Stronghold Attacks just not done well

[UofLFan00]

Just as a preface I have been a lurker for awhile, I backed the game and checked the forums every so often. Love the game, love the expansions.

 

I have no problem with attacks on the stronghold needing to be defended against in some manner. I am not asking for the stronghold to be risk free, but why in the seven hells am I punished SEVERELY on being unable to get back to the stronghold in a impossible to meet time frame. Recap:

1. Leave for the new area in the whitemarch: Travel time 24 hours. Actually takes 3 days due to story. That is fine.
2. See that I need to take care of bandits upon arriving decide I will do it after finishing area as it says three days.
3. After finishing area see I have 20 hours left to fight bandits. Realize event was triggered while traveling and part of travel was already deducted.
4. No chance of getting back so auto resolve only option
5. Lose Both curtain walls, Western Barbican, and Bailey. So 14 days of rebuilding time and a significant amount of gold.
6. WHAT!?

I appreciate everything obsidian has done and love this game. I don't expect them to have time to rework this so I guess I am just venting. But I would like to know who thought this was a "fun" mechanic to deal with. I had security up to 38 and a full complement of mercenaries. Hell I had two party members still there although the game doesn't count them. I understand suffering some damage but this is obscene, and unavoidable on my part. I don't like getting kicked in the family jewels for no reason.

[Campylobacter Jejuni]

The worst part is taht they always occur within the stronghold anyway. They should've increased the map size so there'd be little fields in front of the doors where the fights would be staged. The stronghold doesn't add a lot to immersion... in fact it rather detracts form it, even with the recent improvements. Why do I have no guests in the tavern? Where's the staff running around? Why do I have such tiny taxes yet such obscenely high wages? Do I control like 6 smallholder farms or what?

The soldier system is pretty weird too, but not a really huge deal.

[Naesaki]

I wonder if its something they'll even significantly change or improve any more at this point, even just having more npcs wandering around like having people in the library or in the ground floor in Brighthollow so it just felt a bit more lived in.

 

When it comes to PoE 2 and they do "own your own castle." again, I hope they've learned a lot from this, it would be nice if it was more tied into the story or had a stronger radiant quest system implemented.

[Campylobacter Jejuni]

Honestly I think owning a castle in an RPG is way overrated. The reason castles are cool is because of fighting back sieges and ruling as a lord. You do neither wandering the world as the chosen one. Fighting back those pathetic redshirt raiding parties with your pathetic NPC redshirts in the courtyard don't count as invasions btw.

 

Another cool reason for owning a castle is building and furnishing it yourself, but the upgrade system is a very dissatisfying implementation of that aspect.

 

You should have some way to own an awe-inspiring home just to signify how truly important you are, but finding a random castle and not doing anything with it doesn't fulfill that purpose. It'd have been better if you were awarded a great villa in Brackenbury in an official public ceremony where you're hailed as their hero. That'd have been seriously awesome! Or it's more awesome as a general mechanic, I guess it wouldn't really fit the plot of the game in his particular example.

To be honest, after I did everything castle-related... I'd think the game equally great without any castle, that's how forgettable it is.

Edited February 29, 2016 by Campylobacter Jejuni

[phimseto]

I wrote a similar response yesterday in another Stronghold-themed post, but I'll restate it here. Caed Nua is one of those places where the budget seams can be more obviously seen. Despite the successful Kickstarter, the figure was still startlingly low for making a game of that scale and complexity. Obsidian pulled it off, but not surprisingly some areas were not as fleshed out as they or we might have liked.

 

There are myriad different ways any of us could look at Caed Nua and imagine improvements large and small. To the ideas above, you could also add stuff like shows at the amphitheater, some kind of book-themed quest for the library, more variety in types of encounters, more of the keep to explore, develop, and use, etc. When they announce Pillars of Eternity 2, I fully intend to create a "Stronghold 2.0" post where we can place all our suggestions! 

 

As for Caed Nua, I think Obsidian did an admirable job of doing the best they could for launch and then spending the last year developing extra content that works within the framework of what is already there. They probably couldn't do anything too revolutionary because of how everything was programmed, but they did do a bit. I played the game at launch and am replaying it now, and the keep is definitely a more engaging place than it was at launch.

 

So don't be too quick to bury the stronghold or suggest a sequel would be better without it. Just as we have our list of ways they'd make the keep better, I'm sure Obsidian has their own, too. I'm looking forward to seeing how they iterate on the concept moving forward (and I have no doubt they will incorporate the best of our suggestions).

[MaxQuest]

Honestly I think owning a castle in an RPG is way overrated. The reason castles are cool is because of fighting back sieges and ruling as a lord. You do neither wandering the world as the chosen one.

Well, in NWN2 for instance, you also get a stronghold (Crossroad Keep), which you have to rebuild and manage. And it's not just for cosmetics. It generates really solid income. And yes, there is a full, long siege. And Josh Sawyer happened to be lead designer of NWN2 too, so..

My guess would be they had high plans for Caed Nua as well, just didn't have the time.

Edited February 29, 2016 by MaxQuest

[FlintlockJazz]

Still think the next stronghold they do, if any, should be either a ship, a stronghold with portals, or a pocket plane, to accommodate the modern adventurer on the go.  I'd prefer the first two over the last one (since it was already done in Throne of Bhaal, though a floating tower in a sea of nothingness could be interesting).  If it's still a stronghold I think I would prefer a renaissance manor house or chateau over another castle, making it a place of residence over a fortification owned by ruling lords.  You could then choose whether you started to lay claim to towns nearby (after completing their quests which you would do anyway so as not to lock out those who don't want to claim territory from doing the quests) or not, to perhaps set up caravans which then unlocks merchants, build a wizard's tower that lets you research spells by hiring on apprentices, etc. 

 

Just random thoughts and splurging.

[Campylobacter Jejuni]

 

Well, in NWN2 for instance, you also get a stronghold (Crossroad Keep), which you have to rebuild and manage. And it's not just for cosmetics. It generates really solid income. And yes, there is a full, long siege. And Josh Sawyer happened to be lead designer of NWN2 too, so..

My guess would be they had high plans for Caed Nua as well, just didn't have the time.

 

Well taht would be different.

 

I never went this far because of some bugs that made me stop playing it - and then the add-on was released. I intend to replay both though. 

 

 

Edited February 29, 2016 by Campylobacter Jejuni

[Valorian]

What bothers me about these attacks is that they're practically endless (tied to the passage of time instead of quest completion). This means there's infinite loot, which naturally I don't pick up because a) I don't like infinite anything and b) PoE's economy doesn't need more breakage. However, the result is a stronghold floor littered with sparkly stuff. I could pick up these things, but you can't remove ingredients or gold from your stash and throw it away into a container.

Please, tie stronghold attacks to quest completion or allow us to remove ingredients and gold from the stash.