Opinion - Microsoft Should Fund Pillars of Eternity 3

[Silver]

Windows Central posted an editorial on why Microsoft should fund Pillars of Eternity 3. This was prompted by a tweet from Josh Sawyer where he joked that he was waiting for a call from Microsoft to make the game.

What you need to know

• After the success of Baldur's Gate 3, many have been wondering if there's a renaissance for "CRPG"-style isometric RPGs on the horizon.
• One of the greatest modernized CRPGs is Pillars of Eternity, previously crowd-funded by Obsidian with development led by Josh Sawyer.
• In an interaction on Twitter (also known as X), Sawyer joked that he's waiting for a call from Microsoft to make Pillars of Eternity 3 with a $120 million dollar budget.
• This is one joke we desperately need to come true.

Baldur's Gate 3's monumental popularity has somewhat upended the very idea of what types of games can still find success in 2023. In a world where service games rammed with microtransactions are being canceled and wound down left right and center, Baldur's Gate 3 cut through this summer with a hyper-traditional isometric-style RPG, albeit with AAA production values, acting, writing, and visuals.

It's rare that we see games that follow CRPG traditions of yesteryear with modern flair, but Microsoft and Xbox do have a range of franchises in-house that fit the bill. InXile's Wasteland 3 series follows these conventions to some degree, but it's Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity franchise that perhaps most closely follows Baldur's Gate 3's DNA.

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[Redglyph]

All that from Sawyer joking in a tweet.

I don't think it's realistic. The problem with that franchise is the lore, which prevents them from using a more widespread ruleset like Pathfinder or D&D. And the PoE ruleset was cumbersome, especially since it wasn't made for TB combat. Both together will never allow a game to really take off like a Baldur's Gate 3.

So I think they're much better off with an action RPG, which is probably why they took that route.

 

[largh]

They could rewrite the ruleset as it's their IP. I don't see that as an issue. Aren't they working on Awoken which is supposedly using the IP or am I confusing things now?

Anyway, when I read that piece, I was wondering: why follow? Why not try to set the trends yourself? I.e. make what you believe in instead of trying to copy success from other's formula. I think that way you'll get the best reception especially when its about Obsidian. I think they do that but somehow the author seems not to acknowledge it.

 

[Redglyph]

I think it's Avowed, but yes, that's what they're busy with. There was a short trailer this summer.

It's not so much following as taking advantage of an opportunity created by BG3, if they really opened the classic genre to a wider audience. But we'd really have to know the reason behind the success. It may be a combination of several factors, including the bear sex. Is it guaranteed that the genre itself is now more popular?

 

[Vaelith]

I would love Pillars of Eternity 3. Like Pathfinder games, I feel they are better than they get credit for and I will always play any game like that on day 1, no questions asked.

Now that BG3 put CRPGs on the table, it would be a good moment to get more potential customers interested too.

 

[rjshae]

I thought there was a lot of D&D-bias in the criticism of the PoE implementation. Many players were simply not open-minded enough to accept such a deeply reconsidered rules system. If they do a PoE 3, they might want to consider a more (exotic) east Asian styled setting where you expect a certain level of alternative perspective on magic and lore. But then that might not be as attractive to the player community.

I do hope they continue to explore the IP at some point, even if it ends up being some cookie cutter FPS game.

 

[Andrew23]

All that from Sawyer joking in a tweet.

I don't think it's realistic. The problem with that franchise is the lore, which prevents them from using a more widespread ruleset like Pathfinder or D&D. And the PoE ruleset was cumbersome, especially since it wasn't made for TB combat. Both together will never allow a game to really take off like a Baldur's Gate 3.

So I think they're much better off with an action RPG, which is probably why they took that route.

Agree about the ruleset being one of main problems of PoE. From my point of view, it was much better after they implemented TB mode. Then it became aparent the encounters were not designed with TB in mind and gameplay suffered again. Owlcat managed to mitigate the problem partially by allowing switching between TB and RTwP seamlessly.

With that said, Deadfire is one of my most played games of past years and I would like to see sequel. But even after BG3 success I doubt MS will be interested in the genre. Im afraid they will go less risky path of action gameplay.

 

[ChaosTheory]

I helped "kickstart" PoE at a high tier and was ultimately pretty bored by the game. PoE 2 was much better, but flopped financially. Any sequel would be pretty risky.

If Microsoft were to somehow acquire the rights to Neverwinter Nights, well then that's a different story...

