Nice! Two chances to get that Polymorph tree.
-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Kickstarter: Divinity: Original Sin 2 [Over, $2 million funded]
- Thread starter hemtae
- Start date
Nice! Two chances to get that Polymorph tree.
Skillcrafting sounds awesome.
What other games have a system like that? The only one that comes to mind is Path of Exile, where skillgems in linked sockets modify each other. I love that system; the exponential number of combinations makes it really interesting.
Are there other examples?
What other games have a system like that? The only one that comes to mind is Path of Exile, where skillgems in linked sockets modify each other. I love that system; the exponential number of combinations makes it really interesting.
Are there other examples?
spindoctor
Member
Update 7 is out.
They've added new stretch goals going all the way up to 2 million and it includes stuff like mod support and dungeon master mode.
The video has the Homestead music from the first one playing in the background and that was my absolute favorite music in the game. The composer is going to be sorely missed in the next one
They've added new stretch goals going all the way up to 2 million and it includes stuff like mod support and dungeon master mode.
The video has the Homestead music from the first one playing in the background and that was my absolute favorite music in the game. The composer is going to be sorely missed in the next one
demosthenes
Member
Please get to 2 million.
I love these stretch goalsl.
I love these stretch goalsl.
But the rivalry could be like in Alpha Protocol. Frenemies for lyfe.
His Majesty
Banned
Fundraiser will end at $1,749,999. No seriously, the romance/rivalry part could work quite well provided they don't take the BioWare route of course.
QuackkAttack
Member
I think Love/Hate is the bare minimum this KS reaches. That's around 20k/day. 2M is 33k/day. Probably a bit out of reach.
I think Larian has what it takes to make relationships(be it romance, friends, rivalry) well. Regardless, I hope this gets reached to better RP characters with my group. More options aren't a bad thing either.
I'm hoping to hit 2M of course, but that seems rather far away.
I think Larian has what it takes to make relationships(be it romance, friends, rivalry) well. Regardless, I hope this gets reached to better RP characters with my group. More options aren't a bad thing either.
I'm hoping to hit 2M of course, but that seems rather far away.
BrokenFiction
Member
You guys. Trust in Larian. Trust in Swen. I would like to see some non-Bioware romance options in a game, intelligently and thoughtfully written.
I doubt Larian will be the studio to do it.
It's not like I'm going to pull my support, the stretch goals just aren't my cup of tea. In short, I was hoping for stretch goals that would make me up my pledge. Sadly, I waited in vain.
QuackkAttack
Member
I agree with you. With the amount of dialogue options Larian is advertising I don't see that as being a problem. They'll probably be pretty clearly flirt options.
ElectricThunder
Member
A nice goal assortment---especially keen on the Lone Wolf Shifter Mask one as that should bolster all sorts of insane solo build potential considering all the new skill lines and whatnot on top of the racials.
Keep in mind we already knew about the romances. What I'm disappointed about is that this is what the fans have been asking for, and well, I can't say I'm enthusiastic about it.
RPG Codex Report
RPG Codex Report
MisterShine
Member
Seriously, did nobody play Dragon Commander? The political marriage story lines for each of the princesses were pretty solid.
There have been many examples of good romances in games, rpgs included. This Pavlovian response some people have to any romance in a game is just weird. It also seems oddly specific to the cRPG crowd, from what I've seen. What's up with that?
There have been many examples of good romances in games, rpgs included. This Pavlovian response some people have to any romance in a game is just weird. It also seems oddly specific to the cRPG crowd, from what I've seen. What's up with that?
ElectricThunder
Member
People have an...odd, fixation on the "Bioware" approach being the end all be all alongside these more socially charged times combined with any drives for inclusiveness and whatnot.
I reckon Larian could pull off something tasteful and narrative-sound, but mainly I just hope there doesn't wind up being some sort of tempest in a teapot, or whatever the online equivalent is lately.
I reckon Larian could pull off something tasteful and narrative-sound, but mainly I just hope there doesn't wind up being some sort of tempest in a teapot, or whatever the online equivalent is lately.
Same here. No MCA and romances in? I never asked for this.
Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit! Dungeon master mode! I never imagined that this could be a stretch goal. I'm looking forward to Sword Coast Legends only because of dungeon master mode. Having dungeon master mode in Divinity (a game that already appeals to me without it, unlike Sword Coast) is a dream come true. I might back my first Kickstarter.
Yeah, they should be real careful. This is a very easy area to have a controversy in.
Yeah, they should be real careful. This is a very easy area to have a controversy in.
QuackkAttack
Member
Yeah, that's a good point. Dragon Commander's marriage writing was pretty good.
And I also agree on your other comment. Just because most instances we've seen in games have been less than optimal doesn't mean they all will. I'd be willing to bet romance is completely optional, like it usually always is.
I'm just excited for more options and systems in the game.
Never heard of the man, but that was pretty good.
Agreed.
Bioware.
He scored all the modern King's Bounty games. His stuff is consistently great.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
Holy shit. Okay. If we hit Dungeon Master Mode, I'm upping my pledge to four copies.
