Pillars of Eternity II - Update #12

[Myrthos]

We missed a couple of updates for Pillars of Eternity II, but here is the latest about Berath's Blessing, the continuation of Fulvano's Voyage, a recap of the last week (and updates) and that the campaign has reached $2.6M.

Amazing! We've hit the $2.6 million and unlocked Berath's Blessing. As a reminder, Berath's Blessing is our version of New Game+ that features optional bonuses and challenges that unlock as you gain achievements. The next goal at $2.8 million adds a full orchestra soundtrack, an increased level cap, and one more sub-class per class. Thank you so much for the continued support. We still have a lot of announcements and amazing things to show off in the next two weeks, and in addition to the companion introductions, we will be unveiling the $3.0 million stretch goal in tomorrow's (Valentine's Day!) update too.

ICYMI - Last Week's Recap

• We introduced a new backer reward at the $45 tier and as an add-on, The Pen and Paper Pillars of Eternity RPG. Now, you can have your own adventures with your friends, in the comfort of your favorite tabletop setting. Read more about it in Update #10.

• Two large updates, one about the lore of the Deadfire and another covering new art and graphics technology with a snazzy video.

• With your amazing pledges we blew by the $2.2million and $2.4 million stretch goals, adding Korean and Italian, doubling the V.O. budget, and adding UI Customization features!

• On Wednesday, we had live Twitch Developer Q&A with Josh Sawyer and Adam Brennecke. Watch it here to find out more in depth information about the game systems and lore of Deadfire.

• The introduction of Fulvano's Voyage in Update #9. This is an in-game island chain that will grow larger with more Fig Backers!Read more about the next leg that was added over the weekend in the next section below.

• If you haven't read it, check out a great interview with Josh Sawyer on Shacknews where he discusses Deadfire development, crowdfunding, and more.

• Lastly, Pillars of Eternity II was featured in PC Gamer Magazine and website. Grab an issue or check it out here!

More information.

 

[rjshae]

Still waiting on a PayPal option. *drumming fingers*

 

[azarhal]

RPGWatch can't follow the speed of the FIG campaign, they just posted update #13. It introduce 2 of the new companions and the $3m stretch goal (comes with a Josh-video explanation).

Still waiting on a PayPal option. *drumming fingers*

Soon. Either this week or after the FIG campaign is done depending if you want to believe Feargus (Obsidian boss) or Adam (the executive producer of POEI and II). They are retrofitting POEI backer portal for it.

 

[Morrandir]

Haha, great video by Josh. I really hope they'll tackle the $3 Mio stretch goal!

 

[Darkheart]

I really hope they'll tackle the $3 Mio stretch goal!

LOL! The Codex will throw a fit about this! Huehuehue
At least if there is romance included.
Could be a nice touch, tough.

 

[rjshae]

It does look like the party is going to be mostly male. At least that will limit the fake game romance possibilities quite a bit.

 

[azarhal]

4 males, 3 females for 7 companions right now (there might be a 8th companion stretch goal later), but this update wasn't about romance.

The most hilarious (sad?) part of the this $3m stretch goal, the amount of backers shot up…

 

[ElderGnome]

It does look like the party is going to be mostly male. At least that will limit the fake game romance possibilities quite a bit.

It will?

 

[Morrandir]

The most hilarious (sad?) part of the this $3m stretch goal, the amount of backers shot up…

Hrhr... do you have numbers?

 

[wolfgrimdark]

Great update. Companions are among my favorite part in playing games so anything that adds more depth to them is a major plus for me.

 

[rjshae]

It will?

Well going by that group shot line art in update #13, there's not a whole lot of options for human hetero males. Maybe Pallegina, if you don't mind a mouth full of feathers.

 

[Korplem]

I'm sure she... ehh.. plucks?

 

[azarhal]

Hrhr… do you have numbers?

No exact numbers, it was in the mid 22k when I checked this morning (i.e. about 1000 missing for next Fulvano's Voyage which is the only reasons I check that number), then when I did a re-check in the afternoon (and posted the link in this thread), they were already past 23k. I can say they did 251 in 3 hours though: at ~16:51pm, the 23199 backer joined (the guy posted in the comments) and they are now at 23350 (at 19:51pm). That means somewhere between 700-1000 new backers for today.

For a comparison, it took ~5 days to gain 1500 new backers between the announcement for the Fulvano's Voyage and when 22000 was hit.

 

[Pessimeister]

The 3 million companions goal really should have been where the voice over one was in my opinion. For role-playing games of this particular type; more companions and party options are simply far more important to me than having a new line of dialogue read out to the player. Perhaps it's a savvy business decision to inspire a massive amount of backing on the home stretch though, we'll see…

I'm also waiting for the Paypal option; as its the way I supported the first game and got the CE.

Edit:
Be sure to watch the companion update video with Josh as it's an absolute hoot - including swoony seductive sax backing track!

 

[Shryke]

Having voiced dialogue for a game like this -- where there are more words than are in even many of the great classics of literature -- is absolute nonsense. Why anybody would want to sit there and wait for someone to say all the words when you could read through them 10 times faster is beyond me. However, reading people's opinions over many years has made it clear that I hold the minority opinion on this issue.

As companions are one of the things that let you role-play your character and give them a unique personality, they are essential to any role-playing game. They therefore should have been one of the first stretch goals.

 

[Deleted User]

I prefer text to voice in RPGs as well. Waiting for them to speak is an issue, as well as the lack of being able to scan and consume the text at your own pace (sometimes re-reading things, etc.), and then add in the fact that text can often be more imaginative and daresay I say even more immersive because you are reading it!

You can also stuff much more of it in an RPG, which is a good thing, too.

 

[Morrandir]

The 3 million companions goal really should have been where the voice over one was in my opinion. For role-playing games of this particular type; more companions and party options are simply far more important to me than having a new line of dialogue read out to the player. Perhaps it's a savvy business decision to inspire a massive amount of backing on the home stretch though, we'll see...

Yep, I think they did it on purpose.
And if I read and listened carefully enough they never used the term romance. Clever as well.

 

[azarhal]

As companions are one of the things that let you role-play your character and give them a unique personality, they are essential to any role-playing game. They therefore should have been one of the first stretch goals.

The companion relationship system is already in the game, it's mentioned in the intro video on FIG and in a couple of interviews long before this stretch goal showed up.

The stretch goal might expand it, but it's not adding the feature in.

 

[rjshae]

Yep, I think they did it on purpose.
And if I read and listened carefully enough they never used the term romance. Clever as well.

"As far as where the relationships can lead, companions may develop strong feelings of camaraderie, loyalty, loathing, fear, contempt, or even love."

Unless they mean the platonic kind, "love" usually indicates romance.

 

[BoboTheMighty]

Great video that disapproves the theory Sawyer is incapable of humor/fun.

For voice work, Pillars I was…weird. Opens up with voiced dialogue, then throws walls of text at you, then voiced kicks in again, repeat, disrupting "dialogue immersion".
BG II did more with less, opening(s) were great at setting the tone and then player takes over.
With secondary npc's, they used limited voice work to instill basic impression( archetypes, but that defines crpg's)… dumb thugs, pompous nobles, arrogant mages, etc, etc.
In Pillars, it was just silence.