Eternity Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Pre-Release Thread [BETA RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[AwesomeButton]

I'm all about toned down, more muted style of adventures. Like hunting a god.

BTW, PoE was still a "You are The One" type of story.

 

[fobia]

I'm all about toned down, more muted style of adventures. Like hunting a god.

BTW, PoE was still a "You are The One" type of story.

Was it though?
It felt more like: "You are sick in your soul, let's fix that before it you end up like the old creep that used to live in your stronhold's dungeon."

You weren't THE watcher.

 

[Bleed the Man]

BTW, PoE was still a "You are The One" type of story.

But, it wasn't? By what metric is PoE a chosen one story?

 

[Infinitron]

Two definitions of a "Chosen One" story:

1) Narrow definition: Any game where your character is explicitly stated to be a chosen or elite person(tm) who is the only one who can save us.

2) Wider definition: Any game where by the logic of the narrative, practically nobody else could have done what your character does over the course of the game.

I think most single protagonist RPGs probably qualify for the latter.

 

[Grunker]

You weren't THE watcher.

Except you were. You were part of a trio of Thaos, elf woman and yourself. Your soul had taken part in key events, and without those, you would not be able to resolve the conflict. Your part in the events are bestowed upon you, not a result of your agency - i.e. you're chosen

 

[prodigydancer]

But, it wasn't? By what metric is PoE a chosen one story?

I concur.

First, there's nothing in PoE that would suggest that the Watcher's awakening is anything more than a rare coincidence. The Watcher happens to have the right soul but at least some souls persist for thousands of years so such coincidences are bound to happen sometimes. Second, the Watcher doesn't possess any special abilities that would make an otherwise unwinnable end boss fight winnable. The fight is winnable without the MC participating in any way.

Story-wise you have a reason (no matter how weak) to pursue Thaos so it's kind of your personal war. But you're not the chosen one. Technically, you aren't special at all. Any Watcher could see the essence clues. Moreover, any accomplished Cipher could simply read the minds of the Leaden Key members without even being a Watcher.

Your part in the events are bestowed upon you

By that logic, any MC of any RPG is a chosen one.

 

[Lacrymas]

A chosen one story is when the protagonist is special without earning that specialness (especially if it's by magical means), like the Watcher. Jesus himself is a chosen one, he simply is the Son of God.

 

[Jarmaro]

Campaign goes so slow I think we gonna achieve only 2-3 more steps.

 

[Parabalus]

A chosen one story is when the protagonist is special without earning that specialness (especially if it's by magical means), like the Watcher. Jesus himself is a chosen one, he simply is the Son of God.

There are many other Watchers in this world, you even meet one of them in TWM. Could have been another few too, they aren't that rare, which is why everyone has an opinion about them.

I doubt Eothas will be the "villain", and you'll probably be able to team up with him. Someone brought up that the Eora gods can't go against their own programming even if they want to, so I'm guessing Eothas had no choice but to resurrect himself and that's why he's so snarky.

 

[Lacrymas]

There are many other Watchers in this world, you even meet one of them in TWM. Could have been another few too, they aren't that rare, which is why everyone has an opinion about them.

It doesn't matter how many there are. They are special because they are simply special. They don't earn their strength/position/credibility/powers/status/whatever, they just have those things by birth-right or coincidence.

 

[Parabalus]

It doesn't matter how many there are. They are special because they are simply special. They don't earn their strength/position/credibility/powers/status/whatever, they just have those things by birth-right or coincidence.

Welcome to Earth.

 

[Maculo]

You weren't THE watcher.

Except you were. You were part of a trio of Thaos, elf woman and yourself. Your soul had taken part in key events, and without those, you would not be able to resolve the conflict. Your part in the events are bestowed upon you, not a result of your agency - i.e. you're chosen

I am conflicted on this one. Based on what the Dryads (and possibly Wael) said, you have been subconsciously chasing Thaos across several lifetimes. This culminated in an awakening, which finally allowed you peal back the bullshit and find a resolution. In that context, it was a weird "avenging spirit" or "revenant" story.

On the other hand, the Watcher/Awakening status does lend itself more towards a "chosen one" plot.

A chosen one story is when the protagonist is special without earning that specialness (especially if it's by magical means), like the Watcher. Jesus himself is a chosen one, he simply is the Son of God.

That is where the past lives come into play (well, the Inquisitor's life really). If the Dryads/Wael were not lying bastards, then you have run into Thaos multiple time (subconsciously). This culminated in an awakening, which allowed you to reach a resolution.

