Eternity Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire + DLC Thread - now with turn-based combat!

[fantadomat]

I was thinking majority black, as well as reasonably modern. I'll give it to fantadomat that I couldn't think of many really popular ones.

Majority black and popular is hard to find. It's easy to list novels by black authors, but they aren't popular.

Weren't you talking about "MAJORITY" in the last page? Now you are talking about books and movies that have one black guy in it.

 

[Strange Fellow]

Weren't you talking about "MAJORITY" in the last page? Now you are talking about books and movies that have one black guy in it.

I like how the "SJW because blacks" guy implies you can't have a good story with black people in it, or at least majority black.

Redding is teh hard

 

[fantadomat]

Weren't you talking about "MAJORITY" in the last page? Now you are talking about books and movies that have one black guy in it.

I like how the "SJW because blacks" guy implies you can't have a good story with black people in it, or at least majority black.

Redding is teh hard

No need to point out that i was right mate,we are cluttering the thread now.

 

[Safav Hamon]

There are more, but this is all I can spot out for now

Spoiler

 

[Merlkir]

Oh hey, Kana's back?

 

[BING XI LAO]

I don't get the complaints about blacks being one of the main advanced civilisations, that detail really made it feel like a fantasy world where anything can happen, more so than dragon, magic, gods etc

The Mali Empire was the richest kingdom in history at its pinnacle.

I'm sure those riches came in useful importing chainmail when the locally produced leather armour felt a bit underwhelming. They could if so inclined probably have imported crossbows too, but looks like they were happy enough with the cutting edge technology of poison arrows. Worked well enough against the Portuguese.

 

[Lexx]

I don't get the complaints about blacks being one of the main advanced civilisations, that detail really made it feel like a fantasy world where anything can happen, more so than dragon, magic, gods etc

The Mali Empire was the richest kingdom in history at its pinnacle.

Yup,and they achieved nothing with that gold.



This is their biggest achievement,their mark left on the world.

Wish I could build such sand castles at the beach.

 

[Lady_Error]

After Steamrolling the lava dragon I thought I may be overpowered at Level 18, but no, the island with the Fampyr cave was a nice challenge. Had to try it a few times, ended up finishing them off with pretty much only Aloth's AOE spamming and Mirke's Level 9 Monk abilities.

Monks become pretty cool when they are maxed out.

 

[Lacrymas]

Oh hey, Kana's back?

Not in my game, lul.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Oh hey, Kana's back?

Not in my game, lul.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

He's in one of CYOA cut scenes by the end

 

[Lacrymas]

I meant I never talked to him :p

 

[Safav Hamon]

This is supposed to be Mirke. Not sure why, but she and Ydwin got NPC portraits added.

It also seems like we get to meet Galawain and his sex slaves

 

[Glaucon]

You know Lacrymas, it isn't necessary to knee-jerk defend garbage because you want to dunk on the terrible right-wing racists.

What's amusing about the Vailians is that they're literally just Spaniards, a caricature of charming but corrupt, vaguely latin merchants--oh, and also they're black.

It's sort of like watching John Wayne prance around like he's Genghis Khan.

It's not wrong, and it's not as if silly fantasy conceits are unacceptable. But it is, in fact, a silly fantasy conceit, produced by writers too lazy to do the more rigorous work of trying to understand genuine african cultures (and transforming, combining, mixing w/e understanding they come to---fantasy isn't history), but who still feel the need to have black people for the sake of it.

The initial world-building of Eora would have benefited from the longer gestation period like they had with Deadfire. The "seams", so to speak, on the Huana aren't so blatant and obvious.

 

[Safav Hamon]

You know Lacrymas, it isn't necessary to knee-jerk defend garbage because you want to dunk on the terrible right-wing racists.

What's amusing about the Vailians is that they're literally just Spaniards, a caricature of charming but corrupt, vaguely latin merchants--oh, and also they're black.

It's sort of like watching John Wayne prance around like he's Genghis Khan.

It's not wrong, and it's not as if silly fantasy conceits are unacceptable. But it is, in fact, a silly fantasy conceit, produced by writers too lazy to do the more rigorous work of trying to understand genuine african cultures (and transforming, combining, mixing w/e understanding they come to---fantasy isn't history), but who still feel the need to have black people for the sake of it.

The initial world-building of Eora would have benefited from the longer gestation period like they had with Deadfire. The "seams", so to speak, on the Huana aren't so blatant and obvious.

First off, they're more vaguely Spanish than Italian. They live in Italian city states, have a Venetian government and currency, are undergoing an Italian renaissance of scientific progress, and even speak pseudo-Italian. Capitalism is not a uniquely Spanish trait.

Furthermore, a great deal of effort when into developing their culture and history. We know about their fashion, cuisine, music, linguistics, religion, politics. It's a level of detail that you wont find much anywhere else.

In conclusion, you're an idiot. Probably the same idiot that wrote that review. Anyone that looks past the insane amount of detail that went into developing the Valians and sees just a bunch of greedy black Spaniards, is nothing more than a simple minded fool.

 

[Darth Roxor]

ekera

 

[Shadenuat]

bunch of greedy black Spaniards

I dunno, that is how they are represented in the game afterall

 

[Glaucon]

You know Lacrymas, it isn't necessary to knee-jerk defend garbage because you want to dunk on the terrible right-wing racists.

