Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity Original Sin - Beta Purpose behind the Single/Multiplayer option?

For the small group of regulars here.... it's become a fairly poor forum. Can we learn to put our point down, perhaps a clarifying rebuttal if needed and let it go at that? I don't think we really care what you think in terms of "if it was my game I would" to no end. But it is helpful putting things down in text for Devs to review and if it happens great, if not well you made your point.

They've said they read it all, not that we can't repeat some, but this back and forth which leads to insults. I'm saddened if no one else is.

Why are you sorry? I am grateful for any reply.. we barely know anything about the editor after all.. and I hope to write my own campaign ... but until I see the editor even that is up in the air

For start I would be happy with mods adding to the original campaign if that is even possible

I am not some super awesome writer or anything, just some dude who wants to write a campaign but who was dismayed at the NWN2 toolkit (Where I originally wanted to do this..)

I'll probably lurk and try to do the first step (learning scripting in this editor ,p) and then we'll see... for me the native campaign is just fluff. The real meat is what users make, which will hopefully be on par with NWN's massive amount of (great) modules.

And yeah.. the tone in this topic is a bit "meh" But I hope I wasn't somehow taking part in that

Ps.: I am 3d artist/modeler so yeah... I plan to add/modify models/textures if at all possible too. Sadly for you, animations are the one thing I can not do ;p And I am not sure we'll be able to do them at ALL to begin with, unless larian releases the skeleton they used to animate (if they do that, it'd be relatively easy to add new animations but if they don't we'd have to somehow reverse engineer the skeleton (like what modders had to do with skyrim...)......

Problem is, the small group of residents here are not without their faults. Just look at this thread as an example. We have an innocent opening statement/question posed by me (the thread's author), followed by two responses from two individuals, followed by a calm response from me to provide additional information on the subject.

The very next statement is a regular (Stabbey) posting "who cares". followed by "you must be new to the internet" in a followup post. That doesn't help. That doesn't set threads down the right path.

Then we have Ellary (another regular) hop in and within a handful of posts she's complaining about people ripping the game apart (a complaint she seems to voice in every thread where a concern or question is raised).

We have another thread on the general forum with two new users asking a question, only to be greeted by another forum regular, Darth_Trethon, being his usual charming self by making statements like "too bad so sad", and then oddly wondering "Why do people keep perceiving me as an ass?" after being called out on the snark.

Seriously? This is getting old. There are a variety of personalities on these forums, but for the most part they fall into the following categories:

1) Smart @#$$es who don't like questions/being questioned.
2) People who don't respond well to smart @#$$es and are tired of them.
3) People that just wish the other two categories would just ignore one another.

Personally, I feel that I'm a part of that second group. Unfortunately, there are a lot of folks - a lot of "regulars" - in the first group. And, yes, that is saddening. I'm actually looking forward to release when there are many new personalities (hopefully) flooding this forum, because the current pool of personalities needs dilution badly. It'll be much better if/when a mass of voices drowns that nonsense out.

How many co-op options is Divinity : OS supposed to have besides online (internet)? LAN? Splitscreen?

This is getting old. There are a variety of personalities on these forums, but for the most part they fall into the following categories:

1) Smart @#$$es who don't like questions/being questioned.
2) People who don't respond well to smart @#$$es and are tired of them.
3) People that just wish the other two categories would just ignore one another.

Personally, I feel that I'm a part of that second group.

It is also hard to convey tone online, so comments intended to be in category 2 or 3 can sometimes be interpreted as lower.

The very next statement is a regular (Stabbey) posting "who cares". followed by "you must be new to the internet" in a followup post. That doesn't help. That doesn't set threads down the right path.

I wasn't intending to reply anymore, but now I will anyway.

You were nitpicking about a pair of buttons on the main menu, acting like it was some kind of totally confusing mystery.

I said you must be new to the Internet because you seemed to believe it would not be confusing to only have one "New Game" option, and despite all evidence to the contrary, people would intuitively grasp how to start a multiplayer game.

