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[Jon of the Wired]

Super not glad to hear this. Sounds like the kind of irritating easy difficulty implementation that doesn't actually make the game any easier.

I don't think it'll be a problem in practice. The only things you'll be missing are the semi-random drops off enemies (for the enemies that aren't present in easy encounters), none of which are particularly good or valuable. All the unique and/or high-value stuff will still be in the game on easy.

 

[Sensuki]

Super not glad to hear this. Sounds like the kind of irritating easy difficulty implementation that doesn't actually make the game any easier.

Never played on easy but from what I've seen it's A LOT easier.

 

[TrueMenace]

Anyone have any information if playing the game with a party of 4 is doable? I don't want to face an impossible end game and have to level up 2 other members just to be able to finish it.

All that is known is that the game was balanced with a full party of 6. Josh doesn't test encounters with 1, 2, 3, or 4 man parties. He tests them with a full party.

However, that doesn't mean the game can't be beaten with just 4. You won't know till you try. Not entirely sure why people want to play with less party members, never makes sense to me.

 

[kmag]

I thought about it some more, and the 30% CTD rate on scene transitions was probably an exaggeration on my part. There's transitions in and out of interiors, etc., and most of those went fine. It's probably closer to 15%. Still a lot. Enough that I save before entering every new area.

Re: Combat - I'm not a huge AD&D guy so THAC0 crazies or whoever will probably have a more nuanced opinion on POE's combat mechanics. But I think it feels really good. It doesn't place as much emphasis on misses, which makes it feel more modern. Rather than miss someone 11 times in a row then hit them for 20 points, BG-style, you're more likely to hit 8 out of 11 times for a few pts of dmg each time. At least it feels that way to me.



2011 Macbook Pro booted into windows via Boot Camp - so for all intents and purposes it is a Windows machine. 4GB RAM - 1GB nvidia gfx card. 32bit Intel CPU.



I don't recall exactly - I think the Steam install was between 10 and 15GB.

Almost certainly the 32 bit OS. Unity has long had issues on 32 bit machines.

 

[Sensuki]

Yeah how come you have such a low end computer if you're a game reviewer? I thought you'd need a good one for the AAA games etc

 

[Shepard]

All that is known is that the game was balanced with a full party of 6. Josh doesn't test encounters with 1, 2, 3, or 4 man parties. He tests them with a full party.

However, that doesn't mean the game can't be beaten with just 4. You won't know till you try. Not entirely sure why people want to play with less party members, never makes sense to me.

It's easier to manage, you get exp faster and it is easier to avoid the "dummy" chars (characters that are in the party only for their battle abilities). 4 always felt like the sweet spot for me.

 

[Menome]

Yeah how come you have such a low end computer if you're a game reviewer? I thought you'd need a good one for the AAA games etc

I guess games still have to be reviewed on the sort of setups that less dedicated-to-the-cause players are going to have at home. A person who hasn't played much in the way of up-to-date games over the years, but finds out about Pillars Of Eternity, evoking memories of his youth playing Baldur's Gate, deserves to know if there'll be problems running it before he splashes out the cash.

 

[Serra]

Im going to bet it will be able to be completed with 4 dudes without too much effort, especially on normal. After a while when people have found new tactics/combinations im sure you can complete it with a single character.

 

[Vincent Grayson]

Im going to bet it will be able to be completed with 4 dudes without too much effort, especially on normal. After a while when people have found new tactics/combinations im sure you can complete it with a single character.

Don't people do shit like single-character Heart of Fury runs in IWD2? I'm sure 4 characters won't be too big of a deal.

 

[GDJustin]

Almost certainly the 32 bit OS. Unity has long had issues on 32 bit machines.

Yes - I've been poking around this today (with help), and the crashing I experienced is indeed because I have a 32 bit OS/CPU, which Pillars doesn't officially support.

Kind of impressive it runs stably at all, considering most 64 bit-only games won't even boot.

Edit: To clarify - I'm not reviewing the game. I'm a features guy, and I'm playing on my own time to evaluate other coverage opportunities. I can't speak for what anyone else is doing, but there's all kinds of reasons press might need early access to do their job besides reviewing a product. Prepping guide content, capturing video... any number of special projects.

 

[adj_noun]

Im going to bet it will be able to be completed with 4 dudes without too much effort, especially on normal. After a while when people have found new tactics/combinations im sure you can complete it with a single character.

The "Triple Crown" is Path of the Damned, Trial of Iron, and Solo (meaning not taking or creating any companions). The team is looking forward to watching a Let's Play of that. No one on the QA team has been able to accomplish it yet...

There's the holy grail.

I really wanna watch someone trying this live.

