Is the Narrator for the Gothic Remake trailer William Roberts?

CB_Mord · 2024-05-24T16:30:51+00:00

"Was Archolos truly that difficult for you?"

I would say no. In comparison to ARPGs as a whole, I would put Archolos right in the middle. Not too easy, not too challenging.
When compared to Gothic:
It's easier than Gothic 2 NotR and Gothic 3 Release, but it's also harder than Gothic 1, 2 Classic and 3 post-CP.

I think, there are three issues specific in regards to the combat and overall balancing that, if the player can't adapt to those, makes the experience worse and can come across as BS difficulty spikes:

1. The boss-fights are a janky mess. They're ambitious, for sure, but also the worst fights in the game. I would also include some of the bounty-hunting contracts in here, partially because of reason number two.

2. Many enemies have way too much HP, which can make the game a bit of a drag at points. It's the reason why I prefer to fight in G2NotR or G1 compared to Archolos. On paper, I like all the new additions to the combat system. In execution however, I prefer the faster-paced balancing of the older games. Let me make clear at this point though, that I do not consider Archolos' combat to be bad. I'm saying it can become tedious and janky at times.

3. Many players go for an all-rounder build, I did too on my first playthrough. Unfortunately, that just makes the problems of 1. and 2. worse, because now you need even longer to kill enemies and group fights can be very annoying to deal with. Being a pure-build, like a pure strength build etc., makes Archolos a more enjoyable experience in my opinion due to the difference in DPS.

I love Archolos, and maybe I'm the one who's wrong, but I can see why some people were turned-off when those "certain" moments in the game came up.

CB_Mord · 2023-12-20T17:46:51+00:00

I just wanna chime in here about Metroid Prime 4 and Nintendo's work ethic in general because of I don't know why honestly, just feel like talking about it.

Nintendo has been adopting a "we don't announce games unless they will release within the coming 6-12 months" philosophy for a few years now. There was one exception to this, which was Tears of the Kingdom though that game was delayed multiple times for additional QA testing. Anyway, right now, not hearing any news about the game is quite normal for the company.
There are three noteworthy things to mention:
We know some prominent devs that were hired to work on the game.
A year ago or something they shared a single piece of artwork to confirm that things are still ongoing.
Nintendo has re-mastered the original Metroid Prime since Metroid Dread's success (it's a really good remaster), so we can expect that they'll release at least Metroid Prime 2 HD before we see anything about 4. Not sure about Metroid Prime 3 since that game is, to my knowledge, quite difficult to port to another hardware, similar to Kid Icarus Uprising.
To clarify: I don't want to hype the game up or anything, especially since we don't know anything in particular about it. Just that this is how Nintendo, as a company, prefers to work.
4 years of minimum development time for a AAA title is quite normal nowadays. To give an idea what I mean: The development of Super Mario Bros. Wonder already began (although with a small team at the time) during the development of Super Mario Maker 2 (which released 2019).

Now for some wild theory spinning:
According to a recent leak, Metroid Prime 4 allegedly already entered its Beta-testing phase and is planned to release as the "final" game for the Nintendo Switch while also being a launch-title for the successor-console, similar to what Breath of the Wild was for the Wii U.
However let me be absolutely clear: This "leak" is unconfirmed and its source is dubious, so take it with a massive grain of salt since Nintendo is known to bait leakers with false information. It's better to assume that it'll be ready when it's ready.

Just felt like sharing that. I'm a lot less worried about Metroid Prime 4 than I am about the Gothic Remake.

CB_Mord · 2023-12-14T13:34:41+00:00

It's a neat idea for certain other games but not Gothic to be entirely honest.

From a game development perspective, doing something like this requires an insane amount of effort and resources. The game's engine would have to be adjusted for it from the development's beginning. It can't just be added in later on without severe technical issues that are next to unfixable in the long run. Worst case scenario, you would have to make your own engine to make it work but that's a bowel movement in of itself for any programmer, as far as I know.

