Eternity Pillars of Eternity + The White March Expansion Thread

[AwesomeButton]

Seriously. I want more than anything to have updated UI to see my attack speed, enemy's accuracy etc....but who cares they added like 40 quests to the Stronghold already. No way do we deserve anything more than what we've received already.

I've asked sawyer about this, he said it's too complex to show the formula, and I guess it's impossible for attack speed/delay to be displayed for technical reasons.

 

[St Antony of Padua]

 

[AwesomeButton]

Damnit, it seems we're not likely to watch Josh Sawyer's presentation from GDC Europe 2016. They've marked the video as "members-only", unlike his previous presentation there. And there are videos from the previous GDC 2016 which are still members-only today. So likely this one will remain paywalled for a long time, possibly forever.

 

[Infinitron]

Damnit, it seems we're not likely to watch Josh Sawyer's presentation from GDC Europe 2016. They've marked the video as "members-only", unlike his previous presentation there. And there are videos from the previous GDC 2016 which are still members-only today. So likely this one will remain paywalled for a long time, possibly forever.

We'll see. His previous presentation may have been members-only at some point as well, until it wasn't.

 

[Infinitron]

http://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/149713980326/in-the-poe-world-why-is-it-still-common-to-find

koprophagoi asked: In the PoE world, why is it still common to find plate armour and shields in what's a (more or less) early modern level of technology in terms of firearms? Did the advent of gunpowder warfare and specialized units like pikemen just pass the Dyrwood by?

Mostly because it was still common to find plate armor and (to a lesser extent) shields in use through the early modern period of Europe. The Dyrwood is at roughly the 16th century of technology. Plate armor was reaching its peak of development in the 16th century (generally considered to be Maximilian) and continued to be used through the 17th century. It’s a misconception that someone in Europe fired a gun in 1501 and everyone went, “Wow, okay, throw all of this armor out the window.”

There are also some obvious, practical differences between “adventurer” combat in C/RPGs and warfare. Pike and shot formations (like the Tercio) work based on the number of combatants. Guns were’t that awesome for small-scale combat in the 16th century. There was no rifling, they were incredibly slow to load, and they weren’t particularly reliable. This isn’t a big issue when you have 30 guys shooting en masse with 30 pikes protecting them.

In terms of realism, there are many more questions to ask about medieval/renaissance arms and armor in use against tremendously strong creatures, flying creatures, creatures that can breathe fire or shoot lightning, etc. There was an old Dragon magazine from the late 80s/early 90s that specifically tried to address castles in D&D, structures that would be almost pointless in a world with flying, invisibility, transmute rock to mud, and similar nastiness.

Eora as a setting and PoE as a system are Forgotten Realms-like and D&D-like, so we largely use the conventions of that setting and system, respectively, acknowledging that certain aspects of them would be impractical in a strictly realistic sense.

 

[Infinitron]

Aha - pushback! http://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/149720027081/that-makes-sense-but-on-the-other-hand-the

koprophagoi asked: That makes sense, but on the other hand the Dyrwoodan military seems to use even more antiquated equipment. The lamellar armour and wooden shield Edér comes armed with - as I understand it, it goes back to his fighting days during the Saint's War - would befit a 14th century warrior from our world, at the latest. That seems very primitive in terms of equipment and implied warfare doctrine compared to the Vailians, for one.

Remember that Edér is (or was, until you meet him) a farmer, not a career soldier, and his gear reflects his relatively simple station in life. In contrast, Pallegina is a career soldier and has equipment fitting her position.

Most the Dyrwood’s military forces are levied in wartime. They don’t have a large standing force of professional soldiers.

Additionally, Dyrwoodans are a little behind both Rauatai and the Vailian Republics in terms of technology. E.g. Pallegina comments that Caed Nua is a fortress built in the “old style” (since the Republics have started building star fortresses) and she argues with Kana about which country has better ships (note that the Dyrwood is not part of the debate).

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

I'll never know if they actually have all this incredibly detailed stuff figured out from the start, or if he just makes shit up as he goes.

He's not wrong on this one though. Tercio was a battlefield formation, there'd be very little use for it to 5 guys fighting in the woodds against magic beetles.

 

[AwesomeButton]

"Gods and Dumps" never was members-only. I'm pretty sure.

BTW, I have a pretty detailed fanfic "setting" for a New Heomar adventure. I'm just not finished drawing the map of the city. No time

 

[Infinitron]

http://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/149806321701/hi-josh-since-poes-release-you-mostly-answered

nondescript125 asked: Hi Josh! Since PoE's release, you mostly answered questions about game's world and lore, but for some reason abstained from discussing plot, characters and quests (recent question about Eder's armor may be one of the few exceptions, I think). Granted, plot developments was mostly on Eric's side probably, but I still find it odd somehow, considering you have no problem discussing plot and characters of New Vegas. Can you comment? And by extension, what parts of game's story are your contribution?

I talk about New Vegas’ story more for a couple of reasons. First, I was more directly involved in developing NV’s story than PoE’s story. Second, John Gonzalez hasn’t been at Obsidian since Honest Hearts wrapped up, so I feel more of a responsibility to answer those questions.

My main contributions to PoE’s story were how it starts (a supernatural event that turns you into a Watcher), defining what a Watcher is and how it can lead to madness, establishing the Hollowborn crisis (though the name “Hollowborn” was Eric’s, I think), and the high-level conspiracy related to it. I also designed (but did not write) all of the companions other than Durance and the Grieving Mother (who were designed and written by Chris Avellone). I wrote Pallegina and a few other minor characters in the game.