 

[Serra]

Don't people do shit like single-character Heart of Fury runs in IWD2? I'm sure 4 characters won't be too big of a deal.

Yes, but only years after release so all min/maxing and most unbalanced stuff has been found.

 

[Kinthalis]

Yes - I've been poking around this today (with help), and the crashing I experienced is indeed because I have a 32 bit OS/CPU, which Pillars doesn't officially support.

Kind of impressive it runs stably at all, considering most 64 bit-only games won't even boot.

Edit: To clarify - I'm not reviewing the game. I'm a features guy, and I'm playing on my own time to evaluate other coverage opportunities. I can't speak for what anyone else is doing, but there's all kinds of reasons press might need early access to do their job besides reviewing a product. Prepping guide content, capturing video... any number of special projects.

So Jealous of you!!!

 

[Zatoth]

Did they mention something about the price of the Expansion Pack? Will it go up after Pillars is released or will you still be able to preorder it for 20$ after the release?

 

[TrueMenace]

Did they mention something about the price of the Expansion Pack? Will it go up after Pillars is released or will you still be able to preorder it for 20$ after the release?

$20 is an exclusive discount for backers for a limited time. Expect it to increase in price.

 

[Reluctant-Hero]

$20 is an exclusive discount for backers for a limited time. Expect it to increase in price.

Good to know... I definitely want the expansion. The audiobook is tempting as well.

 

[Zatoth]

$20 is an exclusive discount for backers for a limited time. Expect it to increase in price.

Thanks. Guess I'll just buy it now.

 

[Dandy Lyin]

$20 is an exclusive discount for backers for a limited time. Expect it to increase in price.

I somehow missed that -- thanks! I guess I'll grab it now, since I'm sure I'll be buying it anyway.

 

[syko de4d]

Grabed the 20$ Expansion too. Another 2 years to wait, maybe

 

[Pyros_Eien]

There's the holy grail.

I really wanna watch someone trying this live.

Problem is how boring it'll most likely be, since the only way I see this working is through massive exploiting of the AI and stuff. I don't really know the mechanics since I haven't played BB, but from what I heard the AI tends to fail horribly if you go out of line of sight/too far, so I'd assume something like a summoner of sort(druid/chanter are the summon classes I think?) with high movement speed(chanters/druids both get some I think) to get out of range asap everytime you engage and then just summon stuff to suicide chip health at stuff and what not. I don't think you can cheese stealth and I don't see it possible to actually survive while tanking everything, so kiting seems like the only viable way to do it and using pets seem like a good failsafe to getting caught up and CCed/engaged to death.

I might end up trying it out after I'm done with the game, but I'm sure someone will do it before that since I probably won't get to play right away at launch.

 

[sueil]

Solo iron man fighter/thief/Mage is the only way to play Baldurs gate trilogy and is fantastic fun. Of course not everyone enjoys completely breaking games in half after trading optimal strategies with other mechanics nuts.

 

[Pyros_Eien]

Solo iron man fighter/thief/Mage is the only way to play Baldurs gate trilogy and is fantastic fun. Of course not everyone enjoys completely breaking games in half after trading optimal strategies with other mechanics nuts.

Oh yeah in BG it works, but you can't really do that in this I don't think, you can't become so tanky that you literally take no damage because you can't use like spells from another class by multiclassing. Monk+something else would probably do it otherwise but with pure classes, it doesn't seem possible and you can't do the solo thief "keep backstabbing then running behind a wall to restealth" strat either, so yeah, I think kiting/summon based gameplay is going to be key to something like this.

 

[Anoregon]

I've got a question I'm hoping someone can answer:

If I buy additional copies for $25 as a backer (to give to friends), does each separate copy I buy have its own option for steam/non-steam key? Or do they all have to be the same?

 

[Sou Da]

I've got a question I'm hoping someone can answer:

If I buy additional copies for $25 as a backer (to give to friends), does each separate copy I buy have its own option for steam/non-steam key? Or do they all have to be the same?

I'd imagine it would just ask you at the time we're supposed to receive our backer codes.

 

[decoyplatypus]

Josh Sawyer is answering questions on ArvanEleron's twitch feed: http://www.twitch.tv/arvaneleron

He gave a nice answer to the "stash" question (i.e. why do you have this stash instead of the traditional limited inventory + encumbrance system). The gist of his answer was that the team did not like the traditional inventory/encumbrance management. In a PnP campaign, managing encumbrance is as simple as notifying the GM that you want to return to town and drop off items X, Y, and Z. It takes about 30 seconds of real-time. In a videogame, you have to actually return to the town and drop of the items one by one. That process is not interesting. So they instead put the stash right in the inventory menu, and there is a toggle so that players who want the fun part of encumbrance management (making decisions about what to bring) can restrict themselves from accessing stashed items except when in town.

