Baldur's Gate #BaldurGate: Siege of Dragonspear

[Kiste]

I also have to wonder how these people get jobs like this. Tons of English majors looking for work, and they hire this lady who isn't even trying to please the game's fanbase.

Because presumably the whole staff shares her political views. Why WOULDN'T they hire her?

 

[santino27]

I also have to wonder how these people get jobs like this. Tons of English majors looking for work, and they hire this lady who isn't even trying to please the game's fanbase.

Because presumably the whole staff shares her political views. Why WOULDN'T they hire her?

Sharing her views actually isn't a big deal, in my opinion. The problem is that they apparently lacked the insight to realize that poorly written fan fiction with an agenda is inappropriate in an official expansion to a loved 18 year old game.

 

[Mustawd]

I also have to wonder how these people get jobs like this. Tons of English majors looking for work, and they hire this lady who isn't even trying to please the game's fanbase.

Because presumably the whole staff shares her political views. Why WOULDN'T they hire her?

Sharing her views actually isn't a big deal, in my opinion. The problem is that they apparently lacked the insight to realize that poorly written fan fiction with an agenda is inappropriate in an official expansion to a loved 18 year old game.

Well said. Very well said.

 

[Agesilaus]

PoE and NWN2 were both kind of shitty. They can definitely entertain you for the first few hours as you figure things out, but it's a really steep precipice of decline after that. NWN2 was more enjoyable, though, even if the camera was god awful, and combat usually played out like an ultima 7 worthy clusterfuck (sans the fun, because unlike U7 you actually need to try to be involved in the combat beyond simple movement and maybe the odd potion/spell)

 

[Tao]

It's one after another.

http://imgur.com/a/ASid5

That nope is the culmination of a master writer right there

I dont even know what to choose because all the answer anger them XD

Are the journal entries really that short? Like if you check your journal is that all it says?

It say less. That was one of my first let down with this expansion.

What a disappointment. I'm guessing the quests are as simple as the entries then.

Let me rectify a bit, some entries had an expanded tree. I didn't notice because when i clicked the first time only showed the day and time of the entry

http://postimg.org/image/srtfg400h/

 

[pippin]

NWN2 storm of zehir

Zehir (heh, get it) is quite different from the OC and even MotB, a Codex favorite. So much that imo feels like a different game. A fine blueprint for mods that never really came, at least in the same frequency, quality and volume than what we have for NWN1.

 

[Corporate_Jew_Master]

Bad RTwP combat, boring encounters, boring plot, 1-dimensional characters, feminism.

Yep, it's a >2010 sequel alright.

 

[Roguey]

It's good to see that Beamdog backpedaling has resulted in mass triggering elsewhere. "This is acceptable writing, it doesn't need to be changed"--a bunch of dummies

Of course they'd have to scrap a lot more to pique my interest e.g. remove/rewrite cloaked figured scenes, entirely rewrite endgame. Shadows of the Empire (another interquel that was released 16+ years later) this is not. It's amazing how one can fail to meet the low bar of "junk Bioware writing" but they did it.

 

[Ninjerk]

Unless this is unlocked by beating LoB, what an odd thing to hide.

NW2 was more fun than PoE too, its main failure was its camera.

I thought it was one of the worst games ever created, so I doubt I'll share this opinion. I'm sure Pillars has nothing close to the inept creature spawn triggers NWN2 had.

Still begging people to play their game.

 

[Prime Junta]

Haha this shit is gold!

And then they say SJW's are easily triggered :D

 

[BBMorti]

Haha this shit is gold!

And then they say SJW's are easily triggered :D

Read the SWJ's reactions to this on those beamdog forums, they are as triggered as ever :3

 

[Fowyr]

/me skims through thread
waitwaitwait
Someone makes a cRPG in the Baldur's Gate engine ... with trannies ... and the Codex hates it????
damn this place is hard to please

No tastefully done rape, tranny is dumb and there is no secret quest with shitting on the chest.

It's weird people are going "GG just wants good gaming journalism" when every fag I see going along with it is as much of an insane agenda-pushing degenerate as a Kotaku writer.

So you made your 50 post in nine years only to say that you are neutraltard/SJW faggot. Got it.

Yeah. I'm sure the average person who posts about GG on shit like r/KotakuInAction and /v/ are filled non-reactionary and smart people who would never believe conspiracy shit idiot faggots believe in like cultural Marxism or white genocide. All that shit I've seen that supports this were just figments of my imagination.

You say as "reactionary" is something bad. Also white genocide (mostly cultural) is a real thing.

There was a time when those ugly 3D graphics were praised

M&M6 is not Unreal, but it's perfectly OK to this day. Much better than BaK, for example.

