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

[hexer]

Wait this is basically a PC exclusive game that will be available on Stadia as well?
No mentions of consoles so far?

 

[InD_ImaginE]

From the other, better BG3 thread where there's more independent thought:

Abandon all hope:

Mearls characterizes Baldur's Gate 3 as "part of the evolution of D&D [...] a very natural step. "This is a chance to get people who maybe don't have an interest in tabletop roleplaying, who are looking for something that's more just pure story. They don't necessarily want to immerse themselves in the rules. They can have a great experience that's very authentically D&D in terms of the puzzle solving and the storytelling without necessarily having to make the commitment of playing a tabletop game," he explains.

[Mike Mearls was co-lead designer for 5E and is the creative director for D&D. He knows the ruleset.]

 

[Lutte]

Reminder for those who are suspicious of the possibility of this being action based gameplay :
1/ this is heavily advertised as a Stadia title and Stadia, during early adoption mode, in typical google fashion (google loves to drip feed new product access, this has been a thing since gmail's invitation system), won't be accessible on all platforms and will require a chromecast + controller bundle. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...ises-stadias-biz-model-is-pure-establishment/
It will open up to browser integration on PCs and so on later.
This should make it clear that this game will be controller friendly out of the box and before any EE or console release.
Of course, this game could still be turn based, but RTWP absolutely wouldn't work on a controller so at least you can count that out. This ain't an IE game successor.
2/ This has AAA level of dev team and is the result of Larian's expansion into opening new studios. Not even the japs put that much effort into their turn based games, much less a western dev. Is any dev confident in selling enough at a non-discount price to warrant the effort? I don't think so. Turn based RPGs have a solid niche minority but they're not 300 worth of people working on the same game worth. Even the japs don't do this and the japs more consistently put out turn based games than western devs, but the more popular/mainstream JRPGs that are still turn based aren't AAA level.
3/ Swen is playing coy about details like the gameplay perspective.

 

[Shrimp]

Wait this is basically a PC exclusive game that will be available on Stadia as well?
No mentions of consoles so far?

As far as I know the only confirmed platforms so far have been Stadia and PC through Steam and GoG
Given that it's Larian there will probably be a Console release with the inevitable enhanced/definitive edition that'll be released one or two years later

 

[ArchAngel]

I don't think you can do party based combat in third person, so I think it is out of the book.

Dragon Age and Mass Effect say hi. Are you new to the internet or gaming perchance?

Dragon Age Origins at least had a "top down" camera that let you play it almost like Bg2.

Dragon Age plays nothing like Bg2 (no, an overhead camera doesn't make it play "almost like Bg2").

Dragon Age 2 was a move in the right direction, improved on Kotor style combat in every way, tried something new with the narrative style (not that the story was especially interesting or well written but I'll give them credit where it's due) and is all around a much better game than Origins. The bioware can never make another BG2, they might as well stick to something they can do.

I heard retards like you exist somewhere, I had to run into one sooner or later.

 

[Saerain]

What's the over–under on some illithid pawn ominously uttering the phrase, "Make Toril great again"?

 

[Mud']

Reminder for those who are suspicious of the possibility of this being action based gameplay :
1/ this is heavily advertised as a Stadia title and Stadia, during early adoption mode, in typical google fashion (google loves to drip feed new product access, this has been a thing since gmail's invitation system), won't be accessible on all platforms and will require a chromecast + controller bundle. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...ises-stadias-biz-model-is-pure-establishment/
It will open up to browser integration on PCs and so on later.
This should make it clear that this game will be controller friendly out of the box and before any EE or console release.
Of course, this game could still be turn based, but RTWP absolutely wouldn't work on a controller so at least you can count that out.

It has to be TB, Larian well knows that D:OS sold well because it was TB with the elemental combos. Also with coop I can't see how this type of gameplay can work in multiplayer third person action game.

 

[Mastermind]

I don't think you can do party based combat in third person, so I think it is out of the book.

Dragon Age and Mass Effect say hi. Are you new to the internet or gaming perchance?

Dragon Age Origins at least had a "top down" camera that let you play it almost like Bg2.

Dragon Age plays nothing like Bg2 (no, an overhead camera doesn't make it play "almost like Bg2").

Dragon Age 2 was a move in the right direction, improved on Kotor style combat in every way, tried something new with the narrative style (not that the story was especially interesting or well written but I'll give them credit where it's due) and is all around a much better game than Origins. The bioware can never make another BG2, they might as well stick to something they can do.

I heard retards like you exist somewhere, I had to run into one sooner or later.

You're all Really Smart Guys until you actually start trying to explain why shitty soulless garbage like Dragon Age is ackshually the best game evah. 2-3 posts into being systematically dismantled by my genius level IQ you understand your mistake, but by then it's too late.

