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

[thesheeep]

How does character development in the 5th edition work ?

Technically, it doesn't have any outside of leveling up. Feats are an optional rule (but Larian will use it), and a 20th lvl Ranger is not significantly different than any other 20th level Ranger.

Played online 5E for a few months and that sums it up.

And is one of the bigger grievances with 5E. Characters all just feel identical, with little to no possibility to make them "your own" beyond one important choice at level 3. Characters of the same class, I mean, so at least it's better than 4E where every character feels completely identical to the next, independent of the class. I played a character for several levels and at no point did I feel I could pursue any kind of agenda in character building beyond cosmetics.

 

[DraQ]

Are we actually going to act like dnd 2e is even good? Does anyone even play Table top rpgs? You're telling me you're willing to sit at a table with 4 other degenerates trying to roll play some crap while you add up a bunch of numbers?

No we'd rather play pretend that we are doing that while sitting all alone with a piece of software that doesn't even do a particularly good job at trying.

As opposing to one that at least tries to do a good job OR one that lets you be that manly Viking type that shouts at dragons (is it that hard to not give a fuck about what a bunch of basement dwelling weirdoes say?).

Not to mention those that leave all that dweeby shit behind and let you pelt enemy with hundreds of nukes ow your own design from a glorious flying fortress of metal and ceramic that pumps tons of hydrogen per second through white hot nuclear reactor to fling it at enemy tens of times faster than the fastest rifle bullet while cutting anything that comes near into ribbons with rapid firing guns based on the fastest high explosives known to Man and piercing whatever survives by pouring more energy than generated by an entire nation into spears of light hotter than the heart of the Sun.


But sure, do pretend you are playing DnD using crappy piece of software that is not even good at doing that, because it was cobbled from a hastily refurbished wreck of an RTS when it turned out its makers won't manage to make a marketable one even when RTSes sold like they were buns still warm from the oven, do poke fun at those who can at least play actual DnD, and do derive your pathetic little pride out of that.
I mean people can be proud of weirdest things these days, so why not playing games that pretend to be tabletop, except poorly?

 

[Ontopoly]

Okay, enough Ontopoly for today. I need a little rest.

As is typical of a TBers. This is a forum. You can take all the time you need. Don't strain yourself too much in such a short amount of time

But sure, do pretend you are playing DnD

I'm not pretending to play dnd because dnd is trash. I'm actually playing a crpg. One that recognized that something as bad as dnd has some redeemable qualities and that if we take the good and leave the bad we can get an actual good product. One that will shape the industry only for some newbies to come in later and try to butcher it or shit talk it because they're basic bitches and lack perspective about the industry.

Do you honestly enjoy waiting around a table while some idiot takes 5 minutes to make a decision and when he finally finishes the next guy takes another 5? Something about TBers just makes them love waiting. Living at a snails pace. They probably can't even handle that.

 

[The_Mask]

Are we actually going to act like dnd 2e is even good? Does anyone even play Table top rpgs? You're telling me you're willing to sit at a table with 4 other degenerates trying to roll play some crap while you add up a bunch of numbers?

No we'd rather play pretend that we are doing that while sitting all alone with a piece of software that doesn't even do a particularly good job at trying.
[...]
I mean people can be proud of weirdest things these days, so why not playing games that pretend to be tabletop, except poorly?

All these things considered, what it is most dreadful to think is that BG 3 will take after DOS 2, and have a great start, because of the feedback they'll be getting during EA (just like they did with DOS from their backers) and then the 2nd half will be utter shit, because they'll be able to go full Belgian.
If anything, BG2 was consistent in its vision throughout, and as a product is respectable in that regard. Meanwhile DOS 2 is like the RPG version of Two-Face.

