Larian General Discussion Thread

[CryptRat]

He I made my minds years ago. I don't really care about writing as long as it's not thrown at my face too much, and a sufficient condition for that is often full party creation from the start ; I want full party creation, not more or less writers.

 

[Sjukob]

I don't really care about writing as long as it's not thrown at my face too much

Oh but that it is the opposite of what Larian does.

After D:OS:

"Larian needs more than two writers to improve writing"​

After D:OS 2

"Larian should should go back to two writers to improve writing"
"Larian needs a really small writing to to improve writing"
"Larian really only needs one writer to write half the game. Just look at Planescape: Torment, it is amazing"
and so on..​

Make up your fucking minds, you sperging bozos.

I say Larian should stop writing altogether.

Spoiler

Or even stop making games for that matter

 

[Roguey]

After D:OS:

"Larian needs more than two writers to improve writing"​

After D:OS 2

"Larian should should go back to two writers to improve writing"
"Larian needs a really small writing to to improve writing"
"Larian really only needs one writer to write half the game. Just look at Planescape: Torment, it is amazing"
and so on..​

Make up your fucking minds, you sperging bozos.

At this point, other than having a dedicated editor, I don't think there's anything they can do.

 

[Lahey]

Trickle-down cringonomics. An editor could only do so much.

 

[Iznaliu]

Oh but that it is the opposite of what Larian does.

If they tried to minimise the blatant humour, then that would minimise their appeal.

 

[Sjukob]

If they tried to minimise the blatant humour, then that would minimise their appeal.

School kid level of humour is the appeal of their writting. Are you serious ?

 

[Iznaliu]

School kid level of humour is the appeal of their writting. Are you serious ?

You need to think less of in terms of Codex popularity and more of in terms of sales numbers. Larian's games being relatively humorous is pretty unique within the segment of the market that they occupy, and humour isn't that much of a deal-breaker for many people.

 

[gaussgunner]

They try to be funny all the time but that don't make it so. Cringey puns and recycled jokes.

You should play more rpgs, some of them have nice, dark, subtle humor.

 

[Sjukob]

You need to think less of in terms of Codex popularity and more of in terms of sales numbers. Larian's games being relatively humorous is pretty unique within the segment of the market that they occupy, and humour isn't that much of a deal-breaker for many people.

Look, I can do it too.

You need to think less of in terms of Codex popularity and more of in terms of sales numbers. Bethesda's games having huge open world with lots of things to do and explore is pretty unique within the segment of the market that they occupy (their only real competitor is TW3), and shallowness isn't that much of a deal-breaker for many people.

Just what are you talking about? I'm pointing out that humour in DOS2 is not just bad, but it's forced on player and you are pulling out that stupid crap "majority can't be mistaken", it does not in any way contradicts me and you are just trying to derail the discussion.

 

[LESS T_T]

 

[Elex]

original dragon: divinity sin, beyond commander?

 

[LESS T_T]

original dragon: divinity sin, beyond commander?

After the Dwarf Dentist Simulator:

 

[DraQ]

Dwarfing is what happens when you teleport a dwarf above someone.

 

[Iznaliu]

Just what are you talking about? I'm pointing out that humour in DOS2 is not just bad, but it's forced on player and you are pulling out that stupid crap "majority can't be mistaken", it does not in any way contradicts me and you are just trying to derail the discussion.

My original post about how it "minimised their appeal" was about their appeal to the general public, not their appeal to the Codex. If Larian loses these distinguishing features, their games will no longer sell as well, and they may go bankrupt, therefore they can't change the in-your-face humour you originally mentioned.

 

[gaussgunner]

Do you think it would be even better if they add a laugh track?

 

[Alienman]

The sitcoms of RPGs hehe.

 

[DraQ]

I'm honestly shocked that Larian decided to put humour in DOS2, just like in every single of their previous games.
I mean, who would have thunk?


I am similarly baffled by how they went with Diablo-esque item generation.
It's only fair that people may feel cheated - who in their right mind could have expected a Larian game to be a Larian game?

 

[Sjukob]

It's only fair that people may feel cheated - who in their right mind could have expected a Larian game to be a good game

My original post about how it "minimised their appeal" was about their appeal to the general public, not their appeal to the Codex. If Larian loses these distinguishing features, their games will no longer sell as well, and they may go bankrupt, therefore they can't change the in-your-face humour you originally mentioned.

Yes they can, nobody complains when you go from bad to good, the question is if they are actually intelligent enough to do it. Right now it looks like this.

