{"id":1634976,"date":"2026-07-15T16:40:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/Zx2Q6VQsgvy5LqkvxWrr58"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:40:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:40:58","slug":"rpg-players-are-conditioned-to-think-theyre-built-different-says-josh-sawyer-so-some-of-them-hate-it-when-games-like-pillars-of-eternity-tell-them-they-cant-do-something","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/rpg-players-are-conditioned-to-think-theyre-built-different-says-josh-sawyer-so-some-of-them-hate-it-when-games-like-pillars-of-eternity-tell-them-they-cant-do-something\/","title":{"rendered":"RPG players are conditioned to think they’re ‘built different’, says Josh Sawyer, so some of them hate it when games like Pillars of Eternity tell them they can’t do something"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is the current #40 on the PC Gamer Top 100<\/a> and one of my personal favourite RPGs of all time. Somehow, though, it does have its detractors. Most notably, a vocal contingent who felt that the game’s ending didn’t live up to their expectations (spoilers for Deadfire follow).<\/p>\n

Deadfire’s plot revolves around the reawakening of the only-mostly-dead god Eothas and your quest to stop him from doing whatever mad, damaging, irreversible thing it is he’s set his mind on doing. But bad luck, because he’s a god and you’re just a (admittedly powerful) guy. When it comes time for the showdown, you realise you never had a chance of even hindering<\/em> Eothas, let alone stopping him. To a lot of players, that was an unsatisfying resolution.<\/p>\n

In a recent chat with The Examined Game<\/a>, Deadfire director Josh Sawyer reflected a little on what he was going for with Eothas’ story in the game, and on players’ responses to it. “You can’t stop Eothas,” said Sawyer. “You’re kind of told that point blank, and we also try to telegraph that he’s way beyond the ability to physically do anything to, but players are very conditioned by a lot of RPGs to expect, like ‘Yeah, but I’m built different'”.<\/p>\n

But that expectation runs into the rocks in Deadfire. “You can help ameliorate damage, and you can make a bunch of very important decisions that have truly huge impacts, but you can’t stop him.<\/p>\n

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