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

[Zeriel]

If Fallout 3 turned into the gay bearsexathon, it wouldn't do me much good for it to be turn based.

I'd hardly call one romance scene you have to deliberately choose and go through who knows how many hours of content to get through turning the whole game into a "bearsexathon".

That's like saying the porn star quest in FO2 ruined the game for you. That you had no choice but to become a gay 'fluffer' in New Reno, and now your immersion is ruined along with the now crusty remains of your vault jumpsuit.

Good mechanics are nice, but they can't completely make up for a total lack of suspension of disbelief. If I stop taking a game seriously, that's it, I've checked out. It's a highly personal judgment, I recognize.

I guess I'm just not seeing the "suspension of disbelief" part of sex between two characters. I agree that it's perverted and weird, and only included in the game because it's perverted and weird. But welcome to 5E, where this shit exists all over the world apparently.

And I really don't see how your suspension of disbelief is going to have any problems unless you deliberately choose to make a gay character, pursue gay sex with a druid and then tell said druid to make it gay bear sex.

If no one told you that this was in the game, you wouldn't know about it without playing the romance yourself.

It's not like the werewolf romance in BG1, where it was practically forced on you that some werewolf woman would fall in love with your character and you'd get the uncomfortable dialog of trying to turn down an 8-foot dog woman as you try to flee the island. Or did you forget about that quest?

To clarify, I am using the funny meme as a standin for the writing in general. I played BG3 on a torrent when the EA first released, and was immediately turned off from the first storybeat from the writing of the companions. Really has nothing to do with the bear stuff in specific, it's just an easy allegory for the deeper issue. When every character I run into that I'm supposed to want to party up with makes me want to kill them--really, EVERY one, I didn't find a single one I found tolerable in the brief time I played--you just have to accept you have irreconcilable differences from the devs as to what is "fun" or "believable" and move on.

 

[blessed king of longing]

updated the shrine.
larian said we can get married in the game. soon me and my beloved Shadowcute will be together

 

[Saravan]

funniest thing that without codex i would never even find about bear sex scene. i mean - taking druid into your party? MALE druid? just... why?

That and not engaging with romance shit in games.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

When every character I run into that I'm supposed to want to party up with makes me want to kill them

Then KILL them. Welcome to a game that actually lets you do that.

The first time I played the game, I killed Gale dead. I didn't regret it for a second. In fact, it took a couple of playthroughs for me to get used to him enough not to.

Sadly, they made the NPCs more likeable since then to please people like you who hated them, but in the early days, I found it very refreshing that I was forced to party with a bunch of assholes who would all just as soon kill me as help me.

It actually reminded me of Farscape a bit. The first time you meet the characters on that show, it's hard to regard any of them as likeable, let alone a crew that can travel together. Rigel spits in the protagonist's face. They're all violent criminals. You have to watch several episodes to start to get to know them enough to like them. (Especially for Xan, who remains a dumb hypocrite for most of the first two seasons.)

It takes courage and creativity to write like that. To write in a way that demands the audience suffer a bit for a payoff. And sadly, Larian bowed to the masses and dumbed them down quite a bit. (Though, in Wyll's case, probably because no one bothered taking his annoying, Anomen-knockoff, superhero-wannabe ass in order to see his story arc.)

 

[Zeriel]

When every character I run into that I'm supposed to want to party up with makes me want to kill them

Then KILL them. Welcome to a game that actually lets you do that.

The first time I played the game, I killed Gale dead. I didn't regret it for a second. In fact, it took a couple of playthroughs for me to get used to him enough not to.

Sadly, they made the NPCs more likeable since then to please people like you who hated them, but in the early days, I found it very refreshing that I was forced to party with a bunch of assholes who would all just as soon kill me as help me.

It actually reminded me of Farscape a bit. The first time you meet the characters on that show, it's hard to regard any of them as likeable, let alone a crew that can travel together. Rigel spits in the protagonist's face. They're all violent criminals. You have to watch several episodes to start to get to know them enough to like them. (Especially for Xan, who remains a dumb hypocrite for most of the first two seasons.)

It takes courage and creativity to write like that. And sadly, Larian bowed to the masses and dumbed them down quite a bit. (Though, in Wyll's case, probably because no one bothered taking his annoying, Anomen-knockoff, superhero-wannabe ass in order to see his story arc.)

Right, but that's what they put all their effort into. The storylines and content that I am then just skipping by killing everything. You could do that in DOS1, and they made a big deal about being able to kill everyone and still finish the game, but if you did that you weren't getting 99% of your money's worth. It's just a really dumb argument. I mean, fair enough if someone likes that, but in my opinion paying for a game you basically don't play the majority of it is a waste of your time. Just... go play something else where you can kill stuff AND you like the fluff.

