Blogpost about POE. Where do I even start with this game, you could write a book just trying to describe what it stands for artistically, the awkward time for RPGs during which it was released... The good, the bad, the janky...
I actually liked it quite a bit, for the most part. I think.

- It's the best interpretation of RTWP combat that I have seen so far. (Haven't finished the sequel yet) The combat overall is very good with how frequently you need to pay attention to your party positioning, strategy and tactics, weapon kit selections, ability management... The variety in encounter design keeps your sharp, you can't usually win with the exact same strategy, combat requires micro management.

- To complement combat, POE has a very interesting take on character builds. The "Balance Man" Sawyer who I usually criticize did a very interesting job in regards to the many ways in which you can build characters. Tanky casters and rogues, glass cannons, jacks of many trades... And they all work. That was their goal, almost anything you can think of is actually viable. Even for the highest difficulty, you'd really have to try and make a trash party build that can't beat the game.

But the writing... As good and deep as the lore of this game actually is, and it's actually pretty fucking interesting when you pull up the wiki and read about it, the game is as bad as they say when it comes to the overwriting, word salading etc... It was insufferable in this regard. And you can clearly see that I actually like it. Character companions were okay, even good for cRPG standards.

Overall based off what I've seen for the last couple of years on 4chan, most people don't really like this game much. It's one of those I'd describe as "over hated", I think it's just misunderstood.

>>3808639 (OP)
>Even for the highest difficulty, you'd really have to try and make a trash party build that can't beat the game.
This is true of every Baldur's Gate clone. RPGs aren't hard in general.
Just based on this I know you think in terms of often spouted memes and reactions and not real intellection.

>>3808639 (OP)
As someone who doesn't mind reading a lot I found the game very good. My last play-through was solo barbarian, but I only got as far as Raedric's keep and that boss fight. Playing solo positioning really matters and the consumables become way more important. I liked that high INT barbarians were strong (boosts AoE and duration of Frenzy), since it was cool to play an actually smart barbarian (more like Conan from the books). I didn't dislike the companions, but solo is just a nice challenge. Eder and Durance are fun to bring along. I don't care for that druid and Sagani. Never played the white march, maybe I'll give that a try soon.

>>3808643
Yeah but this game really lets you do anything. High might wizard frontliner with insane deflection, (seriously why are wizards secretly the best melee class?) or high perception gun bard, or genius barbarian who excels at crowd control (I've killed swarms of wichts in one blow). The infinity engine games do DnD rules where only certain attributes matter to certain classes and thats what OP meant.

it's kinda fascinating how virtually every pillars thread starts off with an anon who has a chip on their shoulder about the perception of the game on this board by some other anons. there's other games that follow this pattern too, while some games just get talked about and people shit on them normally. like, why care? what's the need to "correct the record" here?

I could take PoE's exposition and lore dumps if it was an actually interesting and unusual setting like Planescape or Spelljammer or something. But it really is just a generic FR-like where orcs are abos, halflings are furry and there's some cosmic drama I couldn't bring myself to care about. Less than 10 hours in my eyes started glazing over at the history and cosmology lectures and I dropped it.

>>3808653
Attributes don't matter much in earlier D&D games outside of specific classes like Paladin that had a whole concept to them that removing attribute requirements would undermine. The point stands that "viability" is basically a multiplayer meme, little to do with RPGs and most especially not party based RPGs.

>>3808659
I've played Baldurs Gate and I'm pretty sure a low STR and low DEX fighter, or low INT caster would be dead weight at best. Sure you could beat the game, but its still bad. They would have to be carried by a team that is built properly...

>>3808672
No, you can easily beat the game with that, even solo. Items are much more of your power than stats.

>>3808687
Wouldn't it be cool if there was a game where attribute choice did matter, and creative choices were rewarded?

>>3808691
Not really, nothing matters is the same as everything matters and reassigning 6 numbers isn't creative. Creativity comes out within a battle by providing options within combat to overcome limitations. Pillars would've been better served by removing attributes and classes altogether.

