Ydwin to return in the expansion?

[Bill Gates' Son]

 

From Josh' Frog Helms Fan Club (https://twitter.com/jesawyer):

 

"Olá.

If we don’t hit the stretch goal by 5pm PDT today, she will be a sidekick in Deadfire.  It would be possible for her (or Rekke, etc.) to become a companion in an expansion, but not in the core game.  The new features we’re adding for companions increase the amount of work we need to do per companion by about 50%.  We’re fully scheduled for companion writing through the rest of the project just with the core 7."

 

God, just leave them out of the main game and introduce them completely in the expansion... This is a mess.

 

 

Maybe for you.  I personally glad they're doing the sidekick thing since I like  having a variety of characters to choose from.

[gogocactus]

 

So, uh... who is Ydwin and why do people want her as a full companion so badly? This is greatly confusing to me.

Because all the kids think that "deeper companion relationships" = Japanese dating sim and therefore assume that she will be their waifu. That is the only reason.

This. I just can't stretch enough how much Obsidian dropped the ball with that character art. The moment I saw that 'is Ydwin yandere or tsundere?' thread pop up on this forum it was obvious that certain people had gotten way too enthusiastic about the anime like qualities of the character. (And its potential dateability.) I really wished that they wouldn't have crossed over to an anime style when designing the concept art of this character, or the overall character's description: so uninspiring and bland. I feel it was really out of place as I can't see animé tropes, especially of the simplistic 'is Ydwin yandere or tsundere?' kind mix well with PoE's bleak and grim setting. Rather, I hope that Obsidian will keep developing more complex, human like characters as they did in PoE 1. In the end, I trust Obsidian to do a good job in character development, but actually hope that this character doesn't get developed into a full companion and someone else takes her place instead.

Edited April 30, 2017 by gogocactus

[Piero]

When they introduced the sidekicks on the campaign they said that were not final and would probably change. If she (and maybe Rekke??) will be a full companion at some point, it wouldn't be better if they are just added in the expansion and on the base game are replaced with other sidekicks? that would solve the weirdness of being "upgraded" and instead of replacing a sidekick to add a full companion there would be the sidekicks and the added full companion. I mean, i don't see a problem with this solution, please Mr. Obsidian, do this.

Edited April 30, 2017 by Piero

[ThatUndeadLegacy]

she is forever a side character

[injurai]

When they introduced the sidekicks on the campaign they said that were not final and would probably change. If she (and maybe Rekke??) will be a full companion at some point, it wouldn't be better if they are just added in the expansion and on the base game are replaced with other sidekicks? that would solve the weirdness of being "upgraded" and instead of replacing a sidekick to add a full companion there would be the sidekicks and the added full companion. I mean, i don't see a problem with this solution, please Mr. Obsidian, do this.

 

I would be more than fine with this. Whatever net's them the best narrative design for the characters I say.

[Sedrefilos]

So, uh... who is Ydwin and why do people want her as a full companion so badly? This is greatly confusing to me.

A sidekick. And there is a particular person who wants her weirdly badly; I don't know if there are that many who care.

[firkraag888]

Eh. I don't want a White March again. I hope they'll go for a sequel-expansion this time. Unless the game needs fixing and th expansion is the fix (like Pillars 1). Though I hope not.

There going to have expansions not a sequel expansion. This is there business model that worked well the first time. But yeah I agree with you

[Karkarov]

When they introduced the sidekicks on the campaign they said that were not final and would probably change. If she (and maybe Rekke??) will be a full companion at some point, it wouldn't be better if they are just added in the expansion and on the base game are replaced with other sidekicks? that would solve the weirdness of being "upgraded" and instead of replacing a sidekick to add a full companion there would be the sidekicks and the added full companion. I mean, i don't see a problem with this solution, please Mr. Obsidian, do this.

Here is the thing, people are getting too excited over it.

 

In the original Eternity Kickstarter Forton was advertised as one of the original companions.  He is on the key art, the box art, the mousepad, etc etc.  What happened to him?  Name change, slight art change, and ended up as an expansion character.  Let's not even get into what they did to poor poor Cadegund.

 

Just because someone is being touted as a character or sidekick in the kickstarter doesn't mean they will actually make the game, or that their appearance in the game won't be different.

 

I am confident Obsidian knows how dumb it would be to make a side kick magically become a full companion in the expansion.  If they choose to make a currently advertised sidekick into a full on companion in the expansion I have no doubts that they will vanish from the sidekick list.

[FlintlockJazz]

Let's not even get into what they did to poor poor Cadegund.

Whatever they did must have involved one hell of an ugly stick to end up like this!

Edited April 30, 2017 by FlintlockJazz

[MortyTheGobbo]

Right, so it's an overreaction that kind of snowballed, like it so often happens. With a side of "don't get anime in my fantasy!" it seems.

