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

[Prime Junta]

I was taking a peek at the site. Do we know the name of the midget orlan companion?

Serafen.

 

[Prime Junta]

The best argument for physical copies is that they are physical, you don't need the internet to install them whenever you want.

yeah because the 1.0.0 pre-day-1-patch version is da bomb

---> tangent about vinyl

They don't have "objectively" better sound, but playing an LP is a little ritual, and the sonic overlay they do have subtly emphasises that you're listening to something, not just having it play in the background. It's kind of like what film grain does to photos. Technically they detract from fidelity, but I like both better than the clinical cleanness of digital reproduction -- image or sound.

(Of course, you could faithfully reproduce film grain or the 'sound' of vinyl in a digital medium too, but that's cheating.)

 

[cannondwarf]

Vinyl records are perceived to have higher quality sound, whether that is true or not doesn't matter in this case, so it's not really the same.

Vinyl has a "warmer" sound for lack of a better word, so many people prefer it for physical releases (me included).

 

[Lacrymas]

It's not like older games didn't have this problem and patching was an extremely daunting process. I think digital copies are superior in the convenience department, but it's like people who refuse to read e-books because they like feeling the physical thing. I'unno.

 

[Sentinel]

Vinyl records are perceived to have higher quality sound, whether that is true or not doesn't matter in this case, so it's not really the same.

It is definitely true. I have a couple Rainbow albums both on CD and Vinyl and the CD version sounds like shit in comparison. But in the case of Vinyl, a lot of people like to pop it in and just look at the huge art on the front box and on the inside of it while they listen to the music. It's an entirely different experience, you get a lot more into it.

 

[Fry]

Yeah... I'd love to do a blind test of anyone's ability to tell the difference between vinyl and lossless high sample rate digital.

 

[cannondwarf]

Vinyl records are perceived to have higher quality sound, whether that is true or not doesn't matter in this case, so it's not really the same.

It is definitely true. I have a couple Rainbow albums both on CD and Vinyl and the CD version sounds like shit in comparison. But in the case of Vinyl, a lot of people like to pop it in and just look at the huge art on the front box and on the inside of it while they listen to the music. It's an entirely different experience, you get a lot more into it.

Mastering is often done differently for vinyl, so that might have something to do with it.

 

[Lacrymas]

Eh, I've heard this "warmer" argument before, but I think they call the distortion caused by vinyl that. I feel like it's the 432Hz vs 440Hz "debate" all over again.

 

[Prime Junta]

Yeah... I'd love to do a blind test of anyone's ability to tell the difference between vinyl and lossless high sample rate digital.

It's been done. Under good conditions, it is possible to tell the difference. Vinyl is lower-fidelity and a good ear will pick up on it.

Another experiment that has been done is comparing a CD-quality bitstream with a direct analogue feed (no recording medium in the middle), from an ensemble playing live. Turns out these two are indistinguishable by the human ear.

CD fidelity is good enough that you'll have to prepare highly artificial samples to make it detectable by human perception. For example if you play a note that fades into nothing and then amplify the bejeesus out of it, you will eventually be able to hear something towards the quiet end -- but this requires amplifying it way more than you would ever do for real music; you'd need a rock-concert-grade amplifier, plus the fortes would blow out your eardrums.

 

[cannondwarf]

Eh, I've heard this "warmer" argument before, but I think they call the distortion caused by vinyl that. I feel like it's the 432Hz vs 440Hz "debate" all over again.

One might argue that the vinyl distortion adds to the sound though. For dub techno, deep house and other bass-centric electronic genres I think vinyl distortion in most cases adds more texture, which in my eyes is a plus.

 

[FreeKaner]

Eh, I've heard this "warmer" argument before, but I think they call the distortion caused by vinyl that. I feel like it's the 432Hz vs 440Hz "debate" all over again.

One might argue that the vinyl distortion adds to the sound though. For dub techno, deep house and other bass-centric electronic genres I think vinyl distortion in most cases adds more texture, which in my eyes is a plus.

The distortion effect can easily be replicated.

 

[cannondwarf]

Eh, I've heard this "warmer" argument before, but I think they call the distortion caused by vinyl that. I feel like it's the 432Hz vs 440Hz "debate" all over again.

One might argue that the vinyl distortion adds to the sound though. For dub techno, deep house and other bass-centric electronic genres I think vinyl distortion in most cases adds more texture, which in my eyes is a plus.

The distortion effect can easily be replicated.

That's true, maybe I'm too sentimental about my record collection.

 

[Infinitron]

Haha LESS T_T this is funny. Versus Evil CEO Steve Escalante last year: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...evil-were-establishing-a-new-brand-every-time

For example, Versus Evil started out as a PC focused company - "There was a lot of corpses in mobile," Escalante says - but even though the company is barely three years old cross-platform is already essential.

"I now need cross-platform," he continues. "I probably won't sign a game - unless it's just stellar - for a single platform. It helps us mitigate the risk. And I'm looking at multiplayer more seriously now, just from a longevity point-of-view." The emergence of Twitch and YouTube as platforms for raising awareness is also an increasingly relevant aspect of what makes a game attractive.

"Anything new that we sign, we're actively talking about how we can embrace those things now. In the past, we weren't nearly as assertive. I wouldn't turn a game down because of it, but at the same time I'm potentially more interested if we can do some Twitch stuff with it.

Of course I'm sure we'd all agree that Pillars II is stellar.

 

[LESS T_T]

Yeah, especially considering that their other games (at least on Steam) never broke 100K sales except Banner Saga series.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Lacrymas]

I think this system might be turn out to be very interesting after all. Although I still predict the equivalent of 1/19 spreads, but even more cheesy due to access to higher level abilities. F.e. you can essentially go Fighter/Rogue, pick only fighter talents on level up and only get Deathblows when it becomes available.