Games can be inclusive without resorting to Romances, and vice-versa. The two aren't connected.
Terra_Ex
Member
If they can get the tone and direction of the writing back on the level of Dragon Commander, there shouldn't be any problems. Some of the stuff they've already talked about, touching on potential pre-existing relationships from the game's onset are certainly promising in terms of venturing beyond the "usual" approach. Doubters of Larian's writing chops should definitely play Dragon Commander.
Still want that Polymorph skill tree.
Fantastapotamus
Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
Don't care about romance, but I want that shapeshifter mask
Doesn't work on mac, really do wanna play it
Its more that in video games its really easy to fuck up romances, and reduce them down to insert affection coins into the machine for love/marriage/sex
A pre-conception in our society today we are trying to fight or we end up with bullshit like the "Friendzone"
Its weirdly exclusive to the CRPG because RPGs and Dating Sims are the main genres you find romances, and you aren't going to complain about romance in dating sims due that being the whole point.
I've also seen people complain about the forced romance in Life is strange (if you as a female PC agree to go to the movies with a male NPC once, you are put into the category as liking him, and your character will make "interested" comments about him)
Another point of dislike with romance, is that a characters storyline could possible be locked behind the romance option. However hopefully with the frenemies option you might still be able to access this.
I personally really enjoyed what they did with the "prostitutes" in D:OS, and I have heard good things about D
C,however I also felt in D:OS the companions and their story lines where the biggest let down. On the plus side they've brought on new writers. I'm pretty torn.
This.
Scrooge McDuck
Member
From the way the description is written, I get the impression that this "romance" feature would be between player characters, not with NPCs/companions.
They said it could be played in single player also.
Scrooge McDuck
Member
And the way the first Original Sin works in single player is for us to pick dialogue options for both player characters, even when they are talking to each other.
LurkerPrime
Member
If Polymorpher doesn't make it, then the Shapeshifting Mask will.
Brilliant.
Brilliant.
ElectricThunder
Member
Definitely. I was referring to the other incidental factors of late that will have them primed to amplify off of each other should folks elect to stir up needless trouble over Larian just trying to make the best game they can for their hopes for a big audience of all reasonable sorts.
Part of me half expects Swen will rig the votes so that somehow Polymorph wins twice over just because he wants it SO MUCH---but otherwise still hoping for that and Unarmed to take it as, unless they introduce new choices, the 2 of them seem to play off each other the best out of the lot.
On the potential effects of the new stretch goals:
The average pledge right before they were announced was $45.52. The day the stretch goals were announced it rose to $45.89. It is currently $46.00.
As individual days:
09/08 - $54.41 (Update #6: add-ons)
09/09 - $44.30
09/10 - $70.92 (Update #7: stretch goals)
09/11 - $49.92
09/12 - $48.53
09/13 - $47.97 (partial)
It is safe to assume that a not insignificant amount of people upgraded their pledges, but the updates happened over 2 days, so it's very hard to tell how many simply purchased add-ons as they became aware of them for their own value, or upgraded their pledges because of the stretch goals.
09/10 also raised $30,638, a 60% increase over 09/09, but only a 15.6% increase over 09/08 (Update #6). After that, the game raised $25,263, which is slightly above the average of the week before the update.
However, yesterday only had $17,424 in pledges, the worst result since the campaign started, although the average was above the $46. It is currently at $12k for today, so no improvement there yet.
As I said before, the effects of stretch goals are still open to interpretation. Mine is that people are increasing their pledges, but the effect is already proving to be short-lived, and the number of new backers is going down along with the daily pledges. The effect was positive, but not as strong as it could've been. The successful examples I usually mention, Torment and Eternity, had boosts that doubled (in some cases almost tripled) the total funds per day for several days in a row. The most notable example was Eternity and its update #20, 6 days before the campaign was over, where they announced the Stronghold and Big City 2 (Twin Elms). The effect was so dramatic that the average on that day reached $99.49 and the usual "final 3-day stretch" actually became a 6 day long final push that raised $1,407,462.
Now, as for D:OS2, I think the DM mode is definitely the kind of ambitious stretch goal a game like this could use, but the other ones..not so much. My take on adding romances as a stretch goal is entirely personal, but objectively speaking, it is still controversial. The uservoice page and the reactions everywhere are proof of that. I think the majority does support the idea, but those who don't - like myself - have fairly strong opinions on it. It should've been announced as a feature right off the bat (and it was planned long before the update, as was clear in the Codex preview article).The dedicated mod tool support should've been either an initial feature (it was available for the first game, after all), or an earlier stretch goal. Same for the mask, to be honest. It's also hard to get excited about the mod tool without seeing it in action. It's the kind of thing that could really use a video showing its capabilities. "Look, here's what you'll be able to do with it", etc.
In comparison, with 20/20 hindsight the PoE Stronghold was obviously terrible, but it could have been a great addition. As for Big City 2, Twin Elms was a considerable portion of the game and very different to the rest.
, so for better or worse, it's hard to imagine the game without it. D:OS2 already has a player housing goal which should be reached in 4 days or so, but it's not as ambitious as the Stronghold+Endless Paths and we know little about it.
