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

[Desiderius]

An industry-wide problem is that writers are ham-stringed because they have to write for a wide demographic which includes 12-year-olds. Indie RPGs don't usually have this problem because they target very niche audiences.

Lulz. If they weren't entirely ignorant of 3 millennia of great literature maybe they wouldn't suck so bad. That and the dev skillset is often disjoint with the romantic.

If Tolkien can do Sam and Rosie they can come up with something better than sucking up to a harridan for crumbs. That has nothing to do with appealing to 12-year-olds. Even they know how pathetic it is.

 

[purupuru]

I think romance in the witcher games benefits from love interests being regular NPCs rather than crpg companions. When done with normal NPCs romance is just another side quest, if you have competent writers then chances are they can write something not obnoxious. But when it's between the PC and a companion you have extra problems with progression and reactivity(both with PC and with other companions). Not to mention oftentimes the companion in question was not designed with romance in mind and the writer would have to brutally slap it on (poor Aloth).

 

[rusty_shackleford]

So what's the endgame for super-tadpoles? Super-illithids? How does that even work - i.e. shielding a vampire from sunlight, if they are just little psionic bugs?

Infiltrators, I'd assume.
They look like normal on the outside but the illithid has control.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

People who wanted a game identical to BG1/2 but new should check out this cool game called Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. I'm sure you guys would really love it. It's basically Baldur's Gate 1.5!

 

[Doktor Best]

No one mentioned how The Witcher dealt with romance options so far.

Yeah, you become a married cuck at the end of Witcher 3.

You can literally block every hoe in that game.

I dipped my white wolf into everything that moved and got lured into a threesome trap in the end. Still better than being married to Yennefer i guess.

 

[Curratum]

People who wanted a game identical to BG1/2 but new should check out this cool game called Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. I'm sure you guys would really love it. It's basically Baldur's Gate 1.5!

The joke is that the dungeons are pretty sweet and combat is ok in SoDs.

 

[NJClaw]

People who wanted a game identical to BG1/2 but new should check out this cool game called Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. I'm sure you guys would really love it. It's basically Baldur's Gate 1.5!

The joke is that the dungeons are pretty sweet and combat is ok in SoDs.

The goblin companion is fun to have around

 

[Riddler]

People who wanted a game identical to BG1/2 but new should check out this cool game called Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. I'm sure you guys would really love it. It's basically Baldur's Gate 1.5!

The joke is that the dungeons are pretty sweet and combat is ok in SoDs.

What happened to avenger7(or whatever his name was) anyway? Is he still in the game industry?

 

[AwesomeButton]

People who wanted a game identical to BG1/2 but new should check out this cool game called Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. I'm sure you guys would really love it. It's basically Baldur's Gate 1.5!

The joke is that the dungeons are pretty sweet and combat is ok in SoDs.

It's the writing and lack of reactivity that make it unbearable. It seems to share a lot with Larian's output when you come to think of it.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

People who wanted a game identical to BG1/2 but new should check out this cool game called Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. I'm sure you guys would really love it. It's basically Baldur's Gate 1.5!

The joke is that the dungeons are pretty sweet and combat is ok in SoDs.

It's the writing and lack of reactivity that make it unbearable. It seems to share a lot with Larian's output when you come to think of it.

What?
D:OS2 has fucktons of reactivity.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Based on my own polling of colleagues today, I'm wondering if the normie factor isn't being underestimated when we think about Larian putting BG on their Procrustes' bed and stretch and cut until it fits the "Larian game" shape.

I spoke with one colleague today, aged 41, self proclaimed "big fan of Baldur's Gate back in the day". Ok, he's played both original BG and BG2, neither of the expansions I assume. Played them, really liked them, but never nerded out on D&D, the FR setting or PnP RPGs. Just a regular normie guy who played the games when they were new.

So I tell him "You gotta buy the new BG3, we can play coop!" He doesn't know BG3 is in development. I tell him "It's turn based though, some people are not ok with that". It takes me a minute to explain to him that turn based means the two sides take turns during combat. Initially he was confused that RTwP with simulated turns is actually "turn based", and claims that the original BG games were turn based. We get that out of the way, and when he understands me he says, "you know, maybe I'm also in the camp of those people that don't want it turn based".

My point is that some part of the old player base is too much of a normie to accept the new game is "not like the old ones", and don't really care to know the advantages and disadvantages of the systems.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

People who wanted a game identical to BG1/2 but new should check out this cool game called Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. I'm sure you guys would really love it. It's basically Baldur's Gate 1.5!

The joke is that the dungeons are pretty sweet and combat is ok in SoDs.

It's the writing and lack of reactivity that make it unbearable. It seems to share a lot with Larian's output when you come to think of it.

What?
D:OS2 has fucktons of reactivity.

What impresses me most about D:OS2 is the amount of reactivity they've put into it. Whatever one's sensibilities and preferences for writing style, the reactivity is more than what I've seen in any game, except maybe AoD, but AoD was, or at least felt, much more constrained and smaller in scale.

