Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Tue Oct 06, 2020 5:32 pm**

Scoop20906 wrote:Just wondering how it looks since they limit the streaming resolution to 1080p.

I can answer that with no personal experience:

Unless you are playing on a 19” monitor or below, it’s going to look like ass.

Posted: **Tue Oct 06, 2020 8:13 pm**

I don’t typically do EA games, but have to admit this one was a bit intriguing.

After reading all the feedback, I can wait.

Posted: **Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:16 pm**

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 5:32 pm
Scoop20906 wrote:Just wondering how it looks since they limit the streaming resolution to 1080p.
I can answer that with no personal experience:

Unless you are playing on a 19” monitor or below, it’s going to look like ass.

Given that I've never owned a display device capable of more than 1080, I'm not sure I'd notice. And games, movies, and shows don't look like ass right now...

Posted: **Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:17 pm**

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 5:32 pm
Scoop20906 wrote:Just wondering how it looks since they limit the streaming resolution to 1080p.
I can answer that with no personal experience:

Unless you are playing on a 19” monitor or below, it’s going to look like ass.

Ah! I should have realized this. Its a bummer you have to pay $9.99 per month plus full price $59.99. I guess you are paying for the convenience of running it on any machine and not having to worry about your specs. I had the free pro trial and I was happy with the performance but there werent any games in the catalogue I wanted to get until now. I guess I will sit on the fence for a while longer.

Posted: **Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:41 pm**

About 10 minutes in and I'm loving it so far. I like how you get to actually roll a 20 sided die on skill checks. Made one rookie mistake in my first battle - aimed the bow at the little red circle instead of the baddie.

Keep your eyes out for restoration thingies.

Posted: **Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:56 pm**

I've wiped twice already, after winning the fights, by wandering into residual clouds of poison or pools of acid.

Posted: **Tue Oct 06, 2020 11:11 pm**

Max Peck wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:56 pm I've wiped twice already, after winning the fights, by wandering into residual clouds of poison or pools of acid.

105 years, and some lessons are forgotten.

Posted: **Tue Oct 06, 2020 11:20 pm**

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 11:11 pm
Max Peck wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:56 pm I've wiped twice already, after winning the fights, by wandering into residual clouds of poison or pools of acid.
105 years, and some lessons are forgotten.

That was a real problem in the Gold Box games with NPC characters. I remember in Curse of the Azure Bonds that Alias got herself killed in my game because she repeatedly ran back and forth inside of a Cloud Kill spell that I had cast.

Posted: **Wed Oct 07, 2020 11:11 am**

I wonder if they'll patch in real time pause combat in years to come? If so Ill get it then for $10

Posted: **Wed Oct 07, 2020 11:52 am**

It's unfortunate that it's likely to be years before I play this, since it's not going to work on either my Surface Pro 3 or my Xbox One.

Posted: **Wed Oct 07, 2020 12:25 pm**

I'm past the opening area now. It is starting to feel more like DOS3 than BG3, but that's cool with me. At least you don't start in that steenking prison.

Posted: **Wed Oct 07, 2020 1:13 pm**

I really want to play this, but early access at 59.99? Hell no... I'll wait for the full release as I'm too lazy to even see what would be missing right now. If you are doing early access you could at least do 10% off...

Posted: **Wed Oct 07, 2020 4:06 pm**

This does raise some big red flags for me, as quest overload with little direction is the primary reason I have never finished any of the modern crop of CRPGs (DOS, PoE. Tyranny, Torment, etc.)

Baldur’s Gate 3, on the other hand, immediately drops you into an open area more akin to Divinity Original Sin 2's larger second and third chapters. Within 30 or so minutes of my arrival, I’d already collected three party members. After 30 more minutes, I’d collected two more. I’d also been pointed in the direction of several different people who could potentially vacuum the brain worms out of my head, each of whom were directly or indirectly tied to different characters in my party. I barely knew any of my party members and was given no time to get to know them individually. Every time I made a decision, the top corner of my screen erupted into a torrent of “[Party member] disapproves.” On one hand, this forced me to behave the way I normally would, rather than to earn specific characters’ approval, but I also just felt like I was screwing up all the time, no matter where I went or what I did.

