Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 Pre-Release Thread [EARLY ACCESS RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Mortmal]

I'd guess sorcerer as one because it's pretty easy if you already have wizard.

Sorcerer is too close to Wizard, though, that's why I think it won't be it. I'd even say Bard is also an arcane spellcaster, so it might be Paladin and Druid. Paladin is indeed a divine spellcaster like the Cleric, but I'd imagine they don't want to remove a class like the Paladin for the normies.

It's not that its close, its there's a very easy exploit mixing warlock and sorcerer to get ton of spells slots, look at coffeelock. Think its why its neither in bg3 nor solasta.

 

[DraQ]

I did watch the gameplay and i am positively impressed. Reminded me less of a BG and more a pen and paper session of D&D. They adapted the system well i also love the dynamism it adds. Trowing people down. Trow objects. Actually interestinc stealth mechanics. Charisma and Persuasion check. A way less cartoonish graphic. I Love it.

But that's not how you make a proper Sequel(TM), you see.

 

[Ausdoerrt]

How urgent is that Illithid infection? Do you need to remove that tadpole in 100 days or something?

If I remember my old 2e lore correctly, Ceremorphosis took a week to be completed.

But then again, I'm certain the tadpole was inserted through the EAR and the victim's personality was completely erased within hours. They've taken their liberties already.

I don't think that's a crucial point, though. Isn't D&D all about taking liberties with the source material to further your story? That's how Gygax taught it, anyway. I'd say let's judge them on the quality of the story.

 

[Nerevar]

Warlocks have spell slots? I thought they just eldritch blast things and suck.

 

[Jezal_k23]

The major problem I had with the presentation is that it lacks that adventuring feeling of low level DnD, after seeing three dragons porsuing an Ithlid ship as an introduction, everything that comes afterwards is meh, even Planescape Torment that is about you dealing with angels and immortal creatures on a regular basis starts with you being some strange dude on a fucking slab. Here,you are presented with an epic showdown right out of the bat then the game cuts and deliver you on a nondescript location without much of a context then you fight brain monsters that are supposedly dangerous creature in the Underdark but you genocide them like globins.

I wont judge the technical aspects like the lip synch and the cutscene animations because this is a buggy vertical slice of an alpha game but the presentation left me unimpressed. I'm not saying you having an Ithilid Tadpole on your head is a bad thing from a storytelling point of view but I hope they actually use it on the main story because if it is just a contrivance for you to have powers with no drawbacks/consequences whatsoever and conveniently you remove it when the story says so, it would be really weak.

I hate this "Lets capture the Down's Syndrome kids with short attention spans with random high fantasy cliches and epicness." It cheapens the whole thing. I didnt like the complete lack of any sense of mystery with the nazi feminist looking cleric lady explaining to you the reproduction methods of Ithilids on detail then regurgitating the goal the designer wants you to follow like a commandment on the most awkward exposition possible as if you were a moron that needed a lecture on that and that she conveniently had that very specific knowledge right there because "We cant let gaemers be even a little bit confused any time."

The idea of you killing dangerous creatures from the underdark at level 01 like you were genociding globins is Bethesda levels of retardation. This could be only an irrelevant vertical slice to show off, I hope it is.

Ok yeah, hard agree. Leaving Candlekeep behind while never having seen the world out there before, and having to adapt to the difficulties you encounter, that feels real.

Insane epic escape sequence intro followed by your party being almost unable to defeat the first enemies it finds is just fucking stupid.

 

[Xamenos]

How urgent is that Illithid infection? Do you need to remove that tadpole in 100 days or something?

If I remember my old 2e lore correctly, Ceremorphosis took a week to be completed.

But then again, I'm certain the tadpole was inserted through the EAR and the victim's personality was completely erased within hours. They've taken their liberties already.

I don't think that's a crucial point, though. Isn't D&D all about taking liberties with the source material to further your story? That's how Gygax taught it, anyway. I'd say let's judge them on the quality of the story.

Oh I don't disagree. I'm willing to overlook the Ceremorphosis thing if it leads to a good story. I just don't think it's gonna lead to a good story though.