>>3808694
Kek. You're right, pillars should have skyrim leveling, then it would be good.

>>3808643
Your statement is greatly exaggerated. You are either being disingenuous or just didn't play the game if you think that the amount of builds that are VIABLE is even comparable between BG1 & POE.

>>3808656
>Why care
I don't. I just mentioned it.

>>3808658
Plot is good. Lore is also good, actually. Idk if you tried to read up on it online. It sucks that you have to tho, that's the game's fault.

>>3808695
That's your baseline for a la carte character building? lmao
>>3808706
>VIABLE
Everything is viable in most RPGs because you are facing the computer. Viable is a multiplayer meme.

>>3808639 (OP)
What do mean there is a lot to say about this game and when it was released? I am zoomer and don't know, but I gather this game was released in a bit of a downtime for RPGs. Was it that bad back then?

>>3808758
History Lesson:
There were RPGs being released all the time back then. It's just BG fanboys crying about RTwP being abandoned and Bioware making Action RPGs and they called it the "Dark Ages" in melodramatic fashion. Obsidian weaponized this to use Kickstarter to keep from going bankrupt long enough for Microsoft to buy them and allow them to start making Action RPGs.

>>3808768
BG was good despite being RTWP, not because of it

>>3808771
BG wasn't that good, regardless of RTwP.

I wish that melee characters could benefit more from pistols in this game, eg. fighter quickdrawing a pistol from bandolier for one shot then switching back to sword. In my solo runs I would often open combat with gun or the big crossbows since it does a lot of damage and lets me control positioning in the fight, but it would be so cool to whip out a pistol midfight, like bloodborne.

>>3808687
you can
but it will feel like you are actively gimping yourself
which you would be
stop coping, you aren't fooling anyone
>>3808758
>Was it that bad back then?
it was for classic-styled non-action rpgs absolutely
if you think "TES" when you hear "RPG" then you barely noticed
action/adventure games with some RPG elements already were the most popular genre by that time

>>3808791
>but it will feel like you are actively gimping yourself
Not really. Stats aren't that impactful. Put on a few items and they are overridden. Viability is a meme based around comparing your character's power to another in a multiplayer game, same as "OP".
>classic-styled non-action rpgs
Note this just means BG and Fallout clones, because these kids started with those. There were turn-based games coming out.

>>3808794
I like to try out different builds and see how they fare in solo runs. Sure the stats are only six numbers or whatever but there are downstream effects that change how a build plays. On path of the damned or even just hard solo then 'viability' does matter, and playstyle has to change based on build. Its good stuff.

>>3808800
>On path of the damned or even just hard solo then 'viability' does matter,
Execution matters far more than build in any RPG. Don't play harder diffs if you lack the ability to execute proper tactics and understand your abilities.

>>3808809
how many hours do you have in PoE? I have 173.

>>3808639 (OP)
I just never understood why skaen, the god of violent rebellion, would aid woedica, goddess of law, justice, oaths and promises what was his endgame?

>>3808822
Skaen is also basically the god of Nietzschean ressentiment and Woedica is the goddess of oaths that bind a person to a certain story or identity. You know what I mean?

>>3808825
Adding to this, violent rebellion is often in service of law, the rebels just claim a higher authority. Eg. English civil war was about how king actually could be treasonous, French and American Revolutions were about Natural rights, Lenin cited historical necessity and so on.

>>3808818
Steam says 107 though probably some hours are AFK, but that's irrelevant to my point. Total system mastery is far more important than "builds", this is true for most RPGs that aren't extremely simple. Builds are actually a crutch that keeps you from getting better tactically.

>>3808646
the white march is pretty good, I enjoyed part 1 the most as i enjoyed the exploration and atmosphere of the abandon dwarf hold.

Of course there was gonna be some retard saying "UMM WELL YOU CAN TECHNICALLY SOLO BG1 ON LVL1-"

Pointing at outliers and crazy exploits to say that POE is the same as "other RPGs like BG"
when it actually has, in practice, a much larger build variety for each class is disingenuous as fuck. Fuck you. >>3808643

>>3808848
And we were talking about BUILDS like gentlemen over here, not autists with 300 hours doing solo runs by breaking AI.