 

[DeepOcean]

Alright, decided to grab the "alternative" version to play, dunno if I will be arsed to make a Let's play but right now I'm really annoyed. The starting dungeon isn't even that bad, even if linear and short, I got some fun exploring and getting loot, there is even a hidden puzzle that I tought clever, sometimes I felt I was playing BG 2 again but...

Imagine that BeamDog didn't trust the players to finish the dungeon without getting murdered so they made a squad of two Flamming fists and a healer follow you on the whole dungeon, not happy, BeamDog made Imoen into "Helpful Tutorial Lady.", "Be careful with the traps." "Be careful with the undead.", "Talk with the priest lady so you know to use fire on undead, kiddo."

You can buy all kinds of healing from the healer and you have 30.000 gold AND the flamming fist kick some ass. On the end, you fight a mage lady that die on a single fireball, saying it was underwhelming... Well, it was just the tutorial dungeon but we will see. I was conflicted because the IE feels were there but DeamDog's handholding was infuriating.

Because of the handholding and the barebones exposition on what are you doing, the staring dungeon felt weaker than the BG 2 Irenicus dungeon.

The story... well... you are dumped on a dungeon right away and without much context on what is going on, then I had the feeling that NPCs were telling me over and over what I already knew. Maybe it is BeamDog's handholding striking again but I feel not a single character told me anything new. "No shit there is a crusade going on and refugees and stuff? I would never guess that by looking the streets filled with refugees outside...", "Wot? There are rumours the Shining Lady maybe another Bhaal spawn? No shit, I would never guess that."

It is just very predictable, people tell you it is important to stop the Shinning Lady, so it must be important and there you go (They try to create some drama for you to be personaly involved but I have to say it was very weak). Irenicus and Sarevok had some mystery to them and they had a personality, they felt like a real threat and when BG 1 was released, the whole Bhaal spawn thing was news, it isn't anymore, the Shinning Lady is very distant so far. BG 1 and BG 2 have better hooks.

We will see if Beamdog let go of the railroading and the handholding, the messages you get when a new quest shows up on your journal are hilarious, they are the kind "To put out fire, use water." I will see if the story gets more interesting too.

 

[J_C]

Their problem being, they are a small developer with a specific IP and pander to a very specific crowd. They are not mainstream, they are not big, they don't have corporate shills to protect them and their personal opinions, as distasteful as they might find it, their job is to deliver Baldur's Gate. Nothing more nothing less. Their job is to imitate writers from 20 years ago, not "fix" the game. They failed, because their problem is that they misread their place in the world and who were their customers.

A million times this! Someone should post this to their forums. When they make their own IP like Bioware did with Dragon Age and Mass Effect, they can run it into the ground as much as they want with their SJW bullshit. But when you work with an existing IP, you respect its world, you respect its style and don't implement not fitting elements to it, because it will stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[J_C]

But Might and Magic was on its way out, although 6 was still very popular.

MM6 considered the best in the series right up with Xeen, and 7 is also considered a close runner up. It was nowhere near on its way out.

 

[Baron Dupek]

http://www.pointandclickbait.com/2016/04/gamergate-demands-censorship/

I think that's reliable site, they wrote also this
http://www.pointandclickbait.com/2016/02/transgender-character-breaks-immersion-game/

 

[Kiste]

I also have to wonder how these people get jobs like this. Tons of English majors looking for work, and they hire this lady who isn't even trying to please the game's fanbase.

Because presumably the whole staff shares her political views. Why WOULDN'T they hire her?

Sharing her views actually isn't a big deal, in my opinion. The problem is that they apparently lacked the insight to realize that poorly written fan fiction with an agenda is inappropriate in an official expansion to a loved 18 year old game.

It is a problem when the political views entail the conviction that Western society is really one big oppression machine of intersecting identities run by shitlords - and if you're not part of the solution, you're the problem. "Silence is violence" and all that. It becomes very hard then to not use the pulpit when given even half a chance. And they see nothing wrong with it, they believe to be on the Right Side of History.

Trent: "I also believe in strong female characters and I feel she did an excellent job bringing dimension and interest to Safana"
Amber: "I’m happy to be an SJW and I hope to write many Social Justice Games in the future"
Liam Esler: "I'm very passionate about improving the Australian industry, and take particular interest in advocacy for women and minorities."
David Gayder: "There’s a tendency for every character’s ‘default’ to be straight, white, and male in our industry – and nobody questions that default"
Dee: I don't even know where to start... he certainly is a massive Anita Sarkeesian fanboy

I may not neccessarily have a problem with the idea of representation and inclusion per se but do I believe that this group of hacks can pull it off in a manner that's not preachy and obnoxious? Not really.

 

[J_C]

http://www.pointandclickbait.com/2016/04/gamergate-demands-censorship/

I think that's reliable site, they wrote also this
http://www.pointandclickbait.com/2016/02/transgender-character-breaks-immersion-game/

Well their url tells everything...point and clickbait.