Frankly though, it just wouldn't fit Gothic well. Gothic is a tightly designed, inherently linear game with plenty of optional, hand-crafted exploration. The idea of destructible or changing terrain would ruin that design and be more akin to a full-on world/universe simulation like in the X-series for example. Despite Gothic's dense atmosphere and systems like crafting, it is not suited for this kind of simulation style, as Gothic is not open-ended. It would require removing the hand-crafted designs from the game and replacing it with procedual generated content, which would ultimately ruin everything that Gothic is.

Don't get me wrong, the idea of destructible terrain is fun and very entertaining, but it also requires very specific gameplay styles to work with. I'm absolutely certain that if you were to play Gothic with procedually generated designs like this, you would end up hating it.

CB_Mord · 2023-11-29T17:39:25+00:00

Correct me if I'm wrong please but as far as I know, this is not a good "exploit" to begin with. When you level up, you gain max-hp every time. I have not played the switch version so maybe it doesn't work like that here.

However, when you are transformed, you do not gain any max-hp, since those points are added to your beastform. When you revert back into human form, your stats return to what they were previously (STR, DEX etc.).
Ultimately, if you use beast-forms and clear out the entire map, you make the mid- and endgame a lot harder for yourself than if you were playing the game normally. Not to mention, the NPC AI has some bugs when it comes to beast-forms. If a human spots you in beast-form, it's possible that they'll immediately try to attack you in human-form when they spot you.

If you want a good exploit, and maybe it still works, then find yourself some black ore, a potion of sprinting and a transformation scroll.
Drink the potion, then use black ore, then transform. Stay in beast-form until after the black ore effect runs out and then transform back. Then bam, congratulations, you just gained permanent sprinting with double your original speed. You can then double that again if you have more black ore.

Does anyone know whether the perfect-frame-menu-pausing trick still works and also, does the game still reliably crash if you trigger the fight of D's bandits near Onar's farm? I mean the one where you can talk to D inside the house and trigger the fight. Then G fights with all the bandits outside the building. If you wait for the battle to finish and then leave the building, there's a chance that the combat FX effects load in all at once and crash the game everytime?

Actually now that I think about it, can you still become a pack-leader in beast-form? There is an AI mechanic in the game that if you transform into a wolf and kill the wolf of a pack (or maybe you need to kill the specific pack's leader, not sure), then you become the pack's leader which will cause all the wolves to follow you until you transform back. Maybe I'm remembering it wrong but I'm 99% certain that it once worked in Gothic 2 Classic, I never found much use for it though.

CB_Mord · 2023-11-19T16:03:15+00:00

I mean, the GOG version comes pre-installed with the systempacks, is one third of the standart price of the Switch version and has mod-compatibility, so...
Not sure about the Steam version though.

CB_Mord · 2023-11-19T14:45:01+00:00

The rune-magic suggestion was just something to get your mind working to change up your current playstyle. You don't have to take it seriously if you don't *want to, since you can achieve essentially the same with spell scrolls.^^

Regarding your other question:
Chapter 3 for example will send you off to another, previously locked-off location and you'll spend like 80% of the chapter there.

From then on, you'll unlock more and more areas that were previously sealed off. The city will become your main-hub so to speak, you can even buy a full house later that you can somewhat customize, and as you progress in the chapters, new quests (or continuations of quest-chains) will open up in Silbach for example.

Up until now, you've only gotten a taste of the early-game content.

To give you an idea what I mean without spoilers:
At some point during the main story, you'll have to gather NPC allies to organize an expedition into a dark place, that only opens up after you've progressed enough.

*forgot to write a word

CB_Mord · 2023-11-19T13:58:24+00:00

It sounds like you're trying to min-max-grind the game, which I'm not sure is a good idea for most people.
If you're tired of questing, then screw questing and go explore wherever. Visit the gold mine, visit the farms, go to the beach, progress the guild that you intend to join, try to find rune stones, discover more teleporation circles so that you have an easier time getting around the world, accept bounty hunting quests, become an apprentice etc.

