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[dude]

Well, I get that. But I think Larian CAN pull it off. It won't be easy though. I think the lighthearted nature of Divinity will actually help, because it won't have that OH SO DRAMATIC ambitions of Bioware romances.
Not that I feel romances are exactly a right fit in something like D:OS2 though, I just don't think they as bad as that Adult Mode.

 

[squadr0n]

I hope they release the Definitive Edition soon. I've been sitting on my PC copy waiting to play it till the update. Now they announce a sequel! All I want are more classes, like Ninja, DeathKnight, Pet user, stuff like that that didn't make it in the first.

 

[Ingueferroque]

I strongly disagree with them using KS for this. Public funding was needed for the first one as they had no previous projects to use profits from to make their game. Now? They had a successful project. The KS worked. They got public funds, made a game, made money from that game.

Instead of using their profits from the first project to fund their 2nd, like a normal company, they are looking for handouts again. So yeah, don't agree with the KS whatsoever.

Will still buy the game in the end, but don't like using KS for a sequel of a successful game.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/09/12/divinity-original-sin-sells-over-500k-units

They are a small developer. They need KS. They deserve to use KS.

 

[Camp Freddie]

I hope they ignore almost all those stretch goal ideas and just make the game they want to make.
They did very well with D:OS and I'd just want D:OS2 to be a bigger, better version. Make the good things better and the tedious things less tedious. Improve class balance a bit to make non-mages more interesting.

Most of those stretch goal ideas are essentially, "Please make a different game that is nothing like the last one"

I liked the goofy humour. It made the game stand out in a world full of gritty, angsty RPGs. I loved the Witcher too, but I want to keep the different approach that Divinity:OS provided.

They could add romance stories, but they should keep them goofy and awkward.

 

[Raytow]

Game still had its dark moments, anyone remember the

Spoiler

town overrun with orcs, yeah that wasn't pretty

 

[cleveridea]

Love to see they keep to their roots and doing a KS, keep the power to the people and keep ownership of their IP (get money without giving away equity for example or onerous contracts)

 

[cleveridea]

BTW I havent followed KS that much recently - are the hit games doing a good job keeping their CE limited to the KS versions and supporting their fans if the game is a big hit after launch?

 

[Salsa]

im so down

 

[cleveridea]

A deadly serious Divinity game wouldnr be a Divinity game at all. Noooooo thank you to those pushing for that.

This KS model is whats great though, they see the interest for the new take on the series. If no one cares they wont make it.

They get waaaaaaaaaaaay more attention leveraging the brand name of the hit prior game

 

[Wrynnax]

They're also moving to bigger offices later this year, because of the succes of D:OS. The team has expanded a bit and they're now doing qa in dublin and russia appearently. The new office was needed, there wasn't even airco
So that's at least where some of the profit went, and for a small studio like them to be working on the enhanced edition, a sequel and a new game is really something. They have my backing day one!

 

[Clydefrog]

'Adult Mode' is akin to Trump winning in the Republican polls.

Dum diddity dum diddity dum diddit-ti-y dum dittity dum dum day!

 

[DiabolicalBagel]

Wow, what did you do?

To be fair, it took my partner and I 60-odd hours to fully explore everything in the first area. The last 30 hours of our playthrough we were a bit less meticulous and just went where the wind took us, so I can easily see that kind of playtime had we continued to seek out every little bit of RPG-goodness.

 

[varkuriru]

Man Larian naming DOS 2 their baldur's gate 2 has me hyped beyond belief. Go Larian Go!

 

[tarasis]

Well, thanks to RPGCodex, Swen and Chris (Avellone) are talking about meeting up at Pax Prime (not to discount that this could already be planned).

Swen to Chris https://twitter.com/laratlarian/status/631734717499469824

@LarAtLarian: @rpgcodex @chrisavellone Errr…Arrrr…Chris, are you, by any chance, planning on visiting #PAXPrime?

I jokingly suggested that We surely didn't want Larian to blow their budget on Chris to which he tweeted

@ChrisAvellone: @tarasis @LarAtLarian @RPGCodex I worked on FTL for free. That's what crazy love for a game does to you.

&

@ChrisAvellone: @tarasis @LarAtLarian @RPGCodex Besides, life's too short. Might as well spend it doing something that makes your soul happy.

 

[Lord Panda]

Didn't realise Avellone worked on FTL.

 

[R1CHO]

They are a small developer. They need KS. They deserve to use KS.

As many others they don't need KS, there are external investors and they have use them many times.

But KS is always better, it's a big preorder event.

 

[tarasis]

Didn't realise Avellone worked on FTL.

That surprised me too.

 

[danthefan]

I strongly disagree with them using KS for this. Public funding was needed for the first one as they had no previous projects to use profits from to make their game. Now? They had a successful project. The KS worked. They got public funds, made a game, made money from that game.

Instead of using their profits from the first project to fund their 2nd, like a normal company, they are looking for handouts again. So yeah, don't agree with the KS whatsoever.

