Pillars of Eternity

[max]

Has anyone played this? It's a D&D-based isometric CRPG very much in the vein of Baldur's Gate et al. I'm some dozens of hours into it, and it is assuredly very good. Playing it and listening to Rusty Quill during the same period of time, I've been struck by the considerable extent of both the commonalities and the differences between CRPGs like PoE and actual tabletop RPGs. They are at once profoundly akin and entirely unlike.

[grumblyarcher]

I have heard very, very good things about this game. Sadly, my laptop is just old enough to not be good for any kind of gaming.

[Oneiros]

Likewise, I have heard nothing but good things about it and also have a laptop that does not handle modern games

[theoverlord]

I have heard of this and should be able to play it, however being a uni student means that I have no money to spare to actually play this game. But I have also heard great things from this game.

[Brave Sir Robin]

What everyone else said basically. Had it repeatedly recommended, not enough time or tech to play it.

[max]

Depending on quite how hopeless your computational situation is, I may be able to offer some encouragement here. I'm using a tiny little notebook without a dedicated graphics card (just has integrated Intel HD4000, which serious PC gamers would find unworthy even of derision). I also can't play anything really in the way of modern 3D games, but because PoE is an isometric game with largely static, 2D backgrounds, it's actually quite easy to run (admittedly, I get some pretty dire framerates in battles). As for money, I got it for £15 not long after it came out, and you can presumably get it cheaper now, so it's not like £50 or whatever videogames usually cost these days.

If not Pillars of Eternity, were games like Baldur's Gate a significant thing for people here, and how do you feel they relate (if at all) to tabletop RPing?

EDIT: just realised I didn't address the lack-of-time question. That's definitely a killer for PoE. It's undeniably a massive time sink. I actually haven't played it at all in the last couple of months because I haven't had time, and it's just not something you can dip in and out of. But I'm looking forward to getting back into it as soon as things settle down for me.

EDIT 2: checked Steam prices for PoE, and bizarrely they've shot up. So, I would not recommend buying it there right now. Seems to be cheaper on gog.com though.

[Brave Sir Robin]

I played BG and Icewind Dale a bunch and really enjoyed them. My favourite of that genre was Temple of Elemental Evil however - for 3.5 (or was it 3.0?) based rulesy goodness and turn based combat. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm turn based.........

The RPG games I was most addicted to earlier in life were Morrowind and Oblivion. I really need to find time to play Skyrim, but my life just doesn't seem to leave time for video games any more. He says having sunk so very many hours into magic in the last week alone.

[Jonny]

The old isometric CRPGs were a big thing for me a when I was growing up (Fallout 2 is still one of my all time favourite games) and had a shedload of time for them - not so much now. That said, I keep up better than a lot of people, since one of my housemates is a videogamer and has ALL the systems and buys pretty much every game. I've found the key to enjoying CPRGs in full adulthood (for me, at least) is to stop worrying about whether or not you actually get to the end, because you definitely won't.

[Alex Newall]

I never really got into baldurs gate et al as I have always had some big project on the go meaning I never have the time for them.

Also in order to keep up to date with iPs, even if I did have the time I would probably choose to spend it on 30 smaller titles.

[Oneiros]

Baldur's Gate was pretty significant for me but I never got the chance to play many of the others, despite it being set in Forgotten Realms. I tried Neverwinter Nights when it came out and was impressed by the upgrade but again lack of time meant it fell by the wayside. Some friends and I started work on modules for it but it didn't really pan out.

The one CRPG that did occupy me obsessively, though, was Planescape: Torment - I love that game to pieces and not just for it being my favourite RPG setting. It was pretty groundbreaking as game design went.

As for how well they mimic the tabletop experience... things happen much faster and more smoothly when you're not arguing with your teammates I think they're good to a point - there's only so far they can go and some lines that are very rewarding to play tabletop-wise don't translate well (enchanters, abjurers, many non-combat based builds).

[max]

I played Baldur's Gate II when it came out, so I would have been... 12 years old. I was too young for it insofar as I didn't have the patience to get my head around all the systems, and really just played it for the story and beautiful environments. As such, I remember it being incredibly, infuriatingly difficult -- but it remains one of my favourite games of all time. Since then I haven't had time to play a game on the same scale (until recently, with PoE).

On the point about CRPGs being faster, with regards to combat: it's so sped up by comparison with tabletop combat, it's a completely different experience (it's about setting up a general tactical stance for each character, then letting it play out while monitoring and making adjustments where necessary, rather than individually choosing each action). But this is offset by the fact that encounters are vastly more common and numerous in CRPGs. On balance, the amount of advancement made in the average session of x hours might well be pretty similar across both, when you account for things like the fact that immensely more loot is found in CRPGs (because, without the social dynamic, they need stronger 'reward mechanisms'), which means you can easily spend half an hour at a time just on inventory management. CRPGs can get a bit spreadsheety.

I intend to play Planescape: Torment as soon as I can find time and if I ever finish PoE, because seemingly everyone who's played it ranks it as one of the best of all time, and it's supposed to be far more story/character-focused than mechanics-focused, which I think I'd prefer.

[regiskobalos]

They've also released Tyranny a few months ago, with a similar isometric style, were you play as a judge for the evil overlord. The sort of game that Bertie could get behind.

[Brave Sir Robin]

I purchased this game in the steam sale this week. Don't know when I'll be playing it, but I hope I'll get the chance now.

I also backed the Pathfinder: Kingmaker kickstarter, cos they're building a isometric crpg in the pathfinder system and I am very excited. I'm gonna make Hamid in the game, and play through as him.

I'm sorta tempted to play through Pillars as a Bertie analogue...