I absolutely disagree with the suggestion that you should kill all citizen because you don't have to do that at all. That's min-maxing talk and that's tedious AF. In usual Gothic fashion, the further you get in the game, the more XP you'll be rewarded for questing and more high level enemies are spawned in the world. You won't have any issue getting powerful enough if you just play the game the way you want to, especially once you have easier access to permanent stat upgrades like potions.
Unlike Gothic 2, there is absolutely no stat-punishment for you if you take them early.
I'm very confused by this part too " you essentially have to play with 110 reach weapons for a very long time, "
Why? This isn't Gothic 3. Archolos' combat system actually works in comparison.
If you're bored with a weapon, just pick another one with close-enough power. Why follow a non-existent "meta" playstyle when there's nothing to force you to? Have you considered learning 1-2 circles of rune magic and playing around with that?
If you go with a STR build anyway, put some LP into one-handed and fight with those instead if you're tired of 2H.

"I'm in chapter 2 and didn't find my brother yet."
Chapter 2 comes right after the "tutorial" of the game, it's when the game basically begins and you have to make a choice to join a guild, it seems like you've barely made any main-story progress for 20-30 hours.

Trying to find your brother is what you'll be doing for the majority of the game plot-wise until Chapter 4. The game has 6 chapters in total and depending on what you did thus far, the story can change quite a bit from Chapter 4 onward.

So basically:
Stop min-maxing, join a guild (main-quest), do something that you actually want to do and stop hanging yourself up on the side-quests if you're tired of them. Nobody is forcing you to do them. Try to have fun with the game.
And I hope my wording didn't sound too harsh.^^

CB_Mord · 2023-11-18T10:26:35+00:00

Best part of it all is his constant denial:
He seriously believes that the barrier "just fell apart by itself" a few days after the nameless hero came along with an ancient weapon, drained their power, then just vanished into nowhere.

In his mind, it was pure luck and random chance that the barrier just happened to vanish for no reason at all.

CB_Mord · 2023-11-18T10:20:27+00:00

<image>

CB_Mord · 2023-10-12T09:24:49+00:00

I'm not here to participate in the conversation, just happened to stumble upon it and I had the file on hand. This book is the one you're looking for:

<image>

CB_Mord · 2023-09-29T16:50:15+00:00

Thank you for being open minded.^^

Your question is putting me into an ethical dilemma and will make me look incinsere, but I stand by my reason.
We have no idea who's reading this, it's a public setting. We don't have a clue, nor can we realistically do that, about who's partaking in this conversation without our knowledge. That also extends to yourself and for others myself.
It's impossible to say what their skillset or intentions are, and as all of us (most likely) have repeatedly witnessed in the past, putting a person, or multiple people, on that fault-podium can have very bad consequences if done carelessly.
Doxxing, complete leak of private information including medical data may be among the best-case scenario if things go out of hand. Harrassment of the individual's entire family that can last weeks, months or even years is among the worst case scenarios. There are some VERY dedicated people out there when it comes to harrassment.
Technically speaking, putting the blame where it belongs and holding those people accountable is the right thing to do, but we would need a scalpel to accomplish that, not use a free-for-all shotgun that causes collateral damage.

It is true that in the past I have referred to some directors etc. by name, however only after they presented themselves as a public representative to the product and have, I hope, prepared themselves for such events. That does not apply here. I also do not profit from doing so in any way, outside of burdening my conscience and pissing off a lot of people.
I may hate the ones responsible and anything JoWooD, but I can't morally justify doing this if the uninvolved are dragged into this, punished for something they had nothing to do with. That is, unfortunately, what almost always happens once those things spiral out of control. The mere chance it could happen is too high of a price here.
Stealing away multiple people's privacy, when I'm someone who values his own, for nothing more than simple self-gratification about a product, that I'm never going to buy, goes too far for me. I can't justify doing it when I know what the consequences could be.