This drowning feeling was compounded by the fact that Baldur’s Gate 3 didn’t give me much in the way of direction. Yes, I had a goal, but my objectives were littered across a huge map, and characters argued about how I should solve them. It didn’t help that the game didn’t do much to explain itself. There were a series of tutorial tooltips, but they only gave me the barest basics of how crucial mechanics like combining spell elements and splitting my party worked.

Posted: **Wed Oct 07, 2020 5:23 pm**

Im worried Larian isn't the studio for this. Their games are different than the old BG ones. Obsidian might have been better. Bioware sure the hell isn't the one to make anything good in a decade or so'ish. I wouldn't hand Bioware a can of sardines to open.

Posted: **Wed Oct 07, 2020 6:25 pm**

It isn't 1998 anymore. Nobody is going to make them in that same style because they wouldn't sell. A lot of the changes have been improvements. I mean, I love BG1 and 2 (and IWD, etc.) but the inventory management was a nightmare!

Posted: **Wed Oct 07, 2020 6:48 pm**

Pillars of Eternity is basically BG3 and is great. It can be done.

Posted: **Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:14 pm**

I read in the Steam discussions that the rolling of stat points will eventually be implemented (apparently it's a thing in 5e). Now THAT'S the Baldur's Gate experience.

At that point I will hopefully be able to use multiplayer to create a custom party.

Posted: **Wed Oct 07, 2020 9:37 pm**

Jaymann wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:14 pm I read in the Steam discussions that the rolling of stat points will eventually be implemented (apparently it's a thing in 5e).

It's a secondary option, yes.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 5:32 am**

Well I was enjoying it very much. I liked the occasional roll for dexterity and whatnot, but now the game won't even start for me. It gets past the Larian splash screen, starts progress on the loading bar, and CTD, every time, even if I choose DX11. I suppose I'll wait for the next fix.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 9:31 am**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 6:48 pmPillars of Eternity is basically BG3 and is great. It can be done.

I've started PoE maybe three or four times now. I get 4-6 hours into it and I get distracted and leave.

I want to love the game. I just can't get into it.

RPG's have a long-held place in my gamer's heart, but I have had tremendous difficulty sticking with them for more than a few evenings. My last foray into Pathfinder: Kingmaker was prolonged, but wore into a grind that I got bored with.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 10:08 am**

I'm really looking forward to BG3, and I'm following along, but I'm taking everything with a grain of salt. I've played enough alpha and beta level titles to know that they're not always what you get with a full release. And no doubt Larian has people just reading through all the boards, taking note of the criticisms and how many times each idea crops up.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 12:10 pm**

Thank you all for the impressions. I'm in; just not today.

I'm too old and too grouchy to pay that much for 6 of 12 classes and a cupful of bugs. I think the way I experience an RPG is more like reading a book and I see no reason to read a first draft if I can just want for the final edit.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 12:53 pm**

Paingod wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 9:31 am
Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 6:48 pmPillars of Eternity is basically BG3 and is great. It can be done.
I've started PoE maybe three or four times now. I get 4-6 hours into it and I get distracted and leave.

I want to love the game. I just can't get into it.

I think the setting is what causes many Baldur's Gate players to initially bounce off PoE1. The unfamiliar but lore-dense setting of PoE1 comes across as much more muted than Forgotten Realms so the amount of exposition can seem overwhelming at first. The pacing of the game does little to help, as it necessarily starts off slowly with fights against weak creatures and more than a few boring fetch quests and such. So I strongly suggest ignoring the characters with coloured names in the first town. Because they were designed by the backers of the game and are not needed to enjoy it at all (amusingly, they were so unpopular that one of the DLCs adds a reward for murdering them). Or if you prefer, you can use the IE Mod to "Disable Backer Dialogs." Speaking of the more muted nature of PoE1, I also recommend installing the Neutral Shaders of Eternity SweetFX preset to improve the visual colour and vibrancy of the game.

