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

[Chris Avelltwo]

I doubt they'll reach 5M, they seem overly confident in it.

42 days is a long time. They will reach and exceed $5 million.

It doesn't seem likely. It's been 17 days and they've made 147,500 extra = ~8676 a day. If that average was maintained (and given that the #s for the first few days were much higher, that seems unlikely), they'd collect another ~365k, which still leaves them almost 100k from 5M.

Granted, maybe once the backer portal is actually fully up and running (with pledges transferred so people can modify theirs) we'll see a spike. If we don't, no waifu for us. :D

Just as the FIG campaign picked up speed in its final few days, I'm sure the slacker backer will too. I think it will reach it, and even if it doesn't it will be so close to it that Feargus would probably put some Obsidian's own money to cover the rest, like Kem0sabe said. If it falls short it won't fall short by very much.

 

[2house2fly]

I hope they just give us what we want and add the 4.75M regardless of how much slacker backers "donate". Or else mutiny?

I think they'd try to avoid doing that since cramming a bunch of stretch goal shit in didn't do any favours for Pillars 1. Maybe they can work on it as DLC, although something like "sea monsters and fishing" on its own sounds like some Fallout 4 nickel-and-dime shit.

 

[FreeKaner]

I hope they exceed 4.75m but don't reach 5m, adding a companion from scratch is a lot of work on writers, I think amount of companions is enough and I'd rather they work on quests, dialogue and the like instead.

 

[Chris Avelltwo]

I hope they exceed 4.75m but don't reach 5m, adding a companion from scratch is a lot of work on writers, I think amount of companions is enough and I'd rather they work on quests, dialogue and the like instead.

But with companions come companion quests and companion dialogue.

 

[FreeKaner]

I hope they exceed 4.75m but don't reach 5m, adding a companion from scratch is a lot of work on writers, I think amount of companions is enough and I'd rather they work on quests, dialogue and the like instead.

But with companions come companion quests and companion dialogue.

Yes but they have limited time and people, unless they are going to hire more writers, which I think is also a bad decision mid-production, then all those will come at the expense of everything else, they could possibly add and refine content for existing game instead.

 

[santino27]

I do think it's almost a given they'll hit 4.75. But 5M really depends on if there is a late push and/or Obsidian adds some to the pot.

I'm fine with not hitting 5M. An interesting sidekick is not a bad thing.

 

[TT1]

Obsidian sent this update on Fig, but only hit people who already bought the game. If they do not send this update through other channels and reach those who did not buy or do not know the game, it will be very difficult to reach 5M.

 

[Grotesque]

Wtf it's an waifu?

 

[Starwars]

I really like PoE overall but it's pretty disappointing how they continue to take races from other stuff (the Naga in this case) and apply it to their own game. I didn't like it in the first PoE how they wanted to be D&D-ish (having elves, dwarves, the undead types etc etc but they're slightly different!) with the creatures and it's disappointing that they're continuing to do that in Deadfire.

 

[Lacrymas]

This incestuous relationship and the babies thereof are a staple in the fantasy genre.

 

[Prime Junta]

it's pretty disappointing how they continue to take races from other stuff (the Naga in this case) and apply it to their own game

Naga are from Indian folklore. If D&D gets to crib them, then why shouldn't Pillars? Tradfantasy is built on the bones of folklore; if you want to avoid reusing races/creatures/whatever from folklore or the fantasy canon you won't be doing tradfantasy anymore. I would like that if it's well thought-out (Malazan! Malazan!) but it would be a very different world from Eora.

(Of course that's ~ cultural appropriation ~ so if you want to be offended about something, I'd go with that. You could certainly kick up a Twitterstorm with it.)

 

[Sizzle]

I really like PoE overall but it's pretty disappointing how they continue to take races from other stuff (the Naga in this case) and apply it to their own game. I didn't like it in the first PoE how they wanted to be D&D-ish (having elves, dwarves, the undead types etc etc but they're slightly different!) with the creatures and it's disappointing that they're continuing to do that in Deadfire.

I thought they were on the right track with the skuldr - a creature that can "sense souls", so you have a much lower chance of sneaking past them. An original addition that nicely fits and expands upon the setting.

Hoped we would see more creatures like that. What we got instead for the majority of enemies was the not-kobolds - xaurips, and guls, fampyrs and similar other "fuck it, let's just change a single letter so we can pretend it's something kinda-sorta different" designs.

 

[santino27]

I really like PoE overall but it's pretty disappointing how they continue to take races from other stuff (the Naga in this case) and apply it to their own game. I didn't like it in the first PoE how they wanted to be D&D-ish (having elves, dwarves, the undead types etc etc but they're slightly different!) with the creatures and it's disappointing that they're continuing to do that in Deadfire.

I thought they were on the right track with the skuldr - a creature that can "sense souls", so you have a much lower chance of sneaking past them. An original addition that nicely fits and expands upon the setting.

Hoped we would see more creatures like that. What we got instead for the majority of enemies was the not-kobolds - xaurips, and guls, fampyrs and similar other "fuck it, let's just change a single letter so we can pretend it's something kinda-sorta different" designs.

I hated the 'these are X but we're naming them Y so you can see they're different' approach too. Call a vampire a vampire and stop being so precious about it. I have no problem with them bringing in monsters from other folklores though, even if they have shown up in AD&D.

 

[Chris Avelltwo]

I really like PoE overall but it's pretty disappointing how they continue to take races from other stuff (the Naga in this case) and apply it to their own game. I didn't like it in the first PoE how they wanted to be D&D-ish (having elves, dwarves, the undead types etc etc but they're slightly different!) with the creatures and it's disappointing that they're continuing to do that in Deadfire.