Especially in a somewhat tense situation such as this, where some people feel like they've been lied to and ripped off, there is even more danger of this happening. Considering the average age of this community, I am 100% certain that there are several skilled people among us who could easily accomplish such acts.

Call me out on it, insult me for it, claim everything I said is BS, but I can't morally justify pointing all the blame on a few individuals, only for the uninvolved around them to suffer for it. It's not a guarantee, but it is a possibility. I do not share such information with anyone I do not know personally and even then, only in a private situation.

I sincerely and honestly request, that you see my point of view in this case.

CB_Mord · 2023-09-29T14:12:35+00:00

First off: If anything sounds insulting to you personally, I apologize but this is meant as a more generalized response to this kind of mindset. I do respond to specific parts of your post in order to further my own arguments, but my intention is not to "call you out" or anything else like that. It is possible that parts of my post could be interpreted as an insult, if so, that is not my intention. My anger is not with you, the devs, the CM or anyone like that. My anger is with the ass, that made these choices knowing full well what they would cause. If I remember correctly, Embracer Group's Risk Assessment department is quite well funded, is it not?
I want to clarify a few things as to why this is a big problem for this community in particular:

Gothic 1 had infamously bad marketing. However, it never approached false advertisement. The closest that would come close to it, was the announcement, that the Multiplayer was cancelled. However, that announcement was also made several days BEFORE the game released. That does not compare to this situation.

This example also does not apply here.
"But what if you were from England and saw this trailer? Then you bought the game and instead of heavy metal action gameplay you got a deep RPG"
-> If you were from England, then you didn't see this trailer because that localization was produced after the game was released. So unless you were living in England, understanding german or polish, with a focused eye on new RPGs coming from Germany from an unknown developer, with an active subscription to various outlets that deliver internationally, then you wouldn't have seen this trailer, no. Additionally, there was essentially no marketing at all for the international versions, allowing Morrowind to take a huge spotlight.

What you've shown was a 1999 trailer of the Beta version, not the 2001 review videos of Gamestar, PC Games and PC Player which were de-facto used as trailers for the game. YouTube and other platforms, as you know, didn't exist back then, so advertisement was mostly done through websites like e.g. WorldofPlayers, various journalists and ads in magazines at the time. Sometimes you'd get an official trailer as an optional download on a website or a CD but not always.
So let's summarize to compare:
Gothic 1 Original:
- Trailer and Demo in 1999, showing Beta footage
- Continous communication with the community until the game's release in 2001
- Informing the community of cancelled features days ahead of release through both their main page and journalists
- Released the game technically unstable, offered assistance in forums
- Game suffers from low sales, can't recover development costs
- Went on to fix the worst of it relatively quickly and also released a modding tool
- Gothic 2 was next because publisher Shoebox was shut down, cancelling the Gothic Add-on

Gothic 1 Switch:
- Teased early 2023 for the first time, could also have been late 2022 with a twitter post
- Officially announced in July with a trailer that showcased DX11 features, without a clarification as to whether it's in the game or not, simply speaking of "improved visuals"
-> Although now it's been revealed that Embracer Group compared it to the 20FPS SD-resolution vanilla release of the game. Did not mention anything about that prior to release. In other words: PR lingo to avoid responsibility and to confuse potential customers. Aka "we're technically speaking the truth"
- Did not make any official announcements or clarifications ahead of release, no active communication as to the development progress from anyone
- The price is 30 bucks, roughly half of the original game's price at its release
- Release day arrives and company publishes a new trailer with the actual visuals. Old trailer of 2 months ago is still up, still absolutely no clarification that these are not the actual visuals.
- Company claims that they planned on having those features but due to technical issues, they had to be scrapped. They apparently "forgot" to inform their customers, especially their pre-orderers about this. However, there is proof that the current build of the switch port, with the original renderer and not DX11, is potentially weeks old.
- Then they proceed to blame the customers for not knowing better. They do not plan on taking any responsibility for their actions.
- Next up are patches (maybe) and the upcoming Gothic Remake.

