Pillars of Eternity Megathread

koalak

koalak

CAGiversary!
PILLARS OF ETERNITY
 
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Release date: March 26, 2015
 
Pillars of Eternity is an isometric, party-based RPG set in a new fantasy world developed by Obsidian Entertainment.
 
Paying homage to the great Infinity Engine games of years past: Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment. Pillars of Eternity aims to recapture the magic, imagination, depth, and nostalgia of classic RPGs.
 
Eternity will take the central hero, memorable companions and the epic exploration of Baldu's Gate, add in the fun, intense combat and dungeon diving of Icewind Dale, and tie it all together with the emotional writing and mature thematic exploration of Planescape: Torment.
 
[video=youtube;L2LrE3Ssnsg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2LrE3Ssnsg[/video]
 
RESOURCES
 
Official Website
 
Wiki (Gamepedia)
 
Wiki (Orcz)
 
Obsidian Entertainment
 
Original Kickstarter
 
Character Creation Guide
 
Bestiary
 
Console Commands
 
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Two years too late for that bit of advice. I regret nothing.

Also, those wikis are both pretty out of date on account of the constant changes of the backer beta. If you want to see a shitload of stuff from the lead designer on it, though, here's his tumblr page and here's a link to all his posts in the current SA thread (I think the first thread is in archives, unfortunately).

EDIT: Also, they're putting out a bunch of brand new screenshots on their twitter account at this exact moment.

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The Crotch said:
Two years too late for that bit of advice. I regret nothing.
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Same, but a kickstarter isn't a pre-order despite most people using it as such. I just wanted to help support a game type that we rarely see anymore if ever to show that it is indeed still wanted.

 
It's going to be tough to wait out this one for a deep discount. Mainly because every 3 months or so I've checked in on this and there's usually been new updates to read and enjoy. Of the big crowdfunded titles, PoE did the best job of engaging the community with updates, interviews, LPs, etc. It comes through in interviews especially...take a recent chat with PCWorld.

We really put a lot of effort into our stat spread. We've tweaked and tweaked and retweaked this over time. For instance, the Might score increases damage and healing for everything. You might say, "Dude, why should Might affect the damage of my pistol?" and I say, "Shut the $#&^#& up."
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Obsidian made the development of the title something worth reading. It's an accomplishment in its own right, so many dev blogs or the like are too apologetic or generally dry. Obsidian done good.

 
There's a recurring theme to his interaction with the community. Can't quite put my finger on it...

Oh wait yeah I can: I should go fuck myself.

He's a rad dude. And if you're going with the titular colon, I think he's introduced a new standard. It fits pretty much anything. "fuck You: Suck My Dick: Dynamically reconfigurable complex emulsions via tunable interfacial tensions" feels right. It's the right way to do it from now on.

 
Is it really that close? Shit, I kept thinking it was like two months away. R.I.P. March.

EDIT: Not related to Pillars, but I received my Numenera books (Corebook & Player's Guide), signed by Monte Cook. Looks like I got number 58 out of 1200. Nice.

 
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And the game has gone gold:

http://eternity.obsidian.net/news/pillars-of-eternity-has-gone-gold

Pillars of Eternity Has Gone Gold!
By Mikey Dowling on March 17, 2015 12:00 AM
 
 
IRVINE, CA — March 17, 2015 — Obsidian Entertainment and Paradox Interactive today announced that Pillars of Eternity, the fan-funded modern take on a classic role-playing game (RPG) set in an original world created by some of the best minds in RPG development, has reached “Gold Master” (GM) status, and is now ready for its release on March 26, 2015. Pillars of Eternity, originally called “Project Eternity” the 10th most funded Kickstarter ever and second most funded video game , has been in development for two and a half years, and is now ready to complete its journey, arriving on Windows, Mac, and Linux PC next week. The game will release globally, with backers receiving their digital copies as well.

“Seeing Pillars of Eternity through has been an incredible journey for all of us at a deeply personal level,” said Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian Entertainment. “When we took our idea to Kickstarter, our fans got behind us more than we ever thought. It’s been a blast to match their enthusiasm, see them cheer us on, and have them help to keep us on course every step of the way. It's crazy to think that more than two years have come and gone, but time flies that way when you are creating something as important as Pillars of Eternity has become to us.”

