The Consolidated Pillars of Eternity 2 Wishlists Thread

[anameforobsidian]

I don't really care for more/deeper companion content. Pillars 1 was fine; there was enough that I could relate to the companions, the banter between them was great, they had their personal agendas and stories, but it didn't take over the whole thing BioWare style. I would prefer that they kept it that way; companion interaction and stories should be a side dish, not the main course.

 

What would I like to see? Well, some of it has already been promised in the Figstarter: a nice visual facelift, exorcism of the loading time demon, more customisable companions (multiclassing!), a fresh setting that's a bit different from the usual European pseudo-Medieval (okay, in this case, pseudo-Renaissance) thing. So that's all good. If they pull that off and give us more of the same while avoiding the mistakes made with Pillars 1 (hollow stronghold, out-of-whack megadungeon, empty-ish Act 3, animu backer NPCs all over the place), I'll be a happy panda.

 

I'll be really happy if:

 

(1) Better encounters. There were very few in Pillars 1 that made proper use of the environment or otherwise came close to IE game standards. These got progressively better in the expansions, however, so I'm optimistic: if they're all WM2 quality but a bit better paced (not every map has to have a mob every two steps), that'll be fantastic.

 

(2) Better factions. In Pillars, the act 2 Knights/Dozens/Doemenel thing just suddenly ... ended. It felt tacked-on and superficial, and (ending slides aside) your choices there didn't make any difference to the rest of the game. They did say this is a goal; I hope they manage it. If they get anywhere near the kind of faction reactivity they had in FO:NV that'll be fantastic.

 

(3) More open world. Pillars is a sequence of small sandboxes. I would like to be able to move more freely during the mid-game, even at the risk of attempting to take on too high-level content too early (I like that as a challenge). 

 

(4) Better thought-out loot. At this time, Pillars plus WM1 has a pretty good loot system: there are tons of items with unique properties you can use as a basis for builds (just ask @Boeroer!), and the crafting system lets you tweak and upgrade them so you can keep them. The handful of soulbound items introduced in WM are extra-cool and flashy but not so outrageously powerful they eclipse the rest of it. WM2 however goes overboard with the soulbounds: towards the end everybody was rocking them, and the best ones were just objectively better than anything else, which took the lustre off my wacky builds built around Hellwax Mold-cloned Spelltongues or what have you. So, I hope Pillars 2 will attempt to hit something like that balance: enough unique items to make for creative builds, seasoned with just a handful of extra-cool soulbound items.

 

(5) Something surprising. I love it when a game throws a curveball at me, whether it's in story, lore, or mechanically. Because I can't know what that is, I can't suggest it. 

 

Amen to all of these.

[LordCrash]

The problem with the list then is that it isn't a wish list for features.  Over half is a way to backdoor complain about the first game.

Ahem, no. This thread is NOT AT ALL about Pillars 1. Complaining about a game that was released years ago is pointless anyway. But of course I want PoE2 to improve upon PoE, that's only natural. I guess everybody around here wants that.

 

1 & 6 don't offer suggestions.  They're just complaints about the writing.

This is a wishlist, not a list of suggestions and not a list of complaints about Pillars 1. Just take it for what it is and don't try to interpret more into it than there is. Nothing wrong with disagreeing with me, but please do so on topic, without dismissing stuff in such a sweeping way. You don't need to be so defensive anyway, because - again - this is not an attack on PoE in any way. I enjoyed Pillars 1 very much for what it was.

 

And 1 is hardly just a complaint about writing. For example, I asked for MORE interactions and different kinds of interactions. That's a purely quantitative wish, not a qualitative one - so it's not about the quality of the writing. But yes, I want the quality of the writing to be top notch in PoE2 since it's central to a game like Pillars that not only the storytelling is extremely good but that you can also emotionally connect with your teammates. I hope that Obsidian will deliver on that wish in both quantitative and qualitative ways.

 

5, 7, & 8 have the same problem: you laud the BG games for being creative where they weren't.  BG was able to take stuff that had been around in D&D for years.