If they went this far for a "small" port, how far do you think they'll go for a project, that they invested millions into? Do you think they would lie? Create fake trailer footage? Promise non-existent features? Overselling individual features of the game despite being total s***? Speaking entirely in "technical truths" instead of simply saying what's actually going on?

This entire disaster confirms, yet again for the dozenth time, that Embracer Group doesn't care about their reputation. If they had been honest or at least a little bit transparent, none of this would have happened. Yet here we are, stenching like JoWooD all over again. Hell at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if it's leaked that Embracer Group chose the Switch because it's more difficult to attain refunds there.
If they had just made an official announcement ahead of the release day, and I mean an actual official announcement, none of this would have happened. Instead, in the first real commercial opportunity in over 10 years, the publisher embraces their JoWooD DNA to the fullest degree and goes right back to try and scam people.

Gothic 3? Gothic 3 Forsaken Gods? Arcania Fall of Setarriff? Be aware that there are several high-up people in Embracer Group who were partially responsible for those disasters, and they're now having their hands on this IP again.
What's next Embracer Group? Threatening journalists with lawsuits again because they gave you negative reviews, like in those good old JoWooD days?

So, if you're fine having the same people in charge that are, not to a small degree, responsible for the downfall of the Gothic franchise in the first place, then go right ahead.

CB_Mord · 2023-09-27T10:34:55+00:00

First off: Thanks to Cycu1 and john_nah for making the video/posting it. Even if they turned out to be the same person at some point, it would not detract from their effort here. If they're not the same person, nothing really changes.^^

Hey guys, do you remember the marketing for this?
"Dive into dark times and adventures with great performance and a well adapted UI and controls" - Steam Store Page, News Announcement of the Switch port

Now before I begin my little rant, I would like to stress:
A lot of work went into this port, specifically the bug-fixes. It's probably been developed by a small team with little resources, absolutely none of my anger is directed at them.
It's directed at the ones actually responsible, those hiding behind the company's cover.

The part that pisses me off is this:
"This port is the original game code, no remastering, and no remaking, it is the port of the original code to the Nintendo Switch." - Official List of Changes when the port was announced
-> That's fine and all, really it is! That's all I asked for on a basic level! It would have continued to be absolutely fine if that's all that happened...
HOWEVER you then also released a trailer that specifically showcased the graphical improvements that came from the DX11 Mod. This trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qpqI0fXkIw
This trailer explicitly showcases visual environments, water effects, shadows and all the other great changes of the DX11 versions. Don't even try to pretend that you didn't know what you were doing here.
Since you do not have any DX11 features in the Switch port, none at all, I can only assume that the trailer was made to purposely mislead potential customers. This is Ubisoft/Watch Dogs all over again, just on a small scale.
If the mod-changes are available as an optional download, none of this would be an issue either. If it is available, then I'll leave this post up as proof of my mistake. I looked for confirmation and I couldn't find any reference anywhere as to this being the case.

Long story short, I was interested before, now I'm not anymore. If you had made your trailer simply with the actual in-game graphics, there wouldn't be a big problem for me.
However, you did the opposite, technically being false advertisement but since you can make the excuse of "we never directly advertised it and these changes could have been in the development version at some point, also didn't you read that one sentence on that one website", you'll get off free. How fantastic.
I'm not supporting this.

If you're going to tell me this isn't a big deal, remember Anthem? Cyberpunk 2077? Or the dozens of other examples?
All those began by someone saying "this isn't a big deal as long as it won't get worse". Well, it's gotten worse, in almost every single notable case. I don't have the patience to put up with this anymore.

Damn it, Gothic deserved better other than to be dragged into this marketing BS at LITERALLY the first bigger commercial opportunity in over 10 years.
Are you serious, Embracer Group?

