Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 Early Access Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Cryomancer]

2:15 - "tabletop certain things don't translate well to the videogame, so this is the bit that we're working on. We have a lot of ideas but they take time to try out"

Swen keeps saying this but :
1 - Never mentions what doesn't translate well
2 - Nor what they wanna to try

2:50 - I agree. Melee classes are lackluser. Lets hope that they will give more cool stuff to martials instead of taking cool stuff from casters knowning Larian, they will to the second.

 

[Sailor Woedica]

"Combat, predominantly the problem is that with the tabletop certain things don't translate well to the videogame, so this is the bit that we're working on. We have a lot of ideas but they take time to try out."

Translation: we've played Solasta and we're shitting ourselves because we realize they've done a better job translating tabletop to the videogame, so we're going to copy as many of their gameplay ideas as we can and pretend they're our own. This takes time" :D

What's Solasta?

 

[Butter]

"Combat, predominantly the problem is that with the tabletop certain things don't translate well to the videogame, so this is the bit that we're working on. We have a lot of ideas but they take time to try out."

Translation: we've played Solasta and we're shitting ourselves because we realize they've done a better job translating tabletop to the videogame, so we're going to copy as many of their gameplay ideas as we can and pretend they're our own. This takes time" :D

What's Solasta?

It's my heart medication.

 

[Rusty Eyes]

In case anyone still thought that those awful novels are canon - straight from Ed Greenwood.

https://twitter.com/TheEdVerse/status/1396624159363448832

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Let's not pretend Solasta is actually good. It's biggest achievement is not being BG3.

The combat in Solasta is actually pretty fucking satisfying.

 

[AwesomeButton]

This interview sounds very discouraging.

Swen can't even commit for 2022 as a year of release. Yet he keeps blabbering about the amazing reactivity of That One Thing We Did. Oh yeah and D:OS normies don't like our combat, "can't do the things they expect to do" (like what, move barrels?).

He seems to be digging himself into the hole of unplanned rehashing of content and mechanics while adding disproportionate amount of detail into specific parts of the content.

I can see how in 2022 he is out of budget, and the game gets released with the EA areas being in good shape in terms of reactivity and content while the rest of the game is barebones. In other words - just like what he did with D:OS and D:OS2.

 

[The_Mask]

For the weirdos in the crowd: 33 degrees C is 91.4 degrees F.

 

[Larianshill]

Hopefully, what this actually means, Swen is making changes to Reactions. Swen did hint at a dialogue rework in the video, something that would help to cast Guidance during the conversation (Solasta already does that).

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

The entire interview was a whole lot of nothing in the end.
"We are working on things based on people's feedback" (and *which* feedback they are listening exactly could be in itself a cause of concern), but he seems to be adamant about keeping the secret on what these changes would be and I can't help but wonder... What purpose does this serve exactly?

It seems to me like a counterproductive strategy. If your user base is vocally asking for something to be fixed and you are actually listening to them and doing what they asked for (whatever he's referring to) it wouldn't just help to give everyone peace of mind if you were going to be open about it?
Not to mention "We'll give you money upfront and as a trade-off you'll keep us up to date with what's going on" is pretty much the entire premise of an EA.

It doesn't help my optimism that the little he does to elaborate makes it sound like he's more worried about pandering to DOS 2 players than anything else.

The release date doesn't worry me a single bit, on the other hand. In what state the game will release is what I'm concerned with.

 

[Yosharian]

But surely this professional games journalist who works at GAMESPOT pressed Swen for details during the interview? He wouldn't just let him waffle on without giving details. That would be incompetence.

 

[Orud]

Is it me or did he show a hint of regret for relying so hard on cinematic scenes in dialogue, after elaborating the setbacks that the project has faced the past year?

 

[Thac0]

Hopefully, what this actually means, Swen is making changes to Reactions. Swen did hint at a dialogue rework in the video, something that would help to cast Guidance during the conversation (Solasta already does that).

God fucking finally. If they rework dialogue to allow skill modification during skill checks, then they would be retarded to not include the ability to let the most competent character roll for a skill check.
And that is what the game most sorely needs right now. Failing nature checks because you talked to the NPC with your warlock, not with your druid, feels trendemously unsatisfying.

 

[Shrimp]

"Listening to feedback" means adding more options to pet le doggo. It's easy to implement and will make the average redditor squeal with glee. I'm very doubtful if they're going to revamp gameplay features like chains/reactions/homebrew advantage

 

[gurugeorge]

On the plus side, I thought his overall vibe was energetic and positive. He doesn't seem panicked, beaten down or careworn, which I think is a good sign in a general sense.

 

[Shrimp]

Is it me or did he show a hint of regret for relying so hard on cinematic scenes in dialogue, after elaborating the setbacks that the project has faced the past year?

