Larian Banner: Baldur's Gate Patch 9
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
Joined: Mar 2014
Hiver Offline OP
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
Joined: Mar 2014
I wanted to write a really detailed huge post about the games difficulty, explaining all bigger fights and why they are quite easy or what could be done about it.

But the bottom line is that, bringing the game up to that level - which would require various balancing passes and adjustments of other features all on its own - would take too much time and strictly speaking... it isnt necessary to have at release.

There isnt that much time left, considering there are two thirds of the game to finish and various smaller and few bigger bugs and issues to solve.
And that time should be spent on polishing the core of the game.


***


Currently, the game is very, very easy.
A large part of the reactions about the game presumed difficulty that you can hear being talked about is actually coming from early players, beginners and various casual players who simply dont bother with any of the game numerous features or options.
Or have missed some of them by accident.

The other part is coming from more experienced players - who are learning the new revamped system all over, from the last bigger change of mechanics in the last update.
And many of them have missed some of the options and possibilities that are there.

A large part of the blame for this, if you could even call it like that, falls on the opening of the game and its Tutorial - which dont explain various possibilities and features of the game (like crafting), or how those synargize with one another, in a sufficient manner.

So a lot of people dont even know there are some of the possibilities or are too busy figuring out a lot of others, or are tricked by various bigger and smaller bugs.

The system is complex and requires time to properly get accustomed to. It took me two or three playthroughs to get the hang of it (just intuitively, without any specific effort) and im not really done yet.


Additionally, some bugs or various spells and skills being clearly either overpowered - like several fire spells that affect surfaces, and kill almost all enemies very quickly and easily - while the Ai obviously needs more refinement... - create another layer of apparent easiness of the game.

While those being turned against the players by enemies - make it seem as the game is very difficult or even punishing - which is not true.


***


For example, the western area can be completed and cleared by only two main characters, at level 2 or 3, without companions and without Lonewolf or Raistlin talents. Without any sort of min maxing or detailed studying of stats and skills.
Just doing what seems reasonable.

All of it can be finished or won relatively easily - because each encounter is designed to be easy, with all those barrels with explosive and flammable substances positioned right next to enemies, just waiting for a arrow, a spell and a bit of flame.

While the skills provide numerous options, there is tonnes of equipment to be found or bought easily. Plenty of healing potions and spells and various items to consume to boost immunities or increase specific resistances. Various scrolls, elemental magic spells, talents, weapons... etc, etc, etc.

The new improvements to archers and mages capabilities only brought the game to some normal level in that regard. And even that is tilted towards easier angles.


***


I am trying to keep this short...
I could describe and suggest various things on how to increase the difficulty to some normal levels through various changes and additions to each of the combat encounters to make them more tactically challenging and interesting in an open, multifaceted system like this one.

But the more i was thinking about it, the more i started to see it would be pointless. I mean sure, as the time gets shorter the tendency to start demanding and suggesting things increases, because you feel the urgency and you want to get in as much as you can.

But... thinking realistically... you do have enough to do anyways.

And when we come down to it, the normal difficulty mode and he western area is supposed to be easier.
We are supposed to kill the Ghoul at the Lighthouse in a more or less easy way.
Thats what it is there for.


Most of your audience will find it relatively difficult in their first playthroughs where most of such reactions are formed.


Other bigger fights such as the one with Orcs in front of the Black Cove and the ones in the graveyard, the church and the burning grounds can all be improved in various ways too.
Various smaller combat encounters can be further improved too.

They all have been improved from previous version but currently, any of these combat encounters force and push me to actually use various resources i have only when im playing with just two main characters alone. Otherwise i never really spend and use about 50% or more of various items and options i have.

Things could be improved further.

Only not for the Normal difficulty.


***


Any additional changes of this kind, aiming to make the game harder or more challenging - should be left specifically for the Harder difficulty.

Because, I dont mean doing things in ways that would only falsely raise the difficulty, by just lowering our damage and increasing the enemy damage or health points. Which is what most, 99% of Hard difficulty modes comedown to.

This other kind of deeper, better redesign of difficulty, Ai, statistics, skills, enemy positions and group compositions of combat encounters is a much more demanding task and it would take some time to do.


