How is this game evolving?

[Kilburn]

Correct me if Im wrong but it sounds like it will be getting even easier with even more overpowered resting bonuses being added.

 

Will there be any option added for reduced exp and reduced gold for those of us who like a challenge?

[Valorian]

 

 

Will there be any option added for .. reduced gold?

 

Not that I know of. PoE's Niagara coin Falls are here to stay, it seems.

We should be happy for our fellow players who are getting a mode easier than easy though, because we're nice people and if someone wants a skip-combat button so be it.

If you're asking why is there an easier-than-easy mode while, for example, no attempts at balancing PoE's peculiar economy have been made, we can only speculate. I have a few theories myself. 

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

Correct me if Im wrong but it sounds like it will be getting even easier with even more overpowered resting bonuses being added.

 

Will there be any option added for reduced exp and reduced gold for those of us who like a challenge?

 

There is encounter difficulty scaling now. I find i spend the cash on respecs anyway.

[AndreaColombo]

I would still prefer the challenge to come from enemies' being tougher, not from my character being weaker (which is why I don't like to play PotD at early levels: The extra difficulty comes from your being low level and therefore having little options to deal with situations, rather than from enemies' being strong and having good A.I..)

Edited February 1, 2016 by AndreaColombo

[Kilburn]

 

Correct me if Im wrong but it sounds like it will be getting even easier with even more overpowered resting bonuses being added.

 

Will there be any option added for reduced exp and reduced gold for those of us who like a challenge?

 

There is encounter difficulty scaling now. I find i spend the cash on respecs anyway.

 

 

That sounds interesting. Scaling for the whole game or just the Xpacs? How does it work?

 

Does it keep the game challenging throughout with POTD + level scaling?

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

 

 

Correct me if Im wrong but it sounds like it will be getting even easier with even more overpowered resting bonuses being added.

 

Will there be any option added for reduced exp and reduced gold for those of us who like a challenge?

 

There is encounter difficulty scaling now. I find i spend the cash on respecs anyway.

 

 

That sounds interesting. Scaling for the whole game or just the Xpacs? How does it work?

 

Does it keep the game challenging throughout with POTD + level scaling?

 

 

 

Basically it triggers when you enter the expansion, act III, or Act IV, if you're high enough level to trigger it. It can also be set via console without triggering cheats. It makes things harder. The expansion areas are a challenge on PotD even with a higher level party. Haven't yet tried the Act III scaling.

[Flix]

Correct me if Im wrong but it sounds like it will be getting even easier with even more overpowered resting bonuses being added.

 

Will there be any option added for reduced exp and reduced gold for those of us who like a challenge?

 

A popular mod called IE Mod allowed for reduced XP as one feature.  It will likely be updated for the upcoming game version.

[Kilburn]

 

Correct me if Im wrong but it sounds like it will be getting even easier with even more overpowered resting bonuses being added.

 

Will there be any option added for reduced exp and reduced gold for those of us who like a challenge?

 

A popular mod called IE Mod allowed for reduced XP as one feature.  It will likely be updated for the upcoming game version.

 

 

Yes, I was using that with 50% nerfed exp table. The progression felt about right (although IMO it could stand to be even a little slower).

 

Im baffled that the developers refuse to just put that option into the base game.

 

Vanilla exp gain is just way too broken.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Kilburn

[scottii]

I miss the old FF8 concept as the enemies level the same way you do.  Too bad this is commonly overlooked in RPGs.

[anameforobsidian]

I miss the old FF8 concept as the enemies level the same way you do.  Too bad this is commonly overlooked in RPGs.

 

What's the point of leveling then?  I especially hate that pernicious form of auto-scaling.  It leads to every bandit having world-shattering, epic armor.

[DreamWayfarer]

True. Sometimes level-scaling has its value, but take it too far and you may as well remove leveling.

 

Now I kinda want to see an RPG without leveling.

[scottii]

Easy.  Skills and the change in battle tactics.  Its lessens the repetitiveness.

[Ineth]

The solution is to never scale monster stats, but to scale the number and types of monsters.

