Please tell me I heard incorrectly

[AzuredreamsXT]

So I am finishing up Divinity: Original Sin, and while it is an excellent game, it is SEVERELY marred by the over the top humor absolutely oozing out of it. I was really looking forward to PoE for a return to deep, classic rgp's where you can get immersed and lost in the world.

 

I just heard however from someone that kickstarter backers were allowed to add npc's to the game with stories of their own choosing, humorous, sometimes fourth wall breaking stories that do not fit with the rest of the dialogue/tone of the game, and that these npc's are golden and strewn around the game world.

 

That can't possibly be true can it? Surely I am understanding this wrong...

[peko]

Somewhat wrong it seems. The NPCs aren't golden, they have a special frame in the interface that makes them easily distinguishable from other named characters so you can ignore them if you don't want to read any of their stories. I haven't read very many of them but I've not found any that are out of place or breaks the fourth wall.

[Ineth]

Partially wrong.

 

It's true that there are "backer NPCs" with golden nametags strewn around the game world, and that they are completely useless - the "stories" you can read from them don't relate to the game's plot or quests at all.

But they are not silly or fourth-wall breaking, since Obsidian's writers wrote the stories. The backers only chose the race/class/look and some rough backround info for those NPCs, and Obsidian fleshed them out.

They do get boring thought after the first few, since there are so many of them and their stories so random and disconnected from the rest of the game. Most players just end up ignoring them, which is easy due to the golden nametags.

 

What is fourth-wall breaking though, are the inscriptions on all the graveyards and crypts in the game. Because they are filled with random notes from backers, and many just wrote down their real-world names etc. So, don't read them.

[HawkSoft]

I don't have a problem with the concept of gouging more money out of kickstarter backers to enable the game to exist: I've got a copy of Wasteland 2 that I might play someday.

 

 

The NPCs are harmless, some have interesting stories which would have been good if they had some relation to the protagonist or any of the companions - I think they were a missed opportunity.

 

The NPC gravestones are *noise*, ignore them, unfortunately the few witty ones are not worth the effort it takes to find them.

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

All of that stuff is utterly ignorable and skippable and marked so that you know in advance it's ignorable and skippable before you click on it. Basically it's there if you want to look at it but otherwise you can play the entire game through multiple times without ever looking at it (I have).

 

There is one really good backer NPC in Golden Vale that has a neat description of his past life as a gardener.

[Ink Blot]

 since Obsidian's writers wrote the stories.

Are you sure? I seem to recall many of them being poorly written and cringe-worthy. Not at all something I'd expect from the actual Obs writers.

[nwillard]

I think they're all really well written. Reminds me of the sensate stones in Planescape.

[Infinitron]

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/82766-has-the-stronghold-been-improved-at-all-in-recent-months/

 

Just play the game dude

[AzuredreamsXT]

Waiting on The White March 2, I usually let a game get as complete as it can, within reason, before I grab it. There's always complete games in my library ready to go so I always have something to play and don't mind waiting for newer releases to get as polished and content rich as they can. Plus I really hate investing a bunch of hours into something only to realize it's a letdown, so I do alot of research ahead of time. 

[TheisEjsing]

Waiting on The White March 2, I usually let a game get as complete as it can, within reason, before I grab it. There's always complete games in my library ready to go so I always have something to play and don't mind waiting for newer releases to get as polished and content rich as they can. Plus I really hate investing a bunch of hours into something only to realize it's a letdown, so I do alot of research ahead of time. 

Well, at this point playing before wm II and 3.0 is stupid. Your gaming experience shouldn't be ruined by backer npcs. You can easily skip em, and some of them are actually pretty interesting.

[why]

I don't think the NPCs are all that bad. I read every story the first run and avoided them on the second. The monuments range from highly personal memorials to dead family members (I counted at least 3) to highly silly to (cringe) outright advertisements (I counted at least 2). However, the monuments are easily identified as backer content by the interface. You need never click on them at all to play. Moreover, the monuments are in places that make sense such as graveyards and catacombs.