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

I did watch the gameplay and i am positively impressed. Reminded me less of a BG and more a pen and paper session of D&D. They adapted the system well i also love the dynamism it adds. Trowing people down. Trow objects. Actually interestinc stealth mechanics. Charisma and Persuasion check. A way less cartoonish graphic. I Love it.

But that's not how you make a proper Sequel(TM), you see.

I am not so blind to tell you the gameplay in bg was perfect. It was easy to exploit encounters as in the end you could use spells,gear to turn an hard fight in a easy brawl. To me by doing that turn based and by apply all that dynamism they did improved the gameplay formula. Now we have to see how the narration will be. So far for the little things we saw i am not complaining.

 

[Ent]

Warlocks have spell slots? I thought they just eldritch blast things and suck.

Warlocks have certain powers that are per encounter and per short rest as well. They are pretty good melee and ranged damage dealers depending on the build.

 

[deuxhero]

The real question: Will you be able to initiate romance by saying you want to use your bits before they fall off from the transformation?

 

[DraQ]

First thing he did in the game was zooming the camera to 3rd person perspective

Also wtf is up with the dialog - why is the protagonist declaring what he is saying... is it a gen z thing?

It's actually a good idea as can be seen by anyone who were ever just given the choice of saying retarded or completely out of character things in a cRPG, because muh writing!

Do you also declare attacks in a cRPG by hacking at your monitor with your sword?
If not, why can't you accept that *carefully choosing words try to create impression that you are part of a much more powerful organization in order to intimidate the thugs* is a perfectly valid way of implementing a dialogue choice?

 

[RickOmbo]

Spoiler

The major problem I had with the presentation is that it lacks that adventuring feeling of low level DnD, after seeing three dragons porsuing an Ithlid ship as an introduction, everything that comes afterwards is meh, even Planescape Torment that is about you dealing with angels and immortal creatures on a regular basis starts with you being some strange dude on a fucking slab. Here,you are presented with an epic showdown right out of the bat then the game cuts and deliver you on a nondescript location without much of a context then you fight brain monsters that are supposedly dangerous creature in the Underdark but you genocide them like globins.

I wont judge the technical aspects like the lip synch and the cutscene animations because this is a buggy vertical slice of an alpha game but the presentation left me unimpressed. I'm not saying you having an Ithilid Tadpole on your head is a bad thing from a storytelling point of view but I hope they actually use it on the main story because if it is just a contrivance for you to have powers with no drawbacks/consequences whatsoever and conveniently you remove it when the story says so, it would be really weak.

I hate this "Lets capture the Down's Syndrome kids with short attention spans with random high fantasy cliches and epicness." It cheapens the whole thing. I didnt like the complete lack of any sense of mystery with the nazi feminist looking cleric lady explaining to you the reproduction methods of Ithilids on detail then regurgitating the goal the designer wants you to follow like a commandment on the most awkward exposition possible as if you were a moron that needed a lecture on that and that she conveniently had that very specific knowledge right there because "We cant let gaemers be even a little bit confused any time."

The idea of you killing dangerous creatures from the underdark at level 01 like you were genociding globins is Bethesda levels of retardation. This could be only an irrelevant vertical slice to show off, I hope it is.

It's Larian, any sense of subtlety goes out the window.

 

[Ausdoerrt]

Warlocks have spell slots? I thought they just eldritch blast things and suck.

Only if your only exposure to warlock was via NWN2.

Oh I don't disagree. I'm willing to overlook the Ceremorphosis thing if it leads to a good story. I just don't think it's gonna lead to a good story though.

Knowing Larian, it will be an average (mediocre to decent) story, which the storyfags will hate because it's not PS:T, while everyone else will be too busy playing the game to give a crap.

FWIW, DOS:2 had a workable, albeit not brilliant, story.

 

[deuxhero]

First thing he did in the game was zooming the camera to 3rd person perspective

Also wtf is up with the dialog - why is the protagonist declaring what he is saying... is it a gen z thing?

There's a video clip with volo posted in the thread. Volo's dialog there implies you're going to be telling him the story as a framing device like you did in SoZ.

 

[Lacrymas]

How urgent is that Illithid infection? Do you need to remove that tadpole in 100 days or something?