 

[Lutte]

Also with coop I can't see how this type of gameplay can work in multiplayer third person action game.

You don't?


If Larian made this TB this would be the first time AAA level efforts would be thrown into a TB RPG in the past years. I find this far more unbelievable than Larian going the action style route. The comments on not liking missing attacks don't help either.

DOS2 is a popular niche but not an infinitely growable one. You don't keep throwing more resources and expenses on a fixed niche. This looks to reach higher audiences.
Besides the rising costs with the super large dev team, there's also licensing costs they're most certainly paying for the D&D license and the rights to properties like illithids (those monsters are not included in open licenses)
The DOS are profitable with their current production value and audience. Crank the costs a little too much and maybe the endeavor isn't worth it.

 

[frajaq]

I trust Larian to treat this game series with the respect it deserves

 

[Mastermind]

I trust Larian to treat this game series with the respect it deserves

Larian doesn't treat their own series with the respect they deserve. Not that I blame them, their audience is unbelievably retarded.

 

[glass blackbird]

DOS2 sold really well, I think. Exact numbers aren't clear but if it was a really huge hit maybe they think adding the D&D name to it and getting WOTC behind it could justify the higher budget?

 

[John Keel]

ARPG?
Poor writting ?
3rd person view ?

You know what you should really be afraid of ?

BG III E-Sport

 

[Arulan]

DOS2 sold really well, I think. Exact numbers aren't clear but if it was a really huge hit maybe they think adding the D&D name to it and getting WOTC behind it could justify the higher budget?

I think it's pretty clear that Wizards of the Coast has stayed away from Baldur's Gate in the past because they want to do it right, and they're likely investing a lot into this project.

I just hope the (AAA?) budget isn't indicative of more mainstream-friendly design decisions.

 

[John Keel]

DOS2 sold really well, I think. Exact numbers aren't clear but if it was a really huge hit maybe they think adding the D&D name to it and getting WOTC behind it could justify the higher budget?

I think it's pretty clear that Wizards of the Coast has stayed away from Baldur's Gate in the past because they want to do it right, and they're likely investing a lot into this project.

I just hope the (AAA?) budget isn't indicative of more mainstream-friendly design decisions.

Wotc isn't in the business of doing things 'right', Wotc is Hasbro's proverbial milk cow

 

[Lutte]

I just hope the (AAA?) budget isn't indicative of more mainstream-friendly design decisions.

But they've already announced one major change done for mainstream friendly design : they're going to mess with hit chance.

"You miss a lot in D&D—if the dice are bad, you miss," he says. "That doesn't work well in a videogame. If I do that, you're going to review it and say it's shit. Our approach has been implementing it as pure as we can, and then just seeing what works and what doesn't. Stuff that doesn't work, we start adapting until it does."

The full extent they're going to has yet to be seen, but you shouldn't hold high expectations for this.

 

[Murk]

The more they distance themselves from the first two BG games, the better. It's clearly going to be nothing like them, so why bother inviting the comparison. The fact that it's called BG3 at all is unfortunate, but my guess is WOTC is going to push "BG" for brand recognition hard.

Anyway, my guess is it will be better than Bloodlines 2.

 

[luj1]

From the other, better BG3 thread where there's more independent thought:

Abandon all hope:

Mearls characterizes Baldur's Gate 3 as "part of the evolution of D&D [...] a very natural step. "This is a chance to get people who maybe don't have an interest in tabletop roleplaying, who are looking for something that's more just pure story. They don't necessarily want to immerse themselves in the rules. They can have a great experience that's very authentically D&D in terms of the puzzle solving and the storytelling without necessarily having to make the commitment of playing a tabletop game," he explains.

[Mike Mearls was co-lead designer for 5E and is the creative director for D&D. He knows the ruleset.]

1/ this is heavily advertised as a Stadia title and Stadia, during early adoption mode, in typical google fashion (google loves to drip feed new product access, this has been a thing since gmail's invitation system), won't be accessible on all platforms and will require a chromecast + controller bundle.

This should make it clear that this game will be controller friendly out of the box and before any EE or console release.

LOOOOL RIP

Basically confirms my previous suspicions

 

[ga♥]

Okay, Ladies and Gentlemen, two important pieces of information.

1. Sven is already contradicting himself. In the RPS interview he states that the storyline of Baldur's Gate I and II is ended, while in the article at Venturebeat it's stated that the game "It builds on the material and storylines from Baldur’s Gate (1997) and Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000)". Also, while RPS states that the story is closed with "Murder in Baldur's Gate", the aforementioned Venturebeat article instead informs that the adventure module was used to basically map out the city.

