Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

Post by Zaxxon »

We've been discussing Deadfire by piggybacking the old PoE I thread, but as the campaign winds down I thought perhaps it deserved its own thread.

Pillars I is my favorite game of 2015-now which, while less impressive due to the low volume of games I play these days, has me stoked for Deadfire's arrival. Looking at my Steam playtime list, Pillars 1 is second only to the original Defense Grid, which was a time suck to the nth degree. Pillars is closing in on topping Torchlight I and II combined. Sheesh.

Anyway, it was really, really good. The story was engrossing, the companions for the most part had interesting backstories, I found the game system--while a bit intimidating out of the gate--to be logical and fairly deep, and I thought they did a great job with the engine--effectively recreating the Infinity Engine in Unity with modernized graphics. Further, Obsidian did a number on the game via patches over time, and by the time the White March expansion hit, I felt the game was substantially bug-free and well-taken care of.

And this time, they started with that engine rather than Kickstarting an idea from scratch, and they are a year into development (though granted they are just expanding beyond a small core team now). They have also said they're going to take the apparently-groovy pop-up lore system from Tyranny and include that in Deadfire. I haven't yet played Tyranny, but given how good I felt Pillars 1's pop-up lore/instructional content was, this sounds good to me.

That brings us to 2017, and Obsidian's Fig campaign for PoE II: Deadfire: Obsidian's YouTube channel also includes a few Q&A Twitch streams with more details, as does the Fig campaign's other updates.

Last night they crossed $3M in funding, and will certainly hit their final released-thus-far stretch goal of sidekicks, which will be a step between generic adventurer party members and full-on companions. Basically, they won't have the full interactivity, individual quest line, etc of a companion, but they will have their own voice sets, exist as NPCs in the game prior to recruitment to your party, etc. The idea is to provide more interesting party options for the player in a way that doesn't involve over-promising a dozen companions...

I know they have other stretch goals in the works and they'll likely be releasing them later today or tomorrow. I'm hoping they crack $4M and can really go hog-wild on this one. In my book, they've earned the right.

For any of you who are fans of the Infinity Engine games, please check this one out.

A few tidbits that may interest OOers:
  • If you backed Pillars 1 (rather, Project Eternity) on Kickstarter back in 2012, you should see an add-on in Fig for $5 off of any pledge level as a 'super-backer thank you'. Just make sure you register for Fig with the same email you used to back PE.
  • Backing Deadfire will net you a Steam coupon for Tyranny--33% off if you back at the base level ($29, or $24 if you backed PE), or 50% off if you back at the 'Premium Digital' ($45/$40) level or higher. That means that if you do want Tyranny and were considering a full-price $45 purchase, your net price for Deadfire is reduced by $15 or $22.50.
  • There's a 'Complete Pillars Bundle' for $79--this gets you Pillars 1, its expansion, Pillars 2, and the 50% off coupon for Tyranny, plus all the extras from the Premium Digital level (soundtrack, novellas, guidebook, tabletop RPG ruleset, etc).
  • Rumor is they are going to add a 'season pass' option that will also add any Deadfire expansions that end up coming out.
Short version: this game is going to be very good. You should back it. If you haven't played PoE 1 and/or Tyranny, you should back Deadfire at a higher level to resolve this gaping hole in your gaming life while simultaneously improving Deadfire's funding. Thank you, and good night.

Oh, and try the veal.
Last edited by Zaxxon on Fri Jun 02, 2017 6:33 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

Post by Zaxxon »

I neglected to mention that the Road to Eternity documentary that covers the Pillars 1 crowdfunding & development and was a gift to backers is now freely available on Youtube. I recommend checking it out if you haven't yet; I found it to be engrossing, but then I've always been a junky for game industry sausage-making content...
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

Post by NickAragua »

I backed it at the "get a copy of the game" level. I also backed the original, so I got the five dollar discount.

No way I'm paying full price for the expansions though. Going to wait until they go on sale... again. Plenty of time until this one gets released, and I'm still elbow deep in Witcher 3.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

Post by Zaxxon »

Their much-ballyhooed 'major' update is out. 2 days and change remaining in the campaign--here's what they announced:
  • Ship! This effectively replaces Pillars 1's stronghold. You can explore the world map at will, and do shiply things like cannon other ships, board as pirates, etc.
  • New stretch goals. With the update boost they're about to hit the $3.25M goal of sidekicks. At $3.5M will come more ship upgrades. $3.75M uncharted islands. $4M new ship types. Final stretch goal is $5M, for an 8th companion. They have intermediate goals in the $4M range which I imagine will be detailed tomorrow as a final boost.
  • Early bird DLC access - for a $20 add-on, you'll get all DLC released for Deadfire.
NickAragua wrote:I backed it at the "get a copy of the game" level. I also backed the original, so I got the five dollar discount.