Which is why i would actually suggest to delay any actual Hard difficulty redesign for a free dlc, or an expansion or some future update.
Or even a mod.

Because that kind of a thing needs to be done properly.

Just changing damage and HP of enemies or our characters serves no purpose. Its just a cheap inconsequential trick.
Its saying: yeah we have the hard difficulty but, it doesnt do anything really. It wouldn't serve or be of use to anyone.


***


The crucial point is that there is still a lot of work to be done on the normal game mode. Various features need improvements and further quality passes and balancing - as it is.

The fact is that this normal game mode is what large majority of players will play and it is what will make or break this game in terms of media reception, gamers reception and sales. So that is what actually needs to be made as perfect and as good as possible, especially if the next month release date remains the target.
That and the modding, editing tools.

Which, it seems to me, are far more important things to get right then some superficial tweak of a hard difficulty mode which wont satisfy anyone.

Because... you dont really need to provide some kind of hard difficulty - right away. Most of all, you need to provide a polished great full game.

You can just let people play that, let them experience and enjoy the full game on normal and easy, with all of its content working properly. Let everyone get used to it. Plenty of material there to replay many times over.
It is something brand new so actual difficulty or easiness wont be a problem for most players - at first.

And to those that find it a bit on the easy side - you can then promise a proper hard mode. Instead of some superficial tweak of a few stats.

In a month or two, you can either release the "HARD SIN" (or something like it) difficulty, or maybe even do some kind of modding collaboration with fans about it.
Similar to some kind of expansion - and there can be an small expansion tied to it too. Theoretically. Depends only on you guys.


Either way - good PR material and MORE SALES after a few months.
Instead of shooting all of your bullets off right away.
(pun..,err, not intended? i think...)


***


Thats my take on the matter. And about as much feedback i can provide about it. I wrote pretty much all i could about various features of the game.
Any other ideas or suggestions i might have - simply dont have the time to come to any fruition right now, in this time frame.

Ill post new bugs if i find them, but that will be the most i will be doing as feedback is concerned in the next month.
I think you are aware of all the issues and basically, in this last stretch, its all up to you.

The time is tight and the more you concentrate on the normal mode the better the whole game will be. Redesigning and balancing some kind of actual hard mode is superfluous now, and doing it in some simple, superficial way is pointless.

...

I will keep my ideas to myself and then try to do some kind of a mod of the game in the future, i hope - depending on how "easy" the editor will be to get for someone like me. Because thats the only real way those can become real and a much better approach to these things then me bugging you about any of these things in this last month of development. You have enough to think about and do anyway.

The engine looks amazingly nice in every way, graphically and in options and possibilities department. One could create all sorts of different stories and tales with all those tools and options.

If i manage it, i might provide a few very nice surprises for everyone.

Joined: May 2013
Location: Scotland
H
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
H
Joined: May 2013
Location: Scotland
I think a lot of players are too keen on leaving town to start fighting without fully realizing the literal wealth of experience and equipment that is in the starting town itself.

Joined: Jan 2009
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jan 2009
Originally Posted by Hiver
For example, the western area can be completed and cleared by only two main characters, at level 2 or 3, without companions and without Lonewolf or Raistlin talents. Without any sort of min maxing or detailed studying of stats and skills.
Just doing what seems reasonable.


When someone makes a broad, general statement like this, I have to ask: Did you actually try that with all 11 of the starting classes, in various combinations? Because that does makes a difference.

It's a serious question, and I'm interested in the answer. What class combinations did you play with?


Originally Posted by Hiver
And when we come down to it, the normal difficulty mode and he western area is supposed to be easier.
We are supposed to kill the Ghoul at the Lighthouse in a more or less easy way.
Thats what it is there for.


Yes, exactly.


Originally Posted by Hiver

Any additional changes of this kind, aiming to make the game harder or more challenging - should be left specifically for the Harder difficulty.

Because, I dont mean doing things in ways that would only falsely raise the difficulty, by just lowering our damage and increasing the enemy damage or health points. Which is what most, 99% of Hard difficulty modes comedown to.