>>3808794
ok by this post I'm pretty sure you either have no idea what you are talking about or you do and just practicing trolling

>>3809024
Builds are entirely the purview of autists. RPGs were diminished by them, back in my day you rolled your stats and adapted, not this gay theorycrafting and guide following bullshit.

>>3809058
That's just the case with earliest TTRPGs where characters were supposed to die often and be interchangeable. Which doesn't really work with a video game RPG and spending tens of hours with the character you just build (nobody just rolls the stats and picks the first ones you got).

>>3809061
Nah, vidya is easy because you can reload at any time and if you do create a character that way it's actually really fun. Making do with what you're given, adapting. That's why roguelikes are so fun.

>>3809064
>it's fun because I can savescum
Okay.
>That's why roguelikes are so fun
Characters die permanently in these games.

>>3809067
Reloading when you die isn't savescumming, anon, and that's a basic feature of vidya. Vidya RPGs are really easy in general, especially when you have a party and can cover each other's bases. I think many RPG nerds are really scared of any feeling of potential failure or suboptimal play and so they overprepare and ruin the game's flow or become guide addicts. Let go, embrace fate.

Roguelikes are fun because of the enforced adaptation to chaotic circumstances, which you can inject somewhat into many RPGs.

>>3809072
>and that's a basic feature of vidya
And so are character builds.
>especially when you have a party and can cover each other's bases
Which is part of character building.

>>3809075
>And so are character builds.
Builds extend outside of vidya. I blame MtG.
Just look at all these retarded threads where someone asks someone to build a character for them or fix their build or asks what's viable or OP or underpowered or they stroke off their e-peen about their deeps. Build talk=bad player talk.

>>3809076
>I blame MtG
A competitive game.
Look, anon. Making a character is fun. Making a whole team of characters is fun. Maybe not for you, but watching them grow and seeing them being strong, embodying some archetype or powerfantasy is satisfying. Not everyone is autistic enough, or has enough game knowledge to abuse the AI, use exploits or gamebreaking mechanics and make due with a suboptimal or even shit character.
People don't have all the time in the world. That goes especially for first time players, who rather want to start with a solid character and not regretting their choices 10 hours in. I don't like respeccing in RPGs (a topic for another thread), but I can see why people like it.

I'm currently playing a Barbarian with 14 Might, 8 Con, 14 Dex, 17 Per?, 18 Int, and 7 Resolve. Wicked AoE on carnage but hes a little soft. Natural Barbarian health pool will still be massive even with a -10%, it will come with levels. Frenzy brings Might to 20 and Con to 14 in combat, and once I get that belt that lengthens frenzy I'll have something like 60% longer buff from that. Obviously I sold everything at the start to Heodan and I'm going to buy War Club of the Mataru as soon as possible. Dropping resolve seems fine since hatchet and shields raise deflection by a good bit. Interrupt also works in carnage, but I didn't specifically plan to use that mechanic, rather its just a nice bonus. Planning to get that yell that lowers enemy fortitude since the duration will be boosted. I don't know why anyone would choose a fighter when Stalwart Defense or whatever also gives endurance regen. Fighter is just Barbarian but worse.

>>3809087
>A competitive game
No shit.
>Not everyone is autistic enough, or has enough game knowledge to abuse the AI, use exploits or gamebreaking mechanics and make due with a suboptimal or even shit character.
Complete nonsense, theorycrafting builds is condensed autism. No exploits are needed to beat any of these games with any combination of classes and attributes. Like, I get that jerking off about muh builds with other autists is your jam and all, but you're really just exposing how bad you are as a player with this kind of response and proving my point. I can tell you're just too emotionally involved for this discussion, so I'll let you carry on.

>>3809100
Did you... just post a BUILD?!

>>3808848
>total systems mastery
>ignores systems
do u mean savescumming?

>>3809064
>That's why roguelikes are so fun.
then why don't you gtfo to some roguelike anon?