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

[InD_ImaginE]

We're witnessing a very bizarre design approach here. With all that enormous focus on cinematics, cut-scenes, visuals in general which are suppose to lead to immersion they also add something like this (I dont wanna mention thouse fucking dialogue options once more which are all about the same thing, apparently). Even if they'll remove that dice eventually (simply coz it's jarring af), what were they thinking?! Epic cinematic PnP experience, my ass.

It's typical Larian. You would know if you played DOS2, they write some utterly nonsensically dark shit then make some quirky joke. It's like watching a marvel movie.

The problem is the mood whiplash with D:OS2 is too great because they are writing for video games. See, Marvel movies while can be dark and funny from one moment to another never suffer from hard mood-whiplash due to the fact that they change gradually. For example in Avenger: one moment it's dark (their heli-base was attacked and Carlson is dead), then they shift to more neutral scenes (getting the team's shit together), and then comes the awesome and/or funny part (or combination of both).

The problem of trying to do that in Larian style of RPG is the fact that their game is not completely linear. There are explorations aspect which affect the order content is consumed by players which cause the very bad mood whip-lash problem with their game. In a way, D:OS which is entirely not serious and self-aware for nearly the whole game is better because there is no jarring moment between part of the game.

 

[Deleted Member 22431]

If you want to suffer: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1086940/discussions/0/1750150007019243913/

I can't stop reading this trash, it's a self destructive behavior, please help.

Mr_hanky 28 Feb @ 10:09am

Who is saying that?? Only thing people argue is that BG1+2 while undoubtly some all time classic games (personally i prefered PS:Torment) they had lot of design choices that in no way, shape or form should be transfered to a modern style D&D game.

Also most of those games were great despite the combat system, because lets face it Baldurs Gate was never praised because of the combat. And even to this day, RTwP still have a lot of the same issues as( like in POE and Pathfinder) they had back in the days.. While on the other hand DOS is widely regarded as the games with some of the best combat found in the rpg genre.

You know I'm reminded of a qoute for Planescape Torment arguably the best of the classic old cRPGs. "Best book you have ever played"

These games were not ever praised for there gameplay mechanics they were praised because of the incredibly deep and interesting stories and choices you could make from a role playing perspective. Thats what makes Baldurs Gate, Planescape, Neverwinter, and all these old cRPGs so memorable. The idea that it was the RTwP combat is not only nonsensical but a flat out fabrication created by a bunch of intellectually vapid nerds who refuse to move of from a nostalgic time they hold in high regards.

The game is going to be exceptional Larian know what they are doing, they have that classic mindset when it comes to writing and divergent quests, but modern sensibilities when it actually comes to gameplay. They are the best of both words and understand video games.

 

[NJClaw]

"Six could work, we simply don't want you to have fun"

 

[InD_ImaginE]

The only reason they are going for 4 instead of 6 is the same reason for all their decision:

- Player party becomes more powerful, which seems to be a pattern across the changes they've made to the ruleset.
- It makes the Larian gimmicks with environmental effects and other abilities much more reliable to pull off. With standard initiative, such plans could be interrupted or ruined by enemy turns.
- Having all enemies act together while having to wait to react can make the encounter feel more dangerous, even though the system is better for the PCs. The psychological effect should be stronger on casual players, who are much more easily annoyed by things like missing or getting hit several times in a row.
- Players don't have to wait as long to see how their decisions play out, so they'll have to spend less time before deciding to reload.

Namely making it easier and accessible for the crowd. Larian know their audience (new gamer who embrace TB since new XCOM and young people who embrace DnD 5e due its popularity in media like Twitch).

We've come to a point where TB is a mainstream genre. Mainstream no longer means pop-a-mole kind of game these days.

 

[Lacrymas]

Any evidence Cyseal was designed with telemetry?