 

[Bleed the Man]

There are many other Watchers in this world, you even meet one of them in TWM. Could have been another few too, they aren't that rare, which is why everyone has an opinion about them.

It doesn't matter how many there are. They are special because they are simply special. They don't earn their strength/position/credibility/powers/status/whatever, they just have those things by birth-right or coincidence.

Most RPG protagonists are special one way or the other, that's what makes them a protagonist, not a chosen one.

 

[Lacrymas]

Yes, and most RPG writing is bad. It also puts the Watcher in the category of chosen one, because s/he is. You can have good stories with chosen one protagonists (like the Bible), but you have to be very careful not to reduce the story to McGuffins, prophecies, Deus Ex Machinas, too many coincidences or contrivances etc.

 

[Prime Junta]

Campaign goes so slow I think we gonna achieve only 2-3 more steps.

Nah, it's going pretty well. Campaigns have U curves, where the first and last three or four days are roughly symmetrical, with doldrums in-between. It's well on track to pass 4M, even 5M isn't inconceivable.

 

[Maculo]

Yes, and most RPG writing is bad. It also puts the Watcher in the category of chosen one, because s/he is. You can have good stories with chosen one protagonists (like the Bible), but you have to be very careful not to reduce the story to McGuffins, prophecies, Deus Ex Machinas, too many coincidences or contrivances etc.

Honestly, I am trying to think of one that doesn't have one of those things. Even in Plancescape,you were one of the stronger incarnations according to Ravel.

Campaign goes so slow I think we gonna achieve only 2-3 more steps.

Nah, it's going pretty well. Campaigns have U curves, where the first and last three or four days are roughly symmetrical, with doldrums in-between. It's well on track to pass 4M, even 5M isn't inconceivable.

I am not sure about 4-5 million, unless Fig swoops in with a big investment (why the fuck does W3 have 2.25 million?). While I agree that campaigns typically are U-curved, we have a new crowdfund platform that does not have the exposure of kickstarter and for a CRPG at that. The the final stretch goals have to be sexy.

 

[Prime Junta]

You can have good stories with chosen one protagonists (like the Bible)

God was a very uneven writer though.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Campaign is going pretty well still, they make 30-40k a day. With 20 days to go, and with traditional surge of last minute pledgers in last 2-3 days, they're should comfortably beat WL3, and maybe even surpass the budget of the first game.

 

[Sannom]

I am not sure about 4-5 million, unless Fig swoops in with a big investment (why the fuck does W3 have 2.25 million?). While I agree that campaigns typically are U-curved, we have a new crowdfund platform that does not have the exposure of kickstarter and for a CRPG at that. The the final stretch goals have to be sexy.

My belief is that the Fig campaign is mainly a marketing ploy, so I think they already have the maximum Fig funds all ready to go but are stretching them out over the entire length of the campaign to make it last longer.

 

[Sizzle]

It's well on track to pass 4M, even 5M isn't inconceivable.

Though this campaign looks a helluva lot more thought out and pre-planned than the first one, I wonder if they can sustain that pace with good stretch goals.

 

[Morol]

I am not sure about 4-5 million, unless Fig swoops in with a big investment (why the fuck does W3 have 2.25 million?). While I agree that campaigns typically are U-curved, we have a new crowdfund platform that does not have the exposure of kickstarter and for a CRPG at that. The the final stretch goals have to be sexy.

My belief is that the Fig campaign is mainly a marketing ploy, so I think they already have the maximum Fig funds all ready to go but are stretching them out over the entire length of the campaign to make it last longer.

Are the majority of the Fig funds from Fig itself? I know that I can in principle invest, but I have never heard of anybody doing this.

 

[Sannom]

I think the money of the investors is funneled through Fig and "Fig funds" are actually the money of those who click the "invest" button?

 

[Fry]

Campaign is going pretty well still, they make 30-40k a day. With 20 days to go, and with traditional surge of last minute pledgers in last 2-3 days, they're should comfortably beat WL3, and maybe even surpass the budget of the first game.

Seems like they've already spent/will spend more of their own money on Pillars 2 than the first one. It'll likely have a higher budget even if the campaign grinds to a halt.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

I reckon the next few stretch goals will be for small system improvements, but the highest stretch goal (3 million?) will be for an extensive stronghold system.

I think it will be your own ship, which you can customise, upgrade etc, but also take off and explore around the Deadfire archipelago like an isometric Assassin's Creed 4.

 

[Fry]

Better keep Aloth away from the cabin boys.