Suffice to say, if you can push past the slow start, the lore of Pillars of Eternity is absolutely terrific and well worth putting in the time and effort to enjoy the overall experience the game provides.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 1:36 pm**

Paingod wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 9:31 am
Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 6:48 pmPillars of Eternity is basically BG3 and is great. It can be done.
I've started PoE maybe three or four times now. I get 4-6 hours into it and I get distracted and leave.

I want to love the game. I just can't get into it.

RPG's have a long-held place in my gamer's heart, but I have had tremendous difficulty sticking with them for more than a few evenings. My last foray into Pathfinder: Kingmaker was prolonged, but wore into a grind that I got bored with.

This is me exactly. I have started it, I *WANT* to love it, but for some reason I just can't. It might be the odd classes that I just don't get. I mean, the ones you think would be the tank aren't, and the ones you think would make the worst tank are the ones everyone suggests. Who puts a bard as the tank? And yet here I am, reading how the ChanterTank is actually a thing...\

Either way, I've leapt into BG3 and I'm enjoying it. There are some wonky things to be sure, from odd camera angles that suddenly plunge me into the wall or even under a hill when I rotate the view to enemies getting stuck in a bush and I can't hit them with ranged spells. But this *is* early access, after all, and I'm probably not even going to go all the way through the provided material. I just wanted to see how the different classes played. So far, I'm really liking my teifling warlock. Cliche, but it still plays strong. Next one is going to be a ranger, most likely.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 1:42 pm**

I enjoyed PoE but eventually got frustrated when I had all the best equipment and was still getting owned in battle in short order. I ended up using health cheats just to finish the game.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 2:19 pm**

Theres a lot wrong with modern rpgs granted. Pathfinder was going great until I saw I could move an inch on the travel map then be tired and need to camp. I HATE camp and food mechanics in game. Pillars gave me fits until this go and its clicking but yes I dont care for the way characters work. Id like the plain old tried and true classes. Tyranny was ok but it wore off for some reason and I left. Original Sin was ok until I actually had to pick and choose companions conversation lines amongst themselves. I felt like I was talking to myself. ALL new rpgs fail on some basic level that they didn't need to.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 3:38 pm**

I thought the hunger/weariness worked okay in Pathfinder: Kingmaker. I went a lot further than an inch. I also tended to keep going until the whole party was ready to drop.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 3:49 pm**

Paingod wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 3:38 pm I thought the hunger/weariness worked okay in Pathfinder: Kingmaker. I went a lot further than an inch. I also tended to keep going until the whole party was ready to drop.

Yeah, there's even a couple of items or feats that prevent a character from ever being fatigued, so I basically used that to drag my party along. Granted we'd get ambushed sometimes and that cost me, but...

I still lost steam probably about 2/3 of the way through that game (by the time when you get past the festival/tournament thing and have to push further west).

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 3:53 pm**

Just because you can add a thing to a game doesn't mean you should add a thing. Hunger and camping and tiredness add nothing but frustration and is a mechanic to slow you down and make a small game feel longer. Its so annoying. If I know of it before time I dont bother. If I find out when playing I get a refund.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 4:48 pm**

I don't feel as strongly about it, but yeah, I generally agree. Also throw "crafting" onto that pile (with a few exceptions like the "Flail of Ages"). When I play a fantasy RPG, I want to whack orcs and rail party members, not harvest goat testicles and count ration packs.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 5:04 pm**

haha goat testicles. Could start your own food joint.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 6:14 pm**

NickAragua wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 3:49 pm
Paingod wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 3:38 pm I thought the hunger/weariness worked okay in Pathfinder: Kingmaker. I went a lot further than an inch. I also tended to keep going until the whole party was ready to drop.
Yeah, there's even a couple of items or feats that prevent a character from ever being fatigued, so I basically used that to drag my party along.