D&D and most other high-fantasy IPs take concepts from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and Tolkien in turn based his works on Germanic mythology. But at least Pillars went out of the way and broke convention in a few respects - for example the Orcs are replaced with Aumaua, and given a Polynesian feel. But you're right that there's a lot that is familiar, but it kinda had to be because the point was to be a spiritual successor to the Infinity games, and people would have complained if they went too radically different.

Personally, I thought some of the new creatures that have been introduced like the Skuldr and Vithrack were pretty cool. Every RPG has giant spiders, but Pillars added in super-intelligent big-brained humanoid spiders with telekinetic powers. You have to admit that is pretty cool and also terrifying. Has any other IP done something similar to that?

 

[Sentinel]

I don't give a fuck if it's familiar. I'd take an RPG set in Middle-earth or Faerûn over the shitheap that is PoE's setting any day of the week. Familiar settings have never stopped anyone from producing master pieces.

 

[vortex]

Wtf it's an waifu?

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Waifu

Waifu is a woman with whom you have respectful and balanced relationship.

 

[Ivan]

nice. Nice! NICE!

 

[Maculo]

I really like PoE overall but it's pretty disappointing how they continue to take races from other stuff (the Naga in this case) and apply it to their own game. I didn't like it in the first PoE how they wanted to be D&D-ish (having elves, dwarves, the undead types etc etc but they're slightly different!) with the creatures and it's disappointing that they're continuing to do that in Deadfire.

Part of me agrees with you, but at the same time I like Naga. In fact, I think Naga are underused alongside Saints (in religious settings/backgrounds). With Naga, I believe there is a lot of room to create a unique faction/lore, especially compared to to not-orcs Sharkmen and Orlans.

Similarly, I liked the Vithrack, but we only saw colonists or failed settlements.

 

[pomenitul]

We better get a Yxunomei-style boss battle.

 

[Starwars]

I do agree that Naga has potential to create something interesting, just like with the Illithi... I mean, the Vithrack.

At the same time, just wish that we could get something brand new to dig into. Especially now that we're moving to a less traditional fantasy-land, but apparently that meant we're just getting the... exotic traditional fantasy stuff instead.

Ah well, hopefully they get some good stuff up their sleeve.

 

[Lacrymas]

Giant sea monsters. It would be incline if we dive into the water and fight giant sea monsters in there!

 

[ushas]

Giant sea monsters. It would be incline if we dive into the water and fight giant sea monsters in there!

I hope you are right.

 

[Chris Avelltwo]

Giant sea monsters. It would be incline if we dive into the water and fight giant sea monsters in there!

 

[ushas]

Naga & Xaurip coalition?

The lore section and how they evolved on various islands sounds potentially interesting. Though looking at resistances and weaknesses, for example Nagas from volcanic slopes, unless they are something like elementals or so, I don't understand why they are suppose to be sensitive to water. How does that work? They don't like to get wet?

Putting folklore inspirations aside, if they mean calling them reptiles more than by look, as reptiles are ectothermic I would love to see more environment related thermal and behavioral adaptations. For example, one can make Nagas on colder islands be active during daytime and those in hot areas during the night. The speed (and even power) of reptiles can scale with the surrounding environment. And perhaps if Naga subtypes are adapted to different temperature ranges then burn / freeze armor ratings will vary? I would rather expect higher burn AR for warm adaptations or to have weakness towards cold temperatures instead of water (as that can be pleasingly warm).

There are Freeze and Burn damage types in PoE. It's all very crude abstraction of thermal extremes, but I like the idea. I think that the new armor system may be even helpful - as the penetration value can represent how much spells and lashes are freezing or warming up things in comparison to the surrounding temperature (whereas damage values being the density of effect within given volume); and then the opposing armor rating can simulate the target's thermal adaptations/resistances. You have this threshold (when Pen == AR and then when it's double) when it starts really hurt.

Now thinking about surrounding areas - what about penetration values of some spells being influenced by external environment (meaning non-temperate climates and weather conditions)? So you have this easy to understand underlying system which for example means that freezing spells are potentially more dangerous in colder climates (especially during winter, if they have seasons), and maybe even more deadlier in ice storms. Whereas burn spells are having penetration lowered at the same time. Vice versa for hot places and sunny days. So Sherry's clouds moving across the area may have some impact.* Etc... Something like that would make me be more aware where we travel and pay attention to preparation. However, the opponents are still having various armor ratings. So if it's done well the combination of these two simple layers could lead into more complex gameplay.

*I mean within reason using environmental effects that are already implemented in the game.

 

[Flou]

I have been following the Deadfire campaing for quite a bit, but I haven't seen anywhere an explanation on how exactly the extra money is going to be spent in order to make the stretch goals a reality.

F. Urquhart said that they planned the campaign better this time and the production timeline they planned before launching the campaign takes the SGs into account. So are they going to:
a) hire more people,
b) pay more overtime,
c) keep the team members for a longer time on Deadfire before moving them to another project?

Has anyone noticed any information about this?

I'm a bit worried that with more money they can always pay more man-hours for creating the assets or programming, but I am not sure whether that is easy for including more writers or designers. For example, when one of the stretch goals is an extra companion, will they put an extra writer on the team or will they have one of the current writers do more work? If so, won't the current writer be missing on writing some core content?

They've had a bigger team working on the game since the beginning. They've already shuffled the team, some people have moved onto other projects and new people have been added which leads me to believe option C is the answer for your question.

Not to mention,they have been able to plan their campaign before hand, so they know what they are getting into instead of coming up with stuff while the campaign is up. So they have at least some sort of knowledge even before the Figstarter on how much resources they would need to create everything.