 

[Saerain]

Are we actually going to act like dnd 2e is even good? Does anyone even play Table top rpgs? You're telling me you're willing to sit at a table with 4 other degenerates trying to roll play some crap while you add up a bunch of numbers? Video games are the best thing to happen to dnd and dnd is the best thing to happen to video games. Video game makers can't make a gameplay system for shit, look around at all these rpg systems that aren't based on anything. So many are literally garbage and can hardly be called rpgs. Look at dnd at a table top setting. Bunch of degenerates and you're relying on some loser with no qualifcations to actually know how to organize a game. No reviews, no rpgcodex to tell you if it's any good, just blindly trusting that this guy might actually make something fun. dnd is trash and baldurs gate elevated that to something amazing. Take away the bad which is turn based and other people, and keep the good which is how all the numbers work and add up.

Started off awkward, then built up some pretty good takes until the last sentence knocked it all down. Still, 16/20 would lay hands.

 

[Lacrymas]

I do love me some hot takes, but those are neither hot nor takes. It's like that "are we still pretending Fallout 3 is not good" guy. There is so much wrong in both that guy and Ontopoly's rantings it's unbelievable and you can't even begin unpacking it. It's the video game version of the Gish gallop.

 

[DraQ]

keep the good which is how all the numbers work and add up.

Primary school sure is cool, huh?
If you think addition is awesome just wait until they teach you multiplication.
I don't think they will manage to teach you much more, though, so don't hold your breath afterwards.

I'm not pretending to play dnd because dnd is trash. I'm actually playing a crpg.

One based on DnD.
But sure, keep deluding yourself - it's not a turd if it's in a sandwich, right?

 

[Parabalus]

There is no "genre change", let alone a Fallout 3 type situation, it's still an "isometric" party-based RPG.

Being TB means it's further from the BG games than stuff like DA:O and KotoR.

It's Larian using the trademark for something unrelated, same as Beth with Fallout. Even worse, since Beth used the setting, whereas here even that's not the case.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

baldur's gate was never good

 

[existential_vacuum]

 

[Silly Germans]

baldur's gate was never good

You are right, it is and was always great, simply one of the best. It offers a good experience to everyone
that isn't a combat or story extremist, few rpg's manage that.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

baldur's gate was never good

You are right, it is and was always great, simply one of the best. It offers a good experience to everyone
that isn't a combat or story extremist, few rpg's manage that.

It's shit at both
Fallout is the superior game in every aspect

 

[Saravan]

Thank you all for today's show but I must sleep now.

 

[Silly Germans]

Fallout combat is only good for its death animations and that's it. And relying on the
companion ai in combat is a poor joke, i'll take full party controls over this anyday.

 

[Efe]

fallout being a good game means bg is bad?
wat?

 

[Lilliput McHammersmith]

fallout being a good game means bg is bad?
wat?

Have to agree. I’m playing Fallout 1 for the first time (I know!) and it’s freaking amazing, but it doesn’t mean that BG is bad or not good. BG remains one of my favorite games of all time, even after playing Fallout.

 

[guestposting]

There is no "genre change", let alone a Fallout 3 type situation, it's still an "isometric" party-based RPG.

Being TB means it's further from the BG games than stuff like DA:O and KotoR.

It's Larian using the trademark for something unrelated, same as Beth with Fallout. Even worse, since Beth used the setting, whereas here even that's not the case.

This is a forgotten realms game that will ultimately take you to the sword coast and the city of Baldur’s Gate. How is that not the same setting?

 

[Ontopoly]

Primary school sure is cool, huh?
If you think addition is awesome just wait until they teach you multiplication.
I don't think they will manage to teach you much more, though, so don't hold your breath afterwards.

It's not about addition existing. It's about what you add. But I wouldn't expect you to know what's being added when you play Larian trash that hides as many of the numbers as possible and only shows you a percentage and a flashy damage number because 90 percent of their audience are declined in spirit and kind.

 

[guestposting]

Efe citation needed, really? Here is Swen answering a question about locations in a recent AMA:

https://www.reddit.com/r/baldursgate/comments/fhq9cq/compiled_baldurs_gate_ama_20200313/

You have to scroll down a ways to find his answer. I took a screenshot but it’s not letting me upload it.

