Tyranny Pre-Release Thread

[Fry]

Dawg, I expected successful marketing first of all.

Uh, yeah... but if you were in charge of marketing Tyranny, what would you change about their strategy? Keeping in mind that Paradox has a modest budget.

 

[dragonul09]

Torment was handing out posters autographed by Fargo and sent engraved invitations to the press. Did Tyranny do the same? (I suppose the posters would have been signed by Feargus in that case).

Torment was a big project,Tyranny not so much.They even said that this game is mostly a side-show compared with their other main projects,so I don't see why they should have an aggresive marketing for it.

I bet the budget was next to nothing for this game and from what I've seen,the game just doesn't give a great impression.

 

[Infinitron]

I think the problem may be less the "marketing" as such and more the "branding", without which marketing has less impact. Again, they haven't tied the game closely enough to Pillars of Eternity. They should have ridden on its coattails all the way.

 

[vonAchdorf]

Why? I thought they wanted to market it as a more fun game :D

I think their branding is pretty good - Tyranny as a name no so much, but the art style of their key visuals is very recognizable. And it has shown up on both GoG and Steam where I get most of my news about game anyway (those I happen to discover accidentally, which is - of course not the case for this game).

 

[vortex]

I like how Heins didn't force-hype the game during marketing. He was just describing how it works and what the game is about. Concering the fun factor, they definetly want to make player base outside cRPG and D&D groups while keeping the former.
The question is how to make successful and good cRPG game for masses, like Skyrim is for action RPG.

 

[Starwars]

The preload is up. I guess this will unlock at "usual" STEAM release time. No midnight release or advanced shenanigans like that, or have there been word otherwise?

 

[Fairfax]

Their best marketing tool would've been a good old demo, if you ask me. The first portion (character creation, conquest mode and the first area) does a great job in how it shows the player what the game is about. Unlike PoE, it introduces the setting, lore, reactivity and combat gameplay really well. My guess would be that not everyone who likes the first couple of hours will necessarily like the game, but if you don't like the first couple of hours, the game is probably not for you.
For those who didn't watch any character creation video (I didn't know this before playing), conquest mode is basically a series of decisions that determine the key events in the invasion of the country where the game takes place.
You can see it between ~11-28min here:



It does have a major flaw, however. There's one event where you have to choose between 3 options that are tied to a combat skill. I don't know if you can learn them later on, but they sound pretty powerful, and the one I picked is very useful. The main problem is that they're related to specific playstyles, and I think players are more likely to care about the skill than the decision, so they'll just pick the best skill instead of choosing the option they truly wanted.

I tested different decisions and also compared mine to my friend's, and the reactivity is definitely there. It changes how the 3 major factions treat you, how people address you, and your standing with both factions. My friend also said there are bigger consequences down the road, but I don't know yet.
It's an optional tool, by the way, though I don't know what happens if you choose "quick start" and skip it. Probably a neutral start, I'd guess.

I think the problem may be less the "marketing" as such and more the "branding", without which marketing has less impact. Again, they haven't tied the game closely enough to Pillars of Eternity. They should have ridden on its coattails all the way.

I didn't read much about it before playing, and I was surprised by how similar the combat and systems are. Combat plays pretty much the same, and anyone who played PoE will know almost all hotkeys and controls without reading anything.

 

[Fry]

The preload is up. I guess this will unlock at "usual" STEAM release time. No midnight release or advanced shenanigans like that, or have there been word otherwise?

16:00 GMT/17:00 CET/08:00 PST/11:00 EST

Approximately.

 

[Fairfax]

And this is the reason for most shitty names like Bitter Quip, Quiet Shiv, Shivershank, Hauls-for-Shit and Verser herself (a companion):

 

[veevoir]

Hauls-shitton-of-fullplates

 

[Abu Antar]

I've read a lot of surprised posts about the release date from people who are now interested. A lot of people still think it's a 2017 game.

 

[Latro]

what would your #tyranny name be gamerbois?

mine would be "kills-erect"

 

[Abu Antar]

Tranny

 

[PrettyDeadman]

Forced-gender-reassignment

 

[veevoir]

what would your #tyranny name be gamerbois?

mine would be "kills-erect"

Hauls-shitton-of-fullplates

I am the original bartermancer, the one with the skills no one invests into. 3% less on sales price, for investing just enough skillpoints that would make me a murder death machine instead?

Sign (((me))) in!

 

[Alienman]

Twitch and Lets play to promote a RPG. Yeah, good call. Getting the game spoiled before you even get to try it

 

[Excidium II]

Twitch and Lets play to promote a RPG. Yeah, good call. Getting the game spoiled before you even get to try it

Not that much big of a deal because of the supposed reactivity. Besides that they kept playing just the chargen and intro.

 

[Fairfax]

The game seems to have 3 major factions:

• Disfavored - Sworn to Kyros. Elite disciplined military force that's a very strict Lawful Evil.
• Scarlet Chorus - Sworn to Kyros. Disorganized, shady, magic-heavy Chaotic Evil faction.
• The Vendrien Guard - the rebels.