That might be true. But still I think that BG2 did it in a very good way, especially compared to other games. I don't only compare games to external pop culture and RPG culture but also to other video games in particular. Every game has to compete with games that already exist. BG2 was IMO a lot better than most or every other RPG that was released before. And Pillars has now to compete with BG2 and every other RPG released in between. You might say that it's harder for Obsidian now than it was for Bioware back in the days to come up with new stuff in the world of video game RPGs - and you might be right with that assumption. But that's just how it is, I didn't make the rules and I can't forget my experiences. Comparing stuff to things you already know is just natural.

 

Most of the setting was not creative, but it was well-executed. Talking items had been around for years when Lilarcore was implemented, yes, even humorous ones.

Well executed and creative for a video game at that time - and compared to many other RPGs still creative today. The point is that I want Pillars 2 to feel at least equally creative and fresh than BG2 felt way back in the time. Huge tast, I know, but nobody said that I had small wishes...

 

Both games had tough enemy party fights.  In BG2 most of the optional bosses were dragons or undead.  Pillars had two (or three) undead fights and three dragons; less than BG2 but they're not trying for the scope of BG2.  Mindflayers and Beholders are iconic D&D monsters, BG2 using them is hardly a sign of creativity.

True enough. That doesn't negate my wish for creativity though. And by the way, trying for the scope of BG2 is EXACTLY my biggest wish...

 

The Eyeless are fairly unique as are the Skuldr.  However, when it comes to monsters, there's only so much you can create without referencing old myths, DnD, or other media. Lagufaeth are cool, but someone else may call them murlocs or merpeople.

I think it's quite possible to come up with complete "fresh" monster designs. But I do agree that it's a difficult task that can't be forced or automated. Either you have good, fresh and creative ideas or you don't. We'll see how that turns out to be in the final game. Edited January 29, 2017 by LordCrash

[floredon]

I agree with better encounter design. I hope that the AI that allows for wandering NPCs allows for wandering enemies as well. 

I think we are getting better factions, Josh stated something to that effect.

More open world may be a limitation of the engine. The world design is very similar to the Infinity Engine games, not sure how maps would work in such a game in an "open world" design.

As far as loot is concerned, I think they actually did a great job with loot in POE. There was crafting, and not a lot of meaningless junk outside of hats and armor/weapons that would be downgrades. Maybe they could add blacksmithing which would allow you to salvage armor and weapons and allow you to craft upgrades. I assume soulbound weapons will return, and hoping for soulbound armor/jewelry as well.

[PrimeJunta]

More open world may be a limitation of the engine. The world design is very similar to the Infinity Engine games, not sure how maps would work in such a game in an "open world" design.

 

I clearly need to clarify: I didn't mean an open world in terms of maps à la Skyrim, that would not fit the style of the game at all. I meant open in terms of content à la Baldur's Gate 2's Act 2.

 

As I said in a message above, I'd like to see a short, linear intro followed by a big, open mid-game, tied up in a short, tight endgame. That rather than the sequence of sandboxes we had in Pillars 1.

[LordCrash]

 

More open world may be a limitation of the engine. The world design is very similar to the Infinity Engine games, not sure how maps would work in such a game in an "open world" design.

 

I clearly need to clarify: I didn't mean an open world in terms of maps à la Skyrim, that would not fit the style of the game at all. I meant open in terms of content à la Baldur's Gate 2's Act 2.

 

As I said in a message above, I'd like to see a short, linear intro followed by a big, open mid-game, tied up in a short, tight endgame. That rather than the sequence of sandboxes we had in Pillars 1.

 

Well, but let's not forget pacing. Witcher 3 for example had A LOT of narrative issues with this exact approach to open world quest design. The problem with that approach is that you can't really build up any tension or urgency for the overall main story. Too much freedom actually means that your main goal isn't that important or even time sensitive. At least it feels that way sooner or later. The game tells you that it doesn't matter if you do X tasts before taking care of your main goal or not. That might work for some stories but hardly for all. I'd say it only works for a very specific kind of story. Using that approach reduces your narrative freedom to that kind of story - or you risk to destroy the narrative pacing. Anyway, you can't have both a dense and tense main narrative AND completely freedom in quest design. It's either or. Edited January 29, 2017 by LordCrash

[Faerunner]

 

• Druid spiritshift that doesn't become useless by half-way through the game (let it start less powerful and scale).
• More reactivity to race/class.
• A cassowary ranger companion (and/or a honey badger)

 

 

-Bite your tongue!