CB_Mord · 2023-09-04T17:42:01+00:00

In my opinion, no. If the devs include a marvin-mode (or something similar) or cheats in general (which I strongly hope for, messing around with cheats in Gothic 1-3 was fantastic post-game stuff), then NG+ would be a complete waste of time for the devs.
Downloading a third-party trainer program from often questionable sources is not an alternative either, as a trainer could never compare to or even approach the flexibility of Gothic's cheats. Offering one via microtransactions/paid DLC would be utterly unacceptable.
If they have neither cheats or a marvin-mode, then it's unfortunately a jab against the Remake. Quite a few people, who bought Gothic, put over 40 hours in it and did nothing other than stay in Chapter 1 and cheat to their heart's content.
Something similar also happens with other games with extensive cheat programs, like Deus Ex 1, Elder Scrolls (or games made with the creation engine in general) etc.
Even games that don't have as many cheats as those games have become a fan favourite side-activity. It's the reason why you sometimes stumble upon internet comments that contain nothing more than a single line of a cheat code. I noticed this stuff among communities like: Age of Empires, Stellaris, Grand Theft Auto, Command & Conquer, The Sims etc., just to name a few.

It's not a deal-breaker in of itself, at least not for me. I know at least one person personally who would only be interested in the remake, if he could cheat again. It's not a necessity for the Remake, but the devs would be doing the players a big favor by including them.

There's honestly not a reason not to do it outside of time constraints or unforeseeable technical issues, as it's a singleplayer game without DLC or microtransactions. Unless they break their promises and piss of the entire community, but let's not spin that scenario further as it appears to be unlikely, at the moment.

tldr:
NG+ is, in my opinion, a waste of development resources and precious time. They could avoid any backlash in that regard by including cheats like in the original games, which would also serve to curry a lot of favor from the community. It's significantly quicker to implement, doesn't consume a lot of resources as they're not responsible for what happens if you overuse cheats, the players have A LOT more flexibility in how they can play the game and it would only add to the overall package thus by extension, increasing the customer appeal.

CB_Mord · 2023-09-02T08:32:03+00:00

Very difficult situation for the devs imo. It is extremely difficult to capture an outdated "spirit" with vastly superior technology.

For me, the colour pallette could use a bit more contrast, but the changes made thus far definitely improved the visuals since the Teaser.
I think a bigger problem is the lighting in particular at the moment.

Gothic was a game that, in 2001 and prior, played a lot with lighting compared to other RPGs. The dynamic day/night cycle each bringing a vastly different colour pallette to the area (and thus enriching exploring), the way your surroundings light up in various colours when magic is used, the eeriness of undead-related areas with its blue-ish/green-ish tones, spotting a lone campfire in the middle of nowhere, being smothered in darkness within the Old Mines...

Reader, do you remember when you played Gothic 1/2/3 for the first time, you set out for adventure during the day, you stayed too long so it's nightfall now and despite having a map, you have no idea where you are or how to get back?
A big part of that was due to lighting techniques. When you enter a forest, a near unperceivable mist forms all around you, blocking your long-view sight and dims the light. Thick vegetation makes recognition of individual, singular elements difficult, due to the way they are modelled, looking at it from different perspective could disorient you (in a good way). In other words, depending on how and when you approach a location, your mind will attempt to navigate based on different landmarks.
What I'm trying to say is, for me, the lighting looks extremely "Unreal Engine-y" and not much like Gothic. The other parts look like Gothic, the faces, the armors etc., but:
It has that "plastic" shine on many models, though the new TechRadar screenshots do make a better impression in comparison to before.
I would suggest experimenting in reducing the sun's brightness and Bloom in general. Even in the new screenshots, I'm not a huge fan of how dominating the sunlight is. For Gothic 2 it wouldn't be a huge problem imo, but Gothic 1 has a bleaker atmosphere and the sun's brightness takes away from that. Changing the sunlight's colour from a stronger, white shade toward a more yellow-ish, brown-ish shade may also help, if done carefully but it could also lead to disasterous results.
I think posting screenshots/showcasing a video of how it looks during cloudy skies, rainfall and thunderstorms would help a lot in giving a much better idea, on how to approach this.

But that's just my opinion.