I have seen various "how do I do XXX" threads on this forum, on the Steam forum, and questions on the in-game chat, and if you don't think people would get confused and ask "how do I start multiplayer", you truly must be new to the Internet. I fully stand by that comment.

The "who cares" was in response to your "there's a redundant button! A redundant button!" - why is having a redundant button a big deal?

Maybe people would be confused and not understand the difference between "new multiplayer game" and "new singleplayer game", thinking they get locked in, but I believe an equal (or greater) number would be confused if there was only one "new game" with no difference between single-player and multiplayer. So I see no net benefit in removing a button.

Your alternative idea seems to be to require people to fiddle with settings in an options menu, which is supposed to be less confusing than two clearly labelled buttons conveniently placed on the main menu. I remain unconvinced by that argument.

EDIT: As I said, I don't even think the button will be redundant, as when the additional multiplayer settings are in place, there probably WILL be differences between clicking "new multiplayer game" and "new singleplayer game"

Why is removing a redundant button a big deal, to the extent of people throwing a fit to defend it?

Well, our experiences are clearly different, as I believe players will typically visit "Options" when looking to setup a multiplayer session *before* clicking "New Game".

Well, moderation will differ from one website's forum to the next, I suppose. But if the Rules of Conduct aren't enforced people will continue to test its limits and break them, and I don't see how that can ever lead to a pleasant atmosphere.

People have been complaining of late (even in this thread) at the degrading quality of discussions here, and I think at least part of that is because users can see what other users are getting away with, and in turn (because of the apparent lack of consequences) they begin to become less mindful of proper etiquette themselves.

Essentially, bad behavior is being encouraged because it's not being penalized. I'm not sure that setup is going to improve with a larger audience come launch.

So now you are going to tell the mods how to mod?

Removing it would cause more problems than leaving it as it is.



The observable feedback from players contradicts your belief.

My opinion differs from your opinion. ... but it's quite another to show proof of it, and you haven't.

Mod tag or no, we both read the same forums and yet appear to be observing different things.

two separate menu options that don't actually do anything beyond temporarily toggling your "Options > Multiplayer" setting.

From this overreaction to your frequent complaints about people leaving feedback (i.e. "ripping apart") on the game, you always seem to paint simple opinions in the worst possible light. That would be why I applied the "drama queen" label to your behavior earlier.



My opinion differs from your opinion. And yes, I'm labeling what you said as an "opinion". It's one thing to state that (paraphrasing) 1) "most people don't bother going into to the options menu" and 2) "most complaints with multiplayer have been about locating it", but it's quite another to show proof of it, and you haven't. So, right now all we have are opinions coming from both sides.

Mod tag or no, we both read the same forums and yet appear to be observing different things. My observation has been that most complaints about locating multiplayer surrounded a point in alpha when Divinity : OS first became available to us. Back then there were no multiplayer options in the menu at all and everything was trial and error through Steam's friend list. And so the questions were understandable.

Thing is, multiplayer is still handled through the same Steam interface. Divinity : OS still lacks the typical multiplayer interface where players can choose Online or LAN play, the ability to enter a host's IP address to connect to is also missing, as is the ability to search for public games to join without the use of a Steam overlay, etc.. These are options I hope we see in the upcoming weeks, and if they do get added then that singleplayer/multiplayer prompt will gain a purpose (as most of those options can be nested behind the multiplayer menu).

That said, even then the "singleplayer" label will be misleading and pointless, as there is no such thing as a true singleplayer game in Divinity. Once your adventure begins you can invite additional players at any point, despite having taken the "singleplayer" route at the menu. A "singleplayer" game is no more singleplayer than a "multiplayer" game where the host simply hasn't invited anyone yet. There is zero difference between the two beyond the fact that they were (for some odd reason) created through two separate menu options that don't actually do anything beyond temporarily toggling your "Options > Multiplayer" setting.

Anyway I think my job is done here,

Well, to be fair, that information you kept repeating had already been repeated by myself in the third response in this thread, long before you arrived, but why quibble over details or the value of reading before diving in. Lessons for the future, I hope!