at best, that never really changes anything.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Luckmann

[Ineth]

 

Orlans get a bit of dialogue here and there.  Durance will flatly tell you that you deserve to be enslaved and killed.

[...]

 

That's hilarious, because if you're a Priestess of Eothas, he couldn't give any less of a flying ****. You can't react to the fact that he participated in purges against your faith, and he doesn't react to the fact that you are a priestess of a god he considers dead and gone, and good riddance. There's zero commentary, zero overlap, zero reactivity.

 

Really? That sucks.

 

When Durance ranted about Old Valia, I could at least interject "I'm from Old Valia, is that gonna be a problem?"

 

I would have thought that being a Priestess of Eothas would be much more worthy of special dialog with him, than that.

[Ineth]

Ciphers have like 17 unique dialogue options (which already feels pretty low), and the closest contender has like 9 or something, I think. Druids? 1. One.

 

Relatively speaking, Ciphers just gets showered with unique options and unique actions. Everyone else can hope for a comment or two at best, that never really changes anything.

 

Most of those Cipher-specific actions could easily be allowed for all Watchers, seeing how the game muddles those two concepts anyway.

 

Maybe someone will write a mod for that.

[Guest]

Shorter OP: dear Obsidian, please give me act 3 in act 2

Edited April 22, 2015 by Achilles

[b0rsuk]

If you like your dialogue to impact your game too then i recommend going into the settings and turning on the option that shows how the different dialogue options effect your reputation. I didnt do this on my first playthrough and my reputation was all over the place. one or two points in everything. (I was kind of an unpredictable chaotic neutral guy tho) But now on my second serious playthrough with this option turned on Im seeing how just little things like saying "okay" or "Don't worry, Ill take care of it right away" can affect you getting a benevolence reputation point or not and thus how people treat you in the future. Playing a Female Elf Wizard whos a total sweetheart this time. wanna get my benevolence up there :D It would be interesting if npcs meeting my character for the first time regarded her as benevolent. even if it only happens once or twice.

 

This happened to me as well because I disabled all labels. Eventually I ended up as mostly Benevolent/Honest. My opinion is that your actions are much more important than your words, but the game doesn't agree.

 

I'm still not sure how lying in this game works, why people believe or don't believe you. I think as you get higher "deceptive" reputation, you have more skill in lying. But maybe there is occasionally some stat requirement as well, for example Resolve. I'm trying to be (almost) as nasty on my second playthrough as possible.

 

You can push one companion too far in the game and make it leave your party.

 

I think most reactions to your actions come in Twin Elms and the epilogue. Both the fate of settlements, and of your companions is nicely explained. People in Twin Elms appealed to the aspects of my characters (you are honest/benevolent, please help me!). The epilogue provoked me to do things differently on my second run.

[Luckmann]

 

Ciphers have like 17 unique dialogue options (which already feels pretty low), and the closest contender has like 9 or something, I think. Druids? 1. One.

 

Relatively speaking, Ciphers just gets showered with unique options and unique actions. Everyone else can hope for a comment or two at best, that never really changes anything.

 

Most of those Cipher-specific actions could easily be allowed for all Watchers, seeing how the game muddles those two concepts anyway.

 

Maybe someone will write a mod for that.

 

 

It's funny that it's really muddled... but only for main quests. Like, you can do things to Maerwald, the Acolyte at the Temple of Woedica, and to the fampyr woman in Heritage Hill.. but not to anyone else? Why do you suddenly and inexplicably exhibit soul-tampering (and not just soul-reading) powers when it has anything to do with the main quest, but then it's promptly forgotten unless you're a Cipher?

 

It's ridiculous.