Terrible writing and lore

[Zenith]

Usually a pre-reading of the manual for these type of games lights my imagination and gets me excited to play, but with this game it fell flat and just made me want to critique how bad it was. Look at the description of aumaua for example:

"The aumaua are a race of large humanoids that originated and typically live and work in warm oceanic climates."

So how large are they? 10 feet? 15? Why do they live and work in warm oceanic climates? Do they have some physical trait that's suited for it or was that just put in there willy nilly?

"Though they are not the most widely traveled racial group in the world (that distinction belongs to the Calabandran humans), they have been exploring and settling continuously for the longest period of time, over 20,000 years."

So they've been exploring and settling continuously for over 20,000 years yet only to warm oceanic climates? or did the writer forget about that detail. The problem with a statement of fact like 20,000 years is that it pulls me out of the world. I end up looking at the lore from the eyes of the developer instead of through the eyes of an adventurer. I wish they would have had something like Volo's guide from Baldur's Gate 2 as an immersion friendly way of describing the world and lore instead of the info dump we have here.

"Aumaua are physically distinct from other races due to their towering size, 'inverted triangle' physique, odd skin and hair coloration and textures, and head shape."

Terrible writing aside, what is the color of their skin and hair? What is odd about the texture? What type of head shape? Saying it's odd is just lazy. It's like they just printed the rough draft without adding any of the details and called it a day.

It gets funny when we read that the Southern Aumaua "are physiologically similar in many ways, but have coloration that is starkly different from their northern kin." So aumaua have odd skin color but the southern ones are starkly different than the northern. Great. Who wrote this crap? They're doing nothing to create a believable race and it's painfully obvious they're just pulling details out of thin air.

The Godlikes started off sounding cool but my enthusiasm faded when I saw the 4 cookie cutter classes and I did a facepalm when I saw what they looked like in the character creation screen. Apparently subtlety isn't something they're going for in this game.

The Chanter's magical phrases are more akin to something out of Monty Python than a serious fantasy game. I wish they would have used some kind of runic like in Ultima 5 instead of all those hokey phrases.

I could go on and on but basically reading the manual curbed my enthusiasm for this game. It's disappointing because I went through the effort of printing it out on photo paper and making it into a book only to have it be severely underwhelming.

Not a good sign.

[Burakim]

If this is a troll - kudos for the pain / time you spent writing this. If you are serious, then this is creepy. Anyway, I wish you tons of fun toying with all your photo paper printed game manuals.

[Bo0N]

You have a right to your opinion. But that's all it is. I think the game deserves the good reviews it has gotten. I thouroughly enjoy the lore of this game. Its not as indepth as other games. But I think it has a good balance between Story/lore and action.

[Vita, Mortis, Careo]

Best of luck to you in finding a game that you enjoy.

[Gregorovitch]

Level 0/private profile as per usual for this type of post.

Originally posted by Khyron:

Who wrote this crap? They're doing nothing to create a believable race and it's painfully obvious they're just pulling details out of thin air.

Thought that was quite funny though - I mean where else are you going to pull details about a new fictional setting from other than thin air? /facepalm

[Second Batch]

Some parts of the world need real problems.

[Cutlass Jack]

I can't imagine why a race that roughly resembles sharks would live near the water.

[Neshamah]

I think they've done a fine job of creating a fantasy world that is both rich in content, and consistent within itself. It is not an easy task.

It may not be to your liking (speaking to the OP) but some of us like it well enough to devote over 600 hours to it (I'm speaking for myself here). I'm sorry you didn't get the same enjoyment from this fine game that many of us did. All of your reasons for not liking it, however, seem rather trivial and superficial, at least to me they do.

I hope you find a game that meets your demanding standards.

[Zenith]

Originally posted by Burakim:

If this is a troll - kudos for the pain / time you spent writing this. If you are serious, then this is creepy. Anyway, I wish you tons of fun toying with all your photo paper printed game manuals.

I guess you have trouble understanding that some people enjoy things you don't, like writing and having a good qualtiy manual to read. Oh, well.

[Zenith]

Originally posted by Two Bears:

Best of luck to you in finding a game that you enjoy.

I've only played a couple of hours and so far it's pretty good, so it's not like I'm giving up on the game or anything. It just didn't give off a good first impression sicne I always read over the manaul first.

[JuLLe]

Originally posted by Khyron:

Originally posted by Two Bears:

Best of luck to you in finding a game that you enjoy.

I've only played a couple of hours and so far it's pretty good, so it's not like I'm giving up on the game or anything. It just didn't give off a good first impression sicne I always read over the manaul first.

Well, you shouldn't base your opinion on the manual, just keep playing. I'm certain you will enjoy it :D

[Lozzle]

Wait, you can be a shark person in this game?

[madocs]

Hey, his opinions are worth listening to!

I think the Godlikes are a little too different in physiology! I would think they would be better looking less freaky!

The writing doesn't concern me so much.
Is there a world map at all? That would help put the localities in perspective a little!

Chanters phrases may be a little strange perhaps as well.
All critique may be helpful! Even if not agreed with.

[Singrave]

http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Pillars_of_Eternity_Wiki
Lore, map and other stuff.

[Genghis Chron]

Worse than bad, the writing is boring, and reads like some bland wiki page most of the time. And that's not even getting into all the fanfic they filled their own game up with.

This sounds harsh I guess, but I just can't believe PoE was written by the same company that did FNV. Obsidian must be hemoraging their writing tallent I guess, which makes since because even Avellone is gone now

[Singrave]

Obvious troll.