PoE2 Deadfire party size reduced to 5

[Rupert Giles]

I pray to the RPG gods that Obsidian changes the party size to back to 6 total(instead of 5) in their upcoming game PoE2. Please reconsider. By removing just one member ruduces the tactical feel by some margin. The tactical combat was the best part of the game in my opinion. So much for Infinity Engine feel?

[Armanz]

You haven't played the game yet, so you cannot judge. They introduce multiclasses in the sequel and will have their reasons to reduce party size. They are not stupid and know exactly how the fanbase thinks. They wouldn't reduce the party size without solid reasons.

[Chigen Atomic]

I got a feeling with the new graphics and updated engine, that the game bogged down frequently with a full 6 party crew.

[Rupert Giles]

It's just my personal preference. With games like Origanl Sin and Dragon Age, I always wish I could have had bigger parties. My thinking is, games with heavy stories I usually only do one play through. So it gives me more experience with different classes to see how they all play. But, that said, I will still purchase PoE2.

[Burusagi]

I frequently ran playthroughs of Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate with less than a full 6-man party (just my favourite companions and stuff).

3-man Icewind Dale parties were my favourite: you start out weaker but since there are less people to share in the loot/exp, you quickly catch up with each character being a bit more powerful than in a 6-man party.

I honestly don't see an issue with it.

[Rin]

The number of people does not matter much as long as you can form them into a effective party. And when their abilities are properly balanced and can be made to support each other then it will work no matter if it is three people, five people or twenty people.

[Bob3]

If you want a new 6 man party CRPG, then wait for pathfinder kingmaker. That game looks like it's going to turn out great, especially if you're a fan of the D&D style system from BG and Neverwinter nights. Chris Avellone is writing for it.

As for PoE2, Josh Sawyer said that they're sticking to 5 party members no matter what, so you will have to deal with that.

[Free Luigi M.]

I would have preferred it if they went as low as 4 to be honest.
The amount of things you can do does not mean automatically "more tactics". Tactical gameplay benefits just as much from choices and limited opportunities.

[Armanz]

4 would be terrible imho. I played Tyranny and it bugged me so much. I'm not a fan of the 5 man idea myself, I was just trying to point out that they have reasons to do this, they know they would piss off fans if they reduced it for the sake of reducing it. If it plays out good (which is what im expecting) 5 might be as good in poe2 as 6 in poe1 for the reason i gave in my earlier post. Just dont further reduce it after that, obsidian. im watching you.

[Gregorovitch]

The feeling on the Obsidian board about this is about 50/50 between those expressing concern and those saying "Wait and see, we can't tell yet".

Practically nobody either positively supports the 5 limit or can put into words really why 5 is better than 6 gameplay-wise.

Josh has been pretty adamant that he's sticking to this 5 plan. But I get the sense that it's not abolutely and completely cast in stone. I think he will only change his mind if a largish majority of the private beta backers say the game plays too much like Tyranny and not enough like PoE1 becasue of the change and they don't like it.

[Gummiel]

Originally posted by Gregorovitch:

The feeling on the Obsidian board about this is about 50/50 between those expressing concern and those saying "Wait and see, we can't tell yet".

Practically nobody either positively supports the 5 limit or can put into words really why 5 is better than 6 gameplay-wise.

The reason noone on EITHER side can give a reason is that the perfect size of a party in ANY game depend HEAVILY on pretty much every other system in the game, including but not limtied to, the amount of enemies you will be facing, the amount of CC and how potent it is, how specialised the classes are etc etc etc

[Rin]

Originally posted by Gregorovitch:

The feeling on the Obsidian board about this is about 50/50 between those expressing concern and those saying "Wait and see, we can't tell yet".

Practically nobody either positively supports the 5 limit or can put into words really why 5 is better than 6 gameplay-wise.

Josh has been pretty adamant that he's sticking to this 5 plan. But I get the sense that it's not abolutely and completely cast in stone. I think he will only change his mind if a largish majority of the private beta backers say the game plays too much like Tyranny and not enough like PoE1 becasue of the change and they don't like it.

Saying it plays more like Tyranny is something I would consider a very positive development. If they take what they learend form Tyranny ... especially the story-driven gameplay and characters ... and apply them to a game the size of PoE then that has the potential to be really awesome.

Now of course I hope they take those elements of Tyranny and apply them to PoE2. The size of the group is something I consider meaningless compared to the important parts of gameplay and story. Since when they decid it to be 5 then 5 will be enough. If they decide it to be 3 then 3 will be enough and if they go for 6 then the game will be balanced for 6. Such complains always strike me a bit as wanting to have the exact same thing again and not looking forward to a new game that expands on the old and might have the lessons applied the developers learned form the first game.

If I wanted the same then I would go and replay the first game and the devs could save all the money they invest into giving us something new.

[Gregorovitch]

Originally posted by Rin:

Saying it plays more like Tyranny is something I would consider a very positive development.

For me it would be the kiss of death. There's a few things in Tyranny I liked, it's not the worst game ever made, but the character development system and most particularly the comat is not what I'm looking for. For me it's not even in the same league as PoE. I guess we are just looking for differnt things.

[Bob3]

Originally posted by Gregorovitch:

Originally posted by Rin:

Saying it plays more like Tyranny is something I would consider a very positive development.

For me it would be the kiss of death. There's a few things in Tyranny I liked, it's not the worst game ever made, but the character development system and most particularly the comat is not what I'm looking for. For me it's not even in the same league as PoE. I guess we are just looking for differnt things.

Agreed. If this takes any inspiration for Tyranny, then I'll be disappointed. And I like Tyranny btw (despite some of its nagging flaws).

[Drake]

I just hope they don't reuse the TES-like skill progression, it doesn't really fit a game where you have a limited amount of xp.
5 party members are okay, as long as it's not 4, that would be way to few for people wanting to make exotic teams.

[Rupert Giles]

In my opinion you have more choices with 6 versus 5 party members. Unless they add 20% more skills to each character to make up the lost of choice. I would have prefered maybe even 8 just for more options in combat. But, it would have been a chore for inventory management. lol
Another thing to consider is having less interaction between the members of the party, which was really neat in PoE.
Maybe they are removing the 6th member to help lessen load times?