Pillars of Eternity 2 - Deadfire

New stretch goal reached, new stretch goal added

>What's a "sidekick," exactly? Glad you asked! In Pillars II, a sidekick is a new character type that sits somewhere between a companion and a hired-adventurer in terms of depth of detail. Sidekicks give you more options as to who can join your party - though they don't expand the current party cap of five. Currently, we have seven planned companions, and with this stretch goal, we will add four sidekicks for a total of eleven Obsidian created characters that can join your ranks!

>Before joining your ranks, Sidekicks start out as unique NPCs integral to specific quests, complete with their own personalities and looks, and they may offer to join your party as a reward for completing their quest. Just like companions, these new characters have a custom portrait and voice sound-set. However, unlike companions, they do not have their own vision quest and will not participate in the relationship system outlined in our last stretch goal. We know you love more choice and flexibility when creating your parties, and Sidekicks are a way for us to give you that choice by providing a larger roster of characters to choose.

GIVE US THE EIGHT COMPANION ALREADY

ALSO

>3,25M INSTEAD OF 3,20M
DICK MOVE

>they actually listened to the quantity over quality autists
This is the third stretch goal that's not going to improve the game in any way desu.

So companions who aren't fully fleshed out? This has Sawyer written all over it.

meh

oh hey maybe it'll be a really neat out-of-combat companion of some sort, someone who doesn't do huge game changing things but can get you into certain places easier or something or just provide a lot of cool flavor while you're walking around and you can fuck 'em an---

>it's just an unfinished companion

Shit goal, they should have just added an 8th companion. The quantity over quality shitters ruin everything again.

They're just coasting, now, the fuckers.

These are definitely smart stretch goals designed to not be too much new shit that will take over development and inevitably end feeling rushed. Although they should have had the obvious eight and last companion stretch goal by now.

They've raised over two-and-a-half times their goal. I guess they can't keep making spectacular promises forever.

You don't want your stretch goals to get out of hand. Torment: Tides of Numenera has shown that quite clearly, quite recently.

What a dumb half-measure.

Carrie Patel admitted in a stream that she was gonna be in charge of writing the eight companion, provided we ever reached that goal. Are they really gonna delay that to 3.5 M? Fuck, what if they delay it to 4 M?

Sounds like shit.

If even all 4 sidekicks turn out to be fucking humanoids, kith or whatever the shit they are called I'm going to fucking flip.

>sidekicks

Here's what they listed so far

>The one and only metropolis in the Deadfire is Neketaka. You may ask yourself, why only one big city this time around? While having two big cities in the first game was an awesome experience, looking back, the team felt splitting them into two made neither one as amazing as it could have been. This time around we wanted to make a bigger city than Defiance Bay or Twin Elms, but smaller than the two combined. Coupled with some awesome new features and overall direction, Neketaka should feel like the fantasy city you’ve always wanted to explore. Below I’ll list some goals we had and how we plan on achieving them.

>Goal: Build a city that feels different from anything in Pillars I and/or other Infinity Engine games, while not being so different as to feel alien.

>Solution(s):

>Build a city vertically. The district structure you expect in this type of game still exists, but some of these districts are organized vertically as shown in the video.
>Add parallax features. To really sell the idea of a mountainous island, we’ve added multiple parallax layers to the art scenes for some spectacular views.
>Architecture varies based on the cultures that dominate the districts. Vailian buildings and locations are distinct from Huana and Rautai locations.

>sidekicks
>all will be homosexual

Obsidian strikes again

>Storm Folk
Wait, what?

>Goal: Create a city that feels more alive than our previous work. Retain and reinforce the “fantasy scale” of a massive city.

>Solution(s):

>The new city map and encounters– This map shows the size of a truly impressive city without the need to model every home, alley and citizen. We’re creating interstitial content when traversing districts on the map. These take the form of special combat and narrative encounters, as well as randomized events. Meet a strange fortune teller that may reveal cryptic prophecies about your future. Cross paths with a drunken noble with a large coin purse lost in the dangerous back-alleys of Neketaka. These encounters take place in scripted interactions as well as on all-new, city street scenes. It is important to note that many of these encounters still include choice & consequence and none are of the “fight x generic enemies” variety.
>The time of day matters. Ambient NPCs use schedules to live their lives in Neketaka, but so do many of the quest NPCs. This allows us to add creative, and sometimes hidden, ways for players to solve problems/quests. Wait for an NPC to go outside and take a smoke break before picking his pocket for that key you need. Follow an NPC to the bathhouse and eavesdrop on a conversation to gain some juicy information. Infiltrate a location in the dead of night to avoid any unwanted civilian casualties.

These stretchgoals seem sketchy as fuck, seriously doubt they are gonna spend the extra money on manpower to actually deliver on this.

Better stand up. They describe them on the Fig page. They're all the standard races.