[smjjames]

I don't really care whether she becomes a companion or stays a sidekick or not. Though it does seem like she'd be useful, at least thematically, for quests or situations that involve crime and crime scene investigation, which I really doubt there will be many of. They kind of pigeonholed her with the background description.

Edited April 30, 2017 by smjjames

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Ydwin should have been in the first game. While the fact I don't really like the GM is one factor, the lack of an animancer companion where animancy is a major issue to the setting and plot was a misstep, instead we get our views on animancy from the asylum, the Dozens, two companions opposed (Aloth and Durance), and two that weakly support it (Kana and Pallengia). Didn't have to be a pale elf goth girl, but some sort of animancer companion would have been great to be another detailed perspectove on animancy.

[Wormerine]

 

There is definitely an expansion. You can buy it as an add on already.

Whoot?! How did I missed that? They put it in high reward but never talked about it at Q&A/updates?

 

There was a $20 early bird DLC addon added later on in the campain due to popular demand. They don't know what it is, but you will get all the post launch expansions.

[Wormerine]

Eh. I don't want a White March again. I hope they'll go for a sequel-expansion this time. Unless the game needs fixing and th expansion is the fix (like Pillars 1). Though I hope not.

I think I agree, but it depends. The "inside" expansions can work well (Heart of Stone for Witcher 3) but it has to do several things to work properly - don't distrupt main game balance, give the player reason to leave the main story for multiple hours to pursue sidequest, and feel like a part of the main story rather than its own complete thing.

 

I like White Match a lot, but it was weird to return back to Dyrwood after doing it (wait, what was I doing again?)

 

However, the open world nature of PoE2 and supposed openes of exploration might create a nice for extra content (like monster hunting ;-) ;-)

Edited April 30, 2017 by Wormerine

[Wormerine]

 

 

So, uh... who is Ydwin and why do people want her as a full companion so badly? This is greatly confusing to me.

Because all the kids think that "deeper companion relationships" = Japanese dating sim and therefore assume that she will be their waifu. That is the only reason.

This. I just can't stretch enough how much Obsidian dropped the ball with that character art. The moment I saw that 'is Ydwin yandere or tsundere?' thread pop up on this forum it was obvious that certain people had gotten way too enthusiastic about the anime like qualities of the character. (And its potential dateability.) I really wished that they wouldn't have crossed over to an anime style when designing the concept art of this character, or the overall character's description: so uninspiring and bland. I feel it was really out of place as I can't see animé tropes, especially of the simplistic 'is Ydwin yandere or tsundere?' kind mix well with PoE's bleak and grim setting. Rather, I hope that Obsidian will keep developing more complex, human like characters as they did in PoE 1. In the end, I trust Obsidian to do a good job in character development, but actually hope that this character doesn't get developed into a full companion and someone else takes her place instead.

 

It is just a character concept and Obsidian are really good in making those "boring/I have seen it before" characters more than they seemed. I do agree that the character did seem to stand out from the crowd. That said, nothing wrong with a sexy character, and I having an animancer in a team might bring an interesting perspective. Hopefully, sidekicks will still have plenty to say.

[rjshae]

Regarding the sidekicks, per https://www.fig.co/campaigns/deadfire?update=273#updates:

 

Here are some ideas the team has put together - these are not final and will probably change during development.

 

 

So yeah, they're subject to change... including Ydwin.

Edited April 30, 2017 by rjshae

[tinysalamander]

 

 

So, uh... who is Ydwin and why do people want her as a full companion so badly? This is greatly confusing to me.

Because all the kids think that "deeper companion relationships" = Japanese dating sim and therefore assume that she will be their waifu. That is the only reason.

This. I just can't stretch enough how much Obsidian dropped the ball with that character art. The moment I saw that 'is Ydwin yandere or tsundere?' thread pop up on this forum it was obvious that certain people had gotten way too enthusiastic about the anime like qualities of the character. (And its potential dateability.) I really wished that they wouldn't have crossed over to an anime style when designing the concept art of this character, or the overall character's description: so uninspiring and bland. I feel it was really out of place as I can't see animé tropes, especially of the simplistic 'is Ydwin yandere or tsundere?' kind mix well with PoE's bleak and grim setting. Rather, I hope that Obsidian will keep developing more complex, human like characters as they did in PoE 1. In the end, I trust Obsidian to do a good job in character development, but actually hope that this character doesn't get developed into a full companion and someone else takes her place instead.

 

I can create a similar post for every companion. Or I can (the horror!) THINK about it. And you wouldn’t even know! That doesn’t really change anything. Judge the character by what (s)he is, not by something that’s in the heads of others

[LuccA]

 

 

From Josh' Frog Helms Fan Club (https://twitter.com/jesawyer):

 

"Olá.