 

I would suggest you look at one so called backer NPC. I was reading somewhere about one of the people around here who died in real life and the lead developer decided to make a backer NPC for the guy, God rest his soul, and his backstory is really cool. Some inside joke about the guy complaining about this werewolf fight in a vampire game. Anyhow, the upshot is that the story itself is entertaining and it's really cool that the devs put in someone to memorialize one of the old timer community members. Way before my time, but his name was Viceros or Vicoros or Viceris or something.

[Gromnir]

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/82766-has-the-stronghold-been-improved-at-all-in-recent-months/

 

Just play the game dude

or don't play it.  you not need interact with tombstones/grave markers or the easily identified backer npcs. however, if the mere knowledge that such things exist prevents you from becoming, "immersed and lost in the world," then don't play it.  

 

'course bg and bg2, inspirations for poe, had numerous chuckle-worthy grave markers, and more than a few npcs that depended 'pon pop culture references to makes their low-brow humor work.  so, am guessing you will wanna avoid those games as well.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited January 31, 2016 by Gromnir

[AzuredreamsXT]

 

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/82766-has-the-stronghold-been-improved-at-all-in-recent-months/

 

Just play the game dude

or don't play it.  you not need interact with tombstones/grave markers or the easily identified backer npcs, however, if the mere knowledge that such things exist prevents you from becoming, "immersed and lost in the world," then don't play it.  

 

'course bg and bg2, inspirations for poe, had numerous chuckle-worthy grave markers, and more than a few npcs that depended 'pon pop culture references to makes their low-brow humor work.  so, am guessing you will wanna avoid those games as well.

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

Comparing the minor instances present in the BG series to this is folly, Al Swearengen would be ashamed of such foolishness. 

[scottii]

everything has a price.  =S

[war3069mission]

they have no bearing on the awesomeness of this game...

i dont read any of them.... as it was said here already.. "they have no effect on the game, and are easily ignored"

 

on a side note ... i thought it was a cool way to say thanks to those that were a part of the kickstart .....

[AzuredreamsXT]

everything has a price.  =S

Surely they could have thought of a better reward than inflicting foolish and pointless backer stories on everyone else. A bunch of out of world npc's standing around does indeed harm immersion and atmosphere. What self respecting kickstarter backer would want to inflict that blemish on an otherwise great game?

[HawkSoft]

 

everything has a price.  =S

Surely they could have thought of a better reward than inflicting foolish and pointless backer stories on everyone else. A bunch of out of world npc's standing around does indeed harm immersion and atmosphere. What self respecting kickstarter backer would want to inflict that blemish on an otherwise great game?

 

 

Checking kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity/description

• At least 367 people pledged $500+ to get a digital memorial (I assume the other premium pledges also got a memorial).
• 114 people (out of a possible 200) pledged $1k to name and design one of the gold NPCs.

So, to answer your question, it was people who really wanted to make the game happen and were prepared to pay well over the odds to help ensure it did

[AzuredreamsXT]

 

 

everything has a price.  =S

Surely they could have thought of a better reward than inflicting foolish and pointless backer stories on everyone else. A bunch of out of world npc's standing around does indeed harm immersion and atmosphere. What self respecting kickstarter backer would want to inflict that blemish on an otherwise great game?

 

 

Checking kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity/description

• At least 367 people pledged $500+ to get a digital memorial (I assume the other premium pledges also got a memorial).
• 114 people (out of a possible 200) pledged $1k to name and design one of the gold NPCs.

So, to answer your question, it was people who really wanted to make the game happen and were prepared to pay well over the odds to help ensure it did

 

Game was for sure happening, easily, without the npc backers. I wonder what 114 000$ less would mean wasn't in the game, in exchange for the severe blow to immersion and atmosphere that we got as a result of the npc backers. Maybe it would be something serious, but with the staggering amount of money Obsidian raised, I rather doubt it.

[why]

Dude, you haven't played the game, right? I mean, I personally think the extra NPCs help populate the game world. It sure beats having a hundred or so "commoners" or whatever around. The fact is, you can see the gold backers standing in small groups or alone, just like filler NPCs. You can actually identify them a little faster because of their unobtrusive and yet clearly marked gold background on the name plate. There is simply no reason to react this strongly to something based on nothing but hearsay. Now, if you're a completenik and feel compelled to read the NPC stories, it might diminish the game a tad for you. If that's the case, I say as gently as possible, sucks to be you. I frankly, find it appalling that you're irritated that some people really went above and beyond to help fund this game and your own petty grievance not only seems to impact your enjoyment, but you want to aggrandize that grievance into something more significant than it is. If I had to choose between accommodating the selfish instincts of one non-backer who's complaining about a game he hasn't even played or recognizing people who helped make the game possible, I'm choosing the backers.