It's more of an informed guess. Every time we bring up Cyseal, someone says Cyseal is the best part because people don't complete games. That's not evidence of course, but I doubt you'll find Larian saying "oh yeah we didn't put any effort past Cyseal because people don't play more than 20 hours." Maybe? Josh Sawyer has admitted to using telemetry data, though. The problems with using telemetry are manifold, like how statistical averages are not actual people, how stats are being interpreted, how the data is collected and processed, and it can bring in skewed results if the extremes are too extreme. Like some people now believe the human lifespan in the past was like 35, but the stats were like this because many babies died at childbirth/very young and that skewed the average.

I tried to play D:OS four times now and I really loved the combat. What makes the game unplayable for me is the cringy and supposedly funny writing.

I intend to try (and finish) both D:OS1 and 2 before BG3 comes out, but I'll do it in German. That might suppress the terribleness of Larian's writing, I'll report back when I start it but I'm playing so many games right now lol. Warhammer: Mechanicus, Spellforce 1 (I intend to play them all too), I'm finishing up Tower of Time, I'm at the start of a Legends of Eisenwald playthrough, etc.

 

[Dodo1610]

Great I just saw that Shadowheart is Vicionia 2.0 since she is also a Shar cleric.

 

[Ontopoly]

We did it for reasons.
Reason number one: it's what DOS2 did.

 

[Ontopoly]

Great I just saw that Shadowheart is Vicionia 2.0 since she is also a Shar cleric.

These guys couldn't make viconia 2.0 if they had all the code of bg1 and 2 and a master of copy and paste. They would find a way to fuck it up even then.

 

[Deleted Member 22431]

We've come to a point where TB is a mainstream genre. Mainstream no longer means pop-a-mole kind of game these days.

 

[GhostCow]

I don't know about you people, but I'm still not over how they butchered ceremorphosis lore. If there's something to be outraged about, it's that + the gith not being gith-like.

Your comment reminds me of this

 

[Lacrymas]

Everything about the illithid is wrong. You can't "go looking for a healer" with a tadpole attached to your brain stem! And a healer won't do anything because the "safest" and most reliable way to get rid of the tadpole is by squashing your head and then resurrecting you. I guess it works if the healer does that. I think it also works with a Wish spell. And tadpoles live in the brine water near an elder brain, not in some vat on a spelljammer!

 

[Ulysa]

Some guys complaining that female npc are not pretty but dudes are not exactly Idris Elba either... so... equality... yay!?

Minsc won't be in the game. Calling it. They'll add new naive and heroic companion with space furry instead.
Now let's talk about Jan Jansen.

I love Jan but then I remembered DOS2 writing, what are the chances we don't end up hating him here? 5%?

 

[Ontopoly]

I really hate this new villain. We didn't know how good we had it. Please Josh Sawyer come back. I prefer your butchering of the genre to swens.

 

[Delterius]

imagine preferring the D&D chinese alien eyes aesthetic for elves

 

[Dodo1610]

The Ilithid from the intro seems to have gone rogue and killed the other ones on the ship is there any way this could actually happen within the lore?

 

[Rostere]

The Ilithid from the intro seems to have gone rogue and killed the other ones on the ship is there any way this could actually happen within the lore?

Really? Sure they are not dead or wounded from a protracted chase or fight which started before the cinematic? Seems like the illithid was already being hunted by the githyanki, I doubt they would just intervene immediately when some illithid starts snatching people from some random Faerûnian town.

There already being a snatched githyanki on the ship seems to imply an earlier fight as well.

 

[Turuko]

Bitching about the storyline when we haven't seen shit is useless cmon

 

[user]

Definitely right about one thing -- heads look like Oblivion's beautification mod...

 

[NJClaw]

I tried to play D:OS four times now and I really loved the combat. What makes the game unplayable for me is the cringy and supposedly funny writing.

I intend to try (and finish) both D:OS1 and 2 before BG3 comes out, but I'll do it in German. That might suppress the terribleness of Larian's writing, I'll report back when I start it but I'm playing so many games right now lol. Warhammer: Mechanicus, Spellforce 1 (I intend to play them all too), I'm finishing up Tower of Time, I'm at the start of a Legends of Eisenwald playthrough, etc.

