Content Stretch Goals

[Flouride]

 (I'd also love a xaurip companion to death)

 

 

I'm sure that is illegal in most countries in PoE!

[Randin]

Class-specific content would be at the top of my list. Having class-specific strongholds in the vein of BG2 would be awesome, but anything would be nice. I know class-specific content isn't an efficient use of resources, but it does add a lot to the game's setting, making classes into more than just a bundle of stats and abilities.

 

- More weapon types

 

On the topic of weapon types, I'd love to see greater visual variety in spellcasters' implements. Having everything be "wand", or "slightly different wand" was a little boring in my Wizard playthrough. A mage staff would be great, and maybe stuff like a ritual knife, magic orbs, whatever.  

[Micamo]

 

(I'd also love a xaurip companion to death)

 

I'm sure that is illegal in most countries in PoE!

They totally won't, but if obsidian put in a xaurip npc (not necessarily a companion) and let you kiss them, I'd do it.

 

I'd kiss a xaurip.

 

Doesn't even have to be a lady xaurip.

Edited February 6, 2017 by Micamo

[injurai]

​

 

 

 

(I'd also love a xaurip companion to death)

I'm sure that is illegal in most countries in PoE!

They totally won't, but if obsidian put in a xaurip npc (not necessarily a companion) and let you kiss them, I'd do it.

I'd kiss a xaurip.

Doesn't even have to be a lady xaurip.

 

While I'm liberal in real life, I'm conservative in Eora. This is not okay.

​

​Next thing we know "I kissed a Xuarip" will be played by every bard in every pub.

[Blarghagh]

Well it was established that Xaurips can't talk. They can't consent.

[Messier-31]

They can yip-yip though.

[Micamo]

Well it was established that Xaurips can't talk. They can't consent.

 

Maybe I'm misremembering but I could have sworn there were talking xaurips in the endless paths. Those ones that throw you down the well as a sacrifice to their dragon?

 

Note: I haven't actually done the endless paths since my initial 100% run when the game came out

 

Also, even if I am misremembering, not being able to speak doesn't mean they can't express consent. They'd just have to do so through sign language or writing. I myself am non-verbal a good majority of the time.

Edited February 6, 2017 by Micamo

[Varana]

You just need someone to grab them by their ears and jerk their head forwards and backwards. Looks like nodding, so consent.

 

Sorry.

[Yonjuro]

You just need someone to grab them by their ears and jerk their head forwards and backwards. Looks like nodding, so consent.

 

Sorry.

 

 Now you've done it. My therapy dog was triggered by your remarks and had to retreat to a safe space where he blows bubbles and colors in a coloring book. 

[anameforobsidian]

The overwhelming evidence is that Xaurip are fairly intelligent, much more so than any animal.  They have a hierarchical religion, manufacture a variety of tools, assign different functions to different rooms, paint and create art, and communicate with each other.

[Mirokunite]

Xaurip....

 

Filthy, dumb, Xaurip scum.

[LuccA]

I would love to see more banter between companions as a stretch goal, or just overall reactivity (I mean, even more than what is already planned at US$ 2.2 mi).

 

The final goal should be that every companion has significant interactions with every other one. Like, every party composition will have the same amount of interactions. And reactivity means loads of dialogue options depending on character's background and reputations, which takes time... and money... maybe stretch goal money? 

[gibonez]

Some cool stretch goals I would like to see is more Base classes.

[injurai]

​

 

Some cool stretch goals I would like to see is more Base classes.

 

​I'm going to take a wild guess, and say that won't be happening.

[jones092201@gmail.com]

I'd like to see a very reactive villain as the stretch goal, who plays into the narrative of your companions and has significant reactivity to choices, and also appears throughout the game-

 

Jon irenicus and bohdi are good villains because they are more active throughout the story than most any newer rpg villain, the same way Darth Vader, the sheriff of Nottingham, and similar characters in various media are.

 

Thaos was interesting, but we rarely interacted with him, and thus he was never the vehicle by which we saw the progression of our party.

 

I'd like a henchmen we actively work against, meet and fight multiple times, and perhaps get a chance to sway later in the game

 

Edit-- eders brother, were he to be alive still, would work perfectly in this role

Edited February 7, 2017 by jones092201@gmail.com

[anameforobsidian]

Some cool stretch goals I would like to see is more Base classes.

 

Not in this game.  It's pretty clear that the bulk of the systems work has gone into clarifying combat and the multi / kit class system.  I don't even want them to add a new class right now.  I'd rather wait until the system is relatively stable.  A new class is going to need very different mechanics to keep up the strong differentiation Pillars has between classes.

Edited February 7, 2017 by anameforobsidian

[Blarghagh]

The in-game bestiary said Xuarips cannot speak iirc. Either way I don't actually care, I was just continuing the politically tinged ridicule of Xaurip romance that came before me.

[GhostofAnakin]

Stretch goals often cause all kinds of problems for development, and I've always donated based on the core pitch, and I intend my donation to go towards devs designing and creating a game they think will best achieve that core vision. I think this is the most sensible strategy, even though individual stretch goals can be extremely exciting. I don't want to lecture devs on how to make a game, because sometimes that actually hinders them on delivering on their core pitch. (Of course, I don't want devs to do whatever they want, but if I thought they wouldn't deliver on their core pitch when left to their own devices, I wouldn't trust them or back them in the first place.) 

 

In that respect I'm OK with them going with more modular features for stretch goals so far, including localisation. And honestly, if I could have any stretch goals I wanted, I would rather that they use each extra 200k for things like increased quest reactivity across the entire game, better animations, more man-hours spent on encounter design per map, etc. - rather than a stronghold or a new city. Sadly, that's probably very unattractive to put up as a stretch goal in many cases.