What's odd to me is how they announced what could be the final set of stretch goals for the game (at this rate, it is unlikely to reach 2.1 million). They could've waited a few more days and posted an update on the Hall of Souls, another devline, or something that explains another aspect of the game. It keeps people talking about the game and brings new players while they wait for the stretch goals to be reached.
They also could've announced 2 stretch goals at a time. First the mod tools and romance, and days later the mask and DM. Considering they've already added new tiers, add-ons and (probably) all of the stretch goals, there aren't many tools left to boost their funding, and the campaign still has 16 days left.
The average pledge right before they were announced was $45.52. The day the stretch goals were announced it rose to $45.89. It is currently $46.00.
As individual days:
09/08 - $54.41 (Update #6: add-ons)
09/09 - $44.30
09/10 - $70.92 (Update #7: stretch goals)
09/11 - $49.92
09/12 - $48.53
09/13 - $47.97 (partial)
It is safe to assume that a not insignificant amount of people upgraded their pledges, but the updates happened over 2 days, so it's very hard to tell how many simply purchased add-ons as they became aware of them for their own value, or upgraded their pledges because of the stretch goals.
09/10 also raised $30,638, a 60% increase over 09/09, but only a 15.6% increase over 09/08 (Update #6). After that, the game raised $25,263, which is slightly above the average of the week before the update.
However, yesterday only had $17,424 in pledges, the worst result since the campaign started, although the average was above the $46. It is currently at $12k for today, so no improvement there yet.
As I said before, the effects of stretch goals are still open to interpretation. Mine is that people are increasing their pledges, but the effect is already proving to be short-lived, and the number of new backers is going down along with the daily pledges. The effect was positive, but not as strong as it could've been. The successful examples I usually mention, Torment and Eternity, had boosts that doubled (in some cases almost tripled) the total funds per day for several days in a row. The most notable example was Eternity and its update #20, 6 days before the campaign was over, where they announced the Stronghold and Big City 2 (Twin Elms). The effect was so dramatic that the average on that day reached $99.49 and the usual "final 3-day stretch" actually became a 6 day long final push that raised $1,407,462.
Now, as for D:OS2, I think the DM mode is definitely the kind of ambitious stretch goal a game like this could use, but the other ones..not so much. My take on adding romances as a stretch goal is entirely personal, but objectively speaking, it is still controversial. The uservoice page and the reactions everywhere are proof of that. I think the majority does support the idea, but those who don't - like myself - have fairly strong opinions on it. It should've been announced as a feature right off the bat (and it was planned long before the update, as was clear in the Codex preview article).The dedicated mod tool support should've been either an initial feature (it was available for the first game, after all), or an earlier stretch goal. Same for the mask, to be honest. It's also hard to get excited about the mod tool without seeing it in action. It's the kind of thing that could really use a video showing its capabilities. "Look, here's what you'll be able to do with it", etc.
In comparison, with 20/20 hindsight the PoE Stronghold was obviously terrible, but it could have been a great addition. As for Big City 2, Twin Elms was a considerable portion of the game and very different to the rest.
It is also where the endgame takes place
What's odd to me is how they announced what could be the final set of stretch goals for the game (at this rate, it is unlikely to reach 2.1 million). They could've waited a few more days and posted an update on the Hall of Souls, another devline, or something that explains another aspect of the game. It keeps people talking about the game and brings new players while they wait for the stretch goals to be reached.
They also could've announced 2 stretch goals at a time. First the mod tools and romance, and days later the mask and DM. Considering they've already added new tiers, add-ons and (probably) all of the stretch goals, there aren't many tools left to boost their funding, and the campaign still has 16 days left.
Yep, that or at least explain what the Romance stretch goal is. I went from $50 -> $26 because of it.
Lord Panda
The Sea is Always Right
Yeah having Romance as a stretch goal was a bit 'ugh' for me.
OmegaDL50
Member
Dialog options in D:OS were exactly that OPTIONS.
You had a CHOICE on what reply you want to make for your characters in dialog selection.
Just because a Romance OPTION exists doesn't mean it's mandatory or something that is forced. That what's great about having the power of choice.
You had a CHOICE on what reply you want to make for your characters in dialog selection.
Just because a Romance OPTION exists doesn't mean it's mandatory or something that is forced. That what's great about having the power of choice.
I think the difference in pledges is probably more due to the introduction of add-ons rather than the stretch goals.
I have to say that the stretch goals for D:OS were far more exciting to me, but then again they also didn't manage to complete all of them. These are probably far more realistic.
LurkerPrime
Member
Let's keep in mind that the 'Romance stretch goal' is actually a friendship/rivalry system, as first(?) seen in Dragon Age 2. It's one of the cooler concepts as far as romance systems go, though Bioware mishandled it badly. Larian could do very well with it, if they're creative enough--and let's face it, they are.
I only hope all these awesome stretch goals don't balloon the dev time out another year or something. That'd be a bummer.
I only hope all these awesome stretch goals don't balloon the dev time out another year or something. That'd be a bummer.