 

[Jimmious]

People who wanted a game identical to BG1/2 but new should check out this cool game called Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. I'm sure you guys would really love it. It's basically Baldur's Gate 1.5!

The joke is that the dungeons are pretty sweet and combat is ok in SoDs.

But you have to stand the writing to even reach them

 

[AwesomeButton]

People who wanted a game identical to BG1/2 but new should check out this cool game called Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. I'm sure you guys would really love it. It's basically Baldur's Gate 1.5!

The joke is that the dungeons are pretty sweet and combat is ok in SoDs.

It's the writing and lack of reactivity that make it unbearable. It seems to share a lot with Larian's output when you come to think of it.

What?
D:OS2 has fucktons of reactivity.

What impresses me most about D:OS2 is the amount of reactivity they've put into it. Whatever one's sensibilities and preferences for writing style, the reactivity is more than what I've seen in any game, except maybe AoD, but AoD was, or at least felt, much more constrained and smaller in scale.

I wonder what did I have in mind. Can't come up with significant examples right now.

EDIT: I probably meant something about the multiple ways to escape Fort Joy. Can't be anything beyond that, because I didn't play much further after leaving the island.

 

[Lacrymas]

RE: The Adversary - it's too obvious and that's why it's the low hanging fruit Larian are going to go with. They can't contain themselves and have to make everything epic and lore-shattering.

RE: Everyone is bi - I don't like it either. When the targeted object doesn't acknowledge the gender of the protagonist, there's a whole dynamic that is missing. A lesbian relationship is not like a gay relationship, and a gay relationship is not like a hetero one. Trust me, I've been in both kinds.

RE: The BG aesthetic - sure, you can argue it has muted colors and shit, but that's exactly what I said. Because it's as generic medieval as it gets, you need to concentrate on color scheme and motifs, this includes how strong the colors are. I don't expect this from Larian, you shouldn't too.

RE: Normies, old fans, and BG - many an old fan is delighted that BG3 is TB, like myself. As for normies, I really have no idea, I've never spoken to a normie gamer in my entire life, at least not when it comes to games. I shut out that conversation topic as soon as they mention Hearthstone, FIFA or Call of Duty.

RE: Reactivity - I'm sure Larian will make at least the first zone as involved as Fort Joy. It's not AoD, but then again nothing is.

 

[Trias_Betrayed]

http://chng.it/tTqqmX9jC2

 

[AwesomeButton]

Meh, the game will be worth playing at least for the first chapter (which is a total fail when it comes to RPGs, but that's Larian for you), and I guess if I'm goofing around with friends, this will keep me interested for some more time beyond that.

The commercial success is beyond doubt.

Will the writing be too repulsive for me to keep going, like it proved to be with DA:Inquisition, that's the real unknown for me.

 

[FranticDistortion]

Meh, the game will be worth playing at least for the first chapter (which is a total fail when it comes to RPGs, but that's Larian for you), and I guess if I'm goofing around with friends, this will keep me interested for some more time beyond that.

The commercial success is beyond doubt.

Will the writing be too repulsive for me to keep going, like it proved to be with DA:Inquisition, that's the real unknown for me.

It's 6 at worst, 9 at best. Nice chances.

 

[hell bovine]

Also Motb did that, but I doubt Larian will make something half as interesting as the spirit eater.

MotB wasn't quite on the level of Geneforge 2 either, imo. (and probably later GF installments, but I haven't played those yet)

 

[Lacrymas]

I think we can all agree it's going to be at worst playable.

 

[DraQ]

We are cursed

Somewhere out there a hilarious joke involving Illithids and Asari awaits its lucky discoverer.

 

[ArchAngel]

Meh, the game will be worth playing at least for the first chapter (which is a total fail when it comes to RPGs, but that's Larian for you), and I guess if I'm goofing around with friends, this will keep me interested for some more time beyond that.

The commercial success is beyond doubt.

Will the writing be too repulsive for me to keep going, like it proved to be with DA:Inquisition, that's the real unknown for me.

It is not beyond doubt. This time around they put way more money into it. They cannot just have DOS2 sale numbers. And turn based will never reach the bigger audience that will give you Skyrim sales or Witcher 3 sales.

 

[Tyranicon]

Meh, the game will be worth playing at least for the first chapter (which is a total fail when it comes to RPGs, but that's Larian for you), and I guess if I'm goofing around with friends, this will keep me interested for some more time beyond that.

The commercial success is beyond doubt.

Will the writing be too repulsive for me to keep going, like it proved to be with DA:Inquisition, that's the real unknown for me.

Have you played the previous DOS games? It's similar to DAI writing, but with added "humor."

 

[Terenty]

As they desperately seek a cure, it becomes obvious that a psychic link with the tadpole gives them new powers and some other unexpected benefits (including improved physical capabilities such as being able to jump further...

Anyone heard of a manga called Parasite? Larian is literally ripping it off!

 

[Ontopoly]

I'd like to see how loud everyone here would cry if divinity original sin 3 came out and was rtwp. All of a sudden none of you guys would be " mature, and reasonable" about it.