During the Conquest Mode, the decisions change your standing with the Disfavored and Scarlet Chorus a lot. They have polar opposite approaches to the invasion, and in most cases one decision favors one and angers the other. Reputation changes the quests and dialogue options related to the faction, and can also unlock different skills for the PC.
Here's how the reputation screen looks:

Spoiler

• Kyros has the power to create Edicts, which are basically scrolls with Kyros' orders that hold immense power and are activated once read out loud. He/she/it is immortal and can destroy a country at will with those, which is so ridiculously overpowered that it makes me wonder why they bother doing a normal military invasion in the first place.
• The he/she/it inconsistency from devs talking about Kyros is deliberate. Eb (another companion) even asks you about it, and you character doesn't know it either. Maybe it doesn't exist at all, but I've seen no reason to care.
• Companions have Loyalty and Fear bars that are independent. Some of the stuff you say or do can net you Loyalty with some and Fear with others. Loyalty seems to give you a new combo skill to use with the companion, but I don't know what Fear does yet. It does unlock skills as well, but other than that the game doesn't explain it.
• As mentioned in the other post, I really liked the character creation, conquest mode and the first area.
• Characters are cartoonish, and the background art is considerably less detailed than PoE.
• Good old performance issues: sometimes I get ~45fps in more crowded areas with a GTX1080(!). My friend has the same GPU and said it went below 30 in a large battle. Unity strikes again, but hopefully this will be improved with the first patch.

EDIT:
As for the highlight thing, I don't see any option to turn it off. It's a cool feature, but despite the tool, I still see a lot of exposition and loredumpy dialogue. Maybe it wasn't available to the devs from the start, not sure.
I wish there was an option to disable the highlight for common words that you already clicked on before. It feels pointless to have Kyros in red with how often the name is mentioned. It can be distracting when you have larger pieces of text on screen at once.

 

[Excidium II]

Kyros has the power to create Edicts, which are basically scrolls with Kyros' orders that hold immense power and are activated once read out loud. He/she/it is immortal and can destroy a country at will with those, which is so ridiculously overpowered that it makes me wonder why they bother doing a normal military invasion in the first place

Maybe he's saving the scrolls. You know how you finish a game with a shitton of consumables left unused just in case you might need later.

 

[Sannom]

I think their branding is pretty good - Tyranny as a name no so much, but the art style of their key visuals is very recognizable. And it has shown up on both GoG and Steam where I get most of my news about game anyway (those I happen to discover accidentally, which is - of course not the case for this game).

Feargus Urquhart has been involved in some of the worst product-naming I've ever seen recently! First "Fig", then "Tyranny"? How do you want people to find you if you name your products like that?

And this is the reason for most shitty names like Bitter Quip, Quiet Shiv, Shivershank, Hauls-for-Shit and Verser herself (a companion):

I'm just going to say this, Fairfax : it's fun and actually interesting to have an "unspoiled" Codexer giving us some impression of the game after actually playing the damn thing .

 

[Fry]

Have they ever confirmed that Tyranny was built on Unity 5?

 

[Abu Antar]

The game seems to have 3 major factions:

• Disfavored - Sworn to Kyros. Elite disciplined military force that's a very strict Lawful Evil.
• Scarlet Chorus - Sworn to Kyros. Disorganized, shady, magic-heavy Chaotic Evil faction.
• The Vendrien Guard - the rebels.

During the Conquest Mode, the decisions change your standing with the Disfavored and Scarlet Chorus a lot. They have polar opposite approaches to the invasion, and in most cases one decision favors one and angers the other. Reputation changes the quests and dialogue options related to the faction, and can also unlock different skills for the PC.
Here's how the reputation screen looks:

Spoiler

• Kyros has the power to create Edicts, which are basically scrolls with Kyros' orders that hold immense power and are activated once read out loud. He/she/it is immortal and can destroy a country at will with those, which is so ridiculously overpowered that it makes me wonder why they bother doing a normal military invasion in the first place.
• The he/she/it inconsistency from devs talking about Kyros is deliberate. Eb (another companion) even asks you about it, and you character doesn't know it either. Maybe it doesn't exist at all, but I've seen no reason to care.
• Companions have Loyalty and Fear bars that are independent. Some of the stuff you say or do can net you Loyalty with some and Fear with others. Loyalty seems to give you a new combo skill to use with the companion, but I don't know what Fear does yet. It does unlock skills as well, but other than that the game doesn't explain it.
• As mentioned in the other post, I really liked the character creation, conquest mode and the first area.
• Characters are cartoonish, and the background art is considerably less detailed than PoE.
• Good old performance issues: sometimes I get ~45fps in more crowded areas with a GTX1080(!). My friend has the same GPU and said it went below 30 in a large battle. Unity strikes again, but hopefully this will be improved with the first patch.

I guess Kyros doesn't want to kill everyone?

 

[Fairfax]

Feargus Urquhart has been involved in some of the worst product-naming I've ever seen recently! First "Fig", then "Tyranny"? How do you want people to find you if you name your products like that?


I'm just going to say this, Fairfax : it's fun and actually interesting to have an "unspoiled" Codexer giving us some impression of the game after actually playing the damn thing .

Not sure what you mean by unspoiled (unbiased?), but thanks.

I guess Kyros doesn't want to kill everyone?

There's nothing to suggest he/she/it cares.
Conquest Mode spoilers:

Spoiler

Depending on the location you choose in the last portion of Conquest Mode, you're given an Edict to destroy everything in your path, and Kyros doesn't say anything about saving people, killing innocents or even your own. You're given the choice to kill everyone right away (Disfavored) or warn people about the Edict (Scarlet Chorus).

First part of the main quest spoiler:

Spoiler

The game starts with you bringing an Edict to both factions. It says they have 8 days to destroy the rebels or everyone dies.

 

[Excidium II]

Fairfax which difficulty level you playing on? I recall reading/hearing that the edict time limit varies based on dificulty level.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

I think their branding is pretty good - Tyranny as a name no so much, but the art style of their key visuals is very recognizable. And it has shown up on both GoG and Steam where I get most of my news about game anyway (those I happen to discover accidentally, which is - of course not the case for this game).

Feargus Urquhart has been involved in some of the worst product-naming I've ever seen recently! First "Fig", then "Tyranny"? How do you want people to find you if you name your products like that?

Wait, Feargus is involved in Fig?