>seriously doubt they are gonna spend the extra money on manpower to actually deliver on this.
What the fuck are you talking about? Of course they will, people will call them out on their bullshit if the game does not have 13 joinable characters. This is not something you can just lie about and not do shit.

>Build a city vertically

Does this really affect anything in an isometric IE-style game, assuming you have to change maps whenever you go up or down a level?

Am I stupid? What am I missing here?

Interesting that they admit that the city is not as big as Defiance Bay and Twin Elms combined.

I don't like this shit about time mattering, though. Just seems like a dumb gimmick.

I would've preferred a fully fleshed out romanceable 8th companion than 4 "sidekicks" to be honest.

I hope they at least get their 3mil goal so we can get romanceable companions.

Ydwin confirmed for best girl.

Same here. Sidekicks are completely useless. People who want fleshed out companions will pick one of the companions. People who want a "sidekick" will just make their own character. This is a filler stretch goal and they know it.

>Of course they will, people will call them out on their bullshit if the game does not have 13 joinable characters. This is not something you can just lie about and not do shit.

Not that I expect Obsidian to drop the ball this hard, but still.

The only way to make sidekicks not suck is to make them joinable characters who join you AFTER having completing their role in a quest and don't really have much anything else to do in the game.

This way, they are more than just player created cardboard cutout party filler, but not as fleshed out as actual companions, since they won't have anything to comment on during your travels.

>These stretchgoals seem sketchy as fuck, seriously doubt they are gonna spend the extra money on manpower to actually deliver on this

They actually did for the first game so we don't have really any reason to not believe them. The quality of how they deliver it's another thing altogether. For example the stronghold was REALLY barebone up until the expansions and the huge multilayered dungeon was pretty forgettable save for a few floors.

so these sidekicks are like mercenaries in Guild Wars or what

>AFTER having completing their role in a quest
*after having completed

>and don't really have much anything else to do in the game.
*don't have anything else to do in the game.

What happened with that game

I do like the random CYOA encounters while you travel in the city. Seems really cozy.

>People who want a "sidekick" will just make their own character

I can already hear the people whining about their favorite character being a sidekick and thus getting zero development. This seems seriously some random filler stuff they threw in there because they are out of things to add without bloating the project.

Assuming they have the same DLC model as they did for the original pillars, we might still get 2 companions or so per DLC.

Which would mean 7 + 2 + 2 = 11 classes, still 1 companion of each class available in game.

Comes out at the end of the month

I just fucking can't even. What's this obsession with humans? Even the motherfucking dragon has to be turned into a human to get a cameo. Resources can't be an issue. They have fuckloads of pets. Ranger companions. Druid were-whatever forms. They have spells like the exploding stag. A huge bestiary with all the necessary animations. Equipment that fits the model regardless of race. Race equipment restrictions like helmets for godlikes.

So this fixation with humans and recolored humans has to be by choice. I just don't understand.

>What happened with that game

They cut some of the stuff they promised to make the game come out in time.

They already confirmed that there's an eight companion stretch goal. The motherfuckers are just roping us in.

There's also probably gonna be a stretch goal related to the big ship Stronghold which they continue to cheekily avoid mentioning.

If they make an expansion for PoE 2, then I imagine that expansion would bring along 3 companions to the 8.

What did they cut from it exactly

>I do like the random CYOA encounters while you travel in the city.

Yeah it's one of those thing that you don't really need but that make things more interesting when added.

I really don't like the idea of development being actively influenced by crowdsourcing milestones

Eh, an okay goal I think, but after we reach the 3 million mark is it only gonna update ever .25 million instead of the previous .2 mil? I do hope the next goals after this one will be magnitudes better, and 8th companion and more LEVEL CAPS! I want my watcher to be a demi-god on Eora.

Here's a better pic.

I think it looks amazing.

Would you prefer a publisher doing it?

One more step in Fulvano's Voyage added. Yet another extension to the first island.

>to make the game come out in time
It's already 2 years late.

What is worse Sup Forums
Shilling from corporation (and retards)
or
Shilling from crowdfunding backers (and retards)

No way they will raise the level cap over 20. Not on the main game at least.

PoE1 stretchgoals got way out of hand and they still delivered. A lot of them ended up shit but that's another story.

>cool, I'm just hire this great guy
>his personality disappears

Good idea.

What will be your end figure? Gotta be slightly over the previous 4 million. I took this screenshot just a few hours ago and it has already gotten 50.000 more, if the last day is gonna give them a million boost it could easily overcome 4 million.

So the Beacon is our new keep?

I'd rather have the dev team pitch a complete project to the publisher and have the publisher curb the dev team's unrealistic stretch goals whenever threatening the deadline

a game is supposed to be a coherent, enjoyable experience, well-planned and with specific goals in mind to achieve - treating it as a bag one can fill with more and more shit is threatening to the structure as a whole

>the bridges are not part of any map
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

>That "Embark" symbol
Just admit that the ship is the stronghold already. Who the hell do you think you're fooling?