“We knew, when we joined forces with Obsidian, that both the studio and the game were a perfect match for us,” said Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive. “A core tenet at Paradox is staying closely connected to one’s players and community, and we’ve watched Obsidian do exactly that. From the handling of their crowd-funding to their open dialogue with fans on their forums, Obsidian has been dedicated to fulfilling their promises to players, and we’ve been glad for the chance to help them do it. We’re looking forward to working together with Obsidian for a long time to come.”

Pillars of Eternity is an RPG inspired by classic titles such as Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment, featuring an original world and unique game system, Pillars of Eternity ushers in a renaissance for a much beloved style of role playing game. Funded via Kickstarter in late 2012, raising over $4 million through both backer pledges on Kickstarter and PayPal. Pillars of Eternity has been a project of passion for both the development team and the loyal fans who made it possible.

Pillars of Eternity is scheduled to launch next week, on March 26, 2015, and the game can still be pre-ordered until that time. Pre-orders also include two special in-game items: a Giant Miniature Space Piglet companion who will accompany players through the world of Eora, and the Gaun’s Pledge ring, which provides powerful support to heroes in times of peril. Pillars of Eternity can be pre-ordered by visiting http://buy.pillarsofeternity.com.

For more information on Pillars of Eternity, visit eternity.obsidian.net.

 
The Crotch said:
If you're interested in Pillars but don't already have a copy coming, the cheapest place to get it right now is GMG for $34.
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Looking at my 'addons' page from my backer pledge, it looks like backers can get extra digital keys for $25 a pop (or $60 for 3). So if you find someone willing before it releases, you could probably get them to get you a cheaper copy.

 
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Video covering combat mechanics of the game from a pre-release version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u96bzh-3Eyk

Also the review and publishing of video content embargo is lifted today (But they can't show the game itself beyond 15 hours of play). So we'll start seeing reviews, videos and such.

EDIT: This apparently doesn't include reviews, which is still embargoed until the 26th.

 
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Whelp. Reviews are glowing. I'll throw one of the better ones out here (And pretty much spoiler free):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml3EdUJJOPw

 
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If anyone has any additonal POE codes, let me know, as I'd like to get one, and I think I know at least 1 other who would be interested.

 
Any CAGs playing this? Is it as great as the reviews say? I'm on vacation and won't be able to get to it for a few weeks, so let's hear the opinions!
 
Me and Draekon at least have put a fair bit of time into it now. Game's very good. I have a lot of niggling complaints, some of which I know will be addressed in patches and some of which I know will not. Game's also quite buggy, which I haven't seen addressed in reviews very much (though I haven't read all that many), but the first patch is due some time this week, so it should hopefully be in a much better state by the time you're able to play. The amount and the consistency of the reactivity towards your background and in-game choices is pretty damn good, and it seems like there's some really good shit for "evil" playthroughs.

 
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Where to begin? Hmm. Oh and yes, I did beat it.

Combat Mechanics

Everything works together quite well. However you will find that there is a lack of any real AI during battle. If they get attacked, they will auto-attack back and if that enemy dies then they will auto-attack another enemy. Sometimes they will remain stationary and await orders, which usually happens after some kind of crowd control done against your characters that makes them unresponsive during it (Mind Control, Paralyze, etc). Besides that, it is quite tactical and will require a bit of preparation and micro management to fully utilize your characters well. So you will be pausing and ordering commands a fair amount in battle. However battles are relatively short because most things die really quickly. I played through on normal and I found it decently challenging with some highs and lows throughout.

The only other thing that would interest would-be players is that tanks aren't aggro magnets in this game like they are in others. It takes a little getting used to at first and led me to changing up how I usually do things in these types of games because if you don't, then the rest of your party will be dead. No tank saving taunts for you, it's all about positioning and execution of your movement as well as spells/abilities.

