Xaurips are so fucking dumb, holy shit

[Vault Dweller]

This is all getting a little abstract. On the one hand, it seems like the only game that would satisfy you would one set in a universe of non-Euclidian geometry, where trashmobs are four-headed, multi-gendered poets who sometimes commit suicide in their despair over the meaningless of existence, where your swords sometimes decide to turn on you if the enemy presents an unusually compelling argument, where the final boss is a plant-jellyfish hybrid who must be defeated in four dimensions at once.

I'd love to write a thorough reply but I don't have much time. So here is a short version addressing PoE in particular:

- I enjoyed exploring PoE's dungeons. Beautiful art and atmosphere. Top fucking notch.
- I kinda enjoyed exploring the lore and related themes (the delivery was poor though)
- the monsters were simply there, waiting to be killed; the least interesting aspect of the game.

So, on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is generic shite and 10 is 'a universe of non-Euclidian geometry, where trashmobs are four-headed, multi-gendered poets who sometimes commit suicide in their despair over the meaningless of existence', PoE's fauna scores a solid 2 and only because I love Obsidian THIS much. It would have been nice to see something slightly more original, maybe 4 or even 5.

And yet, if I'm understanding correctly, you're developing a game set in post-Roman Europe? I don't mean that as a slight, I'm very much looking forward to playing it upon release, but I'm having a bit of trouble reconciling all these perspectives when it all gets this abstract. A truly weird and novel enemy would seem to shatter the sense of immersion you'd encounter in a post-Roman setting.

AoD is a fantasy game with Lovecraftian undertones. Anyway, I'm not comparing AoD to PoE or claiming that we did something better. We didn't. Similarly, I'm not comparing my humble abilities to those of the best developers in the business.

 

[rezaf]

More specifically, they are made for the fucking casual market, which is why they are so painfully easy, welcoming, and familiar. If you don't give a fuck what you're playing, you don't want to waste any time trying to understand the setting.

Well, looks like your REAL problem is Obsidian made almost no effort to make you care about Xaurips in any way, positive or negative. In that case, I'd agree completely.
They just used a spraying tool placing them on some maps as what you call trashmobs, and that's basically it. Like they did with their other D&D knockoffs (some of which are arguably at least a LITTLE more "exciting") such as Shambling Mounds, Trolls, Wolves/Lions, Oozes/Puddings, ... and especially undead and ghosts. Even on normal, each and every map is filled to the brink with such encounters, which rather sooner than later devolve into busywork which is more annoying than rewarding (especially since there's almost no combat XP, but even that wouldn't have changed much).

I agree with what Angthoron wrote upthead, namely:

there's some examples of this stuff done right, like the Gilded Vale keep (until you reach the point of it being ridiculous - how many guards does this guy have with a tiny village like this?

But in the grand scheme of PoE things, I think Xaurips are almost off as good as Raedorics (sp?) guards. You get to deal peacefully with one Xaurip and you get to see several of their camps. You get a tiny glimpse into their cuture as "dragon worshippers". It's not much at all, but at least it's something, in a game where there are so many powerful monsters placed directly on a road from rural village A to rural village B which all traffic from either to the other must pass that you can't help but wonder how there can be ANY travelling in such land at all by merchants and the like.
And with that in mind, I can only quote myself from page 1 of this thread:

I dunno. I imagine my PoE gameplay experience would have been pretty similar if they had been called Kobolds to begin with.

Well written fantasy can make even the umpteenth orc or dwarf or elf or kobold interesting. Bad writing can ruin even Xorazm's four-headed, multi-gendered poets.
(great post, btw, Xorazm, I'd totally brofist it if I could)

 

[Beastro]

Having my introduction to fantasy come from EQ my view of this is skewed.

To me the Xaurips are just tiny lizardmen, in EQ lore Kobolds are dog-like creatures more like Gnolls that pretty much everyone hates and they struggle to get by. One group has been given the Indian treatment and driven to live on the fridges of an island that was colonized by humans and turned to worshipping a deified member of their tribe that's become the patron of the downcast and shunned.

 

[Hamster]

I actually had to stop playing the game for two days after that one level of the megadungeon that was filled with the same Xaurip mob pasted in every room. No, wait, there were actually two Xaurip levels in there.

I stoped playing for two weeks after trying to finish the megadungeon in one go after act 2.

That basically destroyed my previous positive impression of the game, after that i had to force myself to play PoE to the end.

Xaurips in particular never bothered me, though. I found them to be pretty cute. But most other creatures were boring and generic as fuck.

 

[Atchodas]

Xaurips are actually the better part of PoE encounters , they are small enough to move around trough balance of pathfinding so they pose some threat even if its a minor threat its better than ogre walking back and forth and doing nothing cuz he cant find a way to you . Also Xaurip Priests and Champions can heal or stun that is more than you get in most PoE encounters .