>relationship system

Why not just add another companion so we have 8, the PERFECT number so we can play a game with four partners, and replay with the other four?

Lmao at all the virgins being buttmad about an addition that actually helps the gameplay instead of providing them with a "fully romancable" waifu. Quantity over "quality" any day. Just upgraded my pledge.

>What did they cut from it exactly

A party member, a second city hub, the crafting system and the italian localization. They said they used those resources to make the main city and the other charcters better and they will make all DLC free for backers but... they really botched it ebcause people discovered after the achievement list got leaked and not because InXile actually told them.

>Features are stretch goals.
Looks like I'm pirating this one like I did the first game.
Let's hope these retards cash out so the game has all kinds of shit.

there's no keep

wouldn't be surprised if we got a ship instead

>They already confirmed that there's an eight companion stretch goal.

There is only 7 days left to make the money necessary to reach those goals though, how are they expecting to reach said goals with so little time?

Do people traditionally donate a lot more in the final hours or something?

I'll be pissed if I find out we were cheated out of an 8th companion because we we're 100k away from an unknown stretch goal or some shit.

Wouldn't be surprised if we got both, desu. But I just need the ship.

Who is this stretchgoal for? people who don't want party politics? I don't get why they'd do this.

>It's already 2 years late

Yeah it was more of a "not delay it even further" than "coming out on time" my bad

The bigger your budget the more you can do.

Pretty much this, adding half-assed features doesn't improve the overall experience. Quality > quantity.

>They cut some of the stuff they promised to make the game come out in time.

Pretty funny joke there, user. Game is already, like , 3 years late.

>I'll be pissed if I find out we were cheated out of an 8th companion because we we're 100k away from an unknown stretch goal or some shit.

don't be gullible

I actually much prefer that they have blatant filler stretch goals.
Because as we know from earlier: Proper stretch goals can fuck things up.

I don't really mind since there'll be no adra golem underneath it for sure. But fucking Ondra, man, I don't trust that salty lass.

Yeah, man. If you go check any of the most popular vidya kickstarters, they all share the same bell curve. Big jump at the start, starts slowing down tremendously and then building back up and then there's a huge push on the last day or two.

They're probably gonna manage to go over 4 m, the absolute mad men. I'm just wondering if they are gonna announce a single stretch goal worth a shit at that point.

>Why not just add another companion so we have 8

They basically already admitted it's a future stretch goal, so that's why.

The last day gets as much as the first, roughly, which means another million at least in their pockets. Their end figure will probably be somewhere between 4-4.5 million at the end of the campaign.

just admit to being cheap, faggot

It's probably for all the FAGGOTS who cried about there only being 7 companions.

Ondra's tsun as fuck for my boy Abydon

felt good to resurrect him

>Wouldn't be surprised if we got both, desu. But I just need the ship.

The ship and the ship crew is going to be the new stronghold for sure. It's probably going to be the 4m stretchgoal or something mark my words.

This pleases no one. We want an 8th companion that is fully fledged, not this shit.

Who is ever gonna waste a slot on a side-kick when you could either have a companion with actual bants and connection to the story or just your min maxed character? No one, that's who.

>whats this obsession with humans
self insert

>4 million

God damn, so that is what, at least another 3 or so stretch goals assuming they are now going by intervals of .25M, correct?

It's okay to pirate user, no one here will judge, but at least be honest about it and admit to being a cheapskate.

>endless depths of Deadfire Archipelago
>somewhere down there is an adra kraken

>cut the crafting system

Good

>pirating a game where your a pirate

>every 5 twitter followers we add a level

>and the italian localization

WATCH IT CHRISSY.

Many players shy away at playing anything too different from themselves. Those that don't would probably be disappointed when their nonhuman still plays almost exactly like a human, unless Obsidian wants to double their workload overhauling all the dialogue to account for six-armed mushroomman protagonist or whatever.

>Ondra's tsun as fuck for my boy Abydon

He should just give her the d already

>i don't feel like making romance options and special quests for these characters
>well, let's label them differently and just leave that shit out

three point two million dollars

Your math checks out, user. Plus the island chain gets longer based on the number f those who donates. I do hope since they spread out the goals some more that they'll be grander in scope. The side kick stuff I find a little iffy, should instead just have made another fully fleshed companion, but perhaps that's just me.

I don't know why they decided to do this for this line, but I found it so hilarious.

How about a literal treasure dragon. A dragon made of ship and gold and jewels and shit. Tell me that wouldn't be awesome, I dare you.

>God damn, so that is what, at least another 3 or so stretch goals assuming they are now going by intervals of .25M, correct?

More or less. Two of those will probably be the 8th companion they teased and the ship/stronghold.

>on time

InXile's a company with big ideas but clumsy execution and apparently questionable knowledge of how running a company works. The Kickstarter was a long time ago and no one understood the dangers of overpromising stretch goals yet.

In the end, they had to cut a lot of the things people paid for.

>4 million strech goal
>decryption key for the game

Sweet Wael.