-I agree completely

-Oooh! Those sound great!

[Faerunner]

I'll  modify my list:

 

-"Skins" for ranger animal companions. (Like the "big cat" companion can be "skinned" as a panther, snow leopard, orange tiger, white tiger, etc. not just lion. Wild Boar can be brown, grey, "warthog" etc. Wolf can be white, grey, black, or reddish, etc.)

-"Skins" for druid spirit-shift. (Like the "big cat" spirit-shift can be "skinned" as panther, snow leopard, orange tiger, white tiger, etc. not just lion. Wild Boar can be brown, grey, "warthog" etc. Wolf can be white, grey, black, or reddish, etc.)

-More reactivity to race, class, and/or background (especially where Deadfire is concerned).

-Learn more about wild orlan and/or pale elf culture. (They're so secretive!)

-White fur for wild orlans? "Albinism" feature for people who want to RP an albino orlan, aumaua, etc? (Not just pale elf?)

-Romance?

Edited January 29, 2017 by Faerunner

[Leferd]

If crafting is in, then allow us to mod beyond weapons and armor.

 

There were some cool looking helmets and cloaks that I ended up ditching because they were regular items, and I came across better loot.

[ShadySands]

Not something for the game but I'd really like a dev tracker so I can keep track of all their responses on Fig

[Gairnulf]

Some of you may remember a thread titled "My Ultra-Conservative/Reactionary Wishlist for the Expansion".

Continuing the list below:

• Ammunition for ranged weapons.
• Weight carry capacity on per-party member basis.
• The ability to add map notes when in the area map.
• The ability to split the party between non-party-required areas (there was a technical limitation to that) with some party members being in one area and others continuing alone in another. Even better if certain quests require that.
• Separating stealth from trap-detecting mode.
• Ability to give names to owned mundane items once they reach a certain level of enchantment.
• Not really a feature request, but I would like more information on the history and interstate politics. Setting the game in a pseudo-Renaissance provokes association with the Machiavellian politics of that period, I hope this theme gets more developed in PoE II
• Please let durations/recovery times be based on a more human-readable scale, that easier for mental math. Either a full second or X.5 seconds. Please no more of that "7.3 s", "0.9 s".
• Ability to mod in item description images.

Edited February 3, 2017 by Gairnulf

[Osvir]

Ah, this made me remember:

​- Better Survival & Injury Mechanics (Warmth, Hunger, Thirst, Injuries/Diseases). Inspired by Project Zomboid, Battle Brothers, and NEO Scavenger. Probably never happening.

[Gromnir]

serious.  can a mod combine these and/or pin?  within a month there is gonna be a dozen o' these.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[FlintlockJazz]

As I said in another thread, respecs to be done by Animancers as it fits with the lore and allows for amusing scenes of characters being shoved in cages and electrocuted (okay, maybe not amusing but more dark and terrifying).  

 

And shall we make this the unofficial official "what we want" thread and try and all post in here since it has an appropriate title for it?

[Messier-31]

1. Ammunition for ranged weapons.
2. Weight carry capacity on per-party member basis.
3. The ability to add map notes when in the area map.
4. The ability to split the party between non-party-required areas (there was a technical limitation to that) with some party members being in one area and others continuing alone in another. Even better if certain quests require that.
5. Separating stealth from trap-detecting mod

 

1. Please, no. Micromanagement sucks.
2. OK, I guess. Gotta think what you carry.
3. Totally. This helps a lot.
4. Sure, whatever.
5. What? Why? No no no no. PoE1 had it right, imo.

[Sedrefilos]

1-4 what Messier-31 said. Though 2 felt ok with the limited inventory per party member.

5. I'd like a passive trap/secret detection mechanic and stealth just being stealth.

[jones092201]

I just want a more interesting one-handed style. I realize it is great on POTD, but it doesn't capture the spirit of the duelist I want. Maybe give me a deflection and speed boost when I'm only engaged by one enemy, and a penalty when flanked.