No way I'm paying full price for the expansions though. Going to wait until they go on sale... again. Plenty of time until this one gets released, and I'm still elbow deep in Witcher 3.
If Pillars 1 holds, the expansion price now ($20) represents 33% off the final price ($30). Not that I suggest you add the DLC, as it'll be awhile before that money gets back to you in the form of playable content. But I did add it, as I know I'll end up buying and I'd like to support Obsidian for giving me Pillars.

So, to recount my embarrassing level of love for this project, I'm in at the $65 'Ultimate Digital Edition level, minus $5 Super backer discount, plus $20 Early Bird DLC = $80 total pledge. This will grab me Deadfire, guidebook, pet, in-game special items, soundtrack, cookbook, P&P RPG starter guide, Tyranny 50% off coupon, hi-res map, nobellas, and PoE1 White March soundtrack.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

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Yarr, it be pirate time matey!
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

Post by Zaxxon »

And the $3.25M goal of sidekicks has officially fallen. Next up: ship upgrades.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

Post by Jag »

Just added the DLC for $20.

Over at a gaming forum called Neogaf, they are trying to raise $5000 for a customizable island. They already did it in POE for the Goose And Fox (GAF) tavern.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

Post by Zaxxon »

Nice. Anyone want to go in on a pet octopus? :) Significantly cheaper than an island.

Mostly kidding.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

Post by $iljanus »

Oooh, I should add the DLC add on to my pledge. I'm pretty sure I'll be buying it anyway once they release DLC.

Pet octopus? It would fit the new ocean setting.

And after reading the premise for Deadfire my character is going to be awfully pissed off after sinking all that cash into you know what in PoE...
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

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Sheesh, $3.5M is down. Ship upgrades are in. Next up: uncharted islands at $3.75M.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

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$3.75M down. Uncharted islands are in.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

Post by stessier »

This is kind of like Diablo, right?
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

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stessier wrote:This is kind of like Diablo, right?
Almost exactly, but with space pigs.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

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And no "real money auction house" or "always online" requirement!

Oh, and fewer guys that shove Diablo into their forehead.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

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$4M down. New ship types are in. Next up: talking Soulbound weaponry at $4.25M. 13 hours to go...
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

Post by Jag »

stessier wrote:This is kind of like Diablo, right?
More like an amazing upgrade and spiritual successor to the Baldurs Gate games.

Image
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

Post by Zaxxon »

Every time I see that clip I am obligated to point out that Aloth flips his grimoire closed like a badass.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

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Although, you'd think, after casting that magic missile spell for the four hundredth time, he'd have memorized it by heart.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

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NickAragua wrote:Although, you'd think, after casting that magic missile spell for the four hundredth time, he'd have memorized it by heart.
True, I'm sure he'd have mastered/memorized multiple Minoletta spells by now.... I'll mention it to the devs. :)
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

Post by Jag »

Zaxxon wrote:Every time I see that clip I am obligated to point out that Aloth flips his grimoire closed like a badass.
He's getting ready for his classic grimoire slam!
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter] [Almost ov

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50 min left! Gunning for $4.5M.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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Update with some new footage and improvements to the engine.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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Lookin' good...

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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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Lookin' good indeed. I'm very much looking forward to this.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

Post by dangerballs »

If you backed the game and picked a tier that had the Beta option, you can pick up your Steam or GOG keys for the beta on the website now.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

Post by $iljanus »

Just received an email saying the game launches on April 3. I guess I should finally wrap up Pillars of Eternity 1. Lucky for me I've wrapped up most of the character quests and the expansion stuff so I should be able to finish the game by April.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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Bring it. Time to take some vacation...
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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Zaxxon wrote:Bring it. Time to take some vacation...
Enjoy the sun and salt breeze on your in game ship!
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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I have started Pillars of Eternity roughly 6 times, but never make it more than a few hours in. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the game. I just can't seem to get into it ... or any other Baldur's Gate-type game for that matter. Not for the last few years, at least. I keep buying them because I've sunk hundreds of hours into them in all my gaming, but I also keep not playing them and wishing I was.

I look forward to buying and (not) playing Pillars of Eternity II as well. :hawk:
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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Paingod wrote: Fri Jan 26, 2018 9:02 am I have started Pillars of Eternity roughly 6 times, but never make it more than a few hours in. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the game. I just can't seem to get into it ... or any other Baldur's Gate-type game for that matter. Not for the last few years, at least. I keep buying them because I've sunk hundreds of hours into them in all my gaming, but I also keep not playing them and wishing I was.