 

Yeah, I'm sometimes leery of certain stretch goals that could end up compromising the rest of the more important features.  I prefer to leave it to the Devs to add whatever they feel they can accomplish without sacrificing quality/features.

[PrimeJunta]

Some cool stretch goals I would like to see is more Base classes.

 

Please no, they're having real trouble differentiating between 11 classes already. With 11 base classes and at least 22 subclasses, that'll give nearly 550 unique multiclass combinations (assuming you can pick a subclass for each class in a multiclass). What possible benefit could more base classes give?

[Osvir]

I would think this could be "Megadungeon" equivalent:

1) (Community/Backer) Island

2) (Community/Backer) Inn

3) (Community/Backer) Ship

[Bill Gates' Son]

Some cool stretch goals I would like to see is more Base classes.

 

Same.  We're stilli missing a few archetypes ( I would really like a support class that doesn't use magic, like a Marshal from D&D or the Leadership tree from Tyranny), but I doubt we're getting any anytime soon since they're adding subclasses.

Edited February 7, 2017 by Bill Gates' Son

[mumbogumshoe]

I'd like to see a very reactive villain as the stretch goal, who plays into the narrative of your companions and has significant reactivity to choices, and also appears throughout the game-

 

Jon irenicus and bohdi are good villains because they are more active throughout the story than most any newer rpg villain, the same way Darth Vader, the sheriff of Nottingham, and similar characters in various media are.

 

Thaos was interesting, but we rarely interacted with him, and thus he was never the vehicle by which we saw the progression of our party.

 

I'd like a henchmen we actively work against, meet and fight multiple times, and perhaps get a chance to sway later in the game

 

Edit-- eders brother, were he to be alive still, would work perfectly in this role

I agree with everything, except I'm a little worried about the "henchman that we fight multiple times" thing. This works well in books and movies but is hard to pull off in video games. The problem is that books and movies can establish how dangerous such a villain is by letting him win against the protagonist. Protagonist rages against the villain who is much more powerful, the villain wins easily but then in his arrogance doesn't kill the protagonist outright but sends him to die a slow agonizing death in his pit of doom from which the protagonist escapes at the last minute which gives him the chance to grow stronger and come back later to defeat the villain. Cliche trope, I know, but it works.

 

It doesn't work so well in video games. The developers can either have it be a real (hard but fair) fight, in which case they have to pull a deus-ex-machina plot device at the end to let the villain win anyway (worst option, Mass Effect 3 did that with their stupid Space Ninja -- won't forgive them for that, it wasn't even a hard fight) or let him escape. In any case, this diminishes the villain because he's already (often quite easily by competent players) been beaten and taking agency away from the player at the end of such a fight by giving the villain plot armor always feels contrived and frustrating to me.

 

Or they can make the fight so hard it's basically unwinnable but at the end pull a deus-ex-machina in favor of the player. That's a better option because it at least establishes the villain as a real danger but it's frustrating as well and the plot device at the end is no less contrived in most cases. Also, as long as the fight is winnable at least in theory, no matter how hard it is, some players will come up with a strategy to pull it off, in which case you have the same problem as in option one.

 

Third option is to have the whole encounter scripted, which can be good for the narrative but runs counter to the whole idea of a game where the player is supposed to have agency.

 

I've honestly never seen a crpg where they pulled this off in a way that I found statisfactory. Even Baldur's Gate 2, that did it better than most, left me thinking after pretty much steamrolling Irenicus the first time in Spellhold, that the guy's really not all he's cracked up to be. Mods saved that for me later on by making that fight a lot harder so that I could at least find him credible.

 

I think the best you can do in video games is either having a succession of villains that give you the feeling of fighting your way up through the ranks of an organization, while having the real BBEG show up and disdainfully decline to fight you himself or, better yet, have the recurring villain be a mysterious schemer who you cross paths a few times but who's always a step ahead of you until you finally catch up with him.

[Taurus]

Witcher 2 Geralt vs Letho first fight did it in a proper way.

 

It's not that hard to do, speacially a scripeted fight in wich by the middle of it the main villain just leaves his henchmen fighting and abandon the fight saying he has no time for it, and trusting his minions to finish you.

[evilcat]

Some cool stretch goals I would like to see is more Base classes.

Problematic.

Already 11 classes+ specialization kits. And multiclassing option. And some classes have orders (like Paladins or Priest)

And there is desire to have more options for already existing classes (like more abillities to choose from).

[mumbogumshoe]

Agree that 11 classes + subclasses + multiclassing is more than enough options for character customization. I'd rather they focus their efforts somewhere else than to expand this even further. All the content specific stuff that I really want is probably not really great for stretch goals. Except for an 8th companion perhaps but I have a strong feeling this is coming anyway (saw Feargus drop a hint to that effect on Fig). 

 

What I really want is that they ditch the "2 large cities" approach and have a single large city that they really focus on. Make it feel like Athkatla or Sigil, with lots of secrets to discover and high content density, rather than like Baldur's Gate. The second thing that I want is more focus on the stronghold - and for the stronghold to be a ship!  But most importantly, liven it up, have NPCs there that do more than stand around like lamp posts, that you can talk to, that have some interesting stuff to say. Have those companions who aren't in the party with you do something there and let me talk to them. It was cool that you could send them on quests and sometimes that they helped you with some visitor or event or something but I hope they'll build on that and expand it. Lastly, integrate it more into the storyline. Being the lord of a castle (or the owner of a ship) should be a big deal in the world, not an afterthought. I think if Bioware got anything right in recent years (and there isn't a lot imo), it's how they did the Normandy, the ship and the crew, in Mass Effect. I'd love something that feels a little bit like that in PoEII. 

Edited February 7, 2017 by mumbogumshoe