Those people contributed a lot of money for this wonderful game to be made. You should be thankful there so many backer npcs are in there instead of bashing OE for being good sports. 

Backer npcs at least are lore related. The real problem are the tombstones.

The game kinda seems like a weird advertisement with all of them and those memorials. BUT! They're pretty easy to ignore, they don't intrude at all.

People seem to be just looking for stuff to complain about. You'd be tabbing to see if it's a normal npc or someone you can interact with anyway and since they're labeled with color there's nothing easier than to ignore them if you wish to do so. First world problems do seem like a laugh compared to what you guys must be going through while passing by those npcs.

If I had been a backer (oops, I forgot, although I pre-ordered in December...) I would have paid good money to NOT have my game immersion soiled by legions non-interactable hero-style NPCs and joke tombstones!

 

No backers actually got to design any of the game, I'll bet. In my opinion, NO input is better than this kind of cheese input. I never normally use Mods, preferring to play the game that is the developer's vision. In this case however those backer features aren't really the developer's vision are they? So yeah, I'll await a Mod and 'justifiably' use it

Edited March 31, 201510 yr by sim-h

The tombstones are as unobtrusive as possible. Not only do you have to actively click them, they're quite rare and don't ruin anything even while tabbing.

 

The backer NPCs... Way fewer godlikes would have been nice, and some guidance in the names. Running into Sturm Brightblade (that one's real) or Mike "the Squirrelslayer" Raskolnikov (invented but representative name :D) does feel strange a lot.

 

OTOH, if that's the price for getting the game at all, then I can certainly live with that.

Aren't all their name plaques color coded? They are all yellow-ish - at least the ones that I've encountered so far.

Tombstones are the same - they have their own special icon.

 

Granted, I haven't finished the game yet, let alone completely explored it, so I may me wrong on both accounts, but I find both to be perfectly fine and unintrusive solutions.

Obsidian themselves couldn't provide such an option, in good faith to the backers. 

 

Mods will take care of this soon, I'm sure.

Let's hope so.

I never use mods on principle for any game, but I will for this issue.

Wow, really? that's your problem with the game?

I completely don't get why anyone is complaining about this.  You. Do. Not. Have. To. Click. On. Gold. NPCs.  EVER.

 

This is like complaining that the game includes a Russian translation when you play the game in English.  It's content whose presence in no way interferes with your game.  Don't like it?  Don't click on it.  It's not like you're forced to talk to read their stories to advance the plot of the game.

 

Tombstones are the same thing.  Don't click on them.  They do not impact the game.  Move on.

 

I bet these same people get really angry when they see someone enjoying a book they don't like.

I completely don't get why anyone is complaining about this.  You. Do. Not. Have. To. Click. On. Gold. NPCs.  EVER.

 

This is like complaining that the game includes a Russian translation when you play the game in English.  It's content whose presence in no way interferes with your game.  Don't like it?  Don't click on it.  It's not like you're forced to talk to read their stories to advance the plot of the game.

 

Tombstones are the same thing.  Don't click on them.  They do not impact the game.  Move on.

 

I bet these same people get really angry when they see someone enjoying a book they don't like.

That's not how games and world building works, does this really need to be explicitly stated??

They are not a big deal, but it's nothing like complaining about a Russian translation! There is no Russian popping up in my game, but there are 'gold' NPCs everywhere who I cannot even talk to. It's immersion breaking. You can't 'un-see' things. And even knowing that those tombstones exist in the game, somehow cheapens the experience for me.

 

But it's still a great game. There was just...no need.

what a stupid post

FWIW, my NPC was completely changed by Obsidian. He was supposed to have a multiple-option dialog with attribute and inventory checks, and then a small scripted event. I was worried how Obsidian would create and playtest 100 of backer characters though, so the way they streamlined it was probably the most realistic one. Also, I liked the story they made for him; I think it captured the general idea. Perhaps I might have appreciated an option of being able to write the story myself first, and only fall back to Obsidian writers if they decided it was ****. 