 

[Black]

http://www.pointandclickbait.com/2016/04/gamergate-demands-censorship/

I think that's reliable site, they wrote also this
http://www.pointandclickbait.com/2016/02/transgender-character-breaks-immersion-game/

This site isn't very serious. Kinda like p4rgaming.

 

[Metal Hurlant]

Liam Esler: "I'm very passionate about improving the Australian industry, and take particular interest in advocacy for women and minorities."

Never heard of this guy. This raised an eyebrow from his linkedin profile though:

brought the hugely successful queer gaming convention GaymerX to Australia on Sydney, February 27-28, 2016. The event went fantastically, with 800 tickets issued, almost universally positive feedback and some amazing stories from attendees about how safe, included and welcome they felt.

Not the convention itself. More that it was safe. Why wouldn't they feel safe at a convention?

 

[Black]

They mean safe from dissenting opinions, not physically.

 

[Xzar]

I also have to wonder how these people get jobs like this. Tons of English majors looking for work, and they hire this lady who isn't even trying to please the game's fanbase.

Because presumably the whole staff shares her political views. Why WOULDN'T they hire her?

Sharing her views actually isn't a big deal, in my opinion. The problem is that they apparently lacked the insight to realize that poorly written fan fiction with an agenda is inappropriate in an official expansion to a loved 18 year old game.

It is a problem when the political views entail the conviction that Western society is really one big oppression machine of intersecting identities run by shitlords - and if you're not part of the solution, you're the problem. "Silence is violence" and all that. It becomes very hard then to not use the pulpit when given even half a chance. And they see nothing wrong with it, they believe to be on the Right Side of History.

Trent: "I also believe in strong female characters and I feel she did an excellent job bringing dimension and interest to Safana"
Amber: "I’m happy to be an SJW and I hope to write many Social Justice Games in the future"
Liam Esler: "I'm very passionate about improving the Australian industry, and take particular interest in advocacy for women and minorities."
David Gayder: "There’s a tendency for every character’s ‘default’ to be straight, white, and male in our industry – and nobody questions that default"
Dee: I don't even know where to start... he certainly is a massive Anita Sarkeesian fanboy

I may not neccessarily have a problem with the idea of representation and inclusion per se but do I believe that this group of hacks can pull it off in a manner that's not preachy and obnoxious? Not really.

Thankfully we now have CD Projekt with its massive cultural influence on Anglo-Saxon devs. Hopefully Warhorse joins with its Kingdom Come, although that remains to be seen. Maybe some Japs will grow some balls and refuse to censor their games in the West. Anyway, Anglo-Saxon CRPG devs will never be sole trend setters again, and that gives me hope that these bros will keep their artistic vision in check even if only because of external pressure and competition.

 

[PhantasmaNL]

Their problem being, they are a small developer with a specific IP and pander to a very specific crowd. They are not mainstream, they are not big, they don't have corporate shills to protect them and their personal opinions, as distasteful as they might find it, their job is to deliver Baldur's Gate. Nothing more nothing less. Their job is to imitate writers from 20 years ago, not "fix" the game. They failed, because their problem is that they misread their place in the world and who were their customers.

A million times this! Someone should post this to their forums. When they make their own IP like Bioware did with Dragon Age and Mass Effect, they can run it into the ground as much as they want with their SJW bullshit. But when you work with an existing IP, you respect its world, you respect its style and don't implement not fitting elements to it, because it will stick out like a sore thumb.

Agreed, excellent post, condensing the whole shitstorm into a few to the point sentences. Beamdog should take notes.

Imitate writers from 20 years ago: there is something to that effect in the QA video, where Trent recognizes the challenge of this, and how they will step up to this challenge. Maybe this was before Amber was parachuted in the writer position on the project.

As Atlantico posted also, this should be a first step in a long journey, but probably isnt. The whole thing will be interesting to watch regardless.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Well their url tells everything...point and clickbait.

thatsthejoke.bmp

 

[Parsifarka]

But Might and Magic was on its way out, although 6 was still very popular. Recycling the engine was a big mistake for the franchise. By 6 it looked somewhat old but playable, but by 7 it was just too late, and the game was openly criticized for being lazy in this aspect, and wasn't considered a "top of the line" rpg anymore.

M&M6 was a huge step forward in terms of technology compared to WoX; probably you've confused the numbers and were talking about 7 (somewhat old but playable, the same engine as 6) and 8 (the third M&M in three years, still using the same technology in 2000). Thinking about it, how can Bethesda get away where 3DO failed without having anything close to the talent of NWC?

There was a time when those ugly 3D graphics were praised

Might & Magic VI is fucking beautiful.