After my first playthrough of KotC (what a masterpiece, I can't stop playing it), I am gonna embark on the same quest. Maybe this time, knowing that I am not alone in this endeavor, I will manage to ignore the cringy jokes, the retarded bullshit and the nonsensical plot and I will succeed.

 

[Rostere]

Some guys complaining that female npc are not pretty but dudes are not exactly Idris Elba either... so... equality... yay!?

Minsc won't be in the game. Calling it. They'll add new naive and heroic companion with space furry instead.
Now let's talk about Jan Jansen.

I love Jan but then I remembered DOS2 writing, what are the chances we don't end up hating him here? 5%?

No chance we're seeing Jan, zoomers would just be tricked into believing the previous games (and BG2 in particular) were turnip-peddling simulators.

Let's be realistic, the NPC we can expect timeline-wise is maybe the child of Aerie

 

[fantadomat]

The Ilithid from the intro seems to have gone rogue and killed the other ones on the ship is there any way this could actually happen within the lore?

Really? Sure they are not dead or wounded from a protracted chase or fight which started before the cinematic? Seems like the illithid was already being hunted by the githyanki, I doubt they would just intervene immediately when some illithid starts snatching people from some random Faerûnian town.

There already being a snatched githyanki on the ship seems to imply an earlier fight as well.

But then it didn't make sense the whole city raid. Why waste time crushing towers and playing with peasants when you are hunted down.

Everything about the illithid is wrong. You can't "go looking for a healer" with a tadpole attached to your brain stem! And a healer won't do anything because the "safest" and most reliable way to get rid of the tadpole is by squashing your head and then resurrecting you. I guess it works if the healer does that. I think it also works with a Wish spell. And tadpoles live in the brine water near an elder brain, not in some vat on a spelljammer!

They really did rape the lore in this shit. Mind Flayers are one of the most scary creatures in D&D,and they made them in to generic cartoon villain.

 

[Lacrymas]

The Ilithid from the intro seems to have gone rogue and killed the other ones on the ship is there any way this could actually happen within the lore?

If an Illithid is away from its elder brain for too long, the elder brain loses control and the mind flayer can go rogue. Famous examples are alhoons or illithiliches. However, that kind of illithid won't have access to tadpoles or a spelljammer. Unless the elder brain somehow died during travel, I guess. The problem is that mind flayers are usually made within the colonies so that the others can supervise them. You can't make a mind flayer in a field, it takes like 20 years.

 

[mondblut]

In reality what made BG a thing was the production values. It was a very good looking game for those times, it had good music and sound effects, and pretty UI and portraits in addition to the isnpiring area backgrounds.

What made BG a thing was that by 1997, people were really hungry for a AD&D game that did not suck.

Interplay got to thank Deathkeep and Warriors of Ravenloft for its success

 

[AwesomeButton]

Everything about the illithid is wrong. You can't "go looking for a healer" with a tadpole attached to your brain stem! And a healer won't do anything because the "safest" and most reliable way to get rid of the tadpole is by squashing your head and then resurrecting you. I guess it works if the healer does that. I think it also works with a Wish spell. And tadpoles live in the brine water near an elder brain, not in some vat on a spelljammer!

This is "passion" you newbie tryhards.

"Intellectually vapid" - we've got a badass over here

Great I just saw that Shadowheart is Vicionia 2.0 since she is also a Shar cleric.

I had missed that she is a Shar cleric! This might get interesting.

IMO, writing a good femme fatale type has to be done by a man, not by a woman, and there simply aren't any men among Larian's writers.

 

[Rostere]

But then it didn't make sense the whole city raid. Why waste time crushing towers and playing with peasants when you are hunted down.

First, he might not have known whether he would be pursued there or not.

Second, it seems his objective in the first place is snatching people. Maybe he is also eager to replenish manpower to replace casualties as a consequence of earlier losses.