What's amusing about the Vailians is that they're literally just Spaniards, a caricature of charming but corrupt, vaguely latin merchants--oh, and also they're black.

It's sort of like watching John Wayne prance around like he's Genghis Khan.

It's not wrong, and it's not as if silly fantasy conceits are unacceptable. But it is, in fact, a silly fantasy conceit, produced by writers too lazy to do the more rigorous work of trying to understand genuine african cultures (and transforming, combining, mixing w/e understanding they come to---fantasy isn't history), but who still feel the need to have black people for the sake of it.

The initial world-building of Eora would have benefited from the longer gestation period like they had with Deadfire. The "seams", so to speak, on the Huana aren't so blatant and obvious.

First off, they're more vaguely Spanish than Italian. They live in Italian city states, have a Venetian government and currency, are undergoing an Italian renaissance of scientific progress, and even speak pseudo-Italian. Capitalism is not a uniquely Spanish trait.

Furthermore, a great deal of effort when into developing their culture and history. We know about their fashion, cuisine, music, linguistics, religion, politics. It's a level of detail that you wont find much anywhere else.

In conclusion, you're an idiot. Probably the same idiot that wrote that review. Anyone that looks past the insane amount of detail that went into developing the Valians and sees just a bunch of greedy black Spaniards, is nothing more than a simple minded fool.

The "insane amount of detail" is copy paste information one can find in a handful of books about Spain--or, yes, Italy, I'm joking on that point. Someone else in this thread referred to them as a Mediterranean amalgam, and that's probably more correct. The laziness consists in the fact that the Vailians are a historical import--but woopity doo, they're black (and also there are Vailian dwarves who we never really see), so I guess that means the writers involved have created something. The "blackness" isn't the issue. Again, white mongols, or samurai, or aztecs would all be just as ridiculous. The point is that the Vailians are always going to be uncanny and strange.

None of this is "damning", btw. It doesn't make Pillars a bad game. Ultimately it doesn't really matter, the game has other more pressing issues. But it's an aesthetic flaw, particularly in a game that in every aspect of the material presentation of it's world aims for historicity, or some correspondence with what we know of the early modern period. Really, the Pillars environmental art team are Obsidian's unsung hero's, even if they're working with substandard lore (excluding the Huana, who are much more interesting lore wise than any of the races/cultures we've seen yet).

 

[Glaucon]

I was thinking majority black, as well as reasonably modern. I'll give it to fantadomat that I couldn't think of many really popular ones.

Almost the entirety of contemporary popular music is dominated by, or can be sourced back to black artists. Surely when we're trying to calculate the popularity (or "representation") of black art, that ought to be taken into account.

 

[Quillon]

 

[Safav Hamon]

The "insane amount of detail" is copy paste information one can find in a handful of books about Spain--or, yes, Italy, I'm joking on that point. Someone else in this thread referred to them as a Mediterranean amalgam, and that's probably more correct. The laziness consists in the fact that the Vailians are a historical import.

It's not a copy & paste. Their culture, history, and politics all have unique aspects that defy real world comparisons.

Yes, there are many real world influences. No, that isn't a bad thing. It's something writers have been doing since the dawn of fiction.

But hey, feel free to share your own fictional nation with a unique culture, history, and government. I'm sure it will be 100% original and not draw any real world parallels.

 

[Safav Hamon]

The point is that the Vailians are always going to be uncanny and strange.

Fantasy is supposed to be strange. That's the whole fucking point!

 

[Grunker]

Fuck you all

 

[fantadomat]

The point is that the Vailians are always going to be uncanny and strange.

Fantasy is supposed to be strange. That's the whole fucking point!

Uncanny and strange are two different things. If they wanted something unique they wouldn't have just combined and reshaped parts of worlds history. Warhammer is really interesting world but it is just the world during the middle ages with nations having different names.

 

[Ulfhednar]

When luminous adra is destroyed, all souls receive a -1% soulness malus that lasts 1.0 x INT bonus generations. Souls that are released from Xoti’s lantern into an Adra pillar increase in soulness by a scaling factor that depends on Xoti’s religion score. Scaling factors for skills and their effects on game mechanics are a trademark of Obsidian Entertainment and will not be made public in the game’s internal documentation.

 

[Glaucon]

The point is that the Vailians are always going to be uncanny and strange.

Fantasy is supposed to be strange. That's the whole fucking point!

Uncanny and strange are two different things. If they wanted something unique they wouldn't have just combined and reshaped parts of worlds history. Warhammer is really interesting world but it is just the world during the middle ages with nations having different names.

By strange and uncanny I meant the ever-present, niggling feeling that something is off. Why are these Mediterranean caricatures black in a world that is supposedly demanding that I take it seriously? Indeed, why are they caricatures at all?

"Strange", in the genuinely fantastical or imaginative sense, means to really present the player (reader, w/e) with something new, beyond them, awe-inspiring, or some approximation of those things. Warhammer is superior to Pillars in this regard. And, other races and cultures within the world of Eora are "stranger" than the Vailians, like the Huana. In the case of the Kahanga Huana, imagine if they were crafty, mysterious orientals speaking in ching chongy accents--but with pale white skin and red hair! That's the sort of lazy, hypocritical, condescension that lies at the heart of the Vailians.