things i wish poe had that baldurs gate 2 or other games had

[alphapsykongaroo]

fighting pits, like the ones in the drow city of baldurs gate 2.

more rival groups of adventurers, but stronger and with the same party size as you.

 

more female companions and romance. poe only has like 3 female companions and has no romance.

 

stronghold can use a rework. right now it feels like a half assed mobile game.

 

maybe more emotional investment into the companions somehow. right now it feels more like they just dump information on you, which can be tiring.

I dont know how bg2 did it, but that game did it well.

 

i was dissapointed with poe's version of imprisoned mentally unstable individuals. in bg2, the asylum had alot more interesting and funny characters, like the one that says "many many pretties... as far as they eye could see... ahhh." and then he would conjure you a random gem. There is also a guy that speaks funny and gives you a random cooking recepie, a girl that can change faces/appearance, and a troubled woman that sees through different dimensions and even lets you see what she sees for a moment. I cant believe I still remember those characters, and I think those kinds of memorable characters is something poe lacks. also applies to the companions of poe. i doubt i'll remember any of them as well as I'll remember Minsc and Boo, Viconia, and others.

 

Interesting bosses. there doesnt seem to be bosses that has like a phase 2 or 3.

 

contingency spells of bg2.

[Kabyk]

most of these topics have already been discussed to death here, but i agree most heartily on the companions. they don't have any real context outside of themselves, making them seem stitched onto the side of the game like a vestigial organ.

 

the fighting pits is interesting, however. i never really used them in bg2, but coliseum's are always fun side-games for people who enjoy the core combat of the game (as opposed to most mini-games which are usually some novel mechanic). they're always welcome in the Tales Of games.

[Hillbillyden]

Will there be heavy modding or total conversions eventually? My problems stem more from gameplay and mechanics issues.

 

For instance: Anyone can find / remove traps, ANYONE, and there's no thieving / pick pockets. No reason for Rogue class. Period.

 

Monks are masochistic martial artists who REQUIRE they get continually whaled on in order to use some of their main class abilities....

hello? No...Just....no.

 

Chanter, Fighter, Barbarian, Monk and maybe others can tank and tank well enough (maybe more classes but those are the ones I've Tanked with, on Hard).

 

In short, most everything and everyone seems blandly interchangeable. It's just hard to credit in a role playing game. I'll finish out my run but I doubt I will recommend or replay until it gets heavily modded.

[abaris]

For instance: Anyone can find / remove traps, ANYONE, and there's no thieving / pick pockets. No reason for Rogue class. Period.

 

 

If you give them the appropriate skill. Which is mechanics. Otherwise not everyone can find traps, unless the trap is low level.

[Hebruixe]

Personally I am happy with PoE in its current state. But you're right -- there were some fun and amusing features in the old IE games that didn't carry over. I recently started a new BG2 game and was surprised at how laugh-out-loud funny some of the storytelling is. That silliness is a bit lacking in Pillars, at least on the surface. 

[abaris]

That silliness is a bit lacking in Pillars, at least on the surface. 

 

I'm fine without silliness. Some of the banter is hilarious anyway.

 

Btw, recently I purchased BG2 enhanced and plan the very first playthrough of my life. I was on an old mac back when it first came out. Does anyone know where to look for character creation tips?

Edited May 22, 2015 by abaris

[Nakia]

When we critique PoE I think there are some things to remember.

1) It is actually a low budget game.

2) It is the first game of a series (I hope)  BG/SoA was the second game of the series, a continuation of BG 1.

3) It is not a clone of the BG games and that was never promised us.  It is a spiritual successor of those games.

 

I did not find the companions in BG 1 that interesting.  There were many more in BG 2 and your reputation limited who would join you.  I did install a mod that had public rep and party rep and played my final and best, most fun game with that mod installed. :D  The dialogue was a lot of fun.  The companions in BG 2 do stand out for me.  Their inter dialogue was fantastic.  My very favorite was Jan Jensen and I never had a party without him.

 

When playing as a female I felt the romance options sucked badly and wasn't particular interested in the ones available to the male character.

 

I did not like most of those random encounters in BG 2.

 

I like the Stronghold but agree that it can be improved even just by adding a cook and some servants.  I wish I could turn those pets I collect loose in the Stronghold and let the run around there.  Doubt that will happen though.