This other kind of deeper, better redesign of difficulty, Ai, statistics, skills, enemy positions and group compositions of combat encounters is a much more demanding task and it would take some time to do.


Which is why i would actually suggest to delay any actual Hard difficulty redesign for a free dlc, or an expansion or some future update.
Or even a mod.

Because that kind of a thing needs to be done properly.

Just changing damage and HP of enemies or our characters serves no purpose. Its just a cheap inconsequential trick.
Its saying: yeah we have the hard difficulty but, it doesnt do anything really. It wouldn't serve or be of use to anyone.



I'll agree with this as well. I do like difficulty changes which are more than just "more enemy health and more damage received".

Dragon Commander is a good example: on Hard, the first campaign map adds a bunch of Hunter units to the strategy map, which make it harder to take the country to the west. Hard-mode AI is also smarter and uses skills better than normal mode AI.

I agree that kind of thing probably can't be done perfectly in the month left.

However there are signs the AI is getting better. It already takes into account which of its available skills would be effective and which would not be when deciding what to do.

I witnessed this personally. I learned that the archer "Mysterious Opponent" in the burial mound used to open her turn with an explosive arrow. So I pre-empted this by casting Rain first. She didn't use the explosive arrow, instead she disabled both my characters with freezing arrows.

Joined: Jan 2011
old hand
Offline
old hand
Joined: Jan 2011
Originally Posted by hairyscotsman
I think a lot of players are too keen on leaving town to start fighting without fully realizing the literal wealth of experience and equipment that is in the starting town itself.



I think it is a bold move by design to put some much game time at the start working NPC relations in the city and keeping combat relatively thin. There was a point my first time through I was chomping at the bit to want to fight and stop trying to figure out so many quests in the city all at once. It was laborious. But as mentioned there is a lot of EXP and Wealth to be gained spending a ton of time in the city.

I still think the tender at the Crab should be the games "Tipper", the man with the connections and he would drive new players on what to do next.

Last edited by Horrorscope; 23/05/14 12:41 AM.
Joined: Mar 2014
Hiver Offline OP
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
Joined: Mar 2014
You actually dont need to spend that much time in the city to get to level three. And be fully decked out for that level.

In the last playthrough i did the tutorial cave, to re-check how it plays and what it teaches new players and to check again what equipment and loot it gives.

Plenty of stuff altogether with the beach outside. Two small fireball scrolls you can save for later if you want - which can come very handy in some of the first combat encounters in the west.
From there to the town, to major Cecil house first floor - which i cleaned up, then to Esmeralda - where i cleaned up the basement and upper floor, then to the underground and the few small rooms and locations it leads to, then up to the outside through the well and to saving Wulfram quest.

That already gave me pretty fancy armors, bows, enough loot to trade and buy whatever i want in the city, and plenty of special arrows. Not to mention potions and other such smaller things.

And level 3 + xp.

I also lucked out and got a very nice golden shield with several stats - one of them giving shields +1 so i didnt even need to invest a point in that for my Knight.

From the talents, obviously, you take bigger and better since that gives you a free attribute point early and maybe all skilled up if you want as a second one.

I did mess up in character creation and accidentally left Weatherproof talent on my Wayfarer, which is pretty much pointless. But ok, no need to get completely perfect anyway.



Originally Posted by Stabbey

When someone makes a broad, general statement like this, I have to ask: Did you actually try that with all 11 of the starting classes, in various combinations? Because that does makes a difference.

It's a serious question, and I'm interested in the answer. What class combinations did you play with?



All of the ones i tried were more or less various mixes and hybrids.
Mostly based on Rogue, Shadowblade and Wayfarer templates, with additions of various spells, of course.

While playing with a Roguish build i dont use backstabbing or much of sneaking, instead focusing on witchcraft spells and curses and agility - daggers. Or just sword and shields and a few basic warrior skills.
But before this last romp, i always took both companions with me. And then i never used any special arrows with the wayfarer at all - because there was no need to, really.


Now, i made Scarlet a Knight with Air magic, and Roderick a Wayfarer with Earth and Water spells, plus a little of Scoundrel - Rogue skills (only one spell so far in that - haste).