I do not necessarily think it's regret, but rather him being overwhelmed by how much of a black hole it is on time and resources. The pandemic most certainly didn't make it easier than he likely had expected it to be. At the end of the day I still think he knows it's a worthwhile investment. For every person that thinks fully voiced dialogue and cinematic cutscenes are excessive, there are ten players who absolutely love it.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

by listening to feedback he means my feedback, not yours.
I am the head of the codex larian fanclub

 

[Slaver1]

I read massive pangs of regret in Swens facial expressions and body language. I suspect he started playing BG 2 (for the first time) and was so engrossed & enveloped in the experience that the cloud of despair over his fragmented BG 3 prototype became almost unbearable. He's trying to keep a brave face in public but the tell-tale signs are showing through.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I read massive pangs of regret in Swens facial expressions and body language. I suspect he started playing BG 2 and was so engrossed & enveloped in the experience that the cloud of despair over his fragmented BG 3 prototype became almost unbearable. He's trying to keep a brave face in public but the tell-tale signs are showing through.

bg2 sucks

 

[rusty_shackleford]

noooo not my heckin realtime romance simulatorino! he's ruining the legacy of baldur's gate! noooooo, there's not enough pregnant underage elves fighting in combat!!!!!!!!!!

literally going to cry if there aren't minsc jokes... GO FOR THE EYES BOOOOO!! it's so so heckin memorable...

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

I read massive pangs of regret in Swens facial expressions and body language. I suspect he started playing BG 2 (for the first time) and was so engrossed & enveloped in the experience that the cloud of despair over his fragmented BG 3 prototype became almost unbearable. He's trying to keep a brave face in public but the tell-tale signs are showing through.

This is probably bullshit, but entertaining in this scenario is hilarious enough that I just decided to make it my head-canon.

 

[Harthwain]

The entire interview was a whole lot of nothing in the end.
"We are working on things based on people's feedback" (and *which* feedback they are listening exactly could be in itself a cause of concern), but he seems to be adamant about keeping the secret on what these changes would be and I can't help but wonder... What purpose does this serve exactly?

It's a signal to their playerbase they listening to their feedback and - possibly - an attempt to build up some hype/excitement for the next [big] update.

As for what will be in the next update:

1) They want to make it easier to introduce players to the rules (onboarding).

2) Changes to combat, because "certain things [from the tabletop system] don't translate well to the video game".

3) They want to give melee classes more stuff to do.

Some other stuff talked about in the video:

4) They try to aim for the game to be released in 2022.

5) The Dungeon Master mode is not in the development currently.

6) With the "cinematic approach" it takes a lot of time and effort for them to add or change things people ask for in feedback.

 

[Thac0]

1) They want to make it easier to introduce players to the rules (onboarding).

2) Changes to combat, because "certain things [from the tabletop system] don't translate well to the video game".

3) They want to give melee classes more stuff to do.

All of this is massive decline...

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

The entire interview was a whole lot of nothing in the end.
"We are working on things based on people's feedback" (and *which* feedback they are listening exactly could be in itself a cause of concern), but he seems to be adamant about keeping the secret on what these changes would be and I can't help but wonder... What purpose does this serve exactly?

It's a signal to their playerbase they listening to their feedback and - possibly - an attempt to build up some hype/excitement for the next [big] update.

As for what will be in the next update:

1) They want to make it easier to introduce players to the rules (onboarding).

2) Changes to combat, because "certain things [from the tabletop system] don't translate well to the video game".

3) They want to give melee classes more stuff to do.

Some other stuff talked about in the video:

4) They try to aim for the game to be released in 2022.

5) The Dungeon Master mode is not in the development currently.

6) With the "cinematic approach" it takes a lot of time and effort for them to add or change things people ask for in feedback.

I'm not sure why you are summarizing the entire video to me. I watched it.
It's not like I didn't understand what he said. I'm worried about the implications behind some of these words, on the other hand.

"Things from the tabletop don't work in a videogame" is a tired platitude everyone keeps parroting without ever going into the details of what doesn't work exactly.
"Giving melee more things to do" is open to dangerous implications as well, but we'll see.

One of the very few "custom changes" Larian introduced that I didn't dislike is giving special attacks to each type of weapon. I wouldn't mind if they expanded a bit on that. It goes to address an actual flaw with the 5th edition, which is having different weapons that feel all more or less the same to use.
I still don't like their current implementation (using these moves "once per rest" is lame and hardly makes sense in context) but I think it's an idea that could work with some tweaks (i.e. "you can use cleave as much as you want with a 2h sword, but you'll take a -2/-3 penalty on hit").

I also wouldn't like if "giving melee more things to do" would translate into making even more of a mess with the overall action economy.

 

[fantadomat]

 

[Harthwain]

1) They want to make it easier to introduce players to the rules (onboarding).

2) Changes to combat, because "certain things [from the tabletop system] don't translate well to the video game".

3) They want to give melee classes more stuff to do.

All of this is massive decline...

I don't entirely agree.

I always like stuff such as tooltips, glossaries and in-game manuals, where you can easily find the information you need. It beats leaving the game to find out what the Cleave mechanic does, for example.

I'm not sure why you are summarizing the entire video to me. I watched it.
It's not like I didn't understand what he said. I'm worried about the implications behind some of these words, on the other hand.

Well, you said "The entire interview was a whole lot of nothing", so I summed out the few concrete things Swen talked about in the video (other than "We work on implementing your feedback for the next big update and on finishing the whole game. So, please, be patient!").