FWIW, my NPC was completely changed by Obsidian. He was supposed to have a multiple-option dialog with attribute and inventory checks, and then a small scripted event. I was worried how Obsidian would create and playtest 100 of backer characters though, so the way they streamlined it was probably the most realistic one. Also, I liked the story they made for him; I think it captured the general idea. Perhaps I might have appreciated an option of being able to write the story myself first, and only fall back to Obsidian writers if they decided it was ****. 

 

So, wait, those texts are written by Obsidian then, right? The backers only provided the general direction?

 

In that case, I am shocked that the general quality of the backer NPC texts differs so much (from Mary-Sue-ish stories to a well-written story about getting out of a depression or stories about prejudice).

Edited March 31, 201510 yr by Zwiebelchen

The only thing that bothers me is that so many are Godlikes, which are supposed to be rare - plus they just stand out visually.

 

The non-godlikes aren't that intrusive, even if some names don't necessarily fit with the setting.

Subject would have been better phrased as "I want an option to hide/remove..." There is clearly not a consensus on this issue.

 

FWIW, my NPC was completely changed by Obsidian. He was supposed to have a multiple-option dialog with attribute and inventory checks, and then a small scripted event. I was worried how Obsidian would create and playtest 100 of backer characters though, so the way they streamlined it was probably the most realistic one. Also, I liked the story they made for him; I think it captured the general idea. Perhaps I might have appreciated an option of being able to write the story myself first, and only fall back to Obsidian writers if they decided it was ****. 

 

So, wait, those texts are written by Obsidian then, right? The backers only provided the general direction?

 

In that case, I am shocked that the general quality of the backer NPC texts differs so much (from Mary-Sue-ish stories to a well-written story about getting out of a depression or stories about prejudice).

 

Well, I can only speak for myself, and in my case yes, it was completely Obsidian. Though they told me the designers would write it from the beginning, so I assume it's the same for everyone, or most people at least.

 

Well, I can only speak for myself, and in my case yes, it was completely Obsidian. Though they told me the designers would write it from the beginning, so I assume it's the same for everyone, or most people at least.

 

 

This makes me wonder who was writing those texts. I mean, the differences in quality are obvious. Some fit into the game just fine while others are extremely over-the-top.

Can't someone just create a mod that removes the backer characters and the "transphobic joke"? That way the people that don't want it in their game can be happy and the people that still want it in the game can also be happy? I don't think Obsidian should take the time to fix these "problems" themselves, They should focus on the actual problems, you know, bugs that ruin everyone's game.

Edited March 31, 201510 yr by Rance

Which one is yours and what is his story about? Did you have any input regarding the story direction?

Hiro in Dyrford Crossing. I had no input in the story or what the story was about. In fact I didn't even make a story at all. I left it up to Obsidian to do.

 

So, wait, those texts are written by Obsidian then, right? The backers only provided the general direction?

 

In that case, I am shocked that the general quality of the backer NPC texts differs so much (from Mary-Sue-ish stories to a well-written story about getting out of a depression or stories about prejudice).

Direction? What direction? Obsidian wrote the story for my NPC.

I completely don't get why anyone is complaining about this.  You. Do. Not. Have. To. Click. On. Gold. NPCs.  EVER.

 

 

You can talk to people faster than you can see IF THEY'RE A GOLD NPC.

Backer npcs at least are lore related. The real problem are the tombstones.

 

No, the problem is people who are too thin skinned or are looking for the next great moral outrage in order to get epeen points with their clique of friends.

The real problem are the tombstones.

Sure, they break immersion a bit, but I have been finding a lot of them rather entertaining. I think they add something pretty special to the game, in truth.

 

I have been making it a point to read all of them.

 

And for what it's worth, the tombstones in BG were often about the developers and would "break character". Ironic, that in so doing they actually added character to the game.

 

So too in PoE, I feel.

Edited March 31, 201510 yr by Marceror

This topic was on Gamefaqs, I can only assume that it was the same person.

 

I personally don't see how this is a problem whatsoever. Do not click on those NPC's and ignore them completely, treat them as any other commoner or random NPC in a town.

 

There are bigger things to worry about now such as game breaking glitches and bugs.