I expect this will be unpopular with the grognards (but then, that's why they're called grognards), but I happen to agree with the reasoning and the decision.

 

[Altazor]

Josh Sawyer is answering questions on ArvanEleron's twitch feed: http://www.twitch.tv/arvaneleron

He gave a nice answer to the "stash" question (i.e. why do you have this stash instead of the traditional limited inventory + encumbrance system). The gist of his answer was that the team did not like the traditional inventory/encumbrance management. In a PnP campaign, managing encumbrance is as simple as notifying the GM that you want to return to town and drop off items X, Y, and Z. It takes about 30 seconds of real-time. In a videogame, you have to actually return to the town and drop of the items one by one. That process is not interesting. So they instead put the stash right in the inventory menu, and there is a toggle so that players who want the fun part of encumbrance management (making decisions about what to bring) can restrict themselves from accessing stashed items except when in town.

I expect this will be unpopular with the grognards (but then, that's why they're called grognards), but I happen to agree with the reasoning and the decision.

I've never liked encumberance THAT much (in *any* RPG I've played), so I'm not mad at all with that. Haters gonna hate but will be unable to move while we move around freely while looting.

 

[decoyplatypus]

I usually find myself in the mushy middle on encumbrance debates. I like managing equip weight, but having to leave items on the field or else stop and carry stuff back to a garbage bin outside town is slightly more annoying than fun for me.

 

[Enduin]

I'm happy with the stash because I can't leave things behind. I like the games with good encumbrance/inventory systems, I like planning and managing that shit, BUT I will still go back and forth wasting time to make sure I don't leave anything of value on the ground that enemies drop or that I find in chests and the like. So this works out for me.

 

[Lingitiz]

Josh Sawyer is answering questions on ArvanEleron's twitch feed: http://www.twitch.tv/arvaneleron

He gave a nice answer to the "stash" question (i.e. why do you have this stash instead of the traditional limited inventory + encumbrance system). The gist of his answer was that the team did not like the traditional inventory/encumbrance management. In a PnP campaign, managing encumbrance is as simple as notifying the GM that you want to return to town and drop off items X, Y, and Z. It takes about 30 seconds of real-time. In a videogame, you have to actually return to the town and drop of the items one by one. That process is not interesting. So they instead put the stash right in the inventory menu, and there is a toggle so that players who want the fun part of encumbrance management (making decisions about what to bring) can restrict themselves from accessing stashed items except when in town.

I expect this will be unpopular with the grognards (but then, that's why they're called grognards), but I happen to agree with the reasoning and the decision.

Glad they are making modern changes like this. My only fear for this game is that they would stay too traditional and not update things for modern times in a tasteful way.

 

[TRD Mr Blonde]

Ive not played a game like this before and i think im going to jump in on release. If i play solo will my other party members be AI controlled?

 

[Enduin]

Ive not played a game like this before and i think im going to jump in on release. If i play solo will my other party members be AI controlled?

No, there is pretty much no AI outside some very basic autoattack. You will need to direct the whole party. That said you can spec your party members to be light on active abilities so they'll have a lot of passive and modal abilities which will cut back on your need to micromanage.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Ive not played a game like this before and i think im going to jump in on release. If i play solo will my other party members be AI controlled?

You have to control them in combat

edit: what Enduin said

also you can pause at anytime

 

[TRD Mr Blonde]

Thanks for the feedback. I like the fact that this was made by fans of the genre. Path of Exile is one the best games ive played in a long time and was kind of a similar situation.

 

[Varna]

Josh Sawyer is answering questions on ArvanEleron's twitch feed: http://www.twitch.tv/arvaneleron

He gave a nice answer to the "stash" question (i.e. why do you have this stash instead of the traditional limited inventory + encumbrance system). The gist of his answer was that the team did not like the traditional inventory/encumbrance management. In a PnP campaign, managing encumbrance is as simple as notifying the GM that you want to return to town and drop off items X, Y, and Z. It takes about 30 seconds of real-time. In a videogame, you have to actually return to the town and drop of the items one by one. That process is not interesting. So they instead put the stash right in the inventory menu, and there is a toggle so that players who want the fun part of encumbrance management (making decisions about what to bring) can restrict themselves from accessing stashed items except when in town.

I expect this will be unpopular with the grognards (but then, that's why they're called grognards), but I happen to agree with the reasoning and the decision.

Well at least there is an option for it... :/

I know this game will have a lot of special modifiers players can't activate. But is there any way to make this decisions at the start of a game and be locked into said choices? It's a personal thing, but I really hate when these are things you can change at any point in the game.