Companions

Well, you have eight companions in the game. It's missing three classes, which are Barbarian, Monk and Rogue. Each of the eight have a decent back-story, but I do kind of wish a few of them went into a little more detail. They may already be deeper and I just didn't explore their backgrounds enough as well. Regardless, the companions you recruit are quite interesting and enjoyable dialogue wise. Combat wise they can sometimes leave a little bit to be desired because when you obtain them, they are the same level as you and have pre-built stats, abilities and skills/spells/traits. However you can use a tavern as a Build-An-Adventurer Workshop.

Story

This isn't your "save the world" story that so many other games have. You are a person who awakens to a power that leads you through the world in a search for answers. You are not the only person with this ability and the power in of itself is not some world-like saving ability. It's both a helpful tool and a burden for your character, but without it the game would be very different.

It is decently well written and in the end the choices on what ultimately happens will depend on the world you've influenced around you via the main quest, the side quests and your companion quests. The dialogue through the game for the story, side quests and more will go into depths that you haven't seen in a long time. I found myself reading most of it, but a couple side quests I would just click through because they didn't tickle my fancy enough to listen. For all this dialogue, a decent chunk of it is voiced but I really wish more was. It was delightfully eloquent and fit well with the characters they represented. However I can only imagine the massive undertaking that would be to voice the entire game.

Now that I've beat the game, my next playthrough will be quite a bit different now that I know my choices fucked half the world I came in contact with. Which by the way, I was going for a more benevolent playthrough. So your choices do matter on both a small level and some on a larger level.

Lore

Holy mother of god. So if you think Elder Scrolls is king on lore, you haven't seen shit. This puts the Bethesda games to shame by far (Mostly because of the writing) and if you are into this kind of thing go buy the game now. The books are succinct and descriptive and the questions you are able to ask the NPCs go into a fair amount of detail. On top of that the Cyclopedia is your whore. Each creature you encounter will also have its own background on where they came from or how they came to be. For an example of this, I recommend reading up on Wichts and Fampyrs. Only after you've encountered them in the game though, otherwise you're missing proper context.

Sound

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Bugs

fuck these things. Unfortunately it's an Obsidian game. There are some rather large bugs, of which can cause you to not be able to continue the game at all. Another of which can turn your companions into gods, which happened to two of my characters that I didn't use. It sounds like a patch is coming out this week and hopefully it will get rid of the more game breaking bugs. However once the major ones have been taken care of, this game is well worth its weight in gold. If only digital games had weight anyways. I just hope I get my physical copy soon so I can cuddle it to sleep at night.

If you don't like micromanagement or lack of AI or a ton of text to read through, then this is not your game. If you don't mind those, then do yourself a favor and buy this shit. Now. Or after the bugs have been fixed. I could have gone into more detail, but less people would read it then. So I kept it fairly short. Yes, this is short.

 
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Some of those are much better read after you've encountered them in-game. The reason for this is because the words used will make more sense because you've already encountered them in-game and know exactly what they mean, giving you context.

 
Thanks, Draekon. Now I have to buy a new iPad because I just salivated all over this one...
So first run through was 53 hours? Any idea how many different endings there are, or if there's more than just a good/evil side to the story?
 
keithp said:
Thanks, Draekon. Now I have to buy a new iPad because I just salivated all over this one...
So first run through was 53 hours? Any idea how many different endings there are, or if there's more than just a good/evil side to the story?
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Well the ending is made up of various choices through the game. It basically goes over your final choice, the overall choices you made in the towns you visited and your companions. Since there are 6 or so ending choices (I think I had around 6), each with a couple variations depending on choices leading up to that point that adds a few. As for the areas you've visited, you'll have a few for those which includes your stronghold. Then finally your companions and what you've done with their sidequests which I could see having at least a few possibilities.

I can't really say for certain, but according to Crotch he said that Obsidian took much longer than they thought recording the voiceover for the ending. So I can only imagine how many things could potentially be different. It was pretty satisfying, even though I screwed over two towns accidentally through my actions or lack-there-of.

I do have to say that I wish the stronghold was more vibrant with NPC life. Kind of like Dragon Age: Inquisition had in a way. It's one of the few (maybe only?) things that DA:I did better than Pillars. It just feels kind of dead.