2. Here is a full list of survivors from the previous games. Only the first two have more than one source (Coran has three in total), so treat it with a grain of salt.
- Minsc,
- Coran,
- Dynaheir,
- Edwin,
- Faldorn,
- Imoen,
- Jaheira
- Kagain,
- Kivan,
- Xzar,
- Montaron,
- Viconia,
- Xan,

The author of the RPS article is a Larian writer who is actually working on BGIII. So yeah. It's a total different story, deal with it.

BGIII is just to spill money from the fanbase since it is not a successor, they could have named it like the module, Baldur's gate: Avernus or w/e it is called.

Also, Faldorn, Xzar, Dynaheir and Montaron die in BG2 so...

 

[Chippy]

The more they distance themselves from the first two BG games, the better. It's clearly going to be nothing like them, so why bother inviting the comparison. The fact that it's called BG3 at all is unfortunate, but my guess is WOTC is going to push "BG" for brand recognition hard.

Anyway, my guess is it will be better than Bloodlines 2.

Is that Sven guy contract-bound to keep saying that one line "time to gather your party"?. They should just develop some integrity from the start, and make it clear it only shares the setting. I'd prefer a Shadows of Mordor type game set in BG, rather than a company that tries to hook me on nostalgia and makes something unrelated that I'll avoid on principle.

Plus -if they had done that- they wouldn't have vitriolic fans like me harassing them if they reveal it's nothing like the first two games.

 

[Sykar]

Okay, Ladies and Gentlemen, two important pieces of information.

1. Sven is already contradicting himself. In the RPS interview he states that the storyline of Baldur's Gate I and II is ended, while in the article at Venturebeat it's stated that the game "It builds on the material and storylines from Baldur’s Gate (1997) and Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000)". Also, while RPS states that the story is closed with "Murder in Baldur's Gate", the aforementioned Venturebeat article instead informs that the adventure module was used to basically map out the city.

2. Here is a full list of survivors from the previous games. Only the first two have more than one source (Coran has three in total), so treat it with a grain of salt.
- Minsc,
- Coran,
- Dynaheir,
- Edwin,
- Faldorn,
- Imoen,
- Jaheira
- Kagain,
- Kivan,
- Xzar,
- Montaron,
- Viconia,
- Xan,

The author of the RPS article is a Larian writer who is actually working on BGIII. So yeah. It's a total different story, deal with it.

BGIII is just to spill money from the fanbase since it is not a successor, they could have named it like the module, Baldur's gate: Avernus or w/e it is called.

Also, Faldorn, Xzar, Dynaheir and Montaron die in BG2 so...

Man everybody forgets about poor husband Khalid.

 

[Murk]

Chippy

Dunno -- my guess is that WOTC does in fact have a ton of influence over what they can/can't do/say (they definitely have been pretty draconian about their IPs in the past), but I'm not paid to be a Larian Apologist (got laid off; I had low social media impact apparently) so guess we'll see as time goes on.

I'm resistant to hype, both positive and negative, so to me it's just an annoying process of having to wait to hear actual game details, and see proper game play.

It's why I mostly am not bothering with the stupid drip feed of info about Bloodlines 2, despite being relatively interested in it.

 

[Mortmal]

Okay, Ladies and Gentlemen, two important pieces of information.

1. Sven is already contradicting himself. In the RPS interview he states that the storyline of Baldur's Gate I and II is ended, while in the article at Venturebeat it's stated that the game "It builds on the material and storylines from Baldur’s Gate (1997) and Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000)". Also, while RPS states that the story is closed with "Murder in Baldur's Gate", the aforementioned Venturebeat article instead informs that the adventure module was used to basically map out the city.

2. Here is a full list of survivors from the previous games. Only the first two have more than one source (Coran has three in total), so treat it with a grain of salt.
- Minsc,
- Coran,
- Dynaheir,
- Edwin,
- Faldorn,
- Imoen,
- Jaheira
- Kagain,
- Kivan,
- Xzar,
- Montaron,
- Viconia,
- Xan,

The author of the RPS article is a Larian writer who is actually working on BGIII. So yeah. It's a total different story, deal with it.

BGIII is just to spill money from the fanbase since it is not a successor, they could have named it like the module, Baldur's gate: Avernus or w/e it is called.

Also, Faldorn, Xzar, Dynaheir and Montaron die in BG2 so...

Man everybody forgets about poor husband Khalid.

No--bo body Fo fo fo rgot Kha kha kha lid.

 

[Morgoth]

David Gayder and James Ohlen must be shitting bricks right now seeing how a bunch of prideful Belgians have seized their baby. Meanwhile, at Bioware: "waht is balDurs Gate huhngh?"

But hey, isn't Ohlen at least somehow involved at Wizards of the Coast? He could be doing some freelance writing for BG3.

 

[Dawkinsfan69]

Can't even watch this seeing 80 year old dumbfuck walking around in armor forcing memes but maybe one of you values their time little enough to watch and post reaction