I'm kind of getting the impression you are either sadomasochistic or just arguing devil's advocate here if your argument always boils down to "Actually, I like it when the devs kick me in the balls."

And this is coming from the sort of person who enjoys XCOM on Impossible Iron-Man, so I enjoy difficulty ball-kicking, just not creative/writing ball-kicking.

 

[Stokowski]

updated the shrine.
larian said we can get married in the game. soon me and my beloved Shadowcute will be together

What exactly are you going to do for her? Give her a gift certificate to a barbers?

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Right, but that's what they put all their effort into. The storylines and content that I am then just skipping by killing everything.

I highly doubt it. Especially when the game is meant to be multiplayer, which will limit the amount of NPC interaction by default.

It's there if you want it. Just like it was in PST and BG2. (Which also had multiplayer that played just fine without NPCs btw.) Doesn't mean you're forced to engage with it, or that the rest of the game is barren.

I'm not even sure why you give a shit how long the game is without the NPCs anyway. You already said you pirated it, and I assume you'd do it again.

Do you want a refund for your free game that lets you play how you want and kill annoying NPCs?

 

[Kiste]

Yeah I guess I just care about immersion more than you then? If Fallout 3 turned into the gay bearsexathon, it wouldn't do me much good for it to be turn based.

It's not a bearsexathon, though. It's a very specific romantic encounter that you'd have to follow for quite a while to trigger and even then you can refuse.

Good mechanics are nice, but they can't completely make up for a total lack of suspension of disbelief. If I stop taking a game seriously, that's it, I've checked out. It's a highly personal judgment, I recognize.

We've already have established that the BG-series is awash with goofy, immersion-breaking shit, in particular BG1.

The bear sex? Does it actually interfere with suspension of disbelief? How so? If you can suspend disbelief to the extend that you accept shapeshifting to exist in the game world, then why does the suspension of disbelief break when people decide to use shapeshifting to engage in degenerate behaviour?

It appears to me that accepting shapeshifting requires much more in terms of suspension of disbelief than accepting the fact that people fuck.

 

[Volourn]

Anyone who thinks BG3 writing is of equal or better quality of earlier BGs is on crack. And, no, joke side encounters - not quests - are not 'evidence'.

But, hey, this is a game whose entire plot popint is you get ass raped by a fukkin' MIND WORM AND YOPU ORIGINALLY WANTED TO REMOVE IT BUT IN FACT THE TWIST IS YOU GO LOOKING FOR MORE ASS RAPING MIND WORMS SO YOU CAN GAIN POWER EVEN THOUGH THE WHOLE POINT OF ILLITHID ASS RAPING MIND WORMS IS TO TO DESTROY YOUR MIND, ENSLAVE YOU, AND MAYBE TURN YOU INTO ONE.


HOLY FUKK.


That's the main quest.

Epic awesome writing.


LMAO

 

[Kiste]

But, hey, this is a game whose entire plot popint is you get ass raped by a fukkin' MIND WORM AND YOPU ORIGINALLY WANTED TO REMOVE IT BUT IN FACT THE TWIST IS YOU GO LOOKING FOR MORE ASS RAPING MIND WORMS SO YOU CAN GAIN POWER EVEN THOUGH THE WHOLE POINT OF ILLITHID ASS RAPING MIND WORMS IS TO TO DESTROY YOUR MIND, ENSLAVE YOU, AND MAYBE TURN YOU INTO ONE.

HOLY FUKK.

I guess you missed the little detail that there is more to the whole mindworm thing and that there is a reason why it didn't turn you into a Mindflayer after three days.

More story comprehension, less capslock screeching, please.

 

[Volourn]

I bet whatever bullshit your referrinmg to is probably even more poorly written that my over the top exaggerated fiction since clearly I wrote it so effectively yo had to cry and moan about it and you didn't even pay $100 to read my silly writing in that post.

I get it, the mind worm ass rapist thing is actually the illithid god who will try to entice you with more power throight its mind worm ass rapist children until you become its avatar. If you refuse to be suckered in, you become a true hero, and estroy the illithid god menace forever. If you fail, your mind becomes one with the hivemind, and are ppart of the Illsenine's (or however its spelled) goo brain.

FYI, iIf you have the will power to manage, don't spoil the bullshit, let me be AMAZED by the 5* writing when I actually play. L0LZ

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

The year DA:I came out was probably the worst year in the last 10 years.
The game literally had no competition and this was a time when the Bioware brand still meant something.
If I remember correctly only Shadow of Mordor, Borderlands, Banner Saga, South Park and DoS1 came out this year.
These are probably the most important games that did not turn out to be a failure.
These were dark times when Skyrim was still considered the model of an AAA RPG.