He says you start on the banks of the river Chionthar and eventually make your way west to Baldur’s Gate. Remember the bridge you had to cross to enter the city in BG1, Wyrm’s Crossing? That’s the bridge over the Chionthar.

Edit: here it is:

You have mentioned that the scope of Baldur's Gate 3 is huge, but we do not have much to go off of. How many places will we be able to visit and explore? Will it only be a small part of the Sword Coast or can/could we venture off to places like Neverwinter or to the South to see Amn? Is it closer to an open world or will it be closer to D:OS 1/2 in that it is a large map that is sectioned into smaller areas?

Swen: The small portion of the adventure we’ve shown takes place many miles East of Baldur’s Gate, and the initial journey will take players along the banks of the river Chionthar, and surrounding wilderness and settlements, toward BG and the coast. You won’t be walking the whole way to BG in real-time, so there will be several large, open regions. Later, you’ll visit the city of Baldur’s Gate itself, of course. Other places I’m not going to spoil for you because discovery and exploration are part of the joy.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Are we actually going to act like dnd 2e is even good? Does anyone even play Table top rpgs? You're telling me you're willing to sit at a table with 4 other degenerates trying to roll play some crap while you add up a bunch of numbers? Video games are the best thing to happen to dnd and dnd is the best thing to happen to video games. Video game makers can't make a gameplay system for shit, look around at all these rpg systems that aren't based on anything. So many are literally garbage and can hardly be called rpgs. Look at dnd at a table top setting. Bunch of degenerates and you're relying on some loser with no qualifcations to actually know how to organize a game. No reviews, no rpgcodex to tell you if it's any good, just blindly trusting that this guy might actually make something fun. dnd is trash and baldurs gate elevated that to something amazing. Take away the bad which is turn based and other people, and keep the good which is how all the numbers work and add up.

Untrue, I'm playing Poool of Radiance right now and despite the interface being kinda fucky and the game being from 88 the combat itself is amazing compared to Baldur's Gate. Tactical positioning really matters, attacks of opportunity are implemented, every spell matter, everything flows perfectly. Bioware didn't elevate anything. They've butchered a pretty great system and even if DnD was trash and needed to by elevated by a video game it would already be done by Goldbox games.
The only good idea regarding the system that came out of Bioware was getting rid of those silly level limits for nonhumans.

 

[Lilura]

The original Baldur's Gate is the greatest D&D-based RPG of all-time, and the 4th-greatest RPG of all-time.

It makes the Goldbox games seem like pieces of shit in comparison.

Read this authoritative retrospective, and despair [link].

 

[Parabalus]

baldur's gate was never good

You are right, it is and was always great, simply one of the best. It offers a good experience to everyone
that isn't a combat or story extremist, few rpg's manage that.

It's shit at both
Fallout is the superior game in every aspect

Fallout combat and UI are complete garbage.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Again, what's so horrible about Fallout's UI, apart from list-based inventory (which is objectively a shit design when implemented the way it is in Fallout, but doesn't really matter that much cause there's very little item juggling/trash collecting in the game)? I'm really surprised to still see this meme in 2020.

And the combat is just very simplistic, with fun animations, not exactly "garbage" for the kind of game it features in. It sucked in FT, but that's because you should expect much more from a (theoretically) tactical, squad based PC game.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

The original Baldur's Gate is the greatest D&D-based RPG of all-time, and the 4th-greatest RPG of all-time.

It makes the Goldbox games seem like pieces of shit in comparison.

Read this authoritative retrospective, and despair [link].

It's still one of the worst adaptations of the DnD rules.

 

[Ontopoly]

The original Baldur's Gate is the greatest D&D-based RPG of all-time,

It's not even the best d&d-based rpg in its own series.

It's still one of the worst adaptations of the DnD rules.

This is a good thing. 2e was kind of shit and tablet top is definitely shit.