 

[Enduin]

Well at least there is an option for it... :/

I know this game will have a lot of special modifiers players can't activate. But is there any way to make this decisions at the start of a game and be locked into said choices? It's a personal thing, but I really hate when these are things you can change at any point in the game.

I would imagine that would be a perfect addition to Expert Mode. Would be surprised to not see it included in it given everything else it entails.

 

[decoyplatypus]

Glad they are making modern changes like this. My only fear for this game is that they would stay too traditional and not update things for modern times in a tasteful way.

Oh, I don't think that's going to be a problem. They clearly have their own game design philosophies and preferences for RPGs.

I should also say that I don't think the traditional method of dealing with encumbrance is antiquated. It's a valid design choice that not everyone loves. It has at least one disadvantage compared to the PnP equivalent, but Eternity's response to that weakness is not the only reasonable one.

Well at least there is an option for it... :/

I know this game will have a lot of special modifiers players can't activate. But is there any way to make this decisions at the start of a game and be locked into said choices? It's a personal thing, but I really hate when these are things you can change at any point in the game.

I'm not sure. I agree it would be nice to include a lock-in option for players who find that more satisfying.

 

[Reneledarker]

Hello Pillars of Eternity GAF, hope you are having a good time in anticipation to the game.

Anyone selling a GOG key?

Thanks!

 

[Sensuki]

I missed most of that stream and can't get past 28:31 on the archive :/

 

[decoyplatypus]

I missed most of that stream and can't get past 28:31 on the archive :/

There weren't many other answers that caught my attention. Someone asked if the stronghold would always look barren, and Sawyer answered that populating the stronghold with NPCs raised technical issues, so you won't be seeing too many NPCs around there (spoiler only if you have avoided all info about stronghold so far)

Spoiler

outside of invasion events

.

Another viewer asked about character advancement in potential sequels. Sawyer (and I'm paraphrasing here) said if there were a sequel with higher-level characters, he would have to ensure that progressing at higher levels felt as good as progressing at lower levels. He would rework the core rules of the game if necessary to support that goal.

 

[jschreier]

You know how back in the day you'd be playing Baldur's Gate or Planescape and then suddenly you'd look up and it'd be midnight? Well, uh, yeah.

 

[piratepwnsninja]

You know how back in the day you'd be playing Baldur's Gate or Planescape and then suddenly you'd look up and it'd be midnight? Well, uh, yeah.

Oh man. I'm so wrecked next week between Bloodborne and this.

 

[VoidVR]

You know how back in the day you'd be playing Baldur's Gate or Planescape and then suddenly you'd look up and it'd be midnight? Well, uh, yeah.

Make that 6AM and seeing the sun creeping through the blinds and "holy shit I have to be in school in 2 hours!". Good times.

 

[HK-47]

You remember how you'd be playing a WRPG and you hit a bug that kept you from progressing and you couldnt find a way to fix it...

Thats me right now with NWN 2.

 

[jschreier]

Make that 6AM and seeing the sun creeping through the blinds and "holy shit I have to be in school in 2 hours!". Good times.

Yeah man. This game has the same exact feel. They recreated so many IE details, all the way down to enemy health saying Injured/Badly Injured/Near Death/etc.

 

[Sou Da]

You remember how you'd be playing a WRPG and you hit a bug that kept you from progressing and you couldnt find a way to fix it...

Thats me right now with NWN 2.

Except the bug is the entire original campaign

 

[LurkerPrime]

Yeah man. This game has the same exact feel. They recreated so many IE details, all the way down to enemy health saying Injured/Badly Injured/Near Death/etc.

Excellent.

 

[Steez]

Except the bug is the entire original campaign

Apply the Mask of the Betrayer hotfix stat.

 

[HK-47]

Apply the Mask of the Betrayer hotfix stat.

I'm right near the end of Act II. I wanna see Act III. I gave up on it last time and just moved to MotB before getting to this point.

 

[VoidVR]

Yeah man. This game has the same exact feel. They recreated so many IE details, all the way down to enemy health saying Injured/Badly Injured/Near Death/etc.

That's great. Regarding enemy health, while I do like healthbars on enemies, having general descriptions instead of knowing exactly how much hp is left is great in tense, hard fights when you're just barely holding on, the enemy says "Near Death" and you're sitting there with your buttcheeks clenched: "Will I make it? How much exactly is left? Come on, come on!"

Shit. I'm nostalgiaing pretty hard right now. Need to finish off DA:I before this game hits next week.

 

[Sensuki]

Yeah man. This game has the same exact feel. They recreated so many IE details, all the way down to enemy health saying Injured/Badly Injured/Near Death/etc.

Do you play with Solid HUD ?

If so, there'll be a day 1-3 mod that provides a better UI