Will still buy the game in the end, but don't like using KS for a sequel of a successful game.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/09/12/divinity-original-sin-sells-over-500k-units

You have a weird definition of handout.

I'm going to back the game and I'm going to get it must likely for far cheaper than retail. I pay my money, I get the game.

 

[Ogimachi]

Hell yeah, MCA is fucking awesome.

Didn't realise Avellone worked on FTL.

He worked on the Advanced Edition.

 

[ricki42]

The Linux situation is definitely unfortunate, but to call the situation "ripping them off" is pretty dramatic. As best I can tell, there isn't even an explicit promise of a Linux version in the Kickstarter -- the campaign says the game is for PC, and that Mac and Linux versions, if (not when) they're released, will be given to Windows owners. This game is in the higher echelons of successfully delivered game Kickstarters and they're still planning on bringing the game to Linux, so I think at least a little credit is still in order.

I agree that "ripping off" was too strong a term. But they did promise a Linux version during the Kickstarter campaign. One of the earliest updates FAQ, part the first states "Linix (sic) and Mac is something that was planned from the start. [...] We are still going to do this, but probably after the Windows version is finished." That doesn't sound like if, but when, and the 'probably' even implies a chance of a day-one release.
I can totally understand that it got delayed, it's their first time making a Linux game. But it shows that they promised something without really knowing what it entailed. Still understandable, but doesn't exactly inspire confidence. They then started working on the console versions before making good on their promise from the Kickstarter. I know that console is more profitable than Linux, but the Linux market share was known at the time of the Kickstarter. I guess Larian just decided prioritizing the promised Linux version wasn't worth it financially (and they are likely correct). But that still leaves them with a Kickstarter promise that they haven't delivered on.

 

[Gattsu25]

Hell mothahellin' YAAAAS

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

Came late to Divinity but ended up playing through it 4 times because the combat is fantastic. Don't care for the story/characters though.

Seriously, unbelievably good combat system.

 

[Arulan]

Wow, what did you do?

And I still haven't finished Pillars of Eternity. I'm finishing Od Nua at the moment before I embark on what I believe to be the final part.

Spoiler

I need the favor of a deity to follow Thaos.

I'm trying to convince a friend of mine to play co-op Divinity: Original Sin when Enhanced Edition releases, but unfortunately he's more interested in AAA RPGs...

 

[Llyranor]

Kickstart the best TB combat system with awesome online co-op? Hmm, ok, sure!

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

MCA graduating from "Professional Kickstarter Goal" to simply 'Kickstarter Goal".

He is a Man-Whore.

 

[MrCompletely]

Didn't realise Avellone worked on FTL.

I believe he wrote scenarios for the Advanced Edition expansion after becoming a huge fan of the vanilla game. Pretty awesome.

 

[YankeeDonB]

Was just watching some footage of D:OS:EE. Man, I love the look of this type of turn-based gameplay. Really excited to jump in on console....

 

[GearDraxon]

I need to write a script that checks any thread with Kickstarter in it, searches for the string "handouts" and replaces it with "fair exchange of money for goods and services."

Given the goodwill that Larian has earned (or will earn) with the EE, this seems like a pretty safe bet.

 

[LurkerPrime]

More playable races? Great addition.

Adult mode? Divinity is like the antithesis of this, as game-y as a game can be. Larian, don't be crazy--you don't want to make a Bioware RPG.

Whoever's voting, pls stop this madness.

 

[nonadventurer]

Well, thanks to RPGCodex, Swen and Chris (Avellone) are talking about meeting up at Pax Prime (not to discount that this could already be planned)

I'm happy about this.

In an ideal case scenario, I'd love Avellone to contribute to the main plot and premise of the game. I would however be fine with him just writing whatever, too.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

I believe he wrote scenarios for the Advanced Edition expansion after becoming a huge fan of the vanilla game. Pretty awesome.

Because FTL is ridiculously great.

 

[Taruranto]

Bleh, while Original Sin was successful, it wasn't GTA successful or anything. After Steam's cut, a lot of copies being sold for -20-40% off, paying Belgium's high taxes, giving private investors their share AND going far above & beyond with the Enhanced Edition than anyone would've expected them to, they probably aren't quite in the position to fund a sequel that would evolve, expand & improve from the original game without it being a huge risk for them. Going back to KS is not asking for "handouts" again, it's just obvious that they simply aren't quite in a position where it would be financially wise to put so much of their own money towards Original Sin II, if they really want to make the ambitious sounding sequel they are saying they want to make.

They almost had to bankrupt the studio to finish OS, people need to give Larian a break.

 

[Stiler]

Why are some people so upset about them going back to kickstarter?


Most indie studios do not simply make game>get profit>make new game.

A lot of money is obtained from private investors, publishers, etc. This leads to a lot of indie studios forced into either making games with a publishers IP (IE not their own ip, and if they do get lucky enough to make their "own" game the publisher usually ends up getting the rights to it, not the developers).