 

[Redglyph]

Agree about the ruleset being one of main problems of PoE. From my point of view, it was much better after they implemented TB mode. Then it became aparent the encounters were not designed with TB in mind and gameplay suffered again. Owlcat managed to mitigate the problem partially by allowing switching between TB and RTwP seamlessly.

The other problem is coming from the time dependency of some formulas, and the fact they use integer division, which means that increasing some values has no effect except by multiples of 6 or so (not sure if a turn is 6 seconds or something else, but you get the idea). So it's a flowed system. They could change it though, I think they didn't in the case of PoE 2 because it was already too late for that.

With that said, Deadfire is one of my most played games of past years and I would like to see sequel. But even after BG3 success I doubt MS will be interested in the genre. Im afraid they will go less risky path of action gameplay.

It would surely attract many players, though not close to the extent BG3 did. I liked it, even if I wasn't a big fan of the combat system. I enjoyed the setting, the story, the way companions reacted, and the presentation in general; it was very well done.

 

[mbpopolano24]

I'd love that. I think that BG3 main lesson is that high value cinematics and voice acting matters to make a game popular, thus justifying a $ 120 M budget.

 

[Carnifex]

They should do it immediately, and basically mirror the mechanics of the second game, after all the turn based elements were honed. Though if it mirrored the first game more, I'd be ok with that also, I'd accept that over the franchise fading away.

 

[JDR13]

I don't think it's realistic. The problem with that franchise is the lore, which prevents them from using a more widespread ruleset like Pathfinder or D&D. And the PoE ruleset was cumbersome, especially since it wasn't made for TB combat. Both together will never allow a game to really take off like a Baldur's Gate 3.

I wouldn't want it to be turn-based anyways. I'd prefer they stuck with RTwP. We have more than enough TB games out there now.

I agree with you though about the probable lack of mainstream appeal. I doubt Microsoft would greenlight it.

 

[Redglyph]

I wouldn't want it to be turn-based anyways. I'd prefer they stuck with RTwP. We have more than enough TB games out there now.

I agree with you though about the probable lack of mainstream appeal. I doubt Microsoft would greenlight it.

I don't care much whether it's TB or RTwP. TB has its pros and cons, but it takes time, and as you said, we have a lot of them now. And RTwP was fitting the gameplay (EDIT: I meant the theme) in PoE, IMHO.

 

[Drithius]

As long as we're in the realm of wishful thinking, I'd rather have Arcanum 2 once the Blizzard-Activision acquisition is finalized.

 

[Pladio]

I tried playing poe 3 times and never for very far.
I found the combat pretty boring and there was way too much text for the sake of text. It didn't add much to the game, it's like me copy pasting this a few times. And then you reading it and wondering whether you've read the same text again.

I found the combat pretty boring and there was way too much text for the sake of text. It didn't add much to the game, it's like me copy pasting this a few times. And then you reading it and wondering whether you've read the same text again.

 

[Redglyph]

I tried playing poe 3 times and never for very far.
I found the combat pretty boring and there was way too much text for the sake of text. It didn't add much to the game, it's like me copy pasting this a few times. And then you reading it and wondering whether you've read the same text again.

I found the combat pretty boring and there was way too much text for the sake of text. It didn't add much to the game, it's like me copy pasting this a few times. And then you reading it and wondering whether you've read the same text again.

I doubly agree with you.

 

[Andrew23]

At time of release it was first game in the genre after years of drought so I definitely approached it with different mindset, but looking back, the thing I liked most was the setting and its initial atmosphere. Not the story as it had too many holes to my liking.

 

[Vaelith]

I felt the "too much text for the sake of text" to be a problem with other games like Torment: Tides of Numenera and to an extent, Tyranny, but not with PoE, or Pathfinder for that matter. I guess I was just hungry for reading and playing through proper non-indie CRPGs.

I also appreciated the combat system, though I understand it was a bit difficult to understand for most people, which led them to think the combat system was bad or convoluted. Once you figured out how DR, penetration and glancing blow thresholds worked, it was quite interesting to play around with it, and not that complicated or convoluted at all, especially in the more refined version of PoE2.

 

[JFarrell71]

I'd play a POE 3. And I like that it has its own system and setting. It bums me out that some fans want everything to be D&D and its derivatives.

 

[HellRazor]

Is it guaranteed that the genre itself is now more popular?

I think the genre has always been popular - when it's done well.