If I remember my old 2e lore correctly, Ceremorphosis took a week to be completed.

But then again, I'm certain the tadpole was inserted through the EAR and the victim's personality was completely erased within hours. They've taken their liberties already.

I don't think that's a crucial point, though. Isn't D&D all about taking liberties with the source material to further your story? That's how Gygax taught it, anyway. I'd say let's judge them on the quality of the story.

Oh I don't disagree. I'm willing to overlook the Ceremorphosis thing if it leads to a good story. I just don't think it's gonna lead to a good story though.

When you are playing a game at home, sure, but an officially endorsed product which goes against lore that was established in 1998 is bad form.

 

[cvv]

Holy shit they actually went turn-based. I did NOT expect that. Game just moved from the bottom of my followed list into Top 10.

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

Holy shit they actually went turn-based. I did NOT expect that. Game just moved from the bottom of my followed list into Top 10.

*cough cough* Turn based like D&D.

 

[RickOmbo]

Also wtf is up with the dialog - why is the protagonist declaring what he is saying... is it a gen z thing?

It's intended to be played on a stream. As a streamer you are replacing the place holders with normal lines on the fly to entertain your viewers.

 

[Xamenos]

And to speculate a bit, what was up with all the dead Mind Flayers in the Mind Flayer ship? I'm thinking the one who implanted us was the Adversary and he did not intend to make more Mind Flayers at all.

 

[Ausdoerrt]

When you are playing a game at home, sure, but an officially endorsed product which goes against lore that was established in 1998 is bad form.

To be fair, we haven't seen them go against the lore, and likely won't. WotC tehds to be very protective of their IP. Maybe bending slightly, at worst.

Also, WotC usually doesn't give a crap about 1998 lore, they retcon stuff all the time, so the only thing we should really be looking at is what the current edition says.

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

Also wtf is up with the dialog - why is the protagonist declaring what he is saying... is it a gen z thing?

It's intended to be played on a stream. As a streamer you are replacing the place holders with normal lines on the fly.

The dialog is done like that to replicate the pen and paper feeling. They did that also in DOS2

 

[Lacrymas]

And to speculate a bit, what was up with all the dead Mind Flayers in the Mind Flayer ship?

They aren't dead, mindflayers who are in the process of being transformed into mindflayers are immobile and defenseless.

 

[deuxhero]

How urgent is that Illithid infection? Do you need to remove that tadpole in 100 days or something?

If I remember my old 2e lore correctly, Ceremorphosis took a week to be completed.

But then again, I'm certain the tadpole was inserted through the EAR and the victim's personality was completely erased within hours. They've taken their liberties already.

I don't think that's a crucial point, though. Isn't D&D all about taking liberties with the source material to further your story? That's how Gygax taught it, anyway. I'd say let's judge them on the quality of the story.

Oh I don't disagree. I'm willing to overlook the Ceremorphosis thing if it leads to a good story. I just don't think it's gonna lead to a good story though.

When you are playing a game at home, sure, but an officially endorsed product which goes against lore that was established in 1998 is bad form.

Honestly the voices during the character generation make it sound like there's something more going on to you than just the tadpole...

 

[Xamenos]

And to speculate a bit, what was up with all the dead Mind Flayers in the Mind Flayer ship?

They aren't dead, mindflayers who are in the process of being transformed to mindflayers are immobile and defenseless.

They looked like full Mind Flayers though, just strewn over the hallways for some reason.

 

[Lacrymas]

To be fair, we haven't seen them go against the lore, and likely won't. WotC tehds to be very protective of their IP. Maybe bending slightly, at worst.

Also, WotC usually doesn't give a crap about 1998 lore, they retcon stuff all the time, so the only thing we should really be looking at is what the current edition says.

The Forgotten Realms wiki article on ceremorphosis gives the 2016 5th edition Volo's Guide to Monsters as a citation to how the process works and how long it takes.

 

[Nerevar]

The rounds in the game last 5 seconds not 6 seconds. If you look at the buffs during real time you notice they'll tick down every 5 seconds.

Seems like a big nerf for all of the per round spells.