With Kickstarter these guys get to bypass that version of going to a publisher and begging to get the publisher to fund them in return the publiserh gets IP rights and/or they get a say in how the game is developed and things that may or may not make it in. This way they get the fans to help fund it, in return the fans get the game and whatever other things they pledge and the devs get to make the game they want to.

No one forces you to pledge.

These guys showed with Divinity: OS that they can make a great rpg and hopefully the fans understand the reason they are going back to kickstarter.

 

[Durante]

Well, I fully approve. Mostly because I don't imagine too many people realize that M&MX belongs in that illustrious company.

Also, the past few years have really been awesome, haven't they?

 

[charlequin]

Wow, what did you do?

Everything? Completed every quest I could find, cleared out enemy encounters in basically every area, got maxed out spells/abilities and high skill ratings for every character.

howlongtobeat has a completionist playthrough at 103 hours so take into account idle time throughout my run and I don't think I'm that far off.

What is it with people and hating on romances?

They're rampant in other games and D:OS doesn't need them.

I wouldn't be upset if there were a romance element in one of these games, but I wouldn't want to see it as a Kickstarter goal or anything, because then if it turned up I'd know it was something the development team were independently interested in rather than something shoehorned in.

 

[JC Sera]

Romance is very easy to fall into pit traps of "awkward robotic interactions equals +1 to affection" or "this is downright creepy"

Theres not many writers who can take a well written semi-autonomous from the protagonist character and write a romance that isn't "THE PROTAGONIST PICKS THINGS I LIKE TO SAY, I AM SMITTEN"

Also romance in games has this universal expectation to end in a happy ending, or else there is backlash. Not getting together with someone in the end of a a relationship is seen as a "bad end" nearly 100% of the time. This limits your ability to write & explore romantic interactions & choices in games.

 

[Einbroch]

Give me a good quest log. I don't need arrows or a bread crumb trail, but something. Anything.

Put the game down for less than a week, came back to it and was totally lost.

 

[epmode]

I'm pretty sure Original Sin has a decent quest log. It doesn't explicitly tell you what to do but it's good enough to catch up by reading the open and completed quest entries.

 

[Arulan]

Also, the past few years have really been awesome, haven't they?

I don't think I could ask for anything more. Well, maybe for Tides of Numenera to approach Planescape: Torment, but we'll see.

I'll never stop fighting that particular fight. If only M&MX would have released around when Grimrock did, rather than during the full-on resurgence of cRPGs.

Perhaps, but if sales for Legend of Grimrock II are anything to go by, it seems a lot of people bought into the first one because of the visuals, only then to realize what a dungeon crawler entailed. Looking at Steam global achievement stats, only 9.5% completed the game. Even the most abundant one, casting 25 spells is only at 58.4%. It's disappointing that even among RPG enthusiast, dungeon crawlers don't always get the appreciation they deserve.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

The only decent optional romance in a game was when my Fallout 2 character got caught in bed and forced into a literal shotgun wedding by the dude's dad.



I'll never stop fighting that particular fight. If only M&MX would have released around when Grimrock did, rather than during the full-on resurgence of cRPGs.

Wasn't MMX greenlit purely because LoG1 did so well, though?

 

[Arulan]

Wasn't MMX greenlit purely because LoG1 did so well, though?

In large part, yes. I hope it's not going to take another 12 or so years for another Might & Magic game. Steamspy has M&MX at 149,335 ± 9,643.

 

[Durante]

In large part, yes. I hope it's not going to take another 12 or so years for another Might & Magic game. Steamspy has M&MX at 149,335 ± 9,643.

Note that all non-Steam copies were uPlay only though (including e.g. the physical editions, which is what I bought). Still, even taking that into account, it didn't sell nearly as well as it should have IMHO.

 

[Rip]

The only thing I hope for in a sequel is for them to somehow top the menu music from the first game. So good.

 

[Lord Panda]

Not sure how anyone could fill the shoes Kirill left behind

 

[Renekton]

I'll never stop fighting that particular fight. If only M&MX would have released around when Grimrock did, rather than during the full-on resurgence of cRPGs.

I think lots of poor feedback during early access hurt MMX, when I bought it they were the most helpful comments IIRC. It also didn't help that mechanics were incomplete even after full release, for example my team ended the game all wearing cloth.

 

[More_Badass]

Would it be safe to assume that Kickstarter tiers for the game will be $25/30 like the first campaign?

 

[hemtae]

On my way to Seattle! We'll be launching D:OS 2 kickstarter tomorrow at 6:00am PST, 9:00am EST, 15:00 CET!

https://twitter.com/LarAtLarian/status/636280850208808960

 

[Labadal]

I can't wait to give them my money.

 

[Santiako]

https://twitter.com/LarAtLarian/status/636280850208808960

I'm so in.

 

[More_Badass]

Haven't played the first Original Sin, but I'm in for this one.