 

I.e. the same encounter could have

• 5 Xaurips, if your party is low level
• 10 Xaurips, if your party is medium level
• 5 Xaurips and 5 Xaurip Champions, if your party is high level

The encounter difficulty would match your level, but you'd still "feel" your party getting stronger due to how much faster and easier it becomes to down each individual Xaurip.

[Abel]

True. And i think it's basically what the difficulty levels do. The mobs are not the exact same depending if you're playing with easy or hard settings.

[anameforobsidian]

That's what they tried to do with difficulty modes, and I appreciated it.  However, when applied to level systematically, it recreates the verisimilitude problems of Oblivion.  Why should every cave I step into have a thousand champions and no low level minions?  Maybe I want to see wolves with some frequency late in the game because they're setting appropriate animals.  I think out-leveling non-critical content is fine if there is plenty of other content and the level curve is slow enough to not overpower most of it.

[Abel]

Agree with that. Level scaling was one of the reasons i dropped fallout 3... The whole game became totally silly really fast.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Abel

[Zenbane]

Im baffled that the developers refuse to just put that option into the base game.

 

It's baffling that the developers dont spend time on something that has already been built and widely available, and instead work on things that are needed and unavailable? Yeah, that's crazy

[Kilburn]

 

Im baffled that the developers refuse to just put that option into the base game.

 

It's baffling that the developers dont spend time on something that has already been built and widely available, and instead work on things that are needed and unavailable? Yeah, that's crazy

 

 

pfft, ya you also have to update IE mod every time they patch the game.. Almost more baffling how badly they broke experience and refuse to fix it.

 

Ya things so desperately needed like story time. give me a break.

[Sannom]

Vanilla exp gain is just way too broken.

Patch the game then. It's been fixed in patch 1.5 I think.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Sannom

[Rosveen]

I miss the old FF8 concept as the enemies level the same way you do. Too bad this is commonly overlooked in RPGs.

Play Oblivion as a cautionary tale about how ridiculously broken this kind of scaling can be - and how to do it better, like they attempted (but were not entirely successful) in Skyrim. Edited February 7, 2016 by Rosveen

[anameforobsidian]

Skyrim also had the severe problem that it devoted a lot of time to lower level content that you outgrew very quickly.  Then you're left fighting Draugr for the rest of the game (when the skeletons actually looked much cooler).  Pillars of Eternity does this to a lesser extent.  You hit level 3 lightning fast, on PotD I try to make it to 5 before doing Caed Nua.

[scottii]

 

I miss the old FF8 concept as the enemies level the same way you do. Too bad this is commonly overlooked in RPGs.

Play Oblivion as a cautionary tale about how ridiculously broken this kind of scaling can be - and how to do it better, like they attempted (but were not entirely successful) in Skyrim.

 

Are you talking about ES4?

[Kilburn]

I dont think bethesda's eternally rehashed garbage is a good example of why level scaling would suck.

 

Im sure Pillars could do it better. Pillars has fun, addictive and tactical combat. Combat would still be fun even if its level scaled.

[Zenbane]

pfft, ya you also have to update IE mod every time they patch the game.. Almost more baffling how badly they broke experience and refuse to fix it.

Even more baffling is that you sympathize with Mod developers who only have to update their limited work, but show the opposite sentiment for the actual game developers who literally have thousands more tasks to address. I don't pity Mod developers who have to keep their Mod's up to date. If anyone builds a Mod without realizing that the game you're Mod'ing will have updates, then they should find a different hobby. As for the imaginary "broken experience" in Pillars, not only is it far from broken, but PoE as a whole is a game that involves much more than exp grinding. If someone calls the exp gains broken it is only because that player is trying to force PoE to be a game that it isn't meant to be. The fact that the exp gains aren't ideal for you personally doesn't mean that the game is broken overall.

 

Ya things so desperately needed like story time. give me a break.

Story Time is more important than the "broken exp" you keep complaining about. Story Time will attract a larger target audience to the game, whereas making a few exp tweaks that already exist in a Mod will only serve to squelch a few forum complaints.

 

Story Time makes business sense, implementing a feature that already exists in a publicly available Mod makes much less sense.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Zenbane

[Nonek]

Has walking been implemented yet?