 

The BG games were almost my first cRPG games and they had little competition.  They were in my opinion very well done although not perfect.  Nostalgia does kick in but I think PoE has gone beyond them.  

 

Some of the PoE leads were involved in making those IE games and I am looking forward to what they can doe with this series given time and money.

[abaris]

I like the Stronghold but agree that it can be improved even just by adding a cook and some servants.  I wish I could turn those pets I collect loose in the Stronghold and let the run around there.  Doubt that will happen though.

 

 

That would be a nice touch.

 

I hope the stay with isometric. Todays game have always to be shiny, shiny, shiny on the outside whereas they offer very little on the inside. The side quests are mostly a FedEx simulator with quest markers and the UI and options are limited due to consolization and the controller buttons.

[MunoValente]

I don't know if BG2 had it or not, but I'd really like an unequip all button.

[Hebruixe]

 

That silliness is a bit lacking in Pillars, at least on the surface. 

 

I'm fine without silliness. Some of the banter is hilarious anyway.

 

Btw, recently I purchased BG2 enhanced and plan the very first playthrough of my life. I was on an old mac back when it first came out. Does anyone know where to look for character creation tips?

 

 

Gotta agree. Some of those conversations with Hiravias had me giggling hysterically. But you have to dig for the humor in Pillars, whereas in BG1-2 you just stumble into it everywhere.

 

As for character creation tips...it's pretty self-explanatory, and the enhanced edition tells you during character creation which attributes are essential to your character class. Remember that tanky characters need decent wisdom scores for their will saves. The easiest character to build is the mage, who basically only needs intellect. The hardest build (imo) is the paladin, who needs everything except intellect. Google has tons of in-depth guides available once you've chosen your class. 

[Hebruixe]

For the record, I'm extremely pleased with Pillars of Eternity. I haven't been this invested in the future of a game franchise since Half-Life 2 was announced.

[Althernai]

The BG games were almost my first cRPG games and they had little competition.  They were in my opinion very well done although not perfect.  Nostalgia does kick in but I think PoE has gone beyond them.  

 

Some of the PoE leads were involved in making those IE games and I am looking forward to what they can doe with this series given time and money.

I was also curious how much of the love for the Baldur's Gate series is nostalgia and how much of it is the latter actually doing things better than PoE, so I decided to replay the series starting from the beginning. I made a thread about it in the general gaming forum, but in summary (so far):

 

Documentation (i.e. conveying the rules to the player): BG is better, though PoE does more in-game. In BG, you actually have to read the manual (which was surprisingly fun).

Graphics: PoE is much better, though BG is still tolerable.

Music and Sound: they're about equal, though I'd give a slight edge to BG.

Interface: PoE is better, but not to an extent where it matters much.

Low-level Combat: PoE is much better. BG combat is simply awful until about level 3.

Loot: BG is much better.

Story: BG is more impressive early on.

Characters: PoE ones are much deeper, though BG ones manage to get a lot across given the very limited amount of text.

Tone: I strongly prefer BG. PoE takes itself way too seriously.

 

Basically, it's not as clear cut as PoE having moved beyond BG. There are some areas (like the low-level combat) which were clearly problematic and which PoE did a good job of fixing, but there are others (like the loot) which were fine in BG and PoE made deliberate choices that in my opinion make things worse rather than better.

[View619]

 

 

That silliness is a bit lacking in Pillars, at least on the surface. 

 

I'm fine without silliness. Some of the banter is hilarious anyway.

 

Btw, recently I purchased BG2 enhanced and plan the very first playthrough of my life. I was on an old mac back when it first came out. Does anyone know where to look for character creation tips?

 

 

Gotta agree. Some of those conversations with Hiravias had me giggling hysterically. But you have to dig for the humor in Pillars, whereas in BG1-2 you just stumble into it everywhere.

 

As for character creation tips...it's pretty self-explanatory, and the enhanced edition tells you during character creation which attributes are essential to your character class. Remember that tanky characters need decent wisdom scores for their will saves. The easiest character to build is the mage, who basically only needs intellect. The hardest build (imo) is the paladin, who needs everything except intellect. Google has tons of in-depth guides available once you've chosen your class. 