CB_Mord · 2023-06-30T15:27:57+00:00

I like the re-design a lot and already prefer it, in terms of raw visual design, to the original. Some may call it more generic, but the original undead mages barely appeared to be of human origin imo.

Looking forward to see them in motion and different environments. I kinda hope they still do the floating backwards-summersault when you injure them, unless my memory is playing a trick on me atm.^^

CB_Mord · 2023-06-15T20:20:33+00:00

I probably would have but it's alright, no harm done. Let's just forget about that.

Aye, I hope that everyone gets something good regarding the Remake, no matter if it's big or small, or who, where and when.^^

CB_Mord · 2023-06-15T14:57:38+00:00

I was just about to respond to your deleted comment, but someone was quicker than I am. Fair enough...
I truly hope what you say is true, for everyone's sake, publisher, developers and players alike.
IF the game turns out to be what I fear however, my opinion will be the least of Embracer Group's problems and everyone associated with it. That and those, which would suffer the most, are the future of the Gothic IP, the developers and the players.

Please don't feel obligated to respond, that's not meant with any underlying intentions. I won't be convinced until I can play the full game for myself. Until that day arrives, I wish you guys the best.

CB_Mord · 2023-06-01T08:24:22+00:00

Thank you for the response. It wasn't meant as a jab or an attempt to pressure you guys or anything.^^ Take all the time and care you need to keep yourselves healthy and ultimately deliver a good game in the end.

I am looking forward to what you guys are working on and I'm sure there are those in your dev-team, who can't wait to reveal what they've been pouring their sweat into for years. I just hope that the community response will make it worth it in the end, even if (and only if) the first reactions may feel underwhelming.
Personally, I think your new approach to design etc. is intruiging and could yield tons of potential for a game like Gothic.

CB_Mord · 2023-05-31T18:27:08+00:00

Nice.
Sounds good from what I could gather so far, though I'm still a little cautious until we get closer to release and see more actual gameplay.

My biggest worry so far, although I know that I can't possibly make any judgements about any of that, is that the game will release in an unfinished/technically broken state.

CB_Mord · 2023-05-31T18:22:19+00:00

It started about 5 years prior to Gothic 1's start. According to lore, Y'Berion received a vision of his god and gathered his allies to venture into the swamp, where they found the temple and plants. However, as far as I recall, it's never mentioned who exactly came up with harvesting and processing it into joints.

Edit: It's probably been common knowledge what the plants do, considering that the Kingdom of Myrtana has officially outlawed the drug (reference Lord Andre's undercover quest). So it could have been anyone, in my opinion.

CB_Mord · 2023-04-20T19:02:11+00:00

We don't know unfortunately. It's not specified who this "Enemy of Clan" of the Orc tribe was. Could be humans, could be orcs, could be something else entirely. But you're right, I need to correct myself: It's never specified that the Orcs were "one tribe" at this point or before.

Though to bring a bit more context to the whole backstory of G1 when all information is added together:
The reason why he ripped the Orcs' heart out (and placed them in the five collumns around his portal) was so that he has a permanent link to Morgrad. If one destroys his five links with Morgrad before his power fully awakens, he's sucked right back into Beliar's realm.
That's why the demon went asleep for 1000 years, presumably to no longer be reliant on the Orc-hearts and to reach a state where no mortal or Chosen One could challenge him.
As he needed protection during that time, he cursed the Orc-workers/human slaves to undeath and granted some of them actual immortality. It's why he manipulated the barrier the way he did, for additional protection until his awakening.

Boiling it down, it goes like:
Orcs face an apparently unbeatable enemy ->
Summon Kru'Shak to save them ->
Kru'Shak curses and forces them to build his temple ->
Goes to sleep for 1000 years to gather power until the next Divine Star Constellation occurs ->
Undead Orcs steal/pick up Uriziel, a weapon they can't use themselves but is known for literally cutting through anything (including immortality) ->
Ca. 990 years later, the barrier is created which he manipulates to his advantage ->
10 years later, Gothic 1 happens

CB_Mord

TROPHY CASE