 

[The Bishop]

Changes to the way grimoires work sound interesting. I never felt slightest need to swap grimoires in PoE and that made carrying/composing multiple grimoires feel a bit pointless. Then again, the fact that wizards can hardly find more than 4 good spells per level might have contributed to this as well.

 

[Maculo]

There are interesting or cheesy combinations, although I will be curious to see how the spells lists have changed. I imagine Wizard/Barbarian, Wizard/Fighter, and Wizard/Rogue would be interesting just for the summoned weapons, plus any bonuses Barbarian/Fighter/Rogue could throw in.

I definitely want to see the spell lists now. Initially, I wanted to try a Priest/Cipher for the fluff, but I was never a fan of the focus system. Plus, Priest of Eothas/Wizard would grant a selection of Priest, Wizard, and Druid spells, which sounds advantageous.

 

[Sannom]

Honest question, can anyone explain to me the appeal of physical boxes in this age of digital distribution? I had a bunch of old ones and just tossed them when I was cleaning out the attic some years ago.

I associated them with beefy manuals. I loved reading the Red Alert, Starcraft and Warcraft 3 manuals back in the day. They always had lore and I was lapping up that stuff. I think having those helped making the lore in-game a little bit less daunting, since you would learn about a lot of the basics in the manuals.

It's very much the same appeal of Vinyl disks for music.

Hey. I don't buy vinyls myself, but those feel much more like collectors' items than boxed copies of games. The cover art especially seems to benefit a lot from the greater size, especially when it seems like the greatest covers were made in the age of the vynil and so works better in that format.

 

[Frusciante]

I will most likely play a beastmaster (ranger/druid). Can't wait to try it out.

I was also thinking actually about making a dark knight type of character. But then I realized the game is missing some sort of necromancer class. Not sure why it's not included, makes perfect sense in the setting (with the souls and stuff).

What would be an alternative dark knight character? Maybe fighter/priest of berath? Or Bleak walker paladin with rogue or something.

 

[Lacrymas]

Well, technically there is necromancy, but it's spread across the classes.

 

[Ulfhednar]

Instead of averaging the hit points and other statistics, I think they should make it depend on what ability you pick at that level. So for instance, from Josh's example:

E.g. you make a battlemage and progress like this:

1 - Knockdown & Minoletta’s Minor Missiles : Avg. Fighter & Wizard HP
2 - Disciplined Barrage : Fighter HP
3 - Weapon & Shield Style : Fighter HP
4 - Fighter Stances & Rolling Flame : Avg. Fighter & Wizard HP

vs.

1 - Knockdown & Minoletta’s Minor Missiles : Avg. Fighter & Wizard HP
2 - Ghost Blades : Wizard HP
3 - Spirit Shield : Wizard HP
4 - Fighter Stances & Rolling Flame : Avg. Fighter & Wizard HP

Not sure what else that would affect besides hitpoints since saving throws are determined by attributes and health is a non-issue for PoE 2, but I like that it steers you a little more in one direction or the other based on your choices.

 

[TT1]

Versus Evil, an indie publisher that released Banner Saga, publishes PoE 2: http://versusevil.com/news/versus-e...-eternity-ii-deadfire-publishing-partnership/

VERSUS EVIL AND OBSIDIAN ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE PILLARS OF ETERNITY II: DEADFIRE PUBLISHING PARTNERSHIP


SEQUEL TO AWARD WINNING RPG TO LAUNCH ON PC, MAC AND LINUX IN EARLY 2018!
Independent games publisher Versus Evil today announced its partnership with Obsidian Entertainment to publish Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. The sequel to the critically acclaimed, award-winning RPG Pillars of Eternity, will launch on Windows PC, Mac and Linux in early 2018.

“Pillars of Eternity and Obsidian are practically synonymous with quality RPGs and we couldn’t be happier to work with their team and their community in supporting Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire”, said Steve Escalante, General Manager of Versus Evil. “The sequel builds on the massive critical success of the first game and will be one of the premier RPGs to launch in 2018. Fans of the franchise will be thrilled with everything that this sequel has to offer, and newcomers to the Pillars universe will get to experience a technically superior RPG adventure with a more meaningful companion system, deep progression mechanics and uniquely rich storyline for the first time.”

For its part, Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart said: “We are thrilled to be working with the team at Versus Evil on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, the first sequel we’ve ever made into one of our own IPs. Partnering with a team that is as passionate as we are about making Pillars of Eternity outstanding has already been such a gratifying and exciting experience. We know that Steve and his team will treat Deadfire right and help us make it the game that our incredible fans and generous backers expect and deserve.”

In Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, players embark on a dangerous voyage of discovery as they hunt down a god to save their own souls. Building on the award-winning gameplay of the first Pillars of Eternity, every aspect of Deadfire has been improved and expanded. Vastly more detailed graphics, deeper game mechanics, increased player choice and reactivity, a new companion relationship system, streamlined combat, and an entirely new, hand-crafted adventure make Deadfire the ultimate cRPG experience. Players travel the far-flung region of the titular Deadfire Archipelago by ship, where they will discover new races, visit exotic islands, defend their ships against pirates, and, most importantly, choose their allies carefully, as there are powerful factions to encounter at nearly every port.

I spent all day thinking about it and still can not understand. I need to drink some beers.

 

[Jenkem]

http://store.steampowered.com/search/?publisher=Versus Evil

 

[Rev]

I spent all day thinking about it and still can not understand. I need to drink some beers.

It's fairly easy to understand, I think: Versus Evil is smaller than Paradox so they surely agreed to have a smaller share of the profits, so Obsidian gets to keep more money and also has a bigger role in this partnership probably so that maybe they'll be able to publish PoE3 by themselves.