I intentionally didnt want to use any fire based spells, especially Firefly which is just insanely powerful with fire element functioning as it does, just to see how much that would hamper me. Except those two scrolls of small fireballs which i found and saved fair and square.

I didnt even use them until i got waylaid by that band of three archers, three fighters and a mage, behind the ruins in the north part of the western area, which is actually a more difficult fight then the Lighthouse one. (no barrels around)
I spent one there and one in the first fight against zombie boars and undead in the middle of the map. they helped but didnt win the fights for me.
I took out three zombies in front of the northern gate with that Arhu giant contraption thing. Although i didnt have to since my wayfarer can do it himself with one fire arrow and one steam cloud arrow.


Anyway, yes, depending what builds you make you could have a bit easier or bit harder time cleaning the west. Anything with fire spells will make it much easier.
I guess the hardest to play would be two melee builds? Specialists, maybe?

Then again, even fighters in OS have some ranged skills, like crushing fist and bull-rush.
And if you specialize - you dont have to waste points on any other attributes or skills... so that should be very doable anyway.

I actually cant figure out which builds would be obviously weaker...


Originally Posted by Stabbey

I'll agree with this as well. I do like difficulty changes which are more than just "more enemy health and more damage received".

Dragon Commander is a good example: on Hard, the first campaign map adds a bunch of Hunter units to the strategy map, which make it harder to take the country to the west. Hard-mode AI is also smarter and uses skills better than normal mode AI.

I agree that kind of thing probably can't be done perfectly in the month left.

I was basically thinking that if they didnt waste time on making a proper hard mode now - they could use that to make the main normal mode better and more polished. And hopefully do the same for the mod editor.

While, as i said, they could release the proper hard mode later and even use that to get a boost in PR, refresh sales and whatnot.

Originally Posted by Stabbey

However there are signs the AI is getting better. It already takes into account which of its available skills would be effective and which would not be when deciding what to do.

I witnessed this personally. I learned that the archer "Mysterious Opponent" in the burial mound used to open her turn with an explosive arrow. So I pre-empted this by casting Rain first. She didn't use the explosive arrow, instead she disabled both my characters with freezing arrows.


Definitely. Though its really a shame that particular puzzle doesn't work as it previously did, or require to split the characters. It would be quite fun to deal with both of those opponents just with a single character.

Ai is better, improved, but it could be made better still. Not just super deadly - but more interesting to play against.

The Ghoul at the lighthouse now teleports to your characters and dishes some serious damage before teleporting out of your range. Which it didnt do before. It managed to kill one of my Hunters twice.
But those oil barrels are still just right next to it.

Which is not a problem. For the normal difficulty.

Joined: Jun 2013
addict
Offline
addict
Joined: Jun 2013
Godammit, can't you just summary your thoughts ?

Last edited by Cromcrom; 23/05/14 04:51 AM.

Un chemin de 1000 lieues commence par un premier pas.

Project:
Steam workshop Frontiere
Joined: Apr 2013
Location: US
addict
Offline
addict
Joined: Apr 2013
Location: US
*sighs* the difficulty slider is not even working yet, you do know this right?

Also you mentioned play through..so you know pretty much where to go and what to get. New players who will be buying and playing the game for the first time will not know this..If Larian made the game for just a small handful of people..their sales would be horrible O.O

Wait until the difficulty slider is working~

Joined: Jan 2011
old hand
Offline
old hand
Joined: Jan 2011
Originally Posted by Ellary
*sighs* the difficulty slider is not even working yet, you do know this right?

Also you mentioned play through..so you know pretty much where to go and what to get. New players who will be buying and playing the game for the first time will not know this..If Larian made the game for just a small handful of people..their sales would be horrible O.O

Wait until the difficulty slider is working~


Didn't know we were getting difficulty sliders, I loves sliders!

As for the play-through thing, imo two things going on "difficulty of understanding the games features" and "combat difficulty".

The first is a new player unfriendly for today's "spell it out" standards, but a good amount of RPG'ers have been asking for less hand holding, maybe we can't go back home.