[PrimeJunta]

Well, but let's not forget pacing. Witcher 3 for example had A LOT of narrative issues with this exact approach to open world quest design. The problem with that approach is that you can't really build up any tension or urgency for the overall main story. Too much freedom actually means that your main goal isn't that important or even time sensitive. At least it feels that way sooner or later. The game tells you that it doesn't matter if you do X tasts before taking care of your main goal or not. That might work for some stories but hardly for all. I'd say it only works for a very specific kind of story. Using that approach reduces your narrative freedom to that kind of story - or you risk to destroy the narrative pacing. Anyway, you can't have both a dense and tense main narrative AND completely freedom in quest design. It's either or.

 

I don't think that's all that important for a game of this type. There should be some McGuffin to keep you going of course, but the possibility to explore things at your own pace is hugely attractive, and a sense of plot urgency goes counter to that. BG2's second act worked because there was no plot urgency; Imoen was safely tucked away in the clink and you had all the time in the world to get that 20k. (Imoen's kidnapping was a crummy plot device, but I digress.)

 

Moreover, any sense of urgency that the Pillars plot had disappeared as soon as you realised that your supposed creeping insanity didn't actually mean anything. You were completely free to roam around hunting bounties, battling undead archmages, and unraveling the ancient mysteries of the Pargrunen, and that's exactly how it should be.

 

I.e., in a big, sprawling game of this type, I'll take freedom in quest design over a dense and tense main story any day of the week.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Yeah, I agree with PrimeJunta!

 

In this kind of CRPGs, I value that relative free-roaming with my party heaps and heaps. It goes back to my days of D&D, and sitting with friends and just ramble around in world settings and discover, fiddle with skills and goof around a bit, make some weird choices, and being serious in other sections. The truth of the matter is: Personally, I play these games as if I was playing a very relaxed and number-heavy RPG campaign with myself, so this kind of freedom is essential. There are plenty of games where a more linear and intense story works much better - it's even a necessity - but this ain't one of them.  

[Gairnulf]

 

1. Ammunition for ranged weapons.
2. Weight carry capacity on per-party member basis.
3. The ability to add map notes when in the area map.
4. The ability to split the party between non-party-required areas (there was a technical limitation to that) with some party members being in one area and others continuing alone in another. Even better if certain quests require that.
5. Separating stealth from trap-detecting mod

 

1. Please, no. Micromanagement sucks.
2. OK, I guess. Gotta think what you carry.
3. Totally. This helps a lot.
4. Sure, whatever.
5. What? Why? No no no no. PoE1 had it right, imo.

 

[PrimeJunta]

1. No

2. No

3. Yes

4. No

5. No

 

Most of my niggles are already being addressed:

 

1. Better skill system

2. Better high-level gameplay (deal with active ability bloat, especially for druids / priests)

3. Better countering system in spells (in addition to keywords, Inspirations/Afflictions -- this is actually rather similar to something I've suggested here)

4. Exorcise the loading-time demon

5. Better faction mechanics + C&C

[Messier-31]

 

My inner Canadian says "SORRY BUDDY"

 

 

Most of my niggles are already being addressed:

 

My inner Aussie says "GOODONYA MATE"

Edited January 31, 2017 by Messier-31

[theBalthazar]

ammunition is a good thing IF there are infinite to use.

 

Eg :

 

A ranged weapon with a slot. On the slot we put an another item (Ammunition, bolt, arrow etc), with infinite uses.

Edited January 31, 2017 by theBalthazar

[Sedrefilos]

I believe it's pretty ovious Obs isn't goind to do any of that backwards stuff. I can't see why IE purists insist...

[Archaven]

Add map notes! But i can understand why most games dont allow that because of it being multi-platform.

[Gairnulf]

1. Ammunition for ranged weapons.

Weight carry capacity on per-party member basis.

The ability to add map notes when in the area map.

The ability to split the party between non-party-required areas (there was a technical limitation to that) with some party members being in one area and others continuing alone in another. Even better if certain quests require that.

Separating stealth from trap-detecting mode.

Ability to give names to owned mundane items once they reach a certain level of enchantment.