Other than that, I really like how they handled dialogue choices in the game. I had helper options turned on to kinda cheat and see what did what, but it helped give me insight. Everything really depended on context and who you were talking to it felt like.

 
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DA:I's stronghold is a low fuckin' bar to get over, too. When asked about it, the lead designer said something along the lines of, "A substantial portion of our backers really hate stronghold mechanics, so we couldn't justify putting any more resources into it."

 
I backed but haven't even loaded to start character creation yet. I did look at the Prima guide I got with backing to plan character creation. What a worthless self contradictory piece of crap that is. I don't know about the walkthrough portion but the character creation and attributes section has errors throughout and I know that solely through reading the guide itself and nothing else. I contacted Prima Sunday about their shitty guide and haven't gotten a response. I feel really bad for those that shelled out for a physical copy of the guide.
 
Yeah, I checked the guide out after I completed my playthrough. There is a lot of little things that are wrong in it. What it is useful for is figuring out where side quests are and not too much else besides a list of obtainable items.

One thing I noted is that the guide says the "Scroll of Maelstrom" needs 15 Lore to use, but on normal difficulty it's only 10. In order to get 15 you would have to put every single point into Lore without anything else. I doubt Hard or Path of the Damned requires 15, but who knows (I could see Path of the Damned requiring 15). However there are traps and locked things in-game that require 12 Mechanics (Without use of lockpicks). Also a lot of the stronghold information is incorrect. Don't think I ever got a "Legendary Adventure" either, but that could just be bad luck.

 
Well that just pisses me off all to hell. I paid 1/3 of the cost of what I backed the game for a shitty inaccurate guide filled with erroneous information.
 
Even if it wasn't inaccurate now, it would become so over the course of a few months as patches come out.

It should at least have correct-ish information about, like, hidden items and stuff, right?

 
Yeah, it has maps with number bubbles attached to them. Though you need to read through a bunch of skim a bunch of text to find the numbers to figure out what they correlate to. Besides the numbers you have magenta circles that indicate scouting items, blue circles that indicate item or item container and finally yellow that indicate quest item.

I guess I wasn't clear enough with regards to what I meant by 'side quest' as it does it for every map in the game, main story or side quest related. However if you're looking for one thing in particular (say a unique piece of equipment), unless it drops from an NPC (Page 118-120) then you're better off finding something online that tells you where it is. It covers shit in the most unintuitive ways and I'd have to know the map it was on for me to be able to figure it out otherwise. Is it really that hard on the equipment section (368-445) to have some kind of mention on where it can be found or what page to flip to in order to figure it out? Also a list of shops, their location and what they sell would also be useful, but I can't find one.

 
Cipher might be the most ridiculous class. Mind blades, charm, and paralysis are just gross. Very fragile, though, so you're best off using a ranged weapon or at most a pike or staff.

 
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The Crotch said:
Even if it wasn't inaccurate now, it would become so over the course of a few months as patches come out.

It should at least have correct-ish information about, like, hidden items and stuff, right?
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Sure it will have inaccurate information after a few patches but it's a piss poor editor that lets something like "talents are gained at the same rate (every even level)" and "a talent is first gained at level three, and further talents are gained every three levels thereafter" to be within two paragraphs of each other. Yes, those are exact quotes. That's not just inaccurate information, that's not bothering to fuck ing read what was written right above the call out box you inserted.

In another spot it claims attributes don't affect the deflection defense while under the attributes it says which ones affect it. The whole damn thing is worthless for character creation as of day one precisely because you don't know which parts are right or not regardless of any patch issues. I realize guides are written on prerelease builds but damn try getting some one to actually read the guide without even playing the game should've flagged numerous problems. Besides which a good portion of that information I care about is unlikely to have major changes in patches.

Seriously I caught these errors without loading the game, reading about the game, or doing jack shit but reading the character creation section. And that doesn't even begin to get into how poorly designed the navigation in the pdf is.
 
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Yeah, there's no real AI for your party.

That said, my package arrived today. Aww, yiss.

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EDIT: Spoiler'd it since it is kinda big.

 
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