Combat maybe tricky at first, but when you learn it and it will be before you get out of the first area, you are a ton wiser. If you balance skills to say the first half of the first part of the game we have, when each person comes up to speed, they are going to dominate from there.

But this is how it sits today, I bet there so significant changes for launch.

Joined: Mar 2014
Hiver Offline OP
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
Joined: Mar 2014
I think you either didnt read or didnt understand what im saying Ellary.

I am in fact saying that the normal mode as it is is alright. Baring some minor changes and adjustments. And that the devs can save themselves some time and resources by not doing the Hard difficult now - at all, but instead release it after a few months after the game comes out.

And that would have its own benefits too.

It would give them more time to concentrate to the core of the game experience for the majority of players - its normal mode. And it could result in a better hard difficulty later on.
To mention just the few main probable benefits.

An unorthodox approach to be sure but... wouldn't that be in line with the overall style and core design features of the game and Larian studios in general?


Joined: Jun 2013
addict
Offline
addict
Joined: Jun 2013
See, when you want ?
I agree. Fully.


Un chemin de 1000 lieues commence par un premier pas.

Project:
Steam workshop Frontiere
Joined: Mar 2014
Hiver Offline OP
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
Joined: Mar 2014
Went and visited Black Cove with my duo of Hunters without Lone Wolf or Raistlin talents.

My Knight-Air Scarlet found herself a nice golden shield that gives her +1 with shields, and i got that golden club that gives +1 with singlehand weapons, so i can easily switch between the original twohanded sword +1 level and shield and a single hand weapon.

While i can spend the rest of the points into defense and achieving second level of Air magic, which gives me enough slots to last throughout the beta. Since i am finding better and better weapons all the time - the increases of 10% i get from investing points into weapons are not that necessary at all.


This is all quite good for the Normal difficulty.



***



The fight with orcs has been improved. Now there are new mines, which require at least 8 Perception to see and a new group of orcs on the left side, after you pass the mined area.
None of my characters has high Perception, but i managed to find three different pieces of equipment with + 1 perception, which i switch to when i need.

I can either fight that new group in a narrow area full of oil barrels, or i can lure them into the mine field. Not any kind of actual challenge, but it is fun.

The main group is also surrounded with various barrels, there is a big pool of water and some chests with half a dozen arrows, if you need some extra arrows at that point.
Which you dont since, special arrows are overabundant through the start of the game.


The fight at the entrance to the Cove is a bit more difficult now, but because there is so many barrels (and i can bring my own to the fight too) - it pretty much ends as soon as i remove the Orc wizard.
Which, with all those barrels and my arrows is not a problem at all.

The huge Ors still stays behind and doesnt act for the most of the fight.
When he does he usually misses everyone with those salvos from his crossbow.


- Again, pretty much what you expect at Normal difficulty, except that big orc not acting or doing anything much, which should be and of course will be corrected.


***


But on the inside things are still the same as they were before.
As far as i can tell, the inside of the Black Cove is running in easy mode. Very, very easy.

None of the Pirates present any challenge, not the first ones fighting orcs nor the later ones. There is a barrel of oil right next to Pontius, while that pyromancer undead mage of his doesnt do anything and actually attacks me in melee style.

If it wasnt for the archers i could just walk through that without thinking.
But even that isnt difficult for my two Hunter team.

The only nuisance is the bugged black cloud of smoke that gets created from that burning oil, which prevents me from targeting anyone inside or behind it, while enemies shoot through without any problems.


****


The Source abominations:

Are all relatively easy. Especially if you use any fire spells, such as Firefly - which i intentionally avoid for this playthrough. I only use the steam cloud arrows, exploding arrows and a few small fireball scrolls that i found. (which just help but dont win the fights)

The first abomination can present some moderate challenge, but nothing really serious - if i intentionally gimp myself in these ways. I intentionally didnt use any fire at all on it.


The second and the third one, behind the black doors are just laughable.
The big crab dies from a few whacks with a sword, the second huge Spider - crab didnt even damage me.

It has that ridiculous "water attack" which just shoots over our heads and does very little damage even when it hits, and then it just stand there, taking damage - not being able to kill even my little summoned spider.