Though it’s not really “the story”, I developed most of the basic world lore including the cultures, constructed languages, and historical events. The gods were largely developed by George Ziets at the beginning of the project.

I didn’t develop Thaos, Iovara, or any of the other critical path elements/backstory.

 

[CptMace]

The gods were largely developed by George Ziets at the beginning of the project.

Didn't kow that, but I'm not surprised.

 

[Infinitron]

The gods were largely developed by George Ziets at the beginning of the project.

Didn't kow that, but I'm not surprised.

Ah that's not new information. Note that doesn't mean he did the actual in-game writing for the gods. The Council of Stars is Carrie Patel's work, based on George's concepts. Maybe she should do stuff like that rather than companions.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

WTF fake ping.

 

[yes plz]

I actually liked Aloth and Devil

 

[Sannom]

And I liked Sagani and Maneha.

 

[CptMace]

I know, but I'm not surprised he designed the god's portfolios, they're pretty cool. I mean they're not simple icons or unidimensional aspects of nature.
Although I liked every bit concerning the pantheon of the game, especially the xpac part 2, this is imo the best way to add flavour to your setting (way better than how most of the events, beside waidwen marching towards defiance bay, are narrated in game).

Which is although why I espect gods to be even more present in the sequel. Not only Woedica. Although I want to know what happened to eothas he sounds like a badass version of Jesus Christ (edit I guess that makes him sound like Muhammad).

 

[Sannom]

I'm really expecting Skaen to wreck things up in the sequel. Especially if the game is set in the Vailian Republics, with their massive slave population, impoverished populations and intentional sanitization of Skaen himself. Seriously, it feels they're just asking for trouble with that last one!

 

[dukeofwhales]

Ah that's not new information. Note that doesn't mean he did the actual in-game writing for the gods. The Council of Stars is Carrie Patel's work, based on George's concepts. Maybe she should do stuff like that rather than companions.

Council of Stars struck me as a (the?) writing highlight of the game - does it not get respect because a lot of people didn't make it that far into the game?

 

[yes plz]

The conversations with the gods were pretty good but the whole 'dial-a-god' thing was retarded. Should've just had the god contact you after you complete their associated quest.

 

[Fry]

And I liked Sagani and Maneha.

Sagani's writing was fine. Voice acting... no.

 

[Ninjerk]

https://www.twitch.tv/day9tv streaming PoE now.

 

[santino27]

I'll never know if they actually have all this incredibly detailed stuff figured out from the start, or if he just makes shit up as he goes.

He's not wrong on this one though. Tercio was a battlefield formation, there'd be very little use for it to 5 guys fighting in the woodds against magic beetles.

I'm fairly confident he has it worked out before time... he seems fairly knowledgeable (and super interested) in that stuff. To this point, I'm not sure that it had any real bearing on POE being a good or not-good game though.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I've always been of the opinion that PoE has a great setting and well thought out lore. It just doesn't do anything with it though. They were doing through the necessary motions with development of the first game, hitting the necessary stretch goal promises, nothing more. It was the expansions when they first got to afford themselves giving more detail to the world.

https://www.twitch.tv/day9tv streaming PoE now.

Who the hell is this guy? What a tragic waste of oxygen he is causing.

 

[Neanderthal]

I've always been of the opinion that PoE has a great setting and well thought out lore. It just doesn't do anything with it though. They were doing through the necessary motions with development of the first game, hitting the necessary stretch goal promises, nothing more. It was the expansions when they first got to afford themselves giving more detail to the world.

Aye thought same, ruined potential, shoulda explored all differences in this newly introduced setting instead o going wi epic chosen one Watcher an god stuff.

 

[Roguey]

http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...=17931&perpage=40&pagenumber=14#post463812474

Someone new to "traditional" RPG mechanics might see the easiest mode and think they should try it, without realizing that Easy is already "really, very Easy".

Story Time was implemented because people were having a difficult time on Easy.

And before Sensuki blames it all on engagement again

Did you get much specific feedback on how very casual players were able to interact with engagement?

Not that I remember. Most complaints were about overall system complexity and pace.

Unfortunately this does provide him an opening to gloat about how rounds are better for pacing reasons.

 

[Infinitron]

http://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/149892048746/poe-the-later-in-the-game-the-more-stronger-are

ushablr asked: (PoE) The later in the game, the more stronger are characters thanks to automatic levelling in comparison to player's building decisions. For example, Weapon Focus gives +6 to Accuracy, which is very useful early on, but later, due to accumulation of +3 Acc/lvl everybody gets, the impact gradually goes down. Do you plan any changes in how the levelling works/feels in PoE2? Is bigger emphasis on the automatic progression important when adhering to the design idea all builds [mechanically] viable?

It’s not really true that the impact of a weapon’s accuracy bonus is reduced through leveling since the +3 is applied not only to accuracy but also to all defenses. Assuming the characters are fighting creatures of equal level, the +3 simply allows them to keep pace with the defense increases. However, as the levels rise, the player gains other inputs into accuracy (i.e. from sources other than the weapon) that can increase the margin of improvement from level to level. This is one of the reasons why the very high end quality levels (Legendary and Mythic) do not increase linearly.