If we don’t hit the stretch goal by 5pm PDT today, she will be a sidekick in Deadfire.  It would be possible for her (or Rekke, etc.) to become a companion in an expansion, but not in the core game.  The new features we’re adding for companions increase the amount of work we need to do per companion by about 50%.  We’re fully scheduled for companion writing through the rest of the project just with the core 7."

 

God, just leave them out of the main game and introduce them completely in the expansion... This is a mess.

 

 

Maybe for you.  I personally glad they're doing the sidekick thing since I like  having a variety of characters to choose from.

 

 

My only worry is that they do it seamlessly. I don't wanna be playing the game remembering that I can't relate deeply with some character because there was not enough budget, but rather because he or she speaks another language, is deeply traumatized etc.

 

But you guys are right, Obsidian is probably thinking about this and I hope they come up with four different excuses for the sidekicks being less deep than the companions which I won't roll my eyes to.

 

And more importantly, how one of them will become a full deep companion in an expansion if that happens. This is all headache for the writers, which they gave themselves...

Edited April 30, 2017 by LuccA

[Gromnir]

we give the obsidians a hard time 'bout ydwin 'cause the character concept and initial artwork for goth-girl is so... trite.

 

*shrug*

 

that being said, am not certain why an animancer is absent from the core poe2 companions.  before the poe beta, the thing Gromnir were most vocal 'bout were animancy.  need not rehash in this thread, but the kickstarter descriptions and developer interviews concerning animancy left us unsatisfied. clearly the game would need better explain animancy and how in a world with tangible and real evidence o' souls, people would be anything other than horrified and terrified o' animancers who apparently with some frequency were experimenting on soulless babies and creating hordes o' undead. 

 

poe were released and seeming our initial animacy concerns were understated.  heck, the developers o' poe admit they did not do a good job o' integrating animancy into the game setting.  so what is the thinking behind creating an animancer companion for poe2, but having her relegated to sidekick status pending the achievement o' an unlikely monetary funding goal? the goth-girl with glasses is a silly sidekick we can do w/o, but how is a poe2 animancer companion anything other than a certainty?

 

lack o' an animancer companion is baffling to us.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[rheingold]

One of my concerns about POE 2 is the sidekicks. I really don't see the point at all. Rather do them properly i.e. As full companions or not at all. Doing something half assed never works out well.

[smjjames]

Not entirely sure what the point of the sidekicks are either, other than as a way to get around party size limits. Some of them appear to have interesting backstories that could certainly be made into very interesting stories and quests.

 

Ydwin: An animancer who is on the cutting edge of Forensic Science. Her insight into things alone would be interesting.

 

Bonteru: Hiravias would find him to be a fellow explorer. Though I'm not sure what sort of story he would have.

 

Radora: mmh, sounds like the standard trope of troubled drifter.

 

Rekke: Now, this guy has LOADS of story potential, someone who is clearly not local to the Deadfire, or any known culture, wears strange clothes, speaks a language nobody knows or recognizes. Perhaps you, the watcher, can glean into his past, or in your explorations of the Deadfire, you find clues to his past and identity, perhaps find a way to communicate with him, etc. SO MUCH potential. Of course though, having him as a sidekick could satisfy that kind of thing.

[Katarack21]

Not entirely sure what the point of the sidekicks are either, other than as a way to get around party size limits.

Not party size limits; companion resource costs. Sidekicks don't have narrative arcs and don't participate in the companion reactionary system, so they don't cost *NEARLY* as much to make; thus, you can make a lot more of them for the same monetary and time cost, and you can get more of them in.

 

That's it. That's the *whole* point. More player choice for same amount of investment from Obsidian. That's literally the whole point.

[smjjames]

I hope they still have some banter text and possibly interjections, outside of the quest or whatever that you need to do to have them join. Other than Rekke anyway, who apparently speaks a language nobody knows.

Edited April 30, 2017 by smjjames

[Karkarov]

lack o' an animancer companion is baffling to us.

 

HA! Good Fun!

I know it isn't the same thing but Serafen I think can either be a barbarian or cipher.  *shrug*

 

In the first game the original intent was to have the orlan cipher detective be a companion, but that got scrapped for Grieving Mother.  I have to admit, that was the one mistake they made with companions in game one.  GM was so disconnected from the actual plot, she made no sense as a companion.

 

Fortunately Eternity 2 seems to be way less focused on Animancy.  So we shall see.

[Wormerine]

One of my concerns about POE 2 is the sidekicks. I really don't see the point at all. Rather do them properly i.e. As full companions or not at all. Doing something half assed never works out well.

Baldurs Gate2 worked quite well, and as Josh pointed out many of those characters had limited interactions and no story archs. I do appreciate the choice with companions (not a fan of creating custom party). I think it is a great idea, giving you a solid amount if companions, with relationship system, side quest and a story arch, and a couple additional characters with personality and cool background. If it's written well, it might work very well. After all, not everyone you meet and work with becomes your good buddy. They might just be interesting characters who ally with you for the quest