I even managed to knock it down easily.
Which just looks very bad.


Since that thing has supposedly killed two whole dragons - while the remains of the third one can also be seen down there - it obviously needs to be improved even for the Normal Mode.
(immune to knockdown - surely?)



Joined: Jan 2014
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jan 2014
I'm not interested in or even remotely excited by the prospect of reserving harder difficulty modes for DLC or later release. Difficulty settings are pretty standard stuff you expect to find in games, and I want to have an enjoyable experience the *first* time I go through the game. I don't want to have to go through the game several times before I can finally access a difficulty mode that finally offers me the challenge I've been longing for.

This is why I'm *sooo* happy that the newest version of Diablo 3 now offers difficulty settings right from the start, rather than the traditional mode for that franchise they originally used (which required you to beat the game first on an easier difficulty level before being allowed to access the next tier of difficulty). When Diablo 3 first released I was forced to go through the whole game on what felt like kiddy-mode. I never even came close to dying once. And by the time that was over and I was given access to the next difficulty mode, I was already bored of the game and repeating it wasn't helping.

Divinity : OS needs, in my opinion, to have all its difficulty settings in place for launch. You get one chance to make a first impression on players.. and if you leave them thinking that the game is boring because it's too easy, then you're probably not going to be able to convince many of them to come back if you add or adjust difficulty later on. Likewise (and for the same reasons), you need to offer a setting that is easier for players who are finding the game too difficult. That's why we need a range available from the very start.

Now, before someone argues "ah-ha! but first impressions counting is exactly why you need to delay difficulties until you can get them right!", I will just respond with "No". Delay the release of the game, not the release of the difficulty settings. Because delivering the game in pieces is not going to give a good first impression for the overall game. You can always make the difficulty settings better. Balance adjustments happen post-launch all the time. If the release of the game can't be delayed then you always have balance patching to fall back on. "Fall back on" meaning "last resort", though.. not a shortcut safety-net.

Joined: Apr 2014
C
apprentice
Offline
apprentice
C
Joined: Apr 2014
Originally Posted by Hiver

I am trying to keep this short...


You failed. Miserably.

Joined: Mar 2014
Hiver Offline OP
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
Joined: Mar 2014
At least i provided a simpleton with an "opportunity" to display the depths of his intellect.
That post is actually the shorter version. I know it hurts the braaaainnnz of some like you but, ill just have to live with that realization.


/


Finished the beta yesterday, with the Source Hunters team only.

Few notable fights are:

1. new and improved Evelyn fight,

with all those nice showcase allies of hers, nicely presenting what the game has in store for us.

(ive also avoided going to dr Thelyron secret hut previous to that so i got to see how the plot actually evolves, which is pretty, pretty good generally)


2. new and improved Baron of Bones fight


3. the Burning Legion fights


...aaand... i guess two encounters with ordinary groups of undead, without any barrels near by.

a) That group of three archers, three fighters and a mage that appears in the most northern part of the western area, just behind those house ruins, just above the north-west beach which can be seen in the distance.
approximately here : [Linked Image]

b) Group of three fighter and three or four archers guarding dr. Thelyrons secret hut.
(although i got so much practice with those that i can do it without any of the hunters dying now, most of the time)



***



All these were done without fire magic spells, especially firefly.
- I did use the few fire based arrows my Way-geo-hydro-scoundrel-farer has.
- I did use various barrels as opportunities to create some burning surfaces of course.

All these were done without especially studying the system in details, or any min-maxing, crafting, or abusing any of the systems.

Just regular most ordinary play style.


***


When im playing with both companions these are the fights that actually force me to use special arrows and actually think about what im doing. The rest comes down to shooting barrels, spamming Firefly and heal spells and potions.

The Ai is pretty decent in all of these situations. The only criticism i can make for it is that it concentrates on attacking my summons a bit too much, although there are some difference there, from fight to the fight, but not that much.

I think that would be something that could serve nicely as a mechanic that can be tweaked more for the Hard difficulty.

Ai in the normal fights leaves much to be desired. Enemy mages obviously have less spells then they should and of the lower levels then they should, while archers have a very limited numbers of special arrows.