 

 

I remember Wisdom being a dump stat for every class that wasn't some type of Priest or Druid. There was something about saving throw bonuses for Dwarfs, Gnomes and Halflings through extra Constitution, though. 

 

Creating characters was very much trial and error in those games, unless you had some previous knowledge.

Edited May 23, 2015 by View619

[Althernai]

Creating characters was very much trial and error in those games, unless you had some previous knowledge.

All of the "previous knowledge" you needed was in the manual that came with the game. It had literally every aspect of the rules including a variety of tables that quantified what each stat did for each class. It's true that the in-game tool tip information during character creation was less detailed, but overall, the old games did a much better job of explaining the rules than PoE does.

[Tennisgolfboll]

Korgan Bloodaxe is the best npc in any game!

 

Aye, the dwarf will have to do it.

 

I best paid well fer this.

 

The do all the work and we ends up with the gold, the book and the satisfaction of kicking their tails. Ahhh a good day.

 

When you ask Korgan about his past he tells you to mind your own business, seeing as the dwarf is just a necklace short of ears to prove his enjoyment of slaughter you decide to oblige (reading background info)

 

I have had better times drowning face first in gutterwater and bleeding from every orifice (rep to high)

 

He also had great depth, he was chaotic evil but thought that children was innocent and shouls not be harmed. He got along with keldorn etc

 

Poe is a great.game. but a romance would be nice and more options and depth with npcs.

 

Fighting pit i dont care for. Larger stronghold battle would be cool though. 100 men each side atleast

[NightRevan]

I agree about the companions seeming to lack depth, and I feel for me this is due to limited companion interaction, there is little means I've come across to find emotional depth and relationship (positive or negative) friendship, emnity or just professional indifference, and not to much that makes them stick out or memorable as say characters in BG series, PS:T, DA:O or KOTOR 1 and 2, NWN Hordes of the Underdark or NWN 2 Mask of the Betrayer. Those games have something in presenting characters, and (with BG series 2 onwards or NPC project mod for BG1) more indepth companion interaction with tge ability to establish and develop the sense of your PC's relationship with their companions that feels lacking in PoE, where there seems to little of thus for me. In terms of budget I am thinking at the moment that Spiderwebs Avadon games offer more indepth character interaction and the ability to establish relationship dynamics between the PC and their companions, with a sense of who the companions were, what drives them, their relationship with the PC, motives, loyalties and agendas (and they were even lower budget titles then PoE).

 

With the companiobs of PoE I see hints of interesting characters that occasionally come into the light but it's hard getting to them or getting a feel for them, with extended discussions when they do happen feeling as others have said, like lore dumps not interacting with actual characters and not offering many chances to establish and build relationships and relational dynamics. I don't really have a sense yet of what they are to my PC or my PC to them, and am still struggling to figure out why some companions are following my PC though hell and highwater into the most dangerous situations why there doesn't seem to be a sense of strong friendship, and it doesn't seem to serve what I can about their characters and motives. There are reason no doubt but it isn't coming across due to the limited interaction I think, at least not for me, perhaps others have a different experience.

 

I understand this is a first game and they had allot to focus on but improving character presentation, interaction and relational events and dialogue and dynamics with more PR opportunities and develop there I would desire, with nore range of relational dynamics that is more varied and diverse, friendships, mentor relationship (thinking of Kreia in KOTOR 2), rivalries and for me to have romances as part of companion arcs and RP opportunities, though that I think is more s distant wish from what I gather from the developers stance.

 

Also more meaningful stronghold that doesn't feel tacked on but is more part of the narrative, has more impact to you suddenly owning a keep and lands with more reactivity (Crossroad Keep from NWN2 and Amirinthine Keep from DA:O Awakenings come to mind, with the BG2 doing some elements here better for me). Either that or cut the stronghold concept out altogether as I find I'm largely ignoring it atm.

 

Those are things I will look out for in future releases as I guess they are part of what I prioritize in RPG games (I'm not a power-gamer and am not big on figuring out all the ins and outs of an RPG system to optimize my group but am more RP focused I guess, but then I never play above hard abd usually on normal because if that).

[Shevek]

I'd like more detrimental effects. Poison should persist after battle for example like in IE

Edited May 25, 2015 by Shevek