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

[Bleed the Man]

So Mask of the Betrayer is a chosen one story?

KOTOR 2 is also one?

Nobody denies that the Watcher is speshiul, but if we go with this broad definition of a chosen one, then the term becomes meaningless. The overarching plot and context of the story matters, it's not just based on having a protagonist with special powers.

 

[Infinitron]

Nobody denies that the Watcher is speshiul, but if we go with this broad definition of a chosen one, then the term becomes meaningless. The overarching plot and context of the story matters, it's not just based on having a protagonist with special powers.

A protagonist with special powers (or without) who by the logic of the narrative is the only one who could have ended up doing what he does over the course of the game.

A fun thing I like to do is deconstruct Chosen One stories and try to figure out how somebody else could have achieved the protagonist's ultimate goal - even if not by the same route followed in the game. For example, in Fallout: New Vegas, although only the Courier would have been aided by Victor and invited into Mr. House's casino (making him a Chosen One by the wider definition I gave earlier ITT), pretty much any mercenary adventurer could have gathered allies and helped one side or the other win the Battle of Hoover Dam.

 

[Lacrymas]

So Mask of the Betrayer is a chosen one story?

KOTOR 2 is also one?

Nobody denies that the Watcher is speshiul, but if we go with this broad definition of a chosen one, then the term becomes meaningless. The overarching plot and context of the story matters, it's not just based on having a protagonist with special powers.

MotB - maybe, if being given a curse counts as a positive thing. KotOR2, not really, the Exile is the one who chooses to sever herself from the Force. Agency and ability matter, not the special powers themselves.

 

[Quillon]

A coincidence is just a coincidence. Coincidences don't choose anyone, they just happen.

No, they are written like that by the writer.

That writer may not have wrote it, it was a coincidence he/she happened to had that job so any work he/she has done after that are coincidental. Yes.

 

[Prime Junta]

The fact that proficiency talents are so good also reflects a strength of PoE's system btw: the fact that using weapons is at least part of nearly every character class.

Not every character build though. I also like it that you can make efficient builds that don't rely on normal weapons at all. Pure tank, pure support, pure caster etc.

But yeah, I do very much like that you can make a weapon DPS build based on a wizard... and that it plays differently from a weapon DPS character built on any other class.

Spoiler

Pump Might, Dex, and Per. Pick Blast and all talents that enhance it. Pick the weapon proficiency that enhances ACC for the implement of your choice. Pick Dangerous Implement. Round off with self-buffs and Combusting Wounds. Then go pick the implement of your choice and go to town. You can even pack a bunch of them with different effects for different situations.

 

[Grunker]

"at least part of nearly every character class" <--- see how I gave myself trap doors out of your strawman?

 

[Grunker]

or coincidence

A coincidence is just a coincidence. Coincidences don't choose anyone, they just happen.

I was talking specifically about coincidences that unlock "the chosen one" features, aka stumbling onto a soul device ritual that unlocks your latent past as a powerful member of the game's central plot device.

The central point is whether anyone with the agency and abilities could, in theory, undertake the character's venture and be succesful, or whether succes necessitates powers that only the character could have. In PoE's case, this is very clearly the case, as your past soul is an integral part of the resolution and no one else has that soul. It's a prerequisite for the resolution.

EDIT: Also, this is not an inherently bad plot device, it is just massively overused in video games and RPGs in particular.

 

[prodigydancer]

In PoE's case, this is very clearly the case, as your past soul is an integral part of the resolution and no one else has that soul. It's a prerequisite for the resolution.

I respectfully disagree. There's absolutely nothing in the game that would prove or even assert that point of view.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I was pretty intrigued by the chance to define my backstory in the beginning of PoE (the dialogue with Calisca), and then felt disappointed that these choices carried very little (none at all?) consequences. Even the background you choose during character creation is used very little in the game (sure, you get an attribute stat bonus).

For all intents and purposes, on going out of the cave your past is wiped out, and from now on you are The Watcher.

 

[Parabalus]

What was missing in PoE were some gameplay hooks for the Watcher condition. Sure, you have abilities and you get "woken up screaming in the night, terrified by visions", bit it felt a bit backgroundey. You don't even need something as intrusive as the MotB meter, just one or two combats where you get debilitated because you are a Watcher with your companions left unscathed.

I was pretty intrigued by the chance to define my backstory in the beginning of PoE (the dialogue with Calisca), and then felt disappointed that these choices carried very little (none at all?) consequences. Even the background you choose during character creation is used very little in the game (sure, you get an attribute stat bonus).

For all intents and purposes, on going out of the cave your past is wiped out, and from now on you are The Watcher.

In total there are probably more than 100+ background interactions, that's quite a lot. Most of the time they substitute a stat check, rarely are they just flavour.

Not every character build though. I also like it that you can make efficient builds that don't rely on normal weapons at all. Pure tank, pure support, pure caster etc.