2014 also featured Might & Magic X, Wasteland 2, Dark Souls 2, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and most importantly Legend of Grimrock II.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

This game will be the anti-bioware RPG. So it is good.

 

[Mud']

I'm hoping Baldur's Gate 3 just glazes over the weird bummer 'canon' version of what happened in the first two games

This fucking article just makes me go

 

[BruceVC]

Anyone who thinks BG3 writing is of equal or better quality of earlier BGs is on crack. And, no, joke side encounters - not quests - are not 'evidence'.

But, hey, this is a game whose entire plot popint is you get ass raped by a fukkin' MIND WORM AND YOPU ORIGINALLY WANTED TO REMOVE IT BUT IN FACT THE TWIST IS YOU GO LOOKING FOR MORE ASS RAPING MIND WORMS SO YOU CAN GAIN POWER EVEN THOUGH THE WHOLE POINT OF ILLITHID ASS RAPING MIND WORMS IS TO TO DESTROY YOUR MIND, ENSLAVE YOU, AND MAYBE TURN YOU INTO ONE.


HOLY FUKK.


That's the main quest.

Epic awesome writing.


LMAO

Volo you cant objectively comment on the broader BG3 narrative if you dont know it. Once the narrative is understood then you can criticize it

Our societies are developing really bad habits where we comments on books, movies and games before we have read, watched or played them and you cant claim to have an informed opinion if you do that. It should be demonstrably obvious. Its like a restaurant critic giving a restaurant a bad review but he has never eaten at the restaurant

Dont be part of the problem, be part of the solution. You can comment on the overall BG3 narrative once its fully understood

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

To the folks defending bear sex because its actually a druid not a real bear.

Would you be fine if the game allowed you AS AN OPTION to have sex with a shapechanger who was an adult if they shifted into a child? Would you find that acceptable?

So... if you fine bear sex acceptable because it's a druid but not child sex because it's an adult (like a mage) is not.... does that mean you are pro bestiality?

If not... why the hypocrsisy? Both are gross. Period.

Wow just wow. You can't understand is a joke? Holy moley people we seen far worse in videogames this is the first time people go out in outrage about it. You have even a squirrel staring at the scene terrified! If you think this is endrosing bestiality you clearly have big problems on your own lol.

I stared at it. I laughted i moved on. Have a little bit of sense of humor. Freaking hell. Do you think Stephen King enjoyed to murder people on his free time? is F I C T I O N and was meant to be satirical as a scene.

 

[just]

it's not about the bear, it's about homosexuality
and thats no laughing matter

 

[Volourn]

Bruce: "You can't judge a game until you play it 7 times."

Also Bruce: "You played it 7 times... clearly you loved it."


LMFAO

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

it's not about the bear, it's about homosexuality
and thats no laughing matter

Yeah well go to complain in twitter.

 

[Swen]

it's not about the bear, it's about homosexuality
and thats no laughing matter

Quite easy, just don't be gay and you won't see gay sh*t.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

I'm hoping Baldur's Gate 3 just glazes over the weird bummer 'canon' version of what happened in the first two games

This fucking article just makes me go

PC Gamer is trash.

 

[Drakortha]

Swen is a genius game developer. He and his passionate studio at Larian have created the most dynamic and reactive game ever made.

Inspired by Radiant-AI from Todd Howard, Swen & the team have developed a new proprietary system called Radiant-Preferencing.

With this system, if you are a Straight man playing the game, the game will detect this and all characters you encounter will be Straight females. If you are a fag, you will only encounter faggots.

So you see, BG3 is a game for everyone. Whether you are straight, gay, bi, trans, asexual, xyz, LGBTQ+, pan, zoosexual. BG3 has it covered. Don't want to encounter gay characters in your game? Just don't be gay! It's that simple!

 

[BruceVC]

https://www.eurogamer.net/larian-on...g-a-new-era-and-games-youve-never-heard-about

Really informative interview with Swen, well worth reading and has good historical input about Larian and previous games

 

[Konjad]

Tbh yes, nobody forces you to have romances, I believe? I only had accidental gay sex in DA2 and I will never forgive that, Mr. Gaider.

 

[Nerevar]

I'm hoping Baldur's Gate 3 just glazes over the weird bummer 'canon' version of what happened in the first two games

This fucking article just makes me go

"in my heart the Bhaalspawn is a Chaotic Good elf Fighter/Mage dual wielding the Flail of Ages and Belm." Based.

"He pursued a relationship with his coworker, the goddess of entropy-worshipping dark elf, Viconia DeVir (skeevy AD&D-style racial romance restrictions removed with a mod), and they had a happy ending together to boot (also thanks to a mod)." Based.

This is literally my current "Pre-BG3 playthrough" does this mean I am as much of an NPC as a (((games journalist)))?