Not just that, but you will also unlock a fast travel option you can use to teleport between your towns. Once you build them I doubt there's a place on the map that's more than a single 'camp' away from home. I don't mind the camping. The game requires a sleep mechanic while traveling to allow abilities to recharge and spells to be memorized (just like Baldur's Gate, where you'd often arrive at new locations fatigued, which was a pain.) The only thing that I find annoying about it is the high weight of camping supplies (10lb/person/day), although that's offset soon enough by bags of holding, too.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 6:16 pm**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 3:53 pm Just because you can add a thing to a game doesn't mean you should add a thing. Hunger and camping and tiredness add nothing but frustration and is a mechanic to slow you down and make a small game feel longer. Its so annoying. If I know of it before time I dont bother. If I find out when playing I get a refund.

Although, I think it can be interesting sometimes. I think survival mode added a bit of immersion to Fallout 4 (it was 4, right?). I used the cold/food mod for Skyrim, but that one did eventually get a bit old. Though usually you reach a point where you have enough clothes/food/water/etc. that those types of mods stop being relevant.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 7:14 pm**

I used the cold mod for Skyrim but removed it and wont use it in the future. The ladies cover their modded bodies up in cloaks hahaha...the breath is cool though.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 8:25 pm**

I might not have minded so much except that was the playthrough that I went for a mage start in the far north. I could barely make it to town without freezing to death. Made for a realllllllllly slow start to the game.

Posted: **Thu Oct 08, 2020 8:53 pm**

Theres a game called Realms of Arkania: Star Trail that I played and I tried about 15 goes and every time my party died at the start due to catching a cold or freezing. Needless to say Ive not touched it since the 90s and never will.

Posted: **Fri Oct 09, 2020 7:10 am**

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 6:14 pmI don't mind the camping. The game requires a sleep mechanic while traveling to allow abilities to recharge and spells to be memorized

I think that's what made it perfectly acceptable to me. In the D&D setting, you never leave town with an empty backpack with plans to delve into a dungeon for a week. You plan and prep and camp. You only travel maybe 8-10 hours per day. It's been that way since I started back in the late 1980's.

I never even considered that it should have been excluded. It belonged in the setting. I was playing a Pen & Paper RPG, after all.

Posted: **Fri Oct 09, 2020 11:09 am**

Yeah, I guess the thing about camping/food is that it's only really relevant in terms of providing extra challenge at low character levels. Which is also where it's most obnoxious, because you're already one good goblin slap away from a total party wipe and a game reload. Once you can take a splinter to the foot without dying, you've also probably got enough money to buy iron rations or whatever, so it becomes a non-issue once you're slinging around "+4 sword of Otyugh slaying" and are regularly selling off piles of +1 and +2 equipment.

However, camping is useful to include if you have a good amount of party banter that happens during said camping session (which it does in Pathfinder Kingmaker, so it's fairly tolerable). As I recall, you also can cook food that gives you various bonuses, which winds up being hilarious, as you start hunting down rare and mystical creatures just so you can cut them up and toss them in the pot for a +2 AC bonus for 8 hours. "This magical creature is the last of its kind, and we have killed it. The world is lessened by its passing, but we must defend the people of our realm." [single tear]. "Ok, cut off the thigh and into the pot with it, this thing gives +4 to hit against reptilian enemies for 16 hours".

Posted: **Fri Oct 09, 2020 11:17 am**

NickAragua wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 3:49 pm
Paingod wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 3:38 pm I thought the hunger/weariness worked okay in Pathfinder: Kingmaker. I went a lot further than an inch. I also tended to keep going until the whole party was ready to drop.
Yeah, there's even a couple of items or feats that prevent a character from ever being fatigued, so I basically used that to drag my party along. Granted we'd get ambushed sometimes and that cost me, but...

I still lost steam probably about 2/3 of the way through that game (by the time when you get past the festival/tournament thing and have to push further west).

I got to 95% and they pulled the rug out from under me in such a dramatic way that it made the end game not worth slogging through.

Posted: **Fri Oct 09, 2020 11:31 am**

Well I got my party to level 4 (max for early access), after my first major battle.

Spoiler:

Octopus Overlords

Baldur's Gate 3

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