- the gang guarding dr. Thelyrons hut uses charming arrows and that is just super awesome! :P

I mean it. I had a match of charming Scarlet back and forth with one of them. When i charm one of the fighters, the archers charm them back, and they do go for my spider, Source Hunters themselves, or companions if present.

Cheeky bastards. I love that.



Joined: Nov 2010
Location: VA
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
Joined: Nov 2010
Location: VA
Hiver,

Any game played through 3 times will be very very easy. I doubt it that when you played game very first time it was very very easy for you. Thats the nature of all the video games. as more you play as more accustomed you become and as better you learn game's features.

The big problem here is if Larian listens to you and those like you who played game through 3-4 times and then adjust the game difficulty to your liking the game will pretty much become impossibly difficult for the rest of the players.

I played it through once on normal and no its not very very easy. It does become easier as higher level you become but this doesn't mean that game is very very easy. Game became much easier on higher levels and very easy in the end only because there was nothing else to fight on the map.

Questing in D:OS is pretty much a mess. So most of the people will end up just exploring and killing things and getting new loot and abilities with a few hardcore players trying to get every quest done too. So I believe with a bit of tuning and giving us ALL the promised content on release will balance things out a bit.

Understanding of challenge is different for different people. Thats why there are difficulty levels in game. But devs still have to balance the things around in game because when your team are level 7-8 you can pretty much kill anything on the map without any danger of losing any of the team members.

Thats why this Beta map I believe has bosses that can't be taken on until later levels. So things just need to get a bit balanced. But game is not very very easy unless of course you played it 3 times through and know it as good as back of your hand.

Joined: Nov 2010
Location: VA
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
Joined: Nov 2010
Location: VA
Originally Posted by Ellary
*sighs* the difficulty slider is not even working yet, you do know this right?

Also you mentioned play through..so you know pretty much where to go and what to get. New players who will be buying and playing the game for the first time will not know this..If Larian made the game for just a small handful of people..their sales would be horrible O.O

Wait until the difficulty slider is working~


Yeah a few people here unfortunately think that game is only made for them and needs to be adjusted to their level of playability and it should make it interesting for everyone else. Fortunately, LS knows better. They probably should make those fights especially bosses as challenging as possible but that challenge should diminish on lower difficulty levels.

Its a standard for difficulty levels:

Easy: Players without much of experience of turn based "BD" like games who only wants to enjoy the story. (This means that questing needs to be fixed)

Medium: Semi experienced players of this type of game. Monsters have normal health, dont use many special abilities and their attacks are not very powerful.

Hard: For experienced players only. Monsters have above average health, they have increased amount of special abilities and their attacks are quite powerful. Using crafting and battle tactics is adviced. At this level monsters drop better loot.

Nightmare: For hardcore players who look for extreme challenge. Monsters have 2x of health and use all the powerful abilities from the arsenal similar to the player at a given level and their atracks are 2x stronger than normal. Using crafting and battle tactics is mandatory. At this level monsters drop the best loot available in game but every mistake you make will cost your a wipe.

Last edited by Dragomist; 25/05/14 03:35 PM.
Joined: Jan 2014
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jan 2014
Originally Posted by Dragomist
The big problem here is if Larian listens to you and those like you who played game through 3-4 times and then adjust the game difficulty to your liking the game will pretty much become impossibly difficult for the rest of the players.


Careful, I used that reasonable logic recently and a troll had a field day with it.

But you're absolutely right.. the early parts of the game on the lower difficulty settings need to be tuned for the new player, not the tester who has gone through the content umpteen times.

Originally Posted by Dragomist

Hard: For experienced players only. Monsters have above average health, they have increased amount of special abilities and their attacks are quite powerful. Using crafting and battle tactics is adviced. At this level monsters drop better loot.

Nightmare: For hardcore players who look for extreme challenge. Monsters have 2x of health and use all the powerful abilities from the arsenal similar to the player at a given level and their atracks are 2x stronger than normal. Using crafting and battle tactics is mandatory. At this level monsters drop the best loot available in game but every mistake you make will cost your a wipe.