 

[Elex]

I'm honestly shocked that Larian decided to put humour in DOS2, just like in every single of their previous games.
I mean, who would have thunk?


I am similarly baffled by how they went with Diablo-esque item generation.
It's only fair that people may feel cheated - who in their right mind could have expected a Larian game to be a Larian game?

i hope that Sven will only remove these 2 element in the next larian game.

only for invalidate this single post of the entire internet.


after all larian games are hack and slash, third person rpg, rts , turn based rpg.

the next game can even be the first battle royale rpg.

 

[gaussgunner]

I'm honestly shocked that Larian decided to put humour in DOS2, just like in every single of their previous games.
I mean, who would have thunk?

I sure did. DOS 1 was enough for me, thanks. I'm just disappointed that Swen thinks Larian's games' worst flaws are their selling points, and disappointed in gamers for proving him right time after time.

 

[Iznaliu]

i hope that Sven will only remove these 2 element in the next larian game.

Sven personally loves the Diablo-esque itemisation; if he didn't, it would've been removed by now, as it's the one major design element that a majority of players probably dislike.

 

[LESS T_T]

If you are interested and understand Russian:

Divinity: Original Sin 2: Marketing Post Mortem - Kirill Perevozchikov, Head of Marketing, Larian Studios

(White Nights Conference Moscow 2017)

English translation can be found here: http://nevosoft.podfm.ru/my/136

The official conference website — http://wnconf.com

I can't access that translation page for whatever reason.

Obsidian programmer's PoE UI talk is not uploaded yet.

 

[DraQ]

i hope that Sven will only remove these 2 element in the next larian game.

Fat chance given that Swen doesn't appear to be a moron.

after all larian games are hack and slash, third person rpg, rts , turn based rpg.

All Larian games, bar one, have so far followed the formula of "Diablo + some U7 + fantasy pastiche + X", where X may vary wildly - from TPP action and platforming to TB party based tactics and elemental mayhem.
Unless they make Dragon Commander 2 next (which I wouldn't put past them, given that there is a lot of untapped potential there) I am expecting their next game to be a Diablo + Some U7 + fantasy pastiche + X, where X will probably involve at least some elemental mayhem.

I sure did. DOS 1 was enough for me, thanks. I'm just disappointed that Swen thinks Larian's games' worst flaws are their selling points, and disappointed in gamers for proving him right time after time.

Neither humour nor random item generation are flaws.
The former really helps make your game work, especially when you have so far neglected things like worldbuilding. Divinity 2, for instance, wouldn't be half the game it was without Dragon Terror Patrol, Hallorn or trolling Amdusias with Maxos.
The latter offsets the issues of boring loot or making beeline for Goldbrand.

Besides, random part of the itemization works OK in DOS2, the problematic parts are bloat (which is completely dependent on stat bloat, as items are all implemented as Lvl1 items bloated accordingly), and lack of differences between things like different weapon types.
Even rarity is already much better implemented than in DOS1.

i hope that Sven will only remove these 2 element in the next larian game.

Sven personally loves the Diablo-esque itemisation; if he didn't, it would've been removed by now, as it's the one major design element that a majority of players probably dislike.

Yet another proof that the majority is usually wrong.

Larian's most prevailing problem, so far, seems to be a inability to recognize the need for consistent levels of abstraction. Most issues with DOS2 are merely instances of this singular central issue - bloat, armor system, cooldowns, shitty attributes - they all boil down to "Durr! We just don't understand what abstraction is FOR".
Even then, I'd probably rate DOS2 somewhere around Wizardry 8 grade by any metric I can come up with, which is pretty damn impressive.

 

[Iznaliu]

Yet another proof that the majority is usually wrong.

Are you saying that the itemisation system is awesome and anyone who points out the very real flaws with it should be crucified? If so, I've got the perfect RPG for you: Cookie Clicker.

 

[DraQ]

Yet another proof that the majority is usually wrong.

Are you saying that the itemisation system is awesome and anyone who points out the very real flaws with it should be crucified?

What I am saying should be pretty evident for anyone literate.

Since you obviously are not, I will explain:

1. The part of itemization where items go from single digits to triple or more is shit.
2. The part of itemization where, for example, a mace is not functionally different from a sword - likewise is shit too (got to be explicit).
   
3. The part of itemization where item is generated randomly along with a bunch of random modifiers and a name has been a good idea since its inception, solves an actual problem, and is not badly implemented in DOS2 either - for example items are now rarer.

Now, if you completely ignore 1. and 2., but fixate on whining about 3., it is a pretty clear predictor of the value of anything you have to say.