 

All that said, while I am irritated, I recognize the fact that you have the right to gripe. I just think that the issue is really quite minor when you play the game. Learn to identify them quickly and appreciate that there are a lot of NPCs who have at the very least more memorable names than "Nobelwoman" or "Glanfathan Hunter."

[Tigranes]

It may be 'staggering money' but 4m is a tiny, tiny budget in game development terms, so every little bit helps. Nobody expected the NPCs to be such a problem to design in later. 

 

Anyway, at the end of the day, look, there are these random townspeople that you'll never click on by mistake, & some tombstones in a couple of places you'll never click on by mistake. If that's a "severe blow" to anything - and if you somehow know this before trying the game - then ah well.

[AzuredreamsXT]

Fair enough, I hope lessons were learned though for any sequels they do using kickstarter. 

[Elerond]

 

 

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/82766-has-the-stronghold-been-improved-at-all-in-recent-months/

 

Just play the game dude

or don't play it.  you not need interact with tombstones/grave markers or the easily identified backer npcs, however, if the mere knowledge that such things exist prevents you from becoming, "immersed and lost in the world," then don't play it.  

 

'course bg and bg2, inspirations for poe, had numerous chuckle-worthy grave markers, and more than a few npcs that depended 'pon pop culture references to makes their low-brow humor work.  so, am guessing you will wanna avoid those games as well.

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

Comparing the minor instances present in the BG series to this is folly, Al Swearengen would be ashamed of such foolishness. 

 

Some could argue that way they added several forum user like Gromnir as NPCs in BG2 (TOB) have much larger impact on the game than anything that you can find in PoE. But of course it depends lots of people's personal tastes.

[Tigranes]

Fair enough, I hope lessons were learned though for any sequels they do using kickstarter. 

 

Agreed.

[Ink Blot]

Game was for sure happening, easily, without the npc backers. I wonder what 114 000$ less would mean wasn't in the game, in exchange for the severe blow to immersion and atmosphere that we got as a result of the npc backers. Maybe it would be something serious, but with the staggering amount of money Obsidian raised, I rather doubt it.

 

Don't make the mistaken assumption that the backers who pledged enough to have their NPCs in the game knew the game was going to be funded to that degree. I, for one, pledged on day one, not having any idea they'd hit the 4M mark. No one knew for sure the game was even going to be funded right away. (It was pretty obvious a short way into the campaign, but I'll wager many of the higher tier backers backed right away)

 

Anyway, as noted, they're easy to avoid and have no impact on immersion (IMO) and they do serve to populate what may otherwise have been a rather empty game world. Really, this shouldn't bother you at all now that you know exactly what to avoid.

[Gromnir]

 

 

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/82766-has-the-stronghold-been-improved-at-all-in-recent-months/

 

Just play the game dude

or don't play it.  you not need interact with tombstones/grave markers or the easily identified backer npcs, however, if the mere knowledge that such things exist prevents you from becoming, "immersed and lost in the world," then don't play it.  

 

'course bg and bg2, inspirations for poe, had numerous chuckle-worthy grave markers, and more than a few npcs that depended 'pon pop culture references to makes their low-brow humor work.  so, am guessing you will wanna avoid those games as well.

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

Comparing the minor instances present in the BG series to this is folly, Al Swearengen would be ashamed of such foolishness. 

 

al would have zero sympathy for you.  not only were al clear a caveat emptor kinda guy, he would mock your rage.

 

that being said, the instances o' that which offends you in poe is universal avoidable, so surely the comparative numbers o' such instances is pointless.  a hundred such characters in poe that you will never interact with?  so what?  the bg games did not signpost their immersion killing (HA!) humor near so well as does poe, so as 'tween a hundred such npcs in poe or a dozen in bg, which would actual be more offensive to a reasonable person? 

 

al would reach across the table and give you a serious smack.

 

HA! Good Fun!