I look forward to buying and (not) playing Pillars of Eternity II as well. :hawk:
This is EXACTLY where I am, and I don't know why. This game checks all the boxes for me in terms of my gaming history and likes, but for some reason I just can't commit to it. Maybe because I don't fully understand the classes and their roles. For example, I think it's the Chanter that sings the songs and such, which to me is a bard, but when I went online to try and figure out the roles, people were talking about how the Chanter is one of the best tanks in the game. I was completely confused.

I know it's a great game, and it definitely brings back memories of playing Baldur's Gate for hours and hours, but I just can't. It's actually kinda frustrating, because I WANT to like it...
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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One of the biggest problems the original had was that the systems were so opaque. Just delving into the world of how attack speed works leads you to this monster. And that's just attack speed.

That's something I hope they solve for the sequel. The game has too big a love of numbers. You have numbers which feed into numbers which feed into numbers. It has layers of the stuff, but it just makes the game more complex and impenetrable without making it any deeper. They really need to choose between stats or skills and drop the other one.

The other big issue I had with Pillars was just how dry it all was. It was missing a sense of fun. I think that's more of an intentional choice though, it took itself seriously, unlike the more whimsical classic Baldur's Gate II.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

Post by KDH »

.
... a couple tidbits

1) .. Deadfire has been delayed till May 8th

2) .. Some news from FIGstarter about the profitability of investing in their projects

Fig turns a profit for some investors
Spoiler:
.
Friday 16th March 2018
.
Fig turns a profit for some investors
Crowdfunding/investment site has provided positive returns on two of three released games, and one unreleased one

It's been two and a half years since the Fig let people support crowdfunding projects for a share of the revenues, and the early returns have been promising. Fig today revealed information on its first three released games, and a fourth as-yet-unreleased title that has turned a profit for backers.

Of the three released games--Kingdoms & Castles, Solstice Chronicles: MIA, and Trackless--the first two have already turned a profit for investors, with Kingdoms & Castles tripling supporters' money. Solstice Chronciles has barely made back its original money for investors (104.3%), but there's room for that to grow as revenue sharing on sales will continue through July of 2020. As for Trackless, Fig said backers have only seen 12.2% of their money returned to date, with revenue sharing ending in September of 2020.

Investors in a fourth project, Outer Wilds, didn't need to wait for the game to launch to cash out. They received 220% of their initial investment after Fig sold its rights to the game to Annapurna Interactive.

Fig noted that if an investor put the same amount of money into each of those projects, they would have seen a 59% return on investment on an average holding period of under a year.

"In just two years, we already have seen four games that were community published on Fig generate returns to investors," Fig CEO Justin Bailey said. "The speed of these returns to individual investors is unprecedented for our industry. As gamers increasingly reject donation-only crowdfunding, our model of community publishing provides indie developers with a now-proven method to bring their artistic creations to life."

This is shaping up to be a big year for Fig, as a dozen projects funding on the platform are expected to launch by the end of 2018. Included among those are two of the site's four biggest projects to date: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (which raised $4.4 million) and Phoenix Point ($766,000). Two more prominent Fig titles, Psychonauts 2 ($3.8 million) and Wasteland 3 ($3.1 million) are not expected until at least 2019.


.
Ain't nobody got time for that
.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

Post by Suitably Ironic Moniker »

KDH wrote: Sat Mar 17, 2018 3:31 pm .
... a couple tidbits

1) .. Deadfire has been delayed till May 8th

Not totally unexpected, or terrible, but still...goddammit.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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I'm actually happy. Don't have time for this and Into the Breach... Should be ready by then.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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Same. I'm trying to wrap up D:OS2 and can't believe the number of quests that are open ... and I've yet to leave Bloodmoon Isle.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

Post by Jag »

Been playing around in the Beta and the character choices are insane. Total character paralysis. This is further complicated by the ability to multi-class. Each multi-classed character has it's own class name. Just nuts. The downside to multi is you don't get access to the last 2 levels of the class abilities. Since we don't know what those abilities are, it's been hard to pick classes.

Image

And even within classes are subclasses, which is a trade off for more power in one area, but a loss in another. For example, a fighter can be a "Black Jacket" gunslinger. Giving up recovery for the ability to swap weapons quickly. Like blowing through 6-8 pistols quickly.

Black Jacket Gunslinger gameplay.
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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"oooh, I know, it'll be like Dungeons & Dragons, except with a completely new rules system that nobody understands!"
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

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Holy Titan Quest, Batman!
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Re: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Figstarter]

Post by Jag »

NickAragua wrote: Fri Apr 13, 2018 2:10 pm "oooh, I know, it'll be like Dungeons & Dragons, except with a completely new rules system that nobody understands!"
It's a pretty deep CRPG statwise. I'm a bit intimidated, but very excited.
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