Yeah, don't get me wrong, I'm not totally opposed to PvP. I give it a fair shot when it comes up. I just want it to be a minor, side element of the game since, again, PvP is kinda broken in Souls games. If it weren't for shit like lag-stabs, I'd probably give it a more serious attempt.

 

Dedicated servers should fix most lag issues. Also if you're referring to back-stabs/parrying (I think you are, not sure though) have been changed pretty drastically.

 

If you want balanced PvP, you best be heading off to playing fighter games, because balance isn't really that much of a sought out thing in regular games, not even those with an online element to them.

Personally? I loved every bit of DeS and DaS PvP, albeit I preferred the latter because it didn't have the almost-instant heal x99 grass of five different varieties. Unless you were playing against someone who either edited their character or their save game. Then it was time to pull out the one-hit-curse dagger out from the backpack and shank the bitch. God I love playing on PC.

As for DaS 2 PvP, it is a bit odd that there would be so much, somewhat, forced online interaction, but I believe it doesn't necessarily mean you'll get invaded 24/7 when you play the game. I remember reading that players with high sin, however that is accumulated, will get invaded more often.

 

Cyrogen your profile picture is rad as heck. That band is amazing.

Sin was accumulated in DaS1 by killing NPC's, breaking covenants, invading other players and some miscellaneous actions like hitting gwynevere. I intend to do all those things.

 

Seeing as NPCs, important ones at least, can be brought back via that tombstone summoning, I'm not sure if that one will count. Perhaps it will just be related to invading and killing other players.

 

A Walmart in Georgia fucked up:

 

I am talking about backstabs, yes. Specifically backstabs by people who are not, to your knowledge, behind you.

EDIT: Also, no, dedicated servers will not fix the problem. I can't speak for Dark Souls, but Demon's Souls had dedicated servers, and it also had lag issues out the ass.

 

Demons souls was a very small game compared to Dark Souls, it was really only intended for Japan and a small niche market at that. Dark Souls was an experiment in many ways, which is one of the reasons I admire From for making it. They tried out a totally different method to see how it worked, and they tried out a totally new platform purely because people asked for it.

I'm reasonably sure the netcode will be a lot better considering one of the main focuses of the game is, and I quote, "The connection players feel with other players". Also backstabs were a mechanic with somewhat of a hidden depth. At low knowledge of how they work, they are unpredictable and frustrating, but when you actually have a lot of experience with them, they are still unpredictable and frustrating but you can usually work around them and protect yourself from them, most of the time.

 

I'm not going to rule that out. I'm just pointing out that based on their history, I don't trust them to do it right this time. This being just one reason why their decision to make invasions a constant threat is a bad move (others tending more toward my own preferences and shit like the fact that I'm going to be running a PvE build)

 

I don't want to be a downer, but according to a friend of SotK, the dedicated servers only help make connections. After the connection is made it will still be a peer-to-peer system. Laggy matches may still be a real possibility. But you can set connections to be regional, if I remember right.

There wasn't any lag in the beta test, for what that's worth.

As for invasion priority, I would expect invasions at fully hollowed form would be rare. And if you really, really hate pvp you can join that blue covenant and have someone fight for/with you. Combine this with serious attempts to avoid twinked players and it probably won't be so bad.

PVP is fun though, and I would suggest dicking around in the forest. Most invaders there are fairly low levels and not that great to boot.

EDIT: On Dark Souls 2 fight club after PC release: count me in.

 

I've gotta ask, have you seen how they handle backstabs now? It seems that if you get lag stabbed, you'd have a teleporting invader anyways.

 

You'd think so, but that's not really how it happened when I got lag-stabbed during my last run. Dude was in front of me, then suddenly I was getting backstabbed. It's...very strange. He wasn't teleporting around at all prior to this.

Anyway, we've discussed this to death by now. Let's talk about other things. What kind of characters are you guys thinking of building for your first run of DaS2? For my recent DeS and DaS replays I tried to do a dex/archery build, where I tried to use a bow whenever I felt I reasonably could. I probably could have used it more often, but it was interesting. I'm thinking I'm going to try to do that for this game, too, and I'm really hoping they reworked bows enough that they're a little more viable as a primary attack weapon, but who knows.

 

Crit builds were my favourite in DkS, so I may try one of those right off the bat, though they may not be as viable anymore. Most likely though I'll begin with an omni-build and feel out the mechanics/weapon move sets before settling into a niche build. If From stays true to form, I'll probably rely on Dex and rolling a lot once again.

Speaking of which, anyone know if Strength builds are more useful?

 

Bows are definitely more viable, you can now move while charging your shot and there were some other changes I believe, so yes you'll be more able to use them. Heavy strength weapons also received some minor buffs, like the ability to parry and riposte with the weapon alone. But there still remains the issue of STR weapons being mostly big heavy things that require a lot of endurance in order to wield properly and will most likely be once again slower than other weapons.

My first build will probably be inventor, the new class that starts with a bunch of items. As for builds, I'll probably try to go for a dex/adaptability and maybe some intelligence for spells if they turn out to be strong.

 

For what it's worth, Equip Load is tied to Vitality now, and it seems like damn near every stat increases max HP too, so that should help a strength build a lot. Get a comfortable amount of stamina from Endurance, then pump everything into Vit and Str.

This still relies on the weapons being good, of course.

 

God, I fucking hate this more than a month long gap between console and PC release.

Mainly because spoilers are flowing out like crazy, due to the 360 and PS3 versions of the game breaking street date and streams are already a regular thing. Hell, one guy already went into NG+, from what I've been told, and he did it without even rushing the game.

I'm afraid that by the time the game does come out for PC, there'll be nothing left unknown to me about the game.

 

So don't read about the game then?


So I've been thinking about getting this game. Should I get the PS3 version or wait for the PC one? I heard they had problems with the DS1 PC version.

 

Another site I visit kind of makes it a bit impossible, I'm afraid.

Oh and as for the folks planning on playing it on console, here's a bit of a warning: there's already mule save files out there.

Note: picture contains spoiler-ish stuff, so take a gander at your own discretion.

http://i.imgur.com/SAGmCdK.jpg

 

DS1 was a port because the fans wanted it - this time they made the PC version alongside the game so heres hoping its a lot better optimised.

I'm going to be waiting for PC, because I dont own any consoles, and avoiding spoilers. I'll probably have to stop reading this thread when people start posting actual game experiences haha. It'll be worth the months wait.

Speaking of the wait, I preordered the game yesterday and the counter lady told me the date was may 31st. I think that was just the store making a safe guess. April please.

 

You preordered the PC version from a brick and mortar store...?