However, this part I disagree with (the loot improvements, specifically). The problem is I choose harder difficulty settings because I'm seeking a more challenging experience. When you reward players for using it with better loot, two things happen:

1) The better loot makes the game easier, which is exactly the opposite of the reason I'm playing that difficulty setting.

2) Every player feels they need to play on that difficulty setting to get the "true" rewards, and then complaints about the difficulty end up resulting in nerfs.

I just want a difficulty setting that makes the game more difficult, where the "reward" is more challenging gameplay for people who enjoy challenges.

Joined: Mar 2014
Hiver Offline OP
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
Joined: Mar 2014
Ah, two posters who either dont understand what they read, or they simply dont read (because its too difficult for their brainz) - and then write comments based on what they just imagine it must be...

think

Gyson ofcourse cant do anything else but confirm he is nothing more then village idiot anyway.

There really should be some special internet for people like you. And im being generous there.


Dragomist, i would say that you completely misunderstood what i said but ... you didnt really read any of it. You just read the title and then imagined what im saying , and then made that reply practically to yourself.

Which, as it turns out, makes that post of your completely silly

if im going to be kind there.


Joined: May 2014
J
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
J
Joined: May 2014
Originally Posted by Hiver
Ah, two posters who either dont understand what they read, or they simply dont read (because its too difficult for their brainz) - and then write comments based on what they just imagine it must be...

think

Gyson ofcourse cant do anything else but confirm he is nothing more then village idiot anyway.

There really should be some special internet for people like you. And im being generous there.


Dragomist, i would say that you completely misunderstood what i said but ... you didnt really read any of it. You just read the title and then imagined what im saying , and then made that reply practically to yourself.

Which, as it turns out, makes that post of your completely silly

if im going to be kind there.



Hiver why do you persist in berating other posters? Rather than even address their concerns you continue to make personal attacks. Neither of these posters have said anything derogatory to you in this thread.

In addition, people will have views different from your own. I'm not sure you've come to fully grasp this concept, given your posting history.

In order to be a commercial success, games need to cater to a large portion of players, and not a select population. You can ask for this game to be an "old school hardcore" RPG all you want, but if that results in a higher perceived difficulty it could ultimately turn off newer players. In turn, sales may suffer. Since Larian is making this game to turn a profit, it is in their best interests to make this game accessible and fun to a large majority.

This is all any of us have been saying all along. Getting one shotted or nearly one shotted by an arrow at level 2-3 is simply not fun for a beginner. Save that kind of damage for later when a player has a full understanding and grasp of the combat system. Like many of us have said, it's all about progression of difficulty, specifically for a newer player.

Joined: Mar 2014
Hiver Offline OP
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
Joined: Mar 2014
Anyone that wants to respond to my post should at least read it.

Its not a personal attack to say they didnt read it and that they are talking utter gibberish and nonsense - when they obviously didnt. The same as you.

No amount of invented accusation about my "behavior" and your poor innocent victimization schlock makes that any different. You are not "other posters" or "people" or anything else but two or three simpletons who cant even read. Who actually dont want to - because those piles of bullshit you just invent in your heads feel better for you.

And serves as excuse to spam my thread with idiotic accusations and dimwit insults - that you imagine are somehow warranted.
Because i just dont accept whatever comes falling out of those heads of yours.


Stop imagining you can invent whatever stupid shit you want, post it in my threads or in replies to me - and then not get a deserving answer back.

Like this pearl of ingenuity:
Quote

In addition, people will have views different from your own. I'm not sure you've come to fully grasp this concept, given your posting history.


People have different opinions then my all the time about anything. Its not a problem at all. Yet you dont belong to that group.

You belong in the village idiot group with gyson there.

The pathetic group of halwits and dimwits who just cant figure out how can it be that there is someone who has a different opinion then you.

And since you are so brain-damaged you cant even figure out that those idiotic accusation you splurge around are just psychological projections of your own glaring obvious faults and brain-logic malfunctions.


Stop polluting my threads you dont even read or cannot understand because of your psychological problems and go write that garbage somewhere else.



Page 1 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6

Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5