But yeah, I do very much like that you can make a weapon DPS build based on a wizard... and that it plays differently from a weapon DPS character built on any other class.

Spoiler

Pump Might, Dex, and Per. Pick Blast and all talents that enhance it. Pick the weapon proficiency that enhances ACC for the implement of your choice. Pick Dangerous Implement. Round off with self-buffs and Combusting Wounds. Then go pick the implement of your choice and go to town. You can even pack a bunch of them with different effects for different situations.

For best results use Golden Gaze rod which fires two projectiles .

 

[AwesomeButton]

What was missing in PoE were some gameplay hooks for the Watcher condition.

That too, no doubt.

In total there are probably more than 100+ background interactions, that's quite a lot. Most of the time they substitute a stat check, rarely are they just flavour.

Supposedly it's subjective, but the only one I remember is one "Aristocrat" check, which I wasn't qualifying for. I think I also saw one "Mercenary" check on my last playthrough, where I played as a mercenary. Of course, being allowed to say "Mercenary" dialogue line didn't give me anything substantial in gameplay terms. Just for roleplaying purposes.

 

[Turjan]

I was pretty intrigued by the chance to define my backstory in the beginning of PoE (the dialogue with Calisca), and then felt disappointed that these choices carried very little (none at all?) consequences. Even the background you choose during character creation is used very little in the game (sure, you get an attribute stat bonus).

I think I got once a remark regarding my char being from the Living Lands, although I cannot remember the exact situation.

 

[Lacrymas]

All backgrounds have a check at least somewhere, but almost all of them are trivial.

 

[AwesomeButton]

$2.2 million. UI Customization! Yeey!

 

[Mazisky]

$2.2 million. UI Customization! Yeey!

Since Feargus and his crew are sleeping there, i guess we won't see any update before 2\3 hours.

 

[Maculo]

All backgrounds have a check at least somewhere, but almost all of them are trivial.

True, but Concelhaut's reaction to aristocrat is great. Specifically, he remarks how aristocrats back home would not be able to recognize you anymore.

Edit: Let's hope the 2.6 stretchgoal is good.

 

[TT1]

2.6M -> romance and sex.

Upload skins and customize your own dick.

 

[Neanderthal]

I'd call Shardbearer a victim o circumstance, he weren't chosen by anybody unless you count is mum choosin to get in middle o King of Shadows an Ammon Jerros spat in Westharbour intro cinematic when he were a sprog. I have noticed folk seem awfully keen to label protags chosen ones lately, even heard some dumbfucks call Nameless One a chosen one when his whole story is about danger o self determination, as anti chosen as you can get.

 

[pomenitul]

The Watcher is also a 'victim of circumstance.' Does that divest him of the title of 'Chosen One'?

 

[2house2fly]

MotB - maybe, if being given a curse counts as a positive thing. KotOR2, not really, the Exile is the one who chooses to sever herself from the Force. Agency and ability matter, not the special powers themselves.

The Exile didn't consciously choose to do it though, and thinks the Jedi Council did it right up to the confrontation with them on Dantooine.

One question: is The White March a "chosen one" narrative? You can only unlock Durgan's Battery because you're a Watcher, but the rest of the narrative seems more defined by your actions than your circumstances. I wonder if that's why people like it more than the main game's story, even though it doesn't have a villain at all.

 

[Grunker]

What matters isn't the entity that bestows the powers but the fact that powers are bestowed:

he central point is whether anyone with the agency and abilities could, in theory, undertake the character's venture and be succesful, or whether succes necessitates powers that only the character could have. In PoE's case, this is very clearly the case, as your past soul is an integral part of the resolution and no one else has that soul. It's a prerequisite for the resolution.

Coincidence vs. mystical entities isn't the important question.

 

[Lacrymas]

The Exile didn't consciously choose to do it though, and thinks the Jedi Council did it right up to the confrontation with them on Dantooine.

I don't think it matters whether it's instinctual or not, instincts are also a part of a character and she was the only one with that instinct to do so. Also, I'm not entirely sure it was not conscious as Kreia suggests otherwise if you are dark side but spare the masters. She also suggests that it was such a traumatic event that it wiped itself from the Exile's memory, like a defensive mechanism.

 

[Neanderthal]

The Watcher is also a 'victim of circumstance.' Does that divest him of the title of 'Chosen One'?

To be honest I can barely remember owt about Poe protagonist, cept I thought Durance shoulda been main character.

This definition o chosen one is way too vague though.

 

[AN4RCHID]

The Watcher is also a 'victim of circumstance.' Does that divest him of the title of 'Chosen One'?

The problem is he starts out as a victim of circumstance and then it's revealed that by coincidence he's also a Chosen One.

 

[Grunker]

Also, in PoE, circumstance reveals that the